This is way more fun, yes? The Astros beat the Mariners 5-2, the Indians lost, and the Rangers were officially eliminated from the AL West race. The Astros are 89-58, 14 up on the Angels with 15 to play. They're also 1.5 back of the Indians, but one back in the Loss column. Last couple of weeks should be pretty fun. An Astros win and an Angels loss will clinch the division today. Astros play at noon, Angels play at 8pm.
*Correa:
We're excited. We can't wait for that. We're chasing that first and then we want obviously to have the best record in the American League. So hopefully we can clinch soon and then go after the other one.
*Hinch:
It's trending to where it looks like it's going to be a fun homestand in front of our fans. It's an opportunity you set out for in the beginning of Spring Training. To close out a division is hard. It's hard doing what we're doing.
*Hinch dropped the mic to Richard Justice before yesterday's game:
Someone had to win 20-plus games in a row to even be relevant with us, so that tells you what kind of season we're having.
*FanGraphs is still projecting the Indians to finish with the AL's best overall record by one game.
*The Astros' 89th win of the season moves them into a tie for 7th in franchise history, with the 2005 and 1979 Astros.
*The Astros didn't get in from Anaheim until 7am yesterday and weren't required to be at Minute Maid until 5pm.
*James Paxton gave up 4H/3ER, 0K:2BB in 1.1IP last night. In his three previous starts against Houston, Paxton had allowed 12H/1ER, 20K:4BB in 20IP.
*Charlie Morton threw 6IP, 5H/1ER, 7K:1BB despite working from behind in the count a lot. He only threw a first pitch strike to 12 of the 23 batters he faced. Morton's 12 wins are a career high.
*Ken Giles recorded his 31st save of the year, tying him with 2015 Luke Gregerson for most saves by an Astros reliever since Jose Valverde saved 44 games in 2008. And last night I wrote that Ken Giles is actually kind of Billy Wagner.
*Francisco Liriano struck out the side on 11 pitches.
*George Springer was 1x2 with 3BB. It was his first 3BB game of the season and the 8th of his career.
*Altuve 200-hit watch: Altuve went 1x4 last night and is sitting at 191 hits.
*The Astros might put McCullers in the bullpen for Tuesday's game against the White Sox.
*New Britain, Connecticut - Springer's home town - sent three 53' trucks to Houston full of supplies.
*The Astros gave a veteran a new car.
*A fan did a Thing at the game and the people in the stands weren't having it.
*Jeff Sullivan broke down where each team is getting their wins.
*The Red Sox got slapped on the wrist for the Apple Watch fiasco (I refuse to use anything that ends with "-gate")
*The story behind the guy behind the greatest baseball gif of all time.
*I've started putting the separate interviews from last weekend's Bozoathon up on SoundCloud, or you can keep track of the ones I add here.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
Ken Giles is actually sort of Billy Wagner
Shhhh. Just
listen to me for a second. Yes, go ahead and get a drink. Yes, I’ll wait.
For a while
now #on #line I’ve been seeing Unnamed People saying how much easier life would
be if only Billy Wagner was anchoring the bullpen and not Ken Giles. But folks
I’m here to tell you that Ken Giles is basically Billy Wagner.
Step right
inside this Waybach. Wagner was in the Astros’ bullpen from 1996 (I’m not
counting his one appearance where he threw 0.1IP in 1995) until the end of the
2003 season. With the Astros Wagner saved 225 games, threw 504.1IP with a 2.53
ERA/1.04 WHIP. He struck out 12.4 batters per game over those eight seasons,
with a 2.81 FIP, 5.9 hits/9, and a 3.63 K:BB ratio. He was very good.
Wagner also
threw hard. FanGraphs’ pitch type data dates back to the beginning of the 2002
season, but in his final season in Houston – 2003 – Wagner averaged 97.9mph on
his fastball, which he threw about 79% of the time. He’d mix in an 88mph slider
with the other 20% and apparently threw a couple of curves and changeups.
This is
where Ken Giles comes in. While obviously Giles has a ways to go in terms of
longevity, his 2017 season compares favorably to Wagner: 2.54 ERA / 0.99 WHIP
that is actually underperforming his 2.45 FIP. Giles has struck out 12.1 batters/9,
a 4.00 K:BB ratio, and has allowed 5.9 hits/9 this season – precisely the same
as Wagner’s eight seasons in Houston. Pitch-wise,
Giles has thrown his 97.2mph (average) fastball 56.6% of the time to go with an
86.4mph slider, which he throws the other 43.4% of the time.
