Ah of course "reports" He got hurt, when their dollar store equipment found out the severity they put him on the DL. Nobody was making Pena play hurt.
Dana Brown himself said it to McTaggart: “This isn’t one of those things where you have to be sidelined the whole time. Once the inflammation goes down, he might feel good enough to swing a bat.” [...] he could come back soon after the 10 days. Citation: MLB website https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/jeremy-pena-rib-fracture-injured-list
I doubt they want Alruve playing LF in Colorado. Yes, DH would be great and vs the RH Gullorme can play 2b. But I hope Luis sits vs Gomber and Freeland. (also Trammell should sit vs LHP) Either Whitcomb or Matthews could add some offense in games 2 and 3
I take it back. Call up Singleton. Lineup: CF Meyers 3B Paredes 2B Altuve RF Smith C Diaz DH Singleton 1B Walker LF Hummel SS Dubon Bench: Guillorme, Caratini, Salazar, Trammell
Caratini needs to catch more and let Yainer DH for the majority of the games headed into ASG. Screw who catches whom. I really think that a larger catching roll has gassed Yainer (especially the Altuve in left and yordan full time DH to start the season). Use these next series to reset Walker and Diaz. Cam and Altuve will be on and off . . . but the team needs to do everything possible to get Walker and Diaz going in the 2nd half. To me, that means give Yainer more rest now. Frankly, Walker could use a rest too, maybe Coors will be enough for him to get going - he's had a pretty good success there. Use this time to get right before the ASG. Beg, barter, and steal outs in Denver and LA. Get to the ASG break and lets roll!
Liked your previous lineup better. Calling up Singleton instead of Whitcomb prevents you from playing Caratini, who's still one of our best 5 or 6 hitters. And doesn't let us take a look at a prospect who might make a difference. We know who Big Jon is. And Whitcomb it outhitting him by a lot at AAA this season.
Caratini cooled off big time. He posted a 516 ops in June. I don’t think he projects as one of the 7 best hitters on the roster right now. I’m fine calling up Whitcomb instead of Singleton, although I have doubts they’d actually play him if they did.
Caratini still has a .682 OPS, basically identical to his career .684. That's not great... but on this current Astros squad, with no Pena, he's still 5th best. It's a terribly shallow lineup at the moment, with Dubon, Hummell, Trammell, Guillorme, and the withered husk of Christian Walker all getting regular ABs. If Espada still won't play Whitcomb over that entire sad collection, I don't know what to say. .280/.360/.582 at AAA this season, which is nearly the same as what he did last year. He appears to have a legit bat, and we desperately need one.
This organization has been very good at identifying the talent within its own system and ensuring the right players are kept and given a chance. They have way more data and actually watch the guy play every day unlike us. For whatever reason they clearly don’t think Whitcomb is a “legit bat” at the MLB level otherwise he would have been up here playing. There have been plenty of guys put up really good numbers in AAA that suck in the MLB.
I do think it’s weird that he’s been called up twice now and didn’t play. If they didn’t think he can play, why call him up? All that does is to give other teams pause in asking for him and tanks his trade value; either call him up and play him or let him keep mashing in AAA.
What are the numbers on that? How do we know the org has been "very good at identifying the right talents in our system?" Off the top of my head, I think of Teoscar Hernandez, Wilyer Abreu, J.D. Martinez... I don't know that the org passing on a hitter is proof that the guy sucks.
Who is backing up Dubon at SS? Rogers is out. Shouldn't we callup Brice who has experience at 2B, SS, and 3B???? Could do some pinch running too...
They seem to have made a decision to go with Shay and Guillorme as the primary infield backups. This locks Altuve in at 2nd for the foreseeable future. Brice isn't gonna be up until later in the year - with hopefully a reduced strike out rate. I think Zach Short would be up before Matthews at this point. Any idea on where the Taxi squads are published?
Forgot they picked him up. I feel Brice gives us a better chance to win. Let's not pretend a 85:298 ratio is horrific for a 3rd pro season. Granted, big leagues tougher... but it's roughly what Walker and Cam Smith do. Not saying it's good and doesn't need work. I'm saying it can be overcome by the other stuff such as drawing walks and stealing basis... I'd rather have a .375 ob% with lots of ks than a .320 on% with few ks.
Two to six weeks for a "normal" person. For a professional athlete, likely longer. When it comes to injuries, the Astros are dishonest, incompetent, or both.
Cam Smith had a very low strikeout rate in college and the minors. Like you said, it's harder in the majors. Guys have better stuff. Brice isn't going to help us win right now. His 30% K rate at AAA might be 40% in the majors. Look at strikeout rates for guys like Adam Dunn in the minors vs the majors. He needs time in the minors to learn pitch recognition. He'll get there, hopefully, with more reps. But those should be in the minors this season.
