The Houston Astros of the American League West

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A6vHumGCMAAC24T.jpg

for some reason the idea of this team having to go out and find a DH is hilarious to me.

Brian McTaggart ‏@brianmctaggart
Luhnow says Berkman has great history in Houston and if it's a fit won't be hesitant to pursue it. Views him as offensive weapon.

this thread is bullshit where is lAUrEl ANNE dOWNS?

sKRIT oTM

MLB ‏@MLB
#Astros name 27-year-old Harvard graduate David Stearns as their new assistant GM.

this is pretty weird

is the 2013 schedule out yet? want to see how it works

Hey Bill! My 15-year-old son asked me yesterday: If the Houston Astros played 162 games against the 2012 American League All-Star team, how many games would they win? I put the over/under at 20. What do you think?
Asked by: mikeclaw

Answered: 11/16/2012
Well, you probably have as good a chance of getting that one right as I do, but my guess is 30. Let's assume that an American League All-Star team would be a .700 team. A .700 team against a .340 team, the .700 team would win 82% of the time, which would leave 29.5 wins. In order to drive the expectation down to 20 wins, we'd have to assume that the American League All-Star team was a .784 team (127-35). Which is entirely possible.

intriguing

The net result—the 2013 Astros will be playing against tougher competition in the AL West (and against the AL in general), and they should be a somewhat inferior team to the one that won 55 games in 2012. Combine that likelihood with the unbalanced schedule against two playoff teams—Texas and Oakland—and a playoff contender, the Angels, and the prospects for the 2013 Astros is bearish. If they 110 to 115 games, they will sprinkle their losses around the AL Central and AL East, but they will deliver them in bulk to the AL West. They will play 72 games against the A’s, Rangers, Angels and Mariners—18 against each. The net result could be 4 or 6 additional wins each for the four AL West teams, based on the difference between playing the Astros versus a broad mix of AL teams. These additional wins could deliver three teams from the AL West into the playoffs.

Houston’s transition to the AL has serious implications for the AL East. With the win totals for the top three AL West teams likely to rise, the AL East may be sending only the division winner to the postseason. Historically, two AL East teams would be among the four AL clubs in the playoffs. With last year’s expanded wild card, AL East teams had visions of three clubs making the postseason. That seems far less likely today because Houston will give more gifts to the AL West. The offseason has a long way to go, but by April, we may be picking the A’s, Angels and Rangers as playoff favorites, while cautioning the AL East that winning the division may be the only path to October.

http://vincegennaro.mlblogs.com/2012/12/12/the-houston-astros-will-change-everything-in-the-al/

they should be a somewhat inferior team to the one that won 55 games in 2012
they should be a somewhat inferior team to the one that won 55 games in 2012
they should be a somewhat inferior team to the one that won 55 games in 2012

the article above makes the blue jays moves make a lot more sense.

astros made an astros move by trading for dodgers john ely the other day - triple crown winner in the PCL but the definition of a AAAA player.. I wish him well.

the article above makes the blue jays moves make a lot more sense.

i'm not sure i follow

if a playoff spot is down to just one team in the AL East it helps being the best team (at least on paper)

Ah, yes yes. dumb question i guess (currently drinking at work)

carry on. youre doing gods work.

Astros' AL debut vs Rangers is the ESPN opener

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/03/rangers-vs-astros-to-kick-off-the-2013-season-in-prime-time

watching that might feel like raucously shouting for blood at the colosseum

ha, from that article: "As usual, the Red Sox and Yankees are totally getting shafted by not being broadcast in prime time. Man."

THE YANKEES AND RED SOX ARE IN EVERY NATIONALLY BROADCAST GAME EVER

The Bad News Bears in Switching Leagues xp

Writer is having a li'l fun there, dawg.

didn't know that El Presidente was their bullpen coach.

omg a 3-1/3 inning save! What year is it?

and...bedard will still take his turn in the rotation.

of course he'll probably tear his labrum, but i really do think the astros are not going to be as awful as people think they're going to be.

struck out 43x in 3 games vs TEX

brETT wALLACE iS 1/14 wITH 11 sTrIKEOUTS

'stros bust out for 16 runs, everyone in the lineup gets a hit except brett wallace 0-4, 4ks

1/21 17ks O_O

a 2-game winning streak, and only 9 Ks tonight.

