Wednesday countdown: Something’s gotta give, Astros push for playoffs

Who here has been watching the scoreboard?

I have the MLB app on my phone, and generally I don’t watch anything other than the Astros. Not this week. I’ve been watching the Rangers’ games and Angels’ games and even the Twins’ (when they’re not getting rained out).

Every game matters. Every inning matters. Every pitch matters. And not just in the Astros’ games.

In March — when I was predicting the Astros would go .500 and maybe win 85 games — if you’d told me Houston would be playing meaningful baseball on Sept. 29, I’d have told you to wake up and smell the rebuilding. Yet, here we are watching our beloved H-town Nine play games that matter.

And what matters most?

  • The loss column. It’s what Houston can control. At this point it’s not just about winning more, it’s really about losing fewer. Lose fewer games than the Angels, pray the Rangers’ losses exceed the Astros’ losses. Keep those Twins at bay.
  • Maintain control of your own destiny. Right now, Houston has lost control of its destiny. If the Astros win out, the Twins win out and the Angels lose just one, there would be a convoluted tie breaker for that second wild card spot. No one wants to play an extra game before the play-in game, but if that’s what it takes, the more baseball the merrier.
  • A ballpark is a ballpark. It’d be a long way until Houston plays at home again this year — if they ever do. That means treating Seattle, Arizona and (hopefully) New York like just another place to play ball.

Compare that to last year. What mattered then?

  • Jose Altuve’s batting title. Sure, I’d like Jose to get to 200 hits again, but I’m not tuning in only for his ABs.
  • Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh’s win total. Again, I’d like to see Houston get a 20-game winner (plus a 19-game winner) but only because this team so desparately needs wins.
  • September call ups. Last season, the more the merrier on the call ups. This season, I think Jeff Luhnow has called up plenty of players.

What are the consolation prizes? In the event that Houston doesn’t make the playoffs — or even the play-in game — do those moral victories matter?

  • Houston most likely has this year’s American League Cy Young winner, Rookie of the Year and, quite possibly, Manager of the Year. Will those small victories keep you satisfied during the long, cold winter of discontent?
  • The overall improvement. Extra baseball or not, this has been a better team in 2015, and that bodes well for 2016 and beyond. Will that improvement ignite your optimism for the future?
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162 responses to “Wednesday countdown: Something’s gotta give, Astros push for playoffs”

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  2. Brian T –
    One question for you up in Minnesota – what is the feeling on the Twins? Is it similar to here where we are just hoping to get in?

    Last year –
    – Last year we were excited to go see Altuve kill it – he seemed to have multi-hit games every day down the stretch.
    – We were happy with our starting rotation down the stretch as not just McHugh and King Keuchel were bringing it, but Feldman was very good, Obie was good and even Peacock at moments.
    – We were glad to just not be fans of a total embarrassment as we had the previous 3 seasons. They were just a partial embarrassment.
    – We were wondering what was going to happen with the manager spot after Bo Porter was shown the door
    – I don’t remember us having much to cheer about on call-ups last season – Tropeano is the only one that I remember meaning anything to me down the stretch.

    This year –
    – We wish that the callups like Stassi and Duffy got to play more than a cameo down the stretch.
    – We have enjoyed watching two of the best very young players blossom in front of our eyes in Correa and McCullers
    – We are sad to see one of the team’s strengths (the bullpen) for 3/4 the season, melt down to a runny pot of goo (some nights – like last night)
    – We are a little hacked because even though we did not expect to be in the pennant race we have been and it is slowly sliding out of our grasps and we think that the choices that the front office and the manager are making down the stretch are part of the problem.

    The Astros are 83-75, but their Pythagorean number is 89-69. Man, even 1/2 that difference – 86-72 would make a huge difference. Luck is also not on their side.

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  3. I posted this on the last blog, but I will repeat it. Tonight is a must win. We know the Angels aren’t losing to Oakland so an Astros loss tonight puts them 2 back in the loss column with only 3 to play. If they win hope is still there.

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    • Sonny Gray is our only hope tonight.

      As for your other comments, the TEX-ANA series may determine whether Bannister or Hinch is the better AL Mgr of the year candidate.

      Lindor has had a great batting average and solid stats otherwise, but I think the consensus is Correa’s money stats give him a big edge.

