Saturday notes: Pinch me, I’m dreaming

Happy Saturday friends. You may need to help me this morning. I awoke and had this magnificent dream, but I had to shake myself to my senses.

Sometime in the middle of the night I needed a glass of water,  then went back to sleep.

I started seeing baseballs flying, and they were going a long, long way. First, Evan Gattis, then Jake Marisnick (this is when I knew it was only a dream), then George Springer.

I was smiling.

Quick flash to the mound and this guy named Sam Deduno was pitching. Suddenly, I wondered if this dream wasn’t a nightmare flashback to 2011 or 2012. What is Sam doing on the mound at the beginning of the game? Ugghhh.

Oh, and earlier I could see Kevin Chapman on a plane to Houston? Who? Really? Where was Tony Sipp and Joe Thatcher? Had they suddenly switched to become right-handed pitchers?

Then, ever so suddenly, the American League standings started to scroll across the top of my dream. No, not the bottom like ESPN, across the top like a weather bulletin. What? And, it was in red letters and was prefaced with a flashing BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

I just had to smile, almost laugh out loud!  But it was a nice dream, nonetheless.

Still laughing when I write this: The Astros have the best record in the American League. 16-7. Yeah, right!  16-7! And five games up on the field?

What a dream, right?

And, hey, behind the standings’ scroll, it said Houston is 14-0 when scoring first and 13-0 when scoring 4+ runs!  Houston has scored 4+ runs in 13 of 23 games? Come on!

Great, great dream, huh?

Oh, and then Luke Gregerson comes running in to save the day in the ninth inning and gives up two home runs. That guy! Wait, two home runs in the ninth and the Astros still win?!

Come on, pinch me!

Oh, well, I could go on…like there’s this one: The Astros had their best April since 1986. 1986? What are they trying to say? That the 2015 Astros are the 1986 team? Come on, man!

Pinch me please! Had any dreams like that? If so, what’s going on in your dreams?

 

←
→

88 responses to “Saturday notes: Pinch me, I’m dreaming”

Newer Comments »

  1. I had a dream, too. Every time George Springer came to the plate last night, I dreamed he stopped thinking about shifts and just think about making good contact. I knew if he did that, the ball was going to end up out by Crawford St.
    George is a power hitter. His swing naturally is going to lead him to pull the ball. He has always been a line drive power guy and MMP is tailored for him. Remember what Princess Elsa said over and over, George: Let it Go.

    Like

    Reply

  2. By the way, Chip, I made a mistake on yesterday’s blog. Sometime, as I slept in the last couple of days, Sclafani was shipped back up to AAA, and was ejected from Fresno’s game last night, not Corpus Christi’s.
    From what I could gather, he was called out on strikes to end an inning, then went to play 3B and when a batter on the other team walked, Joe must have lost his cool and was thrown out by the home plate umpire.

    Like

    Reply

  3. At this point, Sclafani might have reason to be a bit frustrated. He’s been shipped all over the place for the past three years, back and forth, never had a position and I would not blame him for maybe thinking he’d like to be playing for another organization. And he probably has a better idea of the strike zome than that ump behind the plate last night. So what happens now, are they going to ship him back to CC to cover for Moran?

    Like

    Reply

  5. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a big crowd for tonight’s game, to see the first place Astros. No NBA, no NFL draft.
    You just know the team would love to see and hear a stadium full of loud fans after the way they have been playing.

    Like

    Reply

  6. it was great to see them all on their feet for the 9th , brought back great memories. It would be fun to do a Attendance comparison after this home stand to 2014 and 13

    Like

    Reply

  8. I have not seen Deduno pitch very much. That guy can not throw a straight pitch if his life depended on it. He looked a little rusty, but he appears to throw a natural sinker. If he keeps that down, he can be my 5th starter. And Fields – 1 1/3 innings and 4 Ks.

