I'd honestly be happy if he could get the ball to the infield without it bouncing 3 times. I feel like people are going to start tagging from first on short pop flies to center because he can't throw the ball more than 20 feet.
I’m willing to trade his weak arm for his unparalleled range. But if he can’t be at least league average at the plate he’s probably a detriment to the team because they don’t have the top-heavy lineup that can make up for having 2-3 below average bats playing most days. If he can hit like he did last year but instead of 60 singles, 20 doubles, and 13 HR, he can have 50 singles, 30 doubles, and 20 HR, he will be really valuable. I don’t expect that to happen.
When he got called up in 21’, pretty much all the way until he got hurt against the White Sox in the ALDS- I thought he was on track to being a significant contributor both offensively and defensively. The shoulder injury can’t really be used as an excuse anymore. For the Astros to be where they want to be at the end of the year- they’re going to need 2 of Meyers, Pena, and Chas to significantly increase their OPS, drive in some runs, and display better plate discipline and pitch selection/ pitch recognition.
Prediction time...Which prospects are gonna push the envelope? Ulloa? Corona? Melton? Blubaugh? Matthews?
It seemed like he hit a lot of decently hard grounders to short & third last year. If he could elevate the ball a little better, maybe he could approach those 30 doubles or 20 homers numbers. If he still is at his paltry .646 OPS by June, it should be time to try Leon, Trammell or Matthews, someone else, shift Chas over, give Dubon starts, Gamel or make a trade
Lineup 1. Jose Altuve, 2B/LF 2. Isaac Paredes, 3B 3. Yordan Alvarez, DH 4. Christian Walker, 1B 5. Yainer Diaz, C 6. Jeremy Peña, SS 7. Chas McCormick, RF 8. Mauricio Dubon, LF/2B 9. Jake Meyers, CF Unless one of the young bucks goes insane in spring training… that’s what we’re probably looking at. Honestly, how we feeling boys?
Chas has a noddle arm like Meyers, so I hope Chas only sees limited time in RF. Honestly I do not know where/when Chas gets to play, since he does not have Meyer's range in CF and LF has line of players ready to play.
Opening day should be Framber so Altuve in LF and Dubon at 2B should 100% be the lineup if Altuve is in fact game for LF. Unless they have another move in store, Gamel should start most of the games against RHP (his arm is also less bad in RF). I would be shocked if Dezenzo or Whitcomb don't get more starts in the early going than Dubon, who is pretty much a known quantity and not good enough. Meyers probably isn't good enough either, but we can't bench all of them. Chaz at least has bounceback potential.
My picks to surprise and make the opening day roster: Outfield: Zach Dezenzo (not really a surprise) Infield/Bench: Cooper Hummel (not really a prospect) Rotation: Ryan Gusto Bullpen: Logan VanWey
I think/hope Gamel or Dezenzo will be in the opening day lineup over Dubon. Not feeling great about it either way. Astros need somebody to break out.
Agreed. Chas is virtually unplayable in right due to his having an arm like Meyers more or less. At least in center, the range makes up for it and the arm is slightly less important. Can't have a noodle arm in right.
I think that the Astros will either have Altuve play exclusively in LF or at 2B. I am curious if Dezenzo can play an average 2B, which would let Dubon play RF everyday. If Dezenzo can't, I suspect that he will start the season in the AAA OF. If Dubon is the starting 2B when camp breaks, the biggest positional battle in ST will be RF. If Brown brings up Brice Matthews this year, this would certainly push Altuve to LF. ETA: It has been a very long time, since there has been this much uncertainty in the Astros opening day lineups ... in 2B, LF, RF.
Dezenzo almost certainly hurts us less in RF than he would at 2B where Dubon is top of the line elite. Gamel likely gets a lot of the RF reps.
If everything goes right, our 1-5 could go toe to toe with any lineup except for the Dodgers. But that's if everything goes right, i.e. Diaz becomes a star, Yordan starts 140+ games, Altuve doesn't start his inevitable decline, etc. And that's just the 1-5. Even the optimistic case for the 6-9 in our lineup isn't great. Unless Dezenzo is a star hitter, I could see a rough year offensively. May need 2022 level pitching to have a chance to compete. We are very lucky to be in a weak division.
I wonder what the advanced fielding stats say about Chas in CF? The eye test says that is not quick or fast. Great effort plays for Chas may be easy plays for Meyers.
Horrible. One of the worst OFs in recent memory. The Astros at least have to find a platoon for Myers and I think I will quit watching for a while if they run Dubon out as a starter. You can't win with your 6-9 hitters unable to hit RH pitching. Just turrible.
Not a prediction, but if I were the GM/manager, this would be my lineups: Against RHP with Framber, Brown, or Wesneski on the mound: LF Altuve 3B Paredes DH Alvarez 1B Walker C Diaz RF Gamel CF McCormick 2B Guillorme SS Pena Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Meyers, Hummel Against RHP, with Arrighetti, Blanco, or other fly ball SP on the mound: 2B Altuve 3B Paredes DH Alvarez 1B Walker C Diaz RF Gamel CF McCormick SS Pena LF Hummel Bench: Dubon, Meyers, Caratini, Guillorme Against LHP: 2B/LF Altuve SS Pena DH Alvarez 1B Walker 3B Paredes LF/RF McCormick C Diaz CF Meyers RF/2B Dubon Bench: Caratini, Hummel, Guillorme, Gamel My pitching staff would be: Rotation: Framber, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, Wesneski, Gusto Bullpen: Hader, Abreu, Ort, King, Scott, Whitley, Dubin (if Dubin is hurt, take Montero)