oUcH

eRiK BeDaRD pitching for HOusTOn	HOU	OAK
C Crisp walked.	0	0
D Norris walked, C Crisp to second.	0	0
C Young walked, C Crisp to third, D Norris to second.	0	0
J Lowrie struck out looking.	0	0
C Crisp scored, D Norris to third, C Young to second on wild pitch by E Bedard.	0	1
J Donaldson walked.	0	1
B Moss singled to right, D Norris and C Young scored, J Donaldson to third.	0	3
N Freiman homered to left, J Donaldson and B Moss scored.	0	6
P Clemens relieved E Bedard.	0	6
M Taylor flied out to center.	0	6

These guys aren't very good

Unreal is that two games in a row where the SP didn't make it out of inning 1? or I guess 2 out of 3? Vicious... this team makes my heart hurt.

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
P Humber 0.1 8 8 8 1 0 1 30-18 6.63
D Keuchel 1.1 5 6 3 2 1 0 52-30 3.86
Totals 1.2 13 14 11 3 1 1 82-48

i don't know how anyone could pick any team other than Houston for the worst in the AL (perhaps all of baseball ever).
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, March 28, 2013 12:18 PM (3 weeks ago)

and into the 13th they go in a quest for win # 9

(I really don't think they're as bad as that Tiger team that lost 118 or whatever)

At least they're middle of the pack in runs scored? That's a thing, right?

All they have to do is not lose 19 runs a game and that might translate to ASTROS SUCCESS

2003 Tigers through 40: 9-31, -79 DIFF
2013 Astros through 40: 10-30, -90 DIFF

http://www.bestsportsphotos.com/images/PF/05PenaCarlos02.jpg

http://www.posters.ws/images/842591/carlos_pena_2004_studio_plus_photofile.jpg

smdh

Paredes does not like second basemen.

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/5/17/4342322/jimmy-paredes-houston-astros-collisions-right-field

So if they continue at this pace and finish with -360 DIFF, would that be some kind of record?

Some Historically Bad Team! They're already just ten wins short of the '62 Mets.

Worst run differentials via Yahoo Answers:

For a season:
1899 Cleveland Spiders 529 runs scored, 1252 runs allowed (-723)

Since 1900:
1932 Red Sox, 566 runs scored, 915 runs allowed (-349)

Recently:
2003 Tigers, 591 runs scored, 928 runs allowed (-337)

(Mets were -331)

alright alright. i might be wrong on this one, so sue me.

I guess what they really needed is to get out of the NL since that's where all the good teams are.

Really nice MLB debut by Jarred Cosart today.

What is an Oberholtzer?

it is bavarian dialect for 'former brave'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFeBp1PDKyg

fwiw the astros' top six farm teams all made their league playoffs, and their system overall had a .569 regular season winning pct (second-best behind the giants)

doesn't necessarily mean anything, especially at the higher levels, but it doesn't hurt either

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/9/17/4740812/astros-tv-record-houston-csn-angels

The Nielsen rating -- 0.04 -- represents an average of roughly 915 households or about 1,000 viewers, which is 567 times fewer viewers than tuned in for the Texans-Titans game the next day.

That's very much like an old Bob & Ray radio bit... "And among women 18-35, your rating was... zero."

anyway:

MIA 55-95 _
HOU 51-99 4

Houston has 4 ties?!

hockeyhead :)

;p

an average of roughly 915 households or about 1,000 viewers

damn, Houstonians not reproducing much these days.

houston the world capitol of sad men watching baseball alone in their underwear iirc

they all worked for Enron.

Chance to play spoiler here vs Reds!

...and down 4-0 already

12 straight losses

Alyson Footer @alysonfooter
According to superfan @DeLongTweets, tonight's game is record for highest attendance after 100th loss. Previous: 26,209 vs Rockies 9/24/11.

because yankees

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Hannes_Arch_Kirchheim_3.jpg/450px-Hannes_Arch_Kirchheim_3.jpg

btw I don't think we ever linked this: "most profitable ever" is bullshit.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2013/08/29/erroneous-story-claiming-houston-astros-most-profitable-ever-a-massive-strikeout/

What is the record for length of losing streak to end the season?

Fantastic:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/41008/the-year-in-happy-astros-quotes

Favorite post-loss quote:

@brianmctaggart
Porter on base running gaffes: "I'm done with conversations."

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BhaG-ZaCEAERJaU.jpg

he looks like gerald laird once he finally gets to let himself go

Brooms out for the Yankees.

