Astros and Redemption Sunday
Act 2: The Astros, Yanks meet in the ALCS
Now it gets hard for Astros
Observations on an Astros’ 2-0 lead in the ALDS
Astros and Rays: A look ahead at the ALDS
Thoughts and observations on the Astros
Astros ALDS roster: Some tough decisions
Astros playoffs: 3 reasons to worry or not
The current situation concerning the Astros’ All Star shortstop Carlos Correa has been a head-scratcher. Health problems have always been a concern for the super talented player dating back to his short time in the minors, but the last season and a half has changed the nature of the concerns towards skepticism and suspicion.
First of all, apologies to Edwin Starr and his Vietnam anti-war anthem. Good song. WAR the statistic, I am not so sure.
The Astros clinched their 3rd straight AL West Title on Sunday and 4th playoff spot in 5 seasons, but it did not seem to inspire a lot of jumping up and down from the legion of Astro fans on this blog.
A tie is not likely to occur in the AL Cy Young race. The rules are as follows:
When you have been watching baseball since the mid-1960’s every new player reminds you of someone from the past. Justin Verlander might remind you of a bigger version of Nolan Ryan, reinventing himself (and improving) at an age when many players hang it up. Michael Brantley might make one think of a David Justice, someone who is just a professional hitter and solid player.
The Astros are on the cusp of winning more than 100 games for the third straight season. If they go 6-5 or better they will increase their win total again for the third straight season and will for the second year in a row set a team record for wins. If they keep working they should in a few days capture the AL West for the third time in three years and if they are rip-roaring good in the next 11 games they have a shot at having the best record in the AL and all of baseball.
This is a bit of a recurring theme for Dan P. Whip out a couple posts during the week, have you good folks come up with thought-provoking comments, have the team create more questions with their play and end up on Saturday with some open intriguing questions. That is just begging for another post and here it is.
We won’t even touch on the subject of the Astros having to piece together a fifth starter from miscellaneous minor league and minor bullpen pieces, because at this point the Astros are focused on the post-season and the post-season means they need four starters or at least three starters and a two man tandem for the fourth spot. Fans know they have three solid, proven starters in Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke and two of those are far beyond solid.
