2015 Astros Regular Season Thread

Guess I had missed that Hinch was giving the ball to Kazmir tonight...thought I had heard after the Wild Card game it would be McCullers or Fiers. Colby Rasmus might be playing his way out of the Astros organization this offseason...if he stays hot then he'll probably get Simone to over pay for his services next year...had a great season hitting 25 HRs but with Springer missing a good chunk of the year and Gomez and Marisnick coming back with Tucker as well then someone is going to get left out. I've seen talk of potentially moving Tucker to 1st but I'm not sure he's a big enough target (listed as 6') you'd like to have at 1st.

Guess I had missed that Hinch was giving the ball to Kazmir tonight...thought I had heard after the Wild Card game it would be McCullers or Fiers. Colby Rasmus might be playing his way out of the Astros organization this offseason...if he stays hot then he'll probably get Simone to over pay for his services next year...had a great season hitting 25 HRs but with Springer missing a good chunk of the year and Gomez and Marisnick coming back with Tucker as well then someone is going to get left out. I've seen talk of potentially moving Tucker to 1st but I'm not sure he's a big enough target (listed as 6') you'd like to have at 1st.

 

KABro, what about Jeff Bagwell? I'm not saying Tucker will be a Bagwell-esque player but sometimes you can't always follow the script to get what you want. As for Rasmus, if he could hit for a better average I'd keep him in a heartbeat. Despite the fact that Jake Marisnick is probably a better fielder Rasmus' bat separates him from Marisnick. They have similar batting averages but Rasmus' power is the difference. I like Jake, personally I'd keep Marisnick and dump Mr Douche Bag Carlos Gomez because I just don't like Gomez' personality. If Rasmus could improve to become a .275-.280 hitter I keep him for sure.

 

Houston did what they've done a lot the past month and that is watch the bullpen screw up when they lost a 4-2 lead that became a 5-4 loss. Kazmir scared me going in because he's been so damn awful the past month of the regular season but he pitched a good game. In my mind he gave up two runs in the five plus innings he pitched. I know the box score says he gave up 3 but the third run was all on the bullpen IMO. When I heard on the radio that Oliver Perez was entering the game in the 6th for Kaz I cringed. I cringed when he came on in New York on Tuesday and I cringed when he came in Thursday night because the guy has not pitched worth a tinker's damn since he came to Houston. Josh Fields came on and didn't do any better. He walked in a run on 4 pitches nearly hitting the batter with ball 4. Will Harris came on in the 7th and gave up a run that gave the Royals their first lead and eventually was the difference in the game. Pat Neshak closed out the the last 2/3 of the Royals 8th but he also gave up two hits and he had to pitch out of a jam. The Astros wins over the Yankees and in Game 1 of this series the bullpen did well. They did what you'd expect a bullpen to do but yesterday they fell back into the total crap they have been since September 1st. You could look at the game yesterday and say Houston flat out blew a golden opportunity and they did but to come out of KC with a split heading into Game 3 AT HOME with Keuchel on the mound. Advantage Houston right? What happens if Houston wins on Sunday and goes up 2-1 on KC. Do they still go into Game 4 with McCullers on the mound? Or Fiers? Or would they bring back Collin McHugh. My money would be on McHugh. But, lets not get ahead of ourselves, let's win on Sunday.

 

I can't believe David Price is still even in the conversation for the AL Cy Young. Keuchel is the best pitcher in the American League in 2015. His record says so, his stats say so and he started for the AL in the All Star game and he shut out the Yankees on three days rest in a win or go home game on the road. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to go undefeated for a full season at home with a 15-0 record. Price had better run support than Keuchel as well with both Detroit and Toronto. When Keuchel went out to pitch to help the team get into the playoffs and ended up winning his 20th game of the season Price sat out his last start so he would be fresh to pitch in Game 1 of the ALDS which he lost after getting pounded by Texas. If Keuchel doesn't win the Cy Young it will be the biggest injustice EVER.

Edited October 10, 2015 by eagle eye

Remember how shows like Deal or No Deal or Who Wants to be A Millionaire milk the moments in the show to build an unbearable amount of tension? That's the way I feel about the time batters and pitchers take between pitches. I seriously can't wait for a pitch clock to be instituted in baseball. Today's game between the Astros and Royals was full of so much nerve-wracking tension I nearly crapped a goose between every pitch from the 6th inning on. I was happy to see Keuchel go 7 innings because that is one less opportunity for the bullpen to muck everything up. However, Keuchel drove me crazy having to pitch out of full blown jams in the 4th though the 7th but he got through his 7 complete giving up just one lone run on 5 hits and 3 walks and 7 K's. Tony Sipp did okay going 2/3 of the 8th before he was pulled for closer Luke Gregerson. Luke used the force to retire Salvador Perez on groundout to end the 8th. Gregerson went out of the dugout in the 9th without the force and he had to rely on his Jedi training to get through a gut wrenching 9th. First off he let Alex Gordon lead off the inning with a huge home run to close the score to 4-2. The Alex Rios tattooed a ball in the same general area as Gordon's ball although it was much less well hit Carlos Gomez had to make a long running catch to rob Rios of extra bases for the first out in the inning. Then, Alcides Escobar hit a doink single to center field to bring the tying run to the plate. Ben Zobrist followed with a sharply hit ground ball that half way handcuffed Carlos Correa but he was able to handle it and get the lead runner at 2nd and Altuve was not able to complete the double play. In comes Lorenzo Cain, he of the 4th inning solo shot off Keuchel that gave the Royals a 1-0 lead at the time, and Gregerson must have had a message from Obi-Wan and Luke used the force to strike out Cain to end the game.

