Back in 1970, when I was really getting heavy into music, Neil Young came out with a fine album, After the Gold Rush. His lead-off song was a lovely ballad that has stuck with me for a long time, Tell Me Why. It was the kind of a song a teenager could really identify with, one that muses about why certain things happen to them, to those they care about, and to the world in general.
After the last few posts of answering questions from Chip Bailey, my mind, for some reason, has wandered off to questions I’d like answered, even if some of them are unanswerable….so here goes, and I hope you folks can help me find some answers.
When Dusty has to replace someone for a one-off in the lineup, why does he so often put the sub in the same spot? For instance, Mauricio Dubon sits out Saturday night, and Grae Kessinger takes his place at shortstop and also in the leadoff spot. Why? (We won’t even get into why Dubon, who never walks and does not have a very good OBP, has been in the leadoff spot. Unless it’s because he is usually subbing for the injured Jose Altuve, who normally leads off).
When they build stadiums, do they ever pay attention to where the blinding sun will be in late afternoon or early evening games? At Minute Maid, it was like being under a magnifying glass along the first baseline. Watching the Astros in Oakland, the second basemen and right fielders are praying they don’t get conked on the head by a ball they lose in the sun.
Does picking a great song to enter the game to, result in better results for a reliever? I mean does “Enter Sandman” fire the pitcher up and intimidate the hitters or do they react like Jose Altuve does when he is booed in New York.
Is it fair for Oakland fans to be upset about losing their team, when their team left Kansas City fans and before that Philadelphia fans in the lurch before that? It is kind of an unfair question when a) The Oakland fans had nothing to do with the team leaving Kansas City and b) Most of the Oakland fans were not alive or aware when the team came there in 1967.
Is the time clock the most effective rule change ever? I am unsure if this is or is not negatively affecting pitchers, but it feels like this rule change did what it was meant to do – shorten the games.
I think he does a great job, but isn’t it weird to have Geoff Blum as the color man on Astro broadcasts? Sure, he played here in Houston 5 seasons, the longest he spent anywhere in his 14 year career. But in the Astros’ first World Series appearance in 2005, he had one at bat for the White Sox and hit the go ahead home run in the 14th inning of the third game on the way to a Chicago sweep.
Is Kyle Tucker the most under-the-radar superstar in the game? In a recent nationally broadcast game on ESPN, it seemed like the broadcast team was busy trying to explain to the audience that, yes, this guy is very good.
This may be OG syndrome for me but doesn’t it seem like, along with shortening games, they could maybe shorten the season? I know it’s tied to money, but the 162-game seasons always seemed too long.
When will the sports money bubble implode? There were some rumblings of this, with some of these regional networks dropping out of their contracts. Is it just a shifting of where the money is coming from as cable viewership declines? There are talks about giving Shohei Ohtani a contract worth $600 million. Just for comparison, the Astros were sold for $465 million in 2011. Is this crazy arc sustainable?
What do y’all think?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
83 responses to “Astros 2023 – Tell Me Why?”
Good questions. Thankfully I missed last nights game, was out fishing until after 3:00 AM. With Dubon and Pena both in free fall, you’d think maybe Chas might go up there. And I’m glad Kessinger got a start, in fact I’d like to see him at short today, but no need to lead him off either. Gosh, we’ve got a bad batch of hitters right now! Captain Bligh, Hensley, Maldy, Dubon, Pena, Jake, Julks. Who did I forget? I’m just hoping we can win today and get home and maybe see the two A’s playing again on Monday night.
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Those park designers didn’t play much baseball and probably not the guys that wanted the park built either. Then you’ve got urban settings where parks are squeezed into sites that don’t allow for all the options we might like, especially for those fans sitting in the hot sun for a day game. I saw people sitting on in Sugarland (not a very urban setting) last week under the hot sun without a hat on. Thankfully, night baseball makes it a moot point most of the time.
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Don’t know the answer to the entry song effectiveness, but I suspect we’ll have a stat for that too one of these days. Maybe in game splits.
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Sure A’s fans should be pissed. Their billionaire owner could have gotten the deal done with the City of Oakland and gotten a great project built contributing to the urban renewal of the Port of Oakland. Part of the far reaching plan the A’s would have paid little for included an affordable housing component. Billionaire Fisher balked at that. And of course, Manfred wants the sexy Vegas setting. A’s fans were sabotaged but their own owner and the MLB commissioner. Tough to win that battle.
