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UTexasFight

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Posts posted by UTexasFight

  1. Yes, odds not good of both as WC. Right now, Astros are 84% to win division. Yankees are 50% to win division.
    I just want a dependable Pen, and a reasonable plan to use it, come September/October
    If Hinch wants to use guys only one inning, and set up a Dotel-Lidge-Wagner like system for 7, 8, 9, I think he needs to define the roles, go that way now, and start training the guys mentally for those roles. Relievers are head cases and need a bunch of coddling and positive affirmation. Come out and say "Kenneth is the closer and will work every save situation unless he throws too many pitches saving the prior X number of games." 
    If Hinch wants to use whoever is hot or whoever is the best match up, he needs to start letting guys go more than one inning.  Devo threw 9 pitches in the 8th on Sunday; Smith threw 9 pitches in the 7th last night; Rondon threw 10 pitches in the 8th last night. All were effective. All could have gone another inning if properly prepared/conditioned mentally and physically to do so.

    Top post of the day nominee...
  2. Counting on arlington.

    Waking up tied for first.

    West feels very 2017 at this point (albeit slightly closer on our heels).
    By that I mean Angels were on a tear in April.
    Now M’s in May
    Next month maybe the A’s
    Then repeat the 2nd half.
    None will be good enough to overtake Houston over the long haul, but maybe one will stay hot long enough to grab the 2nd wild card
  3. Yeah.
    It’s clear Hinch is doing a rolling off day for the big names during this 13 day stretch without a day off and I’d rather have Bregs at SS instead of Marwin
    Gotta get creative to get all of the hot-ish bats in the lineup when they all play the same primary positions.

  4. with mccann out, is there any chance gattis does any catching?  i know he's not much defensively, but he was so much better at the plate when he caught in the past.
    i have faith in stassi though.  the pitchers seem to like throwing to him, and obviously mccann will be there the whole time working with him.

    I could see it... just to get Davis’ bat in the lineup if nothing else
    If you read between the lines on Hinch’s quotes in the article above, he may be alluding to exactly that.

    Although with the way Gattis has swung the bat the last ~10 days, seems he’s finally figuring it out so I don’t know you mess with that.
  5. Interesting read 

     

     

    Yeah lots of good tidbits.

     

    Surprised by the stat that Giles hasn’t walked anyone this year, but very interesting about his slider...

    I had hoped maybe his postseason issues were because of the ball, but clearly that’s not the case.

    A fastball without a ton of movement and an ineffective slider is no bueno.

     

  6. News and notes from the Athletic/Kaplan. Lots of good stuff here:

     

    For years, being a sinkerballer was Charlie Morton’s identity as a pitcher. His two-seam fastball was unquestionably his best offering, and between 2011 and 2016 he threw it almost six times out of every 10 pitches.

     

    But as his incredible late-career transformation with the Astros has continued, Morton has become much less reliant on his once-signature pitch. In fact, he’s on pace to throw more four-seam fastballs (31.2 percent, per Brooks Baseball) than two-seam fastballs (25.7 percent) this season, something he hasn’t done since 2010.

     

    “You deviate to what’s effective,” said Morton, who will start Tuesday against the Yankees opposite CC Sabathia in a 2017 ALCS Game 7 rematch. His sinker lacks the depth it once had, he added. Since joining the data-driven Astros last year, Morton has come to realize his four-seam, which he has run up to 98 mph, is in most situations the superior option to his two-seam.

     

    At least this version of it.

     

    “I still go back to the way my ball has moved over the course of my career. There’s a large sample size of sinkers from 2011, ’12, ’13, ’14 and into ’15 where I had a pretty effective sinker,” Morton said. “And now it’s a pitch that I think I can still throw it to righties if I locate it pretty well. … But I don’t think it’s a pitch that really plays as well in the zone.”

     

    As he alluded to, Morton throws most of his sinkers to right-handed hitters, usually targeting them down and in or down and away. The 34-year-old right-hander hardly ever throws them to lefties anymore, but when he does they are typically high and inside. Decreasing his sinker usage and throwing more curveballs keyed his dramatic turnaround against lefties last season, a trend that has continued this year.

     

    The Astros will look to Morton on Tuesday to help them even their season series against the Yankees at 3 ahead of the Dallas Keuchel-Luis Severino matchup in Wednesday’s series finale. Morton will enter the start ranked second in the AL in ERA (2.04), behind only teammate Justin Verlander (1.11).

     

    Just don’t call him a sinkerballer.

     

    What’s next for Fisher?

