One of the biggest trade targets in baseball this offseason is White Sox ace Chris Sale.
In seven years with the Sox, he's been in the Cy Young conversation each of the last five years. He's truly considered one of the best not just in the American league but in all of baseball and he wants out of town. Last season Sale even went as far as cutting up his team's jersey before a start, just hours before the trade deadline. I mean if that's not a plea for "get me the hell out of here" I don't know what is.
The problem with landing the crazy good lefty is he's under team control for a few more seasons and since he won't be a free agent till 2020 the cost could be epic.
Everyone knows Sale's resume, he's a true ace. Since 2012 only Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and, David Price have a higher pitchers WAR than Sale.
Jeff Luhnow and his staff have pulled off plenty of deals before but those moves are Minnows compared to the Whale that is Sale.
Getting the lefty ace will no doubt have to be painful for the Astros.
A good reference for Luhnow and his staff to go by could be the deal the Rangers made for Cole Hamels a few years back.
However, there are a few key differences and they do not favor Astros.
The Phillies who traded Hamels and White Sox who will be trading Sale are in different positions. The Phillies were looking to add to the minors and rebuild their depth. The White Sox are pretty close to being in playoff contention and will want major league ready talent.
Plus the ages between the two are quite different, Hamels was 31 at the time of the trade while Sale will only be 27 if/when he gets moved.
Hamels netted four prospects included the 3rd, 5th, and 13th best prospects from the Rangers farm.
The Astros cost could be a little higher and likely to include starting pitcher Lance McCullers or third basemen Alex Bregman just to get the White Sox brass to even return their phone calls.
This is a package that could get the White Sox attention. Pitcher Francis Martes (#1), outfielder Derek Fisher (#5), third basemen Colin Moran (#7) and, Bregman.
The Astros 1st, 5th, and 7th best prospects, plus Bregman would be enough to wow any general manager.
It might be a little steep but if you want to snag the prize of the offseason season going bold is the way to go.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Dodgers fire sale, Astros gain?
It's being reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers need to shed cash, with the highest payroll in baseball they need to cut around a 100 million in the next few years.
The question is with the Dodgers many, many, massive contracts is there anyone the Houston Astros would be willing to pick up.
Of course, teams would want Cy Young regular Clayton Kershaw but that won't happen and no one is trading for outfielder Andre Ethier or veteran pitcher Brandon McCarthy.
So who else is left that the Astros would be interested in?
1) Right-hander - Kenta Maeda
The Astros originally made a run for him before the Dodgers signed him and he had a good rookie season. He wasn't perfect but he looked pretty good and he's under contract till 2023 with a very team friendly contract.
2) 1st/DH - Adrian Gonzalez
He's a good hitter and he's been one for a while. The real problem is he is making a lot of money but if the team is willing to take it all, maybe it would not cost them as much in terms of prospects.
3) Left-hander - Alex Wood
A very good pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, but his tenure with the Dodgers a little up and down. The Astros have a few left-handed starters already, but he could make a nice pick up if he returns to form.
Gonzalez might be a little tougher of a fit then Wood or Maeda, but for his bat, manager A.J. Hinch would find a way to put him in the lineup.
The question is with the Dodgers many, many, massive contracts is there anyone the Houston Astros would be willing to pick up.
Of course, teams would want Cy Young regular Clayton Kershaw but that won't happen and no one is trading for outfielder Andre Ethier or veteran pitcher Brandon McCarthy.
So who else is left that the Astros would be interested in?
1) Right-hander - Kenta Maeda
The Astros originally made a run for him before the Dodgers signed him and he had a good rookie season. He wasn't perfect but he looked pretty good and he's under contract till 2023 with a very team friendly contract.
2) 1st/DH - Adrian Gonzalez
He's a good hitter and he's been one for a while. The real problem is he is making a lot of money but if the team is willing to take it all, maybe it would not cost them as much in terms of prospects.
3) Left-hander - Alex Wood
A very good pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, but his tenure with the Dodgers a little up and down. The Astros have a few left-handed starters already, but he could make a nice pick up if he returns to form.
Gonzalez might be a little tougher of a fit then Wood or Maeda, but for his bat, manager A.J. Hinch would find a way to put him in the lineup.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
The Astros offseason has been great, but it could be better!
