Today we return to an oldie but a goodie post called “What They Said / What They Meant”. As you may or not recall, an actual Astro related quote from mlb.com is cited in baseball-ese – followed by an interpretation of what the speaker really meant.
Manager A.J. Hinch talking about Myles Straw after his 3 hit, 3 run, 3 SB game
- What he said. “He had a very impactful game, obviously. The pressure that he could put on the opponent you could feel every time he was coming up to bat or every time he got on base. And to see him fly around the bases and scoring on singles was huge. … Just exactly the reason why we like him. He can help a winning team.”
- What he meant. “Damn he’s fast. When he hits the light switch at night, he’s in bed before the light bulb turns off.”
GM/Prez Jeff Luhnow on sending Forrest Whitley to extended Spring Training.
- What he said. “Any time a young player, especially a pitcher, reports any sort of soreness or fatigue, we err on the side of caution, especially with him. That, combined with the fact he wasn’t having any success in Triple-A, made it a good time for us to send him to Palm Beach. This will be a good opportunity to take stock of where everything is and work with our pitching coaches and not be distracted by being 60 miles from his hometown [of San Antonio]. It will be a good opportunity for him, but I think he’s mentally strong. He’s had setbacks before, and he came through it. Last year was a great indication of that.
- What he meant. “Let’s see, in the off-season before the 2018 season, he’s hanging around his friends at home and one of them gives him a stimulant that gets him suspended for a big chunk of the season. Now in 2019 he’s in Round Rock, pretty close to his home and those same friends, and even though he is the top rated pitching prospect in baseball, he has been one of the worst of our pitchers in the upper minors. Maybe we shouldn’t have moved the AAA team from Fresno to Round Rock….”
Justin Verlander on passing Cy Young on the all-time strikeout list
- What he said. “Sometimes when you’re playing this game, it has the unique ability to really put things in perspective for you. As much as you try to keep your head down and keep pitching and not pay attention to whatever is going on, any time Cy Young pops up on your radar and you’re associated with him, it’s pretty special.”
- What he meant. “C’mon – Cy Young was so great that they give out awards every year to the best AL and NL pitcher for that season in his name. Catching him in any category is just amazing. Now, if I can pitch until I am 85 I might catch him in wins.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin on Justin Verlander
- What he said. “He’s just really good. He elevates well with high velocity and throws breaking balls in off counts. Keeps the ball on the corners. We just didn’t have too many good swings off him.”
- What he meant. “What do you want me to say? He pitches for the other team, so I won’t praise him any more than I would Wade Miley. But deep down, I want to turn to the cheap a%^&s who run my team and say – why don’t you guys get me one like him.”
Reymin Guduan on his second bad outing in two days
- What he said. “My command has been good. Just the slider today wasn’t falling the way I wanted it to. Unfortunately, that’s part of the game. I need to do better next time around. These are things that happen in baseball and I need to maintain my confidence high and maintain my head high and attack the zone and keep doing my job.”
- What he meant. “Yeah, my slider wasn’t falling the way I wanted it to. I wanted it to fall into the catcher’s mitt rather than over the fence.”
A.J. Hinch after a 14-1 loss to the Mariners on his bullpen usage
- What he said. “Most of the game, I was going into it not wanting to use our primary guys. We’ve worked them a ton, so some other guys have to pitch on a daily basis and they struggled tonight and it got really ugly.”
- What he meant. “You know Brady Rodgers and Reymin Guduan have given up 14 runs in 8 and 1/3 innings. Will Harris, Roberto Osuna and Ryan Pressly have given up 14 runs in 80 and 1/3 innings. Really ugly does not sufficiently describe Rodgers and Guduan.”
Hinch on Corbin Martin after another poor/short outing
- What he said. “Long-term, he’s really good. He’s going to be a really good pitcher in this league. He’s got stuff. He’s got the right mentality. We’ve got to coach him a little better and get him out of this funk.”
- What he meant. “Long term is usually the view on prospects that are not yet in the majors. Once they get here, the view needs to be more immediate.”
