Please let it not be another injury

Damn Chas got hot and they aren't gonna give him the chance to see it through

Beat40 said:

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Hey boys - a little break from the Astros for this post.

My nephew's little league team from Richmond won the Southwest region and play their Game 1 of the tourney tonight at 6:00pm on ESPN.

This is also cool for those boys:

Bring home the gold!

Good luck to our friends in the @LittleLeague Baseball World Series! pic.twitter.com/Iyu7pAv4qO

— Houston Astros (@astros) August 13, 2025

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Congrats, man! In the late 90s when I was in the news business I followed a team to this level of competition; they came up a game short of the LLWS. Really fun stuff, although the psycho parents at that level are really, really something. Including my all-time favorite dad line yelled from the stands by a parent from another team,

"Steven, if you're not going to try throwing that slider for strikes, you can forget Dairy Queen on the way home."

Drunken Overseas Bettor said:

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Beat40 said:

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Hey boys - a little break from the Astros for this post.

My nephew's little league team from Richmond won the Southwest region and play their Game 1 of the tourney tonight at 6:00pm on ESPN.

This is also cool for those boys:

Bring home the gold!

Good luck to our friends in the @LittleLeague Baseball World Series! pic.twitter.com/Iyu7pAv4qO

— Houston Astros (@astros) August 13, 2025

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Congrats, man! In the late 90s when I was in the news business I followed a team to this level of competition; they came up a game short of the LLWS. Really fun stuff, although the psycho parents at that level are really, really something. Including my all-time favorite dad line yelled from the stands by a parent from another team,

"Steven, if you're not going to try throwing that slider for strikes, you can forget Dairy Queen on the way home."

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Shoot, that would've turned me into an ace real quick.

Things I'm optimistic about

Spaghettii pitched well overall despite the 5 walks. The 2 runs were fluky, and once they came in, momentum shifted. He and Javier will both keep improving.
I really like Melton. Strong plate discipline, great strength, and I can see him becoming an everyday player. Went 1-for-4 last night and worked several long at-bats.
Dubin's return is a plus. First game back from injury, velocity is there, just needs rhythm. Once locked in, he'll be a solid bullpen piece.
Walker has been playing better, especially since Correa's return. Encouraging trend. If he stays consistent once Alvarez returns...watch out.

What I want to see

McCullers in the bullpen soon so we can see how the full relief rotation shapes up.
Better catcher defense. Opponents run at will, and passed balls happen too often.
Smarter situational hitting. Correa recently went opposite field to move a runnerwant more of that approach from the lineup.

Strategy said:

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Correa recently went opposite field to move a runnerwant more of that approach from the lineup.

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I just don't think our hitters are disciplined enough or mindful enough of the situational aspects of hitting to consistently do that. We will have a game where the hitters are very patient, work long counts, go oppo with pitches thrown on the outside edge and we crush it and win easily. And then with that success fresh in their minds, we go back to 7-10 days of swinging at the first pitch, trying to pull everything, and score 1-2 runs per game like the success from the other approach never happened.

My hope is that Correa is willing to step up and call guys out on it.

I can't be the only one who thinks Lance in the BP would be a complete disaster.

The dude can't stay healthy when he has 4 days between appearances to recover and prepare. Now we expect him to be ready at moments notice?

Yes I know he did it in 2017 and sat down every Yankee multiple times over, but that was 8 years ago.

I have been wrong before but that just doesn't seem like a viable fit both for health (physical and mental) and effectiveness.

Strategy said:

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Things I'm optimistic about

Spaghettii pitched well overall despite the 5 walks. The 2 runs were fluky, and once they came in, momentum shifted. He and Javier will both keep improving.
I really like Melton. Strong plate discipline, great strength, and I can see him becoming an everyday player. Went 1-for-4 last night and worked several long at-bats.
Dubin's return is a plus. First game back from injury, velocity is there, just needs rhythm. Once locked in, he'll be a solid bullpen piece.
Walker has been playing better, especially since Correa's return. Encouraging trend. If he stays consistent once Alvarez returns...watch out.