By: Joshua Reese
Since the end of the world series, Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and his staff wasted no time in making the Houston Astros a better team.
On the cusp of a playoff run in 2016, Luhnow swapped some of the inconsistent offensive weapons from that team and upgraded them, getting supercharged versions.
The catcher position was improved by swapping Jason Castro for New York Yankees power-hitting backstop Brian McCann.
Colby Rasmus was a postseason hero in 2015 but spent most of 2016 injured and was ineffective. The Astros went out and signed a carbon copy of Rasmus, but one that just doesn't strikeout as much in Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Josh Reddick.
The team even added a Nori Aoki a high-contact outfielder through a waiver claim and signed a starting pitcher in right-hander Charlie Morton.
By far this is the most aggressive the team has been in years.
After wondering for years, will the Astros spend when the time comes? We finally know, yes they will.
To date, the Astros have added roughly around 30 million to next season's roster.
The question is will the team try and land the crushing blow in the remainder of the offseason and snag themselves a top of the rotation ace and a top flight closer.
Morton is fine, but in his career, he's been just barely over a replacement level pitcher with a 7.6 WAR in nine-ish seasons of baseball.
The free agent pitching market is pretty weak this year and while Morton may have been one of the best, the trade market this time of year always starts to heat up.
Names like former Cy young winner Diamondbacks Zack Greinke has been rumored to be available, along with top pitchers in the Athletics Sonny Gray and WhiteSox Chris Sale.
Some deals might be harder to pull off than others, i.e. Greinke is owed 32 million until he's 38 years, and while I applaud the Astros willingness to spend, taking on that contract might be pure insanity.
Along with snagging a true ace, finally getting a closer would be very helpful in making the Astros a serious contender in 2017.
The Astros were the only team in the majors last season to have three relievers get 10 or more saves. Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, and Will Harris all had a crack at one of baseball's most prestigious positions, but none could hold on to the job as each ended up faltering. Giles may have the stuff to be a closer but the Astros can't bank on him figuring it out.
The good news is, unlike the starting pitching market, there are plenty of free agent closers waiting for good homes.
Greg Holland, Mark Melancon, and Aroldis Chapman are all top-shelf closers and some of the many, many names out there waiting for the right team to come along and offer them a fat paycheck.
The offense is pretty set 1-9 with the additions of McCann and Reddick, but the pitching staff is still an area on the team the Astros can still improve on.
Just picture the Astros offseason ending with the additions of Holland and Sale or Chapman and Gray, can someone say, yes, please!
Since the end of the world series, Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and his staff wasted no time in making the Houston Astros a better team.
On the cusp of a playoff run in 2016, Luhnow swapped some of the inconsistent offensive weapons from that team and upgraded them, getting supercharged versions.
The catcher position was improved by swapping Jason Castro for New York Yankees power-hitting backstop Brian McCann.
Colby Rasmus was a postseason hero in 2015 but spent most of 2016 injured and was ineffective. The Astros went out and signed a carbon copy of Rasmus, but one that just doesn't strikeout as much in Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Josh Reddick.
The team even added a Nori Aoki a high-contact outfielder through a waiver claim and signed a starting pitcher in right-hander Charlie Morton.
By far this is the most aggressive the team has been in years.
After wondering for years, will the Astros spend when the time comes? We finally know, yes they will.
To date, the Astros have added roughly around 30 million to next season's roster.
The question is will the team try and land the crushing blow in the remainder of the offseason and snag themselves a top of the rotation ace and a top flight closer.
Morton is fine, but in his career, he's been just barely over a replacement level pitcher with a 7.6 WAR in nine-ish seasons of baseball.
The free agent pitching market is pretty weak this year and while Morton may have been one of the best, the trade market this time of year always starts to heat up.
Names like former Cy young winner Diamondbacks Zack Greinke has been rumored to be available, along with top pitchers in the Athletics Sonny Gray and WhiteSox Chris Sale.
Some deals might be harder to pull off than others, i.e. Greinke is owed 32 million until he's 38 years, and while I applaud the Astros willingness to spend, taking on that contract might be pure insanity.
Along with snagging a true ace, finally getting a closer would be very helpful in making the Astros a serious contender in 2017.
