gigem1223 said:

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Tksymm7 said:

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The only reason I don't list Huff is because I think we all know what he is at this point in his career.

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Do we though?

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So far he is Crash Davis from Bull Durham.

Huff also optioned back down to AAA

Saw this nugget of info in the Scott Lucas email update from last night. The velo drop may have been why there was a delay in bringing him back up? 96 is plenty of velo if you can locate it and throw multiple pitches for strikes though. We will find out soon enough how it fares at the MLB level, but we had to try something different for another bullpen option and he is the best option available at the moment.

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The Space Cowboys swung at seven Jonathan Hernandez sliders and two changes. All were swinging strikes. Hernandez's velocity remains diminished, topping at 96.2 MPH yesterday in contrast to last year's average velocity of 97.7. The lack of velocity is a concern, but he's been effective most of the time.

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KT 90 said:

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Saw this nugget of info in the Scott Lucas email update from last night. The velo drop may have been why there was a delay in bringing him back up? 96 is plenty of velo if you can locate it and throw multiple pitches for strikes though. We will find out soon enough how it fares at the MLB level, but we had to try something different for another bullpen option and he is the best option available at the moment.

Quote:

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The Space Cowboys swung at seven Jonathan Hernandez sliders and two changes. All were swinging strikes. Hernandez's velocity remains diminished, topping at 96.2 MPH yesterday in contrast to last year's average velocity of 97.7. The lack of velocity is a concern, but he's been effective most of the time.

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96 is plenty, especially with as much run as he can put on a fastball, but a drop in velo is also a major indicator of an injury or something not being right, especially when you are used to sitting 98 and are now sitting 96. I assume he says he's fine or he wouldn't be on his way up, but definitely something to keep an eye one.

Logan Gilbert on the mound tonight vs. Dane Dunning. Gilbert is sporting a 0.78 whip and only 4 BB's in 27 innings. Impressive. Hopefully our bats are ready to go tonight.

Like you would expect, the Mariners pitching staff is overall very good. They rank very highly as a staff in a lot of categories such as BB/9, SO/9, ERA and runs given up, and they are led by Logan Gilbert at the moment (because of course they are and he's pitching against us.

On the flip side, their offense is pretty mediocre. They rank bottom five to ten in quite a few offensive categories such as BA, OPS, OPS+, RBIs, HRs etc.

KT 90 said:

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Saw this nugget of info in the Scott Lucas email update from last night. The velo drop may have been why there was a delay in bringing him back up? 96 is plenty of velo if you can locate it and throw multiple pitches for strikes though. We will find out soon enough how it fares at the MLB level, but we had to try something different for another bullpen option and he is the best option available at the moment.

Quote:

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The Space Cowboys swung at seven Jonathan Hernandez sliders and two changes. All were swinging strikes. Hernandez's velocity remains diminished, topping at 96.2 MPH yesterday in contrast to last year's average velocity of 97.7. The lack of velocity is a concern, but he's been effective most of the time.

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I don't want to look like I'm confusing 2 different things. If his avg Velo was down from 97.7 to 96.2, it might be intentional backing off a bit from max-effort. The 96.2 is what he topped out at. It too, could be intentional, but suggests an avg Velo of less than that.

It will be interesting to see if that drop in Velo was not wanting to waste it in the minors, or an intentional change in approach. Could be a mechanical change that puts less stress on his arm. OR... it very well could be an injury looming.

That's funny. I hadn't noticed the similarities yet.

And on a side note, I get the giggles hearing how pissed off Texan fans are about that new helmet. It really is God awful.

South Platte said:

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I don't complain about umpire calls or want robot umps, but Hunter Wendelstedt needs to be suspended. He's lucky he's working 3B today.

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Oh I am full on, 100% on board with challenged calls in the very least. I'm fine with the robo umps if we go that way.

The union running interference for a guy like Angel Hernandez for years and then this year's umpiring almost begging for robo umps has me that way.

Flounder Dorfman said:

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South Platte said:

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I don't complain about umpire calls or want robot umps, but Hunter Wendelstedt needs to be suspended. He's lucky he's working 3B today.

