Might be time to explore a platoon at third base.
***** 2024 Houston Astros Season Thread ***** [Staff Warning]
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Last: 8 days ago by jkag89
It's not just the hitting. His defense last year was subpar. Thinking Maldy's absence has such a huge effect on this years team doesn't explain Hader's drop-off. And to say that Brown and Valdez didn't regress last year despite Maldy's presence is revisionist history.The Porkchop Express said:
Is it just the anger at the lack of Maldonado's hitting that makes people question everything about his value?
I have never understood the raging denial that he might have been worth something significant to the pitching staff.
Using the White Sox current pitching staff as a reason that Maldonado isn't a good catcher is pretty myopic. The White Sox are tanking for draft picks, and have already started Lee more than Maldy. If anything, they signed him in order to trade him to team that needs help with pitching inconsistency come July/August.
Certainly his absence has not turned the Astros from contender to pretender all by itself.
But you guys steadfastly refuse to believe the fact that Pressly, Abreu (the less ****ty one), Brown, France, Verlander, and Valdez all having significantly higher ERAs than last year could possibly have to do with a change with the guy behind the plate?
For a community where so many people thrive on analytics, that seems like a blatant omission based on personal dislike of a former player.
Previously I would never say this, but I'm all in on IF Breggy can turn it around before all star break, we trade him for some prospects.
If he doesn't turn it around you can't trade him for anything. Thats the rub, you need him to play better (to get more wins and to increase his trade value)
I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.
MaxPower said:
I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.
That team had two bonafide aces plus Patrick Corbin who had a 3.30 ERA. We don't have one ace right now based on performance. That's the big difference. They had the pitching in place and healthy.
Also Juan Soto and Rendon combined for 70 HR and 240 RBI that season for them.
Based on current trends, I'm assuming Soto had 68 HR and 237 RBI that year.tjack16 said:MaxPower said:
I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.
That team had two bonafide aces plus Patrick Corbin who had a 3.30 ERA. We don't have one ace right now based on performance. That's the big difference. They had the pitching in place and healthy.
Also Juan Soto and Rendon combined for 70 HR and 240 RBI that season for them.
Life is better with a beagle
Gotta love overtime playoff hockey. Two awesome games last night. Two more good ones tonight.
I'm going to pretend like this team doesn't exist. Baseball season hasn't started.
I'm going to pretend like this team doesn't exist. Baseball season hasn't started.
The Porkchop Express said:Based on current trends, I'm assuming Soto had 68 HR and 237 RBI that year.tjack16 said:MaxPower said:
I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.
That team had two bonafide aces plus Patrick Corbin who had a 3.30 ERA. We don't have one ace right now based on performance. That's the big difference. They had the pitching in place and healthy.
Also Juan Soto and Rendon combined for 70 HR and 240 RBI that season for them.
According to Joe buck he had 90 homeruns and was only 14
But I was just pointing out the makeup of their team is way different than ours given the health and production of their pitching… mixed in with a rookie of the year MVP candidate in Soto, and their all star 3B actually playing like one (Rendon)
I think Salisbury nailed this morning on 790. He said there are way too many people in this organization who are too comfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
Ag_07 said:
I think Salisbury nailed this morning on 790. He said there are way too many people in this organization who are too comfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
They also said screw the "expected" outcomes because the expected ain't happening right now
That's exactly how I feel. If a guy is hitting .200 but his "expected average is .290"… he's still a .200 hitter
who we takin fellas pic.twitter.com/y9Id0Qothc
— christian (@StroudMerchant) May 8, 2024
2025 First Round pick for the Astros: Jace LaViolette
It is the first season after giving Altuve an extension to the twilight of his baseball playing career. That's not a thing a disruptive organization usually does. I don't think we're going to see a massive overhaul, at least before the end of next year.
The vesting options for Press and JV are big questions and Tuck's longterm future, of course. What about Chas? (Bit of a non sequitur, but there are many fringy players yet to establish themselves fully)
Will Dana even get a long enough runway to reinforce the "next" core. We just don't know, with how Crane runs the team.
The vesting options for Press and JV are big questions and Tuck's longterm future, of course. What about Chas? (Bit of a non sequitur, but there are many fringy players yet to establish themselves fully)
Will Dana even get a long enough runway to reinforce the "next" core. We just don't know, with how Crane runs the team.
And as always for this season, thank GOD for the Aggies.tjack16 said:who we takin fellas pic.twitter.com/y9Id0Qothc
— christian (@StroudMerchant) May 8, 2024
2025 First Round pick for the Astros: Jace LaViolette
I will say, I did have a conversation with one of my people last night. They mentioned complacency- which is what some of you mentioned on this thread already. I think there's a lot of truth to that.
texasaggie2015 said:
I will say, I did have a conversation with one of my people last night. They mentioned complacency- which is what some of you mentioned on this thread already. I think there's a lot of truth to that.
