In that 1952 Western classic with McCarthy era overtones “High Noon”, Marshall Will Kane, played by Oscar Winner Gary Cooper, is up against it. There would be a spoiler alert at this point, but if you have not seen this movie yet in your life, you are probably never going to see it. Let’s see, every single friend he has in town has turned their backs on him, goaded on by the greatest turncoat speech in the history of film by the underrated character actor Thomas Mitchell. The ones who are not his friends are openly in support of his getting his come-uppance for upholding the law. The only people willing to join him in a hopeless endeavor are foolish kids or the infirm. His wife of one day, Grace Kelly, who is only about 40 years younger than Kane is not totally behind him due to being an anti-violent Quaker, plus she is jealous of his previous girlfriend (Katy Jurado, who is a fiery counterpoint to the ice princess Kelly). His former deputy (Lloyd Bridges) in a jealous rage beats Kane up while also getting beat up and then heads out of town. Oh and four really, really bad guys including the one he put in prison are coming to town with one thing in mind, Kane’s death.
Flash forward 64 years and from the unreality of celluloid to the unreality of professional sports. The Houston Astros are limping back into Minute Maid Park from a 3-4 game road trip that could have been better. They are on the teetering brink of falling out of the race with a 2-1/2 game gap to the 2nd wild card spot. Their starting rotation is a shambles with Lance McCullers Jr. and Dallas Keuchel out, Collin McHugh up and down, Doug Fister pitching like Doug’s little sister, Brad Peacock and Joe Musgrove and David Paulino pitching like three or four innings will be good enough. The bullpen has been expanded by a bunch more folks, which is not always a good thing. The best short stop the Astros have ever had, Carlos Correa missed the end of the road trip with an injury. Many of their fans have turned their backs on them and towards the Texans or have turned on the up and down performance of the front office. It seems the only players who can help are the kids and the infirm. Oh and two really great teams with the best records in the majors, the Chicago Cubs and Darth Bannister and his Imperial North Texas Troopers are coming to town for three games each.
Will the Astros pull things together like Gary Cooper did so many years ago and slay the dragons and ride away with Grace friggin’ Kelly? Even back then Marshall Kane needed all his cunning, an unexpected assist from Princess Grace and some luck.
A week from now the Astros could be still in the race with a favorable schedule facing them the last couple weeks of the season or they could collapse from the weight of expectations and misfortunes and be 6+ games out of the race. Which would basically be the same as being out of the race.
- What do the Astros need to do in the next week to keep themselves relevant?
- What kind of breaks do they need?
- Who will give them the unexpected performance(s) needed to hold things together?
- Where will they be a week from now?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
156 responses to “This may be it: High noon comes to Minute Maid Park”
In your honor, Dan, Jose Altuve’s walk-up song this week should be ‘Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin”
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Do not forsake us, Carl Correa.
on this our darkest day.
Do not forsake us, shortstop Grande,
Play – please, please play!
We do not know what fate awaits us;
but we know we need your trusty glove.
The teams we’re facing so outrate us;
bring back your bat, your great Thor’s Hammer,
the one our fans have come to love.
Please get well soon, Lance McCullers!
Our wildcard dreams are fading fast
And Dallas K. we really need you
to be the ace of years now past.
Joe of the Grove please find your rhythm;
and hold the Cubbies to one run.
And bullpen buddies, please stay with him;
cause when you suck this game’s no fun.
Do not forsake us, Carl Correa;
on this our darkest day.
Do not forsake us shortstop Grande;
Play – please, please play!
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Mr Bill
We’re not worthy – we’re not worthy!
You would make John Ritter’s dad proud.
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* Who will give them the unexpected performance(s) needed to hold things together? *
This is ‘all hand on deck’ week. Everybody that steps on the field or the mound, or into the batter’s box or the basepaths needs to dig deep and find their inner hero.
Who could make the biggest difference? Teoscar Hernandez could guarantee himself that he never sees the minor leagues again. Evan Gattis could make us forget last year’s negative WAR forever. Michael Feliz could prove he belongs in the majors permanently. Chris Devenski and Alex Bregman could both make a push for ROY. Jose Altuve could make a strong case for MVP. Jake Marisnick could make us forget his season and a half of absolutely horrible at bats. Marwin Gonzales could price us out of the market for his services. But really, it is all going to come down to pitching. Our starters need to shut down the Cubs offense, and our relievers need to stifle any attempts at late-innings rallies.
