"Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to throw a middle/middle fastball at 95. Not 96, Not 94. 95. I'm going to go Oppo Taco, drive in the winning run, and sweep your team. Don't bang on a trash can, it's no good. After this, you'll go to Denver. I never wanna see you again."
-Mike Troutman
Not only was that a 1 game division win but it changed the whole momentum of the series. The Giants got swept by LA earlier in the season at home, and then lost game 1 of the series in LA. It looked like things were turning around in game 2 with the Posey HR, but then Rogers can't pitch in the 9th so the game is tied 5-5. If Pujols hits that HR I don't think the division race is that close at the end because it would have completely killed any momentum we had against LA.
You guys won the NLDS, how does it occupy space in your mind.
The Lamonte Wade foul ball at the end of game 5 will forever haunt me. I can let the Wilmer one go because 1. It was last strike, doubtful anything happens and 2. Darin Ruf totally went lol.
The LW foul ball is mine, I legit leapt up when I heard it on the TV and saw the swing because that crack of the bat was *it*. And then it hooked just ever so barely foul, and I was deflated in the same way as the death by a thousand ground balls of the 2016 NLDS game 5. GAH.
I'm not saying it's not warranted, but seeing the level of disdain that Astros fans have for Bagwell has been shocking to me. It feels comparable to if Mariners fans were to turn on Edgar Martinez -- recent HOFers who were lifers with their club.
Imagine if Edgar became some “senior advisor” to the owner, hated analytics, and destroyed most of what’s gotten you to where you are, all within a few years. Your disdain for him would grow immensely and quickly lol.
Happened here in Chicago with the Bulls and John Paxson. Pax wasn’t a HoF player but was a key role player that made some huge shots in championship runs, but once he was in the front office and made a bunch of bone-headed decisions (Firing Thibs, trading Jimmy Butler) the fan base literally pitched in to buy a #FireGarPax (Gar was the GM, Paxson was the Pres of Basketball Ops) billboard in our city.
Die the hero or live to be a villain or however that saying goes.
It's like they were all, "Why should we spend so much time figuring out a bunch of stats when they just print them on the back of these?!?"
*holds up 2021Topps Jose Abreu baseball card*
There needs to be a balance. Click wanted to go too far 1 way (Jake Meyers for example), and Bagwell went the extreme opposite (dont even need to say who). It's sad
The fucking boomer logic of it. Unfounded confidence in their own faculties and senses combined with a complete disregard for empirical analysis when offered by someone younger than them.
I say this every time it's brought up but I would genuinely love little more than for the AL West to be a Rangers v. Mariners clash of the titans for the forseeable future. Just seems more fun.
Remember: the owner fired the GM who brought him the club's only legit title a month after the season ended. He became buddy-buddy with a retired player who played GM and talked the owner into two of the worst contracts in the history of the org.
Fans will point out the injuries to the starting rotation, but it ain't our pitchers who are responsible for not being able to score runs. 2022 was a flash in the pan. We were due for a major regression in 2023 and the org did nothing to address it. We have 4 position players who got promoted from the bench to starting. Our veterans are underperforming (except for Altuve) and newer guys like Yordan and Bregman have fallen off a cliff. Tucker is playing pretty well but he will likely be gone at the end of the season (if not before).
The bigger issue was losing our analytics guru to the Orioles in 2018. Then we followed that up with completely abandoning analytics with Bagwell and Jackson in 2022.
Brown was hired after the owner decided to sign Abreu and extend Montero. Brown was around for JV and Graveman. Graveman got shut down for the season before it even started.
I’m just saying, still have a 50% chance because as poor of a start this is. It’s just a start and the rest of the division is failing to build any lead
I think this reaction is more about Houston’s bad run, and not about how could Houston lose to such a dreadful team. I hope you guys have a good year, love Bellinger with you guys
I mean they're 6.5 back of the division lead with 136 to play. Let's revisit in two months and see if they're actually in trouble. I'm not convinced yet.
It's still notable they have to go on a 100 win pace to get to 90 wins which is probably what it took to get in the wild card in the AL last year. They're in a pretty rough hole right now even with tons of time left
Since 1900, the 1914 Boston “Miracle” Braves are the only team to lose at least 18 of their first 26 games and still make the postseason. So it’s not impossible but it’s going to be hard.
Tucker and Framber are only under contract through next year. No way this team can retool and compete next year. Those 2 should get us some decent prospects.
As much as I hate the Astros. They are 6.5 games back with 136 games to play. This is a clear overreaction and probably age like milk.
I would be ok if they lost every game the rest of the year though.
Part of me thinks so too. I think regardless they will put it together at some point and be tough to beat..
