Can't remember a more disappointing road trip. 2-9 to fall a game under .500 and trying to stay ahead of the dreadful Mariners in the standings.

Nothing will happen with this but...

bearkatag15 said:

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Nothing will happen with this but...

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I was wondering the exact same thing last night in light of the Javy Baez story. I guess Baez is pissed because he cant watch film in game anymore. Then the Dodgers last night were clearly watching it.

Ok, let's look forward. What do we "need" to happen at this point for the best chance at a playoff run?

1. Health- this is the biggest issue. Who will realistically get healthy in the next two weeks? I assume Altuve. Any pitchers? McCullers for the second round home games- he's not worth pitching on the road in a three game set. I wouldn't expect Verlander, but even a couple of opener innings would be a huge bonus. Diaz? His bat, while not Alvarez, is the only legitimate major league caliber option on the bench. I assume Gurriel will be ok. That might be the extent of what we can expect. Not sure about any relievers.

2. Bregman starts to resemble Bregman. Even if it's 2020 Bregman, we need him to be as right as possible.

3. Get Dusty to volunteer for a lobotomy. Ok, not realistic.

4. Springer watch a pitch or two. Ok, not realistic either.

5. Valdez settle back down and hit his spots.



Anything else in the realm of possibility that would give this team a fighting chance?

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I wouldn't expect Verlander

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I didn't until last night.

Olney reported during the broadcast that he's up to 65 pitches and will be stretched out to 75-80 during his next session and then the plan is to insert him into the rotation within the next couple weeks.

Honestly, is this really a big deal? Seems I recall lots of occasions of players going into the locker room to watch a replay after striking out looking. I mean it's not a secret that locker rooms have TVs. And they are connected to the dugout.....

htxag09 said:

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Honestly, is this really a big deal? Seems I recall lots of occasions of players going into the locker room to watch a replay after striking out looking. I mean it's not a secret that locker rooms have TVs. And they are connected to the dugout.....

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There was a big story recently where Javy Baez complained about MLB making it illegal...

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29833732/struggling-javy-baez-sounds-inability-watch-video-previous-bats-games

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Baez is hitting .205 and has struggled for much of the shortened season. Like many players, the 27-year-old normally heads to the replay room to watch his at-bats and make adjustments for his next trip to the plate. But Major League Baseball cracked down on video, and protocols put in place during the coronavirus pandemic all but assured that there would be no way to monitor usage properly. Now players can't watch their at-bats until after games.

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The commissioner has no spine. If he did, we would have seen other punishment handed down. All we heard was the gentle sound of a broom sweeping the sins of others under the rug.

I did find it ironic that ARod would point out cheating.

htxag09 said:

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Honestly, is this really a big deal? Seems I recall lots of occasions of players going into the locker room to watch a replay after striking out looking. I mean it's not a secret that locker rooms have TVs. And they are connected to the dugout.....

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If its against the rules, then yes it is a big deal. It shows how hypocritical the media and players are and how weak the Commissioner is.

Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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10-3

Hate to be the Debbie Downer but there's no way this BP is good enough to win 10 of 13.

This is a meddling team that bounces back and forth between over and under .500.

I don't see a 10-3 run in them.

the Astros need 1 or 2 hitters to just go a tear at the plate.

somebody goes 6 for 10 with 4 x-base hits in the opening playoff round and so forth.

the Astros also need to start hitting home runs.

only rank 22nd in MLB with 53 homers in 47 games

Farmer1906 said:

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redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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10-3

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Agreed

Kaplan just put out a good write up about the postseason pitching situation. Basically it talks about how the rotation could set up based on when JV and McCullers are scheduled to come back for their final couple starts of the season.

JV and ZG are interchangeable schedule wise for game 1 or 2 of the Wild Card series.
LMJ, based on when he and Framber are scheduled for their next starts (Wed and Thurs) would be in line for game 3. (That scares the piss out of me based on how LMJ is in road starts)

Then the bullpen would look like this.

Quote:

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Pressly, Taylor, Paredes, Valdez, Urquidy and Javier would make six relievers. Brooks Raley brings the count to seven. Active rosters will remain at 28 players in the postseason, so the Astros could carry a 10-man bullpen like they have lately or even bring one or two more than that. Garcia, Brad Peacock, Josh James and Andre Scrubb would be candidates to fill out the bullpen.

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Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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10-3

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Agreed

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I'll go 8-5. Anything more is just asking for something that hasn't been there all year.

Ag_07 said:

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Quote:

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I wouldn't expect Verlander

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I didn't until last night.

Olney reported during the broadcast that he's up to 65 pitches and will be stretched out to 75-80 during his next session and then the plan is to insert him into the rotation within the next couple weeks.

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That's really, really good news.

Yep. It's a totally different look than we had for most of the year. Getting a couple guys back healthy gives us enough depth to manage a shortened playoff series.

We can have JV start game 1 and have Urquidy ready for the later innings since JV will likely be on an innings restriction.

