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2021 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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henrygandorf
henrygandorf

there's so much to unpack from today, so i'll just start listing them. tuesday was devastating for oakland, today was twice as devastating for the yankees.  they had just started to play better. 

Brisketexan
Brisketexan

The boy and I were at the last ALCS clincher - we were walking on air for days after Altuve’s walkoff. Today, the boy is 5,000 miles and 7 hours away, with no way to watch. So we did a video chat, w

Helobious
Helobious

Enjoy it. Old Altuve, no more Correa means this is the very end of the road for your tainted dynasty. 

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6305

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, HtownHorn said:

Hopefully a team emerges that needs a SS, right now, I don't see one.

Yeah, maybe Milwaukee or SF if they remain in the hunt. Oakland or Anaheim, but yeah, that probably won't happen. Maybe Toronto if they get hot and Biggio isn't panning out?

Edited by Hank Chinaski
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9288

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

I don't know the answer to your question but I do know the 2013 team closed the year out with like 15 straight losses so it definitely must be >= 2013

Yeah I remembered that which was part of the reason I said that, but...

 

that is the correct answer :/   
(per my skimming of Baseball Reference. A handful of 2-8 stretches, even during the 2017-2019 runs, but no 1-9 stretches since the aforementioned losing streak to close out 2013.)

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Starfleet Command

Starfleet Command 441

Posted
Posted (edited)

Click shitting his pants after Hendricks signed that big deal and giving Baez $6M+ AAV is looking like a very serious error. They could have signed another solid reliever and a veteran CF for that money. Spending money on Castro when Dusty refuses to play him also looks like a waste. 
 

There wasn’t enough money at play this past offseason for Click to screw it up that much but he, with an assist from Dusty, he might have done just that. 

Edited by Starfleet Command
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Chuckie Finster

Chuckie Finster 22252

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Starfleet Command said:

Click shitting his pants after Hendricks signed that big deal and giving Baez $6M+ AAV is looking like a very serious error. They could have signed another solid reliever and a veteran CF for that money. Spending money on Castro when Dusty refuses to play him also looks like a waste. 
 

There wasn’t enough money at play this past offseason for Click to screw it up that much but he, with an assist from Dusty, he might have done just that. 

So not only is Click supposed to predict which free agents are going to catch COVID, but you're telling me that trading Baez for Jake Marisnick and Ken Giles would solve all of our problems?

Edited by Chuckie Finster
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Starfleet Command

Starfleet Command 441

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

So not only is Click supposed to predict which free agents are going to catch COVID, but you're telling me that trading Baez for Jake Marisnick and Ken Giles would solve all of our problems?

This has nothing to do with Baez having COVID.  Simply put, offering that high of an AAV for a reliever of Baez's caliber was a waste of resources especially in view of how tight the money was and how thin the team is at CF.  They could have easily signed someone like McGee, Petit, Melancon, etc., for less than half of what they paid Baez.  Relievers with a solid but unspectacular track record like Baez are about as fungible as players get in baseball.  They also have several guys in the upper minors who are ready for MLB innings like Solomon and Ivey.

As for the CF issue, Straw was a sub-replacement level player in 2020 and is performing as a sub-replacement level player so far this season and has flat out cost them critical runs in several games.  What makes the matter worse is that there are no other legitimate internal options to which the Astros can turn should Straw keep playing at this level - neither McCormick (who isn't even a CF) nor Dawson project to be better than replacement level.  Obviously you can't sign a star CF with a $3-5M AAV but you can sign someone like Pillar or Hernandez whom will be far less of a gamble than a AAAA player with below average instincts/routes in CF and absolutely zero pop in his bat.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6305

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Posted

I am not out on Click yet. He made some effort to bolster the bullpen in the off-season. The returns haven't been good yet with Baez out. Stanek has been solid. It's hard to give a grade here with all the guys who have been out. 