The Royals got a nice outing from starter Edison Volquez at least into the 5th inning when the Astros finally got to him with 2 runs to take a 2-1 lead. Carlos Gomez came up in the 6th after George Springer had doubled and Evan Gattis had a simply terrible AB and he singled in Springer for a 3-1 lead after 6 innings. I really thought Dallas Keuchel's day was over but he came out for the 7th. Even though he struggled through he didn't give up a run and put Houston 6 outs away from a 2-1 series lead. Chris Carter came out and gave Keuchel one more insurance run with a massive HR to lead off the Astros 7th. So, now with a 4-1 lead Houston just needed to get those six outs. As detailed above they were able to do just that and a capacity crowd at the Juice Box went home happy. I personally needed morphine because my nerves were shot.

 

That sets up tomorrow's Game 4 at the Juice Box. The Astros send Lance McCullers (6-7, 3.22 ERA) making his first appearance in the post season. He will face Yordano Ventura (13-8, 4.08 ERA). Ventura is making his second start in this series as he was the losing pitcher in Game 1 as he only lasted 2 innings giving up 4 hits, 3 runs with a walk and 2 K's.

 

Today I was really pissed at Chris Carter. In the bottom of the 3rd he drilled a hit to left that should have been a double but he didn't hustle until just before he reached 1st base. By then it was too late and he was easily thrown out trying to take second by the Royals Gold Glove left fielder Alex Gordon. Carter had just gotten the Astros first hit of the game then jogged to first, then got thrown out. I was PISSED. Sometimes you get a little shot at redemption and Carter got his in the form of two more at bats which he did not waste. On the first AB after his mess up, in the 5th, he doubled to left, this time hustling all the way for an easy standup double and advancing Luis Valbuena who had walked to 3rd. In his next AB in the 7th, well you know what he did then. He made the most out of the last 2 ABs he got in the game with a double and a HR.

 

Colby Rasmus has put the fear of God into the Royals. His post season hitting surge has caused the Royals to actually fear what he will do at the plate. In his first AB Volquez nibbled around the plate and to Rasmus' credit he didn't chase and worked a walk. In the 4th Rasmus again showed patience at the plate and worked his second walk off Volquez. In the 6th George Springer doubled and Carlos Correa grounded out to 2nd moving Springer to 3rd. It was then that the Royals decided to intentionally walk Rasmus giving Houston runners at 1st and 3rd with 1 out. That, my friends, is respect. Two batters later Gomez drove in Springer for the Astros 3rd run. In the 8th with Carlos Correa on 1B after a single Rasmus smacked a ball so high it hit the roof of the Juice Box and fell into shallow right field for a weird single. No roof? Maybe yet another post season home run. So, Rasmus final line score was 1 for 1 with 3 walks. He had no runs scored and no RBI's but the Royals prevented any opportunity for the latter.

 

Tomorrow's game begins early. First pitch is slated for a little after 12:00 noon. This could be the Astros best hope for advancing to the ALCS. Houston needs to take advantage of the home field mojo they have enjoyed all season. The Astros will have to do something they haven't done much of this season and that's give McCullers some run support. Wear your Orange and Blue tomorrow and let's will this team to a trip to the next round.

Edited October 12, 2015 by eagle eye

I quit posting on this thread a while back for the simple reason that every time I did the Astros seem to lose. So all I am going to say is Go 'Stros and see y'all in the ALCS!