The hitting coaches have to be on the chopping block soon, right?
texasaggie2015 said:
I will say, I did have a conversation with one of my people last night. They mentioned complacency- which is what some of you mentioned on this thread already. I think there's a lot of truth to that.
It's clear we are no longer as on the cutting edge as to innovate (as opposed to just riding the wave, to mix metaphors) new approaches, like in the Luhnow era. We found something that worked, and worked well, but then refused to adapt with the change. That is why Click was fired (I think he gave push back to settling complacency).
I think it's a combination of very bad luck and a couple of players just flat being awful.
When a team is top 1/3 in BA, OBA, SLG, wRC+, k% you shouldn't be 11 games under .500. Forget the pitching, those offensive stats don't match the record.
We are 10th in BABIP, so that's some measure of bad luck. We have all commented on how many hard hit (high EV, well above 100 mph) with stupidly high xBA balls we have hit for outs. We lead the AL in xBA and are 3rd in xSLG. 4th in hard hit %. It's there. We hit plenty of hard hit balls.
But if you look at the player level instead of team level you can see the issues.
We have 4 of 9 players taking a lot of AB who are basically awful. We all know about Abreu. He was effectively the worst ML hitter in the league and he was playing almost every day. Ok. He's gone and replaced with Big Jon who is better than average. Bregman is playing every day and he is in the lowest quartile. We all knew that. Chas and (don't hate me) Dubon are in the lowest 10% in a lot of areas.
We have a very bimodal team. 4 very good/elite players and 4 brutally bad ones. When the good ones get on, the bad one's strand them. And the bad ones don't get on for the good ones to do anything with.
We have no real team speed and can't be aggressive. Having Yordan in front of Tucker has limited Kyle's opportunities to steal. Pena is elite sprinting but it doesn't translate to SB. Same with Jake.
1-10 in 1 run games and all the Manfredball loses are measures of bad luck. Fix the issues with what should be the strength of the team in Abreu-Press-Hader and the record flips to .500 immediately. If you want to point fingers that's where you point them. Those 3 have absolutely killed this team.
Fix the back of the pen and you have a chance to correct things. Flip the luck with the bats and you can correct things.
When a team is top 1/3 in BA, OBA, SLG, wRC+, k% you shouldn't be 11 games under .500. Forget the pitching, those offensive stats don't match the record.
We are 10th in BABIP, so that's some measure of bad luck. We have all commented on how many hard hit (high EV, well above 100 mph) with stupidly high xBA balls we have hit for outs. We lead the AL in xBA and are 3rd in xSLG. 4th in hard hit %. It's there. We hit plenty of hard hit balls.
But if you look at the player level instead of team level you can see the issues.
We have 4 of 9 players taking a lot of AB who are basically awful. We all know about Abreu. He was effectively the worst ML hitter in the league and he was playing almost every day. Ok. He's gone and replaced with Big Jon who is better than average. Bregman is playing every day and he is in the lowest quartile. We all knew that. Chas and (don't hate me) Dubon are in the lowest 10% in a lot of areas.
We have a very bimodal team. 4 very good/elite players and 4 brutally bad ones. When the good ones get on, the bad one's strand them. And the bad ones don't get on for the good ones to do anything with.
We have no real team speed and can't be aggressive. Having Yordan in front of Tucker has limited Kyle's opportunities to steal. Pena is elite sprinting but it doesn't translate to SB. Same with Jake.
1-10 in 1 run games and all the Manfredball loses are measures of bad luck. Fix the issues with what should be the strength of the team in Abreu-Press-Hader and the record flips to .500 immediately. If you want to point fingers that's where you point them. Those 3 have absolutely killed this team.
Fix the back of the pen and you have a chance to correct things. Flip the luck with the bats and you can correct things.
Dude
It's over this year
Enjoy the extra time for other hobbies this summer / fall and we will try again in 2025
It's over this year
Enjoy the extra time for other hobbies this summer / fall and we will try again in 2025
I wonder how demoralizing it is for this team knowing that they would be around .500 right now despite all the issues if the back end of the bullpen just did its job.
I get it's annoying to hear but you'd rather their expected average is higher than showing, "Hey no this guy just sucks". It means they are at least making quality contact.tjack16 said:Ag_07 said:
I think Salisbury nailed this morning on 790. He said there are way too many people in this organization who are too comfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
They also said screw the "expected" outcomes because the expected ain't happening right now
That's exactly how I feel. If a guy is hitting .200 but his "expected average is .290"… he's still a .200 hitter
texasaggie2015 said:
I will say, I did have a conversation with one of my people last night. They mentioned complacency- which is what some of you mentioned on this thread already. I think there's a lot of truth to that.