Where the
disconnect comes in, I think, is that fans are waiting for Giles to turn back
into April 2016 Giles, not appreciating him for what he’s done. When he blew
the save over the weekend in Oakland, those were the 3rd and 4th
runs he had allowed since the All-Star Break. Giles seems to dance in and out
of trouble, but as long as he’s dancing out of it, it’s fine.
Where Wagner
gets Giles is in two places:
*Wagner’s ERA+ is 171. Giles’ is 157.
So Wagner was a better reliever relative to the league than Giles has been this
season.
*Wagner’s got longevity. I guess I
forgot – or wasn’t paying attention – to the part where Wagner posted a 2.03
ERA / 0.95 WHIP between 2004-2010 for the Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves
with a 212 ERA+, 11.3 K/9, and a 4.61 K:BB ratio. So, yeah, Wagner should be in
the conversation for the Hall of Fame. From 1969-2010 (his last year) Wagner
posted the 6th-highest career fWAR among qualified relievers. His
24.1 fWAR is better than HOFers Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter.
Wagner’s
11.92 K/9 is 4th among relievers in the same time span (behind
Carlos Marmol, Rob Dibble, and…yes, Brad Lidge.) His 2.31 career ERA is tied
for 9th among relievers. Saves are whatever you want them to be, but
Wagner is one of five relievers with 400+ saves. Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith
are HOFers. He’s 56 saves behind Lee Smith and just two behind John Franco, who
probably deserves more consideration than he actually gets.
Billy Wagner was freaking good, y’all. And Ken Giles – again – needs
to have this season seven more times in a row to be part of a larger
conversation, but Ken Giles has been favorably dominant this year, even if your
friends try to tell you otherwise.
Friday Morning Hot Links
I trust Brad Peacock a lot more than I trust some of you, to be honest. Astros win 5-2. Houston is 88-58, 14 up on the Angels with 16 to play. The win keeps the Astros 2.5 back of the Indians who rallied in the 9th inning and walked it off in the 10th for their 22nd straight win. The Astros' Magic Number is 3.
Hinch, on the Indians:
If they don't lose, they're not going to get caught. And they haven't lost in 3 1/2 weeks. We've got to get home, try to win our division, clinch a spot, and then we'll worry about best record later.
*The Astros open a nine-game homestand tonight after spending 16 of their last 19 games on the road. Ken Giles:
We see the prize at the end of the tunnel. Other than a division title, we're looking further beyond that. As of right now, we want to be ready to go for October.
*On July 22, the Indians were 14 back of the Astros. Then went 41-11.
*Brad Peacock threw 6IP, 3H/1ER, 3K:3BB, lowering his ERA to 2.98.
*Yuli Gurriel had three hits, while Reddick and Marwin had two each.
*Jose Altuve was 0x2 with 2BB and is still on 190 hits.
*George Springer was 0x5 and has one hit in his last 20 ABs.
*Mike Fiers was suspended five games for throwing in the general vicinity of Luis Valbuena, and then not saying that the ball slipped or something like that.
*Jake Marisnick is headed for surgery and out for the season after breaking his thumb sliding head-first into second base two nights ago. Luhnow:
There's a slight possibility he would be available if it were late October and we were still playing, but I think that's a long shot.
Hopefully Luhnow is talking about Marisnick's return being a long shot, not the playing in late October part.
*Quad Cities won G2 of the Midwest League Championship 5-0. They can clinch at home tomorrow night.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Thursday Morning Hot Links
This one was over before you had the chance to crap your pants. Mike Fiers did not exactly recapture the magic of the last time he was demoted to the bullpen and then brought back to the rotation and the Astros lost 9-1. They are 87-58, 2.5 behind the Indians, who set an AL record by winning their 21st in a row, and 13 up on the Angels with 17 to play.
*Mike Fiers lasted 3.2IP, 10H/8ER, 5K:1BB. He just got knocked around. Six of the eight hits he allowed went for extra bases.
*Fiers' 1st inning: 30 pitches (22 for "strikes"), four doubles, one home run
Hinch:
He just couldn't get into the game. Five extra-base hits in the first inning is a tough tone to set. We really didn't come back and it made for a long night.
