Once around the rotation with the Astros

Yes, Dallas Keuchel did not pitch as well as his compadres in the Astros 2018 five-man rotation. But it was not like his outing was some unmitigated disaster. It is just that in comparison to four very strong outings by the others, his was middle of the road and came on the day his teammates decided to treat Doug Fister like he was Justin Verlander or Lance McCullers or Gerrit Cole or Charlie Morton….

Verlander. He did allow quite a few fly balls on opening day against the Rangers. He did not quite have his usual one K per inning. But if he repeats his 6 innings, four hits, no runs performance for about 29 more starts, he will not lose a game and that is what it is all about – the results. He will have games where he gives up the long ball, but this was not one of them and that is a good thing as the Astros prevailed 4-1.

Keuchel. The plus side is that even in a loss, he put in six innings and left trailing only 3-1. He got the Rangers to ground into a couple double plays along the way. But a 2nd inning HR by Nomar Mazara put him in a 1-0 hole and when he loaded the bases with nobody out in the 4th, two long sacrifice flies did the rest of the damage and the Astros lost meekly 5-1.

McCullers. Lance gave up two runs in his 5.1 IP of work, but his teammates scored 6 runs while he was in and ended up winning a laugher 9-3 in Arlington. Lance looked sharp as he put up 10 Ks against only one walk and managed to avoid hitting anyone unlike his last start in the seventh game of the World Series. Elvis Andrus cranked a home run against him in the third and then Andrus singled and scored on a Beltre double in the 6th. Those were 3 of the 4 hits he gave up on the day.

Cole. Cole is my new Collin McHugh. Just like I can’t remember how many L’s in Collin, I am struggling with how many T’s in Gerrit. The Rangers wish that was the only struggle they had with Mr. Cole. He gave up an opposite field HR to Joey Gallo in the first and then pitched magnificently, giving up one more hit (to Mr. Andrus of course) in 7 innings paired with 11 Ks for the day. His stuff was nasty and had to have the Arlington club shaking their heads saying – this is the 4th man in the rotation?? The Astros won easily 8-2.

Morton. Salty looked like someone who had gained a lot of confidence in 2017 as he stoned the Orioles in the banner raising home opener of 2018. Morton gave up a couple walks and hit one batter, but only gave up three hits and zero runs in six strong innings. The only drama was a bases loaded jam in the 2nd, where Marwin Gonzalez made a terrific stab of a 2 out line drive to kill the rally. If Morton is your 5th best starter you have one heck of a rotation.

So…..

  • How is your pulse on the rotation as a whole after one quick five game orbit?
  • How do you rank these pitchers 1-5 with a season long view?
  • Any worries about Keuchel?
  • Who is more important to re-sign at the end of this season – Morton or Keuchel?
  • Is this the best rotation in the history of the team?
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98 responses to “Once around the rotation with the Astros”

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  1. Our next opponent is the Padres. Coming into the series, we are 5-1, and in first place in the AL West; before today’s game against the Rockies, they are 1-4 and in last place in the NL West. Team rankings so far are as follows:

    BA: we are 3rd in the MLB, with .281; they are 22nd with .224;
    OBP: we are 4th in the league, with .360 ; they are 14th with .312;
    HRs: we are tied with them at 9th with 8 apiece;
    Runs scored: we are 2nd at 5.6 per game; they are 14th at 4/game;
    Runs allowed: we are 7th with 20 – 1.67 per game; they are 3rd from worst with 33 – i.e. 5.5 per game;
    ERA: We are 2nd with a team ERA of 2.47; they are 22nd with 4.74;
    WHIP: We are 4th with 1.13; they are 26th with 1.46.

    Our starters should be McCullers, Cole, and Morton; theirs are expected to be Perdomo, Mitchell, and Tyson Ross.

    We need to take care of business against these guys, because after that the competition really toughens up – 3 in Minnesota, then Rangers, Mariners, White Sox, Angels, A’s, and Yankees.

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  2. This is 2018, but here is stuff that happened around here today:
    Grandkids up at 530 to feed animals and get ready for school.
    Catch the bus at 6:35
    Catch the dog and put her in pen so that chickens can be let out to free range
    Ferrier here at 11 to trim horses hooves
    Take show calcalves to Vet for shots.
    Get back from vet, unload calves and get ready to go to OKC to pick up grandkid after big dental surgery 3 days ago.
    Pick up kids from school.
    Tie goat up to eat in trees where saw vines grow.
    Bottle feed two calves morning and evening.
    Water all plants and small trees because it’s 75 degrees now and is going to freeze tomorrow.
    Watch Designated Survivor to remind us what 2018 is really like.
    Daughter-in law’s turn to fix dinner tonight for all of us because she works Wed. and Friday nights and that’s our nights to provide everyone dinner.
    Pansies look good. Rose bush just coming out. Don’t know how freeze will get that.
    One pear tree flowered and leafing for two weeks. Second pear tree not even budding out. What’s up with that? Wild plums blossomed two weeks ago. What will freeze do to them?
    wild Blackberries leafing out everywhere. Hope they don”t pick tonight to blossom out.
    Spring turkey season starts Saturday. Shotgun only. one Tom only. Could have gotten him yesterday from the front porch. Oh, well.
    What’s going on in your back yard?

