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Opening Day questions for loyal readers

A month and a half ago, Opening Day seemed like it might not occur until May…June…..pick a month. But somehow, money or the potential loss drove the MLB and MPBPA to agree that allowed the Spring Training to start late but somehow supported an entire season in 2022. Imagine money doing that.

So Thursday night will be the 61st opening day for the Houston ball club and the 58th as the Astros. This will be the 57th since my family moved to Houston, but I’ve never witnessed an opening day in person. Of course, this year, the home opening day is more than a week away as the good guys play 9 games against the Angels, D’Backs and M’s before their home opener with the Angels (again) on the 18th of April.

As a change of pace, today’s theme will be turning it over to our loyal readers for some opening day thoughts and some 2022 predictions.

  • Have you ever attended a season opener or a home opener? What was that like? What do you remember?
  • Even if just watching it on the TV, are there any season-opening memories that have stuck with you through the years?
  • This is Dan P’s 57th opening day for baseball (as far as being a fan). What was your earliest season as a fan? (It does not have to be about the Astros).
  • Coming out of any past off-season, was there any new player or players you just couldn’t wait to watch play for your team? How did that work out?
  • Who are you excited to see in 2022?
  • Were there seasons in the past (tanking time, pandemic time, post-cheating time) that you just said I’m sitting out this season or at least the start?
  • Was there a start of the season when you said to yourself, “Things just won’t be the same without ______ being around?” Who was it?
  • Will COVID sideline anyone this season, or is that so 2020/2021?
  • How many wins will the Astros have in 2022?
  • Will they win the AL West? If not, who will?
  • Which pitcher will lead the team in wins (Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia, Jake Odorizzi, Cristian Javier, other)? How many?
  • Over/under on Lance McCullers Jr. starts in 2022?
  • Who will be the Astros’ positional MVP in 2022? Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel, or Michael Brantley
  • Who hits the most HRs? How many? Bregman, Tucker, Alvarez, or Altuve
  • Who will start the most games in centerfield? Jose Siri, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Pedro Leon, others
  • Will any Astros’ starting pitcher have an ERA under 3.00? Who?
  • What is a good slash line for Jeremy Pena this year (slash being Batting Average/ On-base percentage/ OPS)?
  • Will Martin Maldonado rise above the Mendoza line (.200 BA)?
  • What is the over/under on Ryan Pressly saves for 2022?
  • When the season ends, who will be the main set-up guy for Pressly? Ryne Stanek, Phil Maton, Bryan Abreu, other?
  • Which rookie will be the most significant call-up in 2022? OF/SS Pedro Leon, C Korey Lee, P Hunter Brown, other?
  • Will we notice that Brent Strom is elsewhere?
  • Will Dusty Baker call it a day after this season?
  • Will the Astros make the playoffs this season, and how far will they go? (This might affect the previous question).

I’m looking forward to this season, though not to a bunch of late-night / West Coast games to start the season.

One more question…..what other question do you wish I’d asked and what is your answer.

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79 responses to “Opening Day questions for loyal readers”

  1. Man, that’s a lot of questions. I hope my associates here are working on their responses too. I’m going to try and stay awake for the first couple of innings tonight, but this might wear me out!

    I was at most home openers between 75 and 93. Then of course I moved out into the middle of the ocean. Sitting in the same seats every year, I had a dome family, seat neighbors that I’d say goodbye to at the end of the season and then say hello to each spring. That really was my most memorable aspect of opening day.

    With four older brothers, the start of baseball season goes back as far as I remember. First it was Mantle and the Yankees, but the Mets converted me in 69. But then I was off to Houston in 1970. By 72 or so I was a full fledged Astro fan.

    Jose Altuve was really the first guy I seriously followed from the minor leagues on. I had great anticipation of his arrival in Houston but of course it was a mid season when he showed up at the tender age of 21.

    No doubt, I really want to see what Pena can do. I want us all to forget about Carlos Correa. We don’t talk about Springer anymore. Seems like it was a long time ago that he left town.