*Fiers:
I thought I threw the ball exceptionally well. The ball was coming out well. I made some good pitches. A couple of bloopers here, but also a couple of hard hit. It turned into a bad inning. To get off to that start, it's tough for a team to come back out of that hole and compete.
*Luis Valbuena's 2-run HR capped a 5-run 1st inning and also raised his batting average to .199. Now, everyone knows that Luis Valbuena will bat flip over a funny Sonic commercial, so it should come as no surprise that he bat-flipped the hell out of his 2-run home run. Fiers:
I took it as disrespect.
So the next pitch he threw to Valbuena went way behind/over his head. Valbuena, who tomahawked the next pitch he saw for a double:
I enjoyed my home run. If they want to hit me, that's OK. But if I hit another home run, you'll see what happens.
...which led Valbuena to stare Very Intently into the Astros dugout, where he received this all-time great response:
Personally the most disrespectful thing about the whole situation was waiting until 9:10 for the game to start, and said game being over by 9:30.
*The Astros only managed five hits (four singles) againstRicky Tyler Skaggs. Houston has been held to nine runs in their last five games (1-4).
*Let's keep in mind that 12 of the Astros' last 15 games have been on the road. With a devastating hurricane thrown in the middle, just for giggles.
*Altuve got a base hit, giving him 190 on the season. Ten more hits and Altuve has his 4th straight 200+ hit season.
*AL records, last 10 games:
-Cleveland: 10-0
-New York: 7-3
-Oakland: 6-4
-Houston, Boston, Minnesota, Anaheim, Seattle, Arlington, Kansas City, Toronto: 5-5
-Tampa Bay, Chicago: 4-6
-Baltimore: 3-7
-Detroit: 2-8
*Jake Marisnick left the game in the third inning after injuring his thumb on a slide into second base. Hinch:
We'll know more in the next couple of days, but it doesn't look good. He slid into the bag and beat up his thumb pretty well. So we're going to send him back to Houston, but it doesn't look good.
If Hinch, the captain of the U.S.S. Understatement, says "it doesn't look good" twice, then I'm guessing Marisnick's thumb is hanging on to his hand by a tendon.
*Time is running out on Lance McCullers' 2017 season.
*Depending on what happens with McCullers and McHugh, Brad Peacock could find himself in the playoff rotation. Hinch:
I have huge confidence in Peacock. In some ways, he's been slightly disrespected by being automatically pushed into the bullpen. Any time we've had excess numbers (Ed. note: which has been for about six days out of the season) he's been a convenient name that's been thrown to the bullpen. I think he's very much a candidate to start down the stretch, complete the season as a starter (and go) well into postseason baseball and be a starter because of how effective he is.
*Justin Verlander will make his MMP debut on Sunday against the Mariners. If we project out the rest of the regular season, that would mean Verlander's last start would be at Boston to open the final series on Thursday, September 28. The ALDS begins on Thursday, October 5, so he would be well in line to make that start (or G2, whatever). Or the Astros may not want to give the Red Sox a look at Verlander in what could be a meaningless start - depending on what the Indians do.
But there's a very good chance that the Astros will play four games against the Red Sox in Fenway, and then turn around and have a five-game series against the Red Sox to open the postseason.
*You know who else started the game with a 5-run 1st inning? That's right, the Quad Cities MF River Bandits, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Midwest League Championship last night. J.J. Matijevic was 1x4 with a three-run home run and Colin Moran got two hits. Jesus Balaguer threw 3IP in relief, allowing 1H/0ER, 7K:1BB. Game 2 is tonight at 6:05.
*The last night of the Tigers' dynasty that wasn't.
*Mike Fiers lasted 3.2IP, 10H/8ER, 5K:1BB. He just got knocked around. Six of the eight hits he allowed went for extra bases.
*Fiers' 1st inning: 30 pitches (22 for "strikes"), four doubles, one home run
Hinch:
He just couldn't get into the game. Five extra-base hits in the first inning is a tough tone to set. We really didn't come back and it made for a long night.
*Fiers:
I thought I threw the ball exceptionally well. The ball was coming out well. I made some good pitches. A couple of bloopers here, but also a couple of hard hit. It turned into a bad inning. To get off to that start, it's tough for a team to come back out of that hole and compete.
*Luis Valbuena's 2-run HR capped a 5-run 1st inning and also raised his batting average to .199. Now, everyone knows that Luis Valbuena will bat flip over a funny Sonic commercial, so it should come as no surprise that he bat-flipped the hell out of his 2-run home run. Fiers:
I took it as disrespect.