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    • OK, my son just backed the trailer up to the treehouse tree and put a strap around the three big round bales and tied ’em to the tree and pulled the trailer out from under them, because he loaned out his tractor.
      I’m going to pick the kids up from school. this place is a little wild today.

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      • OK, I got corrected. My son told me that he was going to take the bales off the way I described, but actually took my advice and just threw the truck in reverse, slammed on the brakes and the three bales just rolled off into the tree. I was pickin up the kids so I missed all that fun! I’m glad Gramma got the story straight. 1beeknee

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    • Here is stuff that happened around Dan P’s place today:
      Dan P up at 530 to shower and get out the front door.
      Catch the bus at 6:15
      Have chicken sandwich – maybe made from OPs free range chickens
      Trimmed my own hooves I mean toe nails last night
      Put lotion on my own dry show calves
      Walk on my sore calves and get ready to go to Missouri City and pick up father-in-law for dinner
      Wife drops off my one kid left home at school – I will pick him up at 9 PM tonight since he is autistic and does not drive
      Don’t have a goat and saw vines sound painful
      Bottle feed Dan Ps two calves with a couple Coronas
      Live in a condo so don’t have to water anything or worry about it freezing, drying up, getting old, getting hurt by wind, getting flooded or any other thing.
      I watch TV to forget what 2018 is really like – but what can I watch with the Astros off tonight – oh well work on my taxes
      My wife will make dinner like she usually does, though I will do it a couple days a week depending on who is home
      The Pansies look good walking by on the street below. Not sure if they are coming out or not
      Pear trees are for a particular song around Christmas
      I’m the biggest turkey around and it is always my season. Hope nobody shoots at me from a Porsche
      My back yard – not so interesting op

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  4. Well, I’ve got the monkeys pooping outside the kitchen door again, don’t want to step in that stuff, it’s a real stinker. Dry season now, those damn critters are looking for food and water anywhere and that includes tip toeing into an open kitchen door for bananas on the counter.

    Dr. Rawlins, a neighbor, has a bunch of sheep (down here same as goats except for goat tail sticks up and sheep down). He let’s then out of their secure fenced in home each morning at first light, so thy can go eat everyone else’s stuff. And inevitably, baby loses mama and starts screaming louder than any child could.

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  5. And about now the big old wild pigs will start coming down out of the bush looking for early mangos. Their stock has been thinned over recent years though, as the locals have better artillery and are not as worried about getting getting run down by a charger. Don’t ever miss a local pig roast. It’s an event around here.

    And then there are the poor donkeys. They’re always hungry, love melon patches an much as household leftovers. Got to have study trash bins if you don’t want to be picking up your trash from the street. And the farmers need equally sturdy fences. The donkeys were the original work horses down here in the islands and don’t today enjoy any respect earned for all of their hard work over so many years. These days, there is some culling going on and others are put on a boat to St. Kitts where Vet students at Ross University practice on them. I think they deserve a better fate, but one cost me 5K in front end damage on a dark night. They like to come out of the bush on a hot night and stand on the main road. So I have mixed emotions about their ultimate fate here.

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  6. Anyway, I won’t go into too much more detail about toe nails and the like, but dinner tonight is all local, including the big wahoo that was caught early this morning by one of our friends, a local fishermen. We’ll grill it hot briefly, some lime, salt and pepper, garlic and butter.

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    • Gee, all you guys make my life seem so boring.
      The yard man came yesterday and mowed the lawn, put in some new mulch, and turned on the sprinkler system while I went shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
      I came home and heated up last nights left overs then watched some recordings that are piling up because it’s the new baseball season.

      Things are looking up for me though. Got tickets for Sunday. Can’t wait to see that trophy up close.

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      • Sandy, big weekend coming up! I’d love to make a trip into to Houston and get to the park. Going to be a few months though.

        Dan, Wahoo to you…..I’m assuming you got up this morning one more time!

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      • Sandy, give a big wahoo! to Jose, Carlos, George, Alex, Charlie and all for me. (And I don’t mean throw a mackerel at ’em.) Have a good time and good cry.

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  9. When I went to MLB’s sortable stats to look something up last night, I was surprised by who leads the major leagues in batting average. It’s Carlos Correa at .474. Carlos’s slash line is .474/.522./.947/1.469. That’s BA/OBP/SLG/OPS for those of you who may have wahooed too much last night.

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      • Can’t talk about it? Then sing about it, OP! Now I’ve seen Oklahoma a few times, and I think I recall Thursday night in Oklahoma being that very special time when:

        1. there’s a bright, golden haze on the meadow, and all the cattle are standin’ like statues; and
        2. The breeze is so busy it don’t miss a tree, an’ a ol’ weepin’ willer is laughin’ at me; and
        3. Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry, when I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top; and
        4. you c’n walk to privies in the rain . . . and never wet your feet; and
        5. a pretty girl who ‘just cain’t say no’ gets herself in ‘a turrible fix’? and
        6. cowboys dance with farmer’s daughters, and farmers dance with the ranchers’ gals; and I’ve even heard it is when . . .
        7. pore Jud is daid.

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