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Random Astros’ thoughts in the middle of spring training
Just some random thoughts in the middle of the Astros 2016 Spring Training…. The shoulder soreness reported on young Lance McCullers Jr. forces one’s mind immediately to the big innings increase his 21 year old arm experienced last season. Is his soreness due to overwork in 2015 or just a little early ST problem? The…
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Astros 2016 spring training: Who really has a shot?
The Astros have gotten off to a strong 6-2 start in games that don’t matter and so far in the 2016 Spring Training season they have utilized 33 position players and a whopping 29 pitchers. That is great, except for the probability that the team will break camp with 13 position players and 12 pitchers. A…
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Astros 2016: Back to the future with projections
Predicting anything is a very inexact science, which is why Biff became a Gazillionaire in Back to the Future Part II by taking a sports almanac from the future back to 1955. One web site has compiled what they call a consensus of seven different sports mystics predicting what MLB hitters and pitchers will produce…
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Astros WTSWTM: Early spring training edition
It is not surprising that spring training is a prime time for baseball quotes as this is a time of speculation and anticipation and lots of discussion. Of course being baseball-speak, the speakers often don’t say exactly what they mean, which brings us to the newest edition of WTSWTM (What They Said What They Meant), where…
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Why Mike Fiers matters to Houston; why Singleton’s weight does not
So, I was reliving some glory from 2015 over the last few days, watching snippets from games. And I watched some of the post-game interviews after Mike Fiers‘ no-hitter. You remember that, right? Aug. 21, Fiers walks a lone batter in each of the first three innings, then just takes over, leaving the Dodgers scratching…
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What a difference a year — or two — makes for Astros
So, right now we’re all looking over the National League, trying to figure out who the Astros will play in the World Series and checking Trip Advisor to get an early look at hotel prices in San Francisco, New York and Chicago (just kidding) for late October. Yeah, the times they are a changin’. I…
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Spring training 2016: The non roster invitees
Every year teams bring the members of their 40 man roster to Spring Training. These include the most likely folks to go west with the team on the 25 man roster, and the 5 to 10 players who will be the next men up, plus a number of other players who likely need seasoning, but…
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Houston Astros 2016: Seventy-Nine Opportunities to Improve
The Astros record in 2015 was 86-76 and including the post-season they were 89-79. That means there are 79 opportunities for improvement for the team entering 2016. Some overall numbers relative to their 2015 season, including the post-season: Road record. 35-50 even though they outscored the opposition 376-351 Home record. 54-29 outscoring the opposition 377-292…