Strap on that .44, Mr. Cooper. The clock is about to strike 12.
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A couple odd-wad things I wanted to point out:
– Gary Cooper does not refer to the former Astros farmhand who had 16 ABs with the big club in 1991.
– I always thought Tex Ritter wrote and sang “Do not Forsake me…” Yes, he sang it, but the composer for the film Dimitri Tiomkin wrote the melody. I’m betting there are not too many famous Western songs written by someone named Dimitri.
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Dimitri’s melody is so haunting. It hits the mind like a classic Russian novel. Once you hear it, you cannot get it out of your head! Be gone, Leo Tolstoy! Get thee behind me, Fyodor Dostoyevsky! Put down your balalaika, Dimitri Tiomkin!
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1. Win games
2. It is mathematically impossible for Boston, Baltimore, AND NYY to all finish with fewer than 66 losses, which is what HOU sits at. In other words, we are going to get some help as those teams (and Toronto) beat on each other. Instead of breaks, focus on item #1.
3. Chapman. He’s going to pull off a Rasmussian September we’ll be telling our grandkids about.
4. Seattle. What?!
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How many wins keep them in the race Devin?
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With 22 games left, I would say anything worse than 14-8 sends them golfing instead of to October baseball. But the simple answer is to just keep winning.
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Dan,Mr. Bill, I would guess that the Al Capone mob from Chicago and then Darth Bannister will probably pummel our hero and a recovery time then begins.
Let’s switch to Clint Eastwood now and his early westerns. The bad guys would always beat him half to death, but he would somehow escape and recover with the help of a friend. I see the Astros recovering from this upcoming beating, but not enough to make the playoffs.
The real recovery will happen in the off season with the acquisition of a frontline starter , the recovery of health for Dallas and Lance, the maturing of Musgrove and some of the other youngsters. Plus, I still have hopes A.J Reed will figure things out.
Then it’s time for “Make my day punk”.
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Do ya feel lucky, Larry? Do ya?
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I would prefer the ending of the two series to be like The Forgiven or Rob Roy. Say nothing and leave them laying in our wake.
But I fear we are in a gunfight armed with a Bowie knife.
If the Astros have anything left, this is High Noon for sure.
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The way we played the last two games, we don’t seem to want to ride into the sunset with either Grace Kelly or Wendy Peffercorn. At this rate, we’ll be lucky if Orbit stays on our side! You’re killin’ us, Calls!
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Wow a Sandlot reference (I cheated – I looked up Wendy – the name was so familiar but I had forgotten). You could also throw in the woman that John Belushi drives off with at the end of Animal House….
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Dan, this is off topic, but you asked about Stubb’s arm the other day and I noticed that MLB Pipeline has his arm rated as his highest tool, a 60. That is very good. JD Davis, a college pitcher with a mid 90’s fastball has an arm rated at 65 as a third baseman, so you can see how good Stubbs’s arm is considered.
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Speaking of Stubbs – he played a big part in Corpus Christi’s big playoff win over Midland last night. He [3 BBs, including the one which led to the winning run], Laureano [3 hits], Tanielu [3 hits], and Antonio Nunez [walk off single] were the main offensive heroes, and Trent Thornton and Eric Peterson were the Rockhound killers on the mound. Go Hooks!!
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Stubbs also had a hit. I thought that would be worth mentioning. He scored twice. Speed-wise, the guy is not your slow-footed catcher, that’s for sure.
If Stubbs turned out to be a good left hand hitting catcher with a plus arm and good speed, I wonder how that would play in LF in a year or two. If everyone is worried about his size, a good OBP contact hitter with the arm and the speed and doesn’t strike out a lot would seem to fit in with all our RH batters. He has 18 SBs in 21 professional tries.
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Correa out again
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there is a long shadow being cast by the absence of correa, even though its high noon.
