Marvin said:

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Damn, you guys done piling on Mr. Furious? It was a bad comment in the middle of a game, not a life altering opinion! Haha.

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No one effs with Yordan.

Marvin said:

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Damn, you guys done piling on Mr. Furious? It was a bad comment in the middle of a game, not a life altering opinion! Haha.

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Now we know who gave the post a blue star

so assessing the damage from the 10-game road trip...the Astros went 4-6.

during the same time frame...the Yankees went 7-4 and the Twins went 6-3.

they both had trouble with the Indians, but swept 4-game series from weak teams (NYY over the Orioles; Minnesota over the Rangers).

current records:

Yankees...83-43
Astros.....79-46
Twins......76-48

the Astros have the tiebreaker over the Yankees. The Twins own the tiebreaker vs. the Astros

Safe at Home said:

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Not sure I agree. In the 2017 ALCS the home team won every game. And in 7 regular season games this year the home team won 6.

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User name yada yada.

Anyone have video of the double play late in the game?

https://www.mlb.com/video/bregman-starts-slick-double-play

Thanks

I actually think the Indians will take that division when all is said and done

BMX Bandit said:

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Marvin said:

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Damn, you guys done piling on Mr. Furious? It was a bad comment in the middle of a game, not a life altering opinion! Haha.

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Now we know who gave the post a blue star

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Where's the "wrong" gif when I need it?

Right next to the Jennifer Lawrence "sure, ok" gif

To prove it wasn't me, I just went back and starred the original post. That makes two, and I can't be both. So there you go...

Now I'm really wondering why I felt compelled to do that. Maybe I have some repressed justification issues and need to be accepted by random internet strangers, haha.

W said:

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it was nice of MLB to give the Yankees a full travel day between their Sunday home game in New York and their first game in Oakland

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Yeah, no kidding. Meanwhile we got the 3 different time zone road trip **** sandwhich.

Oh well. Let's just win some games. Need to see some nekked orbit .gifs.

Safe at Home said:

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Not sure I agree. In the 2017 ALCS the home team won every game. And in 7 regular season games this year the home team won 6.

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Was there a team in 2017 (or 2018) for that matter with a rotation even close to Verlander, Cole, Greinke and Miley? Also don't try to squeeze in Morton for one of those years as Dallas and McHugh were our #3 and #4 last year and in 2017 Morton was in the pen in the playoffs.

We will have a decided edge in pitching in every match-up we face IF we stay healthy. Good pitching usually trumps good hitting in the playoffs regardless of venue.

W said:

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Bregman became the first Astro with back-to-back 30 home run seasons since Berkman in 2006 & 2007

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That's excellent. I would have guessed Carlos Lee, but it looks like he just missed.

He was underappreciated because he was overpaid and he didn't exactly hustle, but man that dude could hit. .300, 25 HR & 100 RBI or better 3 years in a row, walking just about as much as he struck out and played in 155+ games 4 of his 5 full seasons here. He was just 10 years too early - would have been a great DH.

W said:

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Bregman became the first Astro with back-to-back 30 home run seasons since Berkman in 2006 & 2007

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It's fun to go back now and read his draft profile. He was projected to have "average" power. Only hit 9 HRs his Jr year at LSU. His comp was Dustin Pedroia, who only hit 17 HR in his MVP season.

I remember back in 2016 when he hit 20 HR in 80 minor league games and was like "whoa, this guy could be waaay better than I thought". (I was among those who was bummed that we didn't have a chance to draft Swanson haha)

https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-profile-lsu-shortstop-alex-bregman/c-127869438

Anyway, the draft profile also said he could add power if he adds some loft to his stroke. That part turned out to be right on.

Harry Dunne said:

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W said:

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Bregman became the first Astro with back-to-back 30 home run seasons since Berkman in 2006 & 2007

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That's excellent. I would have guessed Carlos Lee, but it looks like he just missed.

He was underappreciated because he was overpaid and he didn't exactly hustle, but man that dude could hit. .300, 25 HR & 100 RBI or better 3 years in a row, walking just about as much as he struck out and played in 155+ games 4 of his 5 full seasons here. He was just 10 years too early - would have been a great DH.

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He probably would have had at least 35 homeruns each of those seasons playing with a juiced ball.

In a weird scheduling quirk, the Astros and A's have played on August 18th the past three seasons. Last year the A's won 7-1 while handing DK his 10th loss. In 2017 the Astros won 3-1 as DK won his 11th game.

This can not stand!