This series should be over people. It should have been over on Sunday when Keuchel pitched a heroic 7 innings. Houston got the win but they didn't get the series. As the Aussies say, "No worries, mate!", because there is always tomorrow. Tomorrow came and went and we still are in the playoffs but instead of waiting on the winner of the Toronto-Texas series in the ALCS we have to go back to Kansas City in a dogfight for our playoff lives in a 5th and deciding game against the Royals at their place. It should not have gotten this far. There is only one reason and one reason only for our current dilemma, the GD, MF-ing bull(shit)pen. Houston did enough to win the game yesterday, more than enough. Yes, they left some meat on the bone but that's baseball. You don't always get an extra hit or run when you need to, or want to. That's baseball. Even if Houston has plated the two runners on 2nd and 3rd in that big 3 run 7th inning even though there was only one out in the inning, in the end those two runs would not have won the game after the bull(shit)pen came in and gave up 7 freaking runs in the final two innings. On Sunday I posted that it would be nice if Lance McCullers got some run support for a change and damned if they didn't do it. Six runs should have been enough to win the doggone game. Houston had but six outs to get to advance to the next round of the playoffs and Kansas City scored 4 runs before even one of those six outs was recorded. By the time the 8th inning was over what was once a 6-2 lead became a 7-6 deficit. You can give the Royals credit for being resilient if you want to but the fact of the matter is Will Harris and Tony Sipp blew this game, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Let's not forget about closer Luke Gregerson who tried to blow the game on Sunday. He came in for Sipp and allowed the go ahead run to score before finally closing the door on a 5 run massacre that was the Royals half of the 8th inning. Let's not forget about Josh Fields coming on in the 9th and giving up a lead off walk, getting a strike out and then a two run homer by Eric Hosmer to extend the Royals lead to 9-6. Houston had to feel like an abused child after the bull(shit)pen gave up 7 runs in the final two innings. I am so mad at this bull(shit)pen I can't see straight. Just like the loss last Friday in KC, Houston was cruising along winning 4-2 when the bull(shit)pen took over. That time it was Oliver Perez, Josh Fields and Will Harris that gave up the go ahead runs that ultimately led to a 5-4 loss. That one wasn't as demoralizing as yesterday's loss. At the time I'm sure Houston and all of their fans were happy to get out of KC with a split. Yesterday they were on the cusp of beating the unbeatable Royals and advancing to the ALCS, one step from the World Series. Houston will send it's second best pitcher to the hill tomorrow and Collin McHugh is the king of run support although it didn't matter when the Astros lost last Friday when McHugh left the game with the lead. I'm tired of Perez, Fields and Harris blowing games. It's time for new blood and I'm not talking about Qualls and, heaven forbid, Pat Neshak. I'm talking about putting Vincent Velasquez and Michael Feliz out there but Houston can't because they aren't on the active roster. So, we're stuck with who we are stuck with. Isn't that a fine kettle of fish. I would still use Mike Fiers and Scott Kazmir before I used the other losers in our bull(shit)pen. Houston is going to need one of those 14 run explosion games in KC tomorrow. It's the only way to beat the Royals AND overcome the infamous bull(shit)pen. If Houston does end up losing this series I don't wish death or serious illness on the guys in the bull(shit)pen, it's just a game after all, but would it be too much to ask to have them plagued by swarms of locusts, or tormented by boils all over their bodies, or inflicted with temporary blindness or some other biblical malady? Probably so. Of all the problems this team has had to see what was once considered a strength of the team become it's one liability, a liability that is preventing further success, is just too cruel a joke. The Royals, on the other hand, seem to have an unlimited supply of guys who throw 98 mph fastballs for strikes. If it comes down to a battle of bullpens Houston's bull(shit)pen will lose and of that, I have no doubt.

I had to laugh at this tag line on the Astros web site, "McHugh's plan for Game 5? Go the distance.". Considering the total meltdown of the bullpen in Game 4 my thinking is that McHugh doesn't want to put the Astros fate in the hands of a group that has a serious case of the dropsies. I was wrong the other day when I said McHugh pitched well in a losing effort last Friday. McHugh actually pitched 6.1 innings in the Game 1 win in Kansas City last Thursday which included a one hour rain delay between the 2nd and 3rd innings. By contrast the Royals pulled starter Yordano Ventura after the 2 innings prior to the rain delay because the Royals manager felt the one hour delay was too long for his pitcher to sit. The game was McHugh's first post season start and because he was able to last into the 7th inning he logged his first post season win. Judging by the way the bullpen has let the Astros down even though McHugh was probably speaking a little tongue in cheek about going 9 there is the fact that the 'pen has not performed well for a while now. AJ Hinch seemed to indicate in his press conference yesterday that this game was an all-hands-on-deck situation to win Game 5 meaning Dallas Keuchel, Mike Fiers and Scott Kazmir are all available to work tonight if needed. If Houston manages to win it could be an all Texas ALCS if the Rangers can win their Game 5 on the road in Toronto. That would be a rare accomplishment for two road teams to win their series on the road but as we've seen this whole MLB post season, anything is liable to happen.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/154190876/astros-collin-mchugh-excited-to-start-game-5

I have to admit, I didn't feel like the Astros had much of a chance to win last night even when I saw they went up 2-0 early in the game I just didn't feel like the Astros would win. I was hopeful but the loss on Monday was just too much to overcome. I also have to admit to the fact that I didn't watch the game for just the reason I noted above. I just didn't have any faith the Astros could overcome what had to be a huge disappointment in Game 4. The Astros had two chances to win games in the series with KC and blew them. To their credit they won 2 of the games as well but it's always the missed opportunities that stick with you. Tony Sipp, Will Harris and Luke Gregerson have to feel like crap after blowing Game 4. Carlos Correa took some of the blame for misplaying a bad hop ground ball that could have resulted in a double play that would have stopped the bleeding in the 8th but the fact is the bullpen let the team yet again. If I was in their shoes I would feel so bad right now because I know it is all on my shoulders that the Astros are not preparing for the ALCS and that is enough to make a competitive person sick. I don't know why but Houston brought in Dallas Keuchel in the 9th last night and it just may be a bullpen thing because with 2 outs in the inning Keuchel gave up a 3 run home run to Kendrys Morales that extended the Royals lead from 4-2 to 7-2. If Houston had rallied and won then Keuchel wouldn't be available to pitch Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday. Weird move by AJ Hinch. Hinch also gave an early hook to starter Collin McHugh pulling him after the first two batters in the 5th inning reached base. Mike Fiers came in and gave up a two run double to Alex Rios that gave the Royals the lead for good. I think the bullpen was just cursed because no matter who pitched out of the pen they sucked and that group now includes Fiers and Keuchel.