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High noon at the North Pole: The Sequel
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Good news is…..Keuchel shows no structural damage in his shoulder!😀😀
Bad news is…..Correa still can’t extend his left arm to swing.😢😢
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More bad base running, more bad decision making.
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Yeah……not smart. BUT….Musgrove is matching Lester pitch to pitch. How does he look to you?
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His fastball is sitting in the high 80’s – low 90’s which makes his offspeed far less effective.
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Where is the mid- 9i0’s fastball we saw last outing???
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Even more base running stupidity. No outs, a runner in scoring position and Altuve at the plate. This is how you lose games.
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Brown and Ashby are going overboard making excuses for the bad base running.
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Yeah…..well that two run homerun might just be the game. What a shame, but they aren’t the best team in baseball for nothing. That was # 37 for Bryant. Think this team needs a good talking to about how NOT to get picked off bases????
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No complaints about our pitching…..they just had a little bit better pitcher tonight.
Only complaint is our guys getting put out on the bases. I’m not sure thy would have scored, but we will never know will we.
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No complaints from me about our team. They did not give up.
My only complaint is the Houston fan base. How embarrassing to have as many Cub fans as Astro fans.
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I was going to make a joke about it being ha football season and a Fri night, but I can recall too many times we were outnumbered by the visiting team’s fanbase.
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Many folks from Chicago in town this weekend for both the Cubs and the Bears.
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The wind is blowing out to CF at 22 mph in Lancaster tonight and the Jethawks have scored 19 runs. Within a few outs of advancing in their playoffs.
CC Hooks lost a heartbreaker tonight as they went into the bottom of the ninth leading 5-1 and gave up 6 runs including a walkoff grand slam. They are down 2 games to 1 to Midland.
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Just a minor correction. They were down 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th and gave up 5 runs. It was still a heartbreaking loss, though.
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Gary Cooper would not have helped the Astros tonight. The Cubs are too good and playing at home in MMP. Why would anyone who knows about Houston’s attendance want to play for Houston? It was embarrassing from the very first inning.
Musgrove’s huge mistake was not the home run pitch to Bryant. It was the two-out walk to Fowler, from a pitcher who wasn’t supposed to beat himself by walking people. Bryant wouldn’t have even come to the plate if Fowler doesn’t get on base.
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The pitching did its job tonight. If you hold any team (even the Cubs) to two runs you have done your job. Despite the fact that Musgrove had nothing on his fastball he managed to navigate through 6 effective innings. As OP pointed out the walks ended up being the difference in good to great (and win to loss).
What a shame that we could not muster a single run off of 7 hits. You just can not give away free outs on the bases when you face good pitching. I understand being aggressive but there is a difference between being aggressive and being smart. Tonight we were not smart.
Addressing the elephant in the room; at the moment Jose Altuve is a liability in the middle of the order. All semblance of disciplined plate approach seems to have gone out the window. For his last 15 games Altuve is slashing a paltry .150/.200/.300 with 11 K/ 4 BB and is seriously hurting this team offensively. Great players perform at their highest level when all the chips are on the table. Altuve needs to find a way to help this team down the stretch.
Next, Rasmus is hitting .143 for the season against lefties. I know his defense is valuable, but for the life of me I can’t understand why he was in the lineup against one of the best lefties in the game.
On a positive note, Gurriell continues to impress at the plate and do his job in the field. I really like his attitude and I think he will end up being a solid contributor.
It seems that the gulf between a Joe Maddon and an A.J. Hinch is pretty wide. The Cubs just don’t make many tactical mistakes and the Astros do. A lot of that may be attributable to the Cubs superior talent masking managerial mistakes, but I would suspect not all. Hinch also needs to step up his game down the stretch.
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I’m not going to use Rasmus’ numbers this year against LHs as a basis for having someone PH for him. He was battling vertigo for most of the year so his numbers will definitely be bad against both LHs and RHs. Last year he hit LHs better than RHs. The only guy who you may have used there was Tyler White and I still felt more comfortable with Rasmus hitting than White. I’m not saying Rasmus is a very good hitter against LHs, but I wouldn’t put a rookie up there who has never faced Lester before.
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Tim….there were a few guys who are roockies that were in our lineup who had never faced Lester, so that’s not really a good excuse.
