This is the time for the 2015 Houston Astros

The kids have done about as good as anyone could expect through 5 months of an approximate 6 month season. Since April 19th they have led or been tied for the lead for 119 of 127 games and they have never been more than 2 games out of first place any time since the beginning of the season.

But in reality, the real season starts in September. This is the time when inexperience, injuries and inaction by the front office come to the forefront.

Only a handful of Astros has ever been in a pennant race. George Springer, Carlos Correa, Jason Castro, Marwin Gonzalez, Luis Valbuena, Preston Tucker, Jake Marisnick, Dallas Keuchel, Colin McHugh, Lance McCullers Jr., and Vincent Velasquez have never sniffed a pennant race. Does this matter? Heck the fans are nervous right now, imagine how these players are feeling right now. On the plus side a player like Carlos Correa is so special that he does not seem to notice that this is not a Lancaster A+ league pennant race.

With a young club that is not super deep, injuries can affect them down the stretch. Yes, they have other options than Scott Feldman in the rotation, but he is one of the most experienced and tested players on the team and between last year and this season has been one of the best pitchers down the stretch. There is a good chance he may not pitch again this season. Castro went down at a crucial time for this team. There is no doubt that the pitching staff is missing him defensively and as a game caller here in September. His return is critical to their success. At this point, they really need no other injuries.

It is really too late to do anything about the front office inaction. The inaction highlighted here is of course their refusal to address the poor offensive performances of Chris Carter and Valbuena and in my mind Evan Gattis. Yes, they have rotated Marwin Gonzalez into 3B and 1B and Jed Lowrie into 3B and this has helped. But the team needed to do something sooner to have full effect. Not breaking spring training with Carlos Correa probably cost them a couple games. Not trading for or bringing up a better offensive 1B (Matt Duffy, Tyler White) probably cost them a couple games. It does not sound like a lot of help, but as the Astros are staring at a lead shrunk to 1 game (0 games in the loss column) two or three games would be huge.

The current road trip that has started off with two tough losses may tell the tale with this team. If they don’t turn things around they could be 3 or 4 games back when they return home next week. Every time this team has looked like it was about to collapse this season, they have bowed their backs and played better and the team(s) chasing them in the AL West have played a little worse.

The questions for you today:

  • Will this team hold on and win the AL West?
  • Why or why not?
  • If not – will this team be a Wild Card play-in team?
  • What is most crucial to this team down the stretch?  Better Offense? Continued Great Starting pitching? Some help with the Rangers and Angels?
  • Who will be the Astros hero of September? The goat?
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122 responses to “This is the time for the 2015 Houston Astros”

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  1. They fought hard with to many holes I think. Lun whatever’s ego and I guess all the money stuff on calling people up, which I never understand any way, has sealed the deal this year I’m afraid

    *altuve slumps were dead
    * carter should have been gone weeks ago
    * Tucker should be DH every time a righty starts, Gattis has sucked for weeks
    *never been a Fields fan he is a waste of time, everyone can hit his fast fastball and his curve sucks
    *Thatcher out of here

    BUT long term we have an amazing future with all the young talent on the team and in the minors. Lun whatever, just needs to chill his frigging ego and make the right decisions based on reality, eye test, not all stats.

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  2. * Will this team hold on and win the West?*

    I can’t see it. This team will be embarrassed the rest of the way because we are outmanned and will be manhandled by the Rangers. We can’t even hold our own with the last place As right now. The reasons: We don’t have a DH who contributes when it matters, and we don’t have a 1B who contributes at all. We lost our catcher at a critical point in the season, and the guy we put in there to replace him [i.e. Hank Conger] was just not up to it. But most of all, we don’t win the division because give the Texas GM credit – he has just put together a far better MLB product than the Astros FO has.

    Heroes? Though I do not expect it to be enough, I expect offensive heroics from Lowrie, Correa, Tucker, and Gonzales. From the pitching staff I am looking at more heroics from Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh and Velasquez.

    Goats? Offensively I am confident we will need help – and get the opposite – from Carter, Gattis, Conger, Gomez, and unfortunately, due to lingering cobwebs from time off, Springer. Altuve has gone cold, so I expect ‘meh’ from him. From the pitching staff I am looking at goat-like moments for Kazmir, Fiers, Qualls, Fields, and Neshek.