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  4. Also, I think the only post season award the Astros are getting is ROY. Unless Keuchel pitches an outstanding game his last start and the Astros make the playoffs I think the Cy Young is going to David Price. Also, since I don’t think the Astros aren’t going to make the playoffs The A.L. Manager of the Year will probably go to Jeff Banister. Some of said Francisco Lindor is the leading candidate for ROY. Although I don’t believe it there is a possiblility the Astros get completely shut out.

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  6. I have been watching the scoreboard with morbid fascination – it seems like all I see is bad news on it lately. The toughest decision will be – who to cheer for in the 4 game Angels – Rangers series. I guess it is looking like I will be cheering for the Rangers, though that feels so wrong, wrong, wrong.

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    • Unfortunately, I agree with you that we will all probably be Rangers fans this weekend. Unless, by some unforeseen event, the Astros win tonight and both the Angels and Rangers lose I will be pulling for the Rangers to beat LAA.

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    • No need to cheer for either of them, Dan. The clock turned 12, and we dropped our Cinderella slipper in the course of our hasty exit from the ball. Now we just have to wait and see if fairy tales do come true and someone – anyone – comes looking for us in the next few days seeking to give back the play-off shoe we left for the taking on the ballroom floor.

      Otherwise we all might as well smile, rub our foreheads in an attempt to recover from the cumulative trauma of a half-season of oft-repeated face palms, and say to the enchanted mice that designed our gown for the dance: ‘Well, that was fun while it lasted. Now back to scrubbing floors and working on the farm.’

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  7. I think if Keuchel pitches a dominant game and gets his 20th win, he has a decent chance at the Cy Young. The Astros’ nosedive in September points out that he had a lot less of a team behind him than Price did.
    Lindor is a legitimate threat to win rookie of the year with a higher BA and OBP than Correa and equal defensive stats and a slightly higher WAR. We’ll see if Correa’s homers and RBIs are more impressive to voters. If hazing costumes mean anything in the ROY chase, Correa is going to win it
    This September’s callups, and the subsequent complete non-use of them, confirms that Luhnow truly was happy with the players he had and that the callups were decoration only. So, congratulations Matt Duffy. Your MVP season earned you the status of a Christmas wreath.
    If Hinch wins Manager of the Year over Banister, that would be a travesty. Banister plowed through Hinch’s Astros like they were loose dirt.

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    • Agreed, OP1. Bannister absolutely deserves the MOY. A.J. Hinch, as likeable as he is, simply could not rally the team – or sit the guys who belong on the bench down and leave them there – when it mattered.

      What I will remember about this year is:
      1. Insanity in baseball terms is sending the same under-performers out day after day hoping they will somehow pull a rabbit out of a hat while young award-winners sit on the bench and watch the team they played their hearts out for implode;
      2. Once a bullpen guy craps on the mound three times in two weeks, he’s got a disease, not just bad luck. He needs to be quarantined, not fed.
      3. Trading for Conger just keeps getting wronger and wronger;
      4. If they were not taken in the first or second round, young players in the system mean nothing to our F.O. – no matter how well they perform;
      5. Speed is not really helpful to a team, no matter how many bases you steal, if you: a. have nothing but guys with horrible BARISP batting behind you; b. tend to be easily picked off base; and c. take crazy chances in hopes you won’t be thrown out trying to advance another base;
      6. Chicks may dig the long ball, but the play-offs tend to be the inheritance of teams that show a good mix of power and OBP.

      So if Tyler White somehow relearns everything about life and becomes a great catcher in a couple of years, will he sit have to sit on the bench and watch Conger like Stassi did?

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    • The question in my mind is who is responsible for these bad decisions?
      Is it Luhnow or Hinch? If it’s JL we can’t expect any better in the future. If it’s Hinch then JL needs to admit his mistakes and move on.

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  8. Did we talk about Tropeano yet? I was in the “losing him doesn’t hurt” camp, but I didn’t expect he’d go out strike out 11 batters in an important game for the pennant race caught by Carlos Perez while Framin’ Hank would put up a signature poor defense, non-factor on offense game. I genuinely feel bad for him…I can’t see any situation other than being waived after the WS.

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    • I feel sorry for Conger too. It’s not his fault the FO keeps throwing him out thereto fail. I’m sure he does the best he can.