Some of us banged this drum repeatedly, only to be told that we were panicky little girls and had no wherewithal or real baseball knowledge about the ebbs and flows of how baseball really worked. There is never a smoking gun, but there is always anecdotal evidence. You don't want players acting like little brats who throw temper tantrums when they don't get their way, but maybe someone could exhibit one ounce of frustration or anger in a month-long suck marathon? Slam a bat or helmet down after stranding your 7,000th runner. Maybe someone could imitate Carlos Correa and call time to tell a struggling pitcher to man up? How about Espada show everyone he has a pulse and at least argue a bad call with a tiny display of emotion? None of those things have occurred. This team just rolls over and takes it.
I get that guys have bad stretches, but this team seemed DOA out of West Palm. Not a single dog on that team, and not enough youth to spread any enthusiasm.
I love Texas Aggie sports, but I love Texas A&M more.
cc10106 said:
I wonder how demoralizing it is for this team knowing that they would be around .500 right now despite all the issues if the back end of the bullpen just did its job.
Professional athletes are wired differently.
I can almost guarantee position players are not thinking that way and instead thinking 'Man if I could just get right at the plate and get back to hitting with RISP the back end wouldn't have to be perfect and we'd be .500 easily'.
Or at least that's how they SHOULD be thinking instead of just pointing fingers.
MaxPower said:I get it's annoying to hear but you'd rather their expected average is higher than showing, "Hey no this guy just sucks". It means they are at least making quality contact.tjack16 said:Ag_07 said:
I think Salisbury nailed this morning on 790. He said there are way too many people in this organization who are too comfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
They also said screw the "expected" outcomes because the expected ain't happening right now
That's exactly how I feel. If a guy is hitting .200 but his "expected average is .290"… he's still a .200 hitter
I agree with that, but at a certain point if the guy isn't producing you can't fall back on "well his expected outcome was ____"
Espada needs to get Bregman out of the 4 hole. He's killing the scoring opportunities. He's not awful at 2 because he still walks enough to get on. But he can't hit to drive in Miss Daisy. He either needs to hit in the 2 spot or frankly 7/8. Pena hits but his whiff% and low BB% is a bad combo in the 2 spot.
Espada needs to rethink his lineup and that means telling Bregman to suck it up and move down and try and maximize his scoring opportunities at the top end of the lineup.
Espada needs to rethink his lineup and that means telling Bregman to suck it up and move down and try and maximize his scoring opportunities at the top end of the lineup.
To your point, I think complacency is a byproduct of missing leadership. We have had a lot of leaders over the years, so we could lose any one of them, but at some point there aren't any left. This may be another concern with extending Tucker. Is he a leader on the team? He doesn't have to be but you'd feel much more comfortable handing out that kind of cash if he was.
The front office is another problem. We have all these part time guys (Bagwell, Biggio, Reggie) plus Crane (who can't possibly have the time to be involved day to day) and a GM with no power. There's no person who both has a pulse on the front office AND the power to drive change. It's a bad situation.
The front office is another problem. We have all these part time guys (Bagwell, Biggio, Reggie) plus Crane (who can't possibly have the time to be involved day to day) and a GM with no power. There's no person who both has a pulse on the front office AND the power to drive change. It's a bad situation.
See, I'm not sure I completely agree with this but I could also be mixing some context.
If a hitter is struggling but his expected batting average is .300, that tells me he's doing his job. He's hitting the ball hard and that's really the only thing he can control. I never played pro ball but I remember being taught that if you hit the ball hard and it finds a glove- you were successful. Eventually those will turn into hits.
I think expected outcome is valuable when differentiating a slump versus being unfortunate.
Again, I could be missing some context here. Judging by the eye test alone, I don't think most of these guys have been unfortunate. They've just looked off and some have looked lost. Plain and simple.
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
If a hitter is struggling but his expected batting average is .300, that tells me he's doing his job. He's hitting the ball hard and that's really the only thing he can control. I never played pro ball but I remember being taught that if you hit the ball hard and it finds a glove- you were successful. Eventually those will turn into hits.
I think expected outcome is valuable when differentiating a slump versus being unfortunate.
Again, I could be missing some context here. Judging by the eye test alone, I don't think most of these guys have been unfortunate. They've just looked off and some have looked lost. Plain and simple.
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
Your stats are your stats. It's more about trying to predict where things are going. You would expect a guy with a .300 expected avg who is batting .200 to start getting more hits going forward than a guy with an expected avg of .200 with a .200 avg.
