Happy Friday folks. You will not get 2 different Hot Links today. This one is all me. Buckle your seat belts and do not read these while you drive. Please wait until you get to the workplace. Don't even sneak a peek at a red light either. I care about your safety.
The Astros officially did absolutely nothing at Winter Meetings 2018, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was a waste.
Tags still believes at least one impact move is on its way.
I have absolutely no idea how the Rule 5 draft works, but we did it. It happened. We stole Alejandro Flores from the Nationals but were robbed the talents of Riley Ferrell, Drew Ferguson, and Ryan Thompson. More info here but the info is unfortunately only about the players mentioned above and not about how this whacked out draft works.
Alex Bregman posted a 50 minute podcast/roundtable discussion with Alex Rodriguez, Jake Marisnick, and other current major leaguers on his Youtube channel.
Astros and Drew Pomeranz?
Charlie Morton is gone, so I went to Youtube and found a 3 minute video of the lad straight dealing. Miss you already buddy.
And uh yeah. That's it.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label Drew Pomeranz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drew Pomeranz. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2018
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Saturday Morning Hot Links
*Okay, it's a little busier than I expected. So let's start here:
*Jose Altuve won the 5th Silver Slugger Award of his career. Astros Silver Sluggers, franchise history:
-Jose Altuve: 5
-Craig Biggio: 5
-Jeff Bagwell: 3
-Jose Cruz: 2
-Moises Alou: 1
-Glenn Davis: 1
-Morgan Ensberg: 1
-Mike Hampton: 1
-Carlos Lee: 1
-George Springer: 1
-Dickie Thon: 1
*Dallas Keuchel went on Fox Business yesterday to talk about investing in some company that makes disposable equipment to deal with sweat. Oh, and the Yankees:
For the right opportunity, I would happily shave this beard off...The lure of the city would be really cool. I like pitching in Yankee Stadium...I am hoping there's more teams then (sic) just a couple. I think everybody is in play right now.
/Hard, heavy sigh
*Larry Dierker says, of the loss of Keuchel, McCullers, and (possibly) Morton:
If you're not worried, you're stupid.
*Mike Petriello takes a look at five pitchers right in the Astros' wheelhouse who could use a little Stromming: Sonny Gray, Trevor Cahill, Garrett Richards, Drew Pomeranz, Jeremy Hellickson. Click the link for the rationale.
*In the wake of the departures of Sig Mejdal and Mike Fast, the Astros have restructured their research & development department. Among the hires:
-Ehsan Bokhari, who will lead the department, and comes from the Dodgers.
-Sarah Gelles, who will be the new program manager, and spent the last three seasons as Baltimore's director of analytics.
*Jake Kaplan writes in The Athletic about J.B. Bukauskas, a car wreck, and a season saved.
*Alex Bregman left a $500 tip as part of a YouTube channel in which he apparently focuses on delivering random acts of kindness.
*Randy Cesar, who had a Texas League record-breaking 42-game hitting streak, is now a free agent. Former Astros Greats also on the Minor League Free Agent list: Jake Buchanan, Preston Tucker, L.J. Hoes, Fernando Rodriguez, Asher Wojciechowski, Brett Oberholtzer, Kevin Comer, Kevin Chapman, Tyler Heineman, Harold Arauz, David Rollins, Rhiner Cruz.
*Get to know the next Japanese free agent, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.
*Joe Mauer retired yesterday, ending a 15-year career with Minnesota. His numbers are Nice: .306/.388/.439. MVP award. Five Silver Sluggers. Six-time All-Star. But are those numbers Hall of Fame-worthy?
-His 2123 hits would be the fewest for a Hall of Famer elected since 2006, when Gary Carter and his 2092 hits were inducted. Mike Piazza was elected in 2016 with 2127 hits.
-His 143 home runs would be the fewest since Wade Boggs and his 118 home runs were inducted in 2005.
Those are just dashboard numbers. Consider that Mauer's 49.2 fWAR is the highest among catchers since his debut in 2004, and it's not even close:
1. Mauer (49.2)
2. Buster Posey (38.2)
3. Yadier Molina (37.9)
By Jay Jaffe's JAWS standards, Mauer ranks 7th all-time in MLB history at catcher and has above-average HOF catcher numbers. But even if you are skeptical so far, consider that Mauer was basically the face of the Twins for a generation. And, for me, that should matter in a Hall of Fame case. I want the Hall of Fame to represent the best of the game for each team (an argument I made in favor of Jeff Bagwell's candidacy), and Mauer absolutely does that. So for me, is Joe Mauer a Hall of Famer? Yes.
*Inside the booming business of background music.
