What a shockingly transparent couple of comments by a player and an opposing coach. Wow.
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This seems to me to be the biggest difference from last year. His arm simply isn’t there compared to last year, and is probably related to his other struggles to regain his form.
First off let me say that I agree with Jim. Something HAS to be physically wrong with Meyers. At least it looks that way to me as well. If this is the case, why would Astros brass continue to send him on the field to struggle at the plate if they know he isn’t 100%? It makes no sense to me, which makes me wonder if he’s hurt but telling management he’s fine?? That’s not good either.
Last night on the radio, I heard Click say when asked about center field, and I’m paraphrasing here, that they believe Meyers just needs to trust that he’s healthy and play and that if he does, he will get it turned around. IF THAT IS TRUE, then it means the injury has got to his head and in my opinion, he should be sent down to AAA until he gets it worked out. The only thing I can figure, is that the division lead has management thinking his working out his issues in Houston is preferable to sending him down.
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Replying to myself here upon further reflection. So, I’ve been worried about dilution of the Astros competitive advantage that they worked so hard to create once Crane bought the team as people leave the org and 1) take that expertise with them and/or 2) carry that intellectual property to other teams. I have to be honest that that worry may have been unfounded and probably was based on an (unsurprisingly) incomplete understanding of the mechanisms in place within the Astros enterprise.
For example, when Sig Mejdal and Mike Elias left for Baltimore, I thought they would quickly make an “Astros North” juggernaught that would compete with the Astros for dominance. When Lunhow and Hinch left, I thought the fundamental operational capability of the org would diminish rapidly. When Strom left, I thought that “special sauce” capacity to tweak that extra bit of capability that separates good a d better players would disappear. Instead, what we see is those that leave have experiences that are not particularly better than the mean and the Astros continue their analytical and operational dominance. It appears the organizational “system” is the success generator, not so much the people.
That Atlanta bullpen coach, Drew French, encapsulates this perfectly. He was a part of the system. Because of his contributions, he was awarded a promotion to a higher position (just like Elias in Baltimore) in another organization but is unable to export those better outcomes to this (their) new jobs. So much so that he can’t “fix” someone directly in his charge but knows that the place that he came from can.
The one constant here is the top of the organization; Jim Crane.
Just some musings on my part.
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I will say, at least when it comes to Balimore, they are building something. If you use the Astros timeline as context for them, they are around 2014/15. They are in the process of taking that jump that the Astros did in 2014 from worst team in baseball to respectable. Elias was hired prior to the 2019 season, so this is year 4. Luhnow year 4 was 2015. So Elias is possibly a year behind where the Astros were but they also lost a year of farm system growth in 2020. They are headed in the right direction and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them really compete for a postseason spot next season
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The comparison makes sense… Interesting that in 2015 the Astros kind of went for it at the tradeline – acquiring Kazmir, then the ill-fated Fiers/Gomez trade – while the Orioles went the opposite direction this week.
(Or, maybe they learned something from Houston’s results from those deals.)
Well the main difference in situation is that in 2015 the Astros were fighting for not only a WC but also the division. They led the division most of that season up to that point. Postseason was likely for the Astros so they made moves. The Orioles on the other hand got into the race in the last month with a hot stretch are seen as a longshot still
And we should have beaten KC
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Let me say first, all I know about Meyers’ shoulder is what I have read. I have no insight or inside information about him. If he is having trouble throwing, my assumption is his shoulder still is bothering him or he is afraid it will hurt again if he cuts loose with a throw. I do not think there is anything unusual about a serious injury’s getting into the injured person’s head. The approach the Astros are using with him will work ultimately, imo, if his shoulder is healed and sound and if he believes it is.
Mark is something of an expert on shoulder injuries because he has dealt with one for years. The injury is serious and does not simply go away.
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I truly believe they could have beaten that Blue Jays team too
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Yes. But it seems to have been bothering him ever since (as several, including me, have noted above).
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My first thought when I read the criticism on here about Smith was Phil Maton and Rafael Montero. Maton was mediocre and Montero was DFAed when they got to Houston, and look at them now. My hope is the brain trust fixes Smith, and we will have the LHP in the pen a lot of us wanted.
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I share that hope. But also, I think it helps that the Astros really just need Smith to be a lefty specialist, as opposed to the closer/elite set up guy he’s been in the past.
Yep, at least at first. He is too good to be limited to that role, imo, if they fix him.
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A Braves fan friend (don’t blame him, he grew up in NC so it was Braves on TBS and Redskins on Sundays), was telling me that Smith’s curve (or maybe slider) has been getting crushed all year. Sounds like a pitch that the Stros might make him throw away and focus on the 2 or 3 he does best. I dunno, but I’m hopeful. I have not looked up his FB velocity now vs when he was really good. Maybe a change in grip and a wrinkle in it could work too, just random thoughts here.
It was a fat breaking ball that got knocked out
Maybe he needs to throw it harder. Nice break and down, but it just rolls.
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My apologies to Mr. Dubon.
His catch today was one of the finest I have ever seen.
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Taking a very quick glance at baseball savant
The Curve is a real problem, he does not throw it a ton, around 12% but it is getting crushed. Exit velocity is over 100mph
The Slider is by far his best pitch, guys are missing it about 46% of the time and the batting ave is .167 against it
The Fastball is getting hit more, and harder, this year than previous years. The velocity is down a tick from 92.8 to 92.2 but is right in line with career ave. Exit velocity is basically the same as last year about 90mph, so guys are not hitting it harder. For some reason, and this is what the Astros need to figure out, he is missing bats a lot less this year, 10% down from 18% last year. His spin rate is down a tick from 2240 to 2170. I wouldn’t think that small of a spin rate drop would cause such a big drop because 2018 his spin rate was 2162 and his wiff % was still 17%
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