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My point is he was the only RH guy and he’s never faced Lester. I trusted Rasmus more in that situation.
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The Cubs, as September contenders should, played an impeccable game. They’ve got to be the favorites right now. I noticed last night that they’ve got a team WHIP of 1.110. Pitching. I think their only real weakness is the 184 million dollar guy out in right who has hit like Jake all season.
I have a hard time pointing any fingers at Jose Altuve right now. He’s the guy who’s carried this team on his back for the entire season. You want to drop him in the order now? It’s great to see Gurriel and Bregman have such a positive impact. Those two guys, along with Altuve and Gattis with his hot streak (which is over) are what helped keep this club in the race for so long. Our guys continue to battle. No quit in this group. We just don’t have the horses.
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It was a tough loss last night. With Correa out and Altuve struggling the offense is pretty thin. Throw in the fact that Lester has been tremendous lately and it was going to be a tough row to hoe. Then giving away freebie outs…..tough.
Need to turn it around today.
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Still only 2.5 games out of the wild card.
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The game is on the regular Fox channel today. No Correa.
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Tomorrow I think they are on ESPN.
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Tickets to today’s game are anywhere from 2 to 5 times higher than Wednesday’s game against the Angels.
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The good news is if they win they’ll gain a game on Detroit or Baltimore. The bad news is even if they win they’ll still be 2.5 games back of the 2nd WC. I think it’s best if Baltimore wins today and tomorrow. Their schedule is tougher that Detroit’s down the stretch.
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Lackey is upset after not getting some calls and walking two guys to load the bases and Castro pops up on the first pitch. Dumb.
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Yeah, that’s not part of playing impeccable baseball either.
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I love Bregman – absolutely love him. Nice squeeze by Marwin too.
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daveb7. No I do not want to drop Altuve in the order, nor did I suggest it in my previous post. I want him to get out of his slump and start producing like the middle of the order hitter that he is. I want him to find a way to contribute even when the bat is cold, like he did on the bunt single in the 3rd (that broke an 0 for 12 stretch). I want him to get back to the disciplined plate approach we saw earlier in the season when he was hitting lights out. I want him to take a walk if its there. Regardless of how long he carried the team he is in a serious slum right now that has stretched over the 15-20 most important games of the season. This team can not afford that down the stretch.
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Yes, they need him to get out of his slump, but all players slump. If not for Altuve they would be 7 or 8 games out of the Wild Card. Yes it is an inopportune time, but what can you do? Tell him to just start hitting like a real clutch guy would? He is trying and trying harder isn’t going to do a thing for changing this.
And totally out of left field, but C’mon Fox – I know you don’t cover a lot of games, but pony up some $$ for some kind of pitch tracker. You guys seem to be on the cusp of 1990 technology out there.
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Accepting and justifying mediocrity and underperformance seems to be at the heart of this organization and its fans. Jose Altuve is a superstar; one of the top 10 players in the league and a serious MVP candidate. With that level of play comes high expectations. I expect him to produce when the games mean the most. It doesn’t mean that I want him benched and it does not mean I want him dropped in the order. That is not wrong nor is it asking too much.
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Mike Trout is a tremendous ball player who is not helping his team win significant games down the stretch. That is because he didn’t help them win enough games to play significant games down the stretch.
I’ll take Altuve’s “mediocrity” over some games, because it happens to all players and less to him than most.
And could we quit running into out after out on the bases? My goodness this is killing me. (See I am not accepting all underperformance)
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DanP, I get your point but I’m not sure Trout is a good example to use. His WAR is a full 1.5 over the next closest challenger and he has the best consistently excellent all season long.
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OK – try another point. You “blame” us for accepting underperformance and mediocrity. What are the fans supposed to do? Call on the front office to get rid of Altuve for a better superstar who always hits in the clutch? Would he play better if I did not “accept” his underperformance? The two best players in team history Bagwell and Biggio failed to perform in the playoffs. Is that because we accepted it?
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Vewill, that last comment is a bit annoying. “Accepting and justifying mediocrity and underperformance seems to be at the heart of this organization and its fans”.
By your own admission, you were close to the game for many years. I’m calling you out because you stated that the leagues leading hitter “is at the moment a liability in the middle of the order”.
