The Astros’ fans are hoping that the recent boost in their team’s fortunes (A three-game sweep of the Orioles and much better pitching by everyone not named Dallas) is a sign that the team Sees or maybe Saws and boosts themselves back over .500 and into contention.
When taken into perspective there have been a lot of up and down between 2015 and 30 percent into 2016.
- Dallas Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner has been one of the worst starting pitchers of 2016…..in the league, not just on this team.
- Carlos Correa, the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year is down in every significant offensive category and really does not deserve the coveted #3 spot in the order.
- A.J. Hinch, the runner-up for 2015 AL Manager of the Year, suddenly seems to have lowered his IQ, hacked off his young players and lost all the magic of an unexpected playoff season
- Ken Giles gave up 14 ER in 69 games last season for the Phillies, but has given up 13 ER in 24 games this season.
- On the other hand – after giving up 2 runs on May 5th, Giles has ridden the ERA seesaw down from the 9’s to the 5’s after giving up 1 run in his last 10 appearances.
- Tyler White, after a brilliant first two weeks in the majors has been Jon Singleton bad over the last month.
- Evan Gattis after another awful start, seems to have hit another gear since returning from AA and being declared the backup catcher.
- Luis Valbuena who was mired in an awful slump, seemed to be goosed out of it by the promotion of fellow 3B Colin Moran.
- After being on fire last April, Jake Marisnick is looking to burn any mention of his .125 BA / .348 OPS start.
- Colby Rasmus has followed up a strong April (.263 BA/.979 OPS) with a wimpy May (.186 BA/.490 OPS).
- On the other hand, Jason Castro’s anemic April (.140 BA / .511 OPS) has morphed into a very good May (.267 BA / .889 OPS).
Talk about past performance is no guarantee of future returns! There are no guarantees month to month or season to season.
For you some questions:
- Will the Astros’ seesaw 2016 move back towards the middle?
- Who up above is bound for better numbers in the months to come?
- Who is bound to flop going forward?
- Are people who gamble on sports (therefore betting on whether guys are going to slump or soar) crazy?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
30 responses to “The sees and saws of the Astros’ 2016 season”
I see Giles, Keuchel, Gattis, Correa and Rasmus as bounce back candidates because they have done it before.
I see Marisnick as the same old guy because one month does not prove anything and he’s only been good one month. I think he got an entire career of good luck in that one month.
I worry about White because he is not just in a slump, he looks awful.
Castro and Valbuena are going to be good defensively and bad offensively because that is who they are.
I think Kemp and Moran are bound for better numbers if Hudgens stays far away from them.
Moran had four good at bats yesterday and the rest of the team went into a coma when Correa got picked off of 1B.
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I think I will wait until after the game tonight to answer the questions. This is a big one in my mind to see how much of the old DK is still in there. But anybody who bets on baseball is insane. Although I did win $400 when I was in Vegas a few years ago thanks to Robinson Cano and the Home Run Derby. Guess that’s coming back to haunt me now…
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Agreed as to Giles, Keuchel and Correa. Rasmus: not sure there’s a lot of bounce back there. He’s hitting .229//.321/.410 right now. I think .240/.320/.450 is about the best you can expect. Ditto Castro: he may have a bit of bounce back as to average, but otherwise he’s doing what he does.
Since June 1 last year Marisnick is hitting .190. He is a marginal, specialty player at MLB level. Nice guy to have on your postseason roster, not a guy to take up roster space on a struggling team if there are other options. Too early to tell on Tyler White, but looks like he might have been a bit streaky in the minors. His splits vs righties and lefties are not bad overall, so I wish they would play him every day.
One wild card not mentioned in Dan’s post is Carlos Gomez. I don’t know what is going there, but if you assume any sort of reversion to the mean in his career we have to expect a heckuva bounce back from him.
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You guys all know I am not ‘feeling it’ with this team in 2016. I’m fine with waiting for next year – when Gomez, Valbuena, Gattis, and Rasmus are all out of the way. I just hope JL does not muck it up by trading away more prospects for another Gomez-type, antother Gattis-type, another Conger/Kratz type, and/or another Valbuena type. Trust the youts, please. If they falter, at least they don’t hamstring you budget wise.
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Back to back gopher balls in the 1st inning. Does anybody think Keuchel might be tipping his pitches?
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I think when a guy like Kuechel tops out at 88, and throws up in the zone, gopher balls will fly out like it is batting practice.
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Woohoo – homer by Castro for 4-2 lead!
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No clue why DK would lie, but sure looks like shoulder issues. Seems to get worse as the game progresses.
Although he’s holding his own so far. Fingers crossed.
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Although he’s getting outs, a lot more fly balls than normal. Leaving the ball up still.
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I’m probably alone with this, but I personally don’t think Hinch is the problem.
I just think he’s got several players playing for themselves and not for the team.
If these rubes can get this game to our bullpen they can make the two run lead hold up. ***** P I C K E D O F F A G A I N ***** GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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I think Hinch is just following the boss’s orders. So I can’t tell.
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Have to agree, Nance.
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The guys really like him……if there ws a problem, believe me we would have heard it leaked. I remember how the guys HATES Cooper, and how it got leaked to the fans.
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I believe the players DO like Hinch but that’s not the problem. Something is wrong with the way they approach the game. Like Nance says, he was hired because he agreed to do things Luhnow’s way.
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Becky just curious who you think the players are that are playing fro them selves?
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I would not have sent DK out for the 7th. Let him end on a good note.
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But old Dallas seems to have come back later in game! Hope he does not go MIA again.
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He’s still hanging in after 7. They better not push it though.
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I just don’t get this. What is it gonna take for these guys to quit getting picked off???
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Very good question.
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Bench them for a couple of days and do not let them play at all!
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We win! We win!
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A solid game for the good guys except for some residual bonehead base running ….again.
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After the first inning, who saw that win coming?
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Had it all the way – never in doubt haha
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Not me…….
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It is a good thing we won that game. It is not fitting for Angels to ride brooms.
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Like I said a couple of days ago, the only guy who has hit well consistently for Fresno this year is Danny Worth. Worth came into last nights game late as a pinch runner for AJ Reed. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Duffy hit a two out double and Colorado Springs decided to walk Singleton and then walked Tucker unintenionally to face Worth. Worth hit a walkoff grand slam.
Fresno’s entire lineup had guys hitting .236 or less. Worth is hitting .347.
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OP if we bring worth up where does he play?
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Some guy on the astrosdaily twitter feed said he saw Gomez wearing glasses last night. Could THAT be his problem at the plate? If he went down to Corpus and had his vision checked, and found out he needed glasses…..that could be HUGE.
I guess we’ll find out soon, because I think he’s supposed to meet up with the team while they are on the road this week.
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