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. I promise to find a good reason to whine later in the day, after l little more coffee and a bunch of stressful conferences and phone calls, Dan, but right now I just want to say how blessed we are to have you, Chip, and all the folks at Chipalatta as part of our extended Astro-loving family. We share a love of the Orange and Blue on this blog, it is true, but we share something even more important – a love of life, and an appreciation of the value of human beings. May Mrs OP and Becky – and all who are fighting health, financial, and relational issues – find healing, restoration, favor, and hope!

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    • Bill, good point. My triglycerides are a bit high and I might run out of money before they get the better of me, but let’s face it, things could be worse. Heck, there might be an election on the way with nobody to vote for.

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    • Thank you Mr. BILL…….today is not a good day, chemo is kicking my butt today.😢
      Thanks for thinking of me.

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  3. And now . . . fade to Sergeant Vince Carter shouting: “Gomez you lame-brain, you nit-wit, you knuckle-head. Move it! Move it! MOVE IT!!!! My grandmother could hit better than that after she had her second stroke!”

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    • Please feel free, of course, to substitute the Astro hitter-turned-pacifist of your choice for Mr. Gomez. He’s not the only one driving Sgt. Carter crazy in this class. Maybe we need to forget the saber metric stats for the rest of the season and go back to ranking the under-performers in our midst according to the old fashioned ‘stink factor’ gradation system we all learned as kids:
      GRADE 1: You stink!
      GRADE 2: You stink WORSE!
      GRADE 3: “YOU STINK WORSE THAN AN OLD PERSON’S FART!”

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  4. Another year older and another year of mediocrity. I know, I know we were the best team in baseball for 2 months wahoo. Thank God we have 7 prospects in the top 100, we have that going for us. We are near the point of a fire sale again, We will be sold a bill of goods that the FO plan is on track we just need to be patient with this mess.

    Watching the game last night I’m like where do you start to fix this for 2017. I’m clueless, we have about 7 guys I would keep, Yikes. I guess it’s a good thing we have one of the best Gm’s in baseball. tongue in cheek.

    Is Hinch and his coaches the right guys, do we need some baseball people to balance out the stat computer folks.in leadership roles.

    It seems we need a better mix of proven successful talent and the young kids. We need to do a better job of spending about 100-120million. I am not talking about stupid contracts to aging vets.

    Signed Bummed

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  5. Wait a minute . . . Is that Jonathan Villar and Chris Carter I see coming our way dressed up like the rock group Queen?

    Jonathan Villar starts singing, moderato:

    I made misques.
    game after game.
    Now I’m marooned
    in a city that’s lame.

    Chris Carter takes the next line, allargando:

    And ugly at bats,
    I had quite a few.
    I heard the shout ‘Strike three . . . yer OUT!’
    ’til I got the blues!

    [Becky, Sandy, Dan, Chip, Brian, 1OP, and Bopert chime in:]
    And it just went on, and on, and on and on and . . .

    [Villar and Carter break in and sing in harmony]:
    “Now we’re stuck with cheese-heads for friends.
    and we watch sausage races to get grins.
    But we’re better than Go-go;
    and Bregman’s a no-no,
    and you guys are the losers, while we schmooze with the boozers . . . of the world!”

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    • That may be the wittiest and funniest post I have ever read. I’m ear-to-ear……and humming We Are the Champions.

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      • vewill1………Apparently you haven’t been hanging out here steadily. Mr. Bill is the resident poet, and that’s just a throwaway compared to some he’s done. 🙂

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    • They said that last year and Luhnow said it again two weeks ago. That is something legitimate to do some whining about.
      Saying over and over that your team has been the best in baseball for the last month, while explain away the first six weeks as “a hiccup” is something that should be whined about. It shows a sabermetric front office making a huge mistake that nerds are always jumping on “civilian” fans about, namely, using a small sample to justify winning or losing.
      The record from last year, combined with the final record from this year will tell us how good or bad our front office is at building a team by purposely saddling fans with a laughingstock team for the first three years.
      It may turn out that this group of analysts know how to draft and acquire young players, and doesn’t have a clue what to do with them once they have them. It may turn out that they don’t know how to produce a winner at the major league level.
      However, they will always have “limited resources” as a wonderful excuse for not producing a winner, even when they spend big money for guys who fail and even when their young players fly through the minors and hit a wall in the majors.