    What do we need down the stretch? We need to bring 80% of the guys who walk, get hit by a pitch, or reach on an error home. We need not to strike out or pop out on the infield with men on base. We need to quit getting picked off base or running into outs. We need at least two guys in the middle of the order to start doing some consistent clutch hitting – which we have not had from the middle of the order all season. And that, unfortunately, is just too much to ask of this team as presently configured.

    Regarding the Rangers. We play 7 games against them. We don’t need anybody else’s help. We need to win 5 or more of those games.

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  3. I don’t see how the Astros can win the division this year. Tell me where we are better then the Rangers? Starting pitching? No. Bullpen? Not anymore. Lineup? Not even close. Defense? Maybe, but it’s not a definite. How long has it been since the Astros have had a 3-game winning streak? I think only the blind optimistic Astros fan sees them winning the division. Now, I do believe they get the last WC spot and, considering where they have been the last 5 years, this is still a successful season, but just disappointing when they have led the majority of the season.

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    • If Texas does to us what it looks like on paper they should do to us, I am not sure we even get the wild card over Minn and NY. As I look at the schedule, I think we will need to see some major heroics from Altuve, Correa, Springer, Tucker, Gattis, Gomez, and Valbuena or Carter on the offense, nothing but quality starts and escape artistry from all our starters, and virtually no walks or HRs allowed by our relievers just to stay in the Wild Card race.

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      • NY really isn’t in this conversation. Either they win the division or the top WC spot. Minnesota, like the Astros, has struggled on the road and for this reason I think the Astros hang on to that last WC spot. Now, if the Astros finish this road trip 1-9 or 2-8 then all bets are off and Minnesota probably passes the Astros, but I think they will find a way to finish, at least, 4-6, which should be enough for the WC.

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  4. Dan
    Great job on the post today. Is the future bright? Absolutely. Do we win the division? I’m beginning to think no. Wild card? Who knows. We definitely have some key pieces of what could be a very very good team. I’m torn as to how to feel right now. On one hand I’m very pleased that we have had the type of season that we are still in contention in the last month of the season. On the other hand I’m upset because I feel just like you eluded to in your post that there are things that the FO could of and should have done differently.
    I’m hoping that in a week and a couple of days we are excited that we are still be in first place. Let’s hope that Arlington has a rough rest of the week and weekend before we play each other. Thanks again Dan!

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  5. At this point I don’t see us in the playoffs. Hope I’m wrong, but until [whoever] makes out the lineup sees past Carter, Gattis, and Valbuena, things will continue to deteriorate.

    We have amazing talent coming in the future but will the organization utilize them or keep making the same mistakes. We have unused talent [Tucker] sitting most days. I’ve never seen such stubbornness as they’ve shown this year.

    All we can do is hope.

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  6. So, we think Luhnow jumped the gun by sending prospects for Kazmir, Gomez, and Fiers…but think he choked by not pulling the trigger to drop Carter and replace with Duffy/White?

    I think the next eight games are crucial. Losing any ground to Texas might be the death knell of our division title aspirations, but more importantly, we have the opportunity to kick two clubs we don’t want to play during October backwards. Look at the Mets/Nats series. It started with a 5.0 lead for NYM. A lot of people were talking it up as if a Nats sweep was in the bag to cut the lead to 2.0…but now the lead is 7.0 and Bryce Harper can make plans to play golf next month.

    I’m going to be an optimist. I still don’t think that Texas team is very good. My biggest fear is Conger. He has had a couple superb offensive games, but generally has cost us severely at both ends.

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  7. Also, the Astros have a worse record since Correa has been called up than they did before he was brought up. This isn’t a knock on Correa as we all agree he is going to be a superstar, but I don’t think he would have added any more wins this season if he was the starting SS on opening day.

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  8. 1. I believe they can and should still win. The Rangers have to play 2 more games and win both of them. 2. If they fall apart and lose, I don’t see the Wild Card as anything but a 1 game consolation prize. 3. Pitching just as good (great) and continued good (great) defense. But the offense has to achieve consistency – for them to win. 4. If they win the heroes will be the pitching and top of the order. If they lose, the goat will continue to the be middle of the order.

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    • AC45, unfortunately it is looking pretty clear that the top of the line-up is not quite good enough to win the pennant by itself. Coming out of this road trip in first place will require significant help from the middle of the line-up – and that is where we are weakest, especially when Preston Tucker sits. Lowrie, Tucker and Gomez need to stake claim to 4-5-6 and rack up big EBH and RBI totals there the rest of the year. Gattis, Valbuena, and Carter all had shot after shot, and each of those guys has left the guys at the top of the order hanging time after time after time.