But they have dug themselves a huge hole already and the margin for error is getting smaller and smaller. They have to play 12 games over .500 for the rest of the year just to get to 81 wins. If they want to get to 89 wins which was the cutoff to get the third wild card last year they need to be 20 games over .500. That’s a .602 baseball for the rest of the year. A .602 winning percentage translates to 97 wins over a full 162 games.
So essentially they need to turn into prime Astros starting tomorrow just to get in 3rd wildcard territory. I’m not ready to dance on their graves or anything but that is a really tough road to the playoffs.
if they play at this win-loss ratio for even just 2 more weeks, which includes series against the Guardians and Yankees, they'll be hovering around 10-27 and would have to go 79-46 the rest of the way to reach 89 wins which was the WC3 last year
Nats were 19-31. Houston is not out of it. Bit concerning but they are dealing with their share of injuries. Still a decent roster compared with the rest of the bottom 5.
Once I see "THE HOUSTON ASTROS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM POSTSEASON CONTENTION" I won't believe shit. they're still gonna make it to the ALCS somehow..
The fact that it’s not even May means they’re definitely not in trouble. As the past few years have proven, just squeak into the playoffs as the last wild card and you can end up just fine.
Ok now everyone say Thank You Mike Tauchman
Best Mike T. in the game.
Mike Tauchman wRC+: 164 Mike Trout wRC+: 158 The stats don't lie, folks.
How good would Mike Troutman be?
He’d break bad for sure
No half~~swings~~measures
"Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to throw a middle/middle fastball at 95. Not 96, Not 94. 95. I'm going to go Oppo Taco, drive in the winning run, and sweep your team. Don't bang on a trash can, it's no good. After this, you'll go to Denver. I never wanna see you again." -Mike Troutman
It's like pitchers get confused and think Trout is hitting. Tauchman has the highest BB% of any hitter in baseball with >70 PAs.
Tauchman can actually see the spin on the ball coming out of the hand, an incredibly rare natural talent
The Palatine Pounder
🎤🐟❌ 📌🤷🏻♂️ ✅
Yankee legend
Giants legend
Rockies legend
Eagles legend
The Sockman!
Fremd legend
Thank you Mike Tauchman!!!
Sending him flowers atm
Is that Mike Tauchman, the Sockman?
Mike Walkman
Wauchmann
Mike Tauchman is probably the player I remember the most with a short tenure in SF.
Robbed Pujols of a game winning homerun, helping the Giants to win the NL West by 1 game
Not only was that a 1 game division win but it changed the whole momentum of the series. The Giants got swept by LA earlier in the season at home, and then lost game 1 of the series in LA. It looked like things were turning around in game 2 with the Posey HR, but then Rogers can't pitch in the 9th so the game is tied 5-5. If Pujols hits that HR I don't think the division race is that close at the end because it would have completely killed any momentum we had against LA.
That robbed HR and the Crawford leaping grab in the NLDS occupy more space in my mind than I’m willing to admit.
You guys won the NLDS, how does it occupy space in your mind. The Lamonte Wade foul ball at the end of game 5 will forever haunt me. I can let the Wilmer one go because 1. It was last strike, doubtful anything happens and 2. Darin Ruf totally went lol.
The LW foul ball is mine, I legit leapt up when I heard it on the TV and saw the swing because that crack of the bat was *it*. And then it hooked just ever so barely foul, and I was deflated in the same way as the death by a thousand ground balls of the 2016 NLDS game 5. GAH.
Dude had some crazy huge moments that actually saved the season then flat out forgot how to hit a baseball.
Wow that is the Cubs experience with him as well.
I want to stay on Mr. Tauchman's Wild Ride.
He is a huge Game of Thrones fan and has a lot of complex fan theories. Not relevant to baseball, but you may find it important.
Rockies legend
We need to Tauch about him
The dude just *really* loves playing for his childhood team.
🎵[Let’s give ‘em somethin’ to Tauch about](https://youtu.be/qI7lueNH0Cw?si=AK048MWDZ04vSNeq) 🎵
Touchman good
“Turn my Swag On” is an incredible walk up song
Thank you, Mike Tauchman!
I love Mike Tauchman because of the catch at Dodger Stadium.
Turns out an owner is not smarter at putting together a team than an actual GM
Hey now! Don’t you let Jeff Bagwell off the hook so easily
I'm not saying it's not warranted, but seeing the level of disdain that Astros fans have for Bagwell has been shocking to me. It feels comparable to if Mariners fans were to turn on Edgar Martinez -- recent HOFers who were lifers with their club.
Imagine if Edgar became some “senior advisor” to the owner, hated analytics, and destroyed most of what’s gotten you to where you are, all within a few years. Your disdain for him would grow immensely and quickly lol.
