My 1st OOTP Dynasty - Houston Astros

[SirGreatWhite]

It's towards the back end of May in the 2020 season and the division standings across the league remain dominated by one team each! 5 of the 6 division races have the first place team with a minimum of a 7 game division lead! The Rays (29-13) lead the Yankees by 8 in the AL East; the Indians (34-8) lead the Royals by 13 in the AL Central; the Astros (35-10) lead the Angels by 11 in the AL West! Over in the National League, the Mets (29-13) lead the Braves by 7 games; the Dodgers (31-12) lead the Padres by 10 games in the NL West; and the only close race is the NL Central where the Cubs (28-15) lead the Cardinals by 1.5 games.

The Astros just swept the Angels on the road in a 3 game series to increase their division lead. They've won 6 in a row overall and 10 of the last 11. There is a possible ALCS preview coming to Houston this next series with the Cleveland Indians (34-8) coming to town. These two teams have the most wins in MLB and the two highest winning percentages right now.

There will be some great pitching matchups to go with 2 great lineups. In games 2 and 3 of this 3 games series we will see Justin Verlander (5-1; 2.93 ERA) take on Trevor Bauer (6-0; 3.29 ERA) in game 2 of the series. Then Gerrit Cole (5-1; 2.59 ERA) take on Corey Kluber (3-1; 2.61 ERA) in the series finale.

The Indians rank 1st or 2nd in the AL in every major hitting category except stolen bases (10th). The Astros also rank 1st or 2nd in each of those categories except home runs (5th) and stolen bases (3rd).

In the pitching & defense rankings, the Astros rank in the top 3 of the AL in all pitching and defensive categories except for bullpen ERA (4th; but still a very good 2.91 ERA). The Indians, meanwhile, rank in the top 3 in all of the same categories except bullpen ERA (5th; 3.23 ERA) and defensive efficiency (8th).

This has the makings of a fantastic matchup of teams that have all the tools necessary to make a deep run in October.

[SirGreatWhite]

In the much anticipated early season matchup between the two best teams in the AL (and all of baseball for that matter), the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros played out a heck of a series opener in game 1 of this 3 game set in Houston. Mind you this was the least anticipated pitching matchup of the 3 game series.

With a near sellout crowd on hand, Houston starter Alex Reyes (4-0; 4.03 ERA; 10.3 K/9 entering the game) faced off against Cleveland starter Danny Salazar (3-1; 3.97 ERA; 7.6 K/9 entering the game).

The game was an epic pitchers dual through 7 innings. Reyes allowed 4 hits in 8 innings pitched, striking out 7 Indians. The only mistake he made was in the top of the 7th inning when 2B Scooter Gennett hit a solo home run with 1 out in the 7th. Reyes finished the 7th strong and was only at 82 pitches entering the top of the 8th, so the Astros sent him back out. He finished the 8th inning. Reyes' final line: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 7 K's, 2 walks.

Meanwhile, equally as impressive was Indians starter Salazar - who went through the first 7 innings with only allowing a single hit (a cheap single back in the 2nd inning to former Indian Michael Brantley). He came out for the top of the 8th and gave up a blooping single to Jose Altuve to lead off the inning; the next batter, Kyle Tucker hit a 2-1 pitch to the right field bleachers to give the Astros a 2-1 lead!! Salazar was pulled from there. Relief pitcher Nick Sandlin retired the next 3 Astros batters in order to end the 8th with the Indians trailing 2-1 heading to the top of the 9th. Salazar's final line: 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 5 K's, 2 earned runs.

The Astros brought on Ken Giles to finish this great game off. Normally, Craig Kimbrel has been filling in for the closer duties as Roberto Osuna is still on the IL for another 1-2 weeks. But Kimbrel had pitched in 2 of the last 3 games for the Astros, while Giles hadn't pitched in 3 days. Giles got JD Martinez to ground out to start the inning. Scooter Gennett followed with a single up the middle to put the tying run on first base. Carlos Santana struck out swinging on a full count for out number two. The last batter was pinch hitter Bobby Bradley. He hit a 2-1 count fastball deep to left center. Defensive substitute Derek Fisher (LF) was right in front of the wall as it fell in his glove to end the game.

