Please limit talk in this thread to this series. Other topics should be discussed in the appropriate threads. Play-by-play is not allowed. If you need that, there are other places to find it. Political discussions belong in the D&D forum not in here. All games are broadcast on Space City Network unless otherwise noted. 6-7 Framber Valdez (L) vs. Griffin Canning (R) 8:38 6-8 Hunter Brown (R) vs. Tyler Anderson (L) 9:07 6-9 Justin Verlander (R) vs. Patrick Sandoval (L) 3:07
The title doesn't say, but FYI, we play the Angels. We need to not just win some series to get back in it, but need some sweeps. This series is a good place to start.
Hopefully Alex and Tyler are both back. The Astros should be the better team regardless, but haven't shown it. I think they have started to come out of it but aren't completely there yet. Hopefully this is the series that they remember who they are. Hitting, pitching, and defense all come together. I predict 3 wins: 3 quality starts Every hitter in top 6 of the lineup has multiple hits including at least 1 for extra bases. Early leads in all 3 games. Hader only pitches in 1 of the games to stay fresh. W: 6-2 W: 8-4 W: 8-3
I don't think it is going to happen - but they really need to sweep this series. The Astros are 4-6 in their last 10 and 7 under. A three-game sweep put them within 4 games of .500%... Which of course means they will lose 2 out of 3.
This season really feels like the twilight zone. The fact that Abreu is still on this team feels truly like a bad nightmare. I mean his last few at bats vs the Cardinals looked completely non competitive. A cinderella season would be incredible… Release Abreu Garcia and McCullers come back and look incredible Chaz remembers he’s a baseball player Altuve gets back to batting .300 and hitting doubles Get in the playoffs and go on a run A man can dream right? Right? Anyway I think we win 2 out of 3 and it keeps our hopes alive.
Deadline stance determinations: 20 games left in June, 13 in July before the break, 11 more before the deadline. Currently 7 games under .500, 5 games out of WC, 7.5 games out of AL West. They won’t wait until the very last minute to decide if they’re going to shop guys like Bregman and Tucker, so let’s say they have ~35 games left to make their case one way or the other: 15-20 or worse: almost certainly would sell, and imho they should not sell unless they’re going to fully rebuild the farm system, which means at a minimum Bregman, Tucker, Valdez, and Verlander would be gone. 16-19 to 19-16: this makes them very unlikely to win the division and would have them on the fringes of WC contention. My guess is they’d be slight buyers, hanging on to Bregman and adding a back end SP, 2nd/3rd tier rental lefty bat, and/or a setup man. 20-15 to 22-13: They’d very likely be buyers, but would be hovering around .500. Hard to justify an “all-in” move, so I think we’d see moves similar to what I described above. 23-12 or better: they’d be heading into the deadline very hot, likely within 5 games of the division and in WC position. They’d be aggressive buyers. Maybe a top end SP, maybe a big lefty bat, maybe both.
And of course with Abreu's release, Loperfido gets called up to be the everyday first baseman! I don't care that they are worried about his defense, there's no way he's worse than Abreu
They have a golden opportunity here to gain some ground. Mariners are playing the royals on the road.
Let's say they completely fall apart and go 10-25 in the next 35. At that point I think they have to look at next year. For 2025 They still have Diaz, Caratini, Altuve, Pena, Alvarez, Tucker, Meyers, Dubon, Framber, Blanco, Brown, Arrighetti, Hader, Montero and a slew of average-ish bullpen arms. Chas could still return to form. Theoretically Garcia and McCullers return healthy JV and Pressly return on vested options. With that roster there is no way Jim Crane does not try to win another World Series. There is no way Tucker gets traded before 2025 trade deadline, if at all. And Framber is very close to equally unlikely. So the only MLB players I see possibly traded are: Bregman, Meyers, McCormick, Singleton, along w/ the possibility of moving a guy like Abreu, Urquidy, or Pressly, et for salary relief. That does not include the guys who have been up and down this year. I could see any of them getting moved. No way this team goes even half rebuild until after 2025. Still too much talent on the 2025 roster.
2025 potential rotation: Verlander, Valdez, McCullers, Blanco, Arrighetti, Garcia, Brown. France, Blubaugh, Gordon if needed. That will compete if 6+ of them stay healthy.
If they lose this series it will be more than disappointing. It might be the sign that things are not going to get magically better without major changes. Which is likely already the case. Losing is one thing, sleep walking thru games is another. Scrappy teams endear themselves to their fans. Sloppy, listless teams do the opposite.
They really do need a sweep. On the other hand, God forbid, if they get swept instead it's probably over. This team is hard to watch. They need to get it going...