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  7. This just in. F Lee Ermey has been selected to come in and give the organization an attitude adjustment. Maybe Mr Bill could use some F Lee’s famous lines and tailor make them to fit the organization. I’ll pay “real money” to see that.

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  8. Our minor league organizations may look good on scouting pages, which judge raw talent in a vacuum, but from an actual offensive production standpoint against real competition they do not look nearly as impressive. Take the following:

    Last night Fresno finished the game with 3 of 9 players hitting above .275 on the year [Kemp, Worth, and Hernandez].

    Last night Corpus finished the game with 2 of 9 players hitting above .275 on the year [Laureano & Stubbs]

    Last night Lancaster finished the game with 7 of 9 players hitting above .275 on the year [Sewald, Boyd, Gurriel, Muniz, Martin, Ferguson, Ritchie and Duarte]; but most of this is the high desert ‘air’ boost; figure two of this group (one of which is Gurriel) to hit above .275 anywhere else];

    Last night Quad Cities finished the game with 4 of 9 players hitting above .275 on the year: [Straw, Birk, McCall, and KTuck (who is a high draft pick of this FO that is struggling to put up decent numbers so far against Low A level pitching]

    Last night Tri-City finished the game with only one of 9 players hitting above .275 on the year: [Chuckie Robinson]

    We have some interesting pitching prospects in our system – but we do not have anyone that looks like a potential MLB 3-6 hitter anywhere in the batch. In fact, we have no one in the minors, with the possible exceptions of Kemp, Hernandez, Stubbs, Laureano, and Ferguson] who are presently showing anything that would give us hope that the middle of our order can be any better – for the next several years – than the mess we have now in Gomez, Rasmus, and Gattis.

    Reed, Bregman and White had sure better hit for us – because there is nobody else in the pipeline that looks half as good – much less any better.

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    • The best solution, based upon the kind of system we have: Build the 2017 team and beyond around pitching, defense, OBP, contact hitting, and speed. Ditch the guys who can’t play a defensive position with excellence, ditch the slow guys, ditch the guys who can’t hit to the opposite field to beat the shift, and for heaven sakes ditch the free swingers who try to hit a home run on every pitch.

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      • The guys who might fit the ‘profile’ for this organization going forward into 2017 [which, by the way, I think is an accidental profile – not what the FO envisioned at all], are: Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Gurriel, Springer, Kemp, Hernandez, and Heineman – with a DH corps and bench of Gonzales, White, Stassi or Stubbs, Worth, and Reed]. I don’t personally think we can go forward into the new model with any of the following: Gomez, Rasmus, Gattis, PTuck, or Moran].

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    • Mr. Bill, for goodness sakes, we’ve got the third best minor league system in baseball. You must be reading your stats wrong.

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    • Now let’s be more specific. Let’s look at how our minor league teams rank in actual games:

      AAA -Fresno is in 2nd place in its division, and its win-loss % places it in 5th place overall in the Pacific Coast League – that’s despite having Bregman, Reed, Worth, Musgrove, and White there for good chunks of the season.

      AA – Corpus Christi is tied with San Antonio for a distant 2nd place [2nd half] in the Southern Division of the Texas league, 9 games back of Midland. Add in the Northern Division teams, and our record has us tied for 5th out of 8 teams.

      A-Lancaster – The Jethawks lead the California League. This is our strongest showing in any league, but even yet, there is absolutely no one standing out offensively saying ‘I am a future Major Leaguer!’ KTuck, for whom everyone had high hopes due to his high draft rank, has struggled in an extremely hitter-friendly league. Beyond him, there is not much in the way of offensive potential – and he is going to have to put it together. Tucker’s draft mate, Daz Cameron, absolutely stunk it up, got demoted, and then got injured. Maybe next year he will come back and show some potential in real games. We can hope.

      A – Quad Cities – The River Bandits are tied for 3rd in their division, with a winning percentage that puts them tied for 5th place overall in the Midwest League.

      Tri-City is tied for 2nd out of 4 teams in the Stedler Division, with a record that puts them tied for sixth out of 14 teams in the New-York Penn League.

      Greenville is a half-game in front of the Appalachian league West, and is in 2nd position to the Royals’ affiliate in the league overall. Greenville has no starters hitting above .285.

      The actual records of these affiliates vis-a-vis the affiliates of other MLB clubs simply do not justify a ‘third best’ organization assessment. The strength of the organization is pitching – although left-handed pitching is problematic at most levels. With Reed, White, and Bregman gone, the organization is very weak offensively from top to bottom. As an organization, we just do not have much in the way of power – especially in power combined with OBP.

