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Looking ahead for the Astros: Fears for 2015
Friend of the blog, Devin wrote this yesterday…. “I’m a bit worried we have some fool’s gold here. Yes, we will be better with Springer back, but look how silly the Indians…a middle of the pack team, have made them look. If Altuve, Keuchel, and McHugh regress even a little next season… In other words,…
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Two Stars in the Heavens – Astros Beat Indians in Opener
Some in-person observations from last night’s 3-1 victory for the Astros over the Indians. General Comments Heading into September, the Astros were 20 games under .500 at 59-79 and had a tough road ahead of them with 9 home games and 15 road games down the stretch. On top of that, they were going to be…
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Perspective: MLB prospects and a look ahead (and back)
First thought: The Astros are 66-83 with 13 games to play. If the season ended today, the organization would draft second, eighth and 31st in 2015. The first 11 picks are protected. • •• ••• •• • Jeff Luhnow’s blueprint is centered around rebuilding the organization through the draft. Once the minor leagues are sufficiently seeded, he intends…
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Perspective: BA top 10 Astros’ prospects with 20/20 hindsight
The minor league baseball season is over (playoffs ending this weekend), so I thought I would look back at the Astros’ top 10 prospects as ranked by Baseball America before the season. There are various rankings available and I picked this one because I feel too lazy to analyze someone else’s top 20 rankings instead…
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Free Blog Weekend: Septembers, hits and other questions
It’s Friday, the weekend is ahead, so you know what that means: Free Blog Weekend. Let’s get started. September Morn. It does seem like a new day now that Tom Lawless and Adam Everett are leading the dugout. Houston is 6-2 this month with 16 games to go and, while several games are against contenders…
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Astros’ head scratchers: What happened? What to do?
Baseball can be one of the most non-linear of sports when individual performances are looked at month-to-month or season-to-season. With that in mind, here are a few head scratchers as the Astros wind down on a better, but not good, 2014. Jason Castro In 2014, Jason Castro was an All Star. Yes, he was not…
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The Astros’ rotation is driving a solid finish
We know how this goes: Consistency in anything can end up with a person, group, product, company, etc. being taken for granted. The Astros’ starting pitching may be headed in that direction as they are the one part of the team not named Jose Altuve that has been very consistent this season, especially down the…
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MMQB: Luhnow’s guys, predictions and opinions
So maybe it’s just this simple: Jim Crane and Jeff Luhnow want their guys in the key positions. That means players, coaches, managers and the stat geeks alike. If you joined the organization before Luhnow, the key for you is adaptability. Can you hang with the plan, the numbers and the philosophy? Clearly, players like…
