If you're bored with how good the Astros are... (Greatest Astro of All-Time)

He would have been my Astros buddy, but I thought I was a bit too old for that when he was on the team.

 

I don't know about worst...Ray Busse (who the Astros traded for him) had an OPS+ of 17 over the course of 3 season (albeit only 92 games) with Houston.

 

Agreed, was going to say I think Bregman is the only one that could surpass Bagwell and if you take winning/clutch hitting into account I think he does. Not sure he reaches the counting stats or career WAR Bagwell put up though.

 

Something something...recency bias.

It is nice to see the Astros go from "young" franchise to "middle age" franchise with more years gone by. This leads to more discussions about where players rank in their history. Then, after a few more WS appearances and years, they become a "historic" franchise.

 

Its also worth noting that while nobody will likely match Bagwell's career numbers here (steroid accusations/inflations aside), and while nobody will likely surpass Biggio's longevity here...

It is damn special to have Springer, Altuve, Correa, and Bregman all in their primes... all at the same freakin time. These are all franchise cornerstone type players that any team would build around. There are teams struggling to find just one of these guys. The Astros have FOUR... AT THE SAME ****ING TIME!

That feat, in and of itself, will triumph any possible poll out there. This is the greatest era in Astros history, with the greatest core in Astros history, and that's all that really matters in the end.

 

I like to look at how well a player helped the Astros win over their best ~4 years with the Astros. WAR being the best available non-subjective estimate.

For subjective analysis
Biggio was by far my favorite Astro when he was playing. I loved the pine tar helmet. The hustle. The doubles. Homers are more valuable, but Biggio was more fun to watch.

Now, it fluctuates. I like that Springer has embraced the stuttering community, Springer Dingers, and that he bats leadoff to annoy traditionalists. Bregman reaching out for Autism Awareness, he seems to have fun, walk off hit in the playoffs and his cockiness. Correa plays short, has a cannon, and the way he celebrates his teammates (see Bregman walkoff). Altuve is the statesman of the group. I loved seeing how he interacts with younger fans. Kemp, while not the star of those, is just fun. I like Cole and Verlander old school nature in that they can do things that likely won't be done in 10 years.

 

If George Springer keeps up the last two weeks he will better than Barry Bonds.

 

Better than Barry Bonds, but barely.

 

If he keeps up what he had done the last two weeks, he will be the greatest offensive force the game has ever known.

 

Did you forget what Clemens did or even Pettitte?

Also go back and check Keuchel's Cy Young year. Keuchel threw 18 more innings in 1 fewer start. Sure Verlander struck out more, but other than that Keuchel was just as good with more innings posting groundball rates that nobody else could match. Shane Reynolds never posted anything remotely close. His best ERA+ while a starter was 117. That puts him in a similar class to 2018 Dallas Keuchel.

 

Hitless Jason Smith comes to mind. I think it was 0-25 or 26. Very short Astros career, but noteworthy.

 

I think Ty Cobb and Marge Schott were more offensive.

 

Let's not forget Joe Niekro

 

Nope.

JV had higher K rate, lower walk rate, and a lower batting average against than Keuchel. Keuchel was better at limiting homers. JV wins fWAR, ERA- (which shouldn't be used for only a year sample), FIP-, and xwOBA.

ERA is not a good measure for samples limited to a year in size. Looking at FIP-, Keuchel's Cy Young year was basically the same as 3 or 4 of Shane's years.

 

ERA is actual results, and Shane never came close. If you consistently underperform the advanced metrics, it means they aren't as predictive for you. Don't throw out an advanced number when the players real numbers never measured up over the course of a 12 year career.

Of course JV had a lower batting average as fewer balls are hit into play and groundballs have a higher expected average than flyballs, but less likely to go for extra bases.

Keuchel's FIP- was 72, while Verlander's was 67, which isn't exactly a huge gap.

Keuchel's xFIP was 2.75 compared to Verlander's was 3.03

Keuchel's xFIP- was 68 compared to Verlander's 72

You are being overly dismissive of Keuchel's Cy Young year, basically because he didn't strike out a lot of guys.

 

I could never be bored with this team, but I have been voting!

 

The correct answer is, of course, the immortal John Paciorek.

 

He was my PE teacher in middle school.

 

I've got a program from a 1976 Astros game (my first ever) signed by none other than Skip Jutze as well as Rob Andrews and Gil Rondon; three autographs that actually LOWER the value of a 1976 Astros program.

 

That actually is a cool story, bro!