      Now, someone in charge obviously thinks experience over talent although it’s backfired repeatedly. Can we expect anything different next year? Is it the pressures of a pennant race? Inexperienced manager?
      What ever the reason the opposition has our number and their managers are making the right moves.

      I would love to win the division, or at least make the playoffs, but I can survive the winter having been able to watch all the games and seeing an exciting team most of the year. So much more than I expected this time last year.

      I’m confident we have the talent to make next year even more fun if they are coached and managed properly.

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    • Just want to add one other thought. Were you happy that after the top of the 6th last night, we were leading? Going into the 8th we still had a tie, were you still happy? We came within 3 runs of winning the game, are you happy this morning? My answer is still – we did not make it last night. That is a microcosm of this season. We are where we finish. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. All the rest does not matter for the season no more than where we were in any inning last night except the 9th.

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    • How much money Scott Kazmir makes the rest of his life – and how the game remembers him – are both on the line tonight. Somebody please sing the young man Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”.

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  10. Can we please forget that Neschek is in the pen that right there is 3 games lost in September. I have never in my life seen a FO/Manager enjoy the definition of Insanity like our guys. I just don’t get it. Lunschmuck has to be the most arrogant , full of his own Crap Gm’s in baseball. His Ego make Texas look like Rhode Island.

    They have made so many bad baseball decisions in Sept. I lost count. &^*%$^&(%&.

    Players play, but the FO is supposed to set you up for success. NOT

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    • Luhnow may have been an over achiever at getting good draft picks and finding cast offs from other teams who have produced but he absolutely sucks at making trades. My analysis of these trades are about like the Astros situational hitting with RISP. [(0 for 3) Conger, Kazmir, Gomez trades].

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  11. I was watching MLB last night and they talked about Tropeano and what a great game he pitched. I think we all know how bad a deal the Conger trade was (except for Luhnow). They also talked about the Gomez trade and how we’ve gotten what amounts to zero for it. They stated that Preston Tucker and even JFSF were heating up and making contributions. Domingo Santana was another high potential player lost in the trade. Gomez has never materialize into what they thought he was supposed to be.
    We were all talking early in the year about the line ups and how we had a team that could hit a lot of home runs but not for average. This is exactly what we have and it has caught up with us and has been the nail in our coffin. Take away the log ball and we’re a pathetic hitting team. If I can add correctly we had approximately 3400 at bats this year by guys hitting less than .250. Of those at bats almost half were under .225. Only 1900 at bats by players hitting over .250. You can not expect to win with those numbers. And we haven’t even touched on SITUATIONAL HITTING.
    As we said, lots of good things about this team but if we’re going to win a World Series we’ve got to do some fixes and soon. I do believe Keuchel should win the Cy Young and Correa the ROY. Hinch can’t win the manager of the year with the collapse we’ve experienced in Sept.

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      • I know I have said it probably to much , but we need a baseball person that has the ability to be between Crane and Lunschmuck, keep him in check. I love Nolan but its not Nolan,

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      • Dave, do you mean because of his injury, or are you referring to something else?

        I don’t hate him by any means. I expect he was once better than we saw this year, based upon his numbers – especially from 2013 and 2014. Unfortunately, we needed him to be as good at that or better -and it just wasn’t to be. He’s drawing $8M to play baseball this year, and that we desperately needed him to be of All-Star quality and pick up our horrendous offense. But instead he has hit .234, with a .282 OBP and a .661 OPS. He has hit 4 HR and has struck out 30 times in 153 plate appearances. He has driven in a whopping 13 runs in 40 games. He has 8 SBs in those 40 games but has been caught stealing 3 times. And that was all before he got hurt.

        “If I gave you time to change my mind, I’d find a way just to leave the past behind”, Rod Stewart once said. I’m a sucker for a sob story, too, so lay it on me! Why did we trade for Carlos Gomez and get the Disco Duck?

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      • I think Gomez was damaged goods when he arrived and the club did not find this out. Remember, he was determined to be injured by the Mets before the Astros got him.

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      • Sarge,

        His injury now is completely unrelated to why the Mets nixed the deal. He may have a lingering injury issue later, but his current injury (intercostal strain) is not the reason the Mets backed out. As it stands it worked out great for them as they went out and traded for Cespedes instead and he has been very productive for the Mets.