The Astros were the only team in the majors last season to have three relievers get 10 or more saves. Ken Giles, Luke Gregerson, and Will Harris all had a crack at one of baseball's most prestigious positions, but none could hold on to the job as each ended up faltering. Giles may have the stuff to be a closer but the Astros can't bank on him figuring it out.
The good news is, unlike the starting pitching market, there are plenty of free agent closers waiting for good homes.
Greg Holland, Mark Melancon, and Aroldis Chapman are all top-shelf closers and some of the many, many names out there waiting for the right team to come along and offer them a fat paycheck.
The offense is pretty set 1-9 with the additions of McCann and Reddick, but the pitching staff is still an area on the team the Astros can still improve on.
Just picture the Astros offseason ending with the additions of Holland and Sale or Chapman and Gray, can someone say, yes, please!
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Dallas Keuchel wins 3rd straight gold glove
Houston Astros Dallas Keuchel kicked off baseball's award season by snagging his third straight gold glove. Keuchel got the win by beating out other top pitchers in Toronto Blue Jays R.A. Dickey and Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander.
Per FanGraphs, Keuchel had seven defensive runs saved which tied with New York Yankees Masahiro Tanaka for the most in the American League.
Keuchel was also one of only 11 pitchers in the A.L. who had 0 errors on the year (including teammate Collin McHugh).
One of the things Keuchel has been known for throughout his gold glove reign is the way he plays the position. He isn't just worried about making a great pitch, but if you chop the ball anywhere near him, more times than naught he'll be the one making the play on the ball.
With the win, Keuchel is the first three-time winner in either league since Chicago White Sox Mark Buehrle 2009-2011.
Per FanGraphs, Keuchel had seven defensive runs saved which tied with New York Yankees Masahiro Tanaka for the most in the American League.
Keuchel was also one of only 11 pitchers in the A.L. who had 0 errors on the year (including teammate Collin McHugh).
One of the things Keuchel has been known for throughout his gold glove reign is the way he plays the position. He isn't just worried about making a great pitch, but if you chop the ball anywhere near him, more times than naught he'll be the one making the play on the ball.
With the win, Keuchel is the first three-time winner in either league since Chicago White Sox Mark Buehrle 2009-2011.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Michael Feliz being wasted
Michael Feliz is a swell pitcher. Hell, he's young up and coming, talented flame-thrower. Yet Feliz is relegated to middle relief bullpen work. He is getting more and more added to his plate in terms of high-pressure situations, but it's clear as day this young right-hander can have such a bigger impact on the Astros and help them out in so many other ways.
Before I get too carried away, Feliz did come into the game Monday and was not able to hold on to the lead.
Starting off the seventh inning he allowed back to back singles - one a super weak bouncer through the hole - putting runners on the corners. With no outs, Rougned Odor (of course) drove in a run with a deep sac fly. Feliz would recover and get back to back strikeouts to end the inning and his night, but not before the game getting tied up.
He finished his night tossing 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, a run and struck out two.
A couple of things off the bat before I get to my main point. Feliz was bound to give up a run or two at some point. He is great and amazing but as cliche as it sounds, it's baseball, a run will come across the plate sooner or later, it's not like he's Will Harris. Plus it's the Rangers if any team is bound to get score a run off of you, it's them, no one is safe. Anything and everything will happen when the Astros face the Rangers.
So now that we explained away Feliz not being able to hold the game by allowing a run. Let's revisit the Astros are wasting him, portion of this story.
Feliz is electric and if he doesn't have the best stuff on the team he certainly has the second best. So far this season he's striking out guys at a crazy high rate, 13.32 per nine innings, good enough to make him one of the most dangerous relievers in the major leagues.
Feliz rocks a great fastball, his changeup is improving a lot and his slider induces a lot of swings and misses or if someone does manage to make contact he gets weak hits off of it.
In his current role with the Astros, whenever a starter can't make it five/six/seven innings he's normally the first guy out of the pen. Of late he is entering in more games when the team has a lead so he is able to get the hold. His other role is getting the ball in extra innings and he's able to give the Astros a few innings because he can go long. That's pretty much it for the young right-handed flamethrower. So you have this amazing arm, who's blowing people away and he's a factor in the bullpen, but he's not the biggest factor back there...
