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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread


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5 minutes ago, Scraps said:

I made the intro video...had my gut hanging out like a boss

Lol... my cool story bro of the day is that I actually did make that video. I spent about 35 hours in the editing room putting that one together this past week. Getting Charlie on board to voice it made all the difference, it allowed us to do a first person type script. 

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Lol... my cool story bro of the day is that I actually did make that video. I spent about 35 hours in the editing room putting that one together this past week. Getting Charlie on board to voice it made all the difference, it allowed us to do a first person type script. 
You quoted my unedited. I meant i was in it lol
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Article on stripling getting placed on the DL so he can rest... and miss his chance to face the Astros:

Ross Stripling flew home to Houston the morning after the 2017 World Series, bombarded around his economy seat by celebrating Astros fans. He had not played a prominent role in the Dodgers’ defeat, he had not even allowed a run, but he felt in part responsible for it. Pitching with a two-run lead in the seventh inning of Game 2, he issued a walk to the first man he faced and was promptly pulled.

As the Astros went on to win in 11 innings and then seven games, even as he followed with two solid appearances, Stripling thought back to his small, simple flub. He missed wildly with all four of his pitches to the Astros’ Marwin González, and his exit forced the back end of the Dodgers’ bullpen into action earlier than planned, which might have precipitated their downfall that night and later in the series.

Over the winter, it came up again and again, the reminders unavoidable in and around his Houston home. But, three months later, Stripling arrived in Arizona for spring training resolute on moving on, and it would be difficult to do so better than he has. He went from a middle reliever to an All-Star starting pitcher.

Into last month’s Midsummer Classic he went, in a tied 10th inning. On his first six pitches, he surrendered two home runs — to two Astros, Alex Bregman and George Springer. They would be the decisive runs in the American League’s victory, and Stripling saddled with the loss.

His dream-like first half over, he met the Dodgers in Milwaukee for the start of the second half. His next two starts, in Philadelphia and in Atlanta, were his two worst since he moved into the rotation in May.

This weekend, he knew, an opportunity for redemption loomed. The Astros are in town. He was pencilled in to start Saturday. Some family members could come out from Houston. He could face Gonzalez and Bregman and Springer again.

“As a competitor, you have to want the Astros, especially since they hit two homers off me in the All-Star Game, and obviously the stuff in the World Series,” Stripling said. “I would like a little rematch there. This place is gonna be crazy. Weekend series, World Series rematch, pitching at home. If you could chalk up a start that you’d want, that’d be the one.”

And then the Dodgers decided to place him on the disabled list Monday with what they announced was a toe injury. Manager Dave Roberts described it as an opportunity to rest and reset, and provided an oddly specific timeline for how soon Stripling could return: 10-12 days. Stripling said he is preparing to start Aug. 9 or 10 in Colorado, which is right in line with that.

He’ll replace the one start he’ll miss with an abbreviated simulated game and ideally be back feeling a bit fresher.

In years past, Stripling has been open about the reasons behind his disabled-list moves. After he missed a month with what the team termed lower body fatigue in 2016, he told MLB.com that it was “nothing but an inning limit.”

This week, he grinned and mimed a limp when asked how his toe felt as he briskly walked into the Dodgers’ clubhouse.

Given that he has already thrown 30 innings more than the 74 1/3 he did last regular season, Stripling said it made sense to him to take a break, like Walker Buehler and Julio Urías have done before him.

“Especially with the way that they’ve protected innings on different guys in the past, between myself, Buehler, Urías,” he said. “If I would’ve kept on the same pace and got up to 160, 170, that would’ve been over double what I threw last year. We can still get there if we keep making starts and it goes well. That’s how I view it.”

So, Stripling will attempt to recapture his course in Colorado or, soon, risk moving to the bullpen because of the Dodgers’ crowded pitching staff. Astros-specific redemption will have to wait until 2021 — or the World Series.

The Dodgers walloped the Brewers, 21-5, on Thursday, and regained control of the National League West with their 61-49 record. The surplus runs will not carry over into the Houston series, but their hitters’ better feelings might, as Justin Turner mentioned after hitting his first home run to the opposite field all season.

Cody Bellinger bounced a grand slam off a foul pole and rejoiced, feeling like he had finally broken out of a big slump, and Clayton Kershaw noted that he needed it. The slumping Max Muncy collected two doubles, one a total gift against a position player pitching and a lackadaisical Brewers outfield. There could be no better primer for a series against one of the best pitching staffs assembled in modern baseball.

Before Thursday’s game, Roberts said he wanted to say that the games against the Astros would be like any others, and in many ways they will be. But there will be more booing at Dodger Stadium than usual, there will be more noise, there will be a bit more adrenaline, if not for Stripling than for most everyone else.

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