     

    That the Astros sent Derek Fisher to Class AAA Fresno (Calif.) for his rehab assignment as opposed to the much closer Class AA Corpus Christi (Texas) doesn’t bode well for the outfielder maintaining his spot on the 25-man active roster once he’s activated.

     

    Fisher, who was sidelined by a gastrointestinal issue that caused him to lose weight, became eligible to be activated from the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday. It’s unclear how long the Astros anticipate Fisher’s rehab assignment to last — he played his first game Monday — but the at-bats he was garnering in the majors have been seized by Tony Kemp.

     

    Regardless of Kemp’s success, Fisher could probably benefit from fine-tuning his swing with everyday reps in the top third of Fresno’s lineup for longer than just his rehab assignment. The 24-year-old batted only .176/.222/.419 in 81 plate appearances before his DL stint. The Astros have used up only one of his option years, so they have the ability to shuttle him to and from Class AAA at will in two more seasons.

     

    Kemp has entrenched himself at the bottom of the Astros’ lineup, where he has sparked the offense with his contact-oriented approach. He’s batted .333/.400/.500 in 36 plate appearances. Though he was off for Monday’s matchup with righthander Domingo Germán, he will be back in the lineup Tuesday against the left-handed Sabathia, manager A.J. Hinch said.

     

    Verlander on processing information

     

    Verlander, remarkably off to the best start of his career in his age-35 season, commented after the Astros’ 5-1 win on Monday that he’s “processing information at a much higher level” than he has in his career.

     

    “Not like analytic information,” the former MVP and Cy Young Award winner clarified. “Just processing information while I’m on the mound. Just kind of seeing the bigger picture, going with my gut, seeing the game, seeing everything and executing pitches at an extremely high level. It’s not the best stuff I’ve ever had in my career, but it’s the best pitching for an extended period that I’ve ever had in my career.”

     

    Verlander’s 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball at Yankee Stadium signified his 10th consecutive quality start, which matches the second-longest streak of his 14-year career. In his two starts against the Yankees this season, he allowed only one earned run in 14 2/3 innings. The earliest he could next see them again is October.

     

    Where have Giles’ strikeouts gone?

     

    Ken Giles’ 17-pitch battle with Jose Ramirez that resulted in a game-altering double for the Indians on Sunday illustrated the issue with the Astros’ closer this season: he’s not striking out enough batters.

     

    Though he has yet to walk a batter, Giles has 14 strikeouts in 17 innings, which equates to only 7.4 strikeouts per nine, almost five strikeouts fewer than his career average (12.1) and 4.5 fewer than last season (11.9). He came into his scoreless appearance Monday with a career-low swinging strike rate of 13 percent, according to FanGraphs, which corresponded with a career-worst 10.1 hits per nine innings.

     

    It all boils down to Giles’ slider, which hasn’t been as effective this season. By swing-and-miss percentage, his 22.97 (coming into Monday) isn’t too far off from last season’s 23.47, according to Brooks Baseball. But he’s also throwing the pitch way less than ever before: roughly 35 percent entering Monday, down from 46 percent in 2017 and 47 in 2016.

     

    Giles struck out one (Gleyber Torres) in his outing Monday, and it came on an elevated fastball after he got the Yankees second baseman to chase on consecutive sliders. Giles threw eight sliders Monday as opposed to only six fastballs, but his usage — and the effectiveness of his out pitch — will continue to be worth monitoring.

     

    The reason Davis hasn’t played much

     

    When the Astros summoned J.D. Davis from Class AAA on May 20, it appeared they would attempt to capitalize on his hot bat. But eight games later, Davis has made only two starts.

     

    Unfortunately for Davis, the timing of his promotion coincided with the resurgence of Evan Gattis, who these days is limited to the designated hitter spot. Because Davis isn’t a natural outfielder and is blocked at both first and third base, DH was his best avenue to playing time.

     

    Davis played first base Monday — a game in which he opened the scoring with a three-run blast off Germán — only because Yuli Gurriel manned third base while Alex Bregman got a rare day off. Davis should play more in the coming games because the Astros are in line to face a string of lefties, including Sabathia on Tuesday and Drew Pomeranz, Chris Sale and David Price of Boston in the next series. But exactly how he plays is uncertain.

     

    “He’s been waiting,” Hinch said. “He was hot when he came up and we haven’t had a chance to get him in there as much as we want to. He’ll get a few more at-bats here moving forward.”

     

    Davis should be with the Astros a while longer because Josh Reddick will require more time to recover from the infection in his left leg. Reddick, who’s been on the DL since May 23, continues to get treatment in Houston and has yet to resume baseball activities.

     

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