*A musical selection:
*Jose Altuve won the 5th Silver Slugger Award of his career. Astros Silver Sluggers, franchise history:
-Jose Altuve: 5
-Craig Biggio: 5
-Jeff Bagwell: 3
-Jose Cruz: 2
-Moises Alou: 1
-Glenn Davis: 1
-Morgan Ensberg: 1
-Mike Hampton: 1
-Carlos Lee: 1
-George Springer: 1
-Dickie Thon: 1
*Dallas Keuchel went on Fox Business yesterday to talk about investing in some company that makes disposable equipment to deal with sweat. Oh, and the Yankees:
For the right opportunity, I would happily shave this beard off...The lure of the city would be really cool. I like pitching in Yankee Stadium...I am hoping there's more teams then (sic) just a couple. I think everybody is in play right now.
/Hard, heavy sigh
*Larry Dierker says, of the loss of Keuchel, McCullers, and (possibly) Morton:
If you're not worried, you're stupid.
*Mike Petriello takes a look at five pitchers right in the Astros' wheelhouse who could use a little Stromming: Sonny Gray, Trevor Cahill, Garrett Richards, Drew Pomeranz, Jeremy Hellickson. Click the link for the rationale.
*In the wake of the departures of Sig Mejdal and Mike Fast, the Astros have restructured their research & development department. Among the hires:
-Ehsan Bokhari, who will lead the department, and comes from the Dodgers.
-Sarah Gelles, who will be the new program manager, and spent the last three seasons as Baltimore's director of analytics.
*Jake Kaplan writes in The Athletic about J.B. Bukauskas, a car wreck, and a season saved.
*Alex Bregman left a $500 tip as part of a YouTube channel in which he apparently focuses on delivering random acts of kindness.
*Randy Cesar, who had a Texas League record-breaking 42-game hitting streak, is now a free agent. Former Astros Greats also on the Minor League Free Agent list: Jake Buchanan, Preston Tucker, L.J. Hoes, Fernando Rodriguez, Asher Wojciechowski, Brett Oberholtzer, Kevin Comer, Kevin Chapman, Tyler Heineman, Harold Arauz, David Rollins, Rhiner Cruz.
*Get to know the next Japanese free agent, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.
*Joe Mauer retired yesterday, ending a 15-year career with Minnesota. His numbers are Nice: .306/.388/.439. MVP award. Five Silver Sluggers. Six-time All-Star. But are those numbers Hall of Fame-worthy?
-His 2123 hits would be the fewest for a Hall of Famer elected since 2006, when Gary Carter and his 2092 hits were inducted. Mike Piazza was elected in 2016 with 2127 hits.
-His 143 home runs would be the fewest since Wade Boggs and his 118 home runs were inducted in 2005.
Those are just dashboard numbers. Consider that Mauer's 49.2 fWAR is the highest among catchers since his debut in 2004, and it's not even close:
1. Mauer (49.2)
2. Buster Posey (38.2)
3. Yadier Molina (37.9)
By Jay Jaffe's JAWS standards, Mauer ranks 7th all-time in MLB history at catcher and has above-average HOF catcher numbers. But even if you are skeptical so far, consider that Mauer was basically the face of the Twins for a generation. And, for me, that should matter in a Hall of Fame case. I want the Hall of Fame to represent the best of the game for each team (an argument I made in favor of Jeff Bagwell's candidacy), and Mauer absolutely does that. So for me, is Joe Mauer a Hall of Famer? Yes.
*Inside the booming business of background music.
*A musical selection:
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Saturday Morning 2-0 Hot Links
*Well. The Astros got to Drew Pomeranz, and the team that was 21-24 against lefty starters in the regular season is now 2-0 against lefty starters in the postseason. George Springer got sprung and the Astros eventually coasted to another 8-2 win over the Sons of Liberty.
*(Houston) Keuchel took a little while to settle in, eventually throwing 5.2IP, 3H/1ER, 7K:3BB.
Keuchel, Innings 1-2: 48 pitches, 3H/1ER, 3K/1BB
Keuchel, Innings 3-5.2: 48 pitches, 0H/0ER, 4K:1BB
Keuchel retired 13 batters in a row.
*Springer, who hit a home run (2x4, BB, RBI)
For us to come out and score off of those guys over there is obviously huge for us. (Sale and Pomeranz) are two quality arms who have started the games, and we've been stringing along with some quality at-bats and scoring early.
*Correa, who went 2x4 with a walk and 4RBI:
You've seen it throughout the whole season. One through nine, everybody can do damage, everybody can go deep. That's the good thing about our lineup, there's no holes in our lineup, and we feel very confident, no matter if we went 0-for-4 the day before or if we went 4-for-4.