So if he's not a big player out of the pen, he was a starter in the minor leagues, he's conditioned to go plenty of innings. Feliz could help the Astros as a starter if asked, Mike Fiers who's has been hit and miss this year and would be a prime candidate to get swapped. Let's be honest, Dallas Keuchel has not looked very hot this year, I'm not saying move him to the bullpen, I'm saying maybe he needs some time off. There are roles to be hand in the starting rotation if the Astros were so inclined.
But if you don't want to start Feliz because you think batters would start to figure him out after a second or third time seeing him. Ok, I'll buy that, but I'd still rather seem him get a chance, you can't grow if you aren't given a chance.
If you are afraid and you want to keep him in the bullpen, fine. But there is almost no reason you can't have him closing games. Asking him to get three outs, would be almost too easy, like a slicing butter with a hot knife. Who's going to stop him, he's tossing a 96-98 mph fastball and then has an 87 mph slider that dips out of the strike zone, you'd get saves for days.
Feliz ever since re-joining the Astros after getting sent down to the minors has come back to light the world on fire. Last season and the early part of this year before getting sent down, Feliz was a different pitcher, but since coming back he found his fastball life, and he's been dominate.
In April: 5.1 innings, 10 runs, 3 home runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
In May/June: 21.1 innings, 2 runs, 0 home runs, 2 walks, 33 strikeouts
Feliz is a different man since he's cut loose, and the Astros haven't really capitalized on him. For a while maybe they weren't sure if he would revert back to his old self, but 21 innings of top notch work is nothing to sneeze at.
The Astros going forward look like they are going to go closer by committee, and if you want Harris to continue closing games I won't argue with you. He's earned a shot, Harris has been one of the most consistent bullpen arms in baseball since last year. Ken Giles might also get a shot at the job every so often depending on matchups and I think that would be wrong. He's been better since his awful April, but he's still not in the same solar system that Feliz is in.
Feliz has earned the shot at having a bigger impact on games, he's proved he can be very effective out of the pen. In the minors, he proved he can be effective as a starter becoming one of the Astros top prospects after being signed as a 16-year-old amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic.
Right now there are a lot more uses you can use Feliz in he's your swiss army knife. He's better than just giving you a sixth/seventh inning here or there or pitching in extra innings.
I understand the middle relief and extra inning roles are very important and if you don't have him doing it someone is going to have too. The bigger point is he can have a higher impact than just "holding" the game.
He can win it for you by starting a game and going five-six-seven innings giving you good pitching. Or he can pitch in the ninth and help you save games.
It's clear he's handled his current role on the Astros. It's time they start taking the leash off of him and trusting him more and in bigger spots. If it's starting great, if it's saving games even better, if it's the eighth inning ok fine (at least it's about as high leverage as you can get).
He's better than what he's been given so far, let him go out and prove it.
Before I get too carried away, Feliz did come into the game Monday and was not able to hold on to the lead.
Starting off the seventh inning he allowed back to back singles - one a super weak bouncer through the hole - putting runners on the corners. With no outs, Rougned Odor (of course) drove in a run with a deep sac fly. Feliz would recover and get back to back strikeouts to end the inning and his night, but not before the game getting tied up.
He finished his night tossing 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, a run and struck out two.
A couple of things off the bat before I get to my main point. Feliz was bound to give up a run or two at some point. He is great and amazing but as cliche as it sounds, it's baseball, a run will come across the plate sooner or later, it's not like he's Will Harris. Plus it's the Rangers if any team is bound to get score a run off of you, it's them, no one is safe. Anything and everything will happen when the Astros face the Rangers.
So now that we explained away Feliz not being able to hold the game by allowing a run. Let's revisit the Astros are wasting him, portion of this story.
Feliz is electric and if he doesn't have the best stuff on the team he certainly has the second best. So far this season he's striking out guys at a crazy high rate, 13.32 per nine innings, good enough to make him one of the most dangerous relievers in the major leagues.
Feliz rocks a great fastball, his changeup is improving a lot and his slider induces a lot of swings and misses or if someone does manage to make contact he gets weak hits off of it.
