We see that happen regardless. Is spring training (normally) the right length? Should it be longer? shorter? Does it even matter because it's different for each player?Mathguy64 said:
With spring training winding down I'm going to make a prediction.
We will see an increase in pitcher arm injuries this season and an increase in soft tissue injuries like pulled hammys for position players. This lockout and shortened spring is going to exact a toll.
***Official Houston Astros 2021-22 Offseason Thread***
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linkdude said:For the final time this spring, could this be the Opening Day lineup? pic.twitter.com/2WATR53FUf
— Climbing Tal's Hill (@astrosCTH) April 4, 2022
I assume Maldy is 9th, here. Yesterday had Castro in at 8th. 2 perfect lineups in a row.
when you see it written down, its a really strong lineup. If Pena and Maldy can hit .250 we're looking pretty good. Would be thrilled if one of the CF options can step up.
If Bregman can't get hot hitting between TED and Yordan, he's going to be Derek Bell Operation Shutdown 2.0.linkdude said:For the final time this spring, could this be the Opening Day lineup? pic.twitter.com/2WATR53FUf
— Climbing Tal's Hill (@astrosCTH) April 4, 2022
Feels so good, feelin' good again.
bregs will rake
I don't think operation shutdown is even remotely in Bregman's DNA
No clue what that means?
Basically, Bell thought he was too good to compete for a job late in his career. He basically said give me the job and I'm sitting until you trade me.Lonestar_Ag09 said:
No clue what that means?
So what do we know about Ronel Blanco?
He was basically a non prospect. We signed him at 22 in 2016. That makes him 28 now.
Looking at his stats, he strikes out a ton of guys and walks a ton of guys. He was solid in AAA last year and unhittable in LINDOM and Spring Training.
Plus velo, but not sure what else he throws.
Who's got the scouting report?
He was basically a non prospect. We signed him at 22 in 2016. That makes him 28 now.
Looking at his stats, he strikes out a ton of guys and walks a ton of guys. He was solid in AAA last year and unhittable in LINDOM and Spring Training.
Plus velo, but not sure what else he throws.
Who's got the scouting report?
He also complained that he was uncomfortable hitting cleanup or 5th, and had to bat second between Bagwell and Biggio. A spot that most of us could have hit .265 in.Farmer1906 said:Basically, Bell thought he was too good to compete for a job late in his career. He basically said give me the job and I'm sitting until you trade me.Lonestar_Ag09 said:
No clue what that means?
Feels so good, feelin' good again.
Part 4 of the countdown to Opening Day look back at every Astros Opening Day from 1962-2021.
April 7, 1992: Braves 2, Astros 0: A colossal turnaround season from 65 wins to 81 started with something that happened a lot in the 1990s: the Astros getting dominated by the Braves. Tom Glavine pitched a 2-hit shutout and struck out 9, outdueling Pete Harnisch, who gave up two earned runs in 7-2/3 innings. Only Steve Finley and Pete Incaviglia, who I once saw eating at Hooters with Moises Alou, got hits. Deion Sanders started in center for the Braves in a season in which he led the NL in triples with 14 despite only playing in 97 games. That is freaking insane.
April 5, 1993: Phillies 3, Astros 1: The team's first winning season since 1989 started with 3 straight losses to the Phils. Huge crowd of 44,560 at the Dome to welcome new owner Drayton McLane and our new pitching staff, led by Doug Drabek, who gave up 2 runs in 8 innings, but was outdueled by Terry Mulholland, who pitched a complete game 4-hitter.