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  12. If your team leads the league in ERA, and stolen bases, is second in home runs, and third in fielding percentage, but still doesn’t make the playoffs what does that say about your team?
    It might say that strikeouts and low batting average will negate everything good, but the Cubs made the playoffs with more strikeouts and the same batting average.
    What it does say is that you have some guys on your team that are not good in the clutch, that throw meatballs when it matters and don’t hit when your team really needs a hit. It means that you need to ignore what they did and address what they didn’t do and replace them with guys who will.
    The difference in the team when Conger is on the field and Castro is on the field is damning.
    The difference in the outcome of a runner on third and less than two outs with a .275 hitter with a low strike out rate and a .200 hitter with a high strikeout rate is huge. Huge! If you have five of them in your lineup, over the course of 5000 at bats in a season, you are not just giving up the runs, you’re giving up your division lead.
    If you want to know why we blew the race, just look at the box scores of every game. We consistently fielded a team that had five batters in the lineup who hit .230 or below. That won’t cut it!

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  13. After going to bed VERY late, and VERY tired, I woke up in a better mood this morning. These guys know their backs are against the wall, and every single one of them are looking around trying to figure out what they need to do different for the next 4 games. I feel for Hinch, he knows his bull pen has been used a LOT in the last 4 or 5 games….and the next guy up can’t be trusted. Harris won’t be available tonight, Gregersen has pitched 3 out of 4 nights, Sipp pitched two innings on Tues.
    Qualls, and Oliver……no words. Now, what happens tonight, because I’m just going on Kazmir’S last few starts….who do you trust to pitch? All year, these guys have depended on the other teams to lose, so they can stay in first place. Time is not their friend right now, but we will watch every pitch, every inning, hoping that some how a miracle will happen. They have 4 more games to do what they need to do….WIN!!!
    I’m optimistic that they can, and will finish strong, does that include going to the playoffs? We’ll see.

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    • If they win all 4 games they are guaranteed, at least, one more game. However, considering how they have played on the road I’m not optimistic it will happen. I just want to win tonight and go from there. A loss tonight coupled with a probable Angels win will be the Astros death knell.

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  14. We have beat the dead horse called Hank Conger to death. We ALL know what a terrible catcher he is……until and unless Jeff Luhnow does something different, he’s going to be here next year. He is what he is. I’m done trashing him, all it does is piss me off, so his name won’t be on anymore of my posts.

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  15. For everyone piling on Luhnow:

    I don’t disagree that he put together a very flawed team. All power and whiff. It’s a combination that was destined to backfire eventually. That said, what would you have done differently?

    1. Not trade for Conger? OK, I’ll agree to that. Never did like that trade.

    2. Not trade for Kazmir? Well, he hasn’t been the Randy Johnson rental we all hoped for, but he was (and still is) one of the best pitchers in the American League. Yes, he’s been bad in his last few starts, but this team has also let him down on multiple occasions by not scoring when he’s pitched really well.

    3. Not trade for Gomez and Fiers? Well, hindsight is a nice thing. At the time I thought Gomez and Fiers were a win-now move. Nothing in either’s history would have indicated that they weren’t going to perform really well. In fact, where would the Astros be right now without Fiers … especially with Feldman out.

    4. Finally, the hitting. This team was put together to swing for the fences. It’s done that. It’s also racked up the Ks. But who was Luhnow supposed to get in the off-season? Oh, I agree we’ve stuck with Carter way too long. But putting your team in the hands of a rookie only works if that rookie’s name is Correa … or maybe McCullers or Tucker. Rookies don’t carry teams. And Houston had already used up all its rookie luck on those three. Yes, I wanted to see Tyler White or Matt Duffey a lot sooner. But expecting a rookie to carry your team is a bit much. Expecting four of them to do it is crazy.

    5. In the end, this isn’t over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? (The Germans? … Shhh, he’s on a roll). No. Because when the going gets tough … when the going gets tough … … the tough get going!

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    • I agree Brian. We all have feelings about his moves, but for me, the Hank Conger trade is the only trade I’m ready to call a loss. Feel free to disagree with Crane, Luhnow and Hinch all you want, but the childish name calling (yes, I’m talking to you Kevin) is just that…very immature. You’re not going to stop, apparently, and I’m not going to stop calling you out as childish. The man has more life merits than you, I or anyone else here can even fathom. I don’t get it, but I guess it makes you feel better.