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I’m fine with the rule. Framber is not. I like the shorter game. Framber does not. He needs to come to grips with it. He freaks. He was terribly uncomfortable on the mound Friday night while letting the A’s back in the game and stressing the pen. But while I’m at it, I still can’t take the Manfred guy at second base rule in the 10th. It’s too far away from legitimate baseball. Heck, play a max of 3 extra innings and call it a tie. Maybe no game outcome, but the integrity of the game remains intact.
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I think Blum is kind of a drag.
Tucker is no underrated by me, but most people out of Houston not fantasy players don’t know him. Check out that new RE24 stat on Tucks page.
162 is long enough for the Astros to get healthy and screw up some of the plans other teams have.
We’ve been talking about the demise of MLB for ever. I’ll be long gone and salaries will still be growing. Will I be around long enough to see the first billion dollar contract?
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Guess who is slashing .333/.465/1.162 at Sugarland, with 7 HR, 19 RBI, 15 R, 18 BB, and 23Ks in 66 ABs. No, I am not blowing smoke!
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Has to be Mr. Singleton with the smoking hint – if only AAA was the MLB
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But we already know the outcome when he gets the inevitable trip back up to the bigs.
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But we already know the outcome when he again gets the inevitable call up to the bigs.
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Oof a 35% K rate. Ouch.
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I disagree with a lot of you on Singleton. The problem for him has always been that major league pitchers don’t have to throw him a strike. He’s one of the players who would probably benefit the most from robo-umps. There is a huge difference between him and guys like Madris or Hensley, though. If a pitcher throws it over the fat part of the plate, Singleton can hit it pretty hard. He’s not on the 40 man roster so I really wouldn’t be too worried about seeing him at MMP this year. The only way that happens is if the team clears a few spots via trade this week and decides they have a spot to burn before DFAing him either later this year or when the offseason begins. Also, the farm system is pretty bad. There is a reason our MiLB teams are losing so many games. The worse the players around the prospects perform, the slower those prospects development will be due to lack of PA, not being placed in various game experiences very often, etc.
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Dave B – whatcha not like about Blum – I guess he is not as good as Deshaies but he seems solid to me.
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Far too much chatter back and forth unrelated to the game on the field. I interrupt this post with the report of torrential tropical rain falling on Nevis! We’re into water rating right now so this rain is a good thing! I’m sorry to the tourists on the beach. Please proceed to the nearest bar for a beverage or three.
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Tell me why today’s gm feels like last night? Tucker and Bregman have plated all the runs with little or no help coming in front of or behind them. My goodness how is it possible to have this many hitters in a funk (4th innings disaster with 2 runners on with no outs and no runs)? A’s pitchers are daring our guys to take walks and too many Stros are chasing pitches outside the zone for outs.
(thank you Diaz for showing some life with that HR).
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good result at the end of this gm.
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With a lineup that has Madris, who has shown no ability to hit and Dubon and Julks who are in deep slumps, why is Chas 7th and Diaz 8th?
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Has Pena developed some kind of an attitude problem? Sure does seem lackadaisical lately. Makes me wonder if he was really injured when out for a week recently.
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If you are talking about Peña when he was caught stealing – basically Dubon missed the hit and run signal – so Peña was left out to dry. Other than that he’s been really struggling at the bat. Peña had his 16th double the first week of June and none since. He’s not connecting at all right now with any kind of exit velocity.
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No Dan, in general. But speaking of stolen bases, he was 11 and 2 last year, in 2023 he is 9 and 7. And everyone says it’s supposed to be easier these days. Is he working as hard? I don’t think the stat nerds believe in a sophomore slump, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even his range factor stats are down from last year. Outside of not striking out as much, Jeremy is not really doing anything better than he did last year. He just does not seem to be having as much fun out there.
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Diaz has caught 3 of the last 5. Is that meaningful?
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I believe it is. It feels like there is a changing of the guard happening.
