Astros 2018: What’s happening Wednesday?

Here are some random Astro thoughts for today:

  1. So is Geoff Blum the poster boy for Less is More? His style is a lot less grating than (as Zanuda so aptly named him) Chatty Cathy / Mike Stanton.
  2. There is something wrong with you if the answer to the next question isn’t “Alex Bregman“.  Which Astro do you want hitting in the most crucial situations?
  3. There is something wrong with you if the answer to the next question isn’t “Almost Any Astro”.  Who do you not want giving base running tips to your local little league team?
  4. It feels like the September 1 call-ups will have more of an effect on the pitching than the hitting side of the team.
  5. Who bet on this? Bregman with 85 RBIs has a 14 RBI lead over the next highest performer on the team. And the next highest performer on the team (Evan Gattis) is not even playing regularly.
  6. Who votes for Collin McHugh being given a shot at closing?
  7. Is Carlos Correa becoming like a previous Astro CC, Cesar Cedeno? Tremendous talent, but may never become transcendent player in his case, due to injuries?
  8. The Astros are currently 11 games better on the road (47-21) than at home (34-30) – the next closest in the majors are the Mets, which are 4.5 games “better” or in their case less worse. What does it mean? Why is it happening?
  9. If the season ended today, there is no doubt that the best everyday Astro is Alex Bregman. The best pitcher? Is it Justin Verlander (13-9, 2.72 ERA) or Gerrit Cole (12-5, 2.85 ERA)? This is too tight to call right now.
  10. Who does A.J. Hinch trust out of the bullpen in a one run game? I don’t mean who will he use, because he uses almost anyone, but who does he feel confident about as he hands that ball over?

What do you, dear readers, think today?

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200 responses to “Astros 2018: What’s happening Wednesday?”

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      • I need more coffee. I was trying to figure out why you were insinuating JV has fat fingers and whether it was an insult or perhaps some special trait allowing him to throw a good breaking pitch when no one else can grip the ball. Also, fat fingers (and auto correct) are why I rarely post from my phone anymore.

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  4. One run lead? McHugh. And I like the idea of McHugh as a closer, he isn’t a bucket of nerves like most closers are. And…..right now the guy I want up next with guys on base, Bregman HANDS DOWN! I don’t think Correa is made of glass, but maybe it’s just bad luck when he’s on DL.
    I’ve probably watched White’s, walk off about 50 times….and it never gets old!!
    Gotta tell OP you made my day when you said Uncle Albert is out for the rest of the season!! As a person I just love the guy, he is a stellar human…..but Lordy I cringe everytime he comes to bat! I remember when he was in his prime, the Astros manager’s would walk him! Even if it means walking in a run…..because he has hit more homeruns against the Astros, than any other team in MLB. I haven’t heard how Giles is working out with the Blue Jays, but so far his replacement hasn’t caused me to bite my fake fingernails off like Giles did!
    Bregman will be in the conversation for AL MVP when the season is done, Robert Ford was talking about that today, and I agree.
    I think they will benefit from pitching and position players when the rosters expand.

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  5. As to #7, I don’t think the comparison to Cedeno is apt. Cedeno didn’t miss a lot of time to injuries early in his career. He put up very good numbers through his age 25 season, including 5 gold gloves and 313 SB (though he did get thrown out A LOT). Plus he was playing in the Astrodome on mediocre teams. Perhaps he didn’t live up to the hype but he was a very good player. With the current CC I don’t know what to make of him. Very talented, yes. He’s shown flashes of greatness, and maybe the injuries have interrupted his mojo. He’s had a couple of good years at a young age. But when I look and see he’s hitting right around .250 in 90 games this year …well, there’s just no excuse for him to be hitting .250 (ditto George Springer). Very disappointing. On the plus side, I think his fielding has taken a step up this year. Maybe he’s experienced the WS (and wedding) hangover more than some others. But when I hear a young guy (and I’ve always considered him confident but not cocky) say he wants to win the MVP and then hits .250? It’s time to zip his lip, put his head down and go to work.

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    • What I’m tying to is that after hitting over .300 three of his first four years including hitting .320 with a .900+ OPS when he was 21 and 22 – Cesar never came close to those numbers in a full season again.
      We thought Cedeno was going to be transcendant and he ended up very good. He had the manslaughter incident and his career was never the same and he missed time from his 24 y.o. age on – (Missed 31, 12, 21, 112, 30, 25, 80, 24, etc.)
      I agree that Correa may need to just work harder at his craft or perhaps for him and his teammates the long 2017 and the short off-season is leaving them with WS hangovers.

