And to defend myself just a little bit...

Fiers has an ERA of 3.30 and a FIP of 4.51

That's a pretty big difference so a regression is expected. If he pitches closer to his FIP then you're looking at a mediocre pitcher.

Will be interesting to see if he can keep it up.

I don't disagree too much with that. I think he's a little better than you think he is and he's definitely not trash like some other people last year were saying he is. When you look at his BR "similarity scores" you see names like Mike Minor, Patrick Corbin, etc. Lots of guys on that list that are/were good but not great and had one peak season where they made their lone ASG. He's definitely been one of the top 20 pitchers in the AL this season and probably was last year as well. I think that's well above "mediocre".

I think he's also been smart to go to Comerica and Oakland where it's pretty tough to hit balls out. He has an ERA under 3 in both parks. I think a lot of you haters go by "feel", and he did have a ton of rough outings for us.

Anyway only point last year is that he has great stuff and when he harnesses that he's as good as anyone. Since then he has gone 16-5 and thrown another no-hitter, so hopefully that almost makes up how wrong I was about Yuli?

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-yordan-alvarez-having-best-rookie-year

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That's a strong statement, but through 49 games, Alvarez owns a .339/.422/.694 slash line, which produces a park-adjusted wRC+ of 190 (90% better than league average). He has bashed 14 doubles and 17 homers, while driving in 52 runs.

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Quote:

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Among the 300 players who have collected at least 200 plate appearances this year, Alvarez ranks second in batting average and on-base percentage, and first in slugging, OPS and wRC+.

What's more, no batter on record in recent baseball history has put up louder numbers in the first 50 games of his career, according to MLB.com research.
Highest OPS, first 50 career games
Min. 150 plate appearances, since 1940
1) Yordan Alvarez (2019 HOU): 1.113 (through 49 G)
2) Willie McCovey (1959 SF): 1.110
3) Albert Pujols (2001 STL): 1.104
4) Bernie Carbo (1969-70 CIN): 1.089
5) Gary Sanchez (2015-16 NYY): 1.067
6) Tony Oliva (1962-64 MIN): 1.061
7) Fred Lynn (1974-75 BOS): 1.046
8) Ryan Braun (2007 MIL): 1.044
9) Alvin Davis (1984 SEA): 1.042
10) Bob Hazle (1955-58^): 1.039
^Played with CIN, MLN, DET

Alvarez also has become one of eight hitters in MLB history to go deep as many as 17 times in his first 50 career games -- with one game to go before he reaches that milestone. His 52 RBIs are the fourth-most through 50 games, behind only 1950 AL Rookie of the Year Walt Dropo (57) and two more recognizable names: Joe DiMaggio (55) and Ted Williams (54).

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Quote:

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Despite being a rookie and a powerful slugger, Alvarez's strikeout rate is only slightly above the MLB average, and his whiff rate on swings is actually lower than average -- similar to those of Cody Bellinger, Manny Machado, Rafael Devers and Freddie Freeman. His walk rate is above average.

When Alvarez makes contact, it's quality contact. His average exit velocity and hard-hit rate both rank in the top 20 among MLB hitters with at least 100 batted balls this season, according to Statcast. The left-handed-hitting slugger stands among the MLB leaders since his debut with 13 balls hit at 110 mph or harder, including five home runs. A blast he hit in Houston off Rangers lefty Mike Minor left his bat at 112.2 mph and set an Astros Statcast record by flying a projected 474 feet.

Before a rare off game Wednesday that saw him hit three grounders, Alvarez ranked in the top 10 in the Majors by producing a line drive or fly ball on 61.8% of his balls in play. That's helped him produce 24 barrels -- contact with an optimal combination of exit velocity and launch angle -- putting him in the top 10 in MLB since his debut.
Alvarez has hit lefties just as well as righties, and has thrived on more than just fastballs. Of his 17 home runs, 11 have come against breaking balls or offspeed pitches, and he is slugging better than .800 against them.

If those trends are any indication, Alvarez could turn the excellence of his first 50 games into a historic rookie campaign. Alvarez, who might now be the AL Rookie of the Year Award favorite, currently has the best park- and league-adjusted offensive performance for a rookie in modern MLB history.
Highest single-season wRC+ for a rookie
Min. 200 plate appearances, since 1900
1) Yordan Alvarez (2019 HOU): 190
2) Willie McCovey (1959 SF): 185
3) Joe Jackson (1911 CLE): 184
4) Frank Thomas (1990 CHW): 178
5) Aaron Judge (2017 NYY): 172

The league always adjusts. Maybe the series in Chicago was the beginning of that, and Alvarez will have to figure out a way to fight back.