TK and Blummer talked about it last night – when Alvarez gets back its presumed he will spend almost all his time at DH, but Yainer has earned at least a 50/50 split. For me, it should be a 75/25 but Alvarez and Altuve returning will make Maldy’s putrid existence in the lineup at least as tolerable as it’s been the last 3 years. As is, with Alvarez and Altuve out, and a lot of pieces in this lineup not able to work counts (until, amazingly, recently) Maldy’s presence just added to the issue.
More consistent playing time for Chas (he has made it impossible for Dusty to leave him out at this point), and how about Julks. I get it, what is he at like 0 for his last 18 or something like that, but man, that 11 pitch walk in the first inning where he just kept fouling 98 MPH pitches one after another until he worked Medina to try that slider that didn’t slide and caused a walk set a tone for the game. It’s exactly the kind of play they have needed all season. Baserunners, pressure, turn situations into higher leverage ones on opposing pitchers, draw some walks and put some ducks on the pond. Medina was only able to get in 5. I know he has been “scuffling” but he has had some really hard hit balls that just landed in gloves. To me, he is seeing the ball better right now than he has all year. He should get a shot at competing for full time, everyday play in LF next year if he can keep the plate patience he has had the last 2-3 weeks going. I could easily see him hitting .275 with a .330 OBP and 15-20 HR playing full time, and providing some good baserunning.
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– Dusty thinks it’s still 1980.
– Went to a day game in Atlanta a few weeks ago (when the Astros were in town). First time I’ve been to that stadium. Great sight lines. The overhangs were built to avoid interfering with your vision of the play but keep the nature from making it a miserable experience. I was at MMP maybe two weeks ago and it was a miserable experience. I was in section 118 (first time I went to 1B side, I almost always go third base side). Row 4. I watched the whole game from my coach airplane seat with my head turned completely to the left with a rather large person sitting to my left – so now I am leaning into my son’s seat lol. It was 6 July, so at least I got my Alvarez bobblehead.
– Tell em come out to the Eagles. That won’t fire anyone up. Me personally, I would be using Hell’s Bells from AC/DC.
– Oakland should do more than having 10k be a big crowd. The A’s have decades of success – I know they are really bad right now but the fans forced that when they decided baseball isn’t their gig.
– I was a skeptic at first, but the pitch cloak works. I watch at least 70% of games now, in years before I was lucky if I stopped to watch 30% of them.
– Blum is my favorite. I sit and wait for Blumerisms.
– Tucker is the most underrated player in the league. Unfortunately his contract will get him a lot of attention.
– It’s not basketball or football where the better teams wins 80-85% of time. Good teams in baseball win 58-62%. It takes that long to seperate yourself. We are right at 100 games and it’s just now the Angels and Mariners are probably going to turn into mini-sellers.
– Well I am no economist (I am, by trade, an accountant though). There is so much everywhere. It’s not just sports, I was thinking of investing in Disney this last few weeks, I went to their website and pulled their financials for the first 2 quarters, they could break 100 billion this year, which is funny because of their stock prices this year, but it’s right there. It’s Wal-Mart too. It’s Apple and Amazon. Warner Bros keeps producing bad movie after bad movie and they will still set a revenue record this year. Sports are just climbing with the rest of them. I can see Ohtani getting 600 million from a franchise that thinks he is their missing piece.
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Daveb (Uncleknuckle), Devin, Mr. Bill, Old School and Steven, I am enjoying reading your contributions here.
Thoughts from yesterday’s game:
– When the 9th inning started with a 2-2 tie – I texted my sons, “This feels like another Astros extra inning loss, eventually”. A few minutes later – Dubon homers and my eldest texted back “Pessimism at the right time Dad.”
– It was a very weird game – Hunter Brown kept putting people on base (some not his fault as with Madris making a terrible error). But sprinkled in were great fielding plays – one by Madris, the extremely smart DP pulled by Dubon where he tagged the guy who was almost past him and still got the guy at first, and the textbook bases loaded, no out DP where Bregman threw a good one to Diaz and Diaz made a great turn and threw a bullet to first base. Then you get Dubon blowing the hit and run sign in the 9th and getting Pena tossed out and redeeming himself with the game winning homer.
– Have to like that you won a tight game where you used Seth Martinez, Neris and Bryan Abreu out of the bullpen. Does this allow Dusty to think about using Pressly in all three Ranger games if needed?
