Why are y’all blaming Espada for the hitting approach? He’s an idiot but that’s not on him. All last year there were several here that blamed Cintron - many of us that told those people the impact from hitting coaches is minimal. They got new hitting coaches this offseason, and while it’s obviously way too early to say, in all likelihood there will be the same complaints. In reality, as I said last year, it’s roster construction. Paredes, Yordan, and to a lesser extent, Correa are the only ones who are capable of working ABs. Pena is a great player but he’s always been aggressive. You’re not wrong about Soriano though - I was thinking throughout that game if he was an Astro he would be competing for a CY.
It's been an organizational philosophy for the Astros for the last decade. In 2017, they were 4th worst at pitches per at-bat. In 2022, they were dead last. Not that you care, but this has nothing to do with Espada. And no one seemed to complain about it when it led to a bunch of World Series appearances.
Man, I hope one day they'll actually get rid of the terrible black out rules for the games. I know I can get SCHN+ or whatever it's called now. But I have MLB.tv thanks to my phone provider....but CTX is blacked out. At least tomorrow is on Appletv. I like their streams, since you can select the Astros PBP.
Damn, Yordan had to suck too (shoutout to the roof). Too many 0-fers from too many people, main people, but Walker can feel "good Astro" for at least one game in full-season stats instead of "since he sucked" stats. Correa's career is so extreme, including before MINN. He can post 140 OPS+ but then 95 the following year. We need Good Correa. We need 130 with run production, especially batting cleanup. Terrible bases loaded result. Altuve's bat could become as worrisome as his defense. King might be headed the France/Scott path. Hunter didn't take the L so there's that... ERA 0.00. Great return, Lope. The OF defense should be a plus.
Maybe Im too fast to accuse Espada for not having any team first or any sensible aproach. It might be if we would, he has no authority as leader to make sure it gets implemented. So maybe Im getting way ahead of things . I do have fantasy of we as org being on the same page top to bottom and having old school manager like Murphy (Brewers) who is natural leader. Grumpy, funny AF and often dog houses even important players for dumb s**t. Ofcourse you have to get buy in from senior players and that is what he did first with FO. I also like going off script sometimes if it shows how humane, invested and hungry the manager is to win. They started horrible last season and pushed about it by press he answered really frustrated (did't get any signings offseason after doing great 2024) "look guys this is the team we have....". Turned it around, but Im pretty sure they would have not if not having the great demand to focus, do what's agreed and fight to produce from players. At this point Im not buying the Brewers are slap hitting young fun team and they can be led strongly and good because of it. Ken Rosenthal did a hit piece on it carrying water for Cashman & Boone last season. Brewers have smart FO and FO and manager together demand more from players than most teams. We have had so star filled teams in Astros that we haven't had to think about being better together as team than the lineup card reads. With manager like Murphy, we prob would have to trade some players first (not accepting that coming to park is not enough) but the worse one (Framber) is out already . Espada would be manhandled by all of our wifes and daughters in food court line and would be still saying sorry sorry when our family has already left. Our players would't go to internet war for Joe or Dana. Sorry for the long rant. Tried to get down some silly annoying thoughts.
It was 1 game vs a nasty pitcher. It sucked but, it is what it is. If the roof is open, the Astros lead ( at least) 1-0 after 1 inning. As the zeros pile up the pressure mounts on Soriano rather than Hunter. Possibly different game. Gotta give him credit though, he shoved. If they go out and score 5+ today this gets forgotten. If they win the next 3, scoring at least 4 in each game we all feel great. I expect Pena and Matthews to start today. Prepare yourselves for Paredes sitting.
Mike Trout stealing a base on us was about the saddest thing I have seen in awhile. What a letdown, yesterday was one of the biggest sports days in HTown and all my teams lost.....................Astros, it's just one game but dam we looked weak, but its only day 1. My Cougars lost but my boy Ricky Fowler was -3 under Will the Astros bounce back and take 3 of 4 or are we going to sh** the bed on week one..........................stay tuned by friends
No. It isn't an Espada thing, but it isn't an organizational choice either. Guys that make contact when they swing typically see less pitches. The Astros had a lot of these guys which previously depressed pitch counts. The Astros' swinging at the 1st pitch is a last 4-year trend, as the hitters have gotten worse at contact. The previous years were right in line with league averages for the most part. The Astros, as an organization, prioritized bat-to-ball and good eyes in young talent and tried to coax extra power out of their bats. I'm guessing with worse draft picks and the league adjusting, the Astros just weren't able to get that type of player as easily. It seems like the Astros started prioritizing damage in recent years over contact and good eyes as every top prospect seems like a high K high power guy. Granted, I think this is mostly due to the Astros picking lower and league adjustments than an Astros choice.