BP Hit List:

The Astros have given up 25 runs, tied for fourth-least in baseball which is pretty good wait that’s just their bullpen never mind.

Ben Lindbergh:

The Astros have a collective .189/.264/.349 slash line in 541 plate appearances, “good” for a .222 TAv (14 points worse than the Royals, who rank 29th). Of the 134 hitters who made at least 500 plate appearances last season, only Alcides Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, and Darwin Barney hit worse than the 2014 Astros have as a team.

Somehow missed this a couple months ago:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/big-league-stew/bo-porter-chews-astros-players-disrespecting-roger-clemens-021825761--mlb.html

“Obviously, as an organization we’re fortunate to have some people like Roger Clemens and Craig Biggio and different people that will come in here over the course of the year and speak to our ballclub,” Porter said. “Even that being said, we have the 9 o’clock meeting when it comes to the synergistic chemistry lab.

“Out of respect to your teammates, out of respect to the people that take time out of their day to come out there and try to do everything they can to help this organization, it’s the right thing to do to make sure you’re dressed and ready and attentive when that person shows up or when it’s time for a team meeting.”

Maybe this thread's fill title should be The Rocket-Disrespecting Houston Astros of the American League West Featuring Bo Porter's Synergistic Chemistry Lab

full, not fill

George Springer got called up.

so did ex-met Collin McHugh (W, 1-0) 6.2IP 3H 0ER 12K

oopsy daisy

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/4/30/5670194/damn-it-astros-george-springer-errors-nationals

Has the Astros' long-game strategy made them an OUTCAST?

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Radical-ways-paint-Astros-as-outcast-5501982.php?cmpid=twitter-premium&t=307e02ca9cd87bd7f9

five straight! winning outcasts!

I like the Astros orange road uniforms but they do remind me a bit of the old Giants orange uniforms from the 80s.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/dallas-keuchel-groundball-pitchers-pitching-astros-053014

half a game better than the rays

BANDWAGON TIME

@JeffPassan
Source: Astros, minor league 1B Jon Singleton agree on historic long-term deal. $10M guaranteed, up to $35M.

also calling him up

kinda wonder if his w33d issues have anything to do with his willingness to take the guaranteed money

singleton!

KEUCHEL 15 GROUNDBALL OUTS

AsTr0s left fielders: .205/.290/.309 with 4 HR (17 XBH) in 78 games

JD Martinez, the 26-year-old left fielder they dumped in March: .314/.346/.619 with 8 HR (20 XBH) in 37 games

http://www.si.com/longform/astros/index.html

Cool piece

Oops!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/06/astros-trade-discussion-notes-leaked.html

just came to post the Deadspin summary.

7/25/2013

[Pirates GM Neil Huntington] said he would not include Polanco in any Norris deal. [Luhnow] asked for Glasnow + Heredia or Glasnow + Kingham and NH said no. NH said he was willing to add to Heredia. NH said he would also consider adding to Heredia with pick 73. JL said that Glasnow had to be the headliner and we were looking for

2/27/2014

[Luhnow] asked [Paul DePodesta] if they woudl consider Davis for Harrell + Sogard. PD said they value Davis higher for that. He said it appears they may value Davis higher than the market does, so they are comfortable hanging on to him.

this is so fun

a fantasy league w/ real money, eh

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/6/30/5858484/6-things-we-learned-from-the-hacked-astros-database

Kike (pronounced Key-Kay) Hernandez just got called up by the Astros, and already has a homer.

BP: "Jose Altuve is on pace to steal over 60 bases with more than 200 hits and fewer than 80 runs."

top pick has elbow issue: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24610130/elbow-ligament-issue-for-no-1-pick-aiken-delays-signing-by-astros

can't be *that* serious, or the astros wouldn't still be willing to sign him for $5m

best record in the state

so aiken only had a small ucl? Really??

who knows

pretty odd that they would still offer him $5m and then blow up their draft/look like assholes over the extra $1.5m (which was still well below slot)

Altuve second in league to Trout in bWAR

well, I could've gone to the SABR convention in Houston this week after all (if I liked steam heat), but I'm sure there'll be a few interesting questions asked of Astro execs on the panels.

