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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread


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Well, damn.  It was a great season with the franchise record in wins.

This week was frustrating but Boston is a good team and played really well.  You never know what will happen in short sample theater.

We'll be back in the middle of it next year.

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LOL that 'only' making the final four now feels a little disappointing to me for the moment.  Still have the satisfaction of last year's championship that will never go away, still have a ton to look forward to next year.  Life is still good, just not quite as perfect. 

Edited by clapclapclap
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10 minutes ago, elfenix said:

well that's that.  see you fuckers in april

Do you even AFL bro?

Spoiler

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Forrest Whitley, baseball's best pitching prospect, has been the talk of the Arizona Fall League in the early season. But he's not the only Astros first-rounder who looks ready to make an impact at the big league level in the near future.

Fellow right-hander J.B. Bukauskas, the 15th overall pick in 2017 out of North Carolina, also has dominant stuff. He put it on display Thursday afternoon, throwing four shutout innings to lead the Scottsdale Scorpions to an 8-0 victory over the Peoria Javelinas.

 Gameday

Bukauskas, the Astros' No. 8 prospect allowed only two hits (one a double lost in the sun) and one walk while striking out four. He was efficient, throwing 36 of 58 pitches for strikes. In two AFL outings, he has permitted just one run while fanning nine in seven innings.

Against the Javelinas, Bukauskas worked at 94-96 mph and hit 98 mph with his fastball. His mid-80s slider lived up to its reputation as a wipeout pitch, and he also mixed in a few promising changeups with depth and a couple of cutters.

"I think the slider was probably my best pitch today," Bukauskas said. "The other night I really didn't have it with me. The changeup, I threw a couple good ones. I'm still working on developing that. I threw a couple of good cutter reps too that I was really happy with ...

"The slider is kind of my go-to. I think it has been for a while. If I have a good feel for it on the day, I'm going to lean pretty heavily on it."

Bukauskas also dominated during his first full pro season, posting a 2.14 ERA with 71 strikeouts and a .199 opponent average in 59 innings. But it didn't unfold as planned, because he got in an automobile accident during Spring Training that left him with a slipped disc in his back and limited him to three appearances in the first three months of the season. He wound up pitching at five different levels and said he jumped at the chance to get more work in during the Fall League.

"It was pretty frustrating but once I got going in the second half, I was pretty happy with the way things were going," Bukauskas said. "It limited me a lot. Getting to come out here and face this great competition has been awesome. I'm really fortunate I got the opportunity and just want to make the most of it right now."

The Scorpions took control of the game with six runs in the second inning, stringing together five singles, a walk and a hit batter against right-hander Jeremy Walker (Braves). Desmond Lindsay (Mets), Alfredo Rodriguez (Reds) and Darick Hall (Phillies) all contributed singles during the frame en route to two-hit days. Hall drove in three runs, two on an RBI single in the second and another on a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Lucius Fox (Rays) collected two of the Javelinas' seven hits, dropping his batting average slightly to .407. Fox ranks first in the league in runs (eight), second in hits (11), third in steals (five) and fifth in batting.

Scottsdale improved to 5-3, tied with the Mesa Solar Sox atop the East Division. Peoria dropped to 5-3, sharing the best record in the Fall League with those two clubs and holding a one-game lead over the Surprise Saguaros in the West.

Spoiler

Houston's No. 2 prospect Forrest Whitley came out solid in his start for the Scottsdale Scorpions on Tuesday afternoon. In four innings pitched, Whitley was able to record six strikeouts, only giving up two hits and one walk.

The Scorpions were able to surge past the Glendale Desert Dogs, 6-1, thanks to Whitley's impressive outing, including three straight strikeouts to escape a jam in the bottom of the second inning. The start came after Whitley was named the AFL Pitcher of the Week earlier in the day.

 

2018 Arizona Fall League rosters
Click on the AFL team name to see complete roster.
AFL club MLB clubs
Glendale BAL, CLE, CWS, LA, NYY
Peoria ATL, MIL, SD, SEA, TB
Salt River ARI, COL, MIA, MIN, WSH
Surprise KC, PIT, STL, TEX, TOR
Scottsdale CIN, HOU, NYM, PHI, SF
Mesa BOS, CHC, DET, LAA, OAK

"Ideally I was just trying to get a ground ball to get a double play, but I took matters into my own hands and got out of it." Whitley said.

The right-hander feels like he got some good work in at Camelback Ranch, throwing 64 pitches with 44 of those landing for strikes.

"At the end of the day it's not about the strikeouts," Whitley said. "It's about eating up as many innings as I can; that's why I'm here."

Getting strikeouts is not Whitley's goal, but he agrees that they are nice to have when he is on the mound after missing some time this past season.

Whitley wasn't the only Astros' prospect to contribute to the Scorpions' win.

Two other Astros prospects, Ronnie Dawson and Drew Ferguson, got the offense started for the Scorpions.

Dawson hit an RBI double to tie the game and Ferguson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Scorpions the lead in the top of the fourth inning.

Some insurance runs came in toward the end of the game from New York Met's No. 2 prospect Peter Alonso, who is also No. 58 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list.

Alonso went 2-for-3, hitting a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. It was his second homer thus far in the Fall League.

The Scorpions put up eight hits against the Desert Dogs four and are now 3-3 on the season.

 

Edited by WBT
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Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits. 

We definitely didn’t have the mojo of last year in the ALCS. 

Got to get healthy and improve the bottom of the lineup and bench. 

I said last year that winning it all once in my lifetime would be enough. I’ve found that not to be true. 

Got to give it to the Red Sox. They have a hell of a team. 

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11 minutes ago, thetruth said:

Told myself if Boston could get by Verlander and Cole they deserved to win. Also, fuck Selig

I agree, they are a fantastic team and I totally tip my cap. 

But I can never root for them. Their fans are too obnoxious and entitled. But if they win, as a Vandy grad I’ll be happy for Price. And of course I have the ultimate respect for Cora. 

But still, Boston sports can blow me. 

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