– Nice to win a game where Tucker, Bregman and McCormick had nothing to do with the scoring. Sure want to see Yordan out there soon (tonight?)
– They’ve been awfully quiet about Altuve other than that he is doing pre-game practice with the team. Does he need to go to rehab or will they just one day put him in the lineup – the longer he is out? Right now he feels like cheerleader #2 behind Brantley
– In the 27 games since June 10th – Pena is slashing .204 BA/ .268 OBP/ .530 OPS with 0 doubles, 2 HRs and 7 RBIs. Is he hurt? As DaveB says he does not look happy. Did he get the big head from his playoff stardom and all the local accolades here? Does he need to make a new HEB commercial? Is it just a normal sophomore slump? Would like to see him hit something hard in the gap.
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I’d like to see Kessinger play a couple in a row at short.
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I was iffy on Martinez in that spot – score was tied, but maybe Dusty was thinking what if I get to a 10th or 11th – to me it was playing with fire but it worked out for him this time.
Sometimes it goes that way for you. This offense is scuffling. It managed 12 runs in 4 games, but we won 3 of em. It could have been a sweep but getting a Dusty lineup on Saturday managed 1 run. When you only manage 12 runs in 4 games, with 6 being in one, it could have just as easily been a 1-3 series instead of 3-1.
I saw Loperfido’s name in a CBS article stating that’s who trade partners should be targeting. I would just say again I don’t think the Astros need to make a move. Getting back Alvarez, Altuve, Urquidy and possibly Brantley are huge for the stretch run. If anything, an innings eater pitcher that pitch .500 but can keep Javier and Brown on extended rests between starts would be good.
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Losing Loperfido in an attempt to firm up a post season bid would pain me. I’d rather see his lefty bat up now helping us get into the playoffs.
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No new thoughts about the Astros in this article…other than they should have included Javier in their concerns list about recent pitching problems…
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/what-each-mlb-team-should-do-at-2023-trade-deadline
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An article from McTaggart
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-all-time-best-trades
And a link back to an article a year ago by Dan P
Maybe I should get paid.
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Hard to be thrilled about tonight’s lineup.
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Would that be because the bottom three in that line-up have slash lines of:
.235/.291/.665
.225/.306/.685
.163/.237/.523?
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Very rarely does Mr Tooth Pick put the best line up on the field. I realize we have injuries galore but well, let me go back to beating that dead horse.
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Yes Mr. Bill, and in spite of his game winning homer yesterday, Frenchy Dubon is simply not a leadoff hitter. You know, Grae Kessinger has gotten 3 starts in July. He’s gone 5 for 12. Use the guy somewhere.
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No Alvarez because the team wants him to rest one more day…
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I’m exhausted by all this rest.
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My earlier post got lost in the mail. Since I did not copy it I lost the will to repost, unable to rewrite verbatim.
Watching the gm now I was surprised to see Abreu take a walk by sitting on pitches he normally swings at (just as I praise him he K’s chasing). Earlier I noted the pitching staff had to be resilient by towing the line until the hitters get off. We started off great tonight but there is a lot of swing and miss after Chas.
I expected Alvarez to play tonight and hopefully Julks will return tomorrow.
No one should have to tell coach he has to construct a lineup that gives the tm it’s best chance to win. There is a reason why reserves bat last, not stack them at the top of the order. Even though he’s scuffling I would have taken Julks over Maldy tonight.
Steven, I agree with you 100% on a 75/25 split with Diaz/Maldy (and Framber and Javier need to get off the gas on who C them, if that’s true).
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Someone help me out. Does it mean Jake is not recognizing a pitch (the slider i.e.) the reason he keeps check swinging into strikes/K’s?
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7 walks, 2 errors, a wild pitch, 3 unearned runs and a victory. Baseball is kookie.
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7 walks, 2 errors, a wild pitch, three unearned runs and a victory. Baseball is kookie.
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Dan, I love our site, but it’s so darn frustrating to post on it.
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I love our site, but it sure is erratic!
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Bielak can’t walk four guys and have errors behind him. That’s usually too much to overcome.
We’re hamstrung by Maldy. He should have been pinch hit for to lead off the 8th, but then we would have lost our DH. And obviously we needed our DH.