    No doubt, I was not very concerned about the Astros when they were losing 100 plus games a year, but I always kept an eye on a few guys. Remember Jarred Cosart? I thought he was going to be the next Roy Oswalt.

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  2. J. R. Richard. He was still becoming a more complete pitcher at the age of 30 when he went down. I still shake my head over the events of that whole episode.

    Yes, Covid will strike. I think we’ve still get a couple of unvaccinated guys.

    95 wins, especially if we really take advantage of the A’s.\

    We’ll win the West.

    Verlander will be Verlander. 16 wins?

    I hope we get 75 to 100 healthy innings out of Lance before the post season. 15-17 starts?

    Tucker or Bregman.

    Tucker or Alvarez, 40 homers.

    Tough question. I’ll say Chas, even though Dusty is not convinced. But three guys might get around 40 to 50 starts in Center. I hope Brantley sits against lefties on a regular basis. That should give the young outfielders a few more starts playing left.

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  3. Verlander will again be under 3.00. Just imagine if we had him and Lance in the Series against Atlanta?

    .245/.310/.780 for Pena.

    Maldonado will hit .205, but i think he’ll miss some games this year. Dusty killed him with starts last year.

    Do we need more than 24 saves from Pressly?

    I’d love for Abreu to be the set up guy, but I don’t see any indication at this point that he can corral his great stuff. But I’d hate to lose the kid. Stanek, with good health.

    Korey Lee.

    Of course we’ll complain about the handling of the pitching staff.

    I think Crane gave Dusty this additional chance in 2022 to win a World Series. Heck, he was only off by two games last year, and even without Verlander, if Lance had not conked out our skipper might have had his retirement party at the winery.

    I’m going to wait until the All Star break to make my post season predictions.

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  4. Up 1 – 0 on RBI by Bregman. MB 2 for 2 so far. Altuve 0/3 with 3K’s. Pena 0/2 with 2 K’s. ohtani with a lot of sliders.

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  6. Never went to many opening day games, but certainly a highlight was the 3 exhibition games vs Mantle’s Yankees when the Astrodome opened followed by the Phillies series to open the regular season. After watching games in Colt Stadium being in the Dome was like a trip to Disneyland!

    Back in those days the Colt 45s/Astros didn’t have much to crow about but they always touted their young hopefuls. I remember being at Colt Stadium when Dierker made his debut on his 18th birthday, but I guess the first guy I really followed through the minors with anticipation was Cedeno. Cedeno was a very good player, but probably overhyped by Leo Durocher. The Astros certainly developed a lot of good young talent in those days, but never had the sense or $ to hang onto them.

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  8. I just watched our condensed win. 10 in a row on Opening Day. That’s pretty remarkable. Yeah, I just signed up again. Old guys watch baseball!
    Ohtani is a special talent, but our guys made him throw 80 plus pitches while getting only 13 outs. Framber was better.
    Pena sure can play short. He can also make a flat footed throw to first for an error. But we don’t have to worry about his defense.
    Yordan blessed us with with a big homer, but what was he doing back out in left in the bottom of the 8th with a 3 zip lead?
    Speaking of left, that guy Adell was terrible out there. Alvarez would have caught Bregman’s homer!
    What a great way to start the 9 game trip, and with Verlander on deck.

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  9. Seth Beer had a walk off 3 run homer for the D’Backs.
    The announcers were praising Yordan’s defense this spring – but I guess they thought there was more chance we were going to need his bat than need his defense
    Framber was outstanding last night – they just can’t lift that guys pitches and they just can’t lay off them
    Bregman had very good at bats and a couple RBIs along with that barely there dinger.
    Yeah Adell was bad – not getting good breaks on balls, not getting close on Bregman’s homer, but his worst play was that throw to home with Uncle Mike running. It ended up closer to first than to home.
    Good start Astros, keep it up tonight!

