astroboy said:

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I hate that outcome, but it's the way I see the playoffs ending.

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tend to agree, Braves look unstoppable

Farmer1906 said:

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Final Stats (only 4 qualified)

wRC+
1. Alvarez - 170
2. Altuve - 154
3. Tucker - 140 (10th overall)
4. McCormick - 133
5. Diaz - 127
6. Bregman - 125 (28th)
7. Dubon - 97
8. Pena - 96 (103rd)
9. Brantley - 96
10. Meyers - 88
11. Abreu - 86 (120th)
12. Julks - 80
13. Singleton - 77
14. Maldonado - 66
15. Hensley - 9

fWAR
1. Tucker - 5.1 (16th)
2. Alvarez - 4.5
3. Bregman - 4.3 (32nd)
4. Altuve - 4.0
5. McCormick - 3.8
6. Pena - 2.8
7. Diaz - 2.0
8. Dubon - 1.8
9. Meyers - 1.7 (64th)
10. Julks - 0.3
11. Brantley - 0.2
12. Singleton - -0.1
13. Abreu - -0.8 (130th)
14. Hensley - -0.8
15. Maldonado - -1.3

Home Runs
1. Alvarez - 31 (tied 22nd)
2. Tucker - 29* (tied 30th)
3. Bregman - 25 (tied 46th)
4. Diaz - 23 (tied 62nd)
5. McCormick - 22 (tied 74th)

Runs
1. Bregman - 103 (12th)
2. Tucker - 97 (19th)
3. Pena - 81 (tied 54th)
4. Alvarez - 77 (tied 69th)
5. Altuve/Dubon - 76 (tied 72nd)

RBI
1. Tucker - 112* (3rd)
2. Bregman - 98 (tied 19th)
3. Alvarez - 97 (tied 22nd)
4. Abreu - 90 (39th)
5. McCormick - 70 (tied 85th)

*should be 30/113 if not for the drunk scorekeepr

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Great work Farmer.

This really shows you how potent this team still is.

Now. The starting pitching needs to get its **** together. Now. Luckily this last week has been promising.

Outside of that. This team has the lineup and BP and grit to beat anybody. 4 road games in Baltimore or Hotlanta?

This team thrives on that *****

GLF!

McInnis said:

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When the Astros got Verlander at the trade deadline and the Rangers got Scherzer, that turned out to be the difference didn't it?

And the bullpen has been almost giving off 2022 vibes. But Pressly was a little shaky in his last appearance.

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I am gonna die laughing when Acunas little bro makes his first AS game too

Gonna have to brace my heart for this weekend. Ags v Bama and Stros ALDS. This is gonna be the longest week of all time lol. Cant wait!

Marvin said:

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Predicted Record:
96-66 - That'll teach me to disrespect the mighty A's and Royals...

Team MVP:
Kyle Tucker - Maybe!
Team Cy Young:
Christian Javier - Playoffs maybe, but he flat out sucked for a large part of the year.

Rookie of the Year:
Hunter Brown - Gotta be Diaz despite the lack of playing time.

Surprise Player of the Year:
Yanier Diaz - Maybe, but Dubon is the better fit here.

Make 2 or more Positive Predictions:
Jose Abreu leads the team in hits - Haha, whiff.
Astros have 7 players (125 AB minimum) post an OPS above .800 - Abreu and Pena let me down.
Astros steal more than 100 bases (not done since 2016) - Ding ding, wiinner winner

Make 2 or more Negative Predictions:
Valdez sees a drop in stats because of the shift ban - More because of meltdowns and homers
Maldy catches 100 games or less and does not post an OPS above .575 - I wish. 116 G & .606 OPS


And Abreu leads the team in games played. - 161 from Bregman, although he did play 141 (4th)

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Tucker might indeed be the team MVP, and the Astros stole 107 runs. I pretty much sucked on the other predicitons. Abreu let me down on several different levels of these guesses.

Now that the regular season is over, Astros baseball will finally be back on my tv! Has Dusty figured out the whole Chas and Yanier Diaz dilemma? I know a while back he was somewhat hesitant to play them. I just think that with our starting pitchers struggling some lately we'll need their bats more than otherwise.

AL WC: Rangers over Rays in 3
AL WC: Blue Jays over Twins in 3

ALDS: Orioles over Rangers in 4
ALDS: Astros over Blue Jays in 4

NLWC: Phillies over Marlins in 2
NLWC: Brewers over DBacks in 3

NLDS: Braves over Phillies in 4
NLDS: Dodgers over Brewers in 5

ALCS: Astros over Orioles in 6
NLCS: Braves over Dodgers in 7

WORLD SERIES: Braves over Astros in 6

OKCAg2002 said:

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So it's a forgone conclusion that Maldy will catch games 1 and 2. Diaz should at least DH one game and let Brantley get the other. When the series shifts on the road, Diaz gets Javier(?) and game 4. That means his bat is in the lineup for 3 of 4 games with a PH opportunity in the other one he doesn't start. This isn't rocket science.