    Like

    Reply

  10. This kid pitching tonight for the M’s has a 3-0 winning percentage against the Astros……
    the boys are gonna have their hands full with this guy. I hope McHugh brings his magic to the park tonight…….he’s gonna need it if Taijuan Walker has his game on.

    Like

    Reply

    • Looks like he’s getting that strikeout artist off of 1B and has Marwin in there for another lefty bat. Villar at SS and batting LH.

      Like

      Reply

  12. fun fact
    ..if they play .500 ball the rest of the way, they’d have 85 wins (which is one more win than I predicted to start the season)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Just remembered one other thing from the dream! Can’t remember if this was scrolling along the screen or if Brownie or someone else said it: The Astros have the biggest lead of all division leaders right now. Go figure!

    Like

    Reply

  14. Seattle has a lot of lefty hitters, so of the three pitchers we have rested in the bullpen, Harris, Sipp and Thatcher, two of them are lefties. I’m just sayin’! Hinch seems to have his ducks in a row.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Thank you Quad Cities for another win today. The minor league team with only one top 20 prospect on it goes to 17-6 for the year.

    Like

    Reply

  22. Chip…..you keep on dreaming!! I can only imagine how loud that ball park was tonight!!
    Did any of you guys go to the game tonight?? Who would have thought this team would hit *5* homeruns in a game! Jake Marisnick for President!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. Hey folks, I need some help. Last year, the Astros acquired Jake Marisnick from Miami. Can you recall that pitcher’s name Houston sent over in the deal?

    What. A. Catch. on Tal’s HIll!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. My advice to McClendon is don’t go out and tell your pitchers how to pitch to Jose Altuve. That ain’t workin’.
    Did anybody notice that Walker was afraid of Springer on 1B after walking him? He threw the ball away trying to pick Springer off, got shook up and gave up consecutive dingers to Gattis and Rasmus. Walker was never the same after his error. Speed counts!
    Once the Astros went ahead, McHugh found his groove.
    Pitching, defense, speed and power= 17-7.

    Like

    Reply

  30. Pinch me, I’m dreaming. The Brewers are the worst team in baseball and are in the same division as the team with the best record. That results in them being 11.5 games behind after 24 games. Baseball is definitely fun this year! It couldn’t happen to a better organization.

    Like

    Reply

  32. The Astros have been climbing up the statistical ladder in hitting.
    They are now 16th in BA at .247
    11th in OBP at .323
    4th in SLG at .439
    5th in OPS at .762
    They are tied for 1st in HRs at 37 and first in SBs at 31.
    After being worst in baseball last year in hitting doubles, they up to fifth place with 43 this season.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  33. At least early on it looks like Luhnow’s plan to offset the strikeouts with HRs is working. He took a lot of heat from the press and fans, but he deserves some credit for doing what many said would not work. With that being said a slump very well could happen, but this great start probably keeps us in the conversation for the playoffs all summer.

    Like

    Reply

    • I’m not ready to eat my words on the Ks, but if Luhnow foresaw the gigantic April from Marisnick I have to tip my hat and give him credit where it’s due! I had him pegged as a fourth OF. Then again, I had Keuchel pegged as a bottom of the rotation guy…and was very wrong.

      Like

      Reply

  34. Tim, you could say that Carter, Villar, Castro, and Grossman are in pretty big slumps right now, plus they lost one of their hottest hitters to injury. And yet, they are still winning. If Castro and Carter were to come out of their slumps, well……….

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Exactly, OP! Yes, JFSF is far exceeding, offensively, what we expected from him, but several others are performing well below what we expected. Yet, our favorite team stands 10 games above .500 and the largest lead of any division leader. When JFSF hits a slump can’t we expect Carter or Castro to pick it up and help offset Jake’s slump? One thing that won’t slump is Jake’s defense and that has been very impressive, but we all knew he was one of the greatest defensive CFers in baseball. This team is built to overcome a slump from Jake.

