MosesHallRAB04 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Except we didn't return pretty much everybody

Even before the injuries we lost Cole, Harris, Smith, McHugh, and Rondon from last year. On top of that we brought in absolutely no one. We attempted to fill every one of those with someone internally.

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Lost Miley too. While he sixes late he was awesome for the frost 3/4 of the year.

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Forgot about Miley

And I forgot we did bring in someone...Austin Pruitt

I was apprehensive about the BP when the Spring started just from a standpoint of losing all those innings and not having anyone to fill them. We were asking a lot of the young arms as it was...Then Smith didn't come back and the injuries started.

And yeah Rodon wasn't all that great but GD I'd take him in heartbeat right now.

Ag_07 said:

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Except we didn't return pretty much everybody

Even before the injuries we lost Cole, Harris, Smith, McHugh, and Rondon from last year. On top of that we brought in absolutely no one. We attempted to fill every one of those with someone internally.

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True: But record and results wise will be similar.

The Sox went from 108-54 to 84-78 and missing the playoffs. They would have been the 7 seed in expanded playoff format.

But actually the Red Sox lost Kimbrel, Pomeranz, Ian Kinsler and Joe Kelly. Who were all key pieces in 2018. While none of those hold the weight of Gerrit Cole, I'd say it's pretty similar situation. They had to rely on offense last year and it resulted in a near .500 record.

All I'm saying is that's who this team reminds me of. Both teams returned 20 of their 25 man roster from the postseason runs.

Chemistry of this team feels way off this year. Not sure if it's the empty stadiums, no Hinch, the sting of the offseason and everything that happened, or missing players (although most of our core guys still intact).

I do miss AJ but was hoping Baker would have similar results with the same guys. Not sure now either way.

Hope to see these guys return to old form soon

Our lack of clutch is disgusting at the moment though and last night was an embarrassing loss. These things happen in a 162-game season but damn we need wins right now. That was really bad.

F'ing hunter pence.

Sure it was talked about in the 200+ messages since I last checked this thread, but 3 ****ing baserunning outs, two of which were at third to end an inning. That was a rule that was drilled into me going back to pony league and especially in high school. You never ever make the last out at third. Second is still scoring position, there is no reason to take that risk. Making that mistake twice in one game is simply inexcusable at this level.

And I'm not even going to go into Altuve getting picked off again.

No reason we should be losing to these scrubs.

I view Altuve as the heart of soul of this team, and he has been since 2015 with this young core. As he goes this team usually goes. Right now he looks like a rookie who's going to get sent down any day now.

What sucks for us fans is that it seems like no lead is safe now with our bullpen. We came eerily close to blowing the big lead Monday night, blew it last night. And have blown many other games this season late when we took late leads. We can't even get excited for a 4 run lead going into the 9th anymore without fear of blowing it.

Somehow Cy Sneed always gets put into these situations and he's not come through once

tjack16 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Except we didn't return pretty much everybody

Even before the injuries we lost Cole, Harris, Smith, McHugh, and Rondon from last year. On top of that we brought in absolutely no one. We attempted to fill every one of those with someone internally.

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True: But record and results wise will be similar.

The Sox went from 108-54 to 84-78 and missing the playoffs. They would have been the 7 seed in expanded playoff format.

But actually the Red Sox lost Kimbrel, Pomeranz, Ian Kinsler and Joe Kelly. Who were all key pieces in 2018. While none of those hold the weight of Gerrit Cole, I'd say it's pretty similar situation. They had to rely on offense last year and it resulted in a near .500 record.

All I'm saying is that's who this team reminds me of. Both teams returned 20 of their 25 man roster from the postseason runs.

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And we also lost Yordan Alvarez and Osuna, Joe SMith, Wil Harris, Ryan Pressly

Ag_07 said:

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MosesHallRAB04 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Except we didn't return pretty much everybody

Even before the injuries we lost Cole, Harris, Smith, McHugh, and Rondon from last year. On top of that we brought in absolutely no one. We attempted to fill every one of those with someone internally.

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Lost Miley too. While he sixes late he was awesome for the frost 3/4 of the year.

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Forgot about Miley

And I forgot we did bring in someone...Austin Pruitt

I was apprehensive about the BP when the Spring started just from a standpoint of losing all those innings and not having anyone to fill them. We were asking a lot of the young arms as it was...Then Smith didn't come back and the injuries started.

And yeah Rodon wasn't all that great but GD I'd take him in heartbeat right now.