Astros win 2-1!

[SirGreatWhite]

If game 1 was the epic pitcher's dual we thought we'd see in game 2...we were wrong!

While Justin Verlander and Trevor Bauer are certainly two of the best in the business at getting batters out and keeping runs off the board, Saturday night's contest wasn't a normal game by those standards.

The Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st inning and added another run via a solo home run in the top of the 3rd to give The Tribe a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the 3rd for Bauer.

Bauer walked Astros catcher Yasmani Grandal to start the 3rd, then gave up a base hit to George Springer to advanced Grandal to second base and put the first two Astros batters on base. Bauer's twitter rival, Alex Bregman, singled off Bauer to score Grandal and advance Springer to 3rd base and cut the Tribe lead to 3-1. Next up was the dangerous Yordan Alvarez coming to the plate with two runners on and no outs. Alvarez destroyed a 1-0 pitch to the second deck in the right field bleachers to give the Astros a 4-3 lead. Carlos Correa followed with a single. After striking out Michael Brantley to record the first out of the 3rd inning, Bauer gave up back to back singles to Altuve and Tucker - scoring Correa and adding to the Astros lead 5-3.

Verlander gave up another solo home run in the top of the 4th as the Indians cut into the lead and now trailed 5-4. Bauer was pulled with 2 outs in the 4th after giving up another base hit to Alex Bregman. Bregman, in his not-so-subtle cockiness waved at Bauer as he left the mound walking back to the Indians dugout. Their twitter rival continues...

Michael Brantley tagged a 2 run home run in the bottom of the 5th off of Indians reliever Nick Wittgren, increasing the Astros lead to 7-4. Justin Verlander lasted into the top of the 6th but was pulled after 5 & 2/3 an 109 pitches. Right handed flamethrower Durbin Feltman came in to strike out Jose Ramirez to finish the top of the 6th inning.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Astros got the first two runners on before a balk was called on left handed reliever Oliver Perez to advance runners to 2nd and 3rd with no outs. After back to back strikeouts by Bregman and Alvarez, Carlos Correa delivered a 2 run double to right-center, increasing the Astros lead to 9-4. Michalel Brantley followed with a single, moving Correa to third. Jose Altuve followed with another single, scoring Correa and moving Brantley to third. Astros lead stood at 10-4. Kyle Tucker then delivered a double to left-center field, scoring Brantley and moving Altuve to third. The Astros led 11-4 heading to the 7th.

Feltman made quick work of the Indians in the top of the 7th, striking out 2 batters. Brendan McCurry started the top of the 8th for the Astros and recorded 2 outs before giving up 2 runs on a solo home run and an RBI single. Lefty Travis Bergen was brought in to face Scotter Gennett to close out the 8th with two runners on 2nd and 3rd. Gennett struck out swinging. It was 11-6 Astros heading to the bottom of the 8th.

Nothing for the Astros in the 8th. Bergen struck out the first batter of the 9th before giving way to reliever Reyes Moronta to (hopefully) finish the game off cleanly. It was anything but. Moronta gave up a base hit, then a wild pitch scored the inherited runner (charged to Bergen). But eventually he got Wilmer Flores to ground out to end the game.

Astros win game 2 of the series 11-7! The Indians had 14 hits and Astros had 16 hits. So much for a pitcher's dual.

[SirGreatWhite]

The series finale was significantly less interesting and/or dramatic than the first two games. The Indians and Astros scored 2 runs apiece in the second inning before the Astros went on a hitting spree in the 4th & 6th innings, increasing their lead to 8-2. A one-run 8th inning for the Indians made it 8-3 Astros. Craig Kimbrel was brought on in the 9th just to be safe and to get him some routine work since he has not pitched in the series. The Astros completed the 3 game sweep in Houston against the previously best record in baseball. The Astros now hold that claim with a 38-10 record having won 9 in a row and 13 of their last 14 games.

[SirGreatWhite]

Sorry for the delay in updates! Back to the grind now in the dog days of summer.

