I have one, too. From when the Astros Twitter account used to do Astros Trivia Tuesday and give away prizes. Think it was 2014?

Ag_07 said:

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I think he's too good to do the relief to starter flip flop method.

He needs to brought up to start.

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But he's too brittle to be a full-time starter and if the standings continue to go in the same direction it would be dumb to waste him in the regular season.

He needs to be able to go 4-5 innings (of start or relief, whatever) in the postseason. Whatever needs to be done to get him to that point before hand without him getting injured is the best plan IMO.

Harry Dunne said:

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Ag_07 said:

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I think he's too good to do the relief to starter flip flop method.

He needs to brought up to start.

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But he's too brittle to be a full-time starter and if the standings continue to go in the same direction it would be dumb to waste him in the regular season.

He needs to be able to go 4-5 innings (of start or relief, whatever) in the postseason. Whatever needs to be done to get him to that point before hand without him getting injured is the best plan IMO.

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Does Hunter Brown have an injury history? I'm not familiar outside of seeing him look like a young JV recently. I'd love to see if he can make the transition to the majors.

This is why I always laugh at the beginning of the season when people are ready to scuttle the ship just because the Astros are below .500 for a bit.

By the end of the season, barring any ungodly injuries, we should be top of the division and a top 2 seed in the AL. Also, the Jankees don't scare me, even in the playoffs. We saw we are a few pitches away from sweeping the NY teams.

Lets get LMC back, get Pena and Alvarez healthy and make a trade for either a BP pitcher or a decent bat and go win this thing!

Anyone going tomorrow and think they'll have an extra bobblehead? Willing to trade a Altuve spacecity bobblehead from the upcoming July 16 game

I have concerns about Urquidy and his short arm motion. I don't think it holds up over the course of a full season. I think piggybacking LMJ and Odorizzi with some of the young guys might be the ticket to full strength in October.
Brown is a stud in the making. Resign JV and let Odor go for next year.

The good news with these pitching debates is that there really is no wrong answer. We've got so much depth/talent that it's hard to go wrong. But here's the way I see it shaping up in the playoffs:

Starters
1) JV
2) LMJ - Try to align LMJ's postseason starts with home games. Don't want him pitching any cold weather games this year.
3) Framber - Has earned the right to be our #3 (maybe #2)
4) Jake/Garcia battle it out

Relievers
5) Javier - Piggyback option 1. He's so valuable in the 4-5 inning "closer" role and he's proven he can do it under pressure.
6) Jake/Garcia - Piggyback option 2.
7) Urquidy - Likely relegated to eating innings in a game we're losing. Also a placeholder for extra inning games.
8) Maton - Playoff Maton >>> regular season Maton
9) Stanek
10) Nerris
11) Montero
12) Pressly

So we really only have 1 spot available if we're at full strength. Blake Taylor might get first dibs if he's healthy/performing well but Nerris, Montero and Stanek are all pretty effective against lefties. Abreu could be an option too. Then there's the Hunter Brown question. It'll be interesting to see if we give him a shot before the trade deadline or just keep him on ice until next year.

I don't think we need to waste any prospect capital on any sort of significant improvement (ie a top tier starter or closer), unless a deal comes along that's too good to be true. If I was to upgrade the pitching staff, I'd be looking for a veteran righty specialist.

None of our starters have pitched a concerning amount of innings thus far. JV/Framber are on pace for ~200. I think they both can handle it but my main objective is freshness in October. I've banged this drum all year, but I'd love to get them a little rest down the stretch.

Garcia and Urquidy are on pace for ~160. I doubt Urquidy stays in the rotation all year though. And I think Garcia can handle that load. Javier is at 62 right now with a career high of 113. He's probably fine.

Big Bucks said:

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Mine sits prominently on a shelf in my home office. Can't believe it has been 23 years since Mike Hampton won that Sunday game to clinch the division. Seeing he and Niekro on the field together after the game was awesome.

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Great team, unfortunately predictable playoff series.

Bags put up MVP type #s : 42 HR, 30 SB, 126 RBI, 143 R, .304 AVG
Bidge casually hit 56 doubles and hit .294
Caminiti returned for a swan song and hit .286 in half a season
Carl Everett was his very best self - 25 HR, 108 RBI, .325
Derek Bell acted and hit like quitter
Spiers was your glue guy off the bench hit .288 in 127 games
Ward and Berkman both got called up.
Lima Time was 21-10 with a 3:58 ERA
Hampton was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA.
Wagner had 39 saves, a 1.57 ERA, was 4-1 and 124 K in 74.2 innings, wow!

