Astros! New season

[kskboys]

Love the Wade Smiley pickup. At the very least, quality 4th/5th starter. If last season wasn't just a career year and he really did learn something to become a better pitcher, pickup could be huge.

Brantley. Love Brantley. When he's on the field. And he's often not. Here's hoping for his health!!!!

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Wake me up when the playoffs arrive.

Really if the Astros do not win the division it would be a huge upset.

Love to see Correa play a full, uninjured season this year.

To a certain extend that also applies to Springer.

No headfirst slides unless you're wearing a glove.

 

[RodeoJake]

Look for big years from Tuve and Breg. I'm not sold on our SP or BP. Hopefully, the plan is to shore those up before the trade deadline. As it stands now, we don't have the arms to beat either the Yanks or Bosox in a 5 or 7 game series. Maybe James or Whitley step up in a big way, but I'd rather trust proven arms come October.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Look for big years from Tuve and Breg. I'm not sold on our SP or BP. Hopefully, the plan is to shore those up before the trade deadline. As it stands now, we don't have the arms to beat either the Yanks or Bosox in a 5 or 7 game series. Maybe James or Whitley step up in a big way, but I'd rather trust proven arms come October.

I understand what you're saying.

Verlander is certainly proven.

Cole is close to be proven and is a terrific #2.

McHugh. It will be interesting how his season turns out. Certainly in '15 he was an acceptable #2 starter and will most likely be a decent #3.

Now for #4 & #5. Could come from a bushel basket full of potential starters like James or Whitely who both have electric stuff.

The Astros are transitioning and need to transition. The fact is they need at least a couple guys in the starting rotation who they can control for the next several seasons. And those guys need experience this year because I would still expect the Astros to be contenders for at least a couple years beyond 2019.

 

[RodeoJake]

I understand what you're saying.

Verlander is certainly proven.

Cole is close to be proven and is a terrific #2.

McHugh. It will be interesting how his season turns out. Certainly in '15 he was an acceptable #2 starter and will most likely be a decent #3.

Now for #4 & #5. Could come from a bushel basket full of potential starters like James or Whitely who both have electric stuff.

The Astros are transitioning and need to transition. The fact is they need at least a couple guys in the starting rotation who they can control for the next several seasons. And those guys need experience this year because I would still expect the Astros to be contenders for at least a couple years beyond 2019.

The young arms need the experience. Maybe one or both have the stuff come October. At some point, we will need another vet in the rotation and BP. McHugh was a decent enough starter before but he doesn't match up with the 3rd starter for the Yanks and Bosox. Anyway, yes let's give James a shot for a few months. Whitley probably won't be up until after the break at the earliest. Time will tell on our pitching.

 

[Tabascocat]

Astros can also trade for a pitcher by the deadline if need be. DeGrom is unhappy with management and could be an option late in season.

See how the #4/5 do and go from there if another is needed for the postseason.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Astros can also trade for a pitcher by the deadline if need be. DeGrom is unhappy with management and could be an option late in season.

See how the #4/5 do and go from there if another is needed for the postseason.

This is it too, Mets, Astros... The end of July could represent at chance at some changes.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The young arms need the experience. Maybe one or both have the stuff come October. At some point, we will need another vet in the rotation and BP. McHugh was a decent enough starter before but he doesn't match up with the 3rd starter for the Yanks and Bosox. Anyway, yes let's give James a shot for a few months. Whitley probably won't be up until after the break at the earliest. Time will tell on our pitching.

And you're right McHugh may not be a strong #3.

But I'll tell ya, but the end of September we may very well find out that Whitley or James (or one of several other kids) may be better than McHugh. Whitley has the look of a #1– We'll see if it happens. And James... My gosh is his arm lively.

 

[RodeoJake]

And you're right McHugh may not be a strong #3.

But I'll tell ya, but the end of September we may very well find out that Whitley or James (or one of several other kids) may be better than McHugh. Whitley has the look of a #1– We'll see if it happens. And James... My gosh is his arm lively.

James has the juice, but he needs to hone his slider and change. Those pitches tend fall below average. If he can master a change and get better breaking action on his slider, he'll be an ace.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

James has the juice, but he needs to hone his slider and change. Those pitches tend fall below average. If he can master a change and get better breaking action on his slider, he'll be an ace.

Well in a few days we'll start to get a read on how the young guys have progressed.

 

[RodeoJake]

Well in a few days we'll start to get a read on how the young guys have progressed.

I'm excited to see what Tucker and James can do this year. What's really great is we'll have an over abundance of ML ready talent that will have to be dealt or start the season in the minors.