Hinch the next day after sending Martin down
- What he said. “I think it was important for us to be realistic with him and not waste any more time of the same thing over and over again. We had to mix something up and make a change, just given the fact that he’d gone three innings and three innings and three innings. He can make a quick adjustment. His stuff is really good.”
- What he meant. “You remember yesterday when I said ‘We’ve got to coach him a little better and get him out of this funk’? I decided that ‘we’ did not include the present major league coaching staff.”
Hinch on George Springer rehabbing and being loud in the process
- What he said. “That’s good. A loud George is a happy George.”
- What he meant.“You know it is kind of like with your kids, you can tell if the fever is broken or if that ear is not aching any more, just by how rambunctious they are acting. In fact the only difference between my 5 year old and George is on pay day.”
Carlos Correa (with his fiancée Daniella Rodriguez) discussing his cracked rib caused by a massage
- What he said. “I was getting a massage on this area on the ribs and I heard a crack when my masseuse pressed on this area over here on my ribs. I looked and I was [like], ‘What was that?’ Immediately after, my side started hurting when I was breathing, when I was walking. At that point I figured something was not right, so I obviously called the Astros to let them know.”
- What he meant. “I would tell you what really happened, but I’m afraid Daniella will break another one of my ribs.”
Bonus quotes – You fine readers – get to do your version of the “what he meant” side of any of the quotes above, but I think the Correa one might be the most fun.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
85 responses to “What they said, what they meant – 2019 Astros”
What Hinch said to Brady:
Thanks, Brady. Best of Luck.
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Y’all aren’t going to let me forget that are you?
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Luv yew.
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Myles Straw is a cool Cool Papa Bell reference.
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Ok, in case you missed the Luhnow interview in the fourth inning!
Luhnow said that all four of their first round picks were candidates on their board to be the Astros first pick.
He said that the fourth round pick high schooler, Barber, was going to sign above slot because the Astros were able to save money on their first three picks in order to woo Barber from his college commitment.
Blummer and Kalas were talking about Fisher with him and Jeff said that the big difference this year with Fisher was that he had learned to be comfortable enough with his strike zone that he could stop taking pitches that he looked at last year and was called out on. When Fisher’s exit velocity was mentioned, Luhnow immediately made a point to compare Fisher’s exit velocity to that of AA Hook’s Granden Goetzman, who the Astros signed as a minor league free agent this year. I thought that was an interesting comment.
Finally, Luhnow said he thought the phone would start ringing about the young players who are showing well in their trips to the majors this season.
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Well the Astros could really not ask for more from Perez (3 IP – 0 runs) and Valdez who I assume is done for today (6 IP – 1 run).
Good jobs by both young men.
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Yuli barely misses a 3 run homer, Fisher hustles and scores before Brantley doubled off first
And I was wrong about Framber who comes back out for 7th
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What Jake Said: “I will be playing a little shallow on the next batter.”
What he meant: “If it stays fair, I got it.
Hinch: “It was a very moderate energy for us at the beginning of the game.”
What he meant: “We had an extra inning game, flew 2300 miles, and really wanted to sleep in tonight. ”
Hinch: “It was a night where we needed Cionel,”
What he meant: “Our bullpen was so spent, even Tyler White was not available.”
What they said: “Our Slogan is – Take It Back.”
What it Means: “That is our comeback to every umpire bad call.”
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What Hinch said..”you know Guduan has had some success in AAA ball”
What he meant…”get this guy outta my sight before I drop kick him out of here”. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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Becky, two of the balls that were called balls on the batter that Guduan walked were actually strikes, that the ump called balls.
And the batter that hit the home run actually got four strikes. The first pitch that Guduan threw him was entirely in the zone and the ump called it a ball. Then the batter swung and missed twice before Guduan hung that changeup. Guduan should have been in the dugout already when that guy hit the home run. We talk all the time about umpires missing calls and changing the outcome of the game with bad calls. It happened to Guduan today.
