Very well pitched and defended game for the Astros. The trust Hinch has in Musgrove continues to grow and Giles came through again.
YES! WIN! And Boston loses! SCREW THE ANGELS! SCREW THE RED SOX! SCREW THE INDIANS! SCREW HARVEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great win. What we've seen recently from the pitching staff is extremely encouraging. If they get good McCullers back, along with Harris, then they are set up absolutely perfectly for the postseason. Now just need Correa back and for Tuve to be ok and the offense will right the ship sooner rather than later. Not worried about the bats one bit.
Well, keuchel still isn't pitching like he was during the beginning of the year or a few years ago. So, I'm not sure they'll be perfectly set for the postseason. They really need that version of that guy. I do agree though that things have been more encouraging lately. Keuchel looks better than he did when he first returned. McHugh looks like he's rounding back into form. Devo looks like he's almost out of his slump. Hoyt looks better. Clippard has been a nice surprise. Liriano looks serviceable sometimes, maybe. Peacock still looks really good for the most part. Morton can be really good at times, so he should be a good reliever in the postseason. Martes has shown his potential and can maybe be used sometimes. Musgrove and Giles look lights out. I have some slight hope for Feliz. LMJ and Harris coming back should be huge. Sipp and Gregerson? Eh.
Pitching is rounding back into form. Playoffs will be interesting to see how we use our "almost-starters" ; guys who pitch effectively 2-4 innings. If LMC can regain health, even better. The offense needs to get going. Correa will help, but they can improve now too. We need production from Springer and with a nice surge, we can still win 100 and/or set the other offensive MLB records we've been on-pace to most of the season.
He has to be on the short list, especially with his hot bat has gone a long way in keeping the Astros afloat this month. Not fair to expect him to remain this hot, but if he does he has an outside shot at 300 batting average and a 900 ops.
I expect the focus to come back as stability comes back through the lineup / clubhouse. Correa coming back to SS full time feels like it'll be a bigger difference than a single change might seem on paper