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Usually these types of lists are an even mix of HOFers and weird outliers...Joe DiMaggio and Kevin Maas...Albert Pujols and JD Drew, etc.

I like that he has put enough ABs together that he's starting to appear on lists where all but a few outliers are HOF or HOVG type guys. I had to look up Bob Hazle, but apparently he retired as a .310 hitter after only 110 games because of injuries.

You always worry about injuries, but if Yordan can stay healthy I think it's a safe bet he's going to have a special career.

My Air Yordan t-shirt just arrived, looks really nice.

Good breakdown on remaining schedules of LA, NYY and HOU

Prosperdick said:

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My Air Yordan t-shirt just arrived, looks really nice.

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Did you order from Breaking T? Was the quality of the shirt material decent?

CFTXAG10 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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My Air Yordan t-shirt just arrived, looks really nice.

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Did you order from Breaking T? Was the quality of the shirt material decent?

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You can now get them at your local Kroger lol...

Does it brother anyone else they use "As" but the city for everyone else?

Prosperdick said:

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My Air Yordan t-shirt just arrived, looks really nice.

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I also want to know if you ordered a size up from what you normally order. The BreakingT site says the shirts are a snug fit and "men should size up; women should size down."

Farmer1906 said:

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Does it brother anyone else they use "As" but the city for everyone else?

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Looks like they used NYY and NYM for the New York franchises.

expresswrittenconsent said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Does it brother anyone else they use "As" but the city for everyone else?

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Looks like they used NYY and NYM for the New York franchises.

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They used some the As team abbreviation, some teams city-team initials, and some team cities. If you're going to make a graphic, do better.

But it was great info.

bearkatag15 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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My Air Yordan t-shirt just arrived, looks really nice.

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I also want to know if you ordered a size up from what you normally order. The BreakingT site says the shirts are a snug fit and "men should size up; women should size down."

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Good quality and I'm 6-4, 240 so I ordered a 3XL and it fits perfectly, not tight at all and good sleeve length (I hate t-shirts with really short sleeves). They look much nicer than the ones shown in the Kroger pic.

I bought the Dream Crushing shirt from Breaking T last year. Shirt material is great quality and the shirts fit pretty close to size. I'm 6 foot and 205 lbs and the large I bought fits pretty well to size. Definitely not too big, but not too small either. I would say it trends down in size more than up but not enough to buy a size larger than whatever your normal size is.

Should be able to double Houston's number in the next 2-3 years I say

This year:
Bregman
Yuli?
Springer?

2020:
Yordan
Bregman
Springer
Correa?

2021:
Bregman
Yordan
Correa?

Any other guesses?

Farmer1906 said:

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I'm rooting for the Mets. Between deGrom, Thor, Wheeler, & Stroman they have the pitcher to compete with the Dodgers. They just need their average bats to get hot.

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I want to beat the Dodgers again with all the hype they've gotten all season and to prove that the AL was a harder league.

Wouldn't mind destroying the entire state of New York though.. east coast media would rage harder than people with TDS.

bearkatag15 said:

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Dodgers currently losing to Marlins 6-1 and Miami has bases loaded with no outs

Edit: make that 8-1

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13-4 now in the 6th...

mazag08 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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I'm rooting for the Mets. Between deGrom, Thor, Wheeler, & Stroman they have the pitcher to compete with the Dodgers. They just need their average bats to get hot.

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I want to beat the Dodgers again with all the hype they've gotten all season and to prove that the AL was a harder league.

Wouldn't mind destroying the entire state of New York though.. east coast media would rage harder than people with TDS.

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If we're dreaming of another WS win (anything but a given), I want it to be against the best.

It was really cool to march through Boston, New York, and Los Angeles in 2017 against storied franchises. It's not like we beat the Diamondbacks or Rockies to win it all.

I'd be fine with a similar approach, but maybe instead we play the Cubs or someone like that in the WS.

If you're asking me to choose without knowing the outcome.... the easiest road possible, please and thank you.

Dodgers have 4 homers

Marlins have 0

Marlins up 13-7

Followed up with a solo homer. The home crowd is booing! I hope this pitching shows up against us in the playoffs

Kashchei said:

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Followed up with a solo homer. The home crowd is booing! I hope this pitching shows up against us in the playoffs

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Wow Chad Green lifted after 1 out lol

2 run jack!

Would be nice to get a win tonight to close this small game

Man, RF at Yankee Stadium makes the Crawford Boxes look daunting. 4 HRs hit there already.