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But, even then, the winning run was the second run and that run was the result of Will Harris not being able to handle the worst team in baseball in his one inning.
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Three things:
I hope Valdez can continue to pitch well.
Do NOT bring Harris in unless you have a 10 run lead.
NEVER and I mean *NEVER* bring Guduan up here again.
I’m not as forgiving as a lot of you.
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Yordan Alvarez is being called up!!
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Saw that! I hope he comes up and *stays* up. You guys are gonna have to let me know how he looks! Keeping my fingers crossed for his success!!!
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Becky –
Harris has been in 26 games this year – many of them close – and has given up runs in 4 of them, including the last two.
He may be slumping a tad now but so are Pressly and Osuna.
He also might not have given up a run today if Mayfield had not tried to make an impossible play.
You can’t give up on everyone who has a rough stretch.
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Who gets sent down? Mayfield or White?… (wishful thinking).
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Alvarez is pretty much limited to DH. I have watched him live in RR a few times and he absolutely can’t play 1B and his play in LF is only slightly better. But man can he hit!!!
I think White is the logical move since a single move will clear a spot on both the 25 and 40 and he will most likely clear waivers, however moving him leaves you a little thin at 1B until the walking wounded of the infield get back. Same with Mayfield, being short on infielders may buy him a little extra time.
From a pure logic stand point it would be an outfielder going down to clear 25 space and a corresponding cut to clear 40 (AJ Reed). We have Brantley, Reddick, Fisher, Marisnick, Straw, Kemp and now Yordan in the OF. Seven OF’ers are an aweful lot!
On the flip side I think they are auditioning Fisher, Straw and Kemp to see what kind of return they could get for them come trade season and Kemp also gives infield depth.
Bottom line…. I have no clue what move they will make, but after listening to the interview today with Lunhow I would not be surprised if they don’t have a trade in the works that clears everything up.
By the way, Super 2 cutoff was rumored to be either on Friday or Saturday.
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Of the guys you listed…..I really hope Straw isn’t in a trade. The guy is a human lightening rod!! The dude can score runs faster than The Roadrunner!
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Luhnow said in his on air interview that it didn’t look like he was going to get Alvarez for a birthday present. He fooled us.
I don’t think anybody was too happy about the anemic output by the lineup today and I think the Astros are going to start shaking up a few things. They put Framber in a position to succeed and he did and the batters let him down. Time to wake some people up.
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Nail on the head 1OP
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Tonight, with Yordan not playing, Round Rock has already scored 16 runs in 7 innings. That’s 52 runs in the last 3 games for them. They have hit 9 doubles, a triple and a home run so far tonight.
And it’s pretty much everybody doing it. Drew Ferguson is 5 for 5 with two doubles and Tucker has three hits, two of them doubles..
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19-5 win. 23 hits. Wow!
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Drew Ferguson added a home run and ended up going 6 for 6.
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I really like Straw. Dude is the fastest white man I have ever seen. I really like Kemp. I like Fisher and will never forget him scoring from 1B in the WS. I like White a lot. And I like Mayfield most of all. He plays the game for the right reasons. His joy and smile remind me of why I played the game. I want to see him succeed.
In the end however, they are all AAAA or role players at the big league level that will never be difference makers. They all can be regulars on a bad-to- average team, but they are all expendable on a contending team.
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I think the strikeout of White yesterday and the subsequent horrible play when the ball rolled to the dugout and the catcher was able to run all the way to pick it up and move to the side and throw White out at first base by three steps might have pissed the Astros off enough to make the move to bring up Alvarez. There was also the play yesterday where a popup was hit directly behind 1B and White could not make the play and hardly even moved on the ball, thus making Kemp race over to make the play behind 1B.
White may not be the move they make today, but I think he is done when Diaz is ready to come back.
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I know this is being unreasonable, but in 2019, our primary DH slash line is .220/.315/.291. (Last in all categories of those qualifying) In 2018, the primary DH line was .226/.284/.452. That was last in 2 categories for qualifiers but 2nd in Slugging.
