That's a lot of names. Basically, I care about James, Valdez, Martin, Whitley, Bukauskas, and Urquidy. Abreu and Bielak to a lesser extent. James and Valdez being MLB pitchers is a successful season for developing pitchers if those two don't have a major setback. Urquidy would be icing. ..but he doesn't throw strikes. If he throws strikes, he's an above average MLB pitcher that is suited for a juiced ball era.
On a side note: I suspect AAA going to MLB balls in a year that MLB balls are extra juiced is not good for PCL pitchers that pitch for teams that promote the cult of the high fastball. I know Astros hitters have benefited from the extra juicy ball, but I worry that the Astros pitching philosophy will suffer more. I do not like the current hitting environment in the majors and expect it is 10 times worse in the PCL. There is just so little margin for error in pitching right now. Either strike the guy out or pray the odds are forever in your favor. Hitters have adapted to the juiced ball, and are elevating more pitches compounding the problem of the ball carrying farther. Edit: Sorry about shaking my fist up in the air on this issue again.
Don't apologize. I'm with you. Every pitcher should learn at least 2 variants of the cut fastball (and then pick the one that works for them), unless you just have ungodly stuff. You can get in off the barrel, or get away off the barrel, depending.
I mean from a production standpoint on Rodgers. He has done everything he can at AAA. His stuff isn’t good enough in the majors, thus why he was never a prospect.
Agreed on all points saying Rodgers and Guduan don’t belong in the majors. When I refer to lack of pitching player development, I’m referring to the lack of it with high upside guys resulting in those two guys even being allowed in the majors. That’s perhaps another reason why we only have 7 relievers. Can you imagine if we had the same level of injuries on the pitching side instead of the hitting side. No Verlander, Cole, Pressly? Oy.
Not sure if posted or not, and I'm not in the mood to read it right now, but here ya go: http://baseball.physics.illinois.edu/homeruns.html
That report talks about a red zone (EV 90-115, LA 15-40) in which 97.5% of homers are hit. I've updated and combined a couple of their tables with 2018 and 2019 data. Basically, the blue data is the % of homers hit in the red zone divided by total number of batted balls in the red zone. From this line, we can infer that balls hit in the red zone are carrying farther as more homers are being hit. Change in ball from 2018 to 2019 likely has caused about a 15% increase in homers though basically the same as the 2017 ball. The orange data is the the % of all batted balls hit into the red zone. From this data, we can infer that hitters are getting better at hitting balls into the red zone. Basically, hitters getting balls elevated has increased homers by about 15% from 2015. The report dismisses the affect of the launch angle revolution, though I think there is clear evidence that it is working on a batted ball basis. Problem is that pitchers are getting better, and increased strikeouts negate about 2/3rds of this improvement. The reason homers are being hit at a rate 7% greater than in 2017 is the result of hitters getting the ball elevated in to the red zone more often.
I was getting ready to come on here and tell myself to **** off today as RG looked as good as I’ve ever seen him thru 2 batters and getting the 3rd guy down in the count 0-2. Went to take a leak and came back to see he’d given up 2 I was literally shocked he wasn’t sent down with Rodgers on Friday. I was expecting to see Armentos coming up (along with Perez) to replace those 2 and hoping for Yordan to sub out for White as well. 1 out of three- not great with my crystal ball. Still and all- off day for most of the bullpen, great start by Framber- didn’t go extra innings, a lot to like about all that. I have a hard time believing RG will be up another 2 weeks (which seems like McHugh’s likely timeline, but shrugs, who knows what the FO is thinking developmentally. It’s clear they aren’t thinking “let’s put our best 25 on the roster in Houston” right now- nor do they need to be with a 10 game lead and a walking mash unit, but I am curious about the plan.
Can someone tell me why Lunhow has a throbbed over Guduan? Few times I have seen him he has been crap. Yet he keeps getting chances.
Left handed, good velocity, and is already on the 40 man roster. I suspect he's gone as soon as either McHugh or Smith are back. Maybe even sooner if he keeps getting hammered.
Really unsure that Armenteros is the answer you're looking for. Unless his fastball really plays up in the pen vs what I've seen as a starter I just don't see it.
Three strikes and you’re out. IMO Guduan won’t get another chance, for the sake of salvaging his confidence and the team’s morale. Experiment over. Urquidy is ready.
I know what you mean. I just liked him when I saw him even though his stuff is meh- he seems like he knows how to pitch. I’m not saying he’s going to be good or anything, but I’m mildly intrigued at the idea of him being a middle reliever that can eat some innings.
Let’s see if Colin McHugh comes back healthy and who we get at the deadline as a starter and what Smith looks like. That might obviate any need for a reliever. But yeah, need at least one more high quality arm.
Devenski, McHugh, Smith, James, Perez, and Valdez are all wildcards. For now I wouldn’t want any of them in a high leverage playoff situation but they all have potential to earn that role over the 2nd half.
Ugh can we keep the "I have grown to hate" threads in the cesspool that is the GARM? The Astros forum is a hidden gem on this site, lets not taint it with GARM crap already. Sorry OP, just a rant. I am very protective of this oasis here.
Hell, he didn't do too bad tonight. Hitting 95max, more like 92-4. He just wasn't locating his junk breaking balls, which is what he has to do to survive. His changeup has promise. He's not nearly as worthless at this level as I thought.
Stuff was a little better than I thought. They did launch a couple missles at Yuli that he caught. I’m not saying he’s going to be good, but he’s much more interesting to me to watch than Brady Rogers, who just has zero chance of getting MLB hitters out.