I guess astros players shit their pants when stros brass let mark appell throw a bullpen at enron field

rip bo porter

Lol porter

Seems like he was pissed the gm cares more about the minors than the big club

rosenthal, prescient: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/tension-growing-between-astros-manager-gm-082914

AJ Hinch!

now w/ chicken & mashed potatoes waffle cone

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBG2NgEUYAA9jqo.png

@brianmctaggart
Astros rotation: Keuchel, Feldman, Wojciechowski, McHugh and Hernandez

not quite there yet

well good work for me picking L Valbuena as my Hacking Mass 3b

1st place

Chris Carter: .169/.280/.268
George Springer: .198/.302/.370
Evan Gattis: .174/.208/.304

14-7 record, naturally

how close are they?

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/houston-astros-jose-altuve-jed-lowrie-jake-marisnick-george-springer-first-place-050115

Best AL record

@Buster_ESPN
HOU leads AL West by 7 games. Last team in any division with a lead that big on May 3 was the 116-win '01 Mariners, who had a 9-game lead.

The team's ace -- the MLB leader in ERA and WHIP -- dominated the intrastate rival in front of a 42%-full park last night.

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Houston-Astros-fire-Bo-Porter.jpg

The MLB network mini doc on Altuve was pretty cool.. would like to see more of this stuff.

Bullpen: 0.80 WHIP, 10 K/9

Luis Valbuena has 10 home runs (and 16 RBI).

So much for the synergistic chemistry lab.

George Springer and the Houston Astros grabbed a win against the Oakland A's on Tuesday night, but instead of hitting the town to celebrate, the players decided to bring the party to their clubhouse.

Springer explained after the game that the players have created "Club Astros" for their postgame celebrations, complete with a fog machine, disco ball and laser light show.

When reporters pointed out to the 25-year-old outfielder that the club was reminiscent of the disco days of the 1970's, Springer hilariously responded, "Well, it's 2015 and we are killing it, so we might as well have some fun."

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2015/05/20/astros-george-springer-clubhouse-nightclub

looking back on last year's front office "hit piece"

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/houston-astros-management-issues-complaints-problems-nitpicking-052715

Tal's Hill to be leveled

http://brianmctaggart.mlblogs.com/2015/06/04/astros-plan-to-remove-tals-hill-for-2016/

Boo

correa, velasquez called up

Velasquez 4 scoreless so far, even with walks and shaky command (73 pitches)

looking to permanently displace fka fAUSTO cArMONA

not a great play by the rockies LF, but george springer is pretty fuckin fast

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/73955164/v170522983/colhou-statcast-tracks-springer-as-he-races-home

@jjcoop36
By bWAR: Astros lead the league in SS WAR (1.2). Carlos Correa has 1.0 of that 1.2....in 8 games.

btw Valbuena has 16 HR with a .184 BA

has anyone ever hit 30 driving on the interstate?

They have a prospect named "Brock Dykxhoorn."

never noticed what a wack delivery Pat Neshek has.

Preston M. Tucker (Bamm-Bamm) impresses me every time I see him (other than vs lefties but that's understandable)

Gina Luhnow
@ginahagopian
I may have been born and raised in LA but it sure feel awesome to sweep the shit out of the Angels!

I'm a little slow--just cluing into Correa the past couple of days (James mentioned him yesterday in a post on "The Best Young Player in Baseball"--which is not about Correa, but rather a system for identifying who it is at any given time).

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/141483402/dyk-facts-from-carlos-correas-1st-50-games

keuchel @ Home 16 GS (13-0) 1.49ERA 114.2IP 79H 19ER 123Ks

"This is the biggest series in the history of Texas baseball. I hope it beats out Cowboys practice in the local news coverage."

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/09/14/the-rangers-and-astros-are-poised-for-a-big-series/

i recommend the 'stros hit it to Napoli in LOLF

haha HAMELS YOU PREPPY ASSCANCER

cant bleeve u guys arent into this Texas fold-em series

ive watched some, there are def a lot of interesting components involved

I'm watching rn it's a good one

well didnt see that sweep coming

HOU still has series at home vs LAA and TEX, finish in Seattle and Arizona, so they control their destiny.