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    • Hopefully the defensive lapses will get worked out this week and we’ll return to last year’s form. Not having Correa and Greinke can only hurt the team in that area, but I’m optimistic Pena will play well enough on that side of the ball. I have two complaints. First, watching Bregman run makes me uncomfortable. Is it too early to be concerned about his health? Second, it’s probably too late in his career, but if Altuve is going to bunt he needs to put it on the line or foul. He’s not fast enough to beat out a badly placed, non-deadened bunt as evidenced by last night. I didn’t hate the idea of it, but the runner (Chaz?) was already in scoring position and it made the second out of the inning.

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      • Yeah Bregman may never run like he used to. At least his swing seems to be back and that is more important. Of course if he loses his legs again…..

        Altuve probably thought he was going to surprise them – but Usain Bolt was not going to beat out that bad bunt. Yeah you have a fast runner on second – if you were going to bunt it should have been with no out and Maldonado up.

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      • Bregman is flat out slow, or unwilling to test his wheels. Most guys beat out that play at first.

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    • I think I mentioned it the other day, but what could end up being salt in the wound sort of speak on the Greinke deal is if Beer puts it together. What a baseball name though.

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  10. Attended opening day for several years at the Texas Rangers. Around 1973 the home opener was rained out. The printed tickets just said “Opening Game” and they made an announcement that few saw that the first game of the season would be “Opening Game” and the tickets to the second game and perhaps others would need to be redeemed for later games. Well many did not get that message. It was a mess at the gate telling those, “Yes, the date is correct but your ticket is no good for tonight.”

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  11. Framber in 6-2/3 innings had 6 Ks and only one walk with an ump who had a tight strike zone. He only gave up two hits – first one was a dribbler down the first base line with Yuli playing well off the base and the second one was a barely hit high bouncer down the third base line that the hitter beat out. Probably his best moment was coming back from Pena’s error to get Rendon to ground into the double play after he hit one just foul into the left field seats

    The 8th inning was key for the offense Bregman, lined his homer into the short porch in left, Yordan ripped one way over Trout’s head in center, then Yuli hit one about five feet short in left, Tucker hit one a foot short in right and Pena pulled one just foul into the stands in left. They were about 10 feet off of hitting 5 homers in a row. Of course the pitcher, Tepera, had built up some ill will with his comments about the Astros when they played the White Sox in the playoffs. He was the one hinting at the Astros were cheating because they struck out more in Chicago than in Houston during the series.

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  12. Will Framber Valdez ever be any good? Let’s ask 1oldpro.
    Can Chas Mac learn from his first AB against Ohtani and get a double off him in his next AB. Yes.
    Did Neris earn his paycheck by getting Ohtani out in the 8th? Yep!
    Did Pressly feel the adrenalin in the season opener?
    Will Bregman be able to pick up some of Correa’s slack?
    Did you know Will Harris starts the season on the IL again?

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    • Chas climbed out of Dusty’s dog house to rip two doubles. Uncle Mike had two nice hits (against rightys). Pena made a couple nice turns on double plays to offset his error. He also struck out twice on 6 sliders from Ohtani that he did not come close to hitting.

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      • Chas surprised me with his his two hits but that’s the kind of surprise I like. Was on pins and needles in the 8th hoping the Halo’s would not make a comeback. Framber was terrific and those 8th inning dingers were so sweet. It could have been 5 but I’m not complaining. I guess some of the fans will always hassle Altuve. As far as I’m concerned they’re classless.

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  13. Do you want to know how screwed up baseball is by stats? Take a look at the pitching leaderboards after the first day of the season. Please make note of the rankings and WAR of the two starting pitchers in last night’s Astros game.
    Maybe I’ll recheck the box score and try to figure out who really won that game.

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      • Well it is obvious that Ohtani did more to give his team more of a chance to win than Framber. Except give up less runs.

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      • Obviously, Dan. You throw two less innings, give up more hits, more runs, are the losing pitcher and end up with more WAR.

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      • That makes you wonder how heavy they lean on something like K rate – because Ohtani would have struck out 13 (if he could have lasted 6-2/3, which he couldn’t). Its the only thing that leaned towards him – though in the end it helped get his pitch count up and got him out of the game quicker. Framber was just so efficient – a really fine game even if not recognized as such.