Won game one at Hotlanta, Reynolds beating frigging Greg Maddux on a 3-run jack by Caminiti in the top of the ninth and then pissed ourselves for 3 straight games.

helloimustbegoing said:

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Big Bucks said:

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Mine sits prominently on a shelf in my home office. Can't believe it has been 23 years since Mike Hampton won that Sunday game to clinch the division. Seeing he and Niekro on the field together after the game was awesome.

---

Great team, unfortunately predictable playoff series.

Bags put up MVP type #s : 42 HR, 30 SB, 126 RBI, 143 R, .304 AVG
Bidge casually hit 56 doubles and hit .294
Caminiti returned for a swan song and hit .286 in half a season
Carl Everett was his very best self - 25 HR, 108 RBI, .325
Derek Bell acted and hit like quitter
Spiers was your glue guy off the bench hit .288 in 127 games
Ward and Berkman both got called up.
Lima Time was 21-10 with a 3:58 ERA
Hampton was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA.
Wagner had 39 saves, a 1.57 ERA, was 4-1 and 124 K in 74.2 innings, wow!

Won game one at Hotlanta, Reynolds beating frigging Greg Maddux on a 3-run jack by Caminiti in the top of the ninth and then pissed ourselves for 3 straight games.

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Those 1998/1999 teams are what got me into Astros baseball. Very fond memories of going to the Dome with my dad.

Announcers for Friday’s #Astros game on Apple TV+ will be Stephen Nelson (play-by-play), Hunter Pence and Katie Nolan (analysts) and Heidi Watney (field reporter). https://t.co/PVWp2NeH24

— Greg Rajan (@GregRajan) June 30, 2022

Well I guess I'm syncing up the radio feed again tonight. I'd much rather have the crew we had for the White Sox game. Katie Nolan is insufferable and adds zero value to the broadcast. In fact, she makes it unwatchable.

Ag_07 said:

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What has LMJ done to come back and be inserted as the #2?

Right now there's no question in my mind that JV is our #1 and Framber is #2. LMJ should insert behind Framber but one could even argue Javier is ahead of him.

To think Lance is just come back like old Lance and be able to both take on a workload and perform at a high level is wishful thinking.

Honestly I would put him the pen and begin his transformation to an elite BP arm. Doubt that happens but that's how would handle him.

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I tend to agree with this assessment. As much as I want LMJ to come back and be THE guy, he has to prove it first, and we may not even need him to the way the starters are performing currently. I would LOVE a scenario where the starters continue this performance through the end of the season, and we have LMJ as that lethal 2-3 inning relief guy out of the pen. Then re-assess going into next season with him joining the starting rotation.

Of course, all of this is subject to Click's plan for mid-season acquisitions/dealings if he decides to trade one of our extra arms

Apple TV+ needs to work on their announcers. This shouldve been an easy target.

How many more games left on apple?

tailgatetimer10 said:

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Apple TV+ needs to work on their announcers. This shouldve been an easy target.

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They are taking over the entire MLS programming next season and I have heard that all the current on air talent is unsure what if any tile they will have going forward. They will have to find lots of people who know what they are doing for that. It's not just game broadcasts by all the other stuff. Channel hosts, recaps, ets.

Ag_07 said:

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What has LMJ done to come back and be inserted as the #2?

Right now there's no question in my mind that JV is our #1 and Framber is #2. LMJ should insert behind Framber but one could even argue Javier is ahead of him.

To think Lance is just come back like old Lance and be able to both take on a workload and perform at a high level is wishful thinking.

Honestly I would put him the pen and begin his transformation to an elite BP arm. Doubt that happens but that's how would handle him.

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I'm fine flipping LMJ and Framber. That's just semantics to me.

I don't think it's "wishful thinking" to say LMJ can be a top half of the rotation starter when the playoffs roll around, but I'll concede that both of our takes are currently contingent on incomplete information. If he's back by August and has two full months to ramp up, I fully expect him to be back to his old self by October. If his return leaks into September, then yea, it's probably wishful thinking to say he'll be a top two starter in the playoffs. We'll see.

Also, can you link me to the reports that say we're prepping LMJ for a bullpen role? I haven't seen any but maybe I just missed it. Astros fans have speculated "LMJ to the bullpen" for many years, but we seem committed to him as a starter.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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What has LMJ done to come back and be inserted as the #2?

Right now there's no question in my mind that JV is our #1 and Framber is #2. LMJ should insert behind Framber but one could even argue Javier is ahead of him.

To think Lance is just come back like old Lance and be able to both take on a workload and perform at a high level is wishful thinking.

Honestly I would put him the pen and begin his transformation to an elite BP arm. Doubt that happens but that's how would handle him.