I was a season that has to be looked up as a real success story regardless of the final disappointing outcome. Nobody expected Houston to be anywhere close to the playoffs and now we talked about the missed opportunity to advance to the ALCS. All in all, a pretty good season, no, it was a damn good season. Houston has prospects coming up that will make this team even stronger going forward. It's sad to see it all come to an end.

Houston had a great season and they have a great General Manager, and the pool of talent will continue to get better. I am so glad they shut-up those folks that said their move to the American League would be a diasaster, that said, with their record they would have been a 4th place team in their old division in the National League. That said, it is obvious where the weakness of this team is win or lose last night - the bullpen. It has been an issue all season, especially in close games. Getting a quality set-up pitcher out of the bullpen will be critical, along with the young hitters maturing & having patience at the plate. They are also taking out Tal's Hill in centerfield, and making the playing field smaller, so emphasis should be to develop ground ball pitchers.

As much as Astro's fans don't like it, IMHO the best team won the series. Same thought about the Rangers & Blue Jays - the best team won.

The Astros gotta find a 3rd baseman, 1st baseman and a DH. A catcher that could hit would be nice, too. Need some relievers, also.

The Astros gotta find a 3rd baseman, 1st baseman and a DH. A catcher that could hit would be nice, too. Need some relievers, also.

 

I believe the Astro's future 3rd baseman is currently playing shortstop.

I wanted to try to recap the Astros 2015 by position with some idea where I think they need to get better. Today I'll start with the starting pitchers.

 

Dallas Keuchel - Superior job. 1st 20 game winner in over ten years for the Astros. Top 5 in almost every pitching category and he should win the AL Cy Young. There seems to be a lot of push for David Price but Keuchel was just plain better and he lost some wins due to poor offensive output or the bullpen failed to do their jobs. Relistically, Keuchel could have had 24 wins or more. If he had the run support Price enjoyed in Detroit and Toronto 20 wins would have happened mid September. Price is a former Cy Young winner but he doesn't deserve the honor, Keuchel does. Keuchel isn't overpowering, he's a pitcher much the same way Greg Maddux was. Keuchel is a left handed Maddux and his style doesn't put a lot of pressure on his arm so his longevity should be a factor in his career. Definitely, built upon the improvements he's made over the past 4 seasons to the point where he can be considered the ace of the staff. The fact is Keuchel could the ace on most staffs.

 

Collin McHugh - Really nice job in 2015. He was the beneficiary of a lot of run support and that is why he could post a 3.83 ERA and still win 19 games. A good 2 or 3 man in the rotation and you know he can handle pressure based on his Game 1 victory against KC in the ALDS. His second outing in Game 5 wasn't so great but I think the whole team had a major let down after losing a 4 run lead late in Game 4 that should have been the series winner for Houston. McHugh is young and he pitched well in 2014 as he pitched pretty well in 2015. The hallmark of McHuch in my opinion was he was a gritty player who didn't let some adversity stop him from continuing to battle.

 

Scott Kazmir - A real big disappointment to Astros fans, and if truth be told, to the Astros front office. He pitched well in his first two outings then commenced to stink until his Game 2 performance in the ALDS. He gave up 2 earned runs, 3 officially, but the bullpen betrayed him and the rest of the team as Houston missed an opportunity to beat KC in the first two games of the series. Up until that point Kazmir wasn't good for the entire month of September joining the bullepen in their late season collapse that cost Houston the division championship. Kazmir seems to have consistency issues. His comeback story to the bigs is amazing and if he had pitched as well after the trade deadline as his pitched before it Houston would be drooling to sign him long term. Now? I think Houston could let him walk but I don't think I'd sqawk if they signed him---at the right price. Houston shouldn't break the bank to keep him.

 

Lance McCullers - The guy replaced Keuchel as the hard luck starter in the rotation in that either lack of run support or failure by the bullpen or both derailed his won/loss record. He should have had more than the 6 wins he ended up with. He made only 22 starts on the season and ended up with a 6-7 record. That right there should tell you something. AJ Hinch shut McCullers down for about 3 weeks trying not to overtax his arm so he would be fresh for the end of the season. His 122 innings pitched was a career high and he should be able to go to 150-170 innings next year. He pitches with power but, IMO, he nibbles to much instead of relying on his mid to high 90's fastball which runs his in-game pitch count up. He's really doing well to go 5, maybe 6 innings. On days when he's on he can go longer. He did pitch a complete game for a win during the summer. His 3.22 ERA was 2nd best among the starters. Bright future here and he should be a more than solid #3 on the Astros rotation.

