Beau Holder said:

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tjack16 said:

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Cam smith finally heating up…. And gets a day off

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He's already way way past the highest number of games he's ever played in a season. If they don't find ways to let him refresh, he won't be hot for any helpful length of time.

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I know but it's just one of those things we've seen the last few years where a guy finally hits a HR, or has a big game and then sees the bench and cools back off. Just seems like the timing sucks

Sousa quietly has 4 saves

Not necessarily. Lots of minor things need a few days of rest no matter what the division lead looks like.

Phrasing said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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I'll say it again... Turn Blubaugh into a late inning reliever.

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THIS!!! This isn't hard. Why bring up Gordon instead of Blubaugh? I know he's a lefty but still

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Because he threw 6 innings 2 days ago. He's no good to us this series.

tjack16 said:

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Beau Holder said:

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tjack16 said:

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Cam smith finally heating up…. And gets a day off

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He's already way way past the highest number of games he's ever played in a season. If they don't find ways to let him refresh, he won't be hot for any helpful length of time.

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I know but it's just one of those things we've seen the last few years where a guy finally hits a HR, or has a big game and then sees the bench and cools back off. Just seems like the timing sucks

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Or he plays and cools off. Or he comes back and stays hot.

at least Joe kept Urias in the lineup

after his 3 hits yesterday

texasaggie2015 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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If Hader even needed a few more days of rest, it still makes sense to put him on the IL. We can't manage being an arm down right now and extra precaution if the way to go with a 95 M dollar closer. Let's wait and see what Espada and crew have to say before we jump to worst-case scenarios. Plenty of pitchers have had quick IL stints with shoulder issues and plenty have not.

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This. The IL stint was pretty much inevitable no matter what the outcome was.

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It's a long season -- Hader has been used a ton. Get him on the IL -- let him rest up for the final push.

I wonder if this truly is a strain or some positioning to get him a little rest before we battle some division foes.

And -- it's unfortunate that Neris got DFA'd, but kudos to the Astros for letting him reach 10 years of service to get benefits.

Sousa has been the road extra inning save getter since we've actually been winning a fair clip of them

I think we can mostly survive 2-3 weeks with Abreu closing and, presumably, Sousa setting up. Everything before the 8th inning is the big concern with quality bullpen depth drying up.

Need the bats bigly again tonight for Spaghetti.

Bats show up and we will be okay without Hader. Luckily 7 against the orioles during that stretch should help (if we play to our potential)

Hopefully Spaghetti can limit the number of hits allowed to single digits this time

GigEmMortis said:

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Hopefully Spaghetti can limit the number of hits allowed to single digits this time

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I think he will bounce back and give us something similar to what Javier gave us last night

Prosperdick said:

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So what are we thinking will be the announcement for Hader. My guess is shoulder inflammation and he's put on the 10 day DL and we pray that he's fine afterwards. I think that's BEST CASE right now.

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I was only 5 days off on my prediction...well 4 since it was retroactive to yesterday.

Gandalf the Maroon said:

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Ag_07 said:

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BadAggie said:

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Ohtani is one crooked SOB

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This. He's not as squeaky clean as he seems. Dude's name keeps popping up in shady shlt.

I don't know how much he's involved directly but with all the smoke there's bound to be a fire somewhere.

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Agreed, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one doing the gambling instead of his interpreter. He and the MLB offer the guy some sort of deal to take the fall so that one of the games biggest stars doesn't get in trouble. Wouldn't put something like that past any pro sports league. Not saying I believe it, but I wouldn't be shocked at all.

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Wouldn't be surprised? That's exactly what happened and everyone knows it. Media and mlb just won't say anything so they can protect the golden goose.

Beau Holder said:

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tjack16 said:

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Cam smith finally heating up…. And gets a day off

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He's already way way past the highest number of games he's ever played in a season. If they don't find ways to let him refresh, he won't be hot for any helpful length of time.

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That's certainly the hope for his struggles, that as a position player 100 or so games were too much at his age. Of course he fell off a cliff at around 60 games.

Carlos broke in in 2015 at age 21 and played 99 games at 135 OPS+. The main reason most (good) rookies don't play the full season is because clubs are gaming their service time.

Plus with Sanchez on the roster Joe actually has someone to platoon RF. Especially with how Sanchez hits RHP.

This is Josh Hader’s first trip to the injured list in his nine-year major-league career. (He did go to the COVID IL for 10 days in Aug. 2021) - https://t.co/fJAS9uBZaL

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 12, 2025

That's wild...first IL trip

another aspect of Hader's trip to the IL...

Altuve has to stay at DH

can't pull him for defense in the 8th / 9th inning with a shaky bullpen

might need his bat in the 9th / 10th inning to win

EastCoastAgNc said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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If Hader even needed a few more days of rest, it still makes sense to put him on the IL. We can't manage being an arm down right now and extra precaution if the way to go with a 95 M dollar closer. Let's wait and see what Espada and crew have to say before we jump to worst-case scenarios. Plenty of pitchers have had quick IL stints with shoulder issues and plenty have not.

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This. The IL stint was pretty much inevitable no matter what the outcome was.

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Any traction on bringing Pressley back?

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I sincerely hope they do not bring Pressly back. He's bad. He has a bit better ERA, but he and Neris are in the same ballpark on WHIP.

I do not get wanting Pressly back. Garcia in the BP would be an exponentially better option.

Yordan Alvarez is tentatively scheduled to take live batting practice this weekend, Joe Espada said.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) August 12, 2025

This weekend? Tentatively?