Again, as a student of the game, you should understand that even great players don’t get to choose when they have a slump. Altuve has outperformed every hitter in the league for almost a full season, to the point where he still leads the league in hitting in the midst his only real slump of the season. And if healthy, he’ll work his way out of his slump and help this club finish the season strongly. I’ll almost guarantee it.
Back to your quote. Not many of us here accept and justify mediocrity. And I’m probably one of the most critical here. But when someone calls out Altuve for not pulling his weight, I’m not going to ignore it.
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My immediate concern for Altuve is that something is wrong with him. Even if 0 for his last 50, Kemp should not be pinch hitting for him in the 8th, if only for the defense Altuve provides at second base in a game his team leads by a run late.
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I tend to agree with you. I think there is something bothering him. And I also would not pinch hit for him with Kemp or anyone else.
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You would NOT want to be in my house after Spring got called out at the plate.
*W H O* sent him?????? If I ever find out I’m gonna take a baseball bat to their head.GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
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Finally something we can all agree on! Just how many rally killing outs can one team run into during a series??
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Sorry, not me. Sending Sppringer in that situation with two outs, hits scarce and a one run lead was a good aggressive decision that just did not work out.
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And with a ball hit that shallow it probably won’t ever work out.
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Astros win!
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Alright, somehow, some way they won!!!
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Bregman has 31 RBIs in his last 33 games. What a fun kid to watch.
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I think if you were going to teach your kid how to swing, Bregman’s swing is as good a model as you could choose. Short, quick, powerful and it stays in the zone for such a good amount of time. Amazing that he started off so poorly with such good fundamentals.
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Really? He reminds me a bit of David Eckstein on the swing. I’d copy Corey Seager if we are talking about rookies.
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Pinch me, I’m dreaming.
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It was that choker super star Bryant who went 0 for 4 who handed it to the Astros.
Is that better ve? lol
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This club is nothing if not resilient.
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Absolutely dave – like Marshall Kane they just keep trying no matter the odds. Without two of their top starters, without their great SS, with their best player struggling and possible hurt and they still play hard and are keeping in the race. Now if they can only beat the North Texas Storm Troopers when they come to town….
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Dan, I would not put it past them.
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I didn’t get to watch today. Looks like it was a good one.
Was McHugh really that good or did the Cubs just have a bad day? If a couple of the starters could get on a roll exciting things could happen.
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They had a stat early on that said the Cubs as a club bat .192 against curveballs. He did a good job of moving the fastball around (and not in the middle of the plate) and his curve ball was good today. He bulldogged it.
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Thanks Dan, seems like I always miss his good starts. I really like the guy and want him to succeed.
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Altuve is not hurt. He threw up before the game, and was sick during the game. He will be back in there tomorrow night. Good thing they have a few more hours in between games, it gives him some time to feel better.
Turning point in this game was Devenski in for the 6th inning. Next year I want him in the rotation…..not coming out of the bullpen. I had to turn the game off after the wild pitch. Giles just makes me nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs!!
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That’s good news. Some guys would have taken the day off.
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The last 2 days have been frustrating. Cubs fans have bought tickets all around us an they are just too loud! In reality they are great fans and it has been a joy talking to them. They sure lover their team. Maybe they will be quieter after today.
On another note, several asked what what I was doing on my iPad during the game. I showed them the Chipalatta site and they were quite impressed with the discourse.
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And to put this Altuve thing to bed; I am not down on Altuve nor do I think he is not a great player. There is nothing wrong with pointing out that he is in a severe rut at the moment. I know that all players slump, but I am worried that this is more than a slump. His swing mechanics look off and he is swinging at everything. I would be less concerned if he was having good at bats with bad luck, but he is not having very many good at bats at the moment. I am really hoping that he is not hiding an injury or something of that nature. In his last 25 AB he has 4 hits and .160 AVG, in his last 50 AB he has 8 hits and a .163 AVG, in his last 100 AB he has 22 hits and a .255 AVG. During the stretch his AVG has dropped 30 points. This is very unlike Altuve and it is also a longer slump than a hitter of his caliber generally goes through. It is not disrespectful to the player or his admirers to point this out. I would be more concerned if his defense was suffering or he was showing signs of lack of effort, but that is not the case. For this team to win down the stretch they need him to play at the level he is capable of.