 

Vincent Velasquez - Another hard throwing pitcher. His record of 1-1 in 7 starts was better than this stat would lead you to believe. He was shut down as far as his starting pitching rotation work at the end of July about the same time as McCullers was shutdown but after Houston acquired Kazmir and Mike Fiers at the trade deadline Velasquez never statered another game for Houston although he made some appearances out of the bullpen. Young arm would could begin the season in a six man rotation that could save innings on Keuchel (232) and McHugh (203) until the stretch run. Still a little raw and is probably better suited to some more seasoning in AAA. He only pitched 55 innings in the bigs and 33 in the minors giving him just 88 innings. He needs to increase his ability to pitch more innings if he is going to be a starting pitcher going forward. It could be a different story is they see Velasquez as bullpen prospect.

 

Scott Feldman - When he was healthy he did a good job for Houston as evidenced by his 2014 campaign but in 2015 he wasn't healthy at all for all but the 18 starts he made. He had mixed results owning a 5-5 record on the season but if he ended up with 10-12 wins you'd say he did his job. His 3.90 ERA was somewhat skewed because of a couple of bad starts before he went on the DL. If Feldman comes back he will make a good tail end of the rotation guy. I don't know the contract status but, just guessing, I believe he has another year or two on his original contract.

 

Roberto Hernandez - I never saw much from him and I have no problem with the Astros cutting him loose.

 

Mike Fiers - Fiers came in and was on again off again with his highlight being the no-no he pitched on August 21st against the Dodgers which was the first no-no by the Astros or any other team at Minute Maid Park. A back end of the rotation guy who I believe Houston has under contract for 2016. Fiers was 2-1 in 10 starts with a 3.32 ERA.

 

Brett Oberholzer 2-2, 4.38 ERA, 8 starts. Spent the season on the DL

 

Asher Wojciechowski - 5 starts he was 0-1 with a 7.16 ERA. He won a starting job out of spring training but he sucked once the regular season began. Power pitcher but without any command of his pitches.

 

Michael Feliz - Another power pitcher who made 5 starts and had no decisions in each. He had 7.88 ERA due mostly to a disastrous start in his last outing way back in April. Needs a little more work in the minors before he's ready to come back to Houston.

 

Prospect Mark Appel - Has seemed to finally overcome his injuries and he had a nice season in the minors as he progressed from AA to AAA. He won the PCL championship with the Fresno Grizzlies. He was 5-1 at AA Corpus before being promoted to Fresno. In Fresno he was 5-2 in 12 starts. He averaged 4.37 ERA which is high but he did win 10 games between both clubs. We'll see what a healthy off season and spring training does. The rise of Appel may mean a guy like Scott Feldman or Mike Fiers or Scott Kazmir are expendable commodities.

 

I'd like to see Houston let Feldman and Kazmir go, at least one of them anyway. What I would be hoping for is Houston can sign another stud arm for the rotation. We couldn't land David Price at the trade deadline but there will certainly be others available that maybe Houston can coax into a deal. That would give Houston 3 studs (if you count McHugh) and potential stud in McCullers with the 5th spot open for a Fiers or Feldman. For the starting rotation Houston's future looks pretty darn rosy to me.

Continuing the look back at the Astros season continues today with the relief pitching coming out of the bullpen.

 

Kevin Chapman - (LHP) Chapman has had his moments over the past couple of years in the Astros bullpen but in 2015 he spent most of the time on the DL. As much as we could use a left handed reliever coming out of the bullpen we don't need one that can't stay off the DL. If may be time to move on from Chapman and all things considered I wouldn't be sorry to see him go.

 

Josh Fields - (RHP) Fields is a guy who has a lot of potential. That and a cup of coffee will get you a cup of coffee. Fields has not displayed any consistency over the past two years. He's a hard throwing guy whose command of the strike zone is not all that great. As much as you'd like to see Fields succeed, because you get guys who can bring heat in the neighborhood of 96-97 mph every day, his inconsistency is not good enough to trust in the clutch. His failures in the ALDS were sort of indicative of what Fields brings to the mound. You hate to give up on the guy but maybe a little more work in the minors could help him.

 

Oliver Perez - (LHP) I'm sorry but Perez sucks. He brought little to nothing to the Astros. The guy is old in baseball years at 34 and he will be 35 in August of next season. He was only used on left handed batters and he sucked at that. If he's a free agent, or if he's not, I'm cutting the guy loose. The Astros can do much better than Perez.

 

Will Harris - (RHP) For most of 2015 I had no problem with Harris. He throws in the mid 90's and for a relief pitcher he had a subterranean ERA but like the rest of the bullpen he was inconsistent at best in September and in the playoffs. Who knows why the whole cotton picking BP went on vacation six weeks early but they did. I do think Harris is worth keeping.

 

Joe Thatcher - (LHP) Another lefty out of the bullpen but he only pitched 22 innings for Houston. Some of his problems may have been rust. I don't remember him being on the DL but I do remember him being rather inconsistent. (Are we seeing a trend here?) His ERA of 3.22 wasn't terrible but he did not impress me. Maybe that's why he wasn't used much. He's the same age as Oliver Perez and that right there may make Houston look around at the winter meetings or the Rule 5 draft for some bullpen help.

