***** 2023 Houston Astros Season Thread *****

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Mr.Bond
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In reply to Boiling Denim • 9:17a, 8/15/23
AG
Boiling Denim said:
Farmer1906 said:
Seems like everyone is piling on Maldonado. It's obviously not all his fault, but he's the clear option where we can upgrade the team.





46-41 record with a 6-1 record against the A's

So .500 against everyone else…

Big oof Dusty. Thankfully wins and losses are just fan stuff




This infuriates the absolute **** out of me. How did we go from having a smartest front office in baseballto letting incompetence like this continue.
Im looking for Ray Finkle.... and a clean pair of shorts. Im just a very big Finkle fan. This is my Graceland, sir.


MAGA

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Prosperdick
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In reply to Boiling Denim • 9:22a, 8/15/23
AG
Boiling Denim said:
Prosperdick said:

*Except for Framber - like I've said numerous times I have no problem with Maldy as his personal catcher but everyone else learn to f***ing pitch to Diaz.


Framber has now conceded 4+ runs in 6 of his last 8 starts. The no-hitter will unfortunately be over-valued but Framber has not been "gets his own dedicated catcher" good recently
I agree but Diaz can't catch 100% of the time, that's not realistic and to throw Framber a bone, let him have his comfort blanket. He's the one guy who has to be mentally "right" to be a true 1/2 pitcher for us so the less disruptions the better.
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Kashchei
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In reply to Mr.Bond • 9:23a, 8/15/23
AG
I think it's Crane. Didn't he get rid of a lot of analytics people when Click left? And loyalty to Dusty is hampering the team on so many levels. I can't imagine Dusty is Brown's choice for manager.

As for Maldy, the pitchers better enjoy the last few months of him catching because his ass is gone* at the end of the year

*Unless Crane decides to keep both Maldy and Dusty, in which case we can slam our window shut
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redline248
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9:28a, 8/15/23
AG
F-cking pitchers. Maldy is their security blanket.

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Chrundle the Great
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In reply to Boiling Denim • 9:30a, 8/15/23
AG
Not defending his catcher selection, but he's still very good.

The 8th inning saw a meltdown (he probably shouldn't have pitched the 8th) but before that he was 7 complete with 4 hits and 1 er. That's pretty good.

Even at 7.2 with 3 er (remember 1 run was all maldy) that's a quality start.
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Lonestar_Ag09
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9:31a, 8/15/23
AG
We all agree. For the love of God can we stop discussing it now. At least until tomorrow morning?

Can we have a new rule like 12am-9am each morning is bash on Dusty and Maldy time and then we move on?
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AustinCountyAg
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9:34a, 8/15/23
If Maldy was still an elite defensive catcher I wouldn't have a huge problem with him catching. Everyone who defends him always says, "well we won before in the playoffs with him catching and his bat being terrible", but this season his defense is literally costing us runs on top of his terrible bat.

Lineups/playing time shouldn't be made on "feelings" because he's a nice guy.

Some quick defensive Maldy stats...

1.Leads MLB in past balls
2. Last in MLB in "catcher framing runs"
3. second to last in "strike zoned runs saved"
3. sixth from last in rCERA
4. fourth from last in defensive runs saved


in summary:

besides his kindness and his ability to communicate with pitchers, his actual ability to play baseball brings absolutely nothing to the team and in fact it HURTS the team. It is a fact that when he plays he negatively impacts the teams ability to win.
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texasaggie2015
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9:36a, 8/15/23
AG
I expect a few new faces in the front office (more along the lines of behind the scenes people) as well research/analytics/development areas this offseason.

The poster above is correct. Dusty wouldn't be Dana's choice as manager and really the only way Dusty returns is if the Astros win another World Series... and even then, it wouldn't surprise me to see him go out on top and call it a career. We'll see.

This year was a weird one with the GM situation. By the time Dana came on board, there really wasn't time for him to put his "fingerprints" on the roster. I think the whole thing was mishandled from start to finish by Crane- and I also think he would be the first one to admit that.