What they said: He needs to work it out. What they meant: Goodbye.
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It was much bigger than these mess ups. Let’s look at things in retrospect, when he came in out of shape, it really served the Astros purposes to pay the minimum for a guy that was on a wait-and-see anyway (33rd rounder w/no options). The idea was to have a placeholder, than to pay a big DH contract, in wait for the emergence of either Yordan/Tucker. We now know Luhnow believes they are the two best prospects in all of baseball, so he knew injury would allow rookies to play (or if good enough, preserve Super Two status). White’s plug is pulled because date converges with his sloppy play overall (-0.5 WAR in 127 At-Bats).
White never was in the long range plans if he couldn’t maintain contact % and past OBP, because his defense is hardly passable. Also, with so much injury, we deployed Diaz at 1B, and he’d never played there in MLB — that’s how desperate Astros are to field a first baseman.
Alvarez may not work at all at 1B, so Diaz return is welcome. But I’m as happy about this day as the first time I saw this Masher turn on the poor baseball. Now, we can start blowing games open and getting healthy again.
Our pitching prospects look awesome with stellar performances last night from Cristian Javier. Luhnow tweeted this guy is In Play for call-up, Jose Urquidy the night before with 106 pitch shutout ball with only a two pitch repertoire (like Framber). We saw yesterday Framber has some new glove side run on his fastball, and his curve was devastating. He’s in a dogfight with James for SP5, but there are *6* candidates as I count them for that job within next month! The youth movement in full swing, and not a word on Tyler Ivey? That’s what I call keeping close to vest, surprising the enemy, same as hiding Cionel away.
White has made himself pretty irrelevant, but the Astros had contingencies galore.
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I am unsure what will happen with the Astros “next” move which is who they drop down or DFA to make room for Alvarez.
They have a full 40 man roster, but they can make room for Alvarez by putting McCullers on the 60 day IL. Therefore they don’t have to clear a spot on the 40 man for him.
You would think that DFA’ing White would make the most sense, since he has been performing the worse. And Alvarez would slide into that DH / 1B / LF spot – but maybe a lot more DH.
Mayfield might be a choice due to performance, but with Correa and Altuve and Diaz out – the middle infield is really shallow.
It does not feel right that they would send down Fisher or Straw – but who knows with this front office. If they do that they put off the inevitable day that they DFA White.
Kemp has been hitting better with steady at bats so you would think he is safe.
They could drop a pitcher and go to a 12 pitcher / 13 every day configuration, but with a tired bullpen that just does not seem like the choice.
Is there a trade that has been agreed to but not announced – possibly.
Remember one thing, if they DFA White, he might not get picked up. It is hard to see who would pick him up if they have been watching him closely. Then he could be offered a spot at AAA (if the team even wants to do that).
White feels like the right move, but Luhnow and company always surprise me.
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ac45 – The interesting thing on DH is that despite White’s horrendous stats – they are getting good numbers out of the DH spot overall.
.259 BA, .335 OBP and .869 OPS – All 4th in the AL
18 HRs – tied for 1st
41 RBIs – 4th
But with a bit better production out of Alvarez – they could be #1
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I don’t think White should even go to AAA ball. If he clears waivers and the club still thinks he has value, he should also go to Palm Beach as a rehab project. I don’t recollect a 28 year old baseball player screwing up a career so successfully.
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So they demoted Guduan
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Yes, Tubby was lucky Reymin was handy.
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yumping yimminees yordan is in the lineup today!!!
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Like!
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Hope he does well and doesn’t have the MLB rookie jitters. I think it’s inevitable that the tuna will get DFA’d when the first of the regulars return. Mayfield will go back down next and then Fisher and Straw. If we trade Kemp I won’t be too crazy about it but it’s probably a smart move (if it brings us some great return) because whoever we do a deal with they’re going to want a good prospect or some body who can play immediately. Kemp and Fisher both fit that category, especially for a non contender. I like Straw a lot better than Fisher, thus my reasoning for keeping him around. JFSF has fallen back into his poor hitting habits as in the last 15 games he’s hitting .167 and .226 in the last 30. While no one will deny his outstanding defense, can Straw (.286 in last 15 games) slide into that spot?
