I think this team will continue to flounder until Verlander gets back. The 2-3 weeks after Verlander returns will be a big barometer for what I will expect this season. If he comes back and they play .600 ball or better then they will be fine. If he comes back and they keep struggling then the run might be over. The optimist/realist in me knows things will improve; this team is too talented to win less than 90 games this season. But the pessimist in me knows the run has to end sometime and thinks this is what happens when you switch out Michael Brantley for Jose Abreu.
On paper, today's matchup could be a massacre in the wrong direction. Royals starter is balling and Brown just had arguably his worst career start. Hopefully something gives in a positive direction. Bregman showed positive signs last night with two doubles. The guys who aren't swinging it (Tucker, Chas, Bregs) need to start. Get some productive outs for lawd's sake. Get 1st-to-3rd. Score from 2nd on a single. Abreu needs to DNP, for a while. Brown needs to pitch well, especially because the leverage guys are on the brink of fatigue. They're all in the "3 games in 5 day" range. Losing games they pitch in really hurts. Astros have had only ONE open day in 15 days, and the callups (starters) barely threw any innings. Either the offense needs to perform or Brown needs to ball, maybe both.
I'm not sure how to interpret the final sentence - you think Abreu might be a clubhouse problem? It's super early, but it's crazy how bad Abreu has been so far...even worse than his start last year. He's on pace for like a -8 WAR season somehow. I think it might be time to sign Belt.
I'm guessing they are gonna cut down on his usage against RHP substantially, and if they are gonna do that, why not just sign Belt? He has to be better than Singleton.
I don’t think Abreu is a clubhouse problem in the sense that he doesn’t get along with other players or is lazy or does bad stuff off the field. I just think there’s a stark difference between him and Brantley in terms of production and cultural influence. I think Abreu works very hard. But I don’t think he is handling his struggle/decline very well.
Meyers at DH with Diaz at 1B is probably better defensively and offensively against a RHP. Dubon at DH, Diaz at 1B, and Meyers in CF makes even more sense than that lineup. Is Chas hurt? I don't expect him to be as good as he was last year, but he's still likely a good enough hitter that Espada should be able to find a spot for him in the starting lineup more often than Abreu.
I'm sick of seeing Abreu/Singleton at 1st. Diaz, Dubon, Kessinger, Loperfido, Cabbage...just anybody else. Singleton has a .515 OPS since getting back to the majors last season, quit telling me player X wouldn't be any better than that.
That's a good point - splurging on Caratini gives you more flexibility to let Diaz play a lot more 1B without taking it on the chin at C like with Maldy. Dubon at DH is undesirable but much less so than what we are seeing Abreu do night after night at 1B. I also don't think it's a good sign at all that Abreu's struggles this season are more severe and very different in nature (struggling particularly against speed vs breaking/offspeed) is a good sign at all for his recovery. This is one area where I think aggressive action is probably warranted.
Maybe the thinking is to give loperfido sone time to learn first while hoping big Jon gets going some.
Loperfido has played 126 games at 1B from college until today. That is plenty of experience, the Astros are just be stupid thinking that they can get an extra year of service time from a decent prospect that would be in his 30s by the time he is a FA. Meanwhile, teams that are serious about winning call up 20-year olds without a care for the ramifications of his service time.
The Astros have 2 significant problems that I mentioned in the off-season thread and they are why I didn't pick them to win the division. 1. They rely on 4 key players that are older. Altuve, Pressly, Abreu, and Verlander. So far 3 of them have been different degrees of disasters with Abreu appearing to be washed, Verlander hurt, and Pressly having a bad start 2. The second reason I didn't like the Astros this year is their upper level minor league players are largely garbage. Just because Jacob Melton is our "top prospect" that doesn't mean he is good. It means the Astros have a weak a$$ farm system especially at the upper levels. So in my mind when we have injuries we won't be able to get good production from the minor league players that are called up, and we don't have the pieces to make a significant trade without having to trade players from the MLB roster. The injuries to Verlander, Framber, and Urquidy are just exacerbating the problems with the farm system.
Part of the issue is the role/position of the players on the team. Altuve and Pena play nearly everyday so in order to get Dubon in a game it needs to be in the OF. He has barely played 3B and Bregman also plays everyday, and apparently he failed his audition at 1B last year. And Dubon has proven himself enough to start at least 25% or so. Therefore, when Dubon gets a start it's usually going to put Chas or Jake on the bench, and both if Victor is catching and Diaz is the DH. This organization needs to give Chas an EVERYDAY role. Like Pena everyday. The problem is to do that they need to make Dubon a true bench player or sit Altuve and Pena once in a while.
There's nothing wrong with the lineup given the players on the roster. You've been very hyperbolic on multiple posts here recently. Batting order could be argued, but Diaz has perhaps improved his DH hitting prowess (miniscule sample size). No Abreu is a definite win right now.
Abreu is 37 and has looked done for a year. Singleton is 32 and a career OPS under .600 and a negative career WAR. Belt had an OPS of .860 last year and was worth 2 WAR. It would be a significant improvement even if Belt isn’t a long term answer.