April 4, 1994: Astros 6, Expos 5 (12 innings): The wildest opening day in club history, and one I was happy to attend by skipping 3 classes at A&M with 3 of my friends. Expos led 3-0 after 3-1/2 innings, Astros tied it at 3 in the bottom of the 5th on a two-run jack by Jeff Bagwell. New Astro closer Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams came in to start the top of the 12th still tied at three, his first action since Joe Carter took him yard to end the 1993 World Series. He got two quick outs, then gave up singles to Wil Cordero and Jeff Gardner. After a passed ball, he walked Sean Berry to load the bases, then walked Randy Milligan and Marquis Grissom to score runs before getting yanked. Astros came to the plate down 5-3 in the bottom of the 12th. Walk to James Mouton, single by Steve Finley, then Biggio struck out swinging. Bagwell singles in Mouton to make it 5-4, Luis Gonzalez strikes out looking, then Ken Caminiti hit a two-run double to score two runs and make it a walkoff. For those old enough to remember, Williams was the biggest train wreck of all time. The Astros used him 25 times and he went 1-4 with 6 saves and a 7.65 ERA before getting cut. He had 24 walks in 20 innings.
April 26, 1995: Astros 10, Padres 2: The strike, no World Series, then a lockout. Finally back on the field to crush the Padres who we were trading players with every 10 days back then. Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Phil "Power" Plantier combined to for 6-for-12 with 5 runs scored and 7 RBI. The game featured 11 players who had been or would be traded from one team to the other at some point. On December 28, 1994, we traded Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, and Brian Williams for Derek Bell, Ricky Gutierrez, Doug Brocail, Pedro Martinez (not the good one), Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley.
April 1, 1996: Dodgers 4, Astros 3: Astros couldn't stop Todd Holllandsworth, who was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Jeff Bagwell had a homer, but the Astros managed just six hits on the day, losing to Ramon Martinez in the process.
April 6, 1997: Astros 2, Braves 1: Breaking an 11-year playoff drought and starting with an incredible win over the Braves. Shane Reynolds and Billy Wagner combined to allow just 1 earned run and strike out 9, while John Smoltz took a complete game loss. This game featured the start of the Pat Listach experiment at shortstop and also featured Bobby Abreu playing right field.
March 31, 1998: Giants 9, Astros 4 (13 innings): The team that won 102 games and spent 152 days in first place got off to a rough start. The Astros were never more than 1 game below .500 the entire year. Unfortunately, they let C.J. Nitkowski pitch the top of the 13th and the Giants' lit him up like a Christmas tree, with Jeff Kent doing the most damage finishing 5 for 7 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. We also let Stan Javier rive in 3 runs somehow. Derek Bell was 4-for-6 with 2 RBI and Sean Berry hit a home run for the good guys.
April 6, 1999: Astros 4, Cubs 2: The last year of baseball in the Astrodome started with a win at home over the Cubs in front of 51,668 people. Carl Everett and Richardo Hidalgo both had home runs and Shane Reynolds got the win and had an RBI. Mark Grace was 3 for 3 with a home for the Cubbies.
April 4, 2000: Astros 5, Pirates 2: The first year of Enron (oops) Field was a total disaster with a 72-90 record, but it started with a road win over the Pirates. Jason Schmidt walked the bases loaded in the top of the sixth and Richard Hidalgo hit a grand slam to put the game away. Shane Reynolds got the win for the Astros
April 3, 2001: Astros 11, Brewers 3: Craig Biggio went 5 for 5 on Opening Day and Daryle Ward went 2 for 4 with 6 RBI in the laugher against a really bad Brewer team. Scott Elarton got the opening day win for the good guys, 6 innings, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts. Milwaukee decided 39-year-old Tony Fernandez was a good leadoff hitter in that game. And now I feel bad because I clicked on Tony Fernandez's page and see that he died a couple of years ago. Lo siento.
April 7, 1992: Braves 2, Astros 0: A colossal turnaround season from 65 wins to 81 started with something that happened a lot in the 1990s: the Astros getting dominated by the Braves. Tom Glavine pitched a 2-hit shutout and struck out 9, outdueling Pete Harnisch, who gave up two earned runs in 7-2/3 innings. Only Steve Finley and Pete Incaviglia, who I once saw eating at Hooters with Moises Alou, got hits. Deion Sanders started in center for the Braves in a season in which he led the NL in triples with 14 despite only playing in 97 games. That is freaking insane.