Then Greinke starts game 2 and we bookmark Javier to bridge the last couple innings and get it to Pressly.

Then we start LMJ in game 3 but we keep his leash very short and have Framber ready to roll if LMJ doesn't deliver.

We'll worry about the best of 5/7 series later.

Deluxe said:

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Yep. It's a totally different look than we had for most of the year. Getting a couple guys back healthy gives us enough depth to manage a shortened playoff series.

We can have JV start game 1 and have Urquidy ready for the later innings since JV will likely be on an innings restriction.

Then Greinke starts game 2 and we bookmark Javier to bridge the last couple innings and get it to Pressly.

Then we start LMJ in game 3 but we keep his leash very short and have Framber ready to roll if LMJ doesn't deliver.

We'll worry about the best of 5/7 series later.

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I think I might rather have Framber start and LMJ relieve, but it's kind of a coin flip, imo. Both are capable of starting the game sharp and dominant, both are capable of starting out of the zone or fat over the plate.

Deluxe said:

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Marvin said:

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I'll go 8-5. Anything more is just asking for something that hasn't been there all year.

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You mean other than our 8 game winning streak?

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I'll concede that point. Wrapped around that streak was a 9-4 (before) run and a 10-3 (after) run. The other 30+ schedule combinations don't get you there. I guess there is a chance... but I'll still go with a more realistic 8-5.

redline248 said:

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Deluxe said:

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Yep. It's a totally different look than we had for most of the year. Getting a couple guys back healthy gives us enough depth to manage a shortened playoff series.

We can have JV start game 1 and have Urquidy ready for the later innings since JV will likely be on an innings restriction.

Then Greinke starts game 2 and we bookmark Javier to bridge the last couple innings and get it to Pressly.

Then we start LMJ in game 3 but we keep his leash very short and have Framber ready to roll if LMJ doesn't deliver.

We'll worry about the best of 5/7 series later.

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I think I might rather have Framber start and LMJ relieve, but it's kind of a coin flip, imo. Both are capable of starting the game sharp and dominant, both are capable of starting out of the zone or fat over the plate.

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God help us if we are forced to rely on the pairing of Framber and LMJ in a game 3 winner-take-all scenario. Talk about implosion potential...

Marvin said:

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Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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10-3

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Agreed

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I'll go 8-5. Anything more is just asking for something that hasn't been there all year.

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We'll go 8-5 if we go by opponent winning %. Arizona & Texas are terrible. We may just run the table vs them. Seattle too. I change to 13-0.

At this point I don't think you can start LMJ in a final game with Framber available. There have been too much variation in his performances.

redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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I'm predicting 8-5

4-3 against Rangers
2-1 against DBacks
2-1 against Mariners

That brings us to 31-29. That should be enough for 2nd unless the mariners pull massive upsets and sweep the A's

Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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redline248 said:

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Can the Astros win 10 of their remaining 13 games?
7 vs Rangers
3 vs D backs
3 vs Mariners

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10-3

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Agreed

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I'll go 8-5. Anything more is just asking for something that hasn't been there all year.

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We'll go 8-5 if we go by opponent winning %. Arizona & Texas are terrible. We may just run the table vs them. Seattle too. I change to 13-0.

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I like the moxie. I think you're wrong- I'm the smartest guy in this room- but I like where your head is.

Ok, oldest guy in the room... but with age comes wisdom. haha.

astros4545 said:

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I'm excited to see Garcia pitch again

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Me too.

Between Framber, Javier, Urquidy, & Garcia we may just have a decent rotation for the future. We still need someone to emerge to be the ace though. JV & Greinke can't live forever.

Farmer1906 said:

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astros4545 said:

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I'm excited to see Garcia pitch again

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Me too.

Between Framber, Javier, Urquidy, & Garcia we may just have a decent rotation for the future. We still need someone to emerge to be the ace though. JV & Greinke can't live forever.

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If we can get our 2-3-4-5 guys of the rotation with those 4 then we need to spend money on the top ace you can find in free agency. No excuse not to spend money on pitching at that point.

Farmer1906 said:

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astros4545 said:

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I'm excited to see Garcia pitch again

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Me too.

Between Framber, Javier, Urquidy, & Garcia we may just have a decent rotation for the future. We still need someone to emerge to be the ace though. JV & Greinke can't live forever.

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Speaking of that rotation. You let Greinke & JV walk and sign McCullers to something reasonable you save like 60 M a year on your rotation alone. That could be used to find a new ace (Syndergaard?) or keep someone like Springer or Correa.

Yup same thing I was getting at after posting about the young guns.

Farmer1906 said:

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astros4545 said:

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I'm excited to see Garcia pitch again

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Me too.

Between Framber, Javier, Urquidy, & Garcia we may just have a decent rotation for the future. We still need someone to emerge to be the ace though. JV & Greinke can't live forever.

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Enter Whit...OK you got me. I couldn't even finish typing it.