Framber and Javier are going to have to take one for the team at some point and embrace a different catcher. Have they been coddled?
How long can we keep trotting Jake out there?
If there was a plan that might have included trading Chas, it’s probably been shelved.
Maton needs some days off. Hopefully that will help.
Rangers are not going away. They are too explosive.
But alas, in spite of all, we got a fun win.
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Thoughts
– Dusty is telling us that Alvarez and Altuve are close. Close to what? Close to becoming the clones of Michael Brantley and watching all the games from the dugout?
– Sean Salisbury on 790 AM this morning was pretty upset about Yordan not playing. He’s basically saying if they play him tonight, which may happen, why didn’t they play him last night. There is no 24-hour miracle cure for the oblique. He also said if he was not well enough to play last night why is he well enough to play tonight.
– Totally unclear with what is happening with Altuve. He hasn’t played since July 3rd; he is with the club and supposedly he is “close” to returning. Wouldn’t you expect him to be making some kind of short rehab if he was close. It’s not like he was out 10 days and then back.
– We are frigging geniuses about Chas and Dusty is not. We wanted him to be playing a lot for most of the season and finally – lately Dusty has turned around to our way of thinking. There is no way he can stay this hot, but at least he has made it almost impossible for him to be traded. I think we would be down at the Minute Maid offices with torches if that happened.
– We are not used to a pitching staff that so easily coughs up leads. It’s scary. I’m hoping that Maton is just over worked, but what can they do. I guess maybe give Mushinski and Martinez more innings.
– One of the things that the use of our potential long relief guys in the rotation is that we are not having anyone sucking up 2 or 3 innings out of the bullpen like we have seen in recent years. Which means we are having to cover 3 -5 innings out of the bullpen with one guy an inning most of the time. (Except when Maton melts down and gives us 0 innings).
– I will say this about Chas – he needs to stop celebrating his home runs until the ump is signaling a home run.
– In the winning at bat – Diaz looked bad until there were two strikes and then suddenly he went the other way for the winning hit. The Rangers RF was sure tentative looking on that throw like he could not decide whether to throw home or hit the cut-off man. Weird to see a relay when the ball was picked up in not very deep right field.
– OK, we have the Rangers on their heels and doubting themselves against us. Go for the jugular tonight and…. in JP France we trust.
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Watching this team is kind of like a box of Chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get . Chaz is turning out to be a force to be reckoned with. I guess that he just needed more consistent playing time. Maybe if Diaz got the same we’d be singing his praises too.
Pena needs to sit for a spell, give Kessinger a chance to see what he can do. Why do we have Hensley and Madris when we have some guys on the farm, Singleton? who are hitting super right now? Maton needs a rest. What do we need more, a starter or bull pen help? Meyers just doesn’t seem to have it, Maldy #!*^, and Abreu, well not even worth talking about. What a waste.
On ” Stone Cold Stros” they were talking about pitching and brought up JV and his price tag. The comment was made that giving Abreu 19.5, Montero 11.5, and Brantley 12, we could have kept JV but they did say he’s not worth that. I wonder what the Mets owner thinks now? Don’t feel one bit sorry for them or any other team that tries to buy a Championship.
It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Tucker will go for the big bucks but when you are getting 30MM a year but never making the playoffs shouldn’t that be a consideration?
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Heck, I’ve been singing Diaz’ praises since March. Dusty Baker took the guy out of his element, instead of playing daily, had him sitting for long stretches. I think Korey Lee got the better deal in AAA. Regardless, Diaz today has a .780 something OPS compared to Maldy’s .523. His defensive game is much superior, as evidenced by any stat page one might look at. Diaz has had his development held back in order to play a declining veteran. Zanuda, wait until the guy gets to work behind the plate 5 days a week and fully gets into rhythm of playing the whole game. He’ll be an All Star.
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1. Why does Dusty do what he does?
Because, after 25 years of failures, things finally worked out in 2022. Now he thinks his moves are golden and, like most of us old folks, won’t stop doing things his way, even if it leaves him on an island. After all, it’s his island.
The problem is: Bruce Bochy has had a lot more success, is younger and less set in his ways.
If the Astros manage to win the AL West it will be because of the players overcoming their injuries and other things.