I guess you HAVE to start Dubon in CF for some reason when JV pitches, but I bet the FO says it's Chas. They should as he's completely earned it.

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Did you see how the last week's worth of games (the biggest games of the season) went? Who caught almost all of those games?

Maldy has been catching Javier lately too. And if our 4th is Urquidy, Maldy is catching him.

I don't think we're going to see Diaz behind the dish in the postseason. If we see him, it's most likely going to be as a DH or PH.

You just need to set those expectations now and be pleasantly surprised if he catches any games at all.

It's not like the FO will dictate everything in the post-season. If you reall, tx15 has said last year Dusty is the one who kept Yuli on the postseason roster. I bet the FO would have had Mancini starting at first - but Dusty started Yuli there.

OKCAg2002 said:

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So it's a forgone conclusion that Maldy will catch games 1 and 2. Diaz should at least DH one game and let Brantley get the other. When the series shifts on the road, Diaz gets Javier(?) and game 4. That means his bat is in the lineup for 3 of 4 games with a PH opportunity in the other one he doesn't start. This isn't rocket science.

I guess you HAVE to start Dubon in CF for some reason when JV pitches, but I bet the FO says it's Chas. They should as he's completely earned it.

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Based on the last month or so, I'm not as upset with Dubon over Chas as long as it isn't close to an even split. Dubon has really come on.

My guess is Diaz gets the Christian Vasquez role. Maldy catches JV, Framber, and Javier with Diaz subbing in the later innings if we're behind and possibly getting the fourth game start.

Beat40 said:

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OKCAg2002 said:

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So it's a forgone conclusion that Maldy will catch games 1 and 2. Diaz should at least DH one game and let Brantley get the other. When the series shifts on the road, Diaz gets Javier(?) and game 4. That means his bat is in the lineup for 3 of 4 games with a PH opportunity in the other one he doesn't start. This isn't rocket science.

I guess you HAVE to start Dubon in CF for some reason when JV pitches, but I bet the FO says it's Chas. They should as he's completely earned it.

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Did you see how the last week's worth of games (the biggest games of the season) went? Who caught almost all of those games?

Maldy has been catching Javier lately too. And if our 4th is Urquidy, Maldy is catching him.

I don't think we're going to see Diaz behind the dish in the postseason. If we see him, it's most likely going to be as a DH or PH.

You just need to set those expectations now and be pleasantly surprised if he catches any games at all.

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Diaz DH takes another bat out of the order that needs to be there. The only way to maximize our offense is for him to catch. If not then either Uncle Mike or Abreu have to sit and in return you get an automatic 3-4 outs at the plate and a turnstile from first to second for any baserunner.

You're probably right. I don't know if JP France gets the ball for a game. Maybe if you're up 3-0 in a 4 game series, but even then that's a tall order for a rookie. Diaz has caught Javier quite a bit, right? Urquidy is probably linked to Maldy, too.

OKCAg2002 said:

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You're probably right. I don't know if JP France gets the ball for a game. Maybe if you're up 3-0 in a 4 game series, but even then that's a tall order for a rookie. Diaz has caught Javier quite a bit, right? Urquidy is probably linked to Maldy, too.

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Diaz has caught Javier twice and Urquidyt 5x (unsure how many starts vs relief)

Maldy is probably catching every game.

Guys.....hate to break it here, but Maldy is going to be Dusty's choice at C for the postseason. It is what it is at this point. My guess would be Diaz as DH in every other game.

Farmer1906 said:

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OKCAg2002 said:

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You're probably right. I don't know if JP France gets the ball for a game. Maybe if you're up 3-0 in a 4 game series, but even then that's a tall order for a rookie. Diaz has caught Javier quite a bit, right? Urquidy is probably linked to Maldy, too.

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Diaz has caught Javier twice and Urquidyt 5x (unsure how many starts vs relief)

Maldy is probably catching every game.

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If we end up in the WS vs the Braves they better figure out how to keep Acuna off first because he'll only be there for one pitch.

So while we're killing time, how about Tucker's appeal on his triple yesterday? Do appeals like that ever work?

How can there be a fielder's choice when no one else was on base? Could an error be scored? I haven't seen a video of what happened between the RF jogging back to the fence to get the ball and the pitcher catching what looked like a pretty bad relay, or did the RF throw it all the way? All the videos show Tucker rounding third instead of what happened with the ball.

Good morning. Still catching up but just wanted to say **** the Barves, and this team backs down from no one.

Astros are still the Champs until further notice.

Ag_07 said:

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Just dawned on me that the 3 game WC series isn't split up between the two teams so there's a possibility that Arlington won't host a playoff game.

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Or they could be like Seattle last year and end up hosting just one in the ALDS and lose it. Either way that would be a kick to the gentleman's sausage with a steel toed boot.

Well, we have a week, should be enough time to paint the rest of MMP, no?