Astros 2016: Time for a fine whine

Astro fans can’t hit (of course, neither can the Astros). They can’t field. They can’t throw one pitch. They can’t make trades, can’t release players, can’t send down or bring up players or draft them. They can’t hire or fire coaches or managers. They can’t bench players, make out lineup cards, take out pitchers or decide who and when to bring folks in from the bullpen.

Nope, all that is left for the fans is to critique all those things above. And after watching the Astros do a wonderful job of pushing the boulder up the hill for two months, the last couple weeks of watching the boulder roll back over the team has been disheartening.

So, for all those who are sick and tired of being sick and tired here is an opportunity to let it all out. This correspondent will start the ball (boulder?) rolling with everything he is sick and tired of…

I’m sick and tired of:

  • The Astros being down 1-0 after 5 or 6 innings every night.
  • The Astros paying 1/4 their payroll to two guys (Carlos Gomez and Colby Rasmus) who have less chance than a pitcher of getting a hit the last couple months.
  • The Astros getting next to nada from every hitting prospect they bring up. (Alex Bregman, A.J. Reed, Tyler White, Preston Tucker, Colin Moran)
  • The Astros getting embarrassing hitting results at 1B, DH, LF, C and CF.
  • The hitters never changing their approach no matter how bad the results from their approach are.
  • Thinking that once the Astros are past the first four in the order, that there is little chance of the team doing anything offensively.
  • Going into series with the Texas Rangers thinking they have no chance of winning the series.
  • Watching good pitchers and bad pitchers shutting down the Astros.
  • Seeing them score 7 runs in 6-1/2 games (including the 14 inning affair).
  • Watching Jason Castro, Evan Gattis, Jake Marisnick wallow in the .200 – .220 area for most of the season.
  • Watching a team strike out the most in the AL, while no longer being one of the top SLG or OPS teams in the league.
  • Being sick and tired.

OK, now your turn – what are you sick and tired of. Don’t hold back – let it rip (like your team’s hitters swinging at an untouchable slider).

 

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193 responses to “Astros 2016: Time for a fine whine”

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  1. Left reliever and you trot out Reed who has looked clueless while you have RH hitting White, fresh off of a two hit night on the bench. Jeez.

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    • Right Vewill, the kid is on a four game hitting streak, and we’re trying to get him untracked. Don’t rust him on the bench for goodness sakes. I understand why Gattis got the DH job last tight, but White has far more upside as a hitter than Gattis. Looks like Bregman might be starting to feel it. I don’t think you can necessarily try to give everyone playing time once key guys start showing something. Keep them in the lineup!

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  3. Beltran left the game with a left quad ingury….so Musgrove won’t see him tomorrow.
    I have a good feeling about tomorrow’s game, Yu Darvish is quite human this year!
    I gotta tell you….A.J. Reed ain’t ready for the big yet, and when Valbuena gets back I think he will get sent back to Fresno. Nothing against the kid, he’s just got the deer in the headlights look at the plate. I absolutely love the way Bregman plays 3rd. He plants his feet and gets off some pretty good throws. No crying for this debacle…they had their chances over, and over tonight. What p*sses me off, is when you have a guy on 2nd and no outs, and you can’t play small ball?? Not a good game at ALL.

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    • I’m hoping Valbuena gets traded before the August deadline. That will certainly give White more opportunities at first. Otherwise, it will be tough to give either White or Reed a real shot. Got to be awfully tough on a guy like Reed who knows his time to prove himself is very limited. I think they’ll both hit if given a real look. Tim, seems like most all the experts think Reed will hit, so who am I to think otherwise? And OP made mention of this the other night. Reed sure does have a soft glove over at first. He looks like a first baseman. I’m ready to write 2016 off. Sure magic can still happen, but the odds become longer.

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  4. On a good note TG I wont have to watch another Disney flick. The 1 game winning streak has ended. I have to agee feel bad for Reed, he looks like he has watched Puff daddy to much. I think we may now have 3.5 solid long term everday players now. If only Springer could not be so good and then so awful , man he is streaky. He needs to be a .275 hitter.

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  5. Turn out the lights
    The party’s over.
    I wanted Altuve up with the tying run on base in the ninth and a run already in. His temper was costly. Get somebody else thrown out from the dugout, not our only good hitter.
    Tony Sipp gave up the winning run on a home run. He was brought in to face a right handed batter and got beaten, again.

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      • Haven’t we been asking that all year. with His 1.7 WIPP. Didn’t someone post that Sipp was one of Uncle Jeff’s signing success stories? Is there a decent lefty anywhere in our system, Chapman is way worse.

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      • I don’t know what to do with him. I do, however, know what NOT to do with him.
        Do NOT put him in a game unless the Astros have a significant lead.