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      • Sorry – my comments about Kyle Tucker should be in the section dealing with Quad Cities. He is slashing .279/.350/.749, with 5 HRs for the River Bandits. Good – but by no means first round draft pick stuff, or screaming ‘Major Leaguer!’

        As far as Lancaster goes, you can look through the line-up a hundred times, and other than perhaps Ferguson, you just wonder why again did we draft these guys? At least Bobby Boyd has speed. If you could create a mixture of his speed and defense and Jason Martin’s power you would have one potential MLB quality player.

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      • Let’s look at the minor league situation from another angle:

        AAA – Fresno as a team ranks 13th out of 17 teams in BA, 10th in OBP and runs scored,, 8th in OPS, and 6th in total bases. The one area Fresno has done well in is HRs – guys like Singleton that will never make it have us 2nd in the league in bombs. Corresponding to that, we are 4th highest in strikeouts.

        AA – on the year, Corpus ranks 4th out of 8 teams in the Texas league in BA; 3rd in OBP, and OPS. Due to a great first half [especially Bregman, Hernandez, and Reed], Corpus leads the 8 teams in home runs, runs scored, and total bases.The folks at Corpus also do not strike out nearly as often, coming in 6th in the unpleasant K category.

        A- Lancaster – the Jethawks rank 3rd among 10 teams in the California league in BA and HRs; but they are 1st in OBP, 2nd in OPS and 4th in total bases and strikeouts.

        A – Quad Cities – the River Bandits ranks 11th of 16 teams in BA, OPS and HRs; they are 12th of 16 in OBP; and they are 10th in total bases; but they are 5th in strikeouts.

        Greenville – is 7th out of 10 teams in the Appalachian League in BA and OPS; they are 9th in OBP, They are 2nd in HRs, but also 2nd in Ks. They are 3rd out of 10 in total bases.

        Tri-City – is 7th out of 8 teams in the Northwest league in BA and OBP, and dead last in OPS, HRs, and Total bases. They are 4th in the league in Ks.

        Again, it is hard to see much offensive excellence at all here. Once Bregman and Reed made the majors, we lost most of what truly good minor league hitting we had.

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  9. I was following the game for awhile the other night. Springer leads off with a double and doesn’t get any further. Something is fundamental wrong if we can’t get a guy home from second with no outs. Maybe they need to study the Kansas City model because the play a lot of small ball and score when opportunities present themselves. Then when the time is right they go for the kill with the big hit. As I said a year or so ago, I’d rather have 5 singles and a walk that produces 5 runs than two HR’s with nobody on.

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    • What I saw last night is we get a runner on, then the next two guys can’t even make contact. Instead of even advancing the lead-off guy to scoring position, we leave him right where he started. Pathetic BARISP. No productive outs. A boatload of swinging – but very little hitting.

      It is a good thing Tyler White was given a rare start last night, or we would have been shut out.

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  10. I’m offended and pissed off because I have not been able too dicifer what the “Plan” is. If there is a plan, it is not working, and yes, I know a couple of folks here will mention how the farm system has been resurrected. To an extent I agree. But a resurrected farm system does not necessarily translate into a quality ML club. The 2016 Astros are a pretty good example of that.

    And I frankly do not like the owner of the club. Houston deserves a more substantial budget for its roster. The GM, well he is rather hamstrung, but at some point he’s got to be held accountable for the performance of his major league team. They got hot for 2 plus months. That is not enough. I do not think we are better poised today to win something significant then we were at this point in 2015. Isn’t that a fair way to monitor progress or lack of progress?

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    • By the way, we got ‘hot’ in a long stretch during which we were mostly facing the league’s worst teams. When we finally came face to face with the real talent in the league, we collapsed on ourselves like an overblown soufle. An injury which should not have fazed us [Valbuena? really???] have completely destroyed our offense.

      But the real test comes in the next three nights. We get to face what is unquestionably one of the top three teams in the major leagues. They just happen to be our archrivals, who have absolutely owned us for the last two years – so we will not be without incentive. We will find out quickly if have any heart – or just have a lot of kool-aid drinkers, press clippings, beards, and loud music.

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  12. So . . . Saturday night we get to face off against our old friend Lucas Harrell [Fister starts for us]. Who wants to project Harrell’s final line against the Astros’ offense? My projection: 7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BBs, 8 Ks.