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Would you?

He's got an ERA north of 10.

astros4545 said:

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tjack16 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Except we didn't return pretty much everybody

Even before the injuries we lost Cole, Harris, Smith, McHugh, and Rondon from last year. On top of that we brought in absolutely no one. We attempted to fill every one of those with someone internally.

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True: But record and results wise will be similar.

The Sox went from 108-54 to 84-78 and missing the playoffs. They would have been the 7 seed in expanded playoff format.

But actually the Red Sox lost Kimbrel, Pomeranz, Ian Kinsler and Joe Kelly. Who were all key pieces in 2018. While none of those hold the weight of Gerrit Cole, I'd say it's pretty similar situation. They had to rely on offense last year and it resulted in a near .500 record.

All I'm saying is that's who this team reminds me of. Both teams returned 20 of their 25 man roster from the postseason runs.

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And we also lost Yordan Alvarez and Osuna, Joe SMith, Wil Harris, Ryan Pressly

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Pressly is back though.... only missed him for a few games.

All I'm saying is similar teams. Historic season, kept their CORE players in tact, and then barely went over .500 having to rely on offense/young pitchers.

I dont see our situations as that different.

tjack16 said:

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What sucks for us fans is that it seems like no lead is safe now with our bullpen.

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This.

We were up by 4 late and blew it. You're not gonna get more than a 4 run lead late very often.

Remind me again as to why Dusty keeps going to Cy Sneed in high leverage situations?

Said it before - team lost all of its mojo when the JV news dropped. Haven't been the same since.

Honestly I think it's because he has it mapped out how to get through 9 by avoiding Cy Sneed.

Then someone like Pressly shlts the bed late and the offense fails to pull away and by the time it gets late and tight Sneed is all we have left.

I will say I do enjoy how Dusty doesn't hold much back and says it like it is. Because yeah...It is a reoccurring nightmare.

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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redline248 said:

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Beat40 said:

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At this point, get Urquidy back sooner than later to be a reliever. We need all the help we can get in the pen.

Originally was willing to wait for him to start, but not now

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Same here, but I'll go a step further. In this short season just use 4 starters and put Bielak back in the pen, too. Cy Sneed should never pitch again while the Astros have a lead or are tied.

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4 starters? Pitchers arms are already falling off league wide. That's a terrible idea

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I don't care. They only ever get used for 5 innings anyway, and there are only about 40 games left. Suck it up

What is everybody's updated season record predictions?

Mine was 39-21 before the season. I've moved that to 31-29

tjack16 said:

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Remind me again as to why Dusty keeps going to Cy Sneed in high leverage situations?

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When I make a test, I always open with questions like this. Easy, gimmie questions. I want everyone who has halfway been paying attention to get them right so that they get off to a good start. If you miss it you I know the rest of your test will be a disaster.

The answer is: he's not very good at managing.

Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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No way Dusty called that.

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You think a 3rd stringer catcher decided to steal 3rd on his own?

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Dusty said as much. Did anyone ask Stubbs?

Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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No way Dusty called that.

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You think a 3rd stringer catcher decided to steal 3rd on his own?

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Dusty said as much. Did anyone ask Stubbs?

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Do you think Stubbs have Straw a sign to let him know because Blummer & TK said they left at the same time?

Regardless of who's idea it was, it was not worth the risk.

bluefire579 said:

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Sure it was talked about in the 200+ messages since I last checked this thread, but 3 ****ing baserunning outs, two of which were at third to end an inning. That was a rule that was drilled into me going back to pony league and especially in high school. You never ever make the last out at third. Second is still scoring position, there is no reason to take that risk. Making that mistake twice in one game is simply inexcusable at this level.

And I'm not even going to go into Altuve getting picked off again.

No reason we should be losing to these scrubs.

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We should start our own thread...

PREACH

Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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No way Dusty called that.

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You think a 3rd stringer catcher decided to steal 3rd on his own?

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Dusty said as much. Did anyone ask Stubbs?

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Do you think Stubbs have Straw a sign to let him know because Blummer & TK said they left at the same time?

Regardless of who's idea it was, it was not worth the risk.

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You could see in the replay when TK and Blummer were talking about it...they did jump at the same time. That wasn't Stubbs just deciding to go on his own.