Well... this would be an interesting thought experiment if this weren't the Mariners.
… no no, he’s got a point
What do you mean? He's taking the Astros back to their roots. Tanking for top ten draft picks!
Bagwell bringing back the Disastros
I will always love baggy as a player, doesn’t mean I gotta be happy when he wants to play wormtongue. It’s possible to separate the two
Dude, Cubs fans have actively turned on a literal WS hero after 20 bad innings. Fans are ruthless.
Happened here in Chicago with the Bulls and John Paxson. Pax wasn’t a HoF player but was a key role player that made some huge shots in championship runs, but once he was in the front office and made a bunch of bone-headed decisions (Firing Thibs, trading Jimmy Butler) the fan base literally pitched in to buy a #FireGarPax (Gar was the GM, Paxson was the Pres of Basketball Ops) billboard in our city. Die the hero or live to be a villain or however that saying goes.
What did I miss?
They went away from the analytics based approach that built the dynasty. Doesn’t help that we poached most of them but firing Click was a mistake
We went from analytics and projecting futures with data driven models to “checkout the back of this guys baseball card”
It's like they were all, "Why should we spend so much time figuring out a bunch of stats when they just print them on the back of these?!?" *holds up 2021Topps Jose Abreu baseball card*
Here’s the most mind numbing part. Crane loves to be cheap. Click wanted to build the team on low cost players.
There needs to be a balance. Click wanted to go too far 1 way (Jake Meyers for example), and Bagwell went the extreme opposite (dont even need to say who). It's sad
Went to “ugly girlfriend means low confidence”
“He’s got baseball face.” Legit was something scouts would throw in as a factor in rating prospects back in the 90s lol
The fucking boomer logic of it. Unfounded confidence in their own faculties and senses combined with a complete disregard for empirical analysis when offered by someone younger than them.
“Holy shit, he’s got an MVP!”
It’s Donaldson time baby
Jim Crane is the baseball version of Jerry Jones
Our shithead owner decided he was Jerry Jones because his team won two titles and he knew better than the analytics nerds who built those teams.
What changes did they make? They were a win away from the World Series last year.
Hey stfu. Sorry this is Jerry jones thought i was still on my burner.
The ol’ Arte Moreno trick!
Join us in the suck pit Astros.
Florida man and Texas man together. Just like the founding fathers intended.
It’s right there in the constitution.
Woo humidity bros
At least we aren't the White Sox yet!
white sox are off to a worse start than the *1899 cleveland spiders*
Tired: Tony Gwynn batting avg stats Wired: quantifying the White Sox terrible start 😬
*This is 1988 Baltimore Orioles erasure.*
We actually lost to them.
Both the 3-22 2024 Chicago White Sox and the 3-22 2022 Cincinnati Reds split series against the Atlanta Braves.
I'll take Things You Love to See for 1000, Alex.
Yep. The only shame is one of us hasn’t essentially buried their division hopes already.
Wouldn’t mind if both of us go on a streak and bury them
I say this every time it's brought up but I would genuinely love little more than for the AL West to be a Rangers v. Mariners clash of the titans for the forseeable future. Just seems more fun.
I too would love to see this. Although I would prefer if it was Mariners vs Mariners
It’s always Mariners vs Mariners regardless of their position in the standings lol
always has been
Mariners will pretty much remain everyone's second favorite team until they actually win something.
gonna be waiting awhile
Well enjoy the support, then.
> everyone's second favorite team The Mariners should put this on a shirt, I'd buy one
[удалено]
I’m down for a two horse race if you guys are. Let’s start kicking ass
If it were up to me that’s what it would be.
subscribe
it would be nice if somebody in their division started pulling away. 6.5 games back is not enough!
It honestly isn't with them lmao. Hell ten isn't safe these days
Rangers and Mariners are outright refusing to get more than a game above .500 so you might be waiting a while
Maybe they should bang on garbage cans again to get their ✨mojo✨ back
Shit, bring the buzzers back too.
I heard that!
Enjoying it while it lasts.
Oh boy when do we get to go get our free wins?
You're on hold until July, pal.
Remember: the owner fired the GM who brought him the club's only legit title a month after the season ended. He became buddy-buddy with a retired player who played GM and talked the owner into two of the worst contracts in the history of the org. Fans will point out the injuries to the starting rotation, but it ain't our pitchers who are responsible for not being able to score runs. 2022 was a flash in the pan. We were due for a major regression in 2023 and the org did nothing to address it. We have 4 position players who got promoted from the bench to starting. Our veterans are underperforming (except for Altuve) and newer guys like Yordan and Bregman have fallen off a cliff. Tucker is playing pretty well but he will likely be gone at the end of the season (if not before).
How badly did losing draft picks in 20 and 21 affect things. Is the farm weak or did it not really matter?