I haven't heard anything that indicates that Dana and Dusty have a bad relationship, but I have heard that most in the organization want certain things that Dusty doesn't agree with. Dana isn't a pushover so I can imagine they've had some uncomfortable conversations.

Next year will look a lot different.
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Ag_07
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9:36a, 8/15/23
AG
Framber has proven he's a stud as far as stuff goes but the mental part of it is his downfall. When he gets it right he's unhittable literally.

Last night he was cruising and then got touched by the 7-9 guys with 2 outs.

The add-on runs at the end were probably a result of him being out there when he shouldn't have been. Hell maybe he didn't expect to be out there and wasn't completely focused.

He just has to be locked in or it gets ugly.
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AggieDub04
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9:51a, 8/15/23
AG
This is where Hinch was so masterful and brought the most value. He was constantly looking over data and his notes and tracked pitchers velocity as well as location and movement. Roger Clemons said the three most important things to pitching in order are location, movement, and velocity. Often times movement starts to drop before velocity because your grip gets tired before your legs do.

Dusty has left a pitcher in too long dozens of times this year. It happens to every manager but it happens more so with Dusty because of his belief in riding his starters and protecting his bullpen. This goes all the way back to his days burning out Mark Prior and Kerry Wood with the Cubs.

This isn't to say you can only focus on metrics and robo-manage, but it's helpful to pull in the information that is not readily apparent to the human eye.

I have not seen Dusty with any notes and certainly not with an Ipad during games. The most I've seen him have in his hand is a handful of peanuts.
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Ag_07
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In reply to AggieDub04 • 10:02a, 8/15/23
AG
He has notes in front of him. He also keeps a little pad/note card with him. I think it's a safe assumption they aren't near what Hinch would have but he does keep track and make notes throughout the game.

I don't typically have a an issue with Dusty concerning when he pulls pitchers.

His studs have a longer leash which they should, but overall I don't get the sense he's running arms into the ground.
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texasaggie2015
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10:03a, 8/15/23
AG
Yeah... the bullpen being gassed has a lot more to do with the rotation not going deep into games than Dusty mismanaging them.
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Farmer1906
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In reply to AggieDub04 • 10:04a, 8/15/23
AG
AggieDub04 said:
This is where Hinch was so masterful and brought the most value. He was constantly looking over data and his notes and tracked pitchers velocity as well as location and movement. Roger Clemons said the three most important things to pitching in order are location, movement, and velocity. Often times movement starts to drop before velocity because your grip gets tired before your legs do.

Dusty has left a pitcher in too long dozens of times this year. It happens to every manager but it happens more so with Dusty because of his belief in riding his starters and protecting his bullpen. This goes all the way back to his days burning out Mark Prior and Kerry Wood with the Cubs.

This isn't to say you can only focus on metrics and robo-manage, but it's helpful to pull in the information that is not readily apparent to the human eye.

I have not seen Dusty with any notes and certainly not with an Ipad during games. The most I've seen him have in his hand is a handful of peanuts.
That is an interesting perspective.

Baseball savant charts velo and movement and I don't see anything in Framber's graphs that look off.

The show zones per inning too, but that's harder to compare. Framber throws a lot of pitches intentionally in the zone the get guys to smash in straight into he ground.

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Farmer1906
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In reply to texasaggie2015 • 10:10a, 8/15/23
AG
texasaggie2015 said:
Yeah... the bullpen being gassed has a lot more to do with the rotation not going deep into games than Dusty mismanaging them.
I am not so sure this is true.

Per FanGraphs were #1 in SP IP and #28 in RP IP.

I think guys may be a little overworked because they've been healthy all year.

Here is where our guys stand in RP IP.
22. Abreu - 55.0
29. Maton - 53.1
36. Pressly - 51.1
44. Graveman - 50.2
49. Neris - 49.2
50. Montero - 49.2
138. Martinez - 40.2
140. Stanek - 40.1
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texasaggie2015
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In reply to Farmer1906 • 10:12a, 8/15/23
AG
Hmmm... interesting. That's funny because it seems like the opposite is true. At least in my head.
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SpaceCityAg05
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10:17a, 8/15/23
AG
The bullpen is overworked because Dusty uses his leverage arms more than he needs to. His rule of thumb that he treats a 4 run lead as a save situation means the back-end guys get used more frequently.