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  10. Unless we bring up some guys who can hit the baseball, the playoffs could be something that we don’t participate in. And stop putting guys in the lineup that are not delivering. When someone gets hot you play them everyday. When they go cold, you sit them for a spell. It’s time to put on our playoff run hats and dis guard all of those let’s give everybody a chance hats.Time to fish or cut bait!

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  11. The rotation is set for the Rangers series.
    Kazmir-Mccullars – Keuchel- McHugh.
    They will HAVE to win at least 2 outta 4 then come back home and pull out that magic dust and sprinkle it all over the field. Speaking of Field-s you guys have been mighty hard on the guy. You have to look at the season on the whole. He hadn’t been used that MUCH because the back end of the pen has been pretty awsome, and the starting pitchers have gone deep in the games. Look, I agree that he hasn’t been the “lights” our guy, but neither has Sipp, Perez,Thatcher, Nesheck, or even Gregerson. Lighten up, most of these guys either pitch one inning every 3-4 days. It’s hard to remain that sharp! I said a prayer for the guys today, they need this game real bad.

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  12. I’d say a rosary for the guys Becky, but I usually reserve that for something more serious than this. Maybe I’ll say a Chaplet…
    Y’all are pretty depressed right now and maybe more realistic than I am. I still float back to July when the team’s 7 game lead had evaporated and they were trailing the Angels by 2 games and seemingly ready to free-fall…and then they didn’t.
    Maybe Sir George Springer will go on a two week bat crap crazy run. Who knows – anyways – don’t give up on the guys – this has felt like “that” kind of season a number of times this year and maybe they will do a miracle run down the stretch.

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    • I attribute that more to the Angels playing poorly than the Astros rebounding. Make no mistake about it, I would love to eat crow and be watching the Astros start the playoffs at the A.L East winner, but I just don’t think we are as good a team as Texas right now. This reminds me so much of the 2004 season when the Astros made a strong, late charge to overtake the Cubs for the wildcard in the N.L. except this year we are the Cubs and the Rangers are the Astros. The saving grace is that the wild card is still a possibility while in 2004 either it was playoffs or bust. Can anyone here cook up a wonderful dish of crow in case I need some in early October?

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      • I’m not saying you are wrong Tim, because you could absolutely be totally right. But baseball is the weirdest, streakiest, makes no sense sport. The Rangers could continue to mow down the competition and the Astros could end up 10 games out. Or….the Astros could string together a bunch of late inning come from behind wins and have a 4 game lead when they come home next week. No way of telling what will happen, but this has been a resilient club that has played its best ball at the end of games. Well, this is the equivalent of late in the game as far as the season goes. Can they put together a big kick down the stretch? We will see.

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  13. The Lancaster Jet Hawks and the Fresno Grizzlies start their first games of the playoffs tonight! The team out in California has a great team again this year!! And A.J.Reed made the MLB all star team, and Joe Musgrove, Tony Kemp made the second All star team! Not bad fellas!! The calvary is on its way!!

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    • Don’t feel bad. Kevin Eschenfelder tweeted ‘Jed Lowry’ on Sunday after the grand slam, and he covers the Astros on ROOT Sports. Of course, I replied to his tweet calling him out for it (because that is how I roll) and he replied ‘my bad, it has been a long day’.

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  16. What is wrong with this manager?
    Put Gonzo on first, Lowrie on third, and Stassi behind the plate ( until Castro returns) and leave them there. Let Tucker DH ( at least against righties)

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  18. 1. Win the West.
    2. Why? Cause some very smart people here, en masse, are taking the other side of that trade and I, for no particular reason, am more optimistic.
    4. Pitching
    5. Heros. Kazmir. He will completely turn it around beginning with his next start. McHugh will stay on course, Gomez will suddenly surprise, and surprisingly so will Villar..
    6. Goat. Will vary from loss to loss. No one consistently.

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    • Yeah as I’ve said before swinging twice as hard as necessary does not result in a 600 ft homer. I will say that Rasmus hit a gorgeous moonshot for our run tonight.

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  21. Framin’ Hank had a huge opposite field single to drive in two, but just got erased on a Springer 6-4 fielder’s choice. I only bring it up because Conger got about the worst secondary lead I’ve seen from a big leaguer. The SS bobbled but still easily got him at second on a slow roller.

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  29. Oh yes, it’s “Q”. At least it was only an inherited runner that scored but that’s still one too many. Need to score some more runs guys.