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When they build the stadiums, there are always people more important to please than players or fans. That is why things are the way they are.
A better question is: why would you schedule a game at the times when the sun is a horror show?
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Answer to question 3: Walkup songs or entrance songs are a part of baseball I avoid as much as possible. It is like bad lipstick on a perfectly lovely pig.
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My answer to question 4. Nobody should have to live in Oakland, let alone a major league team. The A’s played in this football stadium forever and finally they have a chance to escape.
Oakland made their football team play on a baseball infield and their baseball team play on a worn out football field. Goodbye and good riddance!
Of course, there is the weird idea that Las Vegas would turn out to be heaven for the NFL and MLB. So weird!
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We are all frigging geniuses about Chas, but we’ve failed miserably in getting Maldy off the field. Have to keep trying though!
Let’s go with Julks and Chas and Tucker and PT Yordan and occasional start for our utility man Frenchy in the OF. Jake is just not helping. We’ll need his roster spot soon.
Wonder what kind of deals Dana is out there seeking?
I hate to be a whiner, but can we give Kessinger a few starts for Pena?
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The time clock might be the most effective rule change because it did it’s job without actually changing the structure of baseball, as did the DH.
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I like Blum and Calus except for the fact that they each cram so much into the broadcast. Sometimes their incessant chatter makes me turn off the game.
I like to think I know enough about what is going on, to not have to be told everything.
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I have those same opinions.
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Next question-I am not sure Tucker is a superstar. A true superstar is someone who does 2022, Judge-like things for an extended period of time without using PED’s. Tucker is a very good baseball player, maybe even great. I don’t think he is in a class with Willie Mays or Ken Griffey, Jr. or Bob Gibson. I think Trout may be a superstar, if he regains his health and keeps doing what he has done.
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Is it OK to call Kyle Tucker a star in your universe?
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In my universe, every baseball player who makes it to the majors is a star.
With that in mind, I said Kyle Tucker may be a “great” baseball player.
When you compare Jose Altuve to Kyle Tucker, who is closer to being a “superstar” based on his career?
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Yes but these days we need more hype – Altuve is a Megastar, while Tucker is only a Superstar and apparently Maldonado is a star…..
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This was on the Astros MLB page for injuries and transactions –
“Altuve went through pregame drills at Minute Maid Park on July 24, including taking batting practice, fielding grounders and running the bases. Astros manager Dusty Baker said “it’s possible” that Altuve could be activated from the IL without a Minor League rehab outing but added that he had yet to talk to Altuve about that.”
They haven’t talked about it yet??? There is no plan?????? Is Dusty waiting for Altuve to write himself into the lineup or drive down the freeway to Sugar Land?
I shared this on the crawfish boxes
In Princess Bride – there is a point where the “brains” behind the bad guys, Vizzini says “inconceivable” for about the 10th time. Inigo Montoya then says “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
This is how I feel every time Dusty tells us Altuve or Yordan are “Close”.
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Credibility. Or lack thereof. I hope Alvarez and Altuve come back soon, but I have no expectations of when we might expect them. I mentioned early in the week that Diaz had caught 3 of 5 games. I thought we were on a roll. Wrong. I have no expectations of when he might catch more. I won’t be surprised if Maldy signs another one year deal. I’m fed up like I was prior to last nights game. It was a good outcome. So I’m going to try it again.
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Gray actually threw well. It’s not often that guys swing and miss that much and still score 10. They really took advantage of mistakes in the 1st and 5th.
Yainer’s game winning at bat is the perfect illustration of bat to ball skills. He had looked silly until that swing. He had even looked fairly silly in his first at bat – strikes out with bases loaded and less than 2 outs – put it in play its probably a run. Then all of a sudden, liner to RF. Bat to ball doesn’t slump as often – its just hard contact all the time. This guy has Altuve’s trajectory written all over him – if he has the same work ethic.
Interesting with Chas/Meyers – anyone looking at the defensive numbers will not want Chas in CF – but when you watch him you see him chase one down in right center that was a critical catch. Meyers might get traded – it’s hard to trade a guy that is hitting .220 for value but if he weren’t hitting .220 Chas might be out of the lineup even more. Conundrums.
