Series Thread: Rays at Rangers for the last series of 2016, 9/30-10/2

[romeo212000]

I wouldn't think that would be a good idea to rest them after tonight all the way until Thursday. I might play them some in both games.

Agree. Two at bats a game or so.

 

[WilltheThrill]

I'd let Colby get some work in tomorrow. His last start was rough, so 4-5 innings of tune-up wouldn't hurt.

As for the hitters, I'd definitely give them a rest tomorrow (at least 3-4 of them). Rest Beltre, Lucroy, and Desmond at the very least. Maybe give Mitch the day off to clear his head too. I'd let Gomez and Choo play, and maybe Odor to keep the hot bat going. But overall, I'd make sure the guys all get at least a little bit of a breather over the next two days... a half game off if nothing else.

 

[saddles]

Hey.....sir saddless..........are you sure the number of no-no's Vin called was 23? I thought I heard 26.

It doesn't matter for shit.......just wondering if that's the "number" for sure.

I could be wrong, but I thought he said 23.

 

[romeo212000]

I'd let Colby get some work in tomorrow. His last start was rough, so 4-5 innings of tune-up wouldn't hurt.

As for the hitters, I'd definitely give them a rest tomorrow (at least 3-4 of them). Rest Beltre, Lucroy, and Desmond at the very least. Maybe give Mitch the day off to clear his head too. I'd let Gomez and Choo play, and maybe Odor to keep the hot bat going. But overall, I'd make sure the guys all get at least a little bit of a breather over the next two days... a half game off if nothing else.

Absolutely on Colby.

 

[Bmurph]

A bit off topic but I feel like sharing anyway. My son just turned 6, 2 months ago. I coached him in tball in the Spring. Fall season just started and we moved up to coach pitch. I was concerned this summer that having not ever seen live pitching before, he might strike out 25 times this season and never want to play again. I started pitching to him in the cage this summer and I have paid for him to take a private lesson for 30 mins every thursday for the last 4-5 weeks. The improvement week to week is pretty awesome but I had no idea he'd come along so fast.

We have hit off the tee during lessons and at practice, done soft toss in the cages, coach pitches to him in games but tonight he decided he wanted to hit off the machine in the cage. The machine throws baseballs 40 mph-90mph, so I clearly set him up at 40 mph tonight. I fully expected him to miss damn near every pitch, or jump out of the box as balls whizzed past him. I was extremely surprised when he hit 2 out of every 5 pitches making solid contact out in front and mostly fair. Pretty crazy he even suggested trying it, "saying dad I'm not scared to hit in there like the bigger kids do". Fun to watch anyway

 

[Bmurph]

Why the Astros will be back as contenders in 2017 after falling short in 2016
Their season didn't go as planned, but the Astros are well poised for contention

• by Dayn Perry
• @daynperry
• 13h ago • 2 min read

Even when a team is young, coming out of a deep rebuild, and fresh off success, the trajectory doesn't always keep going upward. So it is with the 2016 Astros.

The Astros, who lost 324 games from 2011-13 and another 92 in 2014, broke through with a playoff berth last year. That served as a validation of the improbably lean (and controversial) years that accompanied GM Jeff Luhnow's teardown of the roster.

In a sense, the 2016 version hasn't been much different in terms of overall record. Rather, the Astros this season ran into a more competitive wild card fray. So in some ways, they plateaued this year. Next year, it's likely they'll be competitive again, and the young roster may mean improved outcomes in certain spots.

First and foremost, the Astros will return the best middle-infield combo in baseball -- Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. They'll get a full season from third baseman Alex Bregman, who entered 2016 as the consensus top position prospect in all baseball. George Springer returns (and even though he just turned 27, he's the oldest member of the core). Cuban veteran Yulieski Gurriel will return to provide infield depth. A.J. Reed, despite rookie disappointments, still has a high offensive ceiling at first base. As well, Tyler White may turn out be a useful big-league bat. Heck, Jon Singleton is still just 25, so who knows. Houston got poor production from first base this season, but they have enough pre-prime options at the position for 2017. Elsewhere, they also have an affordable $5.2 million option for 2017 on Evan Gattis, who topped 30 homers this season and logged more than 400 innings behind the plate.


The Astros' front office will need to do a better job of plugging holes in the lineup than they did this season, and an impact left fielder should certainly be a priority. Fortunately for the Astros, they've got plenty of cash to do that. The upcoming free agent market isn't particularly brimming with frontline talent, but corner outfield solutions figure to be in relative abundance. Potentially, the likes of Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Jose Bautista, Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler, and Matt Holliday will be on the market. After all those years of running basement-level payrolls, Houston certainly has the cash flow to make land a premium talent, even in a demand-tilted market such as this upcoming winter's.

The Houston bullpen this season was among baseball's best, and in 2017 they'll have pretty much the entire relief corps under contract or under team control. The rotation, though, was a bit of a problem. Most conspicuously, 2015 AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel backslid and wound up running an ERA in the mid-4.00s. Lance McCullersbattled injuries, and Doug Fister on balance disappointed. For 2017, though, they'll have options. Assuming all are tendered, Keuchel and McCullers return, as do Collin McHugh and Mike Fiers.

The real story may in the young arms on the way. Joe Musgrove, who's shown promise in his debut season, will of course be back. Twenty-two-year-old David Paulino is a high-upside threat to crack the rotation, and Francis Martes, the top pitching prospect in the system, fared well at Double-A as a 20-year-old. He'll pitch in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, which could put him in line to contribute at the highest level at some point in 2017. While the free agent market offers nothing in the way of aces, the Astros can make a play for depth if they need to.