More importantly, he refuses to use anyone as a middle/long reliever. Even when Mushinski pitches with a significant lead/deficit, Dusty usually will pull him after an inning or two and still use at least one leverage arm.

Over the weekend, he used Neris in a blowout. THAT is why our bullpen arms are overworked. Not total volume, but strategic (or lack thereof) usage.
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redline248
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In reply to Farmer1906 • 10:17a, 8/15/23
AG
Do we have a smaller number of guys taking most relief innings than other teams b/c of the 6 man rotation we've used?
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texasaggie2015
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10:20a, 8/15/23
AG


Pierce Johnson was a name I mentioned on here as someone the Astros made some calls on
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SpaceCityAg05
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10:21a, 8/15/23
AG
With all of the FA arms in the bullpen for the offseason, it will be a key to restructure the pen to ensure that we have 2-3 arms than can be used for multi-inning stints in addition to the usual back-end combos.
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Boiling Denim
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10:25a, 8/15/23
Braves have the magic touch this year. Pummeling teams into submission can make the most average players rise and ride along with the momentum
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AggieDub04
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In reply to Ag_07 • 10:29a, 8/15/23
AG
Ag_07 said:
He has notes in front of him. He also keeps a little pad/note card with him. I think it's a safe assumption they aren't near what Hinch would have but he does keep track and make notes throughout the game.

I don't typically have a an issue with Dusty concerning when he pulls pitchers.

His studs have a longer leash which they should, but overall I don't get the sense he's running arms into the ground.
I don't think he's running arms into the ground, but he seems to consistently pull a guy two batters too late.

One example is the last game vs the Orioles. Hunter Brown goes out for the 6th to face the lineup for a third time, which for most pitchers is when their ERA spikes. The first two guys hit him hard. That happens sometimes. The velocity wasn't really down on those pitches and I can't find good movement data by pitch.

He manages to get a strike out and a pop up before Rutschman gets caught between first and second.

The next inning he goes out and once again the first two batters hit him hard on the way to giving up three straight hits.

Once again this is just one example but I've seen tons of situations where we put our pen in high stress situations when a guy should've come out.
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Farmer1906
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In reply to redline248 • 10:32a, 8/15/23
AG
redline248 said:
Do we have a smaller number of guys taking most relief innings than other teams b/c of the 6 man rotation we've used?
Looks like.

Here are a few comparisons.

Seattle and Arlington rank 29th and 30th in BP Innings.

Pitchers with >50 RP Innings
HOU - 3
SEA - 1
TEX - 0

# of Pitchers with IP out of the bullpen
HOU - 16
SEA - 22
TEX - 23

# of Pitchers with 5 or more IP out of the bullpen
HOU - 11
SEA - 15
TEX - 17

Note, this only counts IP thrown out of the BP for that particular team. Graveman is north of 50 IP but he has only thrown 6.2 in Houston so he doesn't count towards the players with >50 IP.

Very strange question to ask, but is it a detriment to have a bullpen too locked in without much uncertainty? Its like our guys have stayed say healthy and locked into their roles so even with only 391.2 IP to fill, guys are getting overworked.

To give that 391.2 some context, LAD, NYY, CIN, DET, COL, BOS, OAK, & TB are all between 450-500. SFG is at 520.1!
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BadAggie
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10:32a, 8/15/23
AG
Somehow Maldanaldo is slashing 254/323/525/849 in 59 ABs v lefties this season. This is likely the impetus for Dusty's strange random quip about Diaz not hitting lefties well.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=maldoma01&t=b&year=2023
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AustinCountyAg
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In reply to Boiling Denim • 10:33a, 8/15/23
Boiling Denim said:
Braves have the magic touch this year. Pummeling teams into submission can make the most average players rise and ride along with the momentum
I agree. They are a freight train right night plowing everyone in there path. Hopefully they turn into the 01' Mariners in the playoffs.
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Ag_07
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In reply to AggieDub04 • 10:35a, 8/15/23
AG
Yeah that's not inaccurate and I do have issues with who he brings in in certain situations.