I breathed a sigh of relief last night. That hit by Maldy brought him up to .165. I feel better about him being in the lineup now. I think he is about to get hot and go 4 for his next 20.
Bielek is an emergency starter. Should be like 8th on the list. I assumed Blanco would be back after the break – that the move was to clear his roster spot since he wasn’t scheduled to throw again – and he is not back. I would much rather see Blanco – ideally we don’t have to throw any of them – but Blanco has major league stuff even if its with minor league command. It’s not like Bielek was throwing darts in the zone either. This whole staff suffers from commandanitis.
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Who knows. I guess it’s another Dusty hunch tonight that has Pena hitting second and Chas down to sixth. And I really thought Diaz would catch the middle game with Framber pitching tomorrow. Who the bleep knows.
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Dana Brown says its very promising that both Altuve and Yordan will be in the lineup tomorrow.
Is very promising the new close?
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Another lazy night at short for Pena. Cost a run on one play.
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Luckily he was anything but lazy on that laser beam throw home
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That was certainly nice. But he needs to play every play. Too often he’s checking out.
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The Astros need a couple of close-the-freaking-door relievers.
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If we get Yordan and Altuve back tonight I’ve got a line up suggestion for Dusty. However, I doubt we’ll see it.
2nd – Altuve
3rd – Bregman
DH – Yordan
RF – Tucker
CF – McCormick
1st – Abreu
C – Diaz
LF – Julks
SS – Kessinger (no Pena)
Pretty potent if I say so myself.
And I’m pretty sure that I saw pigs flying last night as Maldy went 2 for 3 with a Home run. I would think that if you keep throwing him center cut fastballs he’ll eventually hit one or two. Glad he and Tucker both went yard last night as Pressley was about as sharp as a dull knife. And JP France appears to be the real deal. Great play by Julks/Pena/ Maldy to get Semien at the plate. We were lucky after that as Nerris threw about 5 fast balls to Garcia that he just barely missed a home run. I was yelling at the screen telling Nerris to throw a breaking ball which he finally did and he missed it, thank goodness. Now lets get this one tonight to get back into first (tie).
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Hey Z – I was writing my comment below on my phone as I was waiting to do lab work, so I didn’t see your comment until just now. And since you matched most of mine to a tee – you must be right.
The Rangers have seen a lot of Pressly lately – between the two series. I think you get caught up with that way. Plus he never looks as sharp with a 3 run lead.
All wins are great no matter how you get there.
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It would have been nice to not throw Pressly in that game, but playing to take the first 2 games in a series makes sense. I didn’t see either play at the plate you are mentioning…do the Rangers fans have a legit complaint? That pitch Maldonado hit out was a 90 mph fastball over the middle of the plate. I feel confident if pitchers will agree to continue throwing those to him we’ll see good offensive contributions. Tucker’s HR is one of the reasons I don’t like MMP. Why was the RF playing so shallow on him?
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Z, that’s close to what I would do too. And I also think Pena needs some kind of a break/wake up call. But it will not happen. So I’m okay with Baker putting him in between Altuve and Alvarez to see if that gets him going at the plate. But I also want to see him playing a more exacting shortstop. And I want to see him have success when he tries to steal a base.
But if Dusty puts him low in the order, I’d have Tucker hitting second and Alvarez 4th. We’re stuck with Abreu pretty much where he is, but I’d take him at 5th. In Dusty’s head, moving him down further would be disrespectful. And we can’t have that.
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Thoughts
– JP France is saving our bacon – pitching deep and pitching well.He didn’t let the error behind him throw him off – was very nonchalant about it after the game – everybody makes mistakes
– Maldy’s ears must have been burning before the game so he squared two balls up for a double and the eventual game winning home run. He also made an almost simultaneous catch and tag on the almost impossible play at the plate in the 8th
– Chas got them started again with the big early RBI
– Tucker with the home run that somehow got out though it was hit off the end of the bat. He needed all his height and all his reach to catch that shot to end the game
– Neris has been living on the edge – he should have given a run up last night but the brilliant Julks to Peña to Maldy relay saved him
– The Ranger’s fans must be livid after the tag play was reversed last night and not the night before. Good
–
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I was reading the Rangers blog for morning entertainment with my coffee. Seems there is a conspiracy against in New York. They forget who they are playing! Bottom line is that the Rangers are playing mediocre baseball. They are 24 -23 since June 1. They’ll be very active before the deadline.