In all, you've got a young nucleus of position players that's the envy of almost every team, you've a lockdown bullpen coming back, and you've got a mix of rotation depth and upside. It says here that the Astros will actively address holes this winter and in 2017 return to the postseason while notching 90 or more wins for the first time since 2004.


Or just maybe the other teams in the AL West have better teams, bullpens and SP and the Stros won't contend though they are a young talented club. Offseason FA moves can go a long way in deciding who's gonna contend year to year

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Congrats Rangers on HFA.

Guess we see Hoying and DD Start tomorrow.

 

[Kelleyman]

Congrats Rangers on HFA.

Guess we see Hoying and DD Start tomorrow.

Yes we will get the AAA squad with Choo still getting reps and maybe Odor. Great win last night wonder if Maz has a great game how that effects playoff squad. Really need Mitch to get hot

 

[Godstree]

Congrats Rangers on HFA.

What an exciting year this has been.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Typical ESPN in the last 3 days out on ESPN Sports not one thing was mentioned about the Rangers with the exception of ESPN Deportes which I have no idea what it said. HA! It is mostly about the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets and Dodgers. Now if the Red Sox, Yankees or Mets had just wrapped up HFA we would be hearing about it. Not that it matters I just found is so ESPN.

 

[donaldson79]

I find this to be an interesting stat re: HFA.

Not an advantage for Darvish?

Yu Darvish pitched six innings, gave up one run and struck out 12 batters. However, pitching in Arlington has not been Darvish's strength this season.

Darvish's home ERA is at 4.26 in 10 starts, even with his dominant start Friday night. In his seven road starts, he has a 2.28 ERA.

A big reason for that difference for Darvish is fastball success. At home, opponents are hitting .280 against his fastball, compared to .194 on the road.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Bluejays a half a game from being out of the playoffs.

Crossing my fingers that those pesky Jays don't make it. We are fortunate that the Indians and Red Sox are fighting over who gets to host their series. Hopefully, the Red Sox sweep the Jays and the tigers get in.

 

[romeo212000]

I find this to be an interesting stat re: HFA.

Not an advantage for Darvish?

Yu Darvish pitched six innings, gave up one run and struck out 12 batters. However, pitching in Arlington has not been Darvish's strength this season.

Darvish's home ERA is at 4.26 in 10 starts, even with his dominant start Friday night. In his seven road starts, he has a 2.28 ERA.

A big reason for that difference for Darvish is fastball success. At home, opponents are hitting .280 against his fastball, compared to .194 on the road.

Meh. Too small of a sample size to get much from imo. I'm wondering how many of those home starts were earlier in the year.

 

[donaldson79]

Meh. Too small of a sample size to get much from imo. I'm wondering how many of those home starts were earlier in the year.

In a normal/healthy year he'd start about 15 games at home, so to me, the sample size is viable. But I was wondering the same thing as you re: how many of those games came pre-injury, and how many came to Lucroy too.

I heard Hitzges mention this the other day, and he asked, "wonder if the Rangers would consider starting Perez at home and save Yu for the 1st away game?" That make sense to anyone?

 

[DT LUNA]

In a normal/healthy year he'd start about 15 games at home, so to me, the sample size is viable. But I was wondering the same thing as you re: how many of those games came pre-injury, and how many came to Lucroy too.

I heard Hitzges mention this the other day, and he asked, "wonder if the Rangers would consider starting Perez at home and save Yu for the 1st away game?" That make sense to anyone?

Perez at home is a good idea. Yu is Yu so on the road works for me. What's an opinion worth? lol

 

[donaldson79]

Perez at home is a good idea. Yu is Yu so on the road works for me. What's an opinion worth? lol

We're all just bantering about, so it all counts the same. ha ha ha

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Meh. Too small of a sample size to get much from imo. I'm wondering how many of those home starts were earlier in the year.

I noticed that his road starts were at Cubs and KC and both of their offenses were non existent at the time. Then at Baltimore where he gave up 3 runs in 6.1. Then at Houston where he seems to pitch well all the time and then at Cincinnati where he gave up 5 runs. Then at the Angels and Oakland. Technically he had 2 really bad home starts and both this month against Houston and Oakland but most of the pitching staff stunk at the same time. I say leave it as it is. You want this guy towards the TORP now and leading into the ALCS. If you mess with too much and the ALDS went 5 games you may have Perez leading off the ALCS and the one who gets the majority of the starts if it goes 7. To me you have to go with your best in that order. Otherwise it is like paralysis by analysis.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Crossing my fingers that those pesky Jays don't make it. We are fortunate that the Indians and Red Sox are fighting over who gets to host their series. Hopefully, the Red Sox sweep the Jays and the tigers get in.

My main thing is I just do not like Donaldson and Bautista so them missing the playoffs entirely would be great. Plus Fox would love to get their grubby little hands on a rematch and I would want to reach thru the TV and choke Buck before it was all over.

 

[DT LUNA]

Just saw a young picture of Harry Belafonte and he looks like Carlos Gomez. Wonder if he can hit? Haha

 

[Kelleyman]

To me the real question is who is 1 and 2 SP in playoffs. No way Perez pitches 2nd. We need as many starts as possible out of Yu and Cole