In his current role with the Astros, whenever a starter can't make it five/six/seven innings he's normally the first guy out of the pen. Of late he is entering in more games when the team has a lead so he is able to get the hold. His other role is getting the ball in extra innings and he's able to give the Astros a few innings because he can go long. That's pretty much it for the young right-handed flamethrower. So you have this amazing arm, who's blowing people away and he's a factor in the bullpen, but he's not the biggest factor back there...
So if he's not a big player out of the pen, he was a starter in the minor leagues, he's conditioned to go plenty of innings. Feliz could help the Astros as a starter if asked, Mike Fiers who's has been hit and miss this year and would be a prime candidate to get swapped. Let's be honest, Dallas Keuchel has not looked very hot this year, I'm not saying move him to the bullpen, I'm saying maybe he needs some time off. There are roles to be hand in the starting rotation if the Astros were so inclined.
But if you don't want to start Feliz because you think batters would start to figure him out after a second or third time seeing him. Ok, I'll buy that, but I'd still rather seem him get a chance, you can't grow if you aren't given a chance.
If you are afraid and you want to keep him in the bullpen, fine. But there is almost no reason you can't have him closing games. Asking him to get three outs, would be almost too easy, like a slicing butter with a hot knife. Who's going to stop him, he's tossing a 96-98 mph fastball and then has an 87 mph slider that dips out of the strike zone, you'd get saves for days.
Feliz ever since re-joining the Astros after getting sent down to the minors has come back to light the world on fire. Last season and the early part of this year before getting sent down, Feliz was a different pitcher, but since coming back he found his fastball life, and he's been dominate.
In April: 5.1 innings, 10 runs, 3 home runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
In May/June: 21.1 innings, 2 runs, 0 home runs, 2 walks, 33 strikeouts
Feliz is a different man since he's cut loose, and the Astros haven't really capitalized on him. For a while maybe they weren't sure if he would revert back to his old self, but 21 innings of top notch work is nothing to sneeze at.
The Astros going forward look like they are going to go closer by committee, and if you want Harris to continue closing games I won't argue with you. He's earned a shot, Harris has been one of the most consistent bullpen arms in baseball since last year. Ken Giles might also get a shot at the job every so often depending on matchups and I think that would be wrong. He's been better since his awful April, but he's still not in the same solar system that Feliz is in.
Feliz has earned the shot at having a bigger impact on games, he's proved he can be very effective out of the pen. In the minors, he proved he can be effective as a starter becoming one of the Astros top prospects after being signed as a 16-year-old amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic.
Right now there are a lot more uses you can use Feliz in he's your swiss army knife. He's better than just giving you a sixth/seventh inning here or there or pitching in extra innings.
I understand the middle relief and extra inning roles are very important and if you don't have him doing it someone is going to have too. The bigger point is he can have a higher impact than just "holding" the game.
He can win it for you by starting a game and going five-six-seven innings giving you good pitching. Or he can pitch in the ninth and help you save games.
It's clear he's handled his current role on the Astros. It's time they start taking the leash off of him and trusting him more and in bigger spots. If it's starting great, if it's saving games even better, if it's the eighth inning ok fine (at least it's about as high leverage as you can get).
He's better than what he's been given so far, let him go out and prove it.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Three takeaways from the Diamondbacks series
Two games in Arizona and two games in Houston, it may not exactly be a "series" but it should be considered one. So after snagging three wins against the Diamondbacks the Astros have won three series in a row after the poor home sweep against the Rangers a couple weeks back.
The Astros are playing much better, and while they aren't getting near the top of the A.L. West it's certainly good to see, small steps baby!
Here are a few takeaways from the four games with the Diamondbacks.
George Springer really likes batting first
After the Astros win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, I told George Springer the stats say he likes batting leadoff, then I asked him if there is there a reason for it? Without having the exact quote he pretty much said, now it's his job to get on base for Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa.
This season Springer is batting .409 leading off and .260 batting second. It may just be a hot streak but for whatever reason he's proven over the past two years leading off batting .297 that it suits him.
Springer batting lead off is a big reason the Astros are doing so well of late. His offense is finally starting to catch up to his amazing defensive game.
