agdaddy04 said:

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linkdude said:

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Kai-Wei Teng will start for the Astros tomorrow against the Orioles.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 27, 2026

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No way he's already stretched out enough for that, right? More of an opener?

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Not much different that Weiss. If you get 3 innings it's a net plus.

if you can't get 6IP out of a normal starter, then trying to piecemeal is probably the way to go. For Weiss and others I wonder if the focus on stretching them out has had an adverse affect wrt quality vs quantity. Our team is functionally what the Rays have always been (obviously quality has been nowhere close) and they were a perennial playoff contender with 1-2 starters some years.

TLDR I think we need to step away from expectations of getting a ton of length (at least for this year) when all of our guys are injured anyway, if you can get 9 innings out of 3-4 pitchers, that will probably be more repeatable then guys getting tired in the 5th and imploding

"Fascinating" is one way to put it and not in the Spock way but more like watching a monkey fornicate with a football.

I had to ask Chandler Rome about the ragebait Astros trade q that got wayyy too much traction this month.

That said, 2 key dates this summer are going to be pretty interesting for Houston’s future…#ChaseTheFight | @Chandler_Rome pic.twitter.com/j3Diz0V6hT

— Paul Gallant (@GallantSays) April 27, 2026

agdaddy04 said:

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linkdude said:

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Kai-Wei Teng will start for the Astros tomorrow against the Orioles.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 27, 2026

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No way he's already stretched out enough for that, right? More of an opener?

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He's gone 2 or more innings and 30 or more pitches 5x this year. He's only on 2 days rest, so I would expect 2-3 innings at 30-40 pitches.

linkdude said:

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Kai-Wei Teng will start for the Astros tomorrow against the Orioles.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 27, 2026

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Wait, he was born in Asia, isn't he upset about what time the Astros eat dinner?

I just looked up this guys stats and he still sucks with the Brewers. What point are they trying to make? The good news is the Sox are distracting everyone from the sh@& show about to take place in Houston later this year.

The front office believed in David Hamilton despite trading him to the Brewers. When he returned to Fenway in April and played well, the FO began to question the coaching staff’s developmental process with young guys:

"Why do a lot of players go to other places and get better?… pic.twitter.com/GyC9kcheOh

— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) April 27, 2026

The point is they are trying to keep their jobs. Rolling that **** downhill.

Xavier Neyens last 11 games for the Woodpeckers:

.302 BA/.434 OBP/.535 SLG, 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 5 SB, 161 wRC+#Astros pic.twitter.com/w7lk3Dxr3j

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

Kevin Alvarez is the Astros Future player of the week. In four games for Fayetteville, the 18-year-old hit .412 with 4 XBHs and 3 RBI. #Astros pic.twitter.com/C1gjVRg7Lg

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

good news for Dana (or the next gm)

Here's my trade of the day, this time with the Pirates where you likely also have to send some money their way. You are probably familiar enough with Bubba Chandler. He's basically where HB was in 2023 with great stuff but still figuring it out. The main benefit is getting the extra control over HB and using this year to help him refine the art of pitching. Florentino you may not have heard of but he's very similar to where Yordan was as a 19 year old. The hit and power tools are both plus plus and the stats show it. Like Yordan, a position isn't clear but his primary position will be the batter's box.

Those guys (Neyens and Alvarez) look like something we could package for a mid #4-5 starter in his mid 30s with 3 years left on his contract.

/Dana

MaxPower said:

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Here's my trade of the day, this time with the Pirates where you likely also have to send some money their way. You are probably familiar enough with Bubba Chandler. He's basically where HB was in 2023 with great stuff but still figuring it out. The main benefit is getting the extra control over HB and using this year to help him refine the art of pitching. Florentino you may not have heard of but he's very similar to where Yordan was as a 19 year old. The hit and power tools are both plus plus and the stats show it. Like Yordan, a position isn't clear but his primary position will be the batter's box.

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Until HB comes back and proves he is ok, I don't think anybody is giving up any future superstars for him.

