According to ESPN last night was our 6th blown save in September. Didn't realize it was that many

Anyone else in line at Academy on Kirby waiting to buy a 2020 playoff t shirt? It's a mad house over here. Line is wrapped around the building. Demand is so hot you're only allowed to buy one per person.

3B Paul 97 said:

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SIAP but I just saw that the Nats are going from WS Champs to the 2nd worst record in the NL (5th worst in MLB). Ouch.

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I mean, they weren't exactly world beaters last year. They squeaked into the playoffs, were on the verge of elimination twice, and then just completely caught fire. Any other situation in the playoffs last year, and we win the world series without even breaking a sweat. We just had the misfortune to catch that team in the state they were in.

bluefire579 said:

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3B Paul 97 said:

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SIAP but I just saw that the Nats are going from WS Champs to the 2nd worst record in the NL (5th worst in MLB). Ouch.

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I mean, they weren't exactly world beaters last year. They squeaked into the playoffs, were on the verge of elimination twice, and then just completely caught fire. Any other situation in the playoffs last year, and we win the world series without even breaking a sweat. We just had the misfortune to catch that team in the state they were in.

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For some reason this is how we all remember the nationals season last year.

However, they started off bad, but finished the first half 5 games above .500 and then went 46-27 in the second half of the season. They went 17-11 in September.

Yeah, they almost got eliminated in every postseason round, but they came into last year's post season on a roll as a wild card and rode that momentum.

However, your point stands that we have hitters good enough to catch fire and carry us a distance. It's the bullpen that will determine if we win or not.

It seems like we need to figure out which three guys are gonna start for us in the first round (Greinke, Framber, Urquidy?) and let the other two (Javier, LMJ?) get a bullpen rep in over these last two games

so year 1 of the Trout-Rendon era in LAAA ends by missing the playoffs...despite having a 53% chance to make the playoffs before the season began

tjack16 said:

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W said:

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okay, Dusty...now you can rest players

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I'd still rather get one more win. Finish .500 and win the silver boot.

I hate finishing .500 or below.

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yes, would not want to be the first team in major league history to make the playoffs with a losing record

BCSGrubber said:

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Still don't understand why they didn't put Gallo on and pitch to the rat

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We got #Dusted again

This is pretty funny: RESPECT CINCINNATI, RESPECT MIAMI.........houston

btw there is a Respect Houston shirt available in the store, but I don't think it's an accident that they did the landing page this way.

Harry Dunne said:

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This is pretty funny: RESPECT CINCINNATI, RESPECT MIAMI.........houston

btw there is a Respect Houston shirt available in the store, but I don't think it's an accident that they did the landing page this way.

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I usually but postseason stuff as soon as it goes on sale, this year I'll wait to see if we make the WS before I buy Merch. Pretty underwhelmed with the selection so far

I much prefer that logo. Looks more like a regular shirt.

The yearly playoff slogan shirts are junk, especially when it's the same for every team

I agree, but it's the principle of the whole thing.

No, I agree I'm not buying any of it. Especially because there is nothing to celebrate. But I just mean those pictures posted above I much prefer the normal Astros gear

tjack16 said:

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3B Paul 97 said:

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SIAP but I just saw that the Nats are going from WS Champs to the 2nd worst record in the NL (5th worst in MLB). Ouch.

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That's happened quite a bit recently. We've been spoiled with sustaining success

The royals, Nationals, Giants, and Red Sox all had title winners to bottom feeder drops this decade

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That's true, but...

• The Giants won 3 rings in 5 years.
• The Red Sox won 4 rings in 15 years and made the postseason 12 times in 20 years.
• The Nationals (like us), have plenty of talent but have had bad injury luck this year and are far from done being competitive, IMO. I don't think you can consider a bad performance in 60 games "becoming a bottom-feeder".
• The Royals had a couple of magical years, but aside from that they have really sucked since the 80s.

The top 2 sustained much more success than we have (so far) and the Nationals have been good for longer and have had some playoff heartbreaks until last year (they remind me a little of the late 90s-early 2000s Astros teams).

I don't disagree that expectations are probably unrealistic after three 100-win seasons, but we have only been good for 5 years. That's why those of us that have been Astros fans for a long time and waited 10 years between playoff appearances (twice!) are still excited about this postseason, slim as our chances may be.

However bad it is, it can't be worse than those great Biggio/Bagwell teams absolutely ishtting their pants in the playoffs so many years in a row.

Harry Dunne said:

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tjack16 said:

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3B Paul 97 said:

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SIAP but I just saw that the Nats are going from WS Champs to the 2nd worst record in the NL (5th worst in MLB). Ouch.

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That's happened quite a bit recently. We've been spoiled with sustaining success

The royals, Nationals, Giants, and Red Sox all had title winners to bottom feeder drops this decade

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That's true, but...

• The Giants won 3 rings in 5 years.
• The Red Sox won 4 rings in 15 years and made the postseason 12 times in 20 years.
• The Nationals (like us), have plenty of talent but have had bad injury luck this year and are far from done being competitive, IMO. I don't think you can consider a bad performance in 60 games "becoming a bottom-feeder".
• The Royals had a couple of magical years, but aside from that they have really sucked since the 80s.