    Sunday Joe Musgrove gets to face off against Yu Darvish. Anyone want to project Musgrove’s final line against the Rangers’ offense? My projection: 0.2 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 1 K.

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    • IN case you are wondering why I project such a bad outing for Joe, keep in mind what the Rangers did to Lance McCullers in his first start against them last year. It was August 5, 2015. Lance had enjoyed a great debut. When he faced the Rangers, however – with the quality of line-up he had never seen – he only managed to get one out. He had already given up 6 runs in the first before Hinch mercifully came and got him. Fiers came in later – making his first appearance as an Astro – and promptly gave up 6 more runs over 5 painful innings.

      I’m giving Joe twice the credit – I think he’ll actually get two outs before the merciful hook comes. No rookie has never seen a line-up full of patient, talented hitters, smart like the Rangers will throw at him. The Rangers have 7 of 9 starters hitting over .250. In contrast, the Astros have 3 – and one barely there – [Marwin Gonzales, who intimidates no one] – on the bench

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      • Hey – it could be bad, but Joe looked really good against a Toronto club that has a better OBP and OPS than Texas. If the Rangers are patient against him they may be facing a lot of 2 strike counts because the kid has control.

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    • I thought you were posting Yu Darvish’s, line! He’s had a few tough games against us this year. In other words “he ain’t all that” anymore.
      As for Harrell….you never know about that guy, one day he’s great, next day he implodes…..or don’t you remember!!

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    • I’m also quite concerned that Lucus will make us look foolish. But I’m sure hoping, mostly for Joe’s sake, that he provides a big league performance, win or lose.

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  13. I’m so sad and depressed that I’m looking for excuses not to attend the game Sunday.
    Spending a kings ransom for parking, a hotdog, and a coke to watch the Rangers bury us deeper in the cellar. I’d rather stay home so I can turn off the TV when it gets unbearable. Sigh.

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    • Go as a favor to me. I can’t go anyplace right now and would love to hear about a hot dog and a Coke at the ball park. I don’t care whether the Astros win, I want to hear about how great it was for you to go to a major league baseball game, played in comfort, even though it is 100 degrees outside. Get some popcorn!

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      • EXACTLY!!! I can’t go anywhere either…..so she can enjoy that coke for me! I hate hot dogs!!

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  14. The one thing I will say with this club is that every time I am about to give up on them they turn things around. We will see if they have more heart or not in the next few weeks.

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  15. Tim, I realize that you are disgusted with all of us at this point, but regardless, you need to come back with something that will make us feel better about the state of our Astros.

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    • I never get disgusted with my fellow Chipalatta bloggers. I realize what I’m reading is just frustration over a slumping team. I still like our future despite the inaccurate assessment of the farm system by one of our bloggers today. Keep in mind the ranking by Jim Callis included Bregman and Reed,our top 2 prospects who are now with the major league club. Honestly, I don’t think we make the playoffs this year, but most of you already expect this, but unlike Kevin, I’m thankful we didn’t make a trade at the deadline as that would have really stunted the growth of this organization and it probably wouldn’t have done much to help the team this year. I will take a deeper evaluation of this team at the end of the season, but I am very intrigued with a team that will have Altuve, Correa, Gurriel, Springer, Bregman and Reed as everyday players next year. I also think Tyler White will grow into a very nice DH. I love our pitching with McCullers, Keuchel and Musgrove in the rotation with Martes, Paulino, Abreu and Rodgers, among others, waiting on the farm. I really like the way our bullpen will look next year with Giles, Hoyt, Gregerson, Feliz and Harris with McCurry and Ferrell ready for 2018. I also like the payroll flexibility we have with the ability to add free agents where needed and I love our aggressive approach in the international market. I think the Astros will be the frontrunners for Lourdes Gurriel. There is plenty to be excited about, but right now, because the major league team is in a slump everything is portrayed negatively. I think this team will play better in September, but it probably will be too late for 2016, but that won’t dampen my excitement for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

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      • I will say it once again, Under Uncle Jeff no matter how the Farm system is rated. or heaven forbid our trade history, we will never sniff a world series.. If I’m wrong, Tim I will apologize profusely to you. I keep saying we have the talent not the leadership or Mgmt, to get us to the promise land. That’s not an indictment on my love of 36 years of being an Astros fan, just my believe

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      • It’s not easy to win a World Series as only 1 of 30 teams can make that claim each year. I can’t promise you the Astros will win the World Series, but I like their chances to be contending for the next 5 years.