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  6. Non-sports note – rock icon Neil Young marries actress Darryl Hannah and I don’t know what to say…
    Well maybe this – Young is now in the company of the late JFK Jr who once dated Hannah and I don’t think you could find two men who are farther apart on the GQ scale.

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    • Neil Young, Darryl Hannah? Speechless! I saw Neil Young in concert at the Summit in 1976. Always liked his music and CSN.

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  8. The Astros have a decision to make. Framber is starting Friday night, but, they have not named a starting pitcher for a nationally televised game on Sunday evening. How about some guesses.

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  9. 1. Bluimmer talks plenty. However, in a 2 man race with Stanton, Blummer would finish 6th. 2-3-4 Agree. 5. We have a better record this year than last, and our big three are having an OFF season. Go figure. 6. Nope. He is great right where he is, and as GM you don’t trade for two closers and then use someone in house. 7. I sure hope not. 8. If I could answer that, I would be the manager getting the contract extension. 9. Too close to call. 10. Yesterday, when an A’s reliever came in, Bregman and Altuve were looking over a 10 inch thick book of stats, tendencies, something, on that pitcher. It appears that Hinch really believes in his stat guys and brings in the pitcher that matches best with the next hitter or three. He actually manages 2 or more innings ahead. That is why we see in the bullpen a guy start to throw and then sit down.

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  10. Well, today is my day out. I must do everything I can to get ready for the vacation. And find time for the gym. See y’all tonight. Have a great day!

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  11. My one concern about Correa is what’s in his head. He’s always been touted as more mature than his age would suggest. I want him to relax and play and not worry about being great, transcendent, or anything else. A few of the injuries have been freak – like the broken bone from sliding into third base. I do think Hinch could help him out a bit here though. With Bregman and Marwin on the team there should have been a lot of games in the first half where Correa played DH. It’s kind of the same thing with Springer – I want them in the field because they both have much bigger impacts than the advanced stats would indicate…but they also play so hard that they are going to sustain some extra injuries here and there that a little extra rest from time to time would help.

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    • “Should a team win a pennant and World Series without using many radical shifts and a pitching staff that has great control but not blessed with high strikeout totals and shows how to win with few home runs but a number of hitters with good batting averages who strike out little, perhaps the current trend will back off a bit.”

      Had no idea analytics was behind home run obsession. How do Astros, having won the World Series, measure up to the above extract from article?

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  14. Christian Yelich is having a career year. Going back to February, not many were willing to part with Whitley or Tucker for him. Anyone feel differently today?

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    • Kind of ironic – my son has Yelich on his fantasy team and was texting last night how he had gone bananas offensively. 93 runs / 26 HRs / 75 RBIs with a .319 / .380/ .943 – yeah that might have fit in our lineup….

      Looking at what the Brewers gave up for him – we could have beat that without touching Whitley or Tucker ……

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      • I would have taken, and I think it’s in writing, Yelich for Tucker, simply because we knew what we’d get with Yelich (not these crazy numbers) while Tucker was a prospect, and is still clearly a prospect today. I’m not sure if I was so willing on Whitley.

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    • I still think Tucker is a year to year away at least. His numbers (offensive) at Fresno are approximately Yelich’s numbers at Milwaukee. The difference in age between them is three years. I do think as Tucker matures and adds a bit more strength he will put them up at the big league level. Tucker will never be his equal on that front and showed that he has a lot of work to do this offseason. I would not trade him straight up still.

      Whitley is tough to predict. We only got 26 innings out of him this year. He’s flashed some brilliance, but doesn’t have elite control at this time. This will hurt him if he gets to AAA next year and looks to be the only roadblock (0ther than age and making mature decisions) preventing him from being a starting pitcher at the MLB level. I would not trade him straight up still.