So the next pitch he threw to Valbuena went way behind/over his head. Valbuena, who tomahawked the next pitch he saw for a double:
I enjoyed my home run. If they want to hit me, that's OK. But if I hit another home run, you'll see what happens.
...which led Valbuena to stare Very Intently into the Astros dugout, where he received this all-time great response:
good tweet pic.twitter.com/jRLetyoAo5— Calhoun (@linkcalhoun) September 14, 2017
Personally the most disrespectful thing about the whole situation was waiting until 9:10 for the game to start, and said game being over by 9:30.
*The Astros only managed five hits (four singles) against
*Let's keep in mind that 12 of the Astros' last 15 games have been on the road. With a devastating hurricane thrown in the middle, just for giggles.
*Altuve got a base hit, giving him 190 on the season. Ten more hits and Altuve has his 4th straight 200+ hit season.
*AL records, last 10 games:
-Cleveland: 10-0
-New York: 7-3
-Oakland: 6-4
-Houston, Boston, Minnesota, Anaheim, Seattle, Arlington, Kansas City, Toronto: 5-5
-Tampa Bay, Chicago: 4-6
-Baltimore: 3-7
-Detroit: 2-8
*Jake Marisnick left the game in the third inning after injuring his thumb on a slide into second base. Hinch:
We'll know more in the next couple of days, but it doesn't look good. He slid into the bag and beat up his thumb pretty well. So we're going to send him back to Houston, but it doesn't look good.
If Hinch, the captain of the U.S.S. Understatement, says "it doesn't look good" twice, then I'm guessing Marisnick's thumb is hanging on to his hand by a tendon.
*Time is running out on Lance McCullers' 2017 season.
*Depending on what happens with McCullers and McHugh, Brad Peacock could find himself in the playoff rotation. Hinch:
I have huge confidence in Peacock. In some ways, he's been slightly disrespected by being automatically pushed into the bullpen. Any time we've had excess numbers (Ed. note: which has been for about six days out of the season) he's been a convenient name that's been thrown to the bullpen. I think he's very much a candidate to start down the stretch, complete the season as a starter (and go) well into postseason baseball and be a starter because of how effective he is.
*Justin Verlander will make his MMP debut on Sunday against the Mariners. If we project out the rest of the regular season, that would mean Verlander's last start would be at Boston to open the final series on Thursday, September 28. The ALDS begins on Thursday, October 5, so he would be well in line to make that start (or G2, whatever). Or the Astros may not want to give the Red Sox a look at Verlander in what could be a meaningless start - depending on what the Indians do.
But there's a very good chance that the Astros will play four games against the Red Sox in Fenway, and then turn around and have a five-game series against the Red Sox to open the postseason.
*You know who else started the game with a 5-run 1st inning? That's right, the Quad Cities MF River Bandits, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Midwest League Championship last night. J.J. Matijevic was 1x4 with a three-run home run and Colin Moran got two hits. Jesus Balaguer threw 3IP in relief, allowing 1H/0ER, 7K:1BB. Game 2 is tonight at 6:05.
*The last night of the Tigers' dynasty that wasn't.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Wednesday Morning Hot Links
*Justin Verlander held the Angels scoreless over 8IP and the Astros won 1-0. Of course, the Indians won, running their win streak to 20 games. Houston is 87-57, remain 1.5 games back of the Indians for the best overall record in the AL, but are 14 games up on the Angels with 18 games left. Astros Magic Number is five.
*The 87 wins for Houston is the highest since 2005's 89-win season and moves them into a tie for 9th place on the franchise wins mark. They will need to go 16-2 to break the 1998 team's wins record.
*The Astros won their second 1-0 game of the season, and have shutout their opponent eight times in 2017.
*After having lost the opening game of the Oakland series 9-8, the Astros have scored eight runs in the four games since. OR you could say they've won eight of their last 12 games.
*Brandon Phillips, who has apparently not yet retired, got a leadoff double against Verlander. Verlander retired 24 of the next 25 batters he faced. Verlander:
On a night when we really needed it after a tough series and an off day to reset, those are the kind of things that make you feel really good. I got in a rhythm, was able to have a couple of quick innings and just go from there.
*Hinch:
He was in complete control of the game.