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      • Tim, I agree with you and your enthusiasm. I think we have a solid core of young talent and a loaded system full of arms that are very near MLB ready. I also think that Bregman will add offense to his gold glove level defense. I think Lourdes will sign and I think Yulie will hit. I think White will hit for average with decent pop and I think Reed will provide pop with a decent average and high K rate. I think there are some studs coming up, such as Stephen Wrenn. I do however think that our MiL system is thin outside of pitching and many of our top (non pitching) prospects are getting a little age on them. I just want to see this talent result in wins and that is where leadership comes in. My confidence is a little shaky that our current regime can translate potential into wins.

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  16. Oh…..Lord, Gomez is in center tonight. Jeeze. I’d rather have Rasmus out there, at least he can, and WILL run the balls down 😵😵

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    • I am guessing it has to do with the opposing pitcher, Martin Perez. For the season LHB are hitting .153 against him and RHBs are hitting .294. Our lineup is all RHBs as Marwin will be hitting from the right side today.

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    • Quick question. Name one other team that would consistently start Gomez in any position. Feel free to take your time and please include VERY bad teams into your consideration. I personally am not sure he would have even made the very bad Astro teams a couple of years ago. If he were 20-25 yrs old on a MLB minimum contract he would be in high A or AA working on his game.

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  17. Let’s see the last three nights they have lost:
    1-2
    1-3
    1-4
    So tonight – 1-5?
    I am frustrated but not willing to throw in the towel, yet. When they were 17-28, this team was on a pace to go 61-101.
    Even after this recent unpleasantness – they are 3-1/2 out of the wild card and 6-1/2 out of the division lead.
    A lot can happen. Last season at this time, the Rangers were 7 games back of us, 3 games back of the Angels and the Blue Jays were 4 games back of the Yanks.
    The Rangers made up 9 games on us, the Blue Jays 10 on the Yanks.
    Things can happen, the switch can flip and suddenly they are scoring 5 runs a game again.
    Sure – it may not happen, but it could.

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    • We’ll talk more about our chances after this weekend. If we can take 2 out of 3 then there’s a possibility. Otherwise nada.

      I love Tim’s enthusiasm, it even perks me up for a minute or two. But in the long run I see things playing out the way Kevin predicts. I just don’t see any lasting improvement under Luhnow. He’s had enough time to turn this team around. I see different players but the same mistakes being made all through his tenure.

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      • Sandy,

        He has turned this team around. In fact, no one would have predicted a 2015 playoff berth in Februaru 2012. No one wants to accept this, but Luhnow has been a victim of his own success.

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  18. I’ll probably just listen to the game, and watch the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. There has been so much controversy over the nasty water, I’m going on the record that the rest of the summer games should be given to America. Remember how much China cheated? Now the athletes are having to stay in an hot bed of a horrible virus, AND it’s nasty…..and crime is rampant!!! I hope the athletes stay safe and come back with no physical problems.
    I wish my guys well tonight, keep your head up….you have soooo much more *CLASS* than they do.

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  19. I’m having a hard time choosing the game or “Finding Nemo” with my Grand Daughter, That’s how hard it is for me to watch this team right now. 6 guys hitting what .220 or less

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    • To me, this team as configured is simply way too painful to watch. I have no intention of buying a ticket to any game in which Carlos Gomez, Colby Rasmus, or Evan Gattis plays, and if they come up in a game I am watching I change the channel to something else. Usually I just check in once or twice a night on MBL Gameday, then check the boxscore and watch the highlights after the game is over. Out of total frustration with this team’s perpetual 4-9 stinkhole, and with Hinch’s line-up and bullpen choices, I am quite content watching the Grizzlies, Hooks, Jethawks, River Bandits, and Valley Cats games unfold on Gameday.

      In other words, I say your best bet by far is definitely Nemo.

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  20. I don’t know what everyone is complaining about. The team is almost there. All we need to do is find 3-4 pitchers who can pitch to an ERA under 1 and we will be contenders for the WS.

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    • Hey, if the Nats will place Stasburg on waivers, the Mets will do so with Syndergaard and DeGrom, and the Braves will waive Teheran, we might just get it done. If the opposing teams will all spot us 1.5 runs per game, that is.