What I want to see

McCullers in the bullpen soon so we can see how the full relief rotation shapes up.
Better catcher defense. Opponents run at will, and passed balls happen too often.
Smarter situational hitting. Correa recently went opposite field to move a runnerwant more of that approach from the lineup.

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I hope it works out, but I do not share your optimism re: Alvarez anymore. IMO and FWIW the fans have really been let down by that situation, but props to Crane for stepping up and spending some money to bring CC back.

Walker and Diaz are the keys for me with the offense. If they hit well this team can get by without Yordan.

Ag_07 said:

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I can't be the only one who thinks Lance in the BP would be a complete disaster.

The dude can't stay healthy when he has 4 days between appearances to recover and prepare. Now we expect him to be ready at moments notice?

Yes I know he did it in 2017 and sat down every Yankee multiple times over, but that was 8 years ago.

I have been wrong before but that just doesn't seem like a viable fit both for health (physical and mental) and effectiveness.

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It could be, but generally pitchers have an easier job staying healthy out of the pen versus starting. For example, way more starters have TJ surgery than relievers. It's just a different level of stress put on your arm being asked to throw 100 pitches per outing versus 10-25.

Ag_07 said:

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I can't be the only one who thinks Lance in the BP would be a complete disaster.

The dude can't stay healthy when he has 4 days between appearances to recover and prepare. Now we expect him to be ready at moments notice?

Yes I know he did it in 2017 and sat down every Yankee multiple times over, but that was 8 years ago.

I have been wrong before but that just doesn't seem like a viable fit both for health (physical and mental) and effectiveness.

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Not to mention it feels like Lance often runs into his greatest difficulty in the early innings of his outings. Put him in a bullpen role where all he gets is 1 inning, he doesnt have the luxury of settling into the game.

I just dont see it either

He's going to have to adapt or die. I don't see him as a starter any longer.

Quo Vadis? said:

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wehnerhigh20 said:

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Has there been any update on Jake? I know they said he was running on a flat surface this past weekend.

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They showed a clip of him doing resistance band sprints in Florida. His hair was perfect

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He was wearing a backwards baseball cap!

I say piggy back LMJ and Garcia

Well, *****

Josh Hader is seeking a second opinion on his left shoulder strain, manager Joe Espada said. Espada declined any further comment on the situation in order to “give Josh his space” as he seeks the second opinion.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 13, 2025

Astros manager Joe Espada said Josh Hader is seeking a second opinion for his shoulder strain, but there’s no word on what the first opinion said.

“This is going to take a little bit longer than the two weeks,” he said.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 13, 2025

Ag_07 said:

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I can't be the only one who thinks Lance in the BP would be a complete disaster.

The dude can't stay healthy when he has 4 days between appearances to recover and prepare. Now we expect him to be ready at moments notice?

Yes I know he did it in 2017 and sat down every Yankee multiple times over, but that was 8 years ago.

I have been wrong before but that just doesn't seem like a viable fit both for health (physical and mental) and effectiveness.

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Lance and Spencer would be a perfect tandem. Give them each 3-3.2 IP.

I'm afraid that's too creative.

'Give Josh his space...'

WTF is his career over?

Yeah, we definitely need to go bargain bin shopping for a reliever right now. There has to be somebody who's been DFA that has a little potential.

There it is, it's over boys....

My point being that just because he throws less pitches doesn't mean it's better for him.

And yeah a tandem start would be a good idea. where at least he knows 'Hey you're coming in in the top of the 4th'.

That seems more reasonable than 'Go when the phone rings'.

wehnerhigh20 said:

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Damn Chas got hot and they aren't gonna give him the chance to see it through

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He needs rest from his pitching appearance. Chas Ohtani needs his rest.

Second opinion is never a great sign.

I'm no doctor, but sounds like he's done for the year. Didn't he warm up Sunday? Wtf happened?

tjack16 said:

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Yeah, we definitely need to go bargain bin shopping for a reliever right now. There has to be somebody who's been DFA that has a little potential.

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Oh there is

He hasn't been good but I don't see a situation in which they don't add Pressly.

And GDit...As soon as we get a major league level lineup and get some bodies back for the rotation the BP goes to complete shlt.

