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. 5-12 Michael Wacha (R) vs. Ryan Gusto (R) 7:10 5-13 Kris Bubic (L) vs. Framber Valdez (L) 7:10 5-14 Michael Lorenzen (R) vs. TBD 7:10
Offense continues heating up for Yordan's return like yeast making bread rise. Don't stop the yeast !!! Astros pitching shall be trusted until proven otherwise. .
had no idea royals are 24-18. even sitting at that record, they're not even 1st in their division. how the hell are the tigers that good?
Prediction: if the Astros get swept in this series, they will not make the playoffs. I think they’ll step up. Feels like they’re on the verge of getting the offense clicking. The bullpen is humming. If Blanco stay right the rotation is kicking, but it could turn into a roller coaster pretty quick.
Don't think you can make any declaration based off a series in May, especially while missing our best player in the lineup. The West only has one other team with a positive run differential right now and I don't believe in the Mariners offense.
Of course you are right. It’s just a hunch, predicated on the idea that this team is not built to go on comeback runs like other teams of the last decade. This is the last series before a crucial run to finish the month that includes 4-game series against the Rangers and Mariners. Their June schedule appears pretty light.
Too close to .500% to have any real large margin for error. A serious injury or bad stretch could cause a snowball effect. 20-19 right now - with an expected record of 22-17. They have lost a handful of games they should have won. Winning series against teams like the Reds, Angels and Blue Jays are nice - but you need to sweep some of these, and you cannot play someone like the White Sox and not sweep them. A real test is coming up with the Astros playing the M's, Rays, Rangers. Athletics and then the Rays again. All of those series are winnable, but none of them are gimme series. The Astros need to get off their .500% train and win more than 3 games in a row.
Yep. If the Astros end up barely missing the postseason, or getting eliminated early because they weren’t able to build up a cushion during the season to allow them to enter the playoffs rested and lined up, that series against the White Sox should be highlighted as the tipping point. It’s a long season and **** happens, but if you’re gonna make a deep run, you have to balance out bedshittings like that by going on some longer winning streaks.
The Astros are 2.0 games out of the WC bye right now with over 75% of the season left. The AL simply isn't that good. You guys may be overstating the importance of any games right now. The important thing is still finding out who our best players are and will be for the summer. If we start actually losing ground that could change, but we aren't.
The Astros do not have a good farm system and don’t have much money to spend. Other teams in the AL have more resources to improve their rosters more than the Astros do. The Astros really only have 1 elite hitter (and he is currently hurt). The Astros schedule is tough in August and September. All in all, there is more downside than upside for Houston over the rest of this season. They cannot afford to dig a hole in the division. Sure, if they end up missing the playoffs by one game, you can point to any game on the schedule as the tipping point, but May is pressing because right now is when they have had a relatively healthy roster and relatively easy schedule. They have gone 2-3 over their last 5 series against pretty weak teams, when they really should’ve gone 4-1 (or at worst 3-2) if they were going to have a good chance of building an early, substantial division lead that would allow them to optimize their roster for playoff success. Of course they can overcome that by getting hot at some point later in the season, but that would be beating the odds.
I’m more upset about the series with the Mariners that Joe ****ed off than I am about the one against the White Sox
I firmly believe, without hyperbole that it will be very hard for this team to go on a long winning streak with Joe Espada as the manager. Managers like Joe are great for teams Like the 2022 Astros who won 106 and the ALW by 16 games or teams like the 2013 Astros who lost 111 games and just need a warm body. With a team who has no margin for error but is still expected to compete, Joe's lineup choices and in-game pitching decisions will eventually cost the team wins.
As I said above, he already cost us the series against the Mariners. They’ve got to move on if they miss the playoffs this year.
Coming into town for work Tuesday morning and leaving Wednesday night...just enough time to catch a game. Hopefully we get good Framber on Tuesday...