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      • I think we would probably need the 1915- 1918 Babe Ruth that went 78 and 40 with a 2.00 ERA for the Red Sox and ate almost 300 innings per season. He could also man the DH position as he hit around .315 over the same time frame.

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  21. What I hate:
    • The fact that the top of our order has to be PERFECT for us to score more than 3 runs.
    • That we only turn the lineup over once an hour.
    • That we are wasting some pretty darn good pitching right now.
    • That Hudgens still has a job – that alone has caused me to lose confidence in Hinch’s decision making.
    • That Gomez is still being trotted out everyday to strike ridiculous poses as he screws himself in the ground on another strike 3
    • That Springer is STILL the exact same hitter he was the day he arrived. No improvement. He has the skills and swing mechanics to be nudging .300 with much more consistent power.
    • That I can insert Correa in the above statement without making any changes.
    • That we are wasting a historic year from Altuve.
    • That Bregman, White, Reed and Tucker can’t find their stroke.
    • That everyone except Altuve seems to slumping at the same time.
    • That Reed’s swing looks really LOOOOONG.
    • That our DH produces at about the same level as a NL pitcher’s spot.
    • That a 32 year old with a track record of hitting and a big contract is sitting in A ball while the big club can’t hit.

    What I love:
    • The looks of our ML pitching staff. A mix of McCullers, Keuchel, Musgrove, Devenski, Feliz, McHugh, Fiers should net out five quality starters and a couple of quality relievers in 2017.
    • That Ken Giles has found his mojo and that Hoyt is ready if he falters.
    • The looks of our MiL pitching prospects. Mike Hauschild and Keegan Yuhl are way underrated and are very near MLB ready. Brady Rogers, David Paulino and Francis Martes all have high ceilings and are nearly MLB ready.
    • Young power arms Riley Ferrell (RHP 98 MPH), Jandel Gustave (RHP 102 MPH) and Reymin Guduan (LHP 102 MPH) are all progressing.
    • The fact that we stole Akeem Bostick in the Corporan deal with the Rangers. Kid is a little control away from being electric.
    • That Stephen Wrenn looks like a future MLB star
    • That Teoscar Hernandez is lights out
    • That Tony Kemp just keeps hitting and playing all over the field.
    • That Bregman is too good to not hit and brings multi gold glove fielding tools. He will end up being a perennial all- star.
    • That Kyle Tucker is performing at his current level despite this only being his 2nd year out of high school. Most beautiful LH swing since Jr. Griffey.
    • That MiL players are starting to move more quickly through the ranks.
    • That every time I think Marwin should be a utility player only he does something to make me think he is a legitimate MLB starter

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  26. Vintage Keuchel!! That made me cry, because he has had such a horrible year.
    He REALLY needed this game. One down two to go!!

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  28. Look people, it’s down to the wire now…..we can NO LONGER play Gomez, and expect a different outcome. The guy is a liability on this team. When one of the new guys comes up and doesn’t perform we can send him down, to get better. Can’t do that with Gomez, it’s time to let him walk. One of, if not THE worst trades Luhnow has ever made.
    Sorry Tim….it’s the hard cold truth, he’s done….let him go. Becky⚾

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    • I don’t disagree. They’re not going to cut him yet, but he needs to be primarily a bench player with the occasional start against LHs or pitchers like R.A. Dickey where Gomez has shown success in the past.

      Also, it probably will go down as his worst trade, but I want to wait this one out to see if Fiers continues to show improvement like he has his last 2 starts and whether any of the prospects traded have any success in the major leagues.

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      • I suspect that if you don’t play him you would be forced to cut him or risk him becoming a cancer in the clubhouse.

        How did he get so bad so quick?? Even his defense is way below what it was. Surely he can’t fall apart that quickly at only 30 years of age. His play this year has probably cost him $50-$75M so I sure don’t think the bad play in intentional. I just can’t understand how 9 years of all- star level play vanish so quickly. In ’13 and ’14 he actually received a few votes for league MVP.

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      • vewill1, I’m not sure what has happened to Gomez. He probably has cost himself much more than $50-75M. If he had performed close to 2013-2014 he would have probably gotten a contract in excess of $100M. Instead, he’ll be lucky if he gets a 1/$10M contract in an effort to try and restore his value. His fall is normally reserved for guys in their mid to late 30s, but he should be in the prime of his career, statistically speaking. Unless his injuries are worse than being disclosed I am puzzled as to why Gomez has gotten so bad so quickly.

