<- Go Back Back to Top of Post Back to Homepage
Houston Astros
BRIAN’S FLING
Jose Altuve – 2B
In the mood for a little (and I do mean little) fling? Dial up Altuve. He’s got his baggage, but with growing walk rates and OBP and a shrinking K-rate, I’ll take a chance. They say speed never slumps, but Altuve is proving it can certainly catch fire as he’s notched 13 steals so far this year, putting him on pace for 50+.
MATT’S FLING
Fling may be too strong a term. We’ve gone out a few times and I know what to expect – he doesn’t make me uncomfortable and sometimes he pays. He will hit for a nice, albeit empty-ish average, play unremarkable defense, and generally be endearing because “small.” They say BB% and K% stabilize quickly, so maybe this .340+ OBP means he’s committed to bettering himself. He’s done that before, however… then he went out and got sauced with that tramp at the bar, walked less, hit for even less power, and just generally made us miserable with his 85 wRC+ while playing average-ish defense last year and getting thrown out on 27% of his steal attempts.
BRIAN’S RING
Dallas Keuchel – SP
How do you not fall in love with a man named ‘Dallas’ pitching in Houston? Smarter men than I pegged Dallas for a breakout year after closing out a 2013 campaign that was significantly better than his final numbers may admit. He’s figured out what works for him (2-seamer, Slider) and dropped the rest (Curveball, 4-seam). The results have been fascinating, as his go-to fastball now holds hitters to a .657 OPS, (51 points better than league-average). His slider is weapons-grade, as hitters are batting just .208 against it and have only been able to draw a single walk from it when thrown late in the count (OBP vs. the slide-piece sits at an ice-cold .224 for the year). The breakout is real. The slider is real. The Ring? Real-ish.
MATT’S SECOND AND THIRD FLINGS
George Springer – RF, Keuchel
You want me to marry an Astro? I’ll let Captain Spock speak for me on this one. When a team follows up a 111-loss season with a start that puts it on pace for another 107 losses, it can’t really leverage for a big dowry (or perhaps any dowry). That said, there is some exciting talent in the minors for Houston – maybe someday…
Springer fast-tracked to the majors after unleashing his ample power and speed on MILB competition (he has promptly gone “kerthud”). Still, I will watch with a fair amount of curiosity as Springer tries to figure things out.
Keuchel, on the other hand, has gotten big league hitters out without a myriad of red flags (perfectly acceptable BABIP suggesting he’s been neither lucky nor snakebit and a low-but-not-impossibly-low HR/9 both bode well, though he is stranding a higher % of baserunners than he has throughout his professional career). The Ks are nice (7.98 K/9) and the control has been phenomenal (1.87 BB/9). His MILB career suggests he’s never been this man before, though – I’ll go on a few more dates and be willing to have a good time, but I need more info before heading to the pawn shop (though, as Brian points out, Keuchel has found a slider, and it’s a nasty, nasty thing).
BRIAN’S LEFT CRYING
Chris Carter – 1B/DH
The whiffing wonder has me closer to ‘break up’ than ‘break out’. For the first time since the dark days before his 2012 call-up from the minor leagues, Chris Carter is a below-average major league hitter. We knew strikeouts (pushing 32%) and making contact (.217 career batting average, hitting .198 in 2014) were going to be issues, but I can’t stick around forever for a 1B/DH in the hopes that he’ll become a poor man’s Chris Davis. Go ahead and cry, Chris Carter. We know you’ll miss us nearly as much as you miss pitches out of the zone.
MATT’S LEFT CRYING
Dexter Fowler – CF
I could pick Chris Carter (good gravy, those Ks); I could pick that entire bullpen; I could pick the organizational plan that has necessitated Jose Altuve batting 3rd or 4th for a major league baseball team for extended periods of time; Dexter Fowler, however, showed a willingness to crash back to earth BEFORE leaving MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITEST OF PLACES IN THE WORLD Coors Field. He does still walk some, and that allows him to get on base enough to stay in the lineup to do other meh things, but to expect an average above .265 and an ISO above .125 seems foolish. Throw in below average (and sometimes atrocious) defense and I’ll happily let someone else buy Folwer’s meals.
Who did we miss? What did we get wrong? Post your Astros picks in the comments section below.
<- Go Back Back to Top of Post Back to Homepage
Like what you have read? Follow us via email or WordPress!
SWEET NOTHINGS & HARDBALL 