2019 Bregman is topping 2018 top 5 MVP voting Bregam

On Base is up from .394 to .411
Slugging is up from .532 to .563
OPS (obviously) is up from .926 to .974
wRC+ is up from 157 to 159
Soft Contact is down from 17.2% to 16.3%
Hard Contact is up from 35.4% to 44.3%
Ground Balls are down from 34.6% to 31.5%
Line Drives and Fly Balls are up from 21.9% & 43.4% to 22.3% & 46.2%

Its not just at the plate. His defense is improved too.

UZR is up from -3.1 (Avg to Slightly Below Avg) to 1.3 (Avg to Slightly Below Avg)

Deluxe said:

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Nolan Arenado away from Coors Field: .264/.331/.493
Aledmys Diaz: .267/.320.474

Not much difference between the two, except hundreds of millions of dollars

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That and elite defense.

Should have the is Arenado elite conversation again? I think we covered it preseason or April/May ish.

Farmer1906 said:

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Should have the is Arenado elite conversation again?

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No

Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Should have the is Arenado elite conversation again?

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No

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Too bad.

He's not.

The end.

Who was taking the side that he is elite?

MLB lifers decry the state of the modern baseball: 'Unwatchable'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2019/08/19/mlb-baseballs-old-timers-decry-state-modern-game/2047025001/

A bit of old men yelling at clouds. But I do agree the home run has been cheapened lately with this current style of always swing for the fences.

But the criticism of analytics is pretty silly. That's what executives do, they gather information to make decisions.

Did I miss this being posted yesterday?

The waiting game nears its end for Astros prospect Kyle Tucker

Quote:

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Five position players have been summoned from Round Rock to Houston this season. None have been Tucker, who at this point last year was six weeks removed from his major-league debut. He's blocked by Michael Brantley in left field and by Alvarez at designated hitter. When the Astros have needed a bench player in a pinch, they've opted for Myles Straw because of his speed and his rare ability to play both center field and shortstop.

All the while, Tucker's wait has continued.

"I mean, I get it," he said. "(George) Springer. Reddick. Brantley. Jake. Straw's been up there for a while. They've all been doing a great job and I totally get it. But obviously, I wish I'd be up there helping out, too."

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Quote:

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The discourse around Tucker has been reinvigorated by the struggles of Reddick, who has been one of the least productive hitters in the majors since June and even worse since July. But with no roster spot available and Reddick owed the rest of his $13 million salary for this season and another $13 million for 2020, Houston's only alternative to Reddick is Marisnick.

Tucker also hasn't produced to a point where he's forced the Astros' hand. His season in Triple A has been extremely streaky. He was terrible in April and July but sensational in May and really productive in June. He's heated up again in August. Overall, it's translated to a .271/.355/.576 season line entering Sunday, which still marks regression from his .332/.400/.590 line at Triple A last season. His strikeout rate has increased, from 18.1 percent in 2018 to 22.2 percent this season.

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Quote:

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Tucker's recent practice at first base increases the odds playing time will open up for him at some point next season. If he was an option at first base earlier this season, he could've taken a lot of the at-bats that went to Tyler White.

Inspired by how quickly Straw carved out a major-league role after learning to play shortstop, Tucker was the one to initiate the first base experiment. He asked Storey in June if it might be an option for him and the manager worked him out at the position. A staffer shot video and it was sent up the chain of command. After a couple weeks of work, Tucker started seeing game action in mid-July, first late in blowouts and then as an occasional starter.

"It's gone well. He's done a heck of a job," Storey said. "He's definitely put in a ton of work. There were times where I would have him for early work and it would go 30, 40 minutes instead of the 15, 20, which is normal. He was really intrigued and really engaged in the work and trying to get better at it."

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W said:

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Bregman became the first Astro with back-to-back 30 home run seasons since Berkman in 2006 & 2007

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When I saw this yesterday it also included that only 1 other Astros 3B in history had hit 30 homers in a season. Morgan Ensberg in 2005

I would have though Cami would have hit 30 at some point.

**Wow looking back at his numbers on his first stent here, they were pretty bad.

Good to see everyone still around. Thought this place woulda burned to the ground over the weekend.

Deluxe said:

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Who was taking the side that he is elite?

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Probably the twitter idiots who voted him over Bregman.

I'm not mad about it, I just think its silly. I don't really want that conversation either. I just recall we(Astros fans) had it before.

n_touch said:

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I would have though Cami would have hit 30 at some point.

**Wow looking back at his numbers on his first stent here, they were pretty bad.

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He got a lot better in SD.