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The Astros came out with the draft report on their official website:
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-2023-draft-signings-tracker?t=mlb-draft-coverage
I don’t know why they make us do all the damn work, but I got out my calculator and added up the signing bonuses of the 19 draft picks they signed and(if my figures are correct) they ended up about $200,000 below their allotment and don’t have monetary penalties or loss of future picks.
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As a side note, the Astros signed several college players who weren’t drafted. It looks like 3 pitchers and a SS. They also added a couple of International free agent signings early in July, a RHP and a SS.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/roster/transactions
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In case you missed it, Jose Urquidy’s 4 inning rehab in CC last night was outstanding. Hopefully he feels good today.
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I wish I could say it’s time to put the Chas as the everyday CFer discussion to bed. Dusty don’t care though. If Chas was able to keep this pace at 140 games he would hit .282 with a .369 OBP, give you 29 HR and 95 RBI. Even looking at the defensive numbers – in 303 innings in CF this year Chas has 89 putouts and a RF/9 of 2.67, an extremely respectable number and a significant upgrade of the 2.27 career number he entered the season with. He is getting better. In EVERY aspect. He is on the cusp of stardom, if the Astros let it happen.
I said Maldy was about to get hot tongue in cheek in my sarcasm font. But he did hit what turned out to be the cushion that become the difference HR last night. Just get ready for 3 straight 0fers with about 8 strikeouts.
I do think we will see a more even split of Maldy/Diaz. I don’t think, with Alvarez and Altuve back providing some more punch that Maldy’s putrid offense will be as detrimental as it has been. I would prefer that Diaz was playing – but if Dusty and crew are convinced that Diaz isn’t doing the pre-work of studying hitters, developing a plan, working on sequencing for certain batters, scripting the first time through the lineup, etc., and Maldy is, who am I to question. Never mind, I will keep questioning. I’m a fan, I want to win, and I can’t see that other stuff, I just see a hitter not getting to play over a guy that can’t hit not only his weight, but really, almost everyone’s weight.
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Steven,
Yeah, I’ve exhausted my Chas lobbying efforts. And I don’t even know what to expect in regards to tonights line up.
After last nights game, Dusty made his regular point about how Maldy and France worked the game so well together. France also threw a very nice 7 innings last week with Diaz behind the dish. But no such verbal pat on the back for Yainer after the game in Oakland.
Personally, I think both Maldy and Diaz are always well prepared behind the plate. But the pitcher is the guy executing his pitches.
But one more note. If Diaz showed up in Houston lacking preparation stills or discipline, and I’m not saying that was the case, whose fault is that? How long now has been coached in our organization as a catcher?
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The Astros injury report said Urquidy was supposed to pitch or night but he wasn’t in the box score I just checked.
Now if we see him in the dugout tonight playing poker with Brantley, Spruce and Jordan I will be really peeved.
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Tuesday, July 23th, pitching for CC in SanAntonio, Urquidy threw 4 innings and gave up 1 hit, 1 walk, no runs and struck out 4 in a 5-0 shutout win.
https://www.milb.com/gameday/hooks-vs-missions/2023/07/25/728896#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=728896
He is slated for 1 more rehab start with a 5 inning target.
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that was last night the 25th not the 23th
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Dan, he got demoted to the Hooks, 4 innings, no runs, 1 hit, 4 K’s 1 walk.
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You are right daveb – I forgot they didn’t want him on the SL road trip
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Jose Abreu has had the most success against Andrew Heaney – the Rangers pitcher. He is hitting .333 against Heaney in his career and has 4 HRs and 9 RBIs in 15 ABs. That is more than all the other Astros listed combined. I need to spend a minute and see what Altuve and Alvarez have done against him in their careers because it has not been listed.
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Jose Altuve has slashed .355 BA/.375 OBP/ 1.020 with 2 HRs and 2 RBIS against Heaney in 31 ABs.
Yordan Alvarez has slashed .308 BA/ .357 OBP/ .742 OPS with 0 HRs and 0 RBIs against Heaney in 13 ABs
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