K for the last month has an ERA around 4, he is not the same pitcher Good thing we have Kazmir, he is our real number 1 K
Damn, over 50 pitches through 2 already. The pen better be ready. Maybe some VV? Inning could have been a lot worse.
Keuchel is a great pitcher but he has to be precise with his control or he can get touched up because he really doesn't have dominant stuff.
Lefties hitting .291 against Hellickson, so yes, great time to play No D or O Carter and sit Valbuena.
Quirky stat. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Carlos Gomez is the only starting Astros hitter tonight whose last name isn't exactly six letters long. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATFO?src=hash">#WATFO</a></p>— Dustin Rensink (@scottandholman) <a href="https://twitter.com/scottandholman/status/627627234182893568">August 1, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Indeed it's important. However, this game has shown the ability to accommodate good hitting/below avg defense catchers and they contribute to wins at an increased rate vs poor hitting/avg defensive catchers (which is what I'd rate castro as this year). There has not been a single game where his defense has cost us the game, but several games (just last week for example) where his hitting was much needed. By no means am I making him an everyday catcher. I agree that defense does have a good amount of importance. Just saying that since his hitting justifies it, you play him at about a 50% rate.