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I tend to agree with this assessment. As much as I want LMJ to come back and be THE guy, he has to prove it first, and we may not even need him to the way the starters are performing currently. I would LOVE a scenario where the starters continue this performance through the end of the season, and we have LMJ as that lethal 2-3 inning relief guy out of the pen. Then re-assess going into next season with him joining the starting rotation.

Of course, all of this is subject to Click's plan for mid-season acquisitions/dealings if he decides to trade one of our extra arms

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McCullers is too streaky to be "THE GUY" though.

He's got Cy Young stuff but way too often he comes out and just doesn't have it and walks everybody. When he's on, he's as good as anybody in the league though.

Deluxe said:

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Ag_07 said:

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What has LMJ done to come back and be inserted as the #2?

Right now there's no question in my mind that JV is our #1 and Framber is #2. LMJ should insert behind Framber but one could even argue Javier is ahead of him.

To think Lance is just come back like old Lance and be able to both take on a workload and perform at a high level is wishful thinking.

Honestly I would put him the pen and begin his transformation to an elite BP arm. Doubt that happens but that's how would handle him.

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I'm fine flipping LMJ and Framber. That's just semantics to me.

I don't think it's "wishful thinking" to say LMJ can be a top half of the rotation starter when the playoffs roll around, but I'll concede that both of our takes are currently contingent on incomplete information. If he's back by August and has two full months to ramp up, I fully expect him to be back to his old self by October. If his return leaks into September, then yea, it's probably wishful thinking to say he'll be a top two starter in the playoffs. We'll see.

Also, can you link me to the reports that say we're prepping LMJ for a bullpen role? I haven't seen any but maybe I just missed it. Astros fans have speculated "LMJ to the bullpen" for many years, but we seem committed to him as a starter.

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I do feel bad for LMJ because he was having a great year last year, made it all the way through the regular season, and ready to shake off the injury history bug (I think I remember him missing a start or two?). If he had finished the post season, no one here is wanting him in the bullpen other than Nuke.

It's going to take a full season and post season for people to trust he can make it. Hopefully for him this is he last major injury he has to deal with.

Beat40 said:

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I do feel bad for LMJ because he was having a great year last year, made it all the way through the regular season, and ready to shake off the injury history bug (I think I remember him missing a start or two?). If he had finished the post season, no one here is wanting him in the bullpen other than Nuke.

It's going to take a full season and post season for people to trust he can make it. Hopefully for him this is he last major injury he has to deal with.

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Fair enough. I understand the reservations about LMJ. I hope I'm right though.

Deluxe said:

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Beat40 said:

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I do feel bad for LMJ because he was having a great year last year, made it all the way through the regular season, and ready to shake off the injury history bug (I think I remember him missing a start or two?). If he had finished the post season, no one here is wanting him in the bullpen other than Nuke.

It's going to take a full season and post season for people to trust he can make it. Hopefully for him this is he last major injury he has to deal with.

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Fair enough. I understand the reservations about LMJ. I hope I'm right though.

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I hope so too!

For the record, I think he is a starter.

🚨🚨New Episode🚨🚨

-Astros OWN New York
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- All Star Starters and Snubs
- Hail to the SPs
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Apple: https://t.co/Sieiyk8tNC
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— Full Seam Ahead (@FullSeamAhead) July 1, 2022

Yeah you're right. It's all semantics. Either way we're stacked as is and having LMJ and Odo back is gonna be huge.

And for the record I don't know of any reports or sources saying he's going to the bullpen.

That's just what I would do with him based on his health and track record. Get a really good to possibly elite BP arm while also lightening his work load. Nothing but my 0.02 here.

Beau Holder said:

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Ready for the complaining about Apple while I'm enjoying the 4K broadcast, great shots, and clean score bugs.

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Also, Heidi Watney is underutilized. She's pretty great.

I'd be good with them adding Lauren Gardner to the mix as well.

Does the stream still work on mlb66 when it's an apple broadcast?

I assume so, but why use the bootleg option if Apple TV option is free already?

Did we ever get told what exactly the LMJ injury was?

Ag_07 said:

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Yeah you're right. It's all semantics. Either way we're stacked as is and having LMJ and Odo back is gonna be huge.

And for the record I don't know of any reports or sources saying he's going to the bullpen.

That's just what I would do with him based on his health and track record. Get a really good to possibly elite BP arm while also lightening his work load. Nothing but my 0.02 here.

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Fair enough. I like that too.

texasaggie2015 said:

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Did we ever get told what exactly the LMJ injury was?

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Flexor tendon strain

tailgatetimer10 said:

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I assume so, but why use the bootleg option if Apple TV option is free already?

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Ahhh, didn't realize it was free…

I am going to be in Galveston with family and not sure in-laws have a smart TV. I guess I can just stream on iPad or through phone using Apple TV.