Period when I liked Lance Berkman: 1999-2015. Fuck you, asshole.

http://www.outsports.com/2015/9/25/9398997/lance-berkman-houston-equal-rights-hero

seriously. sometimes forget that right-wing asshole is default for most pro athletes.

so Keuchel goes tonight, then on 3 days' rest vs Yankees if they hang on to the WC

yet hinch still had to leave him in to get to 99 pitches with a 10-2 lead

nuts

Goldy may have just won this for AZ, but outcome is meaningless as long as Yankees lose, right?

ok, i've got it straight now -- HOU needs to win to host the game

200 hits for Altuve

tying runs on in 9th w/ no outs

alas, Springer GIDP, Correa groundout

the astros' playoff run means tal's hill will survive for (at least) one more season

it's getting late early out there

so holy shit future hall of famer jose altuve

both him and correa are one triple away of the cycle rn

oh stop that

life can't be all xFIP and wrc Morbs!

future hall of famer jose altuve has NINE home runs on may 5

he is also walking 2x his career rate

goat

McCullers back tonight, tough return to be @ bos

temporarily going to 6-man rotation accd'g 2 hinch

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjUfd6YWgAMxRef.jpg

springer hits a linedrive p much every ab

@brianmctaggart
Despite winning 17 of last 25 games, Astros have lost 1 1/2 games to the Rangers in the AL West.

@brianmctaggart
Jose Altuve’s last 23 road games: .500/.528/.714 (1.243 OPS) with three homers, 18 RBIs, 7 SBs.

2 HR IN 2 ABs FOR THE TUVESTER PUT HIM IN ALREADY

Down six in the fifth, George ".429 Stolen Base Percentage" Springer attempted to steal second and...was thrown out.

Probably not as notable as the team being swept out of Detroit and losing last night's game despite having the opponent down to the last out, with none on base, down two, but...

alex bregman is 1/32, his only hit was vs mike pelfrey

bregman (.053) batting 2nd ahead of altuve (.357) hitting 3rd

been in the bigs ten days? whatever

these 1980 vintage unis, ow my eyes

Devenski?

carlos gomez dfa'd!

Altuve's hitting .432 on the road. I can't find any corroboration online, but the Jays broadcast flashed a graphic yesterday listing that as the second-highest seasonal figure ever, behind only Harry Heilmann in 1925 (.456).

(When I checked Heilmann's splits to locate the right season, noticed this: in 1923, the year he hit .403, he was .400 at home and .404 on the road.)

3 hits from 1000

About to fall 6 behind in WC, so lookin' pretty done. What's their winter priority, or are they just counting on a year of maturation?

Noticed that Altuve's very close right now to Morgan's number of AB in '76 (his greatest offensive season).

Altuve: 480 AB, 35 doubles, 4 triples, 20 HR, 88 runs, 80 RBI, 26/33 SB, 50 BB, .365/.427/.579

Morgan: 472 AB, 30 doubles, 5 triples, 27 HR, 113 runs, 111 RBI, 60/69 SB, 114 BB, .320/.444/.576

Lots of adjustments needed, obvious advantage to Morgan, but just in terms of raw numbers, Altuve compares fairly well. OPS+: Altuve 174, Morgan 186.

gurriel up

I knew devenski was a weapon but wow @ 25/1 k/bb ratio rn

13 games up

now 30 games over .500 (57-27) & 16 games up in the standings

for reference, seattle in 2001 was 61-22 on the morning of july 5 and had a 20 game lead in the division (biggest division lead all year was the day before, up 21 games in the standings)

id put over/under at 105 wins

Down to see the Astros tonight. They lost, but I was amazed at the depth of their lineup. One starter had 8 HR, and Reddick came off the bench with 9; six other starters have between 10-15 HR, Correa has 17, and Springer has 25. They're right on track to finish the year with 10 players hitting between 15 to 40 or 45 home runs. Even including the steroid era, has that ever happened before? So it's not just that they project to hit 259 as a team, which'd be just shy of the 1997 Mariners' 264, it's how evenly they're distributed through the lineup.

1997 Mariners and 2000 Astros, to name two, had nine guys w/ 10 or more HR, wasn't able to find anything more specific. If someone has the BR Play Index it should be easy to find.

05 Rangers, 09 Yankees & 10 Blue Jays also had 9 players with 10+ but I could find any teams with 10x 10+ HRs.

As I mentioned, they have a legitimate shot to have 10 x 15+. Bregman sits 10th on the team, and he projects to 15 for the season. (And Evan Gattis isn't even included in the 10.)

five HRs in a 19-1 win

I think you can start looking at Altuve/Correa historically, at least single-season. These are the best post-war double-play combinations I can find, measured by WAR (and with the help of a couple of pieces linked to below--I also checked a few that weren't on either list, but I could easily have overlooked somebody). The bracketed number at the end is combined age.

