Exactly!

texasaggie2015 said:

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That's the freaking ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life























Where do I get one?

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Maldy at the plate or behind the dish looks worse

Just Baseball Updated their Top 100 Prospects

Quote:

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#68

The prized prospect of the Astros 2022 IFA class, Baez was lauded for his power potential, but has turned heads with his ability to flat out hit as well.

Offense
Starting slightly open, Baez gets back even with a toe tap for timing. He really uses the ground well to produce power, with a strong, explosive lower half. He has already flashed exit velocities as high as 113 mph in his age 19 season, with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 106 mph.
Baez has a swing that is designed for lift, putting less than 40% of his batted balls on the ground. Already flashing plus impact, Baez's ability to get into his power in games helped him rip through the complex, but it has been his underrated feel to hit that helped him make the jump to Low-A and continue to put up good numbers.

While he slashed .305/.351/.552 in 58 DSL games in 2022, Baez has actually cut down on the strikeouts and in zone whiff as he has been challenged more stateside. Already with a pretty good feel for the strike zone, Baez should take a fair amount of free passes as well.

It's early in the development of Baez, but the arrow is pointing straight up as a hitter who checks many boxes from a data perspective, looks the part in games, and has has handled each promotion thus far.

Defense/Speed
An average runner with a plus arm, Baez should be an average or better defender in either corner, but probably profiles best in right field. He's not much of a factor on the bases.

Outlook
Baez made a huge leap from where he was at in the Dominican Summer League in 2022 compared to where he's at now. Above average contact rates and plus raw power with a swing that should allow him to get into it consistently, Baez has the offensive potential to see his stock skyrocket.

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Gilbert is #87

https://www.mlbshop.com/houston-astros/mens-houston-astros-pleasures-black-flame-fireball-button-up-shirt/t-36110830+p-4992469771565+z-9-1166950075

tjack16 said:

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Marvin said:

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Mrs. Marvin is going to hate it, but I had to pull the trigger. It's so bad it's beautiful.

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If you don't wear that to a Margaritaville in the next year or two

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Fins up!

I love that I have the same fashion sense as the rest of this thread. My closet consists of fun print golf polos and various Columbia fishing shirts with crazy prints. My wife hates it

I'm just happy I can still wear my Verlander jersey...I know I could have worn it when he was with the Mets but it just wouldn't feel right.

BadAggie said:

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Prosperdick said:

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CoachAg19 said:

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BadAggie said:

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AgLA06 said:

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BadAggie said:

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Presumably bat would have been for the bench.

Market was such that decent rental bat would've cost a fair amount.

So you go to plan B and call up the 1B from AAA crushing it.

Plan C is Uncle Mike giving it another go at a return.

I don't buy this idea that one weak Maldy bat in the lineup prevents the rest from producing.

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Yah proven statistics and reality or over rated!

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Maldy sucking at plate is as much a crutch for underperformance of the top of the order in a given game here as Maldy's super great intangibles are for the pitching staff.

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Last night in the top of the 7th inning, Maldy had a 3-1 count with 1 out and a runner on 1st. He swung at ball 4 and grounded out. He had the hottest hitter in baseball coming up behind him. And what did Altuve do? He doubled down the line to left. Had Maldy just stood still and taken ball 4, he would've been on 2nd base for that double, as there was a passed ball in Altuve's AB that would've advanced him. The game would've been tied 2-2 after Altuve's double. Tucker then walked. Bregman got out to end the inning. If Maldy, who has a .178 average, had not swung at ball 4, we would've had Alvarez up with two runners on in the 7th rather than him leading off the 8th.
1, 2, and 4 all got on RIGHT behind him, but his out on a ball he shouldn't have swung at cost us a run and the chance for more with Alvarez coming up with runners on. Should Bregman have produced with runners on? Absolutely. Should Alvarez had been in the 3-spot to begin with? Most likely.
In a 3-0 or 3-1 count, Maldy should NEVER be swinging. Not at this point in the season. If this were May...fine, take your hacks. Not in August when you SHOULD be trying to win every game at all costs.

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I also think what most are missing is NORMALLY (not your example above) having a black hole at the 9 spot shouldn't have a significant impact on your overall lineup producing runs BUT removing that black hole and replacing it with a big bat in the MIDDLE of the lineup DOES have a significant impact.

That's the big issue here...not only does the pitcher lose a breather at the 9 hole but he now has to face Diaz after trying to get through Altuve, Breggie, Yordan, and Tucker (maybe Chas too) so that's 6 batters in a row that can do major damage to a pitcher. It now becomes a gauntlet.

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So Maldy's to blame for everyone else in the order getting out with RISP? Some of you need to stop smoking your own dope.

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Not directly in the way you are insinuating, but in a way yes. Having Maldy and Meyers and Pena as the last 3 batters gives a nice fat landing spot for a pitcher to look for. If we get a couple of guys on base ahead of Yordan, Chas, and Diaz, the pitcher knows that it he can get by those 3 guys without giving up a big hit, he has 3 much easier outs to finish off an inning. Those guys also know in the back of their heads that if they don't get it done, the bottom end of the lineup is unlikely to pick them up. So the pitcher is unlikely to throw them any good pitches to hit, which means they are more likely to swing at anything close to being a strike. In that way, having a weak AF end of the lineup does put pressure on the guys ahead of them in the lineup and probably does cause them to strikeout more.

Well, I tried. We gave the Maldy piñata a couple hours of peace and quiet…

Here pre game in Sugar Land with @SLSpaceCowboys for the Rehab return of Michael Brantley. #Astros pic.twitter.com/UdnjADTBcO

— Randy McIlvoy (@KPRC2RandyMc) August 15, 2023

spadilly said:

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My favorite Hawaiian shirt:

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That's a good one.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Here pre game in Sugar Land with @SLSpaceCowboys for the Rehab return of Michael Brantley. #Astros pic.twitter.com/UdnjADTBcO

— Randy McIlvoy (@KPRC2RandyMc) August 15, 2023

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What do you think- about 75% swing speed?

Fair enough. Having 1-2 guys down there hitting .210-.225ish is probably pretty typical. But having 2 guys hitting .210-.225 and one hitting .178 puts a big hole in the lineup. Pena has actually picked it up quite a bit since the ASB, hitting .423 in his last 7 games, several of those hitting well down in the lineup from the #2 spot he was in. But Meyers is hitting .200 in his last 7 to make up for it.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Here pre game in Sugar Land with @SLSpaceCowboys for the Rehab return of Michael Brantley. #Astros pic.twitter.com/UdnjADTBcO

— Randy McIlvoy (@KPRC2RandyMc) August 15, 2023

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I miss that swing.

AggieDub04 said:

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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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And the crazy thing is posters on this thread were nearly as vocal about Hinch as they are Dusty and criticized his moves darn near every game. Certainly not as chronically as the daily bashing Dusty gets, but I was blown away at the vitriol aimed at "Hinch'ed" back then.

Those are awesome

I'm not going to say there is a high likelihood of Mike being back and 100% to his normal level for this post season…

But I am going to say they his consistency as a hitter is EXACTLY what this lineup needs to me amazing

So here is to hoping

Not DHing but playing LF.

With Brantley, there’s no specific timetable for his return yet.

“It's hard to be out a year and a half and then say ‘I'm ready’ after three games or four games or whatever,” Dusty said pregame. “But Michael’ll have a pretty good idea when he's ready.”

— 🪴paige🪴 (@paige_leckie) August 15, 2023