[Official] Rays @ Astros

You people need to relax about Giles. He has been very good.

 

Random observation. Since May 19th, the Astros are 21-13 in games that Gattis starts at catcher.

 

Another observation

If Astros win today and Yankee score holds up, we will be two games out.

 

People think our pitching is bad

The Orioles is soooooooo bad.

Yankees are teeing off in the 5th.

 

Head down and keeping winning.

 

Not only that, but people conveniently ignore that his K/9 IP rate has actually improved this year.

As I've said before... he's still a very raw pitcher. He's the same age as Billy Wagner was in his first full stint as a closer in 1997, and Billy didn't reach his full potential without some tweaking. The fact that he's already had some success as a closer at a very young age is a very good thing going forward for the next 4+ years.

 

Running it back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> lineup. Same as yesterday. <a href="https://t.co/2ailj5VtaF">pic.twitter.com/2ailj5VtaF</a></p>&mdash; Jordan Ray (@JordanLRay) <a href="https://twitter.com/JordanLRay/status/769614503461789696">August 27, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I don't understand how people can think that about our pitching. Top 5 staff in baseball.

 

Show me them Stats!

No freaking way.

 

Harris has mostly progressed back to his early season form since his demotion. Last 4 games....

0.00 ERA
4 IP
2 H
1 BB
6 Ks

Props to Giles for his increased K/9.... now he needs decreased suck-rate in other, more important, areas. I want to like him, trust me.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...nd=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=17,a

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,a

 

Yall are fun, carry on.

 

Yep, top to bottom I think we're top 5. I would only take the Indians and Cubs staffs over us. I'm tempted to throw in the Dodgers but they're too injured and I feel like their bully may have a major letdown in the playoffs. Mets and Nats have better starters but worse bullpens. Blue Jays have slightly better starters but we have a superior pen. You could make a case for the Giants with their starters but their bullpen hasn't been that great this year.

It's awesome how good our bullpen has been. Don't know if it's a decline in talent but some bullpens around the league are really bad. Getting paid millions but can't get 3 outs without giving up a run

 

With all the Giles talk, I had to go over his stats myself. He has been very good since June 1st. Our bullpen is one of our strengths (overall). Not where we should be focusing our attention.

Our starters on the whole are average to slightly above IMO. I do think a additional #1 or #2 would be necessary for a deep playoff run. But again , not our primary need.

Defense? Above average.

What is it then? Consistent and Clutch hitting. Captain Obvious I know. Its how we improve the offense that is deserving of conversation. Maybe trade some of our abundant pen for hitting?

 

This is not possible at the moment.

 

I am thinking of the offseason. Sure, other than Sept. call-ups, we are what we will be this year.

 

Apparently Keuchel's ERA with Gattis is 2.59 and almost 6 with Castro

Fiers with Gattis: 3.03 and 4.76 with Castro

 

Balls man

 

Gattis strikes fear into the heart of base runners.

 

We all are, but that's a long time from now.