Agreed, any trade I put out there gets the automatic caveat of this. Wouldn't happen until at least June assuming we still suck and every guy involved is healthy.

linkdude said:

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Xavier Neyens last 11 games for the Woodpeckers:

.302 BA/.434 OBP/.535 SLG, 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 5 SB, 161 wRC+#Astros pic.twitter.com/w7lk3Dxr3j

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

Kevin Alvarez is the Astros Future player of the week. In four games for Fayetteville, the 18-year-old hit .412 with 4 XBHs and 3 RBI. #Astros pic.twitter.com/C1gjVRg7Lg

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

good news for Dana (or the next gm)

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My takeaway is we need to focus on high school bats more in the draft. I get Alvarez isn't a high school guy but he's effectively the equivalent. We seem to settle on these college bats with warts (Matthews hit tool, Janek being an Ausmus level slappy) that simply aren't going to develop much since they are already 21. Of the top 100 prospects, only 9 are college bats taken outside the top 10 picks (half of which were top 16 picks, which is still before we pick). We do a good job with college pitchers, so I don't mind going there but HS bats are where it's at.

That's an interesting insight.

Wonder if the lack of draft picks and the inability to wait for development of the younger HS players is what made college position players attractive.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/21/mickey-mantles-lewd-yankees-questionnaire-up-for-auction/

So I've been boycotting this season given that MLB has gone all in on the Doyers, and I see the Stros are too.

BadAggie said:

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That's hilarious!

Ag_07 said:

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That's an interesting insight.

Wonder if the lack of draft picks and the inability to wait for development of the younger HS players is what made college position players attractive.

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I think it's just the thought guys are seeing better pitching in college than they used to, which in theory should allow them to come up earlier and have an impact. It's simply a quicker ROI.

The one thing about a HS bat is the org can mold him the way they want. Much more investment with higher risk.

MaxPower said:

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linkdude said:

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Xavier Neyens last 11 games for the Woodpeckers:

.302 BA/.434 OBP/.535 SLG, 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 5 SB, 161 wRC+#Astros pic.twitter.com/w7lk3Dxr3j

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

Kevin Alvarez is the Astros Future player of the week. In four games for Fayetteville, the 18-year-old hit .412 with 4 XBHs and 3 RBI. #Astros pic.twitter.com/C1gjVRg7Lg

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

good news for Dana (or the next gm)

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My takeaway is we need to focus on high school bats more in the draft. I get Alvarez isn't a high school guy but he's effectively the equivalent. We seem to settle on these college bats with warts (Matthews hit tool, Janek being an Ausmus level slappy) that simply aren't going to develop much since they are already 21. Of the top 100 prospects, only 9 are college bats taken outside the top 10 picks (half of which were top 16 picks, which is still before we pick). We do a good job with college pitchers, so I don't mind going there but HS bats are where it's at.

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According to MLB top 100 list, 34 are pitchers, so 66% hitters. Of that 66%, I could not find easily how many are international. Do you know that already? MLB's list on their website only listed their current organization.

I'm trying to pull the international players out of the list because most do not go to a college. What I'm trying to get at is what is the real % of college bats to HS bats once you pull out pitchers and international players.

For example, in the top 10, there are three international players and 1 pitcher to be pulled out. Of the 6 remaining, 1 was drafted out of college. 1 in 6 still isn't great, but it's better than 1 in 10.

Beat40 said:

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MaxPower said:

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linkdude said:

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h

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According to MLB top 100 list, 34 are pitchers, so 76% hitters. Of that 76%, I could not find easily how many are international. Do you know that already? MLB's list on their website only listed their current organization.

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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Beat40 said:

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MaxPower said:

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linkdude said:

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h

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According to MLB top 100 list, 34 are pitchers, so 76% hitters. Of that 76%, I could not find easily how many are international. Do you know that already? MLB's list on their website only listed their current organization.

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Haha, oops. Brain on the fritz I guess!

I did it manually so might be off one or two but I count 21 HS players in the top 100 who weren't drafted in the first 10 picks if their respective class, so over twice as many as college bats. That's probably slightly misleading because an individual HS guy will stay on a top 100 list longer than college due to age (a HS guy may take 5 years to make the bigs compared to 2 for college) but the point still stands. If you aren't taking a college bat in the first 10-15 picks it's not really as "safe" as you might think it is regardless of that players profile.

