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Old 06-07-2019, 02:40 AM   #7
SirGreatWhite
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Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Texas
Posts: 59
Update:

It's May 31, 2019 and the Astros are currently 29-28 overall and hold a 1.5 game lead ahead of the Angels for 1st place in the AL West. The Red Sox, Indians, and Braves lead MLB with 35 wins each. After a 12-18 record in March-April, the Astros are 17-10 in May with 1 more game left in the month.

The lineup has really picked up the pace lately. Bregman and Altuve are carrying the team offensively - both tied for the team lead in home runs w/ 8 apiece. Springer, after an awful month of April, has started to come on strong in May. Correa has been the opposite of Springer - tore it up at the beginning of the season only to have a dreadful May - yet he still leads the team in RBI's w/ 48. Myles Straw has been a nice spark plug since being called up from AAA after Tony Kemp was traded on 5/16/19. He's been filling in for the role that Tony Kemp played to give guys days off. Straw had been splitting time in AAA between outfield (mostly CF) and Shortstop. He does have limited experience at 2B also. So between he and Aledmys Diaz we have guys that can play almost every position on the field (except catcher) for rest days when needed.

Verlander continues to dominate with an 8-2 record in 12 starts. He has a 2.56 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts. His K/9 innings has dropped recently. It was near 11 earlier in the year but is now at 8.6

The addition of Kimbrel has also helped the bullpen. On days when we have to pull starters earlier than we'd like due to high pitch counts or getting rocked by the opponent, our middle relievers and long relievers aren't very good. But the trio of Kimbrel (2.59 ERA; 16.3 K/9), Pressly (1.46 ERA; 13.9 K/9), and Osuna (0.82 ERA; 11/11 saves; 13.9 K/9) is as good of a trio for late inning games as there is in the MLB.

We could really use a solid #2 or #3 type of arm as well since Cole will be out until beginning of October and Lance McCullers is out for the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. As stated before, if McHugh can maintain his current form (3 earned runs or less allowed in 4 of last 5 starts) and Peacock comes off the injured list in 12 days and comes back in the form he had before (2.35 ERA in 4 starts) then maybe we will be able to right the ship with the rotation and not have to acquire an arm.

I've really been trying to make a deal for a major league level catcher because we are getting a combined average of 0.1 - 0.2 WAR production from our two catchers (Chirinos & Stassi) right now. Pittsburgh has expressed interest in being willing to part ways with Francisco Cervelli. He is a free agent at the end of the year and is 33 years old, so it probably won't take a major prospect or two to acquire him. Will look further into it.
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