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      • This is going to sound a bit off maybe but Tucker needs to do some bulking up a bit. Not a whole lot but from his plate appearances in the majors he doesn’t seem to have enough upper body strength to duplicate his AAA numbers at this time. He’s got the swing and it’s not an issue of bat speed. Contrast that with someone like AJ Reed for whom strength is his only , uh, strength, and looks like a poor man’s Steve Balboni

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  20. 1. I love Blummer (even better than Kallis). I don’t mind Stanton. While I agree that he talks too much, he does give some good insight into the game, especially when talking about what goes through a relief pitcher’s mind.
    2. Spot on.
    3. Even more spot on.
    4. Less spot on for the simple reason that I think Tucker comes back up and rakes in September and makes the playoff roster. Pitchers will be valuable to hold serve. I think Tucker will be a difference maker.
    5. I felt that Bregman would end up being the best player on the team. I did not think it would happen so soon and I definitely wouldn’t have bet on it. I still think he is the second best defensive 3B on the team (behind CC) and best defensive SS on the team (ahead of CC).
    6. I do not want to see McHugh closing. He has the makeup but not the stuff. I still think a lot of what we have seen from him this year has been more smoke and mirrors and less talent. He is valuable where he is at.
    7. Cedeno was the bomb until his ankle injury. But what really derailed him was the murder of his girlfriend. The problem is that we still don’t know what we have with CC. Is he a legit top of the crop SS? Or is he league average (which is what he has been this season)? To me he has appeared aloof, arrogant, entitled and disengaged this season. I don’t see any aggressiveness or enthusiasm. I don’t think he’s earned it yet. (Please don’t stone me for voicing my personal opinion).
    8. When the Astros hit to the friendly part of MMP they succeed. It’s as simple as that. When you chase the short porches it becomes feast or famine and less sustainable.
    9. JV is the better “pitcher”, Cole has better “stuff”. I believe Cole will prove better down the stretch, but JV will always be more able to step it up under pressure.
    10. Osuna. Hands down. Rondon next. I think Pressly would be a close third.

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    • Without a doubt he should be moved down. One of Hinch’s few flaws is putting guys in the order where he wishes they’ll perform instead of where they should be to optimize the offense. Correa has a history of taking a long time to recover from a long stint. Why put more pressure on him by immediately batting him 3 or4? The same mindset allowed Springer to go through a six week slump while still leading off. I’m convinced that just knee jerk writing the lineup like it was still 2017 had a lot to do with the gross underachieving offense costing us games in April May and June that should have put us up by double digits.
      One has to concede that Correa is much improved defensively because he put in a lot of work to get better. I think he’s going to have to put that same level of effort into his offense if he’s really wanting to be an MVP.

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      • He’s a good manager but he does have that fault.
        I can’t help but think he’s too concerned about hurting their pride.

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  24. 1) I’m ok with the booth. I dislike Brianna’s sales pitch during gn, put her on pregame/postgame & let us listen to gm in peace
    2) Bregman in a landslide
    3) AJ is complicit in baserunning gaffes. Can’t pick up the offense by constantly running into outs
    4) Pitching. AJ read our calls for DL stints for the rotation, he won’t acknowledge we told him so but Morton already out, others will follow
    5) We have all commented on Bregman’s plate approach and it paying dividends, no surprise the results. To bad GS, CC even JA sometimes, doesn’t immulate that approach. Sorry, everybody just can’t & won’t.
    6) Would prefer to see the closers close
    7) CC has proven brittle thus far but his ceiling is high for much improvement. Early in his career saw many vids of him working on hitting, don’t see those anymore and it shows, nough said
    8) Don’t know
    9) Toss up for me
    10) I’m waiting for our version of Chapman, Jansen, Britton, ect to show up and put this side show to rest

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  26. Correa was out too long. His timing is way off, and keeps grounding in a double play. He should have played more games in the minors. His numbers are way off.

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  28. This game is ridiculous!! I kinda feel sorry for both of these pitchers. They are pitching their butts off, but are getting no help from their guys!
    It appears Justin will be the first to blink. *11* strikeouts!!

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      • We would be OK batting if we just swung a little harder. We need Carlos Gomez to give us lessons. Dang, Angels just scored by just putting the bat on the ball to right. Dang, Dang, Dang.

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      • If they had called Upton’s check swing go around he would have struck out on the next pitch and not gotten the go ahead hit.

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      • Our pitcher! Now 1 – 0 LAA, 2 GIDP and JV can’t even get through 6 innings. Hopefully Sipp can throw some water on the fire. Perfect opportunity for us to put some distance between us and the A’s and we’re choking.

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  30. Justin needs to follow Salty when he gets back. Recharge his batteries. 11 SO’s. If our offense was putting runs on the board would AJ have pulled him?