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      • I like it Tim such mature passion. I’m having fun and voicing my feelings on a blog about frigging baseball not life, and I’m childish W ait wait, I’m Childish isn’t that name calling Timmy

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    • Brian, I would have:
      1. Not traded for Conger AND Gattis without moving Castro and/or Carter first
      2. I still do the Kazmir trade
      3. Not my favorite move at the time. Daveb has it covered better than I will try to explain. Luckily, we get 2016 – a contract walk year and last chance at big payday – from Gomez.
      4. I would have found another hitting coach. Maybe I’m wrong…it seems like Valbuena went from decent hitter to an all or nothing swing out of the shoelaces guy…
      5. I approve of this motivational quote

      Really, what I would have done was found a 40 man spot for Hoyt to see if he could strike out big leaguers. I would have had Strom tutoring Velasquez to be a ROOGY…come in and breath fire for one batter. Doesn’t anyone else think he is horribly miscast in long relief due to his control issues right now?

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  17. Looking ahead to the projected starters the last 3 games of the season, is anybody but me concerned that we have to be getting close to the absolute innings limit for TBD?

    How many more games can that guy start, anyway? Did he pitch this many times last year?

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    • That’s not childish. You just disagree with me, but how you can call the other trades bad at this point doesn’t make sense. None of the players we traded has really done much to say the Astros came up on the short end of the stick. I’m calling the Conger trade a loss not for the players lost, but more for the player we got, who is the worst defensive catcher I have ever seen.

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      • I didn’t say they were good. I said you really can’t call them a loss yet since the players traded haven’t done much at the major league level and we still have the players acquired. Now, if Kazmir bombs tonight, we don’t make the playoffs and don’t re-sign him then that trade will be a loss, but were not there yet.

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      • What I’m saying is that, at this point, the grade on the other trades is incomplete. They aren’t good or bad, but just not complete to fully evaluate the trades. How many on here thought the Cosart trade was horrible at the time and even more so, after Cosart finished strong for Miami last year? I’m not calling it a win yet, but it’s looking better and better as time moves forward. We still have control of Gomez next year and Fiers for several years. Maverick, Hader and Thurman have done nothing for the Brewers yet and Santana has cooled off since his fast start there. More time is needed to grade this trade and most of Luhnow’s trades…except Conger, which was horrible.

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      • Santana may end up fine but he wasn’t a great fit here. We don’t need another 30% K rate guy in this lineup, matter of fact we need to get rid of a few of them.

        Gomez should be much better this year. It’s hard to make the adjustment as the new guy, get injured, and have no season left to validate the move. I expect him to play lights out next year in his FA season and hit .280 with 20+ HR while winning a gold glove.

        Conger is a mystery. He can draw walks. His chase rate is slightly below major league average, but just slight, and isn’t anything like some of our guys. I had to double and triple check that SB caught rate. That has to be some kind of record bad. Is he so sold on this “pitch framing” bit that he has completely abandoned getting out of the crouch in any kind of decent time?

        He also hasn’t posted a decent BABIP since he was a minor leaguer in 2010. It maybe that major league pitching is just too much for him. I am also guessing there is a weight difference from 2010 to now. He doesn’t look like he skips any meals. Some of these sound correctable with better coaching. In the end though its up to him to perform, regardless of coaching. I know if a guy can draw a 10% walk rate and his chase rate isn’t terrible, I am not ready to just discard him with a DFA. Either try and move him for something or try and work on those weaknesses.

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  19. Kazmir against TBD tonight is critical. This is one game where we cannot make TBD look like Cy Young. IF we win tonight I feel like we at least have a shot with Keuchel, McHugh and LMJ lined up to face the Diamondbacks. If it does come down to the last game our season may ride on the arm of a rookie who started the year in AA. Winning out puts us at 87 wins. Minnesota can reach 87 wins but they have six games to play while we only have four. Texas could finish with 90 wins and/or the Angels could finish with 88 but the Rangers and Angels cannot both win out since they are playing each other. Assuming the Angels and Rangers both win tonight we still are assured of game 163 in some form or fashion IF we take care of business.