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      • I agree with your point 100%. It is important to remember these stats are all about judging individual contributions in a team game. Having said that, Ohtani is the most overrated player in MLB right now. He won an MVP last year after carrying his team to a 4th place finish and a 77-85 record. In fairness, not having Trout or Rendon sealed their fate, but it meant Ohtani was actually the most irrelevant player as his gaudy numbers weren’t translating to wins. His second half statistics weren’t great either:
        71G 13HR 30RBI .229 / .382 / .458 58BB 91K

        But go ahead and pencil him in for top 5 in MVP and Cy Young voting. He probably wins the former if Mike Trout doesn’t put up equally meaningless numbers and edge him out. Both of those players are incredible…but the media focus on stars like them or Tatis, Jr. annoys me.

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      • I don’t think of it as Ohtani lasted only 4 2/3, I mean I feel like he was pulled based on Brantley’s success on him (and righties in general) and the Angels wanted that runner to stay on second. Couple that with Brantley’s lack of success against lefties and it was probably the right call – and it worked for them at that moment.

        Now don’t take that as a defense of Ohtani, it was clear last night who the better pitcher was. Funny thing, that WAR.

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    • Maybe a result of where he wanted to slot Verlander in a way that he could maximize both the number of starts in coordination with maximizing the number days of rest for JV. Maybe the way the math will work out the 2 starter to open the month will actually end up with the fewest starts.

      Or maybe Dusty thinks he is ready to return to an effective innings eater after last years mediocre performance. Who knows, but I would love to be in Dusty’s head for 10 minutes to figure it out.

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  15. 1 No.
    2. No, I won’t even watch more than 40-45 games until September.
    3. I would say 1986 first time I really paid attention to baseball as a fan, I was a teenager. So, 36th, all as an Astros fan.
    4. In 1992 I was excited for young 1B named Bagwell after a ROY campaign. Now, I thought good averages, maybe batting titles coming, I had no idea what was really coming.
    5. The trio – Valdez, Urquidy and Garcia. How did we get so lucky? Valdez could end up getting some national talk soon.
    6. Probably around the 3rd year of the rebuild. It was frustrating. Many of us shared that frustration right here together.
    7. The year Biggio retired. We all knew it was time, but it still felt like our kid left home for college kinda feeling.
    8. The numbers suggest it will, not just for us but a lot teams. How it affects races, we’ll see.
    9. 94
    10. Yes, LA and Seattle will be good, upper 80 win kinda good, but they won’t have the steam at the end.
    11. Framber, he will be the one most available to make 33 starts and be consistent. I’ll say he wins 17.
    12. 14
    13. Bregman. Just has that swagger back. Its tough though because Tucker will be an all-star, and Yordan will be Yordan if he stays healthy.
    14. Alvarez – 38.
    15. McCormick
    16. JV.
    17. If I’m guessing – .240/.295/.670- I’m hopeful for .270/.335/.720.
    18. I think so, though not by far.
    19. 32
    20. Stanek probably already is, and I don’t think it will change.
    21. Can we wait on injuries? I don’t think any of them force a call up but I think opportunity will ring for someone. Lee is the most likely – we have two older catchers one of them is making an IL trip sometime.
    22. Not really. If you believe pitching coaches matter than Strom’s influence on Urquidy and Garcia and Valdez and the rest will still be present. I’m not of that crowd but I can understand the love for the guy.
    23. I’m guessing no, after next season.
    24. Yes, and where they drop depends on the health of the staff. If McCullers and Verlander are pitching they will be tough to beat by anyone. If they are not, could be similar to last year (or Garcia and Valdez can flip the switch and be ready for the moment, everyone knows they have the talent).

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  16. And my thoughts on last night –

    Valdez opens up a can of whoop a** and starts a bid for some national notice and a, *gasp*, possible Cy Young campaign?

    Some good defensive looks, but some bad throws at times from the far side. Pena sat back on that ball too long, Blummer gave him a pass by saying he “had” too because of the bounce, but on replay I think he just sat on it too long. Forced a throw that was a little too far for old man to stretch and stay on the bag. I tell you though, Gurriel looks like an athlete for 38. Bregman made one outstanding play, and almost another but again, the throw was a little off.