Expected stats were some of what Luhnow and Click were using. They saw Montero, Morton, and Cole as guys who were expected to have better stats that weren't getting results.
Expected stats were some of what Luhnow and Click were using. They saw Montero, Morton, and Cole as guys who were expected to have better stats that weren't getting results.
I think everybody has been saying this one way or another, and if you look back at last year you can pretty much see the same thing towards the end of the season. Every year even teams that win the 'ship they make offseason moves, this team didn't. That was a big red flag right there.Ag_07 said:
I think Salisbury nailed this morning on 790. He said there are way too many people in this organization who are too comfortable.
From the coaching staff, to players, to front office. No one seems to have any urgency or drive. They all think they can just show up and be the Astros.
I don't think we need a fire sale but we need a shake-up of some sort. Something to get everyone uncomfortable.
But what do they do now? Ride it out, make moves, shake it up? This will be interesting cus even with talent alone and the crappy division they're in, they still have a shot!
Sure but we're all human, even pro baseball players. Obviously "demoralizing" is an exaggeration especially with the marathon that is an MLB season.Ag_07 said:cc10106 said:
I wonder how demoralizing it is for this team knowing that they would be around .500 right now despite all the issues if the back end of the bullpen just did its job.
Professional athletes are wired differently.
I can almost guarantee position players are not thinking that way and instead thinking 'Man if I could just get right at the plate and get back to hitting with RISP the back end wouldn't have to be perfect and we'd be .500 easily'.
Or at least that's how they SHOULD be thinking instead of just pointing fingers.
Regardless, we have 3 premium pitchers in Montero, Pressly, and Hader that need to do better. Obviously Abreu as well regardless of his pay. This is the part of the team that was supposed to be the most dependable, and in some ways it starts with them.
This to me is Breg's biggest issue. Great eye at the plate but the contact is off. Add in all the other things going on with him this year, he has an uphill battle. His goal was a big contract and every at bat chips away at that yearly amount.texasaggie2015 said:
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
Bregman needs to admit his approach and personal hitting guy are his problem. Find someone else to try something different. Golfers change swing coaches all the time to rework things. Hell Tiger did it three times, once after winning everything and being the best in the world. You also have to be willing to trust the hitting coach and do what they say. He's too invested in his own ideas.n_touch said:This to me is Breg's biggest issue. Great eye at the plate but the contact is off. Add in all the other things going on with him this year, he has an uphill battle. His goal was a big contract and every at bat chips away at that yearly amount.texasaggie2015 said:
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
Is that what our hitting coaches are for? I really don't know their every day duties, what exactly do they do?Mathguy64 said:Bregman needs to admit his approach and personal hitting guy are his problem. Find someone else to try something different. Golfers change swing coaches all the time to rework things. Hell Tiger did it three times, once after winning everything and being the best in the world. You also have to be willing to trust the hitting coach and do what they say. He's too invested in his own ideas.n_touch said:This to me is Breg's biggest issue. Great eye at the plate but the contact is off. Add in all the other things going on with him this year, he has an uphill battle. His goal was a big contract and every at bat chips away at that yearly amount.texasaggie2015 said:
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
Not much apparently._veeyah_ said:Is that what our hitting coaches are for? I really don't know their every day duties, what exactly do they do?Mathguy64 said:Bregman needs to admit his approach and personal hitting guy are his problem. Find someone else to try something different. Golfers change swing coaches all the time to rework things. Hell Tiger did it three times, once after winning everything and being the best in the world. You also have to be willing to trust the hitting coach and do what they say. He's too invested in his own ideas.n_touch said:This to me is Breg's biggest issue. Great eye at the plate but the contact is off. Add in all the other things going on with him this year, he has an uphill battle. His goal was a big contract and every at bat chips away at that yearly amount.texasaggie2015 said:
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
As a senior leader on the team, I would expect Bregman to recognize how much he is killing our run scoring opportunities hitting behind Yordan, and approach Espada about being moved down in the lineup.Mathguy64 said:Bregman needs to admit his approach and personal hitting guy are his problem. Find someone else to try something different. Golfers change swing coaches all the time to rework things. Hell Tiger did it three times, once after winning everything and being the best in the world. You also have to be willing to trust the hitting coach and do what they say. He's too invested in his own ideas.n_touch said:This to me is Breg's biggest issue. Great eye at the plate but the contact is off. Add in all the other things going on with him this year, he has an uphill battle. His goal was a big contract and every at bat chips away at that yearly amount.texasaggie2015 said:
So much of baseball is mental and I think a lot of the struggles we're seeing are the results of pressing. That's no excuse obviously- just my two cents.
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