83 wins should be enough for the 'stros to take the West

the Rangers would have to go 24-16 the rest of the way to reach 84 wins

Are we going to get a ranger fan telling us the two teams are the same this year?

Captain Obvious but we really need to take this series this weekend. Rangerettes are in free fall now, MRI scheduled for DeGrom and he's probably shutting down for the year and Eovaldi is on the 15 day DL.

Seamen are 5 back, we take the series and they're 6 back with a tough hill to climb. Of course us sweeping them would be the death blow putting them 8 back.

Hopefully the bats wake the f*** up.

BCEDAg said:

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I think that DeGrom has a lingering hip issue. Probably should be on the IL.

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he left with "tricep fatigue"

CharleyKerfeld said:

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BCEDAg said:

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I think that DeGrom has a lingering hip issue. Probably should be on the IL.

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Then straight to the HOF according to at least one baseball board drum beater

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As straight as one can go to the HOF. Greinke in 2030, Kershaw in 2031, Verlander in 2032, deGrom & Scherzer in 2033, Sale in 2034, Cole in 2036. Then the dry season of arms comes.

How do the Dodgers keep breaking high-leverage arms?

Edwin Diaz
Mets 2022-25: 182.0 IP, 2.08 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 6.1 WAR - includes pre and post WBC injury
Dodgers 2026: 11.2 IP, 11.57 ERA, 2.49 WHIP, -0.2 WAR

Kirby Yates
Rangers 2024: 61.2 IP, 2.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 1.9 WAR
Dodgers 2025: 41.1 IP, 5.23 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, -0.1 WAR
Multiple 2026: 32.1 IP, 3.62 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 0.4 WAR

Tanner Scott
Multiple 2023-24: 150.0 IP, 2.04 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 4.5 WAR
Dodgers 2025-26: 105.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 1.4 WAR - Really bad in 2025, almost back to normal in 2026.

Because of Astros Bingo, I've been keeping track of several teams # of games played all year to keep all the paces accurate - the Astros, Cubs, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mariners, Yankees, Angels, Rockies, Rangers, Tigers, and Nationals.

Today is the first day all season that one of those teams has played more games on the year than the Astros. It's really hard to understand why our schedule was so militant for the first 120 games of the year and then suddenly turns into something completely different to end it. The Astros are off on:

Monday August 17th
Monday, August 24th
Monday, August 7th
Monday, August 14th
Monday, September 21st

The rest of the way. Obviously great for the team to have these days off, but shouldn't they have been more evenly dispersed throughout the year?

Degrom and Cole are HOFers?

Very good but they don't strike me as no doubt HOF worthy. I see them both as likely/eventually HOFers but not straight to the hall like JV, Greinke, and Sale.

A deep dive into their numbers and HOF cases would be a good off-day topic.

DeGrom to the HOF was a debate on another thread that I think tipped me over the "I gotta relax and stop getting so upset on Texags" point of mental health.

DeGrom has won 104 games in 13 years. Is that really HoF worthy?
Sale and Cole with 157/159 may not get in. All had great years but HoF careers?

I'm a no for DeGrom. At some point staying healthy enough to play has to matter. When he's been healthy he's had HOF numbers. But it's been so infrequent.

If Altuve had missed some much time that he only had 1000 hits (and all the rest of his PT had been lost to injury) would he be a HOF player? Absolutely not.

Minor Bingo Update: Geoff Blum is no longer using cameo, but if you're the winner, I can offer you a video from Julia Morales instead of the $50 prize if you want.

I did both on the Survivor pickem and it came out great. If you don't watch Survivor, don't be scared of this guy.

I am a yes. If we don't let guys like Cole (more work to do), Sale, deGrom, etc., then after the current elite crop (Kershaw, JV, Max, and kinda of Greinke) then we'll never have another SP in the HOF. The game is different.

I made my case for deGrom a while back on the HOF thread. He's almost like the pitching version of Yordan. When he was available, he was basically the best in the game, but injuries have plagued him.

I get pitching has changed, and I certainly don't think W's are how you should evaluate HOF pitchers, but at some point you have to be healthy enough to pitch. As good as DeGrom has been when he's been healthy, he just hasn't been healthy enough.