Time for a new closer
During the four-game series, Luke Gregerson only blew one game and the Astros still ended up winning the game. The series isn't alone a reason to call it quits on the Gregerson project, but it's time to seriously start thinking of a plan B.
The Astros have a couple of good relievers in the bullpen. Will Harris has been the Astros most solid relief pitcher since last season and it's unlikely they would move him away from his seventh/eighth inning role. But there are still four other guys you can give the ball too and it not be completely crazy.
1) Scott Feldman has done pretty well coming out of the bullpen, even found some extra speed on his fastball. If you must require a veteran to close games Feldman would fill that role.
2) Ken Giles was brought to Houston to be the closer, he's not perfect but is now the time to give him a shot?
3) Chris Devenski seems to profile more as a starter but they keep using him in the bullpen, he's very effective, why not give him a shot?
4) Michael Feliz has got the nastiest stuff on the team and while they are using him in bigger roles little by little he's still not in the prime seventh/eighth/ninth inning roles.
Finally two catchers
Evan Gattis since getting a shot at catching has done a great job behind the backstop. You know what you are getting in offense from Gattis, a .240-.250 batting average with 15-20 homers.
Jason Castros has also done a bang-up job on the offensive end in the month of May with an on-base percentage over .400 and a batting average .268 (148 points higher than April).
For so long, the Astros have had Castro and insert random name of a backup catcher. None have really been very exciting offensive options. Now with Castro seemingly retapping back into his 2013 form and Gattis showing he can catch, the Astros could have a really interesting one-two punch.
Would you rather have Max Stassi or Erik Kratz over Gattis? Ok, so that's not much of choice but feel free to tell me what backup catcher is better than Gattis, not sure you are going to find many.
The Astros are playing much better, and while they aren't getting near the top of the A.L. West it's certainly good to see, small steps baby!
Here are a few takeaways from the four games with the Diamondbacks.
George Springer really likes batting first
After the Astros win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, I told George Springer the stats say he likes batting leadoff, then I asked him if there is there a reason for it? Without having the exact quote he pretty much said, now it's his job to get on base for Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa.
This season Springer is batting .409 leading off and .260 batting second. It may just be a hot streak but for whatever reason he's proven over the past two years leading off batting .297 that it suits him.
Springer batting lead off is a big reason the Astros are doing so well of late. His offense is finally starting to catch up to his amazing defensive game.
Time for a new closer
During the four-game series, Luke Gregerson only blew one game and the Astros still ended up winning the game. The series isn't alone a reason to call it quits on the Gregerson project, but it's time to seriously start thinking of a plan B.
The Astros have a couple of good relievers in the bullpen. Will Harris has been the Astros most solid relief pitcher since last season and it's unlikely they would move him away from his seventh/eighth inning role. But there are still four other guys you can give the ball too and it not be completely crazy.
1) Scott Feldman has done pretty well coming out of the bullpen, even found some extra speed on his fastball. If you must require a veteran to close games Feldman would fill that role.
2) Ken Giles was brought to Houston to be the closer, he's not perfect but is now the time to give him a shot?
3) Chris Devenski seems to profile more as a starter but they keep using him in the bullpen, he's very effective, why not give him a shot?
4) Michael Feliz has got the nastiest stuff on the team and while they are using him in bigger roles little by little he's still not in the prime seventh/eighth/ninth inning roles.
Finally two catchers
Evan Gattis since getting a shot at catching has done a great job behind the backstop. You know what you are getting in offense from Gattis, a .240-.250 batting average with 15-20 homers.
Jason Castros has also done a bang-up job on the offensive end in the month of May with an on-base percentage over .400 and a batting average .268 (148 points higher than April).
For so long, the Astros have had Castro and insert random name of a backup catcher. None have really been very exciting offensive options. Now with Castro seemingly retapping back into his 2013 form and Gattis showing he can catch, the Astros could have a really interesting one-two punch.
Would you rather have Max Stassi or Erik Kratz over Gattis? Ok, so that's not much of choice but feel free to tell me what backup catcher is better than Gattis, not sure you are going to find many.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Evan Gattis is balling behind the dish
Well if you worried about Evan Gattis's knee's from catching don't. The Astros might end up using him in three straight games, and in three straight days. Quite a long journey for a guy who took a year off from catching - not exactly his idea - and DH'd all of last season.