The Astros enter the All-Star break (which was in the back end of July - 21st to be exact - 99 games in to the season) with a 71-28 record. They hold a 12 game lead over the second place Angels (58-39). The rest of the division races are still very separated, as has been the case most of this season. The Rays (62-34) lead the Yankees (45-51) & Red Sox (46-52) by 17 games at the All Star break in the AL East! The Indians (68-27) lead the Twins (49-47) by 19.5 games in the AL Central! The Mets (59-36) lead the Braves (47-48) by 12 games in the NL East! The Dodgers (63-33) lead the Diamondbacks (50-47) by 13.5 games in the NL West! And the ONLY division without a 12+ game lead is the tight race in the NL Central: the Brewers (57-41) lead the Cubs (55-40) by 0.5 game and the Cardinals (52-43) by 3.5 games. Most of the postseason races seem to already be set...but the games still need to be played.

From a pitching perspective, Gerrit Cole has been the halfway CY Young front runner (13-2; 2.74 ERA; 1.01 WHIP; 145 K's). Lance McCullers Jr. has been healthy all season after his Tommy John surgery last year and is doing very well despite a monitored pitch count (8-2; 2.97 ERA; 1.05 WHIP; 148 K's). Alex Reyes (11-1; 3.35 ERA; 1.12 WHIP; 142 K's) has been as good as he was last year when the Astros acquired him. He's made a strong case for an All Star reserve spot, but unfortunately all teams must have at least one representative in the All Star game. Blake Snell missed most of spring training and the first part of the season dealing with a strained forearm. He's recovered from that and struggled in his first couple of starts, but has been on fire since...until his most recent minor injury. He's pitched to the tune of a 7-1 record with a 3.33 ERA & a 1.11 WHIP with 79 K's in 73 innings. The Astros opening day starter (and last year's Cy Young runner up) Justin Verlander has been the only one to struggle some. The Astros aren't sure if it's a mechanical issue in his pitching motion or if father time is starting to catch up to the 37 year old veteran pitcher. He is 7-6 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP with 109 K's in 111 innings. Certainly not his typical numbers. If the postseason started today, he would likely be a bullpen arm. The bullpen has been tremendous all season, despite some minor injuries here and there. Derbin Feltman (acquired last season in a trade with the Red Sox) has been a huge piece so far, earning his first All Star selection despite not being a closer. He has a 1.45 ERA with 15.4 K/9. Ryan Pressly also earned his second consecutive All Star selection despite not being a closer. He has a 1.83 ERA with 14.1 K/9. Other bright spots in the bullpen include Ken Giles (2.29 ERA; 13.3 K/9), Travis Bergen (2.61 ERA; 14.4 K/9), and Framber Valdez (2.43 ERA in mostly long relief appearances).

The lineup has been top notch and has avoided major injuries so far. Kyle Tucker, the Astros top hitting prospect heading into last season is the early season MVP leader with a line of .341/.410/.634/1.044, 24 HR, 81 RBI, 72 runs scored, and 18 stolen bases. Other Astros rookie and top hitting prospect, DH/1B Yordan Alvarez, has been equally solid with a stat line of .304/.385/.513/.898 with 15 HR, 61 RBI, 64 runs scored. Both have earned their first All Star selections. Additional All Star nods go to: CF George Springer (.290/.383/.463/.846; 16 HR, 54 RBI, 69 runs scored), 3B Alex Bregman - despite his recent slump (.291/.394/.497/.891; 13 HR, 64 RBI, 63 runs scored, and more walks [61] than strikeouts [58]), Catcher Yasmani Grandal (.240/.360/.456/.816; 14 HR, 41 RBI).

But the biggest surprise of all has been OF Derek Fisher! Fisher rotates throughout the outfield positions to keep regular guys fresh. He has played in about half of the games so far, starting 40 of the 49 games he's appeared in, and has an incredible stat line of .361/.457/.611/1.068 with 10 HR, 40 RBI, 36 runs scored, and 23 stolen bases!! Despite his limited starts and appearances, he also earned his first all star selection as a reserve.

Another pleasant surprise has been utility man Aledmys Diaz. Diaz had a very disappointing first season with the Astros in 2019 and was nearly traded in the offseason but has bounced back nicely: hitting .303/.341/.434/.775 with 3 HR, 11 RBI, 16 runs scored, and 2 steals in spot starts around the infield to keep regulars rested.