B-Rabbit said:

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This weekend? Tentatively?

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Unfortunately not just tentatively scheduled, but probably how he'd bat as well.

linkdude said:

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Yordan Alvarez is tentatively scheduled to take live batting practice this weekend, Joe Espada said.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) August 12, 2025

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There it is!! That's the good news Joe was referring to. Tentatively!! Can't get any better than that.

Joe Espada called Josh Hader’s placement on the injured list a “punch to the gut.” Hader is seeing doctors and receiving additional tests, so the team is still unsure of the severity of his shoulder strain or a timeline for his return.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 12, 2025

That sounds bad

Luis Garcia will pitch for Triple-A Sugar Land tomorrow. Lance McCullers Jr. will pitch for the Space Cowboys on Friday.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 12, 2025

As if news couldn't get any worse...Lance might be back soon

So the good news on Hader is we don't have clue what's wrong and it could be worse than expected.

WTF!?!?!

Joe needs to take some PR classes at HCC this offseason.

Ag_07 said:

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So the good news on Hader is we don't have clue what's wrong and it could be worse than expected.

WTF!?!?!

Joe needs to take some PR classes at HCC this offseason.

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What would be the worst class to take…

1. Sharing injury news and giving proper diagnosis timelines. Taught by the Astros front office/med staff/Espada

2. Answering tough press conference questions and how to leave a job with class. Taught by Jim Schlossnagle

3. How to lay off the outside slider. Taught by Yainer Diaz

4. How to live up to your contract. Taught by 2024 Jose Abreu with guest professor Anthony Rendon

5. How to navigate November. Taught by Kevin Sumlin

6. How to beat the Astros in the playoffs. Taught by Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge

Joe needs to shut up. He's not helping if he's just speculating without medical knowledge. Disaster-level messaging from him today, twice.

RED AG 98 said:

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Joe needs to shut up. He's not helping if he's just speculating without medical knowledge. Disaster-level messaging from him today, twice.

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I'm his Jesus availability, he said de Los Santos might get more leverage innings. A guy with an ERA above 4 this year. We are truly screwed.

Javier comes off the shelf with the start last night. Yeah, Yordan taking actual BP instead of tee ball and soft tosses. Chas of all people jacking one last night. All deadline acquisitions performing well. Rest of the MASH unit nearing a return.

superaggie73 said:

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linkdude said:

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Yordan Alvarez is tentatively scheduled to take live batting practice this weekend, Joe Espada said.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) August 12, 2025

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There it is!! That's the good news Joe was referring to. Tentatively!! Can't get any better than that.

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Then after he reports the boo-boo is still there the next day, we can begin the cycle again.

Farmer1906 said:

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GigEmMortis said:

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Quote:

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Glad to have him back with hindsight of course but it still does make 2026 a tricky fit

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Very true. But it could also be a great way to rotate Correa/Pena/Paredes between SS and 3B and give guys days where they can be DH and give them a lighter work load from time to time.

Once Yordan comes back, you can rotate Altuve/Yordan between LF/DH, and you can also have days where Yordan plays LF, Altuve plays 2B, and you can DH one of Pena/Paredes/Correa. What will be interesting is when you DH one of Altuve/Yordan and the other plays LF, who will own 2B out of Paredes/Correa/Pena? My gut says Paredes, but I don't really know.

It's tricky, but it's a good problem to have. All of this is assuming that all of those guys will come back healthy and ready for 2026, of course.

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I think you make it work like this if you assume no major injuries:

1B: Walker (75%) + Paredes (25%)
2B: Altuve (50%) + Dubon/Urias(50%)
SS: Pena (90%) + Correa (10%)
3B: Correa (75%) + Paredes (25%)
LF: Altuve (30%) + Alvarez (15%) + Sanchez/McCormick/Trammell (55%)
DH: Alvarez (65%) + Paredes (25%) + Altuve (5%) + Walker (5%)

Walker - 80% (130 games)
Altuve - 85% (138 games)
Pena - 90% (146 games)
Correa - 80% (130 games)
Alvarez - 80% (130 games)
Paredes - 75% (122 games)

That leaves Meyers in CF, Cam in RF, & Diaz at C. With Sanchez, Urias, Dubon, Trammell, and whoever we get to replace Caratini on the bench / sharing those positions.

Odds are someone is going to get hurt and you can get these %s even higher for the rest. That would be a pretty damn stacked 1 thru 9.

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I didn't realize you were trolling until I saw you had Alvarez scheduled for 130 games

Re service time for Nervis can't they just bring him back in September when rosters expand so 'the locker room' doesn't think he got hosed?

tjack16 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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So the good news on Hader is we don't have clue what's wrong and it could be worse than expected.

WTF!?!?!

Joe needs to take some PR classes at HCC this offseason.

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What would be the worst class to take…

1. Sharing injury news and giving proper diagnosis timelines. Taught by the Astros front office/med staff/Espada

2. Answering tough press conference questions and how to leave a job with class. Taught by Jim Schlossnagle

3. How to lay off the outside slider. Taught by Yainer Diaz

4. How to live up to your contract. Taught by 2024 Jose Abreu with guest professor Anthony Rendon

5. How to navigate November. Taught by Kevin Sumlin

6. How to beat the Astros in the playoffs. Taught by Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge

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7. How to matriculate the football down the field in playoff games and consistently win them. Taught by Dak Prescott

And I'm a Cowboys fan.