That's the most 2025 Astros thing ever.

Ag_07 said:

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He hasn't been good but I don't see a situation in which they don't add Pressly.

And GDit...As soon as we get a major league level lineup and get some bodies back for the rotation the BP goes to complete shlt.

That's the most 2025 Astros thing ever.

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I hope they leave Pressly alone. He's not much better than Neris and the Astros released him.

Ag_07 said:

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He hasn't been good but I don't see a situation in which they don't add Pressly.

And GDit...As soon as we get a major league level lineup and get some bodies back for the rotation the BP goes to complete shlt.

That's the most 2025 Astros thing ever.

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Why's that?

It's ultimately up to Murphy and Miller - as is the case with almost all pitching acquisitions. But I haven't been told anything that other than if those guys want him they'll get him.

I actually don't hate the idea of Abreu in the closer role. He has the stuff for it. Just need to find a replacement for the 8th inning spot.

CFTXAG10 said:

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I actually don't hate the idea of Abreu in the closer role. He has the stuff for it. Just need to find a replacement for the 8th inning spot.

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I like Sousa in that spot.

Beat40 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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He hasn't been good but I don't see a situation in which they don't add Pressly.

And GDit...As soon as we get a major league level lineup and get some bodies back for the rotation the BP goes to complete shlt.

That's the most 2025 Astros thing ever.

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I hope they leave Pressly alone. He's not much better than Neris and the Astros released him.

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He's significantly better than Neris

ruxin98 said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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I actually don't hate the idea of Abreu in the closer role. He has the stuff for it. Just need to find a replacement for the 8th inning spot.

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I like Sousa in that spot.

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Eventually with Garcia coming back, if he looks good and CJ is still looking good, we will have to decide between Arighetti and Alexander as the 5th starter. Given their recent outings, I would pick Alexander for that role, leaving Arighetti to be the guy who can give you several innings to bridge from an opener to the setup/closer roles.

This makes me all the more frustrated that we didn't swoop in and pick up David Robertson before Philly. It was one thing when we were trying to stay under the luxury tax, but once we knew we were going over, it would have been some smart, relatively free back-end-of-the-pen experience.

To me, this increases the need to gamble and give Blubaugh or even Ullola a shot at breaking into the bigs as a RP to start off (not that they have to be pigeonholed long-term). We need to find some strikeout ability to inject. And we should absolutely plan for Garcia to be in pen when he returns.

You now have a postseason rotation of Framber-Brown-Javier-Arrighetti. Garcia, Walter, McCullers, etc. all need to get bullpen looks. Alexander and Gordon can hold down the 5 spot of the rotation for the remainder of the season.

Can Dubon close?

SpaceCityAg05 said:

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This makes me all the more frustrated that we didn't swoop in and pick up David Robertson before Philly. It was one thing when we were trying to stay under the luxury tax, but once we knew we were going over, it would have been some smart, relatively free back-end-of-the-pen experience.

To me, this increases the need to gamble and give Blubaugh or even Ullola a shot at breaking into the bigs as a RP to start off (not that they have to be pigeonholed long-term). We need to find some strikeout ability to inject. And we should absolutely plan for Garcia to be in pen when he returns.

You now have a postseason rotation of Framber-Brown-Javier-Arrighetti. Garcia, Walter, McCullers, etc. all need to get bullpen looks. Alexander and Gordon can hold down the 5 spot of the rotation for the remainder of the season.

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What has Arrighetti shown you since his return that would make you ready to give him that last spot in the playoff rotation?

In two outings in August, Alexander has 12.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, and 9 K

In two outings in August, Arrighetti has 8.2 IP, 12 H, 7 ER, 6 BB, and 8 K

Really good changeups play big in the post season. Hitters are amped up

No doubt if the postseason were starting today, I would not automatically give Arrighetti that spot. I am doing so out of projection. I have zero reason to believe he will not be the best option after another month of action - he is not coming off of arm surgery, so he should be good to go once he is broken back in.

Now if Alexander is still miraculously throwing up zeroes for another 8 consecutive outings, maybe we have a different conversation. But I am merely projecting on expectations.