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  30. The Astros have just tied with the 2004 Tigers with 11 players with double digit homeruns!! Whose up with me listening (watching) this game???
    Anybody?

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  34. The A’S short stop just committed his *34*th error this season……he must be Villerror’S brother from a different mother! GOOD LORD!!

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  36. I stayed up, too. But I was watching with my good luck charm.
    Astros win
    Fresno wins
    Corpus Christi wins
    Lancaster wins
    Rangers lose.

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  37. On the Springer grounder mentioned above. I loved how the announcers described the FC. “And Conger finally got to 2nd base.” But I will take his RBIs and be happy. I wonder if all that hopping around caused McHugh to have control problems. His pitch patterns were all over the place, but Conger would never be described as “quiet.” Enjoyed the win. To borrow from Dumb and Dumber – more like 1 in a million – But There’s A Chance.

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    • Would also like to comment on the top of the order. Altuve needs to square up the ball to hit above .300. Last night he did so. Not so for the previous few games. Correa hit one on the button but he and Springer had some ugly at bats. They need to square up the ball also. The middle and bottom of the order carried the day. But when you get 13 hits and 11 runs, it is good hitting. That bailed out McHugh. A win is a win.

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  38. Watched it all just didn’t have my lap top. Conger and Gattis actually ran into a couple pitches. Margo has had an awesome year, Unless we are way ahead or behind the rest of the year no, Carter, Valbuena, Villerror, Gattis part time, Fields, Thatcher, Conger, and more Tucker.

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  39. Last night was a one-day reprieve, and it is received thankfully. Cudos to the guys who finally squared the ball up – Gomez, Gattis, and Conger. Colby Rasmus and Marwin Gonzales have been hitting the ball hard throughout this critical stretch run, so I won’t include their names with the cast of under-achievers.

    But now for a sobering little dose of reality. Last night we faced a pitcher who was not on top of his game. Brooks and his 7.62 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in an As uni was nowhere near the quality of the starters we will face at LAA and Texas. Even yet, our usually excellent pitching staff somehow folded late, and gave the last-place As five runs. Obviously, giving up 5 runs will get this team beat on most nights.

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  40. Hard to believe how lucky Villar was. He makes a huge mistake as a pinch runner and ends up on third base because the other team’s catcher imitated a Hank Conger throw. Then Villar stands on third and laughs at his own stupidity..
    Mrs. 1OP wanted to know why I was upset, since he was on third. The only way I could explain it was that Villar has an anvil resting on his shoulders.

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  41. Regarding Lancaster’s come-back win last night. I do not really know much about 25 year old, 40th round draft pick Steve Naemark, but as of today he is a hero to me. He was called to come in for the JetHawks with two outs and a man on in the first after Keegan Yuhl imploded and gave up 5 runs in the first inning. Naemark proceeded to pitch 4.1 gutsy innings of one run, three hit ball, giving up only 1 BB while notching 3 Ks. He gave the JetHawks offense a chance to get back in the game – and they made good on it. I will remember the name Steve Naemark, though at his age and low draft pedigree I doubt we’ll ever see him in Houston. His performance last night was, however, what the game of baseball is all about.

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  42. I usually get up at about 6:00 AM Atlantic Standard Time (which is the same as EST this time of year). As a result, I’m long gone before much of the West Coast games happen. I turned out the lights after Conger got his opposite field base hit that made it 3 zip. I felt pretty good at that point. I did not expect an 11-6 final, but anytime we combine a win with a loss from devils, then the coffee tastes that much better out on the porch first thing. This month will be a roller coaster ride. Yesterday it seemed a majority here was pretty much convinced we were out of it. Today we feel a little better. And so it will go.

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  43. I was surprised to wake up this morning and see that McHugh’s outing went down hill. The first 4 innings he was very good except for a couple walks and had good movement on the ball. I think he had given up 1 hit through 4. Did he start grooving it with a 7 run lead?
    I think if the Astros can come home tied for 1st place or better they will win this sucker. The most critical thing here is to at least split with the Rangers, a 1-3 or 0-4 visit will kill them I afraid.
    Can they bandaid together enough offense against better pitching? Can their pitchers not wilt under the expectations of carrying the team?
    It was a positive that they could win last night without the top of the lineup carrying them. I am expecting Springer to do like Lowrie and struggle for a bit after returning from his injury, but then suddenly to get it rolling.