 

Tony Sipp - (LHP) Sipp was another guy who was pretty good most of the season and he just lost his mojo at the end of the season. Need a veteran lefty who can get outs and for most part Sipp did his job.

 

Chad Qualls - (RHP) Qualls is a guy who Houston lost confidence in at the end of the season. He didn't even make the playoff roster. That old nasty "I" word crops up again when you talk about Qualls. At times he can be dominating and other times you want a lynch mob to come an string the varmint up. Another older guy with some history with the Astros but he's gotten to be sort of like Brad Lidge was--lights out. That means he will close a game or he will lose the game but something was going to happen. I wouldn't be sorry to see Qualls go.

 

Pat Neshak - (RHP) I think I've gotten to the point where I have a nickname for the bullpen---The Lost Boys. Neshak, as relievers will do during the season, had a stumble or two but when he got to September it was more bad than good. I like a good submarine pitcher and Neshak is that most of the time. I just wish somebody could figure out what the hell happened to the Lost Boys at the end of the season. The collapse by the Lost Boys was completely inexplicable and Neshak himself said he had never been through a time like that in his career where he, personally, was that bad. If he's under contract I'd keep him but I'd sure like to find a good reason why the whole BP take a nosedive.

 

Luke Gregerson - (RHP) Gregerson reminded me of another Astros reliever from the 1990's, Doug Henry. Both pitchers didn't have overpowering stuff but they got the job done most of the time. Again the end-of-season struggles by the bullpen is like a nightmarish anomaly considering how well the Astros pitched out of the pen most of the season. It's almost like voodoo or an evil spell was cast on the Lost Boys. Unless they can sign a true stud closer this off season Houston is probably stuck with Gregerson for next season and truthfully, the Astros could do worse.

 

There were some temporary plug-n-play relievers during the season but this was the main cast. I think calling the bullpen the Lost Boys is about as appropriate as it can be considering what happened to them in September and October. Maybe you just chalk it up to "it wasn't their time". It's really discouraging to see the Royals place a giant foot up the Blue Jays asses while knowing Houston was six outs away from eliminating the Royals from the playoff. Houston should be playing the Jays right now but the baseball gods decreed that it wasn't our time so we have to live with that. I hope it inspires the guys on the roster to never let something like that happen again. While the bullpen was a strength of the team for 5 months when the team needed them most they collectively failed to answer the bell and there is absolutely no discernible reason why that I can see.

The recap by position groups continues with the infield.

 

1B - Chris Carter was decent at first but the ineptitude he showed at the plate for all but the last two weeks of the season was horrible. Carter seemed to be an all or nothing player meaning he either got a home run or he struck out. Luis Valbuena was pretty much the same type of all or nothing player at the plate with Ks far outweighing the HRs. A lot of the players on this roster hit well below their career average and while Houston was 2nd in MLB in home runs as a team they were also at the top in team strike outs. Carter and Valbuena were 2nd and sixth respectively for the Astros in Ks.

 

2B - Jose Altuve is the best hitter on the team. A 3 time All Star, Altuve led the AL in base hits and stolen bases. He was 2nd in MLB in hits and #5 in stolen bases. Altuve was 3rd in the AL in batting average at .313. Do you know the difference between hitting .313 and the .343 he hit last year? 25 hits. Last season Altuve had 225 hits to 200 this past season. Altuve won't win the batting title this year but he could still qualify as league MVP. Detroit's Miguel Cabrera will win the title this year with a .338 BA but it doesn't diminish the impact Altuve makes for the Astros.

 

3B - There was a platoon at the third sack by the end of the season. Luis Valbuena manned the spot for most of the season but platooning at first and Valbuena's low batting average caused him to ride pine after Jed Lowrie returned from the DL. Both Lowrie and Valbuena had some clutch hits for the Astros including some home runs that won games but, despite all that, both players did not light a fire at the plate as far as BA and both struck out way too many times. Lowrie's output after he came back off the torn ligament in his thumb healed never regained the form he was showing when he was injured. The Astros can do better than both guys IMO and we have prospects coming up that could play 3rd. I think the lineup needs to be comprised of a balance between hitting for average and power.

 

SS - I don't have much to say here. Jed Lowrie got hurt and within a month of dealing with Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Villar with decent defense and no bat Carlos Correa was brought up and he didn't disappoint. He ended up hitting .279 with 22 HRs and 68 RBIs in only 99 games. This is our short stop of the future. He displayed the maturity and the calm of a seasoned vet despite turning 21 just before the Wild Card win over the Yankees. The middle infield will be well represented for the next 10-12 years.

 

C - Jason Castro is said to be good behind the plate and as a guy who has value throwing out base runners I'm not all that impressed with skills receiving the ball. Hank Conger is pretty good at receiving the ball he can't throw me out stealing 2B and when I run the 40 they use a calendar instead of a stop watch. The Astros have Max Stassi at AAA and maybe a free agent may be available. I wouldn't mind keeping Castro but he's not such a great fielding catcher IMO to put up with a .211 BA.

