MaxPower said:

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They are 7-16 so you're not going to see a lot of happy posts. Point taken that it will almost certainly get better. Whether that's better enough, I don't know. Think you need to try anything at 1B as you noted, see where you are end of June and go from there.

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not expecting happy posts but a limit of the posters with names that aren't regulars on here who want to blow it all up and throw in the towel is a beating.

It's like reading the calls from 610 or 790 which is annoying enough to listen to, I really don't want to read it.

Hopefully Porkchop is right and they leave soon enough but I know Aggies love to be battered so I'm not sure if they'll bail

MaxPower said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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GigEM96 said:

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Maybe we get lucky and they split the last six games of this month to finish 10-19 at the end of April.

There's 29 games in May and 25 in June. To get to .500 by the end of June they'll need to go 32-22 in May and June. Of course they'll need to do better if they can't win 3 of the remaining six games this month.

The black hole that is the platoon at 1st base will have to be fixed at some point.

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the black hole needs to be fixed ASAP, not "at some point". Abreu has ZERO reason to see any playing time at this point. SIngelton needs to be cut ASAP as well. Cant really cut Abreu rn, but you damn sure can put him on the IL with back discomfort.

Literally anyone is a better option at 1B right now over what we have.

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While I agree you have to try Loperfido or Cabbage, I also wouldn't bank on them being a significant improvement. It may take you from God awful to just bad but that's enough to maybe add one more win every couple months. You need the bullpen horses to get their heads figured out ASAP and your good hitters to produce in key spots.

The one thing I don't see changing is how bad the team is defensively. Yes you can get better at 1B but our issues are much deeper than that.

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It's almost literally impossible to play any worse than Abreu, or Singleton is right now. I could care less about a "significant improvement". ANYTHING will be better. Heck, at least anyone else would be faster and could maybe beat out a ground ball. Both current players provide nothing for this team.


Listening to 790 this morning a guy called in and provided a good take I haven't seen or heard. Wonder if Joe is too close to the players for knowing them for so long? Could he be scared to bench someone, or shake the lineup up too much in fear of having that player be upset at him, or angry? I could see it....

Hasn't he shaken up the lineup already? It's not like you're going to pull any of the top 4 the top 4 spots. Abreu has been falling like a rock. He's shuffled Diaz, Pena, & McCormick.

Outside of Abreu, who's he supposed to bench? While Singleton has been better, its not like he's done anything to take the job.

This is exactly it. Our guys just have to wake up and produce.

We're a spoiled fan base and it shows. And while it's annoying to hear we're all saying it without saying it the "back of the baseball card" statement is true many times.

Altuve is Altuve not going anywhere (no one is saying he should)
Yordan started slow and I think 2nd was a reason. But he's coming around and always hits in bunches thankfully those bunches tend to be consistent and closer together
Bregman while not what he was is a top 5-10 3rd baseman in the league
Pena has played well and responded to last year. Might be the brightest spot
Diaz has slowly moved up and is still proving his worth but no matter what we hope he becomes a guy that has a history I will still trust more
Chaz worries me. I really hope he doesn't become what everyone kind of has always thought he would be. He's been given more trust this year and I worry the chip is gone
Jake is what we thought he was and that ok but still doesn't get the run they alluded to in the spring
Dubon is a super utility and I feel like he doesn't get utilized enough, meaning he should be in a different spot every day not playing one position
First base…whelp

Starters will be fine and only get better

Middle relief, it's not good if I can't name who is in the pen

Back end has been or biggest disappointment and needs to wake up but those are also back or the card guys and you just have to trust

We don't have the holes that are claimed on here and there just isn't much that can be done besides play to our talent. If the pen fixes itself and we can bump some starters to relief when injuries heal we will be better

Keep in mind that being a big league manager is about managing egos. If you start managing the club like it's your son's little league team, you'll lose the veterans pretty quickly and find yourself out of a job.

Guys like Bregman are getting paid very well to help this team win, so you keep rolling him out there and putting it on him to get it done.