    Becky had asked about the A’s using their switch pitcher. He had a 6 finger glove (Princess Bride references are welcome here) and the rule is that whatever side he chooses to start with on a hitter he has to stay there. Otherwise he and a switch hitter could be switching back and forth forever.
    So he pitched righty to Lowrie, who is better as a right handed hitter.
    This did not work in the A’s favor this game as he faced 5 guys, walked one gave up two hits including a HR.

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    • My hubby probably has thought about having me committed. Wanted to know why I was late getting ready for work. Cause I kept waking up to check the score. My “at bat app” kept dinging every time the Astros, A’s, Mariners, or Rangers scored. Well not the Rangers, they didn’t score 🙂

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  45. Dan: I think Bob Melvin was throwing out there any and all relievers who he could just to stay in the game for 9 innings. I would have given money to see him pitch last night!! Mr. Bill is 100% correct, on any other night giving up 5 runs would have lost the game, that’s the Stat these guys need to remember. I hate it when these guys have a day off. They lose the momentum they had, and it doesn’t go in their favor facing a new team…..and if they don’t think the Angels are still in it, hide and watch.
    I hope they don’t let their guard down, but I have a sinking feeling they may very well do just that. When I think about a very good back up catcher, I really miss Corporan.
    He was so quiet behind the plate, and the pitchers really liked him. One of the first items on Luhnow’S list this winter, is get another catcher who can:
    1.) Stay QUIET behind the plate
    2.) Be able to TRY and throw out a runner
    3.) Hit the dang BALL.

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  46. I wanted to say one thing about Conger’s hitting. He has hit well for a backup catcher 10 HR and 31 RBI with a .755 OPS. If they only used him as a LHB against righties he is excellent with an OPS over .900. His hitting against lefties is horrible. His catching is bad especially his throwing. He should be DHing against righties.

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    • DanP: Not an argument but where does Tucker fit into the team plans? He is not going to bounce Gomez or Springer and if he is not the DH against RHers – he will just have to sit and tell jokes to Carter. No reason to pay Rasmus $8 Million to warm a bench. Then again, no reason to pay Presley and Singleton $3 Million to play in Fresno.

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      • AC45, this is exactly what puzzles me. What were they thinking trading for another out fielder? What ARE they going to do with Tucker? They’re going to have to trim the roster someway.
        I’d hate to lose Tucker.

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  47. Uh, no. Conger should be on the bench when he’s not catching because he’s the backup catcher and would require the pitcher to hit if the starting catcher got hurt and Conger was DHing.
    Plus the fact that Tucker should be the DH against righties, not Conger, because Tucker is a better hitter and a better base runner. When Castro comes back Conger should keep score. I’m sorry but he can’t hit lefties, he can’t hit a curve from either side, or any slider at the knees and he cannot throw. He occasionally hits a mistake and it’s almost always a fastball, in the zone. If a pitcher does not throw him a fastball in the zone, Conger is an out.

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  48. I have watched some really poor quality back up catchers. You can include Bob Uecker and Joe Garagiola who made a career out of making fun of themselves. Or you can include Ned Yost and others. But I have never seen a pretend MLB backup catcher that throws as poorly as Conger. He must have need for surgery in his arm. He is the only catcher in the majors that – my advise to the manager – would be when the runner on 1st breaks for 2nd, throw the ball to 3rd. You might have a chance to cut him off on his way home.

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  49. Hinch has been working with Conger, but……..why in the hell does the manager HAVE to work with a guy whose supposed to be a MLB catcher? I can see Hinch working with Stassi….but if you have to work with a catcher on throwing out runnrs, then shame on us for trading so much talent to get him. I’m not going to apologize for my comment, because the starting pitchers are going to NEED him to help keep the running game in check, AND they need to feel comfortable throwing to him, which doesn’t seem so great so far. Plain and simple, as much as we complain about Castro, Hank Conger is a bust BIG time.

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  50. Watching the Ranger-Mariners game. They just announced Cole Hamels has been moved up to face the Astros Monday. So that opens the possibility of him starting against us when they come here.

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    • The Rangers came up with that idea last night and actually jerked Chi Chi from his start for Round rock in the AAA playoffs after 2 innings, so he could start in Hamels place this weekend, so that Hamels could be pushed back and face us.
      It worked out, too, because Round rock still beat the OKC Dodgers with other pitchers.
      Texas is doing everything they can to beat us.
      But we have Gummy Bears.

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    • I don’t blame Texas for that, considering the price they paid in prospects to get Hamels. They want their best pitcher to face their biggest opponent. It is a back-handed compliment.

      Now, our guys just need to go out and beat him like a yard dog.

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