That probably makes sense because we have so much data on college hitters now and they get good coaching so what is the likelihood you outsmart all the teams that passed on that player already and how many impact players are really coming out of any given draft anyway?

MaxPower said:

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linkdude said:

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Xavier Neyens last 11 games for the Woodpeckers:

.302 BA/.434 OBP/.535 SLG, 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 5 SB, 161 wRC+#Astros pic.twitter.com/w7lk3Dxr3j

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

Kevin Alvarez is the Astros Future player of the week. In four games for Fayetteville, the 18-year-old hit .412 with 4 XBHs and 3 RBI. #Astros pic.twitter.com/C1gjVRg7Lg

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) April 27, 2026

good news for Dana (or the next gm)

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My takeaway is we need to focus on high school bats more in the draft. I get Alvarez isn't a high school guy but he's effectively the equivalent. We seem to settle on these college bats with warts (Matthews hit tool, Janek being an Ausmus level slappy) that simply aren't going to develop much since they are already 21. Of the top 100 prospects, only 9 are college bats taken outside the top 10 picks (half of which were top 16 picks, which is still before we pick). We do a good job with college pitchers, so I don't mind going there but HS bats are where it's at.

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IDK, plenty of college bats have made the jump to the pros quickly. So quickly that they lose their top 100 prospect status.

2024
1. Bazzana - just called up
3. Condon - .880 in AAA this year
4. Kurtz - won ROY in 2025.
6. Cags - called up in 25, hitting well in 26.
7. Wetherholt - called up in 26 and doing well.

And the list goes on Moore is up, BMont will be up soon, Smith is on year 2 already, etc.

But I guess if the idea is all those players were taking the top half of the 1st round, and we don't have a pick, then it's fair.

edit: looks like you already cover the top 100 prospect status point.

I think the greater issue is that Dana gambles. He looks for the potential superstars, so he consistently picks toolsy guys whose only question mark is their hit tool. If the bat develops, then a star is born.

However, there is nothing harder in sports than hitting a baseball. For the most part, guys can hit or not. On the flip side, there are a lit of good hitters who only later develop power.

With late picks, I think Dana keeps choosing lotto tickets over picking guys who might have some flaw but are more likely to be solid major league contributors. So we end up with a bunch of AAAA players who can't hit ML pitching.

I like taking college hitters who have shown hitting ability but have question marks on speed, defense, lack of power, etc. Those things can all be improved or accounted for.

A guy who can't hit is a guy who can't play ML baseball...unless he is a pitcher or catcher.

ASTROS BINGO UPDATE 4-28-26



Since there was an off-day, let's talk about some non-Astro squares on the Bingo board.

JUDGE RISING: Aaron Judge has hit 8 HR in the past 15 days and is tied with Yordan at 11 now, on pace for 61.

CHASE THE SUCK: Rangers down to 14-15, on pace for 78-84. Mariners 14-16, on pace for 76-86.

TUCKER GOT A BIG HIT!: And 2 RBI, he's up to a pace of 84 RBI.

BREGMAN, WOOF: Alex is down to an RBI pace of 56. He is on pace to play 162 games though!

THE WALKING DEAD: George Springer might actually start playing soon. He's missed 15 straight games for the Blue Jays. Justin Verlander threw a bullpen session this week that was called "encouraging." Verlander makes $13 million for the Tigers this year. He gets paid twice a month for the 6 months of the season. That means that so far, Detroit has paid him $2.77 million in 2026 to pitch 3-2/3 innings with 1 strikeout and a 12.27 ERA. Nice work if you can get it!

All the guys you just listed were top 12 picks (before we pick this year). The volume of impactful college bats taken after the mid first round is fairly low. This may be a more recent phenomenon (last 5 years or so) because the advanced data available in college now is just so much better.