    Tepera could be unemployed soon. Nothing special, velocity was down, placement was bad. That pitch Yordan hit wasn’t even a strike, but it had nothing on it, and he is one very strong man. Even the outs Tepera got, 2 of them were warning trackers.

    I liked Tuckers at bats, the strikeout on the 3-2 was a tough pitch, it was in the zone until the very end. He made good contact a couple of times.

    Bregman’s level of confidence has always been up, annoyingly so to opposing pitchers at time, but his body language was matching. I think he is going to have a tremendous start.

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  17. An interesting tidbit. Astros like some other teams have overloaded their AAA roster with extra pitchers. Right now 23 pitchers are on roster with 5 injured list. It is also interesting in that -0- players, other than pitchers, are on the 40 man Astros roster.

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  18. Saw where Aaron Judge turned down an extension from the “Stankees” 230.5MM for 8 years. That’s 22MM this year and 30.5 for the next 7. Wonder how that will turn out. On second thought, who cares?

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    • Thoughts –

      If the 7th and 8th hitters did not have to bat twice each we might still be in the 7th inning. Maddon looked like he was walking around the dugout looking for a white towel to throw in.

      Everyone was in it on it last night. Offense obviously. Odorizzi was shaky but got the outs when he needed to. Kept it at 2 runs and got the win for it. Defense played well – Siri saved the double Peña made a solid playin the middle. Bullpen was stellar though Bryan Abreu still isn’t sure where the ball is going when he lets go.

      Great game. Our rotation is just better, and our starting 9 is way better. With JV going tonight and Urquidy up for game 4 we could leave with a sweep. Tonight won’t be a slug fest though. Dusty said he planned early on to sit Bregman for game 3 of the series let’s see if he changes his mind after Bregs start – and not just the start but the strut is back.

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  22. The pretty woman, who hangs around me, assisted me in attending opening days in the latter 90s in the Dome and we attended the first three at Enron Field. Always excitement in the air. At the 2000 opener, I had to place a cardboard drink caddy under her feet to give her more comfort. She is very vertically challenged and her feet wouldn’t touch the floor.

    The current 10 year winning streak on opening day.

    I became a Colt 45s’ fan in 1962.

    I wanted to see George Springer arrive. He did not disappoint.

    New guy? I suppose Hunter Brown.

    Oh yea, during the Covid season.

    George Springer.

    I don’t think so.

    97 wins!

    AL West Champions again.

    Verlander, if he stays healthy, with 17 wins.

    Lance will start 7 games total.

    Kyle Tucker for the win!

    Kyle Tucker for the homerun lead with 42.

    Saddens me to say but Siri will start the most games in center because… Baker.

    ERA no.

    Pena will hit .284… the slash line is too much for this ol’ foogie to measure.

    Maldonado hits .199.

    Pressly saves 32.

    The main set-up guy for Pressly? Phil Maton.

    Brown.

    Will we notice that Brent Strom is elsewhere? I did last night.

    Will Dusty Baker call it a day after this season? I hope so.

    All the way!

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  27. Tucker bits two homers and apparently Jeremy Pens hit his home run while his parents were being interviewed by Aplle+TV
    Correa was 1 for 4 and left 4 on base in a 2-1 loss to the Ms

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    • Yea I was watching it on apple. It was definitely a moment, his moms reaction was magical. I feel like after that moment I have a new favorite player.

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      • Put this in a bad spot – what I get for using a “smart” phone at my age –

        Thoughts –

        If the 7th and 8th hitters did not have to bat twice each we might still be in the 7th inning. Maddon looked like he was walking around the dugout looking for a white towel to throw in.

        Everyone was in it on it last night. Offense obviously. Odorizzi was shaky but got the outs when he needed to. Kept it at 2 runs and got the win for it. Defense played well – Siri saved the double Peña made a solid playin the middle. Bullpen was stellar though Bryan Abreu still isn’t sure where the ball is going when he lets go.