April 5, 1993: Phillies 3, Astros 1: The team's first winning season since 1989 started with 3 straight losses to the Phils. Huge crowd of 44,560 at the Dome to welcome new owner Drayton McLane and our new pitching staff, led by Doug Drabek, who gave up 2 runs in 8 innings, but was outdueled by Terry Mulholland, who pitched a complete game 4-hitter.
April 4, 1994: Astros 6, Expos 5 (12 innings): The wildest opening day in club history, and one I was happy to attend by skipping 3 classes at A&M with 3 of my friends. Expos led 3-0 after 3-1/2 innings, Astros tied it at 3 in the bottom of the 5th on a two-run jack by Jeff Bagwell. New Astro closer Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams came in to start the top of the 12th still tied at three, his first action since Joe Carter took him yard to end the 1993 World Series. He got two quick outs, then gave up singles to Wil Cordero and Jeff Gardner. After a passed ball, he walked Sean Berry to load the bases, then walked Randy Milligan and Marquis Grissom to score runs before getting yanked. Astros came to the plate down 5-3 in the bottom of the 12th. Walk to James Mouton, single by Steve Finley, then Biggio struck out swinging. Bagwell singles in Mouton to make it 5-4, Luis Gonzalez strikes out looking, then Ken Caminiti hit a two-run double to score two runs and make it a walkoff. For those old enough to remember, Williams was the biggest train wreck of all time. The Astros used him 25 times and he went 1-4 with 6 saves and a 7.65 ERA before getting cut. He had 24 walks in 20 innings.
April 26, 1995: Astros 10, Padres 2: The strike, no World Series, then a lockout. Finally back on the field to crush the Padres who we were trading players with every 10 days back then. Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Phil "Power" Plantier combined to for 6-for-12 with 5 runs scored and 7 RBI. The game featured 11 players who had been or would be traded from one team to the other at some point. On December 28, 1994, we traded Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, and Brian Williams for Derek Bell, Ricky Gutierrez, Doug Brocail, Pedro Martinez (not the good one), Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley.
April 1, 1996: Dodgers 4, Astros 3: Astros couldn't stop Todd Holllandsworth, who was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Jeff Bagwell had a homer, but the Astros managed just six hits on the day, losing to Ramon Martinez in the process.
April 6, 1997: Astros 2, Braves 1: Breaking an 11-year playoff drought and starting with an incredible win over the Braves. Shane Reynolds and Billy Wagner combined to allow just 1 earned run and strike out 9, while John Smoltz took a complete game loss. This game featured the start of the Pat Listach experiment at shortstop and also featured Bobby Abreu playing right field.
March 31, 1998: Giants 9, Astros 4 (13 innings): The team that won 102 games and spent 152 days in first place got off to a rough start. The Astros were never more than 1 game below .500 the entire year. Unfortunately, they let C.J. Nitkowski pitch the top of the 13th and the Giants' lit him up like a Christmas tree, with Jeff Kent doing the most damage finishing 5 for 7 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. We also let Stan Javier rive in 3 runs somehow. Derek Bell was 4-for-6 with 2 RBI and Sean Berry hit a home run for the good guys.
April 6, 1999: Astros 4, Cubs 2: The last year of baseball in the Astrodome started with a win at home over the Cubs in front of 51,668 people. Carl Everett and Richardo Hidalgo both had home runs and Shane Reynolds got the win and had an RBI. Mark Grace was 3 for 3 with a home for the Cubbies.
April 4, 2000: Astros 5, Pirates 2: The first year of Enron (oops) Field was a total disaster with a 72-90 record, but it started with a road win over the Pirates. Jason Schmidt walked the bases loaded in the top of the sixth and Richard Hidalgo hit a grand slam to put the game away. Shane Reynolds got the win for the Astros
April 3, 2001: Astros 11, Brewers 3: Craig Biggio went 5 for 5 on Opening Day and Daryle Ward went 2 for 4 with 6 RBI in the laugher against a really bad Brewer team. Scott Elarton got the opening day win for the good guys, 6 innings, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts. Milwaukee decided 39-year-old Tony Fernandez was a good leadoff hitter in that game. And now I feel bad because I clicked on Tony Fernandez's page and see that he died a couple of years ago. Lo siento.
