This discussion started over in the Bus Ride but I thought it deserved its own thread. Anyway one of Jim Sheridan’s posts was this…
My guess:
K. Lee
Dubon
Meyers
So if the Astros go with 14 position players and 12 pitchers (as they did in '21) which 2 of the following do you leave off?
Hunter Brown
Luis Garcia
Phil Maton
Will Smith
Jose Urquidy
I would choose Smith and Garcia.
3 Likes
I’m with you though I feel that Smith’s unique handedness will win over Brown’s youth and inexperience.
I think Brown’s flirtation with walks in his last two outings will give the powers-that-be some second thoughts. If he can go out and get some clean innings in the next week, that will probably erase those worries, but if not, that’s going to count against him. If you’re bringing in a reliever in the postseason, you don’t want to be worrying about whether he’ll throw strikes. But it’s hard not to be enchanted by that 94mph slider.
Dubon is making the postseason roster because of his defensive versatility. Meyers has no business being on it. Hitting well in AAA doesn’t mean his second chance in the big leagues comes in the ALDS. If they really thought he was ready to return to the big league club, he would have needed to be up earlier this month to get at bats and his timing right. That hasn’t happened.
I also doubt the Astros have 14 position players on their postseason roster for the ALDS. I could see a 13/13 split if they want Lee on it so they have flexibility in how they use Vazquez.
1 Like
I think they definitely want 3 catchers.
4 Likes
I agree and think Lee will be on the ALDS roster.
1 Like
I like healthy Jake Meyers a lot, but he is wasted space on the 2022 playoff roster. I hope he comes back strong and reclaims CF in 2023.
8 Likes
Or they wanted him to get everyday ABs in Sugar Land to get his timing right and now that their season is over …
https://twitter.com/markbermanfox26/status/1575580745153753089?s=46&t=wsGhpETIptKMswsoKIk_lA
1 Like
This move makes sense.
Don’t get me wrong - Meyers was awful when he was up this summer.
But the team needs time to see if he got fixed in AAA because if he is back to 2021 Jake he can improve this team.
He has very little time and ice underfoot is mighty thin.
I actually think that his reaction and results on those outings help him.
He has the stuff to get any hitter out and in those outings, showed that he won’t fold under pressure.he
Its interesting to me that they put Diaz on the taxi squad instead of Lee.
According to baseball Savant
LF avg 87.4 mph
CF avg 90.0 mph
RF avg 90.5 mph
Yordan:140 throws 89.3avg, 94.2max
Tucker 380 throws 89.0avg, 93.2max
Chas 229 throws 84.9avg, 89.5max
Meyers 116throws 84.1avg, 89.4max
Dubon 89.2avg OF (other stats only listed positions together)
Interesting to me
2021 Meyers 128 throws 84.9avg, 89.5max
So Jakes throws earlier this year were only 0.8MPH slower than last year
Hitting AAA pitching is nowhere near the same as facing MLB arms. And six games is not enough of a sample size to justify putting him on the ALDS roster.
They could, but I seriously doubt it happens.
It’s interesting, but they didn’t give him much work behind the plate during his brief stint here. I would have thought they would have done so if they viewed him as the emergency catcher for the ALDS.
Wow, no shit.
Here’s another obvious point: if you’re a young player in a funk seeing game action everyday is better than seeing little to no game action at all.
Whether he makes the playoff roster or not I suspect comes down to how many pitchers they want to go with in the ALDS. If just 12 (like in last year’s ALDS), then he’s got a decent shot. If it’s 13 then no way.
The Astros have held a double-digit lead in the division since the beginning of September. They could have called up Meyers much earlier this month with expanded rosters and given him consistent at bats to see if he has figured things out. They didn’t.
Which Astros’ pitcher out of Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia, Hunter Brown, Will Smith, Phil Maton or Bryan Abreu deserves to be left off the ALDS roster for the 2022 version of Jake Meyers?
Dude, they’re still fighting for best record in the AL in order to claim home field advantage.
False equivalence.
Given the schedule of the ALDS with off days after games 1 and 2, the Astros may feel like they don’t need that extra pitcher. And would prefer an extra butt on the bench who can pinch run and be a decent late inning defensive replacement in the outfield.
For some more context about Meyers and his being added to the playoff roster see these two articles from the Chron (one of which just posted)…
From the first article is an interesting Mickey Storey quote talking about Jake’s arm, confidence level and what he’s seeing currently…
Hidden
“Jake’s never been a plus arm. It’s never been that,” Storey said. “I think it was under the radar that it wasn’t because he’s such an elite defender with balls in the air, ranging. I think the arm was under the microscope because he was coming back from surgery, and I think there was a little bit of confidence that wasn’t there on his end. Because of that, I think it got exposed a little bit in a sense. The arm looks healthy. He’s made some strong throws, some accurate throws.”
And FWIW from the second article what Chandler Rome had to say about today’s move…
Hidden
After regaining some perspective and confidence in the minor leagues, Meyers figures to contend for a spot on Houston’s ALDS roster. Chas McCormick and Mauricio Dubón have split center field duties in Meyers’ absence to below-average results. Meyers is a better defender than both men and, at the very least, can be a viable defensive replacement or pinch-runner on a playoff roster.