        Great game. Our rotation is just better, and our starting 9 is way better. With JV going tonight and Urquidy up for game 4 we could leave with a sweep. Tonight won’t be a slug fest though. Dusty said he planned early on to sit Bregman for game 3 of the series let’s see if he changes his mind after Bregs start – and not just the start but the strut is back.

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  28. I went to Halos Heaven , which is the equivalent to the Astros fansite Crawfish Boxes. Halos Heaven is apparently finished. They haven’t had a post since March 27th.

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  31. JV must be wondering about the lineup behind him tonight

    Altuve 2B
    Brantley DH
    Goodrum 1B
    Yordan LF
    Diaz 3B
    Tucker RF
    Peña SS
    Castro C
    Chas CF

    Goodrum batting 3rd? Really??

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  33. Vintage Verlander!! Sounded soo good listening to Robert Ford calling his game tonight! BOTH of those guys gave their fans exactly what they wanted to see, two giant ace’s pounding the ball! I don’t think anyone was dissapointed at what we saw and heard! Let’s hope our guys can get a third win tomorrow…so far I’m happy with the season has started out especially for our young short stop! Daveb I was delighted to see the contract Cleveland gave Miles Straw, he went from an automatic out with us last year to a Cleveland team that seems to think he’s a solid centerfielder.
    Happy Easter to all of you….we don’t have little grandchildren to hide eggs for so tomorrow will be a quiet reflective day for us. God bless all of you and remember what Easter Sunday is all about…..and don’t forget to kiss the cook❤

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    • Becky – hate to tell you – but today is Palm Sunday – heading out to choir in a half hour- next Sunday is Easter

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  34. Two days off this past week and two days off this coming week. Yet Baker continues to not play his best players. I cannot wait for Baker to be gone.

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    • How can you sit a guy after two games in which he hit a homer each – especially with Yuli unexpectedly out?
      How can you have Tucker batting 6th with Bregman and Yuli out of the lineup?

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  35. My stabs here:

    1. Opener. No.
    2. Opening memories. Checking how Roger Clemens did, if he did, in fact, open a season.
    3. First season. 1997.
    4. New players. Clemens and Pettite. Correa.
    5. 2022 excitement. Pretty highly. 8 out of 10.
    6. Excited to see in 2022. Verlander. Pena. Bregman. Correa (ah ha ha).
    7. Seasons past. No.
    8. Things won’t be the same. Yes. Clemens. Bergman. Morton. Cole. Springer. Correa. Purpura.
    9. COVID. No.
    10. Wins in 2022. 96 (plus 11).
    11. AL west. Yes.
    12. Wins leader. Verlander. 18.
    13. LMJ starts. 15 regular. 3 postseason.
    14. Positional MVP. Tucker.
    15. Most HRs. Alvarez. 40.
    16. Most CF. All will start 20 each. Regular season. Our ASB pick up will start the remaining 80.
    17. ERA under 3.00. Yes. Verlander. Valdez. Pressly. PTBNL (some other dudes from the bullpen).
    18. Pena slash. .250/.300/.700
    19. Maldy Mendoza? No. I predict .199.
    20. Pressly saves. 30. Regular. Another 4 in the PS.
    21. Main setup. Maton.
    22. Most significant rookie. Leon.
    23. Brent Elsewhere. Yes.
    24. Dusty Day. No.
    25. PS? Yes. Another heartbreaking WS loss.

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  41. Accolades to the following:
    Siri
    Pena
    Tucker
    Bregman
    McCormick
    Pitching staff save for a couple of lapses.
    Could have won 4/4 but I’ll take 3/4.
    Don’t understand resting players when we have a day off tomorrow. I’ve never understood Dusty’s management style anyway.
    Of course Altuve is off to a not so great start.
    Castro cut down two attempted steals yesterday.
    Maldy’s quick thinking got us that out on the attempted SF after a great throw by Tucker.
    Finally, a great Masters tournament today also. Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler.