*Verlander's two starts for Houston: 14IP, 7H/1ER, 16K:2BB. Eleven of his 12 starts since the All-Star Break have been Quality Starts. Last night's 88 Game Score (per ESPN) was Verlander's highest since he threw 9IP, 1H/0ER, 9K:2BB against the Angels on August 26, 2015.
*Ken Giles got his 30th save of the season, the most since Luke Gregerson saved 31 games in 2015. He's the second Astros reliever with 30+ saves in a season since the beginning of the 2009 season.
*Carlos Beltran was 0x3 and is hitting .240/.288/.363 with 31K:10BB since the All-Star Break. He's 6x49 against Anaheim this season, hitting .122/.122/.265.
*Francisco Liriano has faced eight batters in September. Three have reached base.
*Today in "You Gotta Be Kidding Me," and also in "Trading For Verlander Was A Really Good Idea," Lance McCullers - who has made one start since July 30 - has been scratched from tonight's start after reporting arm fatigue while playing catch in the outfield. McCullers said he could have pitched tonight, and said it's similar to how he feels during Spring Training:
Yeah, I didn't bounce back as good as we were hoping the last outing, but I tossed today and said I was good to go and what not. It wasn't my call. It was over my head. That's the decision that was made.
Mike Fiers will start tonight instead.
*Collin McHugh played catch yesterday.
*The Astros will get into Houston at 7:15am on Friday then play the Mariners that Friday night and at noon on Saturday.
*Because this season is already over (spoiler: the Indians won their final 49 games of the season to win the 2017 World Series), the 2018 schedule was released. Notable:
-The Astros open the season on March 29 - the earliest Opening Day in baseball history - at Arlington, but will not play them in the regular season after July 29, which seems silly.
-Home opener is Monday, April 2 against Baltimore at 7:10pm.
-The Astros are on the road for Memorial Day and July 4th, but are home on Labor Day.
-Interleague play will feature the NL West.
-Regular season play ends on Sunday, September 30 at Baltimore.
*April 17, 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of the A's first game in Oakland, and that game is free to all fans.
*Shohei Otani will likely play in MLB next season, and the Astros (as well as ten other teams) have virtually no chance at signing him.
*Inside the FBI's quest to take down a Mexican drug cartel's American horse-racing empire.
*Over the next few days I'll be converting the individual segments from the Bozoathon into downloadable podcasts. First up: Lana Berry.
*The 87 wins for Houston is the highest since 2005's 89-win season and moves them into a tie for 9th place on the franchise wins mark. They will need to go 16-2 to break the 1998 team's wins record.
*The Astros won their second 1-0 game of the season, and have shutout their opponent eight times in 2017.
*After having lost the opening game of the Oakland series 9-8, the Astros have scored eight runs in the four games since. OR you could say they've won eight of their last 12 games.
*Brandon Phillips, who has apparently not yet retired, got a leadoff double against Verlander. Verlander retired 24 of the next 25 batters he faced. Verlander:
On a night when we really needed it after a tough series and an off day to reset, those are the kind of things that make you feel really good. I got in a rhythm, was able to have a couple of quick innings and just go from there.
*Hinch:
He was in complete control of the game.
*Verlander's two starts for Houston: 14IP, 7H/1ER, 16K:2BB. Eleven of his 12 starts since the All-Star Break have been Quality Starts. Last night's 88 Game Score (per ESPN) was Verlander's highest since he threw 9IP, 1H/0ER, 9K:2BB against the Angels on August 26, 2015.
*Ken Giles got his 30th save of the season, the most since Luke Gregerson saved 31 games in 2015. He's the second Astros reliever with 30+ saves in a season since the beginning of the 2009 season.
*Carlos Beltran was 0x3 and is hitting .240/.288/.363 with 31K:10BB since the All-Star Break. He's 6x49 against Anaheim this season, hitting .122/.122/.265.
*Francisco Liriano has faced eight batters in September. Three have reached base.
*Today in "You Gotta Be Kidding Me," and also in "Trading For Verlander Was A Really Good Idea," Lance McCullers - who has made one start since July 30 - has been scratched from tonight's start after reporting arm fatigue while playing catch in the outfield. McCullers said he could have pitched tonight, and said it's similar to how he feels during Spring Training:
Yeah, I didn't bounce back as good as we were hoping the last outing, but I tossed today and said I was good to go and what not. It wasn't my call. It was over my head. That's the decision that was made.
Mike Fiers will start tonight instead.