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    • One thing about strike out pitchers. They sometimes try to finesse way too much so yes they get a strike out but throw 6 – 9 pitches to get it. Look at Haney. He’s thrown bunches of strikes and gets outs and a low pitch count. Who gives a Happy Rat’s @!# about strike outs if you can’t go 6+ innings and give up 3+ runs. Kind of the opposite of home runs. Yes, they’re all so cool and sexy but unless you’re getting on base it only counts for one run.

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  31. The one guy I would have never put into pitch, would be Harris….and now you know why. If these guys go to the playoffs….Will Harris should be sitting home eating Cheetos, and drinking a diet coke. ANYWHERE……BUT WITH THIS TEAM!

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  34. This game is over. Going to Chip’s old stomping grounds for a few days. At least I get to actually watch the Astros where we are going. Tough game tonight, Justin Verlander deserved better…..but that’s what we say everytime he pitches.

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  39. I was contemplating earlier how well this tm did in the playoffs with their approach at the plate, making pitchers pitch to them & feasting on FB’s, laying off breaking pitches out the zone, ect. How in the heck do you forget that lesson by resorting back to 2016 SO? It’s mind boggling! It’s the same guys, talent with more experience yet this gm of inches makes them seem so inept at times. I don’t want to hear another announcer say ‘guys trying to hard, doin too much’. I know, it happens, but I loathe that phrase. The idea of ‘doing too much’ becomes ludicrous when already slumping you try to do to much and slump even more. If you want to improve, do what works better.

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  40. Tri City won tonight and clinched their division.
    All five of the Astros top farm teams have clinched the playoffs. Four of them won tonight and the fifth, Fresno is leading 3-0 in the eighth.
    Do you know how hard it is for all five of your highest farm teams to make the playoffs? That doesn’t happen very often.

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  42. Who thinks Altuve should be leading off, Bregman hitting third, and Springer forth.
    Come on Hinch, shuffle the lineup. We don’t have that huge lead advantage this year. Can’t afford to sit back and wait for things to straighten themselves out.
    This teams biggest fault is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different outcome.

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  44. I agree with shuffling it up a bit, but Kemp is not the answer right now – he is coming off his worse month as he had some success hitting for power and now is swinging for power and not getting on often. I might consider White up in the fourth spot. Correa needs to be moved down in the order. I like Bregman 3rd – though I think they would be best served with Bregman wearing various disguises and batting 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th if they could figure a way to sneak him off the bases and back into the batter’s box. Of course last night he seemed to catch the “Swing at the wrong pitches” flu.

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    • Have you noticed, they come up and play spectacular baseball, then after a few weeks they fall into that home run or nothing mode.
      Excluding Bregman.
      It’s so frustrating to see such talent wasted.

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      • That’s exactly what I’ve noticed. I’ve been very surprised by a few at bats by White where he decided to take an easy swing and produce a line drive single rather than swing out of his shoelaces this last week.

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      • Whoa……Rev Williams, was that his name? The black community just got preached to (and the white and the other colors). Whoa…..dirty laundry just got addressed publicly and we’uns not usually too favorable about that. The anointing was upon him. Talked about the irony of Aretha singing the blues when her dad was a pastor. Ain’t nobody was expecting to hear that. Am I ever blessed to have heard what I just heard. Amen, brother, and sorry if I got your name wrong.

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  46. During AJ’s postgame yesterday said he was not going to tinker with the lineup, in particular moving CC out the 4 hole. He was adamant when noting CC is ripe for breaking out his slump soon, whatever that means. After last nite GS is 5-13 or 14 since his return, Becky his situational hitting has been lacking, including Tuve, CC & a few others.
    The pitchers have a gm plan when stepping up to the bump each turn. Surely the lineup has a hitting plan for a particular pitcher each day. I do not believe hacking, taking FB’s down the gut, looking at said FB’s down the gut for outs, swinging for fences, constantly GIDP’s part of the gm plans. Bregman exemplifies the gm plan with a few other guys. AJ is pretty rigid about his lineup

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  50. I sure hope I’m wrong, but i can”t see this team as it currently is hitting winning any playoff series. I know this game goes through ebbs and flows but wow. I think AJ should just throw everyone’s name in a hat and draw for a batting order tomorrow. ( exception we play all road games in the playoffs)

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