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Oh I am full on, 100% on board with challenged calls in the very least. I'm fine with the robo umps if we go that way.

The union running interference for a guy like Angel Hernandez for years and then this year's umpiring almost begging for robo umps has me that way.

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I don't get excited about how umpires call balls and strikes. It's been win some lose some on that for 150 years. That seems like Angel's biggest weakness is an inconsistent strike zone.

It's the bullet-proof attitude these guys have that I hate. Like Joey Crawford in the NBA. Suspend or fine them until they get over themselves.

South Platte said:

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Flounder Dorfman said:

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South Platte said:

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I don't complain about umpire calls or want robot umps, but Hunter Wendelstedt needs to be suspended. He's lucky he's working 3B today.

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Oh I am full on, 100% on board with challenged calls in the very least. I'm fine with the robo umps if we go that way.

The union running interference for a guy like Angel Hernandez for years and then this year's umpiring almost begging for robo umps has me that way.

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I don't get excited about how umpires call balls and strikes. It's been win some lose some on that for 150 years. That seems like Angel's biggest weakness is an inconsistent strike zone.

It's the bullet-proof attitude these guys have that I hate. Like Joey Crawford in the NBA. Suspend or fine them until they get over themselves.

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True. The behavior from these umps and their arrogant, condescending attitudes because they know they're bulletproof is why I'm perfectly cool with the challenge system being implemented. There is no reason to have different strike zones depending on how the ump is calling it in this day and age.

Too many of these guys want to make the game about them instead of the players. The fact that we all know Angel Hernandez's name is not a good thing.

I'd really like to see us get some distance from the "field."

I think the Astros end up around 70Ws best case, right now. If we get too much distance, they likely have a fire sale and get some young/cheap talent. I think we need to have them close enough that they keep Bregman and Tucker.

They don't really have prospects to improve via call-up nor trade. They are at the CBT, so the owner would have to spend over if they add.

Astro's being 70W best case is crazy.

CowtownAg06 said:

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Astro's being 70W best case is crazy.

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They are 7-16 (.304). Based on that, they project 49Ws, so I'm projecting some improvement.

63-76 the rest of the way is what I'm projecting. Is that really crazy?!

They went 3-10 over 2 weeks in June last year and still won 90 games. Teams go through rough stretches. They just got Verlander back. They will get Framber, Garcia, Javier, McCullers, and Urquidy back. Bregman isn't going to be under .600 OPS all year. Abreu might actually be this bad. The bullpen can't be any worse.

At this point, I think they are close to .500 and out of the playoffs but there is a long way. My point is 70W as a best case is crazy. Even base case they'd be high 70s. Their O/U was 93.5. Let's say they were overvalued and they are an 88 win team from here on out, that's a .543 which would be 75 more wins and make them 82-80. That's right about were Bref has them (81-81) with a 26% chance to make they playoffs. The WORST case is 72-90 according to Bref projections.

68% called strike accuracy??? My word that is hilariously abominable...

DallasAg 94 said:

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I'd really like to see us get some distance from the "field."

I think the Astros end up around 70Ws best case, right now. If we get too much distance, they likely have a fire sale and get some young/cheap talent. I think we need to have them close enough that they keep Bregman and Tucker.

They don't really have prospects to improve via call-up nor trade. They are at the CBT, so the owner would have to spend over if they add.

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I think their front office and owner are too aggressive to just throw their hands up and trade everyone. They're still talking about "dynasties" and winning 8-10 in a row to get back in it down there.

Crane and Dana seem like these hardcore jocks who are going to play to win no matter what.

Honestly… I'd hate it if the Astros traded everyone and rebuilt their farm. I'd rather they go to it for another year or two then they have a 5-10 year rebuild like the one we just went through.

shack009 said:

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68% called strike accuracy??? My word that is hilariously abominable...

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One of us could walk in and do that well.

They should let him hit his way out of that slump

Semien 2B
Seager SS
Carter LF
Garcia RF
Lowe 1B
Smith 3B
Langford DH
Heim C
Taveras CF

Sooooo we just signed Johnny Cueto?

Tksymm7 said:

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Sooooo we just signed Johnny Cueto?

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But why