1. Robinson/Reese – 16.6 (1949) (60)
2. Morgan/Concepcion – 14.9 (1975) (58)
3. Utley/Rollins – 13.9 (2007) (56)
4. Andrews/Petrocelli – 13.8 (1969) (51)
5. Alomar/Vizquel – 13.4 (1999) (63)
6. Whitaker/Trammel – 12.7 (1983) (51)
7. Herr/Smith – 12.0 (1985) (59)
8. Kent/Aurilia – 11.9 (2001) (62)

At least two of those are a little bogus: Petrocelli's and Aurilia's seasons were way out of the norm for them (and Andrews wasn't anything special). Petrocelli/Andrews and Morgan/Concepcion were mostly one-man shows. Robinson and Reese had two or three other seasons that would make the list, but that was their best.

Going into today, through 88 games, Altuve and Correa had a combine WAR of 9.0 (perfectly split between the two), which would project to 16.6 for the season--both had huge days today, too. If nothing else, they're the best young DP combination since the war: their combined age is 49, lower than anybody on the list.

Used these as a general guide:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/159424-the-top-10-double-play-combos-in-mlb-history
http://ca.complex.com/sports/2014/04/the-greatest-double-play-duos-in-mlb-history/

71 runs in their last 7 games, jeeez

What 62-30 teams do in their spare time.

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2017/07/17/242669496/carlos-beltrans-teammates-held-a-funeral-for-his-glove

I think you can start looking at Altuve/Correa historically, at least single-season

alas, Correa injury will sink the numbers

I guess Altuve will be the first guy I check every morning now. He's going to hit .650 the rest of the year and make a run at .400.

http://m.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Rays-Declaration-of-Unfriendliness-Astros-Orbit-11721828.php#photo-12945357

Altuve's historic July

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jose-altuves-historic-july-and-his-mvp-momentum/

jOSE aLTUVE

― tupac, bach (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, July 20, 2011 2:25 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHix5xCV0AAk6Tw.jpg:small

I was looking at AL team stats and saw that Houston's *team* OPS+ is 131. This *has* to be historical ... the 1927 Yankees' OPS+ was "only" 127.

That Indians team that scored a thousand runs ('99) was only 111...that seems weird. '76 Reds were 120, '53 Dodgers (who scored 955 runs, almost 200 more than the next team) were 114.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20488740/houston-astros-play-texas-rangers-series-tropicana-field-wake-harvey-flooding

supposedly the rangers refused to swap home series (the two teams are scheduled to play in arlington 9/25-27), which is pretty lame

We will be back at Minute Maid Park on Saturday with a doubleheader #ForHouston. pic.twitter.com/wKbfx64g5w

— #AstrosHarvey (@astros) August 30, 2017

One of the Mets' Saturday pitchers will be... Harvey

Verlander needs October. He is a Hall of Fame-bound pitcher. Rather than become inhibited or intimidated or diminished by a Hollywood moment, he thrives on it, brushing aside noise and tumult and historical realities to throw a baseball with fury and grace.

This is what the Astros got Thursday night. They found a tribal chief for their pitching staff. They brought to Houston a right-handed craftsman who can yet throw a fastball at 97 mph, with an equally devastating curve, as well as a change-up, not to mention two — two — different sliders that make him a five-pitch maestro.

The Astros will love him, all because the man possesses two exceedingly rare traits. He has championship pitches and a competitive demeanor to match.

Those of us who have watched him pitch this season have been awed, even by past Verlander standards. Not even four and five years ago, when he could hit 100-mph with his fastball and leave hitters to ponder a job-training course at their local community college, was Verlander more imposing than he has been in 2017.

It has to do with his skill set and with the savvy an athletically intellectual man has marshaled in this, his 13th big-league season.

There was a sense Wednesday at Colorado, as he spun more gold against the Rockies, that this was it for Verlander and the Tigers. That this had to be his finale. It made no sense — not even in professional sports, where rational thought often can be at a premium — that Verlander was not being chased by a team aware of what he would deliver now and in October.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/columnists/lynn-henning/2017/09/01/henning-verlander-deal-makes-sense-all-parties/105179472/

as a red sox fan this move is incredibly dispiriting

Altuve's still hitting over .400 on the road--no shot at the record, but every other name on the list is a long-gone immortal.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/252486232/mlb-players-could-set-records-in-september/

Overshadowed by Kluber last night, but Verlander was just as awesome: 8 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 9 K, no runs, game score of 88 (Kluber's was 85).