*Alex Rodriguez broke down Carlos Correa's swing.
*The Astros had the bases loaded twice, and went 0x5.
*Dustin Pedroia, who is basically Matt Damon in The Departed at this point, summed it up:
They've played it great. They've done everything right, and we haven't done anything right. Hopefully, getting back home and getting in front of our fans will give us a boost and get us back in this series.
*More Pedroia:
We just got our ass kicked twice. Confidence is irrelevant at this point.
*Mookie Betts told Tyler Kepner:
We can only be ourselves. We can't go out and bang like them. We can't do a whole lot of things that they can do, but we can do what we can do. And what we do got us in the playoffs, and I'm pretty sure it can win us the World Series, too.
*Red Sox manager John Farrell:
They're very good, they're deep, and they have got a number of ways to beat you. So we fully respect and understood the opponent, and they're playing like that.
*The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham:
There was a sort of grim resignation in the Red Sox clubhouse that Houston is a much better team.
*Boston Herald's Jason Mastrodonato:
Forget about talent. The Red Sox simply didn't look ready to play.
*Boston Herald's Michael Silverman:
But yesterday's brutal Game 2 Division series loss exposed the most glaring weakness this team possesses: That it's offense, a punchless and moody group of hitters who put their worst on display when the team needed them the most in the 8-2 loss.
*Hinch:
We won't take anything for granted. This is a team that's very, very laser-focused on winning the series. You don't win the series with two wins - you win it with three.
*Richard Justice says the Minute Maid crowd shows Houston's resilience. Keuchel:
Just to be at home, everybody is so comfortable here, and we played so well. I know we played better, record-wise, on the road this year, but just being back at home at Minute Maid, where everybody's gone through a lot...it just means a lot to us to be here and for the fans to be out here.
*Jenny Dial Creech says these Astros look like something special.
*Providence Journal: Of the 56 teams to bedown up 0-2 in the division series, 49 have gone on to win. Since 2003, 30 of 32 teams have gone on to win the division series.
*MLB announced that the Astros and Red Sox will play afternoon games as long as the Cleveland/New York series is still going on. Like it's 1922, or something.
*Brad Peacock will start G3 at Fenway on Sunday afternoon. Hinch, on the decision:
He's had an exceptional season as a starter. He's filled a couple different roles, and he's earned this start. I think his effectiveness, his calmness, his ability to throw strikes, he's got real weapons, he gets a ton of swing and miss. His season speaks for itself, which is why we would turn to him in Game 3.
Charles Morton would start G4. McCullers is presumably ready out of the bullpen to close out the series on Sunday. Or whatever afternoon/not-convenient time MLB has decided to play this series.
*FiveThirtyEight says the Astros won G3 5500 out of 10000 times in simulations.
*Carlos Correa has worked with Jim Crane to send another plane full of supplies to Puerto Rico, which pretty much everyone in the contiguous 48 states has forgotten about. Don't do that.
*Alex Speier wrote about the Astros trying to stay ahead of the analytics curve. Luhnow:
It's a double-edged sword. If (other teams are) following things we did first, it means, a) it works; and b) our advantage is gone, or dissipating. That's why we're constantly trying to figure out how we can gain small advantages in multiple areas.
*FanGraphs: Has the era of the super-team arrived?
*Former Fresno manager Tony DeFrancesco has been hired by the Mets to manage their PCL team in Las Vegas.
*Oh hey here's a surprise, Jon Heyman picked Aaron Judge over Jose Altuve for AL MVP.
*Elsewhere in the postseason:
ALDS: Cleveland came back from an 8-3 deficit to beat the Yankees 9-8 in 13 innings. Edwin Encarnacion looked like he really hurt his ankle and I did not enjoy replays of that play. Cleveland has a 2-0 lead.
NLDS: Chicago held Washington to two hits, winning 3-0 to take a 1-0 series lead.
NLDS: Taijuan Walker became the latest playoff pitcher to not last two innings as LA beat Arizona 9-5 to take a 1-0 series lead. J.D. Martinez hit a home run, though.
*This is extremely my jam: 20 lost indie Britpop bands of the 2000s. (I'm sorry but The Bravery is not "lost.")
The Astros played like Whataburger was on the line— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) October 6, 2017
*(Houston) Keuchel took a little while to settle in, eventually throwing 5.2IP, 3H/1ER, 7K:3BB.
Keuchel, Innings 1-2: 48 pitches, 3H/1ER, 3K/1BB
Keuchel, Innings 3-5.2: 48 pitches, 0H/0ER, 4K:1BB
Keuchel retired 13 batters in a row.