      Like

      Reply

  35. TY OP I Forgot Carter, Grossman, and Catsro were on the team,well at least Castro has been solid behind the plate. I agree JFSF simply the surprise of baseball so far.

    Like

    Reply

  37. What’s funny. Everyone has forgotten names like Foltynewicz, Tropeano, Cosart, even Santana and Singleton. There was once a pitcher we traded to Colorado right? For an outfielder who played some in center, right? Who was that guy? Is he still in baseball?

    Like

    Reply

    • Negative.

      Folty is 1-0 for the Braves (5IP, 2ER, 3BB, 2K) after one start
      Tropeano is 1-0 for Angels (6IP, 0R, 1BB, 5K) after one start
      Lyles is 3-2 for Rockies (29 2/3 IP, 4.25ERA, 16BB, 15K) after 5 starts
      Cosart is 1-1 for Marlins (25 1/3IP, 2.49ERA, 7BB, 12K, 0.91WHIP) after 4 starts
      Fowler is .282/.351/.412 through 85AB.

      I wouldn’t view any of those trades as if they were the Larry Anderson or Glenn Davis trades. Both sides seem to have done well to this point. I expect Houston will win the Folty/Gattis deal unless Ruiz turns into an above average 3B based mainly on cost and player control of Gattis. I expect we won the Colorado trade based on getting a good, partial year from Fowler that we flipped for Valbuena…but if Straily pitches for Houston it might negatively impact that. The Marlins trade looks like a win-win for both teams in my book. If JFSF keeps hitting like an All-Star then we’ll call it a win for Houston. The Tropeano – Conger deal is the only one I suspect we lose overall, at this point.

      Like

      Reply

      • Devin, one slight note. The Jake trade (aka Khaki Trade) also includes the 37th pick in this year’s draft for the AStros. COuld be a caveat that pays off and helps to tip it in favor of Houston down the road.

        Like

    • I still follow all those guys..And Folty is the one I’m most concerned about losing at this point. He throws a hundred and is still learning how to pitch…Gattis is a one tool guy replacable from within the organization. And lets not forget we gave up a couple of other good prospects too.

      Like

      Reply

  41. Hinch……..you might be playing with fire, with “you know who” at 3rd. base today.
    Carter…….I hope you can handle the throws from “you know who”
    I hope Fausto brings his A game today!! .

    Like

    Reply

  42. To continue a thread from a few weeks back

    JFSF – .391/.437/.656 9 SB’s
    Anthony Gose – .322/.355/.475 4SB’s
    Jordan Schafer – .176/.208/.216 0 SB’s
    Brett Wallace – .318/.385/.459 0 SB’s (El Paso in the PCL)

    Like

    Reply

  43. BECKY your right Villar strikes again cost us the tying run, chump can catch , time to move on for good! Let some one else have him

    Like

    Reply

  45. And Villar failed to make the play on the first batter who hit one off Hernandez’s glove.A tough but makeable play.

    Like

    Reply

  46. Had to run in from the living room to say “Oh, No, Becky!
    Just remember: I’m one of the guys who said to bring up Correa and leave Villar in California. He let the second run roll into the dugout, the third run get to 1B and the sixth run stroll home.
    He is like a time bomb. The only question is: will he kill you or just wound you?
    He sure let the air out of the Astros balloon. Can somebody pick them up?

    Like

    Reply

  48. Kind of an odd feeling, coughing up a big lead late, and still confident that the good guys will win it.

    Like

    Reply

  49. So you are the Seattle Mariners looking at the early part of the season and you see you get to play 16 games in the first 25 against the Astros, Rangers and Twins (3 of the worst teams from 2014) and 7 of those are against the Astros.
    You would bet big money that you would not be 9-16 and you sure would not bet that you would be 1-6 against the Astros…..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  50. I think Evan Gattis is getting comfortable with the Crawford Boxes. He hits some ropes, doesn’t he?

    Like

    Reply
Newer Comments »

Leave a comment