Abreu is a completely different situation because he's at the end of his career, and it appears he's much closer than anyone could have imagined. The organization is going to have a make a decision on first base soon and give Espada options other than Abreu and Singleton.

Yep.

The person I have no faith in currently is Dana, whether due to the job being too big for him or Crane and his council completely neutering him.

I went to a Hooks game this weekend and if you think watching the Astros is tough right now, the bag of excrement that is in Corpus can be smelled from Houston. My goodness I was shocked at just how bad that team is. They don't have anyone on their roster that could reasonably help in the future.

TREX01 said:

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I went to a Hooks game this weekend and if you think watching the Astros is tough right now, the bag of excrement that is in Corpus can be smelled from Houston. My goodness I was shocked at just how bad that team is. They don't have anyone on their roster that could reasonably help in the future.

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Yep, and Sugar Land doesn't have much either. Maybe Loperfido and/or Blubaugh at some point this year, but they could use more time. The Astros upper teams in the minors are a wasteland.

That's why, IF the season continues on this path, I would not be opposed to a semi-reset that attempts to maximize the trade value of Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez. If it's there, good, and if not then hope this season is an aberration. If they turn it around, go for broke to claim a dynasty.

AustinCountyAg said:

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Marvin said:

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TREX01 said:

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I went to a Hooks game this weekend and if you think watching the Astros is tough right now, the bag of excrement that is in Corpus can be smelled from Houston. My goodness I was shocked at just how bad that team is. They don't have anyone on their roster that could reasonably help in the future.

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Yep, and Sugar Land doesn't have much either. Maybe Loperfido and/or Blubaugh at some point this year, but they could use more time. The Astros upper teams in the minors are a wasteland.

That's why, IF the season continues on this path, I would not be opposed to a semi-reset that attempts to maximize the trade value of Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez. If it's there, good, and if not then hope this season is an aberration. If they turn it around, go for broke to claim a dynasty.

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I'm in the other boat. I think it is pretty obvious now that our minor league system has left a glaring hole for the organization. I do not want to "go for broke" if that means selling away what little talent remains in the minors. I think you just ride this team out and hope for the best.

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I kind of think I would. Sell everyone in AA or AAA to try and win it one more time with Tuve & Yordan.

If there's a chance you can get to the playoffs and win another WS, then you do whatever it takes to do it.

Obviously the team is not performing in any way that is even close to getting the playoffs right now. Will that change? It's looking really bleak right now but who knows. How far do we need to be out of it and by when do we decide whether to sell or not? That is the hard question the organization is going to have to answer.

two disappointing things from this past weekend...

- there was hope that the Astros' early season struggles were due to playing a difficult schedule (Yankees, Braves, Royals)

but that was disproven after losing the series to the Nationals (10-11)

- the extra-inning woes continue

0-3 this year after 1-8 last year. It has to be a mental issue by now. Fair to wonder if the opponent's scouting report on the Astros says: "get them to extras"

Big difference to me with this year vs previous year

- 2017: Yankees host Derek Jeter day, big deal… massive celebrations and our guys said that motivated them to win a lot. We destroyed them that night, and cocky Bregman was all over the place

- 2024: the nationals celebrate their 2019 WS title all weekend and giveaways from a series in which they beat you in the World Series. Playing World Series highlights of them beating you during your own batting practice all weekend… and the Offense comes out pretty flat and scores 9 runs combined for the weekend.

That 2017 team had a hunger and killer instinct. We need that fire back. Obviously not a 1:1 comparison but previous Astros teams would have gone into last weekend taking it personally

Which of these big names will break HR drought first?

[url=https://www.mlb.com/player/608324][/url]

Quote:

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Alex Bregman, 3B, HOU (72 PA)
Power profile: Bregman's peak as a home run hitter came in the 2019 season, when he had 41 homers en route to finishing second in AL MVP voting. But he's still had at least 23 dingers in each of the past four seasons in which he played 100-plus games, most recently including 25 in 2023.