The top 2 sustained much more success than we have (so far) and the Nationals have been good for longer and have had some playoff heartbreaks until last year (they remind me a little of the late 90s-early 2000s Astros teams).

I don't disagree that expectations are probably unrealistic after three 100-win seasons, but we have only been good for 5 years. That's why those of us that have been Astros fans for a long time and waited 10 years between playoff appearances (twice!) are still excited about this postseason, slim as our chances may be.

However bad it is, it can't be worse than those great Biggio/Bagwell teams absolutely ishtting their pants in the playoffs so many years in a row.

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I wasn't insinuating we shouldn't be excited because I definitely am. That 2006-2014 gap sucked... I was younger for it and have only been a fan since I was about 5-6 (1998 was the first season I can vaguely remember). I was just saying I'm glad we aren't like the Royals and Nationals where we won a title and then became a bottom feeder within 2 years.

Red Sox have such a weird franchise. They seem to either win it all or finish close to the bottom.

I honestly thought going into game 6 of the WS last year we were going to pull a reverse Giants and win the odd years in 17, 19, and 21

Farmer1906 said:

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Call your shot. Who do you want our rotation to be?

I'm going with Greinke, Urquidy, Framber.

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3 game wild card series: Greinke, Urquidy, Framber
Best of 7 series: Greinke, Urquidy, Framber, LMJ

Farmer1906 said:

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Call your shot. Who do you want our rotation to be?

I'm going with Greinke, Urquidy, Framber.

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Agree with those 3.

At this point I trust Urquidy more than Greinke. He has pitched better lately and has postseason experience. Greinke has also been a pretty mediocre (or at least inconsistent) postseason pitcher, historically.

I don't think will happen out of respect to Greinke, but I think I'd go with Urquidy first.

That's GREAT news

Harry Dunne said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Call your shot. Who do you want our rotation to be?

I'm going with Greinke, Urquidy, Framber.

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Agree with those 3.

At this point I trust Urquidy more than Greinke. He has pitched better lately and has postseason experience. Greinke has also been a pretty mediocre (or at least inconsistent) postseason pitcher, historically.

I don't think will happen out of respect to Greinke, but I think I'd go with Urquidy first.

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I don't disagree with this. It'll also depend on match up. I really hope Click is working with Dusty on this. Do some high level thinking.

Mentally, I don't think you'll a problem with stone cold Urquidy, seasoned Vet Greinke, or firey Lance. So far this season hasn't been to big for Javier, but the postseason is different. Hard to tell with Framber. In the past I would have been worried with his lack of control, but he seems like a new man.

I'm fine with this. I dont want to burn the bullpen thin by doing 2 bullpen games before Friday

I hope so too, but I think Dusty will probably just go old school and make it Greinke, Lance, Urquidy because those are the guys that have been there before and that seems like the obvious order.

Edit after I saw your Kaplan tweet: Unless Lance really craps the bed tonight

tjack16 said:

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I'm fine with this. I dont want to burn the bullpen thin by doing 2 bullpen games before Friday

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Use guys who aren't going to make the postseason roster.

Harry Dunne said:

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I hope so too, but I think Dusty will probably just go old school and make it Greinke, Lance, Urquidy because those are the guys that have been there before and that seems like the obvious order.

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He seems to have a thing for Framber. I could see Dusty going with him.

Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I'm fine with this. I dont want to burn the bullpen thin by doing 2 bullpen games before Friday

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Use guys who aren't going to make the postseason roster.

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Do we have any of those on the roster right now?

I'd definitely sit all playoff guys out tomorrow, but 3 days off might be a little too long for our entire bullpen.

I read a fangraphs article a while back about relief pitcher performance vs. rest and the ideal rest was 1-2 days and 3 days straight of rest provided a worse (on average) performance than going on back-to-back days.

Farmer1906 said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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I hope so too, but I think Dusty will probably just go old school and make it Greinke, Lance, Urquidy because those are the guys that have been there before and that seems like the obvious order.

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He seems to have a thing for Framber. I could see Dusty going with him.

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True. They were talking on 790 about how far Framber has come after seeing a sports shrink and really working on the mental part of his game...and how good Dusty has been for him as a calming presence.

I like to rip Dusty...because he's a trash manager...but it does stand to reason that the nerd numbers are not for everyone and that some guys just need someone to calm them down and believe in them.

tjack16 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I'm fine with this. I dont want to burn the bullpen thin by doing 2 bullpen games before Friday

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Use guys who aren't going to make the postseason roster.

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Do we have any of those on the roster right now?

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DeJong & Bielak. I would add Sneed but he'll probably make it now since James is out.

Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I'm fine with this. I dont want to burn the bullpen thin by doing 2 bullpen games before Friday

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Use guys who aren't going to make the postseason roster.

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Do we have any of those on the roster right now?

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DeJong & Bielak. I would add Sneed but he'll probably make it now since James is out.

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I'd start Bielak tomorrow and let him go 100 pitches regardless of outcome