We talked about this several pages back. He's elite against righties without needing a 3rd pitch so far. His invisiball isn't as effective vs lefties. In 2020 his fastball's xwOBA vs R/L split was .266/.331. So far this year he greatly reduced the use of his fastball, change up, and slider vs lefties. His curve hasn't been all that effective (.320 xwOBA), but it's helped make his fastball more effective (.289 xwOBA) because they have to be looking for the curve. I am pumped to get him back in the rotation for now. I still think the piggyback method is the way to go for us with our pitching as it's built.

I think a 2022 rotation could look like this. Lets assume we aren't bringing Greinke and JV back (which I think we do re sign one of them)

1. Valdez
2. LMJ
3. Javier
4. Urquidy
5. Garcia/Bielak

tjack16 said:

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I think a 2022 rotation could look like this. Lets assume we aren't bringing Greinke and JV back (which I think we do re sign one of them)

1. Valdez
2. LMJ
3. Javier
4. Urquidy
5. Garcia/Bielak

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1. Valdez
2. McCullers
3. Odo
4. Javier
5. Urquidy

Garcia, Bielak, & Ivey as the piggyback arms.

At least Straw isn't leading off...

I didn't put Odorizzi just because I forgot we had signed him for more than just this year. He will definitely be the 3/4 guy unless he totally flames out this year

Farmer1906 said:

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bearkatag15 said:

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At least Straw isn't leading off...

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Dusty finally did something right.

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I like this line up WAY more. Let's plate some runs tonight!

Farmer1906 said:

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bearkatag15 said:

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At least Straw isn't leading off...

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Dusty finally did something right.

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Chalk it up to dumb luck. He's dumb and ran into some luck.

Sounds like Altuve will be back as early as this weekend

Wait, so the runner starting at 2nd base in extras and 3 batter minimum aren't helping make the game go faster???

He says 9 inning game. Not games that go into extras.

YZ250 said:

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He says 9 inning game. Not games that go into extras.

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Either way, the rule changes that have been decided haven't done what they were intended to do which was speed up the game. Minimizing mound visits, 3 batter rule for pitchers, no more pitches for intentional walks, ect. The runner at 2nd rule doesn't really speed up extra inning games either. We just saw a 13 inning game last weekend in the Padres vs Dodgers series.

#1 way to speed up the games is to have less time between innings. #2 way would be to lessen the amount of time between pitches. All these batter routines add up.

I can't imagine trying to pitch in Denver like that...

Farmer1906 said:

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#1 way to speed up the games is to have less time between innings. #2 way would be to lessen the amount of time between pitches. All these batter routines add up.

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It is certainly getting slower and slower between pitches. Sometimes the pitcher just stands and stares too long at the plate so the batter will call time to reset.

Roy Oswalt should be hired as an advisor to help speed up pitchers.

Little Astros tidbit I heard this afternoon. Dusty is 4 games away from having coached half a regular season. He is currently 36-41 in regular season games. Now of course last season was weird as hell and the weight of it can be argued but thought it was an interesting way to look at his track record so far.

Calling Joe Kelly a lil fckr was a a fantastic move

As far as Dusty is concerned I feel like last year (when he seemed to be pretty spot on considering the circumstances) is that last year he didn't feel comfortable enough making his own decisions and he just went with what we would normally do or maybe what Joe Espada/his staff advised him. Now he's making his own decisions and he's horrible.

That's the only reason I can of as the difference between last year and this.

Where the **** you been man?

Is it petty that I can't stand how he looks like he is prepped for surgery in the dugout? I mean, I hate him for a myriad of reasons, but this one just annoys me... the dude is probably vaccinated and most of the team probably is. Why the gloves?

seems the MLB and YouTube is controlling who can post comments during the game. No comments about Astros or anything negative

YouTube is gonna break the curse

We get it. You're pissed, join the crowd.
When my boys were little I coached their soccer teams. I don't know who was more clueless, them or me.

Not Youtube TV, just Youtube.

Seriously? Who at MLB let this clown on the chat. If he's on the chat, who is gonna steal all the baseballs from little kids?

Well Javier is starting of very well

Did he just call a home run a "big boy"?

1st inning chance for Tucker...

The delay between these guys mics is a little annoying

And Tucker leaves 3 more.