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Since Diaz can back up Yuli at first, White should be the next to go, but who knows? In retrospect though, the only further pitching Guduan was going to do for the Astros, would have been mop up duty. So his quick departure made good sense. White lives to see another day! Becky, if/when Nephew gets DFA’d, it might be the best thing that could happen to him. If he really wants it, he can get in shape and start over. Or, he can be an All Star first baseman in any slow pitch league that allows beer drinking in the dugout.
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I thought I heard where Diaz had a setback today…
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I hope Guduan is out of options. As for Tyler White…dude you got no one to blame but yourself if you get DFA’d. GOSH I hope our guys get back soon!
Ya’ll post during the game and tell me how Yordan looks at the plate!
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Easy fly out to left field first at bat. Do not look overwhelmed.
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Need I post anything?????
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I’d forgotten the Astros so many off games coming up including two this week – that’s why they could afford to go back to a 12 man pitching staff for the moment
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Listening to Luhnow on the pre game show, it appears Altuve is the closest to coming back. Diaz had a set back today while he was running. No time table for McHugh yet….and of course there is no time table for Correa either. JEEZE…….we *really* need these guys back like N O W!
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Yes! Yes! Yes!
Alvarez murders a 2 run homer.
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If a bar fight breaks out, I want Alvarez on my side. He is a big dude.
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413 feet!! Welcome to the Astros Yordan Alveraz!!!
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YAAAAAAAAAA–HOOOOOOOOOO!!
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Wowwwww! I had to watch that HR several times. Is this guy for real? Pray this kid will be the one to ignite a fire in this offense
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How in the ‘H’, with all the speed this tm has, are guys consistently getting gunned down on the bases?
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After watching the Astros flail away for the third day in a row at pitchers that everyone else in the league beats to death, I frustratedly asked the Mrs “where is the worst team in baseball we’ve been hearing about?” She lowers her book and says “where is the best team in baseball I’ve been hearing about?”
I didn’t have a good answer
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Most of the best players on the best team (on the offensive side) are on the IL
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OMG, I hate walks!
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Corbin Martin was horrible today in a 3 inning start for RR.
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Ironic that his last three starts here were three innings
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We must have screwed him up.
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When Pressley came in with the bases loaded, I thought about how our favorite relief pitcher back in 2009-2010 Brian Moehler,( cockroach) had to come in and strand the runners! They sure do need a day off!
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I didn’t anticipate the move of McCullers to the 60- day IL to free up a spot on the 40 man roster. I had just assumed he was already on the 60 day. Tyler dodged a bullet that they had that move in their pocket. I still think he is a dead man walking and knows full well his days are numbered.
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Unfortunately, with Diaz delayed, we might be stuck with White for awhile, unless we put Reddick over there and I don’t think that will happen.
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First base that is!
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I think White is safe until any of the infielders return.
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I would say Mayfield will go first when an infielder is activated and White would be next
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We are indeed very thin at first and that was my primary argument earlier for White sticking around until we see some infielders back healthy. The second thing is that moving one of the kids with options remaining means that you can’t lose. You can bounce them between Houston and RR as much as you want. Cutting White is not so clear and easy and could very well be final.
If they were to DFA White and Gurriell were to go down injured before the troops return, the only option we would have at first would be a bigger, slower, worse version of Tyler named AJ Reed. That idea is so repulsive and catastrophic that my new rally cry is “VIVA TYLER!”
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Kyle Tucker is on fire right now
He struggled hitting at the big league level in 2018 at 21 y.o. I expect better when he returns
He did not impress in the outfield for us
I wonder if first base would ever be an option
Just thinking out loud
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I was watching the game today at a local establishment and a couple whom I had talked to previously came in to watch the A’s game. We talk and both enjoyed Alvarez getting his 1st hit/home run. As we watched I said he reminds me of a past player in his stature and swing but couldn’t remember who. As I was leaving the bar it suddenly hit me. When I told them the name they both agreed with me. Who was it? Dave Parker of the Pirates. What do you guys/gals think? I’ll take a guy like Parker any day.