The most disappointing pitcher has been Trevor May. May, the Twins closer last season, was given a 2 year contract by the Astros this offseason - one that was a bidding war with the Cardinals. May has a 4.86 ERA in 33 innings pitched. Most of his appearances have been 6th-7th inning appearances. Thankfully, despite his subpar performance, he has not been a problem in the clubhouse.

The most disappointing hitter - though not an every day guy - has been Jake Bauers. Bauers, acquired from the Indians in spring training last year, was a bright spot for the Astros last year. Starting about half the team's games last year he hit .286/.346/.480/.826 with 12 HR, 56 RBI, and 8 stolen bases. He was expected to take on a more prominent role by taking Yuli Gurriel's backup first baseman spot, plus some of Derek Fisher's left field starts and play about 3 out of every 5 games. But his early season struggles led to a AAA demotion. He only recently was brought back up with a minor injury to Jose Altuve. His current stat line through 19 starts is .208/.358/.302/.660 with 1 HR and 10 RBI.

Some minor injuries to All Star 2B Jose Altuve and LHP Blake Snell occurred 2 games before the All Star break. Both players went on the IL. Snell will likely only miss 1 start thanks to the All Star break being part of the 10 days. Altuve will likely miss a week after the All Star break; he was slated to be an All Star reserve, making the All Star team for the 7th consecutive season, and 8 of the last 9. Roberto Osuna, the Astros closer, was sidelined at the beginning of the season with a strained triceps and missed 6 weeks, was injured on July 1st with a sore elbow and was initially expected to only miss 2 weeks. He still has not returned and is unlikely to return by the end of July. This could be a problem and something to keep an eye on as one of the projected strengths of the Astros team heading into the season was their powerful bullpen.

All in all, it's been a historic first half of the season for the Astros. The 71 wins is the most in MLB history before the All Star break - granted with the most games played before the All Star break too.

[SirGreatWhite]

Trade Deadline:

It's trade deadline day and the Astros have made a couple of smaller moves that they feel will help them in the long run. Most of their short term work was done in the offseason.

First move was trading right handed reliever and submarine specialist Joe Smith and minor league catcher Luis Torrens (splitting time between AA & AAA) to Baltimore in exchange for RHP Dillon Tate. Smith was in the final year of his contract and was the least used bullpen option for the Astros this year. He also battled injuries each of the past two seasons. He was going to be DFA'd but declined his demotion to AAA (which he has the right to do) to make room for the impending return of closer Roberto Osuna. So the Astros shopped him around and felt like Tate was the best they could get in return. Tate will start in AA and move up to AAA in a couple of weeks. He had been with the Orioles AAA affiliate.

The second move was trading backup catcher Austin Romine to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for utility infielder Christian Arroyo. Romine was becoming more and more upset as the season went on about not getting as much regular playing time when he was acquired via trade with the Yankees at the Winter meetings. No guaranteed starting role was ever promised to Romine, especially after the acquisition of Yasmani Grandal in free agency. Romine started the year playing about 40% of games but that has since come down to about 25% of games. The Astros easily had the best 1-2 punch at the catcher position in all of baseball, so Romine was expendible. He has a team friendly contract of $2.76M, which the Yankees are paying 50% of it this year, for a starting caliber player (or top notch backup if your team already has a great catcher). Romine was hitting .273/.338/.414/.752 with 5 HR, 3 doubles, 19 RBI's, & 21 runs scored in 37 games (34 starts) this year.

One area the Astros have exceptional depth at in their minor league system is catcher. They've drafted and acquired solid catching prospects because of the depth needed at that position. It's a good commodity to have because catcher's need more regular rest than other position players and also are more valuable if they can be above average hitters or better.

Arroyo, who just turned 25 years old, has the ability to play 2B, 3B, and SS - all with above average defense. He is also an above average contact and gap hitter who runs well. The Astros view him as someone who will compete for the teams backup spot as a utility man for next season (2021). He will start in AAA and likely be brought up for the September 1st roster expansion. He gives the Astros an additional utility option along with Aledmys Diaz. Diaz will be arbitration eligible this off-season and is likely to command a salary in the $2.5M range. If the Astros decide that's too much for a backup utility player, they can focus on Arroyo as the man for that spot.