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    • Siri, Pena, Tucker and Chas are the future. Bregman, at 28, is the old timer in that group. Then we’ve got Urquidy at 24, Framber at 28, Garcia at 26 and Javier at 25. And I should not forget Alvarez at 24. That’s a pretty good core group that will help this club stay relevant going forward. S0metimes it’s a simple thing like Chas getting to a ball at the foul poll in left. Brantley and Alvarez don’t make that play.

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  42. Here are Dan P’s answers

    • I’ve never attended a home or season opener
    • I seem to remember Nolan Ryan hitting a home run in his first game with the Astros
    • This is my 57th season watching the club
    • Even though they were on delay – I was excited about the debuts of George Springer and Carlos Correa
    • This year I am excited to see what Jeremy Pena brings to the team and so far I am very pleased
    • In my position as scribe here I have not taken time off recently. When I lived in Arkansas in the 1980’s I was just on the peripheral of fandom with minimal coverage in those days
    • “Things just won’t be the same without George Springer being around?” Brought so much to the on and off field demeanor of the team
    • I’m hopeful COVID plays a minor role this year – but no guarantees
    • Well since the Astros won 3 of their first 4 – they should win about 120 right? OK – back to earth – a hearty 96 wins.
    • I think they will win the AL West again
    • Framber will lead the team in wins, JV will pitch well but in less luck
    • Lance McCullers Jr. – 12 starts in 2022
    • Bregman and Tucker tie for positional MVP
    • Bregman hits the most HRs
    • How about Siri and Chas tying for the most starts in CF
    • Framber and JV will both be just below 3.00 in ERA
    • Jeremy Pena slash line – .265 BA/ .330 OBP/ .785 OPS
    • Martin Maldonado will not rise above the Mendoza line (.200 BA)
    • Pressly will have 34 saves this year
    • Stanek will be the main set-up man for Pressly
    • Korey Lee will have to come up due to an injury and will perform well
    • Brent who?
    • Dusty will ride into retirement after this season
    • The Astros win it all this year

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  43. Pedro Leon has played 3 games at SS for the Space Cowboys and has 3 errors.
    Pedro Leon has played CF for 3 games for the Space Cowboys and has 0 errors.
    His team is 0-3 when he plays SS and 2-1 when he plays CF.

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    • My interest in Leon’s stats so far come down to hitting. I know he is an athlete, 5 tool type, but I am more interested in the 12 strikeouts in 29 PAs so far. To date, he looks like the same 33% we’ve seen in the minors that will turn into 38-40% in the majors. He is surviving so far on a BABIP that is over .500! This is a make or break season for him at AAA – the mandate should be get the K rate around 25%.

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  44. Thoughts on the series as a whole – Could have easily been a 4-0 series sweep. Dusty’s decision to sit people “to rest” in the first week stiffled the offense. I really think if Bregman was in the lineup over Goodrum in the game 3 the complexion of the game could have been different. Then sitting Altuve and Brantley at the same time, we were fortunate the pitching staff did their end. Could have easily been 2-2 instead of 3-1. Why is Goodrum even here? Guy looks like a ballplayer, but hits like a basketball player.

    As well as the offense was in scoring 20 runs in 4 games, 13 were scored in one runaway game, 8 in one inning. 7 runs scored in the other 3, and we won 2. Offenses can win a game, pitching wins series!

    I need a take backsies on Pena. Like many others, I only saw stat lines and tried to extrapolate. I still think he will have moments – but he is talented. You can see that. And he doesn’t skip forearm day in the gym. Dudes gots guns. I think he easily runs into 20 this year and yards em. And I think its not outside the realm that he hits .270. His defense isn’t quite Correa but its not bad. Don’t want to get to pumped after one series but I can see why Altuve said what he said.

    Who woulda thunk that our one loss goes on JV? What a way for the rotation to open up and we haven’t even seen Garcia yet. Abreu was the only reliever that I had to hit up the respirator for and he was “effectively wild.” JV is so good. Every ball he throws looks like it can be called a strike and every strike he throws looks like it could be called a ball. THAT is pitching. He let one pitch out of the 80ish he threw get away from him, it was easily a foot high.

    Altuve’s bat needs to wake up. He wasn’t even making good contact into bad luck. I am sure its going to come around.

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