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    • I am hoping they go with Keuchel, McHugh and LMJ in that order. This will allow the Astros, if they win the last wild card spot, to bring Keuchel back on 3-days rest or use him ala Bumgarner in game 7 of the World Series last year.

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    • The question in my mind is ‘who will be his battery mate’. I think it makes a big difference. But I won’t mention any names for Becky’s sake.

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  21. I posted this earlier but it disappeared.
    This is the scariest thing about the Conger situation. It is a direct quote from AJ Hinch after last night’s game: “Hank was banged up for a bit but he’s very refreshed now. Hanks a good catcher who can really control a game and really handle himself behind the plate.”
    What are we supposed to think about that?

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    • Sounds like when a GM/owner gives their head coach the dreaded vote of confidence. Hinch gives an excuse for the performance issues. It’s believable because normal and advanced defensive stats showed Conger to be a good defensive catcher in the past. Also, if HOU tries to get anything for him in the off season, the other team’s fans can read that and talk themselves into Conger being a Molina with 20 HR power.

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    • I think (and have thought for awhile) Hinch isn’t what I had hoped for.
      No matter how many good players we have ( get ) this team will always be mediocre with that kind of mentality running the show.

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      • Did you expect Hinch to get in front of a camera and/or microphone and say that Conger is awful defensively, strikes out too much, can’t throw, etc.? He is trying to get the most he can from the guy regardless of what is actually in his head.

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  22. Will that improvement ignite your optimism for the future? Let me say that the way this team has played since the All Star break does not concern me. What does concern me is (A) Carter hits another home run in the next 4 games and he is declared “turning it around.” (B) JL does not trade Conger to the A’s to be Scott Hatteberg Phase II, (C). JL has not learned that every waiver wire pick up is NOT McHugh. (See Perez). And he learns that if his team and 15 +/- other teams pass on a player, you might not want to jump on taking the guy. (D) JL has not learned that a bullpen needs at least 1 power arm. (E) JL has not learned that every Rt vs. Lft match is not always effective. He can see that our switch hitters are not automatically becoming Pete Rose. Put your best guys on the field for every 9 out of 10 games. and finally (F) JL learned from Jon Daniels that when a player was not performing for the Rangers, he went out and got someone that he thought MIGHT be an improvement. This year, it did not work out for Billy Beane, it did work out for the Rangers. If JL is satisfied with this roster, then “mediocrity” is what we should expect in the future.

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  23. Luhnow has not been one of my favorite guys for quite some time now. And I’ve voiced my reasons why. I don’t want to say that he lacks integrity, because I don’t know that. But at least to me, he lacks credibility. I’ve never followed a team that shares so little information as this one. And from a fans perspective, I don’t like that. That’s not the way you treat your customers. Maybe it’s a directive from the top, but Luhnow is the guy at the podium. It’s his job. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no way Hinch thinks Conger is a good catcher any more than the rest of us do. It’s so obvious that no major league manager could be so oblivious.

    What it comes down to for me right now, this week, is that Luhnow should be judged and/or congratulated on the outcome of the season. Let’s see what happens when we get to Sunday afternoon. Our GM tried, at least on paper, to make a stretch run. Did he do the right thing? If it ends up that we come up short after having made the trades we’re all talking about right now, then it’s on the GM. And if he was going to step out on that limb and make those moves, why not fix first base too, and get a fresh arm for the pen and use in house talent like White (by the way, our old friend Tony D. called White one of one of the best hitters he’s ever seen last week) and Duffy and Stassi? Right now, it seems to me Luhnow made more a half assed attempt at getting into the post season. That’s why I’m still shaking my head. If he had done nothing, I would have understood and looked towards 2016.

    We’re going to have all kinds of good stuff to talk about in the coming weeks.

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    • I agree with you on Conger. Something doesn’t smell right here and I am perplexed why he is playing in a crucial game in the last week of the season. It doesn’t pass the smell test for me.

      However, I don’t think JL half-assed it in trying to win this year. We had Springer out for a lenghty time and no one trusted Marisnick to handle the job until Springer returned so Luhnow went out and got Gomez. Our rotation, at the trade deadline, looked suspect outside of Keuchel so he went out and got Kazmir, who was pitching like a Cy Young candidate at the time. Not to mention, he got Mike Fiers in the Gomez trade. He gave his reasons for not bringing up Reed or White, although I don’t like it (40-man protection concerns). There wasn’t any decent 1B on the trade block at the deadline. I would have liked to seen them make an effort for Napoli as he kills LH pitching and could have helped us.