This team might have to dial back its risk-taking mentality. They cannot be as aggressive as they once were now that Cole, Verlander, Morton, McHugh, Harris and Peacock are no longer on the mound to keep opposing offenses down. They are obviously scoring runs at a healthy clip, but they need to be scoring even more to win these types of games. That seems like an unfair and unrealistic ask, but it is what it is at present. Gotta protect those baserunners and not get picked off first and thrown out at third. This was an allowable roll of the dice the past few years, but not any more.

Bregxit said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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No way Dusty called that.

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You think a 3rd stringer catcher decided to steal 3rd on his own?

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Dusty said as much. Did anyone ask Stubbs?

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Do you think Stubbs have Straw a sign to let him know because Blummer & TK said they left at the same time?

Regardless of who's idea it was, it was not worth the risk.

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You could see in the replay when TK and Blummer were talking about it...they did jump at the same time. That wasn't Stubbs just deciding to go on his own.

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The only other option is that Pettis did it on his own, right? I think Dusty is comfortable enough with himself at his age and experience to tell it like it is- whether he called it, or not. I can't see him lying about that.

Bregxit said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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No way Dusty called that.

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You think a 3rd stringer catcher decided to steal 3rd on his own?

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Dusty said as much. Did anyone ask Stubbs?

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Do you think Stubbs have Straw a sign to let him know because Blummer & TK said they left at the same time?

Regardless of who's idea it was, it was not worth the risk.

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You could see in the replay when TK and Blummer were talking about it...they did jump at the same time. That wasn't Stubbs just deciding to go on his own.

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Yeah. That sure sounded like dusty threw someone under the bus.

ETA. Either dusty threw someone under the bus or both players missed an indicator in the signs because they were both running. It wasn't stubbs.

Crapshoot of a season with a new front office/managerial regime and a crapshoot of a bullpen. Not to mention the additional pressure of critics wanting to see us fail cuz of the scandal.

It's gonna be a wild ride. For the foreseeable future, no lead is safe. That sucks because it makes it really difficult to string wins together and generate momentum. We had an incredible offense last year, but we also had the ability to efficiently close out games that we led after 5-6 innings. That's what keeps the positive mojo going and paves the way for 100+ win seasons.

I liked the previous posters comparison to the 2019 Red Sox. Injuries and free agency make it very difficult to bridge innings year over year. Not to mention inevitable fluctuations in performance. Our pitching staffs from 2017-2019 were the exceptions, not the rule. Every few years, it seems inevitable that a team has to go through what we're going through right now... though maybe not to this drastic of an extent.

Something like this was bound to happen to our pitching staff sooner or later. It's painful to watch and it means that our title aspirations for 2020 are bleak. But I still think there will be dividends in the future from assessing some of these young guys now. If guys like Bielak, Javier, Paredes, Taylor and Scrubb play a big role in leading us to division titles in 2021-23, I think we'll be able to look back on this current "semi-rebuild" and say it was worth it.

But for now, it sucks

Man I can cope with the injury losses and a young, shltty bullpen... but it's harder for me to cope with how hard our vets are slumping in a short season. That's a killer.

All things considered, it's kind of amazing that we are doing as well as we are. All the injuries, all the rookies, all the slumps, and we are what... .5 games out of the second playoff spot? AND we've lost how many games in extra innings?

I'd bet a lot of money that we make the playoffs. Get JV back and we still absolutely have a shot. Without him, we need guys to step up majorly.

Beat40 said:

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That's why this team isn't very much fun right now. If Altuve, Bregman, and Springer were raking, it would me much easier to bear.

Still believe Altuve is going to get there and Bregman is having really good at bats lately. Just need to get Springer back and have him go nuclear.

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I think Bregman will break out of it first just because he starts every year cold. It's just magnified this season due to 60 games.

I still predict him hitting around .270-.280 by season's end.

With springer I just want his power back and for him to keep driving in runs when he gets back.

Beat40 said:

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That's why this team isn't very much fun right now. If Altuve, Bregman, and Springer were raking, it would me much easier to bear.

Still believe Altuve is going to get there and Bregman is having really good at bats lately. Just need to get Springer back and have him go nuclear.

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If history shows us anything, springer is due for one of those stretches where you can't get him out, and Altuve will pick it up.

Bregman is really close. Having some good ABs, producing runs, and squaring the ball up lately.

Springer was going nuclear before the wrist thing.

Altuve is just completely and utter shlt right now. I keep holding out hope he is gonna turn it around but I see no signs of that happening. I'm starting to just come to the realization that this year is just gonna be a stinker for him.

It would be nice to have springer start tonight. He's been taking BP before each game