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The boys are just tired……just like every other team. Plus, Altuve and his wife are expecting their baby over the next couple of months.
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I am not going to criticize Altuve. He’s wonderful.
Somehow McHugh managed to get Chicago out for five innings.
Devenski has some big-time confidence, now. He can relieve for the rest of the year, but deserves a chance to be a starter next season. But, he may not have enough pitches to go through the lineup 3 times. of course, nobody on our staff can go through the lineup 3 time, except our 2 injured guys.
I want to see Paulino again.
Bregman and Gurriel sure do look like keepers. I wonder if Lourdes Jr is a keeper.
We won today with a terrible lineup.
How can Heyward and Zobrist be so bad after being so good? Money?
Is it me or would Lackey fit in perfectly on the Rangers? So not likeable!
Chicago sure has good pitchers.
Kris Bryant is going to be good.
Hooks eliminated in the first round tonight. What’s new?
Lancaster wins game 1 of their 2nd round playoff series against Rangers affiliate, High Desert, 6-4 on the road. Winner of that game was 20 year old prospect Albert Abreu who came on in relief. He was promoted late in the season from Quad Cities.
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I, like the rest of you, think the playoffs are a long shot this year. However, this team is showing us some heart and resiliency that bodes well for next year and beyond. They are depleted missing their top 2 starting pitchers and 2 of their best hitters in Correa and Valbuena. Their best hitter is mired in a terrible slump, but yet they keep finding ways to grind out wins. My hope is that they win tonight and then take 2 of 3 from Texas. If they can do this I really think they will be in great position for a strong finish. The key to this team, right now, is the bullpen. If they have a lead after 5 it’s probable they pull it out. No matter how this year finishes I’m very excited what the future holds. If I was Crane and I couldn’t get a solid starting pitcher in the offseason I would make a strong push for Aroldis Chapman and just make the bullpen the best in baseball. They will need another bat or two also and I think they’ll be able to add offense as the strength in this weak free agency class is hitting.
Finally, I have to give some credit to Hinch. He has kept this team focused and grinding. I feel he has managed the games very well lately and I now feel he is the right manager to lead this team to where we all want it to go. Go Astros!
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Tim, you nailed it. If both LMJ and Keuchel (fingers crossed) come back healthy next year I think we could get by with just adding another quality arm to the rotation. I really like a lineup of Keuchel, LMJ, Musgrove, Devenski and another innings eating quality arm. Bregman, Gurriell and a revitalized Gattis to compliment Altuve, Springer and Correa make this lineup much deeper and more potent. I think we could live with one hole in the order if the player contributes great defense (Teoscar/ Marisnik). I still think we need to spend on a veteran backup catcher that could also play a little 1B and DH and I still like Napoli as an option for that role.
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Today will be a true test of the Astros’ toughness. Can Fiers and the ‘pen hold down this Cubs offense one more game? Can the offense put up enough runs against Arrieta to make it a game? Will Correa come back today? Will great Altuve show up today?
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Will this game get above a 0.0 rating in Houston markets?
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Yes all the Chicago transplants who could not get tickets.
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Question:
I am seeing more and more rumors that the Marlins may be in the market to deal Jose Fernandez in the offseason. He is arbitration eligible this offseason and a free agent next offseason. His agent is naturally Scott Boras. Over 4 seasons he has pitched to a 2.58 ERA with 2.7BB and 11.3K per 9. He seems to have bounced back well after TJ surgery and is piling up impressive numbers.
Knowing that you only have control for 1 season, knowing that you would be dealing with Boras on any future contract and knowing that it would cost you some very high quality prospects; is this a deal that the Astros should pursue?? He would definitely upgrade the rotation as much or more than any other available starter.
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Correction, you would have him for two arbitration eligible years before he hit FA.
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I think it’s a matter of what is the most you would surrender to get the one year. I think Altuve, Springer, Correa, LMJ, and Bregman are the only guys I would not include in a deal. Anyone else is negotiable. I don’t think my max offer would come close to what Miami wants, though.