*Collin McHugh played catch yesterday.
*The Astros will get into Houston at 7:15am on Friday then play the Mariners that Friday night and at noon on Saturday.
*Because this season is already over (spoiler: the Indians won their final 49 games of the season to win the 2017 World Series), the 2018 schedule was released. Notable:
-The Astros open the season on March 29 - the earliest Opening Day in baseball history - at Arlington, but will not play them in the regular season after July 29, which seems silly.
-Home opener is Monday, April 2 against Baltimore at 7:10pm.
-The Astros are on the road for Memorial Day and July 4th, but are home on Labor Day.
-Interleague play will feature the NL West.
-Regular season play ends on Sunday, September 30 at Baltimore.
*April 17, 2018 will mark the 50th anniversary of the A's first game in Oakland, and that game is free to all fans.
*Shohei Otani will likely play in MLB next season, and the Astros (as well as ten other teams) have virtually no chance at signing him.
*Inside the FBI's quest to take down a Mexican drug cartel's American horse-racing empire.
*Over the next few days I'll be converting the individual segments from the Bozoathon into downloadable podcasts. First up: Lana Berry.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Tuesday Morning Hot Links
The Indians won for the 19th time in a row. The Astros are 1.5 back. The Dodgers have lost 11 in a row. Short Hot Links today as the rest of the baseball world has seemingly, and acceptably, forgotten the Astros exist.
*Francis Martes had to grow up quickly.
*In a curious move, the Hooks named lights-out reliever J.D. Davis as their 2017 Player of the Year.
*Quad Cities beat Cedar Rapids 6-1 last night to advance to the Midwest League finals. Kit Scheetz threw 6.2IP, 3H/1ER, 9K:1BB. They'll face Fort Wayne in the finals in G1 on Wednesday.
*After 14 seasons the Astros made a weird decision to unaffiliate themselves with Greeneville, effective immediately. The Astros will not field an Appalachian League team in 2018; they'll roll with the GCL, Tri-City, and the four full-season minor league teams. No explanation was given, other than that attendance was down 15% from last season.
*Projection Check!
-FanGraphs: Astros face Red Sox, 57% chance of advancing to ALCS.
-FiveThirtyEight: Astros face Red Sox, 11% chance of winning World Series
-Baseball Prospectus: Astros face Red Sox, 12.5% chance of winning World Series
*Want to work for the Astros?
*Verlander vs. Garrett Richards, who will be making his 3rd start of the season, tonight at 9:10pm Central.
*Francis Martes had to grow up quickly.
*In a curious move, the Hooks named lights-out reliever J.D. Davis as their 2017 Player of the Year.
*Quad Cities beat Cedar Rapids 6-1 last night to advance to the Midwest League finals. Kit Scheetz threw 6.2IP, 3H/1ER, 9K:1BB. They'll face Fort Wayne in the finals in G1 on Wednesday.
*After 14 seasons the Astros made a weird decision to unaffiliate themselves with Greeneville, effective immediately. The Astros will not field an Appalachian League team in 2018; they'll roll with the GCL, Tri-City, and the four full-season minor league teams. No explanation was given, other than that attendance was down 15% from last season.
*Projection Check!
-FanGraphs: Astros face Red Sox, 57% chance of advancing to ALCS.
-FiveThirtyEight: Astros face Red Sox, 11% chance of winning World Series
-Baseball Prospectus: Astros face Red Sox, 12.5% chance of winning World Series
*Want to work for the Astros?
*Verlander vs. Garrett Richards, who will be making his 3rd start of the season, tonight at 9:10pm Central.
Monday, September 11, 2017
Monday Morning Hot Links
The most successful part of the weekend for the Astros was the successful completion of the 24-hour Bozoathon, an event with which we bombarded you all weekend. Thanks to you, we raised $8,485 - all of which will be going directly to charities associated with Harvey relief. If you'd like to get us to the $10,000 goal, you can still do so, but you need to hurry. Thank you to all of you who donated, and thank you to our guests who helped us pass the time. Y'all are amazing!
*The Astros are terrible and all is lost. Dallas Keuchel loaded the bases and walked in two runs and hit another batter to score a run as the A's swept the Astros in a four-game series and won 10-2. The bullpen continued to do recent bullpen things. Hinch:
We got beat. They did a lot of things right. A lot of walks, a lot of homers this series, and a lot of late runs. We have to get to a different city and an off day and come out of it better.