I was looking at AL team stats and saw that Houston's *team* OPS+ is 131. This *has* to be historical ... the 1927 Yankees' OPS+ was "only" 127.

Well, they've fallen to 126.

One hit again (7.0 IP) for Verlander tonight; he's given up 11 in 28 innings since the trade.

Kosch
Astros have 63 hits the last 4 games...Can you do a post on the historicness (I made that word up) of their current wRC+ of 122?

Jeff Sullivan
Firstly, here's a post from July https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-astros-lineup-has-been-something-historic/

So the gap between the Astros and the next-best team -- after eliminating pitchers -- is 10 points. That's one of the larger gaps ever

By z-scores, the Astros are 2.8 standard deviations better than the mean

Only better lineup: the 1976 Reds, at +2.9 standard deviations

If the Astros can somehow lift their team wRC+ to 124 over the weekend, then they'd be the best ever, by this measure

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DMRmEH4W0AAM4Ld.jpg

from sports illustrated, 1966

i mean, you've read The Boys of Summer, right? A lot of strange stuff got said on the field, in the locker room and the press box, even after integration.

oh, i don't at all doubt that stuff was (and still is) said. more struck by the blithe reporting of it

AL MVP Jose Altuve nearing 5-year, 50-million extension (beginning 2020) with the Astroshttps://t.co/vY88Sx6c8u

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 16, 2018

boras client signing an early extension = brave new world

Altuve and Correa are off to some kind of start.

are the Astros the only team w/ a perpetual thread?

Love Jeff Bagwell's stories but boy everything is special and the franchise is special and this player is special and that player is special and AJ is special and there is no commentary on the actual game and McCullers has been fantastic.

Let's check in with our old buddy Ken Giles! pic.twitter.com/wNWDNmIZE3

— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) May 2, 2018

lollll

Astros are already running six games behind their Pythagorean record: 34-11 on paper, 28-17 when they actually play the games. They've outscored their opponents 210-116, almost 2-1. They've only lost once by more than four runs; they've won 13 times by 4+, including wins of 10-0, 10-1, 11-0, 8-0, and 16-2. Yankees and Red Sox, meanwhile, are both a game or two better than their Pythagorean records.

James
Justin Verlander

Jeff Sullivan
Fun fact, building off of that:
Last year the Indians set the all-time record with 31.7 pitching WAR
This year the Astros are on pace for 37.8
They're on pace to beat the record by 19%
lol

Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole are just on fire. Got to hope they don't peak early this year or catch the injury bug.

That Verlander/Cole combo has been vv unfair to other teams. Morton has been great. And Keuchel hasn’t been at Cy Young level but he’s been extremely good.

http://www.mlb.com/news/astros-rotation-could-rank-among-best-ever/c-277542622

Putting aside how laughably premature this is, you judge greatest-evers not by one season but a cluster of seasons. The Astros have one guy headed for the HOF, another guy who's won a Cy Young, and a Few Starters Having Good Seasons. You can't compare that to the core of the '90s Braves teams, the Orioles at the beginning of the '70s, the Indians of the early '50s, etc.

Throw in the Mets and A's of the early '70s, and also the Phillies for a couple of years after they brought Halladay over.

well if the boundaries of the conversation is which pitching staff was most dominant over the course of one season...

yes, and you're very seldom going to see a staff together as long as Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz cuz, uh, everything's different.

Even when looking at a single season, I'm still inclined to take a step back and look at the pitchers you're talking about. Maybe one day we'll view Cole and McCullers as career stars, but they're far from that now; Morton's a journeyman. That Phillies staff only peaked for one year, but you had Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt all together in the same place.

Morton and Cole had good moments with the Pirates but they were also pretty inconsistent. This is way beyond what they did there. No way they can keep this up, but still that is a heck of a start and adding in Morton's playoff heroics on top, quite impressive.

As for Verlander, I think people are overplaying how good he is right now. Power pitchers seem to have a bit of bounce back later in their careers, many pitchers had them. I think part of it is that they re-gain their control which brings back the Ks and cuts down on the walks.

Verlander looked cooked 2-3 years ago.

looks like he's rebounded for real. his velocity has gotten back to where it used to be basically. that usually helps

The Astros have allowed 126 runs through 50 games, which are the fewest in the Major Leagues since 1920 (live ball era). The previous record of 128 was set by the Indians in 1968.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 23, 2018

Kevin:
Are the Astros lack of luck unprecedented? Don’t think I’ve seen a team 7 games worse than their pythag this early in the season before.