MaxPower said:

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I did it manually so might be off one or two but I count 21 HS players in the top 100 who weren't drafted in the first 10 picks if their respective class, so over twice as many as college bats. That's probably slightly misleading because an individual HS guy will stay on a top 100 list longer than college due to age (a HS guy may take 5 years to make the bigs compared to 2 for college) but the point still stands. If you aren't taking a college bat in the first 10-15 picks it's not really as "safe" as you might think it is regardless of that players profile.

That probably makes sense because we have so much data on college hitters now and they get good coaching so what is the likelihood you outsmart all the teams that passed on that player already and how many impact players are really coming out of any given draft anyway?

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I do agree here. We can predict college hitters better than ever. I also think high school kids are better prepared to move through the minors than ever before. They see velo early and it isn't as big of a deal. They also play more games and are better prepared to transition to a full minor league season. That is not to say high school players are a "sure thing" like the very top end college guys, but I'm not shocked when I see a Konnor Griffin break in young.

SpaceCityAg05 said:

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I think the greater issue is that Dana gambles. He looks for the potential superstars, so he consistently picks toolsy guys whose only question mark is their hit tool. If the bat develops, then a star is born.

However, there is nothing harder in sports than hitting a baseball. For the most part, guys can hit or not. On the flip side, there are a lit of good hitters who only later develop power.

With late picks, I think Dana keeps choosing lotto tickets over picking guys who might have some flaw but are more likely to be solid major league contributors. So we end up with a bunch of AAAA players who can't hit ML pitching.

I like taking college hitters who have shown hitting ability but have question marks on speed, defense, lack of power, etc. Those things can all be improved or accounted for.

A guy who can't hit is a guy who can't play ML baseball...unless he is a pitcher or catcher.

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I think the opposite. Matthews and Janek looked more like scared picks to me. Janek especially was a catcher who put up stats but most scouts saw him as a high floor guy that's a good defensive catcher with a weak bat. That's exactly what he still is. I'd much rather take swings and misses early and then look to fill in with college guys who are hole fillers later on.

Can the Struggling Astros Turn Their Season Around?

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Time is not on Houston's side, in the short or long term. The short-term challenge is obvious, but the long-term one is nearly as daunting. The Astros are second in baseball in wRC+ from players over 30 years old (129), with Jose Altuve and Christian Walker both at ages when imminent decline is highly likely. Their two key offensive players in their 20s, Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez, are free agents after 2027 and 2028, respectively. At the end of last season, our prospect team ranked Houston's farm system 29th out of 30 teams. The best solution might be to do a bit of retooling, perhaps by trading anyone unsigned past this year. Then, assuming there's a pre-lockout window to make some free agent signings as there was in 2021, absolutely blitz the top guys available with extremely generous one-year offers, with the hope that many of those players will want to get a second look at free agency in a hopefully normal winter after the 2027 season. But truth be told, this doesn't really feel like something the Astros would do.

However it shakes out, this may be the most crucial period of Brown's stint as GM. The Houston Astros are in a precarious position, and none of the options look particularly appealing. Some problems simply don't have good solutions, and if they can't conjure one up, we may be looking at the end of a moderately successfully dynasty in Houston.

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The Phillies have fired manager Rob Thomson, sources told The Athletic. Don Mattingly will be interim manager.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 28, 2026

Carlos Mendoza & Joe Espada have to be very worried at this point.

Doubtful.

But, it's baseball. We won a lot of games with AAA guys last year.

IMHO, that luck has run out.

Farmer1906 said:

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The Phillies have fired manager Rob Thomson, sources told The Athletic. Don Mattingly will be interim manager.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 28, 2026

Carlos Mendoza & Joe Espada have to be very worried at this point.

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I was reading that this morning. Our pitching is just so bad from a projection standpoint

I really hope we have the bravery to retool while we still have pieces with value

I've been playing this game a year or so and never seen it posted here, so thought I'd drop the link.

https://www.dailywalkoff.com/

You can select any team (obviously Astros are best). It's a 4x4 grid of names and categories to put in order. If you get them all right the first time it's a "home run". As long as you get at least some right, you stay alive until you have three "outs". Sometimes it's super easy, sometimes there are multiple people that fit multiple categories. It also depends a lot on how deep your baseball history goes.