At some point you need to depend on a HOF player and you just can't depend on him.

In general, I think counting stat accumulation even for position players, outside of true outliers, is more difficult now than it was for previous cohorts (esp. during the steroid era).

HOF standards (at least for raw numbers/totals) are going to change along with the sports writers, or the hall is going to stagnate going forward. Just my opinion.

My biggest issue with a guy like DeGrom is that you're rewarding him for missing huge bunches of time and penalizing guys who continued playing while obviously injured/diminished, which gave them worse career numbers than if they had taken the same route.

My comp is Don Mattingly, who from '84-'88 was a surefire first-ballot HOFer in the making, allegedly hurt his back during "horseplay" in the Yankee clubhouse and his numbers tailed off, but he kept playing full seasons.





From '21-'24, DeGrom started 35 games total, so about 1/4th of what a normal pitcher would so in a year. His numbers were largely amazing, but a healthy starting pitcher started 100-120 games in that span.

If Mattingly and the Yankees had decided to limit him to 40 games a year from '90-'95 and he had hit .300 with an .880 OPS in those years, but missed the other 120 games, would be make the HOF? Maybe on the Vet's Committee, but definitely not voted in.

Don't let a mistake from 40 years ago impact a correct decision now.

I got my dad a Blum cameo years ago. It was awesome, as you'd expect. He was wearing a shirt that said snacks and naps. I ended up getting my old man the same one.

Every HoF case is different and has to be considered on its specific merits.

Mattingly was on a HoF track, but he'd be in gen pop in the hall had he kept it up. Great player, but not someone who makes it into the discussion of top players of all time.

deGrom's numbers had he stayed healthy (or debuted younger) would have made him inner inner circle HoF.

So while both are cases with injury what ifs, deGrom's case is totally different in that he has looked like basically the best pitcher to ever pitch when healthy. His full 2018 is comparable to any of the best years of all time. His 2021 might be the single greatest 90 inning stretch in baseball history. From his age 26-33 years an average deGrom season was 160 IP, a 2.50 ERA and a 157 ERA+.


deGrom also comes with the caveat that he didn't debut until he was 26 because he was a short stop in college. Had he debuted at a more normal age like 23, he'd have had the chance to stack even more good years in his prime. As it is, he started to decline and get hurt at 34 which is normal. Mattingly was retired by 34, but he was a big league regular at 22.

I don't know if deGrom will get in or not, but if he doesn't it will only be because the accumulation of numbers still takes precedence over other factors in the minds of hall voters.

AggieEP said:

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Every HoF case is different and has to be considered on its specific merits.

Mattingly was on a HoF track, but he'd be in gen pop in the hall had he kept it up. Great player, but not someone who makes it into the discussion of top players of all time.

deGrom's numbers had he stayed healthy (or debuted younger) would have made him inner inner circle HoF.

So while both are cases with injury what ifs, deGrom's case is totally different in that he has looked like basically the best pitcher to ever pitch when healthy. His full 2018 is comparable to any of the best years of all time. His 2021 might be the single greatest 90 inning stretch in baseball history. From his age 26-33 years an average deGrom season was 160 IP, a 2.50 ERA and a 157 ERA+.


deGrom also comes with the caveat that he didn't debut until he was 26 because he was a short stop in college. Had he debuted at a more normal age like 23, he'd have had the chance to stack even more good years in his prime. As it is, he started to decline and get hurt at 34 which is normal. Mattingly was retired by 34, but he was a big league regular at 22.

I don't know if deGrom will get in or not, but if he doesn't it will only be because the accumulation of numbers still takes precedence over other factors in the minds of hall voters.

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In the old days, you'd get 5-year ban from staff for posting there.

Farmer1906 said:

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I got my dad a Blum cameo years ago. It was awesome, as you'd expect. He was wearing a shirt that said snacks and naps. I ended up getting my old man the same one.

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I watched a few of his samples on Cameo, he's talking smack to somebody's family members about a Fantasy Football matchup in one of them

CharleyKerfeld said:

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Because of Astros Bingo, I've been keeping track of several teams # of games played all year to keep all the paces accurate - the Astros, Cubs, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mariners, Yankees, Angels, Rockies, Rangers, Tigers, and Nationals.