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Sign me up for 40 WAR.
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The best thing about these call-ups is they have performed very well. The second best thing is they will earn more money on the call-up that they will the rest of the year in the minors.
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That’s true for everyone that is up more than 10 consecutive days.
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I know almost nothing about minor league salaries but this is from Cot’s and shows that under certain circumstances they can earn $90K a year while in the minors.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx4PW47PiAi-dl9jVTg3RVNZSkU/view
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Dan P, you mention Tucker and 1B. He is tall and long arms. He is lefty. He can hit. If he could play 1B he would be up today.
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Just wondering if they’ve ever considered it – have not seen them ever trying him at first.
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Maybe it’s something Tucker should consider if he has not already. Back in the old days, before the DH, didn’t all the old outfielders move to first if they could still hit? Tucker is not getting any younger.
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In Baseball Reference, it shows KTuck has played only OF positions while in the minors.
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Maybe he’s afraid of those hot grounders.
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Today a much needed day off for the guys. Have we found our knight in shining armor for DH?
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Some thoughts:
-There is too much talk of Alvarez’s fielding and not enough about his DHing. Alvarez was called up to hit. The Astros have the outfield covered and they will have a lot of time to decide what position is best for him in the future.
-The setback in Aledmys Diaz’s rehab is a big setback. His bat was making him a real asset in this lineup.
-Jake’s bat is settling in to look more and more like Jake’s bat.
– Correa’s range and arm at the SS position are sorely missed.
– It’s beginning to look to me like Myles Straw really cannot pull a major league fastball.
– Cionel Perez showed it for one game. Can he show it for four months?
– Same question for Framber.
-What the hell happened to Kyle Tucker in April? That question is my biggest concern about Kyle Tucker. I’m hoping that the answer is that he isn’t quite ready at age 22 because I don’t have a problem with that. I still am not sure Alvarez is ready. What encourages me the most is that AAA stopped trying to pitch to YA, which tells me they had already tried every angle. But, 80% of the time, the worst major league pitcher is better than the best minor league pitcher.
– Dylan Bundy’s fastball and slider were terrific yesterday. Bundy’s problem is that he only has two pitches and Alvarez homered off his third best pitch.
He sure looks like he could be a really effective reliever.
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It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about all these guys that have come up, because the team keeps winning and every one of the upstarts have had a big hit or made a big play to help win games. But it’s way too early to know if any of the group will stick. Of course I’d put some money on Alvarez, simply because of his remarkable AAA stats.
But I miss our regular guys more and more everyday and I include Diaz in that group. Jack Mayfield will never be a starting MLB shortstop. And even asking him to cover for Correa is unfair. And at this point, it’s unfair that we still have to watch my nephew out there. And Jake has once again convinced us that he’s the best defensive late inning outfield replacement in the game, but he’s not a hitter. I want to see George out there, and Jose where he belongs at 2nd.
And we need them back sooner than later. All these tight games really add a burden to the pen. We need our big offense to put runs up and take some of the workload off our late inning guys.
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On Straw, that was my observation. Kemp can jerk one into the right field stands. As to Kyle Tucker, I remember reading someone talking about pitch recognition in the minors. That manager/coach told the hitter to go up and only swing at curve balls. So if he swung at a fastball, he did recognize the pitch. Let’s hope something similar was what KTuck was doing in April.
In a similar vein, I was talking to the family of Grayson Rodriguez. He came out of high school last year throwing 95+. He is in Low A ball now. They told him to throw a change-up. He had never thrown one in his life. So we never know what they are working on in the minors by looking at the results.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=rodrig000gra
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I think that is what JB Bukauskas is doing. He was good at AA at the end of 2018 and he was good in Spring training. He goes back to AA and gets hit hard. I’m wondering if he has spent April and May throwing his two weakest pitches to make them better.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Bukauskas starts to put up better numbers in the next three months and gets a look in September.