 

DH - I'm including this in the infield because I just wanted to. In this category we've seen Evan Gattis, Chris Carter, Jon Singleton and Marwin Gonzalez in the DH spot. Gattis is the main guy because he is a bit of a liability in the field. Gattis is a beast but he not only looks like a caveman he hits like one to. What I mean is he either hits for extra bases or he strikes out. A commonality on this team. Gattis drew the ire of Astros fans for an absolutely horrid start to the season. He was oh-fer for the first two weeks of the season before he even got a hit. He made up for it with a fairly hot May but inconsistency was the only thing Gattis, and most of the rest of the batters, were the only thing that was consistent.

 

The middle infield was and is spoken for and will be well represented for years to come. First and third base need an upgrade. There are guys in our farm system that may be ready to make the jump next year but if not then we can shop in the off season. I would be hard pressed to give up on Chris Carter because, after the whole freaking season the coaches had him change his bat position in the batters box and it made a world of difference in Carter's output at the plate. Carter was probably the team MVP that wasn't Dallas Keuchel the last two weeks of the season and the playoffs. He some clutch home runs, worked some walks in critical times of the games and, most importantly, he didn't strike out nearly as much. I can't believe it took 5-1/2 months to realize he needed to change his bat position. That leads me to reiterate my belief that the Astros current hitting coach needs to go. Every single player on the team had a BA lower than their career average and in some cases substantially lower. Every player but Jake Marisnick who hit a couple of points higher and none made a significant improvement. I've said it before and I'll say it again I would love to see John Mallee come back, or at least thought I wanted him back until his new club, the Chicago Cubs, led the majors in strikeouts this season. I just believe you can teach players to value contact hitting and allowing the natural power they possess dictate home run production. Is being being 2nd in the bigs hitting home runs worth the frustration of a rally killing set of strike outs? To me, not so much. These guys on this roster swing for the fences way to much. Hell, that's how Carlos Gomez hurt himself. He swung so hard at a pitch he pulled his rib cage muscles and he missed about 2 weeks of the season because of it. Teaching players how to beat the current trend of shifting by learning the art of being a hitter rather than a slugger. In honor of Yogi Berra I offer this Yogi-ism in regard to being a successful hitter, "Hit 'em where they ain't". Machismo or ego or whatever makes a hitter stubborn enough to see he has a sure hit if he just hits the ball where the defense ain't needs to be set aside for the good of the team. This "I do what I do" mentality is a bunch of hogwash. I freaks me out how seldom hitters make defenses pay for doing "the shift" on them. I would love for the players be selective enough to get good pitches to hit helping them and their teams a whole lot more over the long haul.

This season recap concludes today with a look at the outfield.

 

Left Field - The Astros had a lot of guys play left and the choices here continue to be in flux because as you will see several players manned this spot during the Season.

> Colby Rasmus - Rasmus played left and he played center field. Platooning outfielders was something that happened a lot as it does on most teams because some hitters are better against left handed pitching while others are better against righties. Rasmus actually hit both pretty well but like the bulk of the team he didn't hit his career BA of .248 he hit .238. It must be noted that he hit a career high 25 home runs and he also struck out a career high 154 times. I wouldn't mind keeping Rasmus if he can hit like the 2010 and 2013 Colby at .276 and cut down some on his Ks he would be a plug and play guy for left field. The good thing is Rasmus has the ability to play center as well.

> Preston Tucker - Made his major league debut this season and he didn't have a bad year for a rookie. One thing is clear, he can't hit a ball high in the strike zone. IF he makes contact with a high strike it's a foul ball or a pop up. He either needs to learn to get on top of the high pitch or learn to lay off of it. Tucker played in 98 games and he hit .248 with 68 Ks. I think he will get much better and for a left handed batter he has power to left and it's a big plus that he has the skill to go to the opposite field.

> Marwin Gonzalez - I didn't cover utility infielders yesterday and the primary guy is Gonzalez and he actually played left a few times in the second half of the season. Marwin seemed to find something after the All Star break and he hit pretty well and he ended his season batting .279 in 344 official ABs. As a matter of fact Gonzalez hit .277 in 285 ABs last year. He is a good stick and Houston will keep him. For a player as versatile as Gonzalez and who has shown he can hit for a decent average you keep that player.

> Evan Gattis - I covered Gattis as a DH but it bears mentioning that he is a liability as a fielder, even in Houston relatively tiny left field. He had to play left to get him into the lineup vs National League teams on the road. I believe he only played a very limited amount of time at the Juice Box. You are not keeping Gattis for his defensive skills and that is a pure fact.

 

Center Field -

> Jake Marisnick - Jake is fast and he's got a cannon for an arm even though you wouldn't think he could throw as well as he does. The bottom line is he's a terrific defensive center fielder and he has real good speed. He won't start in center but he could man left field very easily if needed. The problem is, like most of this lineup is at the plate. It didn't help one bit for him to go through an extended slump from mid August to the end of the season. He finished with a .236 BA in 133 games played which was a big come down from 2014 when he hit .272 in 51 games. Marisnick had his 2nd biggest stint in the majors in his career in 2015. His big league debut was in 2013 while with the Miami Marlins but the most he ever played in the bigs was the 136 games in 2014. He played 65 games with Miami prior to the Jared Cosart trade and he played in 51 games with Houston. Carlos Moran, the Marlins highly touted 3B prospect was the considered the gem of that deal but Marisnick was a very pleasant surprise to most fans. Jake doesn't hit with a lot of power so he needs to get better at being a contact hitter. A guy who hits line drives and can drive the ball to the gaps and get doubles and triples at times. Most importantly Jake needs to hit better than .236. I like Marisnick and I hope they keep him if he's a free agent.