"He's done a tremendous at preparing, he really cares back there, he tries to get the absolute most out of every pitcher he catches," A.J. Hinch said of Gattis behind the plate, "it means a lot to the pitching staff, he's back there blocking, he's back there sweating like crazy trying to squeeze every ounce out of his pitcher, and everybody can feel that, so I love the fact that he's bouncing back."
In the five games, he's been able to catch this year his catcher's ERA is 3.06 and his career catcher's ERA of 3.20 (MLB average is 3.87).
Wednesday night, Gattis was able to nail two runners who tried to steal a bag off of him, Jean Segura (a speedy guy) and Yasmany Tomas (who probably shouldn't be trying to steal bags). Mike Fiers did have two wild pitches and one looked like Gattis probably should have been able to get it. The only run Fiers allowed came off from a wild pitch.
"He's very smart behind there, he knows these hitters, he studies them, he does a lot of work of the field where he's in the video room looking at these guys, and it shows out there," Mike Fiers said of having Gattis behind the plate for him for the first time, "I didn't really have to shake him off too much, it was spots here and there but he's great at blocking the ball, throwing the ball, just doing everything a catcher suppose to do."
Gattis over the past few games has done a great job behind the plate. He's blocked lots of pitches in the dirt, he's pulled a few for strikes and by all accounts he calls a pretty good game.
In five games behind the plate, Gattis has snagged four batters (small sample size I know), but it's more than Jason Castro has thrown out in 43 games. Maybe teams are trying to run on Gattis to check out his arm but for whatever the reason, he's showing teams that it's not very wise to try and run on him.
You might not want to overuse Gattis, but right now he's a pretty great dual threat behind the plate. Gattis career offensive WAR is
Cliff Johnson holds the title for the highest offensive WAR (55.7) for a catcher in Astros history - if you can guess when he played for the team, bonus points for you - but Gattis manning the backstop could eventually make him the best ever for the team.
"He's done a tremendous at preparing, he really cares back there, he tries to get the absolute most out of every pitcher he catches," A.J. Hinch said of Gattis behind the plate, "it means a lot to the pitching staff, he's back there blocking, he's back there sweating like crazy trying to squeeze every ounce out of his pitcher, and everybody can feel that, so I love the fact that he's bouncing back."
In the five games, he's been able to catch this year his catcher's ERA is 3.06 and his career catcher's ERA of 3.20 (MLB average is 3.87).
Wednesday night, Gattis was able to nail two runners who tried to steal a bag off of him, Jean Segura (a speedy guy) and Yasmany Tomas (who probably shouldn't be trying to steal bags). Mike Fiers did have two wild pitches and one looked like Gattis probably should have been able to get it. The only run Fiers allowed came off from a wild pitch.
"He's very smart behind there, he knows these hitters, he studies them, he does a lot of work of the field where he's in the video room looking at these guys, and it shows out there," Mike Fiers said of having Gattis behind the plate for him for the first time, "I didn't really have to shake him off too much, it was spots here and there but he's great at blocking the ball, throwing the ball, just doing everything a catcher suppose to do."
Gattis over the past few games has done a great job behind the plate. He's blocked lots of pitches in the dirt, he's pulled a few for strikes and by all accounts he calls a pretty good game.
In five games behind the plate, Gattis has snagged four batters (small sample size I know), but it's more than Jason Castro has thrown out in 43 games. Maybe teams are trying to run on Gattis to check out his arm but for whatever the reason, he's showing teams that it's not very wise to try and run on him.
Castro has done a good job late batting .268 to go with an on-base percentage of over .400 in the month of May. While that's so much better for him than how he started the season and how last year went. If Gattis catching game can stay trending upwards, we all know he can hit and hit for power, he might need to start playing more.Gattis with a 1.95 pop time. 85.5 MPH arm strength on the throw. https://t.co/wlufKa0xRU— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 29, 2016
You might not want to overuse Gattis, but right now he's a pretty great dual threat behind the plate. Gattis career offensive WAR is
Cliff Johnson holds the title for the highest offensive WAR (55.7) for a catcher in Astros history - if you can guess when he played for the team, bonus points for you - but Gattis manning the backstop could eventually make him the best ever for the team.
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