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I was sitting here hoping the guy would throw a slider on 3-2 trying for a strike. He did.
Agree with this. The fault was 100% Meyers.
Dubon and Diaz both had great swings at hanging two-strike sliders, but both Ked.
They were lucky that the catcher didn’t pull a Bagwell and let it drop for a DP
Oh absolutely doomed.
No, he’s not a real CF. Tucker would probably be a better option, which is not my kind of option.
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It should be noted that those caps were fucking awful.
Someone on Twitter said that they looked like something an NFL head coach might’ve worn in the 90s.
I thought they were appropriately gory.
Not sure what characteristics you have for your definition of a “real CFer.” Ability to run with decent speed and to catch the ball are mine. I think Tucker would be fine there if he played CF more. I do not know much more about Benintendi other than his homer in Boston off JV and his backbreaking diving catch of Bregman’s liner in Houston. I do know he is in the midst of a good year.
I think we need one more hitter, and I do not know if Meyers/McCormick will be that hitter. Meyers is getting every opportunity to prove himself. Getting Brantley back will help. NYY may be targeting Benintendi, much like they were targeting Cole in Pittsburgh, and getting him away from them would be fun. That is not a reason to try for him, though, if he is not a good fit on this team.
My basic problem is I do not know who is a good fit. LF seems to be Alvarez/Brantley and RF is Tucker. No revelation to any of you, but CF is hollering “Me, me!” Leave Gurriel alone, please. There is no upgrade defensively possible, and he will hit enough. Why trade for a better hitter at catcher when Machete is so damn valuable? The team does not need another utility player. Dubon and Diaz are enough. The bullpen, despite occasional hiccups, has been better than good. Offense is the obvious need with another solid starter running second on my wish list. I am not convinced the current run of SP excellence will continue to the end of the regular season, but our Big Three are starting to convince me they are for real. Each is now or can be an ace.
Who are good hitting OFers who are available and who can be adequate in CF.? I sure as hell do not know. I would love to know Click’s thoughts on the team’s needs.
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Dreamcasting: Reynolds from the Pirates?
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Big year last year; new contract. Would he be available? What would it take?
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Some random thoughts to your excellent post:
- I tend to prefer strong OF defense from a CF’er over great hitting. If that choice has to be made. In that regard, Meyers (and Siri and McCormick) are fine/very good. Any continued offense at the current production level by Meyers is a plus.
- I tend to agree we need one more hitter but I also think Gurriel is that person. I can’t imagine he’ll continue his first half swoon and am seeing some hints that he is slowly getting better at getting around on the fastball, which is a positive development. I agree 100% that his defense is key. He makes the infield defense so much better than it already is.
- I’d be happy for NY to mortgage their future on a Benintendi rental. They have some decent talent in the minors that would look better in something other than pinstripes for the next 3-5 years.
- The bullpen has been serviceable to very good and I am not sure there is much needed there. It’s easy to look at a couple of recent opponent rallies but that’s not a realistic way to look at things, I think. Great offenses are going to do that sometimes and when you look at the total body of work and pen construct that performs well when given 4 innings to cover or 2 innings to cover by the starters, they do an outstanding job.
- The starters speak for themselves. Even the back end of the rotation. If your #5 guy is 7-3 with a 4.15era over 80IP with 62K’s and 19BB’s, that just awesome.
- When Maldonado snuck up behind Ward to make the tag at 1B a couple of days ago, I immediately thought to myself that he very well may be the MVP of this team. His unparalleled defense, his baseball IQ, his leading of the staff to generate the best possible pitching outcomes and even the occasional pop is just such a joy to watch and generates so much value that does not show up in the stats. I wonder if the team voted on team MVP, where he would rank.
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Reynolds is the ideal candidate but would cost two arms and a leg
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Oh, I do not want to sacrifice defense in CF just to get more offense. I agree strong defense is the #1 criterion for CF. I really hope Meyers can be the guy, and if he is able to help on offense consistently, he is the guy, imo.
I have faith Yuli’s offense will return to the norm. He got a big hit yesterday to tie the score.
I think folks who want a catcher are crazy.
The pen is more than serviceable to me. Every pitcher has bad, hittable days, but when it happens to a reliever protecting a lead, the failure is magnified.
I do not know if our #4 and 5 SP can keep their excellence up, and I think Jake O. may be expendable.
Of course, to get someone good, we likely will have to give up players we hate to lose. Such is the life of a championship contender.
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I feel like in his short time up Jake has already had a better stretch at the plate then either Chas or Siri.
(.273 BA, 1 HR, 6 rbi in 33 AB).
We’ll see if the bottom falls out.
I know it’s arcane, but if he keeps his average in the .250 to .270 neighborhood he should be good.
He has yet to draw a walk.
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The Astros lead the league in bullpen ERA. There’s no need to do anything there, barring a major injury.
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I also like the starting 9, rotation, and bullpen as they are.
I worry about an injury to one of the starting 9 position players but first world problems, right?
Brantley’s injury causing Dubon to start games in LF brought this to my attention.
I like both Diaz and Dubon as bench pieces for what they bring but if either needs to start a block of games at one of the 4 corner positions then run production will likely suffer.
Down the stretch and in playoffs, it would be nice to have a LH bat on the bench other than Castro. Maybe Matijevic continues to grow and develop and is that moving forward.
I would like a veteran bat brought in as insurance ( A guy like Mancini who is versatile enough to play multiple positions makes sense to me) but not as a replacement for any of the current starters.
The problem with that is does the cost of getting a bat effective enough to make a difference justify him mostly sitting on the bench.
It may make sense to just stand pat.
Maybe there’s a fine line between resting on your laurels and sitting in the cat bird’s seat.
But the Astros seem well positioned to not be beggars at the deadline.
(Its a hard deadline this year, correct?)
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