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      • Sandy, that is what my reply would have been. They used to bring Feliz in only when the game was decided one way or the other. They need to do that with Sipp until he(or his pitching coach) fixes him.
        As unreliable as relievers are, paying Sipp that huge contract has taught Luhnow another expensive lesson. Right now, Sipp’s free agent signing is right up there with the Gomez trade, the Conger(incoming) trade and a few other booboo’s in Luhnow’s resume’.
        But Sipp has another shot at redeeming Luhnow next year. That is the saga of relievers. You take chances when you pay them big money and sometime it works. Sometimes it works one year and the next year it doesn’t.
        Luhnow learns. He made bad trades at the deadline last year and he didn’t repeat that at this year’s deadline. But maybe he should have made more trades like the Feldman trade at the deadline. Luhnow’s mistake this year was overestimating his veterans at the deadline and during the offseason, thinking they would play well and they haven’t.
        You can get away with stuff like a catcher giving you no WAR, unless your 1B, CF, DH, and LF are also not giving you any WAR and you super utility guy is delivering little WAR and playing every day.

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    • OP, If Altuve gets tossed once every five years, I’m okay with that. He’s gotten screwed several times over the past week. He’s fed up with that and I’m sure he’s fed up having to make something happen every time he comes to the plate.

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  7. The pleasure is all mine Tim.
    It’s so nice to meet a friend I’ve had for a few years who also shares a passion for this team that we all call “ours”
    The Astros are also lucky to have such a gracious fan as you.

    A disappointing game but nice to see Bregman finally break out and have a good night.

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  8. I’m starting to agree with Dave as Tyler White is on the bench again today. Why does Hinch insist on continuing to play Gattis at DH? He can see the same production as we do when he is a DH. Right now, I trust White more than Gattis or Reed so I am baffled as to why White can’t get in the lineup.

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    • If you look at Whites career splits, he is significantly better against righties. Gattis, no. We all have access to these stats. This club has to get the new guys hitting. Every bleeping time White gets going, he ends up sitting again.

      At some point, if we are going to insist that Luhnow has done a great job with this organization, we’re going to have to blame someone else for a club that sucks out of the gate, plays the best baseball in MLB for more than two months, and then starts sucking again. Right? Who?

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  9. Rasmus to DL……called up Kemp. I think they know what they have in White, they may be giving Reed one more chance for the year, to get with it. I suspect they will be sending him back down after this homestand. Just my opinion. AND…I think Marwin is hurting too much to swing the bat from EITHER side.

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  10. CRAP!! EVERY BODY is sick! Gomez is sick, White has a knee issue, Kemp has a dental problem, and Marwin has an issue at home. DAAAANG!

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    • I wasn’t aware White had a knee issue. Then I apologize to Hinch for my critical comment above. What is Kemp’s dental issue and will it prevent him from playing? If so, why did they call him up if he can’t help right now?

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      • You’re asking the wrong person……..that question needs Luhnow to answer it.
        Hinch only plays the guys given to him, he doesn’t control who’s healthy when they get here. Now, he’s screwed today with another short bench. JEEZE.

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      • In all fairness, Tim, the options are EXTREMELY limited in AAA. They could’ve called up Moran or Singleton, but the former is not ready and the second never will be. Danny Worth again? They outrighted him after the DFA. I guess Andrew Aplin to pinch run. Other than that, they have nobody else that is already on the 40 man roster. Even then, even if they do get rid of somebody on the 40 man to make room (looking over at you, Fontana) who would they call up?

        Oh snap…Teoscar Hernandez. That would’ve made sense. :/

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  13. So if we had held onto them one more season could we have traded Hader, Phillips, Houser and Santana to the Brewers for Lucroy instead of Gomez and Fiers?

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  16. You gotta be kidding me…..Musgrove gives up ONE lousy run, and these rubes can’t even scratch out a run against this north arlington pitcher who has to have an interpreter, just to talk to his manager??? By the way darvish, CAN speak.

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  19. Pull Harris NOW! Please don’t take the usual route of leaving them in until they give up a pair, or leave the bases loaded for the next guy.

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  20. We lost this game…….it’s a shame Musgrove is gonna be on the hook for this loss.
    He deserved better. They are a seriously flawed.. team.

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  22. You really don’t have to be baseball savvy to know that if you swing at wild pitches and ones 2 foot out of the zone you just aren’t gonna get many hits.

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  23. Harris proving once again he’s only good for the first half, and Tucker shown once again he’s a AAAA player at best

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  24. We just may pull this out!

    Keep Kemp in LF the rest of the way…I’m good with that. I’ve seen more than enough of Tucker. Giles is looking like a right handed Billy Wagner out there. Harris is looking like a right handed tony sipp.

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  25. If you are going to concede the season then give Reed more than 40 AB’s, dismiss to the minors, call back up, 20 AB’s and dismiss. This is ridiculous.

    We here people ask what is the plan. I know you like to have an organizational identity, like contact and defense like the Royals do, etc., but really, a plan is about a plan for each position. A plan with depth. What’s been the plan at 1B this year? Let 3 compete in ST in Singleton, White and Reed, took White, first slump he has dismiss him, play Marwin some, call up Reed, put him there for 40 ABs, call that a trial, dismiss him, play Marwin some more, give VB some, oh, lets call back up White AND Reed, and give neither enough consistent time, and let the fanbase say send them back down.