Feels so good, feelin' good again.
I thought that was just him being a malcontent....wasn't the official "Operation Shutdown" what he did with the Pirates?Farmer1906 said:Basically, Bell thought he was too good to compete for a job late in his career. He basically said give me the job and I'm sitting until you trade me.Lonestar_Ag09 said:
No clue what that means?
I don't have a good scouting report, but I do love when pitchers emerge seemingly out of no where in our organization.Farmer1906 said:
So what do we know about Ronel Blanco?
He was basically a non prospect. We signed him at 22 in 2016. That makes him 28 now.
Looking at his stats, he strikes out a ton of guys and walks a ton of guys. He was solid in AAA last year and unhittable in LINDOM and Spring Training.
Plus velo, but not sure what else he throws.
Who's got the scouting report?
This is a good thing. Mariners top prospect gets some early run. We'll see if he can debut better than Kelenic.
Scott Servais just told us Julio Rodriguez made the OD roster.
— Corey Brock (@CoreyBrockMLB) April 4, 2022
“It’s time.”
Figured I'd ask you folks here, and sorry maybe not Astros related but very well could be. Found this baseball cleaning out my parents home and don't remember or recognize the autograph. Anyone got any ideas? I don't remember getting a lot of Astros autographs as a kid and the few I do remember were on baseball cards. (Baggys ROY Card, Terry Puhl, Biggio and the like).
This is probably early 90s.
This is probably early 90s.
Looks like Cal Ripken signed it while an earthquake was happening.
Feels so good, feelin' good again.
When I first rediscovered it a few weeks ago I thought maybe Cal, but I have never met, seen, or even been to a game or event where he was within 100 miles.
I hate athlete autographs. That might as well have been "signed" by a 2 year old
Joe Pepitone
I see a Butterfly P'TED
I think this is right. Research shows he played for the Astros in 1970 and if you google his autograph it looks pretty similar.Adonis P. Goodwood said:
Joe Pepitone
I heard on the broadcast yesterday that Altuve has been really focusing on going oppo as much as he can this spring. That he has felt he pulls too often and wants to play the entire field. I love that even though he is one of MLB's best hitters he is still trying to improve.
The question is...does that effort continue in the season, or was that just a point to work on in the Spring. King of like a pitcher working on learning a slider but then never hardly throwing it during the season because it is his weakest pitch
He's always been a bit of a pull hitter. His best season is when he went oppo 26.3% of the time. But he was a monster in 2019 too when he was 50% pull. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:
when you see it written down, its a really strong lineup. If Pena and Maldy can hit .250 we're looking pretty good. Would be thrilled if one of the CF options can step up.
Maldy is a career .212 hitter and has never had an OPS above .700 when playing at least 80 games in a season. Last year, he ranked 43rd out of 47 catchers with at last 200 plate appearances. If you expand it a bit to the last three years and bump the qualified number of at bats to 500 total, he ranks 37th out of 40.
Point being, Martin is in the lineup for defense. He has not and never will be an offensive asset... and the Astros are happy with his overall contribution to the team. Be thrilled if his OPS+ is above 70.
Pena's defense worries me a bit. His bat I am not too concerned with, may struggle a little early, but he will find his swing by june/july
All I do is Nguyen said:
he has felt he pulls too often and wants to play the entire field.
Looks like Jose FINALLY started reading our astute baseball analysis.
Anybody play WARdle? Baseball version of wordle. It's pretty challenging
I think you got that backwards.All I do is Nguyen said:
Pena's defense worries me a bit. His bat I am not too concerned with, may struggle a little early, but he will find his swing by june/july
He's always been a top-tier glove. Back to back LIDOM gold gloves. MLB, Fangraphs, etc rate him a 60 glove.
His bat (more so power) has been developing.
Well sounds like he just made a pretty slick DP to Altuve.
His glove has been pretty damn impressive this Spring and I'm some of the off-season leagues he's been playing in.