As for on-the-field results. The short gap between the All Star game and the trade deadline (5 games) saw the Astros go 4-1 against the Angels (3-0) and the Rockies (1-1). The Astros start a 3 game series at home against the Texas Rangers next.

Minor League System Update & International Signings:

The Astros farm system was already considered in the top 10 of all of baseball prior to the 2019. With the moves the Astros have made over the last 1.5 seasons and offseason, their farm system now ranks #2 in all of baseball (some even say #1).

Their AAA affiliate, the Round Rock Express, currently are 64-41 and are in 1st place in the Pacific Coast League. Their AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, are 60-43 and in 1st place of the Texas League. Their A+ affiliate, the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, are 59-47 and in 1st place of the Carolina League. Their A affiliate, the Quad Cities River Bandits, are 51-52 and in 5th place in the Midwest League. And their low-A affiliate, the Tri-City ValleyCats, are 25-14 early in their season and currently are in 1st place.

When the International Signing window opened in early July the Astros took a different approach this year. Last year they signed OF Pacho Olivas to the full $5M amount. This year they tried to target more international prospects but spread that money out. They came away with 4 international prospects: OF Sergio Uribe (16 years old; $1.5M), SS Luis Flores (16 years old; $1.8M), RHP Luis Moreno (16 years old; $1.1M), and RHP Juan Delgado (16 years old $500K) for a total of $4.9 million of their $5.0 million allotment.

Injury Updates:

Astros 2B Jose Altuve will return in 3 days. In his return it is likely that the Astros will send LF/1B Jake Bauers back down to AAA. Bauers' struggles in the majors this season are still showing despite him dominating in AAA (.322/.421/.500).

LHP Blake Snell will return to the Astros this coming week. LHP Keegan Akin will be sent back down to AAA in a corresponding move.

Roberto Osuna just rejoined the Astros after missing most all of July. The Astros traded Joe Smith to the Orioles to clear the roster spot.

[SirGreatWhite]

And after his first game back with the Astros in almost a month, closer Roberto Osuna has been injured again! This time it is an elbow strain in his throwing arm. The initial diagnosis will keep him out of action for 5-6 weeks!! It's still July 31st in my game, so we will explore options for bullpen/closer help, but will likely shuffle our bullpen around and promote a AAA player.

[SirGreatWhite]

Originally Posted by SirGreatWhite

And after his first game back with the Astros in almost a month, closer Roberto Osuna has been injured again! This time it is an elbow strain in his throwing arm. The initial diagnosis will keep him out of action for 5-6 weeks!! It's still July 31st in my game, so we will explore options for bullpen/closer help, but will likely shuffle our bullpen around and promote a AAA player.

With the injury to closer Roberto Osuna having occurred on July 30th, the Astros made a late deadline day move on July 31st. They acquired hard throwing right handed reliever Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox for minor league pitcher Yohan Ramirez (25 years old), minor league 1B Jose E. Alvarez (20 years old), and cash. The Astros have several prospects ahead of Ramirez and Rojas at their respective positions, so they were both expendable. Kopech gives the Astros the hard throwing reliever type they prefer as a possible option. With Roberto Osuna to miss most of the rest of the regular season, this will be a viable option in case he cannot return to form. He will also serve as a possible playoff roster spot in case Trevor May doesn't sharpen his command the last 60 games of the season or if another one of our main right handers (Feltman, Giles, Kimbrel, Pressly) gets injured... [knocks on wood]

Worst case scenario, May improves his command, Osuna returns to form from injury in 6 weeks, and Kopech isn't on the playoff roster, but does give the Astros a 24 year old right hander with a 97-99 MPH four seam fastball and a hard breaking ball that they covet in their bullpen arms. He could replace Craig Kimbrel's spot in the bullpen next year since Kimbrel is a free agent at the end of the season and the Astros likely won't afford his $15M asking price and will want to use that money towards a contract extension for either George Springer or Michael Bradley.