    If that is your PLAN, it’s working. It never solves the problem, and gives Reed and White both zero confidence, slowing, or maybe stopping their development.

    Carter did this too us, because he was the plan, and they stuck with him through the slumps. He just spent so much time in the slumps that they are scared to continue to get nothing from the position while a young player adjusts because Carter never adjusted.

    I’m not saying give Reed or White 500 plate appearances hitting .150, but stick with it. When the guy sees he is the plan, and told he is the future of the position if he earns it – then is given the opportunity to earn it – it can provide dividends.

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    • I can see your point, but have to add something. .. White should be in there and never have been benched. He deserves the opportunity to show whether or not he can be the guy. Tucker has had about a full season worth of at bats already, and has shown he is a liability in the field to the point where if he’s not killing the ball , he has negative value, and he’s at the age where he’s passing the prospect phase. Reed is still young obviously, but his bat is too slow and his swing too long that I have doubts if he’s going to be able to hit major league pitching on a consistent basis. Bregman has the tools, and for him it’s about needing more experience. He seems to coming around now so he has shown it was a wise decision to keep him up. Finally, Moran looked like he was over matched and scared.

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      • I agree Billy. Tucker’s time has come and gone. At 26 he is what he is going to be, save for a miracle; and he can’t field a lick. White will hit and Bregman has too much talent to not at least become an average MLB player. You are spot on; Reed’s swing seems VERY long. He will probably hit some and have some pop, but I’m starting to think more Chris Carter than David Ortiz. He still needs time and AB’s to really see what he will eventually be.

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  26. There’s your season. By not beating them today, we fall back 7 1/2 games and that will probably be too much to make up. Meanwhile they are sliding back wards from the wild card. *IF* they could have won this game, they would only be 5 1/2 back.
    Wasted opportunities….. Well, let’s talk about 2017 shall we. Steven you are correct, Reed has GOT to have an opportunity to see if he can stick. White is going to be major leaguer, no doubt about that. We see where this team is so much better than the Astros…..they have hitters up and down their lineup, we do not.
    Good news is…..Musgrove will not get the loss.

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    • I’m throwing the towel on this season. I just can’t stomach the Rangers to begin with (or really any Texas team other than the Astros and to a much much lesser extent -since I do not care for football – the Texans) and seeing how they got the best of us yet again and will probably go far in the playoffs? Nope. I’m just biding my time until 2017. This season should have been far different than it ended up being, and better personnel decisions would have gotten us there.

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  27. I think at this point you float Gomez, Valbuena, Rasmus and Castro on waivers. See what you can get in a trade if one of them is claimed. If Gomez is claimed and you can’t make a trade let the claiming team keep him. If he’s not claimed designate him, let him turn it down and cut him. If you can’t get something acceptable for the other 3 you can always pull them back. If you do get something worthwhile take it and let the kids play the rest of the season. If Castro goes let Gattis shoulder the load and call up Heineman to back him up. If you really believe in Reed then Valbuena is locked out at third and first and will walk at season’s end anyway. Same with Rasmus. None of them (save for Valbuena when he’s healthy) are helping this team one iota at this point.

    Tucker needs to be sent down and his position and at bats need to go to Kemp. If Tucker goes down now and rakes at AAA he may value as a trade chip in the offseason. If he stays up and falls on his face he will have no value.

    I would slot Kemp in the 2 hole (or leadoff) and drop Marwin down. MG profiles far better as a bottom of the order guy. I would get Gurriell up here ASAP to see what he’s got. He has all of the offseason to work on his game if he fails.

    You’re not gonna win with what you’ve got so you may as well take a chance by shaking things up.

    And I would buy Musgrove a big steak dinner, along with a card signed by all of our hitters apologizing for blowing his phenomenal debut as a starter.

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    • You want to take Bregman out of the two slot already and put Kemp there? At this point, we’re not going anywhere, as you correctly note vewill. I’d leave Bregman in front of Altuve where it seems it’s starting to work for him. We can certainly find a place for Kemp elsewhere. Marwin should be dropped back into a utility role. That’s where he profiles. We already know what he can do. He’s a valuable guy, but this team is not going to win with him as a starter.

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      • I think it’s time to move Springer out of the leadoff spot. Why not let Kemp leadoff, which is where he was batting in Fresno, and move Springer down to the 5 spot? Leave Bregman, Altuve and Correa as the 2-4 hitters.

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  28. Does anyone else find it ironic that over 1/2 of our total 2016 salary is paying players that are dragging down the team, while the bottom 1/4 is busting their butts to keep the team alive?

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    • That’s usually the case with most teams. You can thank the MLBPA for this. Heck, the Yankees are going to pay A-Rod $27M to not play for them anymore. They are paying Teixiera $20M for his putrid performance this year. It’s not relegated to the Astros.

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