*Springer, who hit a home run (2x4, BB, RBI)
For us to come out and score off of those guys over there is obviously huge for us. (Sale and Pomeranz) are two quality arms who have started the games, and we've been stringing along with some quality at-bats and scoring early.
*Correa, who went 2x4 with a walk and 4RBI:
You've seen it throughout the whole season. One through nine, everybody can do damage, everybody can go deep. That's the good thing about our lineup, there's no holes in our lineup, and we feel very confident, no matter if we went 0-for-4 the day before or if we went 4-for-4.
*Alex Rodriguez broke down Carlos Correa's swing.
*The Astros had the bases loaded twice, and went 0x5.
*Dustin Pedroia, who is basically Matt Damon in The Departed at this point, summed it up:
They've played it great. They've done everything right, and we haven't done anything right. Hopefully, getting back home and getting in front of our fans will give us a boost and get us back in this series.
*More Pedroia:
We just got our ass kicked twice. Confidence is irrelevant at this point.
*Mookie Betts told Tyler Kepner:
We can only be ourselves. We can't go out and bang like them. We can't do a whole lot of things that they can do, but we can do what we can do. And what we do got us in the playoffs, and I'm pretty sure it can win us the World Series, too.
*Red Sox manager John Farrell:
They're very good, they're deep, and they have got a number of ways to beat you. So we fully respect and understood the opponent, and they're playing like that.
*The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham:
There was a sort of grim resignation in the Red Sox clubhouse that Houston is a much better team.
*Boston Herald's Jason Mastrodonato:
Forget about talent. The Red Sox simply didn't look ready to play.
*Boston Herald's Michael Silverman:
But yesterday's brutal Game 2 Division series loss exposed the most glaring weakness this team possesses: That it's offense, a punchless and moody group of hitters who put their worst on display when the team needed them the most in the 8-2 loss.
*Hinch:
We won't take anything for granted. This is a team that's very, very laser-focused on winning the series. You don't win the series with two wins - you win it with three.
*Richard Justice says the Minute Maid crowd shows Houston's resilience. Keuchel:
Just to be at home, everybody is so comfortable here, and we played so well. I know we played better, record-wise, on the road this year, but just being back at home at Minute Maid, where everybody's gone through a lot...it just means a lot to us to be here and for the fans to be out here.
*Jenny Dial Creech says these Astros look like something special.
*Providence Journal: Of the 56 teams to be
*MLB announced that the Astros and Red Sox will play afternoon games as long as the Cleveland/New York series is still going on. Like it's 1922, or something.
*Brad Peacock will start G3 at Fenway on Sunday afternoon. Hinch, on the decision:
He's had an exceptional season as a starter. He's filled a couple different roles, and he's earned this start. I think his effectiveness, his calmness, his ability to throw strikes, he's got real weapons, he gets a ton of swing and miss. His season speaks for itself, which is why we would turn to him in Game 3.
Charles Morton would start G4. McCullers is presumably ready out of the bullpen to close out the series on Sunday. Or whatever afternoon/not-convenient time MLB has decided to play this series.
*FiveThirtyEight says the Astros won G3 5500 out of 10000 times in simulations.
*Carlos Correa has worked with Jim Crane to send another plane full of supplies to Puerto Rico, which pretty much everyone in the contiguous 48 states has forgotten about. Don't do that.
*Alex Speier wrote about the Astros trying to stay ahead of the analytics curve. Luhnow:
It's a double-edged sword. If (other teams are) following things we did first, it means, a) it works; and b) our advantage is gone, or dissipating. That's why we're constantly trying to figure out how we can gain small advantages in multiple areas.
*FanGraphs: Has the era of the super-team arrived?
*Former Fresno manager Tony DeFrancesco has been hired by the Mets to manage their PCL team in Las Vegas.
*Oh hey here's a surprise, Jon Heyman picked Aaron Judge over Jose Altuve for AL MVP.
*Elsewhere in the postseason:
ALDS: Cleveland came back from an 8-3 deficit to beat the Yankees 9-8 in 13 innings. Edwin Encarnacion looked like he really hurt his ankle and I did not enjoy replays of that play. Cleveland has a 2-0 lead.
NLDS: Chicago held Washington to two hits, winning 3-0 to take a 1-0 series lead.
NLDS: Taijuan Walker became the latest playoff pitcher to not last two innings as LA beat Arizona 9-5 to take a 1-0 series lead. J.D. Martinez hit a home run, though.
*This is extremely my jam: 20 lost indie Britpop bands of the 2000s. (I'm sorry but The Bravery is not "lost.")
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