Deciding to go with Straw in CF is not looking like a good idea. I am curious to see how long of a leash he gets. I don't fault Click/Crane for not giving Springer $150mm, as much as I love George. But for Straw to have any value at all, he has to get on base 33% of the time (because he has zero power) and play a really good defensive CF. He has shown to be less than really good out there. He's played in 16 games so far, so I get that it is still really early. I'm interested to see where we go from here though. 

Tucker's results haven't been there. Despite the fact that he has only drawn 2 walks in 71 PAs, I am still mostly optimistic about him. His K% is down. His contact rates are up. He is hitting the ball hard (on average) per Statcast data. There are a few concerns in his batted ball numbers (line drive % is slightly down, soft contact rate is slightly up), but I think overall it isn't time to panic on him. It's a poor stretch, but I think he is more or less who he was last season - a good (not great) hitter. We'll see. 

And of course Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Framber missing time hasn't helped. I liked the Odorizzi signing but he's sucked so far. 

Anyway, I want to see how he handles the bullpen and the Straw situation in-season, the Correa situation (i.e., if the team continues to flounder, how does he manage that), and next offseason. 

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kevwun

kevwun 15189

Posted
Posted (edited)

The thing about Straw is that it was clear it was never going to work based on how bad he was last season.  Their are instincts involved with playing center field that you either have or you don't.  If you can't judge a fly ball after 20 years of playing baseball, that skill wasn't going to be developed in an off-season.  If Click thought that, he doesn't know what the fuck he is doing.  If he was told that Straw was going to play center, there are much bigger problems.

Edited by kevwun
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kevwun

kevwun 15189

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Posted (edited)

That's the other thing.  Straw is also not a good infielder, which they already knew.  If an athletic guy can't play second base, they aren't going to magically be a good center fielder.  He has no apparent defensive skills outside of speed, which is rather useless when the others required skills aren't present.

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Starfleet Command

Starfleet Command 441

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Scraps said:

And if you just grab the ball and throw it back to the IF like a 6 yr old little leaguer multiple times without even aiming at a person to throw to you probably aren't gonna stop doing that either lmao

Which he hasnt

I think his arm is his biggest issue as a fielder.  He can at least offset his poor instincts somewhat with his speed but there is nothing to be done about his arm.

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Chuckie Finster

Chuckie Finster 22252

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Posted (edited)

Straw sucks.  He shouldn't be in the big leagues and every day he is on our roster is a wasted day to improve our team.  No argument from me there.

My contention was with the statement that Click signing Baez was somehow responsible for the results to this point.  As if $3M saved on relief pitching to throw at Kevin Pillar and his 2 hits on the season would fix this shit.

What has killed us is Kyle Tucker's OPS of .600.  Martin Maldonado going from below average at the plate to the worst hitter in baseball.  None of Yordan, Altuve, Bregman, Yuli, or Brantley having more than 2 home runs.  Every SP not named Greinke being unable to make it out of the 5th inning.  Scrubb, Paredes, Raley, James, Smith and Taylor (not to mention Baez) all either being injured or unpitchable.  Click could have gone out and signed Mike Trout with that extra $3M and if the rest of these problems remained, it wouldn't make one damned bit of difference.

Not to mention, you have your HOF staff ace, the 7th highest paid player in the league, being total dead weight on the books for two complete seasons.  There's maybe 3 teams in all of baseball that could financially survive a hit like that. 

I also think that many people are afraid to acknowledge that we currently likely have a Trash Can Tax with free agents.  If they have equal opportunities elsewhere, players aren't going to jump at the chance to join in our season of hostility, unless we make them an offer they can't refuse.  Sure, it's easy to say "go get Melancon" but in reality I think that's how you end up paying $6M+ for Baez.

I hate that I've turned into the Click defender on this board because genuinely the jury is still out for me on him, and shit like cutting Cishek in favor of... any of the other chucklefucks in our bullpen doesn't necessarily fill me with confidence.  But I just think he's an easy scapegoat for much larger issues.

All that being said, Straw has to go.

