James Click tried to land a CF but teams wanted too much in return. The good news….landing Mancini and Vazquez was brilliant.
The addition of Vazquez greatly enhances the offensive output at C. Mancini is capable of replacing Brantley thus allowing the team to keep a resurgent Gurriel at 1B.
Will Smith for Odorizzi?
At the time he left the Astros, Odorizzi’s ERA was 3.75. While with Atlanta, his ERA has ballooned to 5.93. The Braves have to score six runs to stay competitive with him in the game. Most likely, the Astros will use Smith for only one inning. I can hold my breath for one inning.
CF by committee doesn’t bother me. McCormick is not perfect but he can hit and hit for power. Dubon is versatile and has potential. Meyers is not ready for prime time.
Offensively and defensively, the Astros are solid from top to bottom.
The bullpen is another matter. The pitching coach has his work cut out for him but with the possibility of two starters moving to the bullpen (Garcia, McCullars or Javier) for the playoffs, our bullpen situation will be much improved.
Not sure what kind of “potential “ you are talking about with Dubon……he is horrible.
He’s 28 years old and has hit .216 with a .578 OPS.
Been in the big leagues for four years now and nobody has given him 200 AB’s ever.
He is versatile but definitely below average major leaguer.
Will Smith has actually performed a bit worse since the trade…. Not good.
Mancini has only hit .204 since being traded with a .700 OPS…… I will say that rarely getting to play two or three days in a row can be tough to gain any consistency.
Vazquez is hitting well now but has barely managed 32 AB and will resign with Sox in off season.
And the truth is none of us really know how hard Click tried to get a CF.
We need Diaz to come back healthy and dialed in before playoffs.
I’m actually surprised they took Odorizzi in that trade. But maybe I’m still seeing Smith in a Royals uniform when he was dialed in.
I think Mancini will get it together sooner than later. I’d prefer he play more but Dusty gonna Dusty. Call me a tin-foil hat guy but Vazquez was probably the most unhappy-looking trade guy I have ever seen interviewed. Like it or not, people love playing in the Bosox organization. This is not home for him and you can see it on his face. But, I suspect he’ll be a pro about it and stay focused through the post-season. Boston, like NY, keeps you on your toes. Houston has to be like Club Med for this guy. Like a mini-vacation where the resort pays you for visiting.
One less team to worry about for Verlander.
Angels up for sale today. Eliminates one team who historically throws $$$ and years at great veteran players who will never be worth deal.
Arte selling the Halos would be a great Christmas present for me. Weve been drawing Mets comparisons lately (bleh). If a new ownership can turn them around then its probably the only thing that can save the Angels at this point.
Had he been a bit more efficient early in the game he might have had a shot at a no-no……it was the right call to pull him at that point…. He would have needed at least 120-130 to go all nine……not worth it.
I’m least concerned about which ones make the starting four and most concerned with how Dusty uses the other. This is man-up time for McCullars. If Dusty decides he’s long relief then he needs to embrace it. We just need Lance to be able to go 4 strong no matter when he gets the ball. Same for Garcia. If Dusty plays it right he won’t need three late relievers. If Dusty wants Garcia coming out of the pen then good. He can do it.
Going back to five man rotation…… would really like to see what Cha-Cha can do in 2-3 as a bridge guy….if he knows he is going only a few innings he can really ramp up to 97-98 with his fastball……we saw it last year in a couple of playoff starts….he could really be a weapon in that capacity.
That makes the BP stronger.
When September rolls around I would like to see Hunter Brown in the same situation…… let loose for 2-3 innings….subtract Smith and Maton,
Playoff Pen
Pressly
Monterro
Abreu
Garcia
Brown
Neris
Stanek
Urquidy
I think youre the only one on the board that feels that way. Things might change when a couple of the starters join the ranks, but right now its incredible unreliable. Definitely the teams biggest weak spot.
I wouldn’t worry so much about reliever ERA, especially over a short sample size.
Over the last thirty days the Astros’ pen is first in K/9, second in FIP, second in xFIP. They’ve had a non super elite stretch here but over all still very good.
Sounds like you’ve got a mild case of recency bias.