Keuchel:
That's September baseball. It's funky. We'll right the ship. I firmly believe we'll be back on our game come L.A. and finish this road trip strong.
*The Indians won their 18th straight game and took the best overall record from the Astros, who have been in sole possession of the best record in the American League since May 10. Please just remember that it took a team winning 18 straight games to do it. The Astros are 86-57, 13 games up on the Angels, against whom they open a series tomorrow night. They're now 1.0 back of the Indians for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs. There are 19 games remaining. Even if the Astros sweep the Angels, they won't clinch the division there (16 games up with 16 to play). So get your homestand tickets to see the first division title since 2001.
*FanGraphs' projections now have the Astros facing the Red Sox in the ALDS.
*Astros bullpen, this series against the A's: 12.2IP, 30H/29ER, 11K:17BB, 7HR.
*Luke Gregerson should never pitch against Oakland. This series: 1.2IP, 5H/5ER, 1K:1BB, 2HR.
In his career Gregerson has thrown 23IP against his former team: 21H/12ER, 19K:10BB.
*The Astros allowed 10+ runs in three of the four games (and nine in the first game of the series). They had allowed 10+ runs just five times prior to this series. I went down a B-Ref rabbit hole to try to find the last time they'd allowed 10+ runs in three straight games and, in the interest of getting this done before I have to get in the shower, it hasn't happened since before the 2010 season.
*Brad Peacock will start Thursday instead of Collin McHugh. Hinch:
Part of that is due to giving him as much time to heal as he can. I don't think he needs that much time, but I also want to get Keuchel and Verlander on regular rest after this time. There aren't a lot of turns after that Thursday start.
*Juan Centeno has a mild concussion after taking Jed Lowrie's backswing to the mask.
*Minor League Ball has three prospects you should know in the Astros system: Yordan Alvarez, Myles Straw, Cionel Perez.
*Forrest Whitley was Jeff Passan's starting pitcher on his Minor League Team of the Year.
*The New Yorker's David Redneck: When the Towers Fell
*The Astros are terrible and all is lost. Dallas Keuchel loaded the bases and walked in two runs and hit another batter to score a run as the A's swept the Astros in a four-game series and won 10-2. The bullpen continued to do recent bullpen things. Hinch:
We got beat. They did a lot of things right. A lot of walks, a lot of homers this series, and a lot of late runs. We have to get to a different city and an off day and come out of it better.
Keuchel:
That's September baseball. It's funky. We'll right the ship. I firmly believe we'll be back on our game come L.A. and finish this road trip strong.
*The Indians won their 18th straight game and took the best overall record from the Astros, who have been in sole possession of the best record in the American League since May 10. Please just remember that it took a team winning 18 straight games to do it. The Astros are 86-57, 13 games up on the Angels, against whom they open a series tomorrow night. They're now 1.0 back of the Indians for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs. There are 19 games remaining. Even if the Astros sweep the Angels, they won't clinch the division there (16 games up with 16 to play). So get your homestand tickets to see the first division title since 2001.
*FanGraphs' projections now have the Astros facing the Red Sox in the ALDS.
*Astros bullpen, this series against the A's: 12.2IP, 30H/29ER, 11K:17BB, 7HR.
*Luke Gregerson should never pitch against Oakland. This series: 1.2IP, 5H/5ER, 1K:1BB, 2HR.
In his career Gregerson has thrown 23IP against his former team: 21H/12ER, 19K:10BB.
*The Astros allowed 10+ runs in three of the four games (and nine in the first game of the series). They had allowed 10+ runs just five times prior to this series. I went down a B-Ref rabbit hole to try to find the last time they'd allowed 10+ runs in three straight games and, in the interest of getting this done before I have to get in the shower, it hasn't happened since before the 2010 season.
*Brad Peacock will start Thursday instead of Collin McHugh. Hinch:
Part of that is due to giving him as much time to heal as he can. I don't think he needs that much time, but I also want to get Keuchel and Verlander on regular rest after this time. There aren't a lot of turns after that Thursday start.
*Juan Centeno has a mild concussion after taking Jed Lowrie's backswing to the mask.
*Minor League Ball has three prospects you should know in the Astros system: Yordan Alvarez, Myles Straw, Cionel Perez.
*Forrest Whitley was Jeff Passan's starting pitcher on his Minor League Team of the Year.
*The New Yorker's David Redneck: When the Towers Fell
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