Edited by Chuckie Finster
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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 14285

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

I am not out on Click yet. He made some effort to bolster the bullpen in the off-season. The returns haven't been good yet with Baez out. Stanek has been solid. It's hard to give a grade here with all the guys who have been out. 

Deciding to go with Straw in CF is not looking like a good idea. I am curious to see how long of a leash he gets. I don't fault Click/Crane for not giving Springer $150mm, as much as I love George. But for Straw to have any value at all, he has to get on base 33% of the time (because he has zero power) and play a really good defensive CF. He has shown to be less than really good out there. He's played in 16 games so far, so I get that it is still really early. I'm interested to see where we go from here though. 

Tucker's results haven't been there. Despite the fact that he has only drawn 2 walks in 71 PAs, I am still mostly optimistic about him. His K% is down. His contact rates are up. He is hitting the ball hard (on average) per Statcast data. There are a few concerns in his batted ball numbers (line drive % is slightly down, soft contact rate is slightly up), but I think overall it isn't time to panic on him. It's a poor stretch, but I think he is more or less who he was last season - a good (not great) hitter. We'll see. 

And of course Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Framber missing time hasn't helped. I liked the Odorizzi signing but he's sucked so far. 

Anyway, I want to see how he handles the bullpen and the Straw situation in-season, the Correa situation (i.e., if the team continues to flounder, how does he manage that), and next offseason. 

This may be a lost season for Odorizzi. In terms of the offseason, he's still going through Spring Training. Kinda like when Lance Lynn was signed by the Twins right before the season started and he was awful the entire year. Though Lynn's track record before that season is slightly better than Odorizzi, who was coming off a bad Covid season with the Twins.

Make a move to get a Brian Goodwin or a Mallex Smith type OF. Their ceilings are limited but their floors are much higher than Straw.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6305

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Posted
44 minutes ago, kevwun said:

The thing about Straw is that it was clear it was never going to work based on how bad he was last season.  Their are instincts involved with playing center field that you either have or you don't.  If you can't judge a fly ball after 20 years of playing baseball, that skill wasn't going to be developed in an off-season.  If Click thought that, he doesn't know what the fuck he is doing.  If he was told that Straw was going to play center, there are much bigger problems.

Yeah, I don't disagree. But we are talking about an organization that famously de-emphasized human scouting and relied much more on data to make these decisions. It'll be interesting to see how this dynamic evolves under Click, as that was a Lunhow-era change. 

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WBT

WBT 20131

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Yeah, I don't disagree. But we are talking about an organization that famously de-emphasized human scouting and relied much more on data to make these decisions. It'll be interesting to see how this dynamic evolves under Click, as that was a Lunhow-era change. 

I'm not sure what that has to do with it.  The data also shows that Straw sucks.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6305

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17 minutes ago, WBT said:

I'm not sure what that has to do with it.  The data also shows that Straw sucks.

No it doesn't. Per FG, for example, he's an above-average defender for his big league career, and he has positive dWAR per B-R. None of these paint him as a spectacular fielder, and the sample is still small, but they certainly don't show that he sucks. 

I'm not saying that he doesn't suck; just saying that these metrics do not show that he does. (Unless I am badly misinterpreting them, which is totally possible because I haven't read much about the metrics themselves beyond the definitions.)

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WBT

WBT 20131

Posted
Posted
32 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

PSA: Tonight’s game is only available on YouTube . No ATTSW

f manfred

So fucking stupid.  Kids like the youtube right?  Let's put one game a week on there and not let actual baseball fans watch the way they normally do.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9288

Posted
Posted

[tucker swinging over a 3-2 slider]
Me [whispering under my breath within earshot of my 8 yo daughter]: “Jesus Christ.”

Daughter: “why did you say ‘Jesus Christ’?  You took the Lord’s name in vain.”

Me: “I know. I’m sorry.”

Daughter: “You do it a lot...That’s why I wanted to call it out to you.”

Me thinking in my head: “well, have you seen this fucking team? I’m not sure even Jesus Christ could help them right now!”

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