      We have different opinions on Luhnow. Do I think he is impervious to mistakes? Absolutely not, but when I look at the depth in our farm system and not able to fully evaluate his trades at this time (except for Conger and I have explained that above) I like, for the most part, the job he is doing.

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  24. ‘As his former team surges, Hank Conger says it’s ‘gut check’ time for Astros’-

    An actual headline at the Chron. I…uh…yeah….I can’t say anything that can be printed here.

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  25. I think lunwhatever should not be fired, I just want him checked on decision making, not the Key to the Kingdome any more . If you took everything under his watch, trades, Pick ups, talent evaluation, hanging on to dead weight, I Numbers 1’s Aiken and Appel, I love CC and LMJ, And threw them up on a board, to me he is at a 50-50 win record., maybe 40-60 not in his favor.

    If I owned the team, 2016 would be his cut bait or fish year on JLWTH, and the progress of the team, and where and what are all the guys we traded doing

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  27. Tony Zych starting for the M’S tonight. No record, I think he’s a Sept call up from their AAA team. It appears he was (or is) a reliever. Right handed pitcher. No lineups posted yet. MAN…..did Bud Norris step in it today!! I’d be surprised if he can EVER find another team again. Whew…..glad he ain’t on our club anymore!!

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  28. Looks like Seattle’s TBD is a righty reliever named Tony Zich. He’s a September call up from Tacoma. This month he’s made 11 appearances, all in relief, totaling 12.2 IP. This will be his first start in professional baseball. He has 16 Ks, 3 BBs , and 2 Hit-batsman – which may explain why he’s being sent out against our swing-happy line-up.

    Patience, Gentlemen! And watch out for in your ear.

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    • You have to figure that Seattle is not going to stretch Zych – a one inning guy – out very far. So the real question is who they intend to thrown 2nd.

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      • So what’s the point in starting him then?

        Always felt McClendon was a terrible manager (and a jerk to boot), and this just adds to it.

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    • If only they would……Mcclendon is going to throw out every single pitcher he has to patch work this last game with us. Hell……who knows we MIGHT see King Felix!!!

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  29. Interesting headline for an article in mlb.com (did not have time to read it) but basically it says that all of Marwin Gonzales’ career HRs are solo jobs. Pretty amazing!

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      • Amen Man I’m nervous Crater, val no Buena love to see Duffy Oh well. we will need a miracle cause I know Texas and Angels aren’t loosing

        Liked by 1 person

      • Wasn’t that the most idiotic thing ANY guy could say??!! If my name was Bud Norris, I’d be looking for another form of employment. That guys got diarrhea of the mouth BIG time. Glad he’s gone from the Astros……

        Liked by 1 person

  35. Well, Beltre hit a 2-run HR to tie it in Arlington and the Angels got 1 run back to make it 3-2. The Induans are beating the Twins 2-0 in the 2nd game of a DH with Minnesota winning the opener.

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  38. Well, things just turned sour as the Rangers got a solo HR to take the lead and Giovetella just hit a 2-run HR to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. Darn it!

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  45. AND….daveb: yeah count me along with the folks that think od-or is a little sh*t with an smart ass attitude….and some pitcher is gonna teach him some baseball manners, when he picks his teeth up off the ground. He’s a trouble maker, not much different that Puig, only Puig can hit monster homeruns……od-or doesn’t have that kind of power yet. He’s a *PUNK* and I’m gonna laugh my butt off when he gets it.

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    • Count me in as one of the fans that despise him. He’s a punk.
      I get mad just looking at him and would love to see him put in his place.
      To bad Nolan Ryan is retired. He’d be the perfect one to take care of that.

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  50. We don’t have a pitcher, and we don’t have a catcher it appears. Kazmir can’t throw strikes, Castro can’t black balls……and NO ONE on this team can hit either. It won’t matter if the Angels lost tonight, because these guys can’t hit for spit. Gattis gets to third base with one out, and you can’t get him in. *SITUATIONAL * HITTING.

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