> Carlos Gomez - Acquired at the trade deadline he's under contract through 2016. He will be the starting center fielder for Houston next season. Some call Gomez fiery, some say he's energetic but I think he's just a tool bag. He hurt himself over swinging at a pitch in September causing him to miss 2 weeks of the season. He did make a positive impact in the playoff though. He's fast and he's a good defensive outfielder and if he can hit his career average of around .270 he will be okay. I think he sort of got caught up in the home run derby attitude that seemed to pervade this roster. It's the only explanation I can see for so many players not hitting their career BAs. Everyone was swinging for the fences every AB. Gomez has been in the big leagues since 2007 and he should have known better. I would almost rather have Marisnick in center and have a good club house guy than Gomez even though you sacrifice Gomez' power numbers.

> Robbie Grossman - He's another guy who is decent as a defender although he is probably better suited to left but he spent most of 2015 in AAA. I think Houston has better prospects than Grossman and with Gomez at the top of the center field depth chart there really isn't any reason for Grossman to be on the club next season.

 

Right Field

> George Springer - Springer is a definite starter for the Astros for years to come. He's a spectacular defender who has saved a lot of runs and a couple of pitcher's bacon during the season. Hopefully, he can avoid extended trips to the DL in the future that has plagued him his first two seasons in the majors. He missed extended time in 2014 with a pulled quad and he missed 6 weeks with a broken forearm when he got hit by a pitch in Kansas City. If Springer can avoid injuries his future looks pretty bright going forward. In 2015 he hit .276 which was 55 points better than the .231 he hit in 2014. The Astros have a potential murderer's row with Altuve, Springer and Correa at the top of the lineup and they are certainly the guys Houston will use as the backbone of their roster for the foreseeable future and folks, that is a very good thing.

> There have been several players play right field especially when Springer was on the DL. L J Hoes, Marisnick and Rasmus were the guys who filled in most. L J Hoes is kind of a non-factor. I'm sure the Astros are just as disappointed in Hoes as the must be in Jon Singleton. Neither seems to be able to transition to being a big league hitter. Singleton especially Singleton who rivals Chris Carter as the most prolific strike out machine on the club. As things go, just like Altuve and Correa at 2nd and short, Springer won't come off the field very much.

 

The utility guys will see the most work at the corner infield spots and left field at least starting out in 2016 from my point of view. Houston really needs to upgrade the corner infield spots and IMO opinion at catcher. Jason Castro isn't indispensable. He 's not a great catcher but he's good at throwing out base runner. He is a liability in the batter's box and Hank Conger is a good backup except he really stinks at throwing out runners on base. IMO it would not be hard to replace one or both going forward. I am not big fan of either player. Same goes for the guys who platoon at 3rd and 1st excluding Marwin Gonzalez. It's a pretty solid lineup overall though but, to me, the Astros need a new hitting instructor and AJ Hinch needs to stress a lot more plate discipline. Houston batters are suckers for a 2 strike breaking ball. They are not patient at the plate and they chase too many pitches outside the strike zone. New is not always better but the word new in front of the 2016 hitting coach's name is something I am totally in favor of.

The future looks bright for the Astros. They have two really good starting pitchers but they probably could use another arm there. Their bullpen is decent although it needs some tweaking. They have a young and good position player lineup that needs just a bit of tweaking as well. It's all good in Astros land and they should be in the playoff hunt not just next season but for the foreseeable future as well. The dark days are over and Houston has a very solid foundation to build upon.

 

NOTE: The word was that Tal's Hill in center field was going away after this season but there has been a change in plans. All the renovations the Astros have plans for in the center field area, including removing Tal's Hill and bringing in the center field fence 30 feet, will not be finished in time for the 2016 season. The plan hasn't been scrapped but it will just be put off. The Astros do plan to do some things in the concourse area and the stands but all renovations will take longer than expected.

 

On the Astros web site they sort of did the same thing I've done in the past 4 posts although in less detail. I just found it and I think it's a good contrast to what is essentially my opinion. Here is a link to their article.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/155164880/astros-offseason-moves-dependent-on-payroll

 

And that's it for me on this thread. It was a great season all things considered. Certainly way above what expectations were at the beginning of the season. I think this team was fun, albeit frustrating at times, to watch. It has certainly generated a lot of fan excitement and it should continue to do that for the next few years and beyond as long as the current front office team is running the show and as long as owner Jim Crane is willing to shell out the bucks to keep them together. The Astros payroll in 2015 was $90MM and it looks to increase pretty significantly especially when the current deals for the core players run out. I have a lot of hope and higher expectations for the Astros moving forward. And do you know what? THAT is a very good thing.