1B needs to be a 40-25-25-10 (Singleton-Caratini-Abreu-project) situation until one of them develops/proves as a consistent hitter on a game-to-game basis (lowkey thinking Singleton can become that guy / starting 1B).... next 20 games: Singleton gets the nod for 8, Caratini for 5, Abreu for 5, Loperfido/Kessinger/Hensley for 2... send 'em down, bring 'em up. If a bat gets hot, give rest your other DHs & keep that bat in the lineup. Rest that old man's back/body... pitchers age well, position players & offensive powerhouses do not... (Pujols may be the outlier here). There is no reason Abreu should be starting 5/6 games per week. PH him late when you're already up a few.
I think Verlander’s days of eating innings are over. He’s been injured 4 of his last 5 seasons, all four with injuries before the season started. He’s should treated as a consistent 5 or 6-inning guy and should be limited to 90 pitches. He is likely still capable of 2.75-3.25 ERA if he’s not pushed for that “extra inning”. Keep him healthy and fresh in September and entering the postseason and let 100 happen if it needs to. When enough starters are healthy, a couple of them need planned multi-inning appearances from the bullpen. The big 3 shouldn’t be overly relied on for all high leverage situations. A healthy Astros staff could be a thing of beauty with its versatility. I’d also try to avoid making deadline trades for any pitching. The farm is (supposedly) weak from past trades, Dusty, and Manfred. If more pitching is needed, sure, make a trade. Hopefully we won’t need to.
No; but they were absolutely expecting 50-60 from him this year. ... They lost 185 innings between Neris, Maton & Stanek. Graveman gave them 22 + 66 overall. That's 251 innings they were not going to have covered. Hader hasn't totaled 60 IP since 2019 - but even if we give him 60; that's still 190 innings. Prioritizing Snell over your decimated middle relief is a poor allocation of resources.
Abreu will be gone after next season and I guarantee a team like the dodgers or Yankees pick him up. He will probably have a resurgence back to his old self again.
You joke, but it would not surprise me if next season Abreu suddenly has an odd resurgence where his body looks young again.
Dude tried to give Arlington the game in the 1st inning both offensively and defensively. Ended the inning with a K, 2 on... then muffed an assist to help trigger a rally.
Yea, at this point I don't want to have a black hole at first base and we cant wait until half the season is gone before he starts being productive, at some point you have to move on and Singleton is not the answer
You have to wonder at what point they start to pull the ripcord and explore at least some real competition at 1B. It's still only 11 games, but this is the worst he's ever looked. They're just pumping fastballs by him and he looks helpless. He's not exactly hitting into bad luck either. Brandon Belt is still out there, even if Abreu comes around he would have a useful spot on the roster being LH.
The best thing that could happen is an injury that would give them a chance to play Singleton every day for 50-100 pa. By then they’d know if he was an answer and if not could cut him loose without worry. But as it is they are in a very tough spot. You can’t put a $20M/yr player on the bench full time, especially one with no defensive value; Abreu is very likely to be cancerous as a bench player. So if Abreu is on the active roster, he should be in the lineup 80% of the time. In that situation I think you give him 150 pa and if he hasn’t turned it around you cut him loose and eat the money. That should be about 40 more games. It’s possible by then a prospect has emerged or selling teams start shopping other options. I liked Belt as a potential offseason addition but they can’t sign him unless Abreu is gone. But Abreu certainly looks cooked and it can’t go on like this for another 1.9 seasons.
That’s a trope. That was 10 years ago and clearly Singleton was evaluated by multiple front offices and deemed worthy of another shot. His recent AAA numbers reflect a hitter with elite power and plate discipline; so far his recent major league time with Houston shows the discipline has carried over but his contact profile has not. Whether he can adjust in the majors to get closer to that AAA production would require giving him consistent play over a meaningful sample.
Jose Abreu is an interesting case. He was terrible the first two months of last year with an OPS in the mid .500%. He finally admitted he hurt his back in Spring training and they got him rest and he responded with two strong months. He then stopped hitting again, they got him an injection in his back and he suddenly was hitting again and had an outstanding post season. Last year he had issues driving the fastball last year. Then this Spring Training - he was good again. Now he has been atrocious so far. It is only a 10-game sample, but he hasn't been able to drive the ball again and he looks really stiff. I would hope that if it is his back or flexibility that he would tell someone, especially considering how much better he performed last year after getting the injection. Part of the issue also is that there are no real viable candidates on the roster. Singleton is definitely not the answer. His glove is poor, he is slow and he doesn't make enough quality contact. There is Brandon Belt out there who is also old, and has had 3 of the last 4 season where he has been a good to very good hitter, but he had one really bad season. If the Astros sign him for the money he is supposedly seeking - then that puts the Astros close to the next tax and takes away flexibility at the deadline. Then there is the chance that Abreu starts to hit - on the farm there is Loperfido, and the best outcome for the Astros would be to call him up and he really take off as a player and then the Astros have him under long term team control. My guess is that Abreu will still get rope to see if he can figure it out. Singleton isn't a threat and while someone like Dubon can play there - his bat is not going to scare anyone.