His glove has been pretty damn impressive this Spring and I'm some of the off-season leagues he's been playing in.
He had back to back at bats of letting balls get by him that to me looked relatively routine, except maybe the one he kind of dived for. I know he also had the inning ending DP and I am trying not to compare him to Correa, but I think CC makes those plays.Farmer1906 said:I think you got that backwards.All I do is Nguyen said:
Pena's defense worries me a bit. His bat I am not too concerned with, may struggle a little early, but he will find his swing by june/july
He's always been a top-tier glove. Back to back LIDOM gold gloves. MLB, Fangraphs, etc rate him a 60 glove.
His bat (more so power) has been developing.
*EDIT* I am SUPER excited for him, don't get me wrong. I guess I am just spoiled form having REALLY good SS play the last few years.
Was Correa's range etc that much better than other SS in the MLB, looking at you hear Farmer for some in depth analysis and stats... I always considered his defensive benefit to just be the howitzer on his right shoulder.All I do is Nguyen said:He had back to back at bats of letting balls get by him that to me looked relatively routine, except maybe the one he kind of dived for. I know he also had the inning ending DP and I am trying not to compare him to Correa, but I think CC makes those plays.Farmer1906 said:I think you got that backwards.All I do is Nguyen said:
Pena's defense worries me a bit. His bat I am not too concerned with, may struggle a little early, but he will find his swing by june/july
He's always been a top-tier glove. Back to back LIDOM gold gloves. MLB, Fangraphs, etc rate him a 60 glove.
His bat (more so power) has been developing.
*EDIT* I am SUPER excited for him, don't get me wrong. I guess I am just spoiled form having REALLY good SS play the last few years.
ESPN's preview on the season (Power ranking and projected season wins):
Quote:
1. LA Dodgers 101-61
2. Toronto Blue Jays 96-66
3. Atlanta Braves 94-68
4. Chicago White Sox 93-69
5. Houston Astros 95-65
6. NY Yankees 94-68
9. TB Rays 86-76
11. Boston Red Sox 87-75
14. Seattle Mariners 82-80
16. LA Angels 82-80
17. Minnesota Correas 81-81
21. Texas Rangers 69-83
28.OaklandVegas Athletics 68-94
Quote:
5. Houston Astros
Projected record: 95-65 (87.7% playoff odds)
If everything goes right ... Kyle Tucker, coming off a .294/.359/.557 season, keeps improving and is an MVP candidate. Alex Bregman is healthy after last year's wrist injury and is once again an MVP candidate. Yuli Gurriel wins another batting title. Yordan Alvarez mashes 40 home runs. Justin Verlander, back from Tommy John surgery, heads the best rotation in the league (it had the second-lowest ERA last season, behind the White Sox). After falling short in the World Series in 2019 and 2021, the Astros go all the way -- ensuring Dusty Baker's status as a Hall of Famer. -- Schoenfield
Weakness that could stop them: Rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena will have a spotlight on him as he tries to replace perennial All-Star Carlos Correa. Pena (No. 48 on Kiley McDaniel's top 100 prospects) has promise, there's no question about that, but if he were to falter, there isn't a great backup plan on the roster. Aledmys Diaz and Niko Goodrum are quality utility options as veterans who have both started a good number of games at shortstop. But if either player is getting the bulk of the games at that position deep into the season, that's bad news. -- Doolittle
Most likely 2022 award winner: Only two pitchers have ever won a Cy Young Award after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but Jacob deGrom was eight years removed and Eric Gagne was six years removed. So yes, it's amazing to think that Justin Verlander -- at 39! -- could seriously contend for the AL Cy Young. But it's Justin Verlander. And nothing about this spring would tell you he isn't his typical dominant self despite spending most of the past two years rehabbing. -- Gonzalez
One (realistic) bold prediction: Kyle Tucker hits .300 with 35 home runs and a 1.000 OPS and finishes third in the MVP voting. -- Schoenfield
Yordan with the catch of the day!
DON'T TRY THAT AGAIN!!!!!
DON'T TRY THAT AGAIN!!!!!
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