Closest call of 2024: On April 10, Bregman got all of an outside fastball from Seth Lugo, but the 406-foot shot hit the center-field wall in Kansas City before staying in for a double. It would've been a home run in 24 out of 30 MLB ballparks.


Let it fly: Bregman's xSLG has dipped to a career-low .352 this season, which ranks in the 32nd percentile of MLB. What's the solution? Avoiding getting under the ball would be a good start. In each of his first eight seasons, his average launch angle was somewhere in the mid-high teens. This year, it's a career-high 23.6 degrees. As a result, his "sweet-spot rate" is a career-low 27.3%, causing his offensive statistics to take a steep downturn.

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[url=https://www.mlb.com/player/jose-abreu-547989][/url]

Quote:

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Jos Abreu, 1B, HOU (57 PA)
Power profile: Both Astros corner infielders find themselves without any home runs this season, with Abreu joining the aforementioned Bregman. Abreu, the 2020 AL MVP, has had five separate seasons with at least 30 homers, most recently when he hit 30 in 2021. As recently as 2022, he ranked in the 93rd percentile of MLB with a .486 xSLG.

Closest call of 2024: The farthest ball hit by Abreu this season was a 364-foot flyout to center field against the Rangers on April 13, which would not have been a home run in any MLB ballpark. For what it's worth, his farthest base hit this season was a 338-foot double earlier in the same game.


Let it fly: Age has taken its toll on the 37-year-old Abreu, but his barrel rate was still a respectable 8.7% last season before dropping to 0.0% this year. If he's able to mitigate the effects of aging later this season, finding a way to catch up fastballs will likely be necessary. He's whiffed on 47.4% of swings against four-seamers this year, nearly double his 24.3% rate from a year ago.

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That is ugly.

Good news, guys. I found us a new first baseman and we can pick him up while playing in Chicago this week.

An Aaron Boone ejection for the ages and I don't blame him for being this hot pic.twitter.com/BiLgQcmLJG

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 22, 2024

Boone gets ejected after the 1st batter when he wasn't even talking

bearkatag15 said:

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An Aaron Boone ejection for the ages and I don't blame him for being this hot pic.twitter.com/BiLgQcmLJG

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) April 22, 2024

Boone gets ejected after the 1st batter when he wasn't even talking

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1. Get seats right behind where Boone stands in the dugout.
2. Yell out "Hey Hunter pull your head out you jackwagon thats a ****ing strike!" in your best Aaron Boone voice
3. ????
4. Sit back, admire your work while watching Boone get rung up, smile and profit bigly

Off days…

Can't lose if you don't play.

The most frustrating part about the start to this season has been the 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Just hard to believe the back end of the bullpen has been so bad and already cost the teams several games.

This team would be close to .500 if the back end of the bullpen wasn't blowing games like crazy.

Yep.

And this series was a microcosm of the season so far.

Friday JV comes out and puts the team on his back going 6 in a strong outing while the offense scores early and lines up the bullpen like we had planned all along. Things were looking up.

Then Saturday happens and the back end blows up losing a late lead and falling in extras again.

Then Sunday comes around and the hapless offense shows up and gets shut down by a guy making his 2nd ML start all while our starter coughs up 3 in the first.

So yeah...One step forward 2 steps back

Ag_07 said:

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Yep.

And this series was a microcosm of the season so far.

Friday JV comes out and puts the team on his back going 6 in a strong outing while the offense scores early and lines up the bullpen like we had planned all along. Things were looking up.

Then Saturday happens and the back end blows up losing a late lead and falling in extras again.

Then Sunday comes around and the hapless offense shows up and gets shut down by a guy making his 2nd ML start all while our starter coughs up 3 in the first.

So yeah...One step forward 2 steps back

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This was the killer. If Press does his job it takes a lot of the sting out of Sunday. Was hoping to stack series wins heading to the Mexico series against the Rockies.