Today is the first day all season that one of those teams has played more games on the year than the Astros. It's really hard to understand why our schedule was so militant for the first 120 games of the year and then suddenly turns into something completely different to end it. The Astros are off on:

Monday August 17th
Monday, August 24th
Monday, August 7th
Monday, August 14th
Monday, September 21st

The rest of the way. Obviously great for the team to have these days off, but shouldn't they have been more evenly dispersed throughout the year?

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I think it is different this year.

Dana started reading TexAgs and noticed that we're sitting after getting hot, so he got MLB to schedule off days later, so that we wouldn't complain about sitting hot players; we have off days.

~egon

Prosperdick said:

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Seamen are 5 back, we take the series and they're 6 back with a tough hill to climb. Of course us sweeping them would be the death blow putting them 8 back.

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8 games up would be nice going into September.

Seattle's September schedule is incredibly easy - mostly because it is practically all division games.

2 vs Red Sox & Astros
3 vs Rangers
3 vs Rockies
7 vs A's & Angels

1st Half vs 2nd Half wRC+ Fallers pic.twitter.com/iTdRN0Djmy

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 14, 2026

Glad we don't have anyone on this list.

I covered the Astros for 4 years and grew up in San Antonio. I consider both Texas teams to be my teams. My glove growing up was one with Billy Wagner's signature. I think I'm "permitted" in here for general baseball talk.

BTKAG97 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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Seamen are 5 back, we take the series and they're 6 back with a tough hill to climb. Of course us sweeping them would be the death blow putting them 8 back.

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8 games up would be nice going into September.

Seattle's September schedule is incredibly easy - mostly because it is practically all division games.

2 vs Red Sox & Astros
3 vs Rangers
3 vs Rockies
7 vs A's & Angels

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the flipside is they will have barely any games with teams they are chasing. Their fate will only partially be in their control.

Farmer1906 said:

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1st Half vs 2nd Half wRC+ Fallers pic.twitter.com/iTdRN0Djmy

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) August 14, 2026

Glad we don't have anyone on this list.

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It helps when you suck the first half

Interesting exercise because I am guessing the perception around here would be that Christian Walker belongs on this list.

Yet while his OPS+ drops from over 100 to right around it between first and second half, the gap is not nearly as pronounced as it feels because his OBP has actually increased compared to the first half to offset the evaporation of his HR power. The only dramatic drop is from March/April to May and beyond, but you can find hot to cold swings in small sample sizes among most players.

During the golden era, most of the Astros players have erred towards slow start/strong finish as opposed to the opposite (cough, cough, Bregman).

DeGrom is a hall of fame talent and had hall of fame caliber individual seasons… but the longevity just isn't there. Too much missed time

I think the same will be said in the end for Carlos Correa. Hall of fame level talent, and great moments/accolades… but too much missed time during the prime years to stack up career totals at a HOF level

Correa has not been truly great in most of the regular season action in which he has played. HOF talent, but he is mostly a good, not great player who turns clutch in the postseason.

I think Yordan is a great comp to deGrom thus far. Both are players who are the very best at what they do when they are right, but have spent too much time not being fully right to accumulate eye-popping totals.

However, HOF standards are rapidly shifting to look at great peaks as much as the quantity/longevity combo.

Under old standards, deGrom wouldn't stand a chance. Now? I think he is in.

I love me sone Yordan, but he's not even close to a HOF candidate.

Winning an MVP and a Triple Crown would really help him. It won't get him in but it would start to move the needle.

Mathguy64 said:

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I love me sone Yordan, but he's not even close to a HOF candidate.

Winning an MVP and a Triple Crown would really help him. It won't get him in but it would start to move the needle.

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We'll see what his second contract looks like, but Yord should have time to accumulate if his health cooperates.

AggieEP said:

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I covered the Astros for 4 years and grew up in San Antonio. I consider both Texas teams to be my teams. My glove growing up was one with Billy Wagner's signature. I think I'm "permitted" in here for general baseball talk.

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It was a joke about how staff used to be insane about banning people when they'd post on each other's thread.