And again it's a fine line between pulling a guy and stressing the pen even more and letting a guy ride and trying to get a few more outs out of him.

I just tend to think the overall sentiment is 'FCKN DUSTY!!!' when in reality when he pulls starters is low on the list of things to bltch about when it comes to Dusty.
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Farmer1906
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In reply to BadAggie • 10:41a, 8/15/23
AG
BadAggie said:
Somehow Maldanaldo is slashing 254/323/525/849 in 59 ABs v lefties this season. This is likely the impetus for Dusty's strange random quip about Diaz not hitting lefties well.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=maldoma01&t=b&year=2023


Diaz is due a major positive regression vs lefties.
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BadAggie
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10:41a, 8/15/23
AG
So Dusty in position of listening to a pitching staff that loves Maldy and a front office that is likely pointing out Diaz's performance and Maldy's decline defensively this season.

With Verlander's addition Maldy just gained a significant ally.

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AggieDub04
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In reply to BadAggie • 10:45a, 8/15/23
AG
BadAggie said:
So Dusty in position of listening to a pitching staff that loves Maldy and a front office that is likely pointing out Diaz's performance and Maldy's decline defensively this season.

With Verlander's addition Maldy just gained a significant ally.

And yet Robinson Chirinos caught his no hitter....
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Farmer1906
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In reply to texasaggie2015 • 10:48a, 8/15/23
AG
texasaggie2015 said:


Pierce Johnson was a name I mentioned on here as someone the Astros made some calls on
They basically told him to throw the curveball even more. He's almost a 1 pitch pitcher vs righties.

vs RHH


vs LHH
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texasaggie2015
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10:48a, 8/15/23
AG
JV likes familiarity and a veteran behind the plate. It's not Maldy specific. In this case, Maldy just happens to fit the description of both.
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spadilly
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10:51a, 8/15/23
S
Maldy has caught 19% of runners stealing this season (13 of 69).
Diaz has caught 40% (12 of 30).

Maldy has had 8 passed balls. Diaz has had none. (Yes, I know the sample size is skewed massively on this one)
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BadAggie
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In reply to spadilly • 10:55a, 8/15/23
AG
spadilly said:
Maldy has caught 19% of runners stealing this season (13 of 69).
Diaz has caught 40% (12 of 30).

Maldy has had 8 passed balls. Diaz has had none. (Yes, I know the sample size is skewed massively on this one)


Maldy's CS% is half of last season's I think. His defense has just fallen off a cliff this season
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Farmer1906
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11:01a, 8/15/23
AG
Astros Future just released his Midseason Update

1. Jacob Melton, OF
2. Joey Loperfido, OF
3. Spencer Arrighetti, RHP
4. Brice Matthews, SS
5. Luis Baez, OF
6. Zach Dezenzo, INF
7. Colton Gordon, OF
8. Colin Barber, OF
9. Rhett Kouba, RHP
10. Kenedy Corona, OF
11-30 listed in link along with a burb on each.
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bearkatag15
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In reply to Farmer1906 • 11:05a, 8/15/23
AG
Farmer1906 said:
Astros Future just released his Midseason Update

1. Jacob Melton, OF
2. Joey Loperfido, OF
3. Spencer Arrighetti, RHP
4. Brice Matthews, SS
5. Luis Baez, OF
6. Zach Dezenzo, INF
7. Colton Gordon, OF
8. Colin Barber, OF
9. Rhett Kouba, RHP
10. Kenedy Corona, OF
11-30 listed in link along with a burb on each.
So many outfielders. Need to convert a couple to 1B
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n_touch
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11:11a, 8/15/23
Anyone here live in Phoenix or AZ?
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