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I really had some dark thoughts about the Astros last week. The 14-1 loss got me reeling.
In the midst of that I did some thinking and then some digging.
I fully expect that by the time the All-Star break gets here the Astros will be coming up with a lineup that looks like Springer, Altuve, Bregman, Brantley, Correa, Alvarez, Gurriel, Reddick, Chirinos.
Take a look at that lineup.
Then I would like to show you what the schedules of the Astros and their closest competitors, the Rangers, look like and I would like to show it to you in reverse September, then August then July.
September for the Astros: Blue Jays, Brewers, Mariners, A’s, Royals, Rangers, Angels, Mariners, Angels. The only club that will be a contender there is the Brewers.
September for the Rangers: Mariners, Yankees, Orioles, Rays, A’s, Astros, A’s, Red Sox, Yankees. Lots of good teams there.
It’s dinner time. I’ll do August and July later.
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Regarding your earlier post, Tucker was working on some tweaks in his swing earlier in the year and it seems like he has figured it out.
It is really amazing what this team has accomplished with so many key performers on the IL. Like you point out, our lineup will be loaded when everyone gets back. I do think that Diaz jumps Yuli for playing time. My lineup looks like this:
1. Springer
2. Altuve
3. Bregman
4. Brantley
5. Correa
6. Alvarez
7. Diaz
8. Chirinos
9. Reddick
Any way you slice it, we are a very good lineup with everyone healthy and Alvarez at the DH.
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The club just might… might, eclipse last year’s win total.
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In 2018 Framber was 4-1 with a 2.19 ERA.
2 things come to mind. 1) Why is anyone surprised that he pitched well in his 1st start of 2019? and 2) Why did he just get his first start of 2019?
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This is total speculation but two things were apparent to me. 1. He did not have command while in the bullpen early this year and had an ERA of 4.00. 2. He gets so much movement on his pitches, he needs to be “on” to throw strikes. I see him as a pitcher that will never be able to throw a “straight” pitch. All of his pitches have movement in one direction or the other. If he commands his pitches like he did in the last game, he can be dynamite.
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Excellent comment.
Framber is in elite status in barreled balls at 3%, and his launch angle is barely off the ground at 1.8%. That means, the other team cannot square him up, and all he has to improve is command.
(https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/framber-valdez-664285?stats=career-r-pitching-mlb)
Why haven’t we seen him sooner? Because we are loaded with pitching, and he’s been in a competition with McQ, James, Peacock, Miley, Martin and now Cionel Perez for that bottom rotation spot. Some have risen to the top, and others have given way to Valdez. Meanwhile, the depth yet to come is awesome (Javier, Urquidy, Ivey, Whitley who all project to at least middle rotation by 2020.)
A guy much smarter than me (@reillocity) has been suggesting Framber go back to AAA and add a 3rd pitch. Keep in mind, it was the Orioles he pitched well against. How he responds forward is key.
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On to August.
In August the Astros face: Indians, Mariners, Rockies, Orioles, White Sox, A’s, Tigers, Angels, Rays, Blue Jays. Only three of those teams appear to be a contender for a playoff spot.
The Rangers face in August: Tigers, Indians, Brewers, Blue Jays, Twins, Angels, Chi sox, Angels Mariners. That’s three teams who are playoff contenders.
In July the Astros face: Rockies, Angels, Rangers, Angels, Rangers, A’s, Cards and Indians. That’s only two teams with even a chance at a playoff spot.
The Rangers face: Angels, Twins, Astros, D’backs, Astros, A’s, Astros Mariners. That’s three series against first place teams.
The Astros and Rangers each have seven days off in July.
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When I look at our AAAA ball players, it is a shame that they were not born 5-6-7 years earlier. They would have been mainstays on our teams back when. And we would have been so glad for their production.
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