Jay Jaffe:
I don’t have any historical data to support or refute that, but their 4-12 record in one-run games and the Mariners’ 18-9 record in same is the big reason why Seattle is a game ahead in the AL West despite a run differential that’s nearly 100 runs smaller (+118 to +21)

um, it's not "luck" when you have a shitty bullpen

huh, I guess their bullpen doesn't suck. retracted

Released 25 years ago today.

lol, wrong thread.

(aside from some sporadic sketchiness from Giles, the Astros bullpen is awesome fwiw... they have 2 legit starters stashed in there in case of emergency).

Keuchel has been poor to outright terrible for the last month+.

Fresno manager Rodney Linares, Fresno hitting coach Darryl Robinson, Buies Creek manager Morgan Ensberg and Corpus Christi developmental coach Mycal Jones aren't being retained by the Astros for 2019.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 18, 2018

these teams all did very well this year and linares in particular seems to be a rising managerial star?

for an organization that's been so successful over the last few years, luhnow seems to can a lot of people -- think he's fired a bunch of scouts as well

your cheatin' Stros

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-astros-were-caught-doing-something/

How Many Kemps

Reddick with the #astros catch of the year pic.twitter.com/fAxRevByLI

— Houston Sports Talk Podcast (@HSTPodcast) May 10, 2019

It's early and this won't last and all of the qualifiers you choose to apply here, however, were one so inclined you could look at the best-ever wRC+ leaderboards and..

129 -- @astros, 2019
126 -- NYY, 1927
124 -- NYY, 1930 & 31
122 -- @astros, 2017
120 -- CIN, 1976 (+3 others)

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) May 10, 2019

How stacked is this Astros team? If the top six Astros weren’t allowed to bat and instead of replacing them with minor leaguers, the team filled in the missing plate appearances with the remaining players’ 2019 lines, the team would project to score roughly 4.5 runs a game after accounting for park factors. With the team’s great pitching (3.53 runs per game allowed), their Pythagorean winning percentage would be .611. The hobbled Astros would have the fifth-best Pythagorean winning percentage in baseball. Want it in BaseRuns? That still works out to a .610 expected winning percentage, fourth-best in baseball.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-astros-are-ludicrous/

it's Yordan Alvarez

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26934612/astros-call-minor-league-hr-leader-alvarez

Houston's offense:

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-have-historically-good-offense-in-2019

Most hitters with at least a 130 OPS+ in 250+ PA
1) 2019 Astros: 7
2-T) 1993 Tigers: 6
2-T) 1987 Tigers: 6
16 teams tied with 5, including 2019 Yankees

(The seven: Altuve, Brantley, Bregman, Gurriel, Springer, Correa, and Alvarez.)

team wRC+ is now 124, tied for second-best ever behind the '27 yankees

(Had no recollection of that '93 Tigers team as being especially noteworthy, and when you look at them, it's somewhat misleading in that they had a bunch of guys just clear the 130+ mark--two guys were at exactly 130+, and their leader was at 138+. The Astros, by contrast, have four guys in the 130-139 range, Springer at 148+, Bregman at 159+, and Alvarez at 174+ in half-a-season.)

Winning 11-0 after three tonight; they've outscored the Mariners and A's 32-1 over 12 innings.

two home runs for this year's AL rookie of the year!

alvarez the second player ever to reach houston’s top deck in right

i’ll buy you a beer if you can guess the first

Albert Pujols off Brad Lidge. I'll take a pilsner please.

that was in left

The only other player to do so prior to Alvarez was former Met Jeromy Burnitz back in 2000.

(yes i cheated)

dang Jeromy Burnitz hit 315 home runs.

i'm trying to imagine where that puts him on the alltime list. In the 60s or 70s?

lol, i should've known: 130th

No guarantee at all that they'll win everything--the best team on paper rarely does--but with that offense + Verlander/Cole/Greinke (Miley would be the #1 starter for more than a few teams), and Osuna (good enough), they look '70 Orioles/'75 Reds/'98 Yankees good right now.

Run diff:

The #Astros have had quite the spike in recent days 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/CCL1gD3IAk

— Daren Willman (@darenw) September 10, 2019

howbout the '54 Indians?

'84 Tigers and '86 Mets, for sure. I don't know...I'm probably contradicting myself, but to be included in this group, winning the Series seems important.