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      • Whether or not the prospects have success really isn’t the point. At the time of the trade they were valued high and Luhnow could have gotten a better return from another team. He should have investigated Gomez more. The Mets backing out of the deal sent up red flags that shoud have been deeply investigated.

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      • Maybe he really is older than 30. His physical self has changed much since he came up with the Mets. And why keep a roster spot for him at this point to start him against a soft target? I’d rather have guys with upside. He’s got none left.

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      • He did try to get a better trade, but Hamels exercised his no-trade clause to Houston. Reports are some of the players in the Gomez trade were offered in the Hamels trade. Also, it isn’t irrelevant how the players traded away perform. If they all bomb and Fiers has a serviceable career as a BORP then the trade worked out for the Astros. I doubt that’s what happens, but until they perform at the major league level the trade cannot be fully evaluated.

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  30. I will stand by my comment about Keuchel being our most consistent pitcher and that it is not the time to be shopping him. He was an ace last year. He may not have pitched like one this year, but he pitched like one last night, in the game that Stanton said was probably the most important game of the year for the Astros.

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    • Absolutely! Looking to trade Keuchel when this team is on the precipice of being a legitimate contender is foolish. He is an extreme groundball pitcher and we have 2 excellent defenders in the middle of the infield. In addition, trying to trade him now when his value is down makes no sense. If the Astros were even considering trading him this past offseason would have been the time, but Astros Nation would have revolted and demanded Luhnow be fired (most already are, but the Kool-Aid brigade like myself might have done the same depending on any return we would have gotten for Keuchel).

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  31. Fires was an extra throw in on the Gomez trade, if we can recoup anything from this trade it will be Fires. He’s pitched very well……and I’m wiling to be money Luhnow could get a pretty good property or two for him, over the winter. I really hated to give up Hader, and Maverick in that trade……I think BOTH will end up very successful.

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  33. No one is talking about Mr. And Mrs. Fister’s, baby. Mctaggart says no one said if it’s a boy or girl. I hope with all my heart that the baby and mother are ok.

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  35. I wouldn’t have traded Keuchel I would see which one you get in 2017. I will However give my buddy Uncle Jeff kuddos here for not panicking and signing him to stupid long term money after winning the CY, Keuchel is not an ace but a decent 2 or 3.

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  38. So if we keep everybody away from the Astros – Nance out of town, Kevin watching grandkid videos, Dan at the in-laws, etc / that somehow the celestial vibrations will somehow float through the ozone and allow the guys to hit.

    There must be some easier way to be a fan.

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  39. Not that he was every any good, but whatever happened to Kyle Weiland? His status still shows he is ‘in the minors’ according to The Baseball Cube website, but shows no stats for two years.

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      • Well, that would certainly make sense.

        Sounds like someone needs to update the TBC website! It’s accurate 99% of the time, but there are a few anomalies (like Luis Gonzalez supposedly pitching in the minors the year before he retired)

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    • Not surprising. He just doesn’t have any real plus pitch in his arsenal. Good fastball location, good curve, good changeup, etc, but no out pitch.

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    • He may bounce around for a while. The Braves signing Roberto Hernandez (AKA Fausto Carmona) to start tonight shows that you can never be so bad that someone won’t give you a shot

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  43. I just had the pleasure of meeting the beautiful Sandy. The Astros are lucky to have such fans as beautiful as Sandy and Becky. It was a pleasure meeting you today, Sandy. Nance, it looks like you’re on deck.

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  45. I guess the good news is that Harrell has thrown 80 pitches through three innings. But jeez, we should have taken advantage of all those base runners.

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  48. No griping about this game….you leave 10-11 guys on base, and the ONLY run you get walked in the 1st inning. Nope, this game falls on your shoulders boys.
    Dang….Altuve grew a pair suddenly!! That’s the second game in the last week where he got up in the umps face about balls and strikes! I’m impressed!!

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  49. Does anyone else get the feeling we’re going to get a couple runners on and Altuve’s spot is going to come up, but we get Marwin instead in a big situation?

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  50. I was wrong. Lucus did not make us look foolish. We made ourselves look foolish. This might be the toughest game I’ve had to watch all year. I think Altuve felt the same way. At this point, he knows the zone as well as anyone, and the umps are not giving him the level of respect the best hitter in the game should be getting.

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