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I think I would add Martes to my untouchable list. I sure would like to see him in a Houston jersey but I wouldn’t empty the farm for him either.
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Nope, Don’t trade the future for a great pitcher for two years of arbitration who has Boras as his agent.
Instead, talk to Yuli about the two Cuban pitchers who were declared free agents and see if one of them looks good and go after one or both of them.
If you keep trading young pitchers away, you will have to keep spending money on free agent pitchers and you won’t have anyone to match up with them. So spend money now and save your prospects and in one year you will have lots of young pitchers and then go after your ace with the 2018 free agent bonanza money.
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All those teams that traded for CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee a few years back probably regret it. I’m sure Texas wishes Cole Hamels had accepted the trade to Houston, too. We are talking about a legit ace…not a Shelby Miller, Jeff Smardizja, or even Andrew Cashner here.
But I agree with the logic you can’t empty the farm for one arm… especially after all the guys they lost in 2015 and failed to replace in the draft, thus far.
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If it weren’t for health concerns I would try to work a deal if I thought it was the piece that could put us over the top. There just isn’t anything in this year’s FA class that is as good as what we already have. Martes is the only pitching prospect we have that truly projects as an ace so I would make him untouchable……. except (like Becky mentions) in a deal for Trout.
At some point we are going to have to deal some prospects for that missing piece. We have Altuve, Bregman, Correa, Gurriell and Springer under long- term team control so some of our fielding prospects will be blocked until they age out so I hope they can deal those pieces and limit the hit to our young arms. I just hope when the time comes JL makes a smart move.
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I agree with OP……our farm is starting to produce for us, unless it’s for Mike Trout.
Correa back in the lineup, Bregman is DH. Man, I hate using all of the bullpen for tonight’s game, ESPECIALLY when the other team that plays in texas is coming in for three games tomorrow.
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Great…..just great. Getting caught stealing is a sure way to endure yourself to the manager, especially when you got a guy like Arrieta on the mound.
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Lol all you have to do is put the Astros or Texans on national TV and it usually equals UGLY
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FSN had Paulino starting on Tues, but now I see Peacock is starting. So who is it??
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Peacock.
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There must be 2 Cubs fans for every Astros fan here. They are loud! This is embarrassing on a nationally televised game.
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May as well just leave Fiers out there at least six innings – no matter what the score. Save the relief corps for another game.
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Well…..that went fast. I gotta question for you guys and girls……do we keep Fires in the rotation next year, and offer Mr. Fister a contract? If McCullers arm is made of glass, and Keuchel arm goes south again….what’s our options? Devenski and Feliz in the rotation? Think they will be ready? How about Martes and Paulino? I don’t see Fires being anything other than what he is, and very poor #5 at best….same for Fister. Luhnow must be tearing out his hair at the way the second half has gone.
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i don’t see any help with the rotation without a trade and we all know what that means.
But that’s a really good question Becky. The starting four for 17 either makes or breaks this team.
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You almost have to make a trade for a TOR starter. Be prepared, if you want a good arm it is going to cost you dearly. At this point we have 5 #5 starters in the rotation. I think Musgrove has the stuff to be a #3 or #4 next year. Same for Devenski. I like both of them in the rotation next year. If LMJ and Keuchel come back healthy next season I think we can have a decent rotation that could be very good with a trade for TOR arm.
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The last 10 games, not one guy in this rotation has gone more than 4 innings.
That’s why I am asking the question…..we still have 19 games left, and even with some extra help in the bullpen. By the way what can ya say about the 2 clean innings Brady Rodgers pitched tonight! As a matter of fact take way that homerun in the fifth the bullpen really sowed up tonight. BUT……I go back to scratching my head about what to do next year.
Keuchel
McHugh
Musgrove
McCullers
?????????
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Without a trade I think you are looking at #1 LMJ, #2 Keuchel, #3 Devenski, #4 Musgrove and #5 McHugh. If they can stay healthy that will be a decent, but not spectacular rotation. I think we will see Martes up by early June.
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Redundant but I agree right now we have a 4 and 4 fives without LMJ. So either kids step up in the spring or we go outside over the winter and loose some young talent.
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