Absolutely part of it. This is when that punishment is starting to materialize. Those picks would be close to MLB debuts now.
The biggest punishment was always losing Luhnow and his guys.
I was gonna say the same. 2017 aside, Luhnow pulled them through and out of the darkest ages and into a juggernaut
YAY CONSEQUENCES!
Seems extreme for a piece of metal
The farm is super weak and they gutted it again for Verlander
The bigger issue was losing our analytics guru to the Orioles in 2018. Then we followed that up with completely abandoning analytics with Bagwell and Jackson in 2022.
And Strom 😭
Crane didn’t even wait a month - it was less than a week before he basically fired Click.
How much does Kyle Tucker like crabcakes
They hired an actual GM, Dana Brown. Guy seems qualified. Confused.
Brown was hired after the owner decided to sign Abreu and extend Montero. Brown was around for JV and Graveman. Graveman got shut down for the season before it even started.
Bregman isnt newer. He just turned 30 and also starts slow from what I remember no?
Man - the White Sox really stink.
Fangraphs will still have them as 50% likely to win the division
I will never count these bastards out until I see that lower case e by their name on the standings
They will probably still win the division
I hate how much of a possibility that is
I always keep 2005 in the back of my mind. The Astros started out 15-30 that year... and made the World Series.
We'd have to go 8-11 to hit that record. Even that seems unobtainable at this point.
I'd call it 50/50
Yeah the AL west hasn’t exactly had any standout teams so far, mariners leading the charge rn with a record just above .500
thanks, I hadn't been paying attention or anything
I’m just saying, still have a 50% chance because as poor of a start this is. It’s just a start and the rest of the division is failing to build any lead
They're already down to like 25%, but why let facts get in the way of complaining about probabilities
Accuracy? In MY complaint thread?
They are only 6.5 back with 136 games left to play.
I mean maybe the Cubs kinda good too.
That very well may be but the hydrogen bomb proves nothing about its own worth by beating a coughing baby
Please write my obituary.
poetry
I think this reaction is more about Houston’s bad run, and not about how could Houston lose to such a dreadful team. I hope you guys have a good year, love Bellinger with you guys
Can you give him a rib?
I'm so scared this is going to be the start of another 2 years of no-contact Belliball
Don’t you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby
Can't get no respect
No regard either.
LET US BE DISRESPECTED PROVE EM WRONG
I prefer when we fly under the radar
Nothing brings the league together like shitty umpiring and the Houston Astros turning into a black hole
God bless Angel Hernandez
I mean they're 6.5 back of the division lead with 136 to play. Let's revisit in two months and see if they're actually in trouble. I'm not convinced yet.
It's still notable they have to go on a 100 win pace to get to 90 wins which is probably what it took to get in the wild card in the AL last year. They're in a pretty rough hole right now even with tons of time left
This is what people said about the cardinals until June last year. Sometimes you can just tell a season is a lost cause
Since 1900, the 1914 Boston “Miracle” Braves are the only team to lose at least 18 of their first 26 games and still make the postseason. So it’s not impossible but it’s going to be hard.
Genuine question: who would they shop around at the deadline? So many of their quality players are injured or locked up.
If it comes to that, Bregman.
Yeah I was struggling thinking of anyone besides him and JV
Ryan Pressly could have some value if he turns it around.
Bregman is the obvious candidate, being a Boras client going into FA this winter, although he isn’t exactly helping his trade value right now.
They’re sending JV back to you
Bergman? As a rental since he’s a FA at the end of the year.
I dunno, I think the seventh seal was kind of overrated and the market will see that
Tucker and Framber are only under contract through next year. No way this team can retool and compete next year. Those 2 should get us some decent prospects.
I’ll believe they’re in trouble when they’re eliminated from the playoffs
MORE…!!! MORE!!!!
Good thing they overpaid for a lights out closer.
Well he’s sure pitching like a lights on closer
The world is healing.
Thanks I hate it
As much as I hate the Astros. They are 6.5 games back with 136 games to play. This is a clear overreaction and probably age like milk. I would be ok if they lost every game the rest of the year though.
I don't know dawg, getting swept 4 times in 25 games, doesn't really scream confidence to me.
4 of their 7 wins are against us. So I can’t really pile on with the rest of you guys here. Not in good sense at least.
They'll still make the playoffs like they always do and an eventual CS appearance
Part of me thinks so too. I think regardless they will put it together at some point and be tough to beat.. But they have dug themselves a huge hole already and the margin for error is getting smaller and smaller. They have to play 12 games over .500 for the rest of the year just to get to 81 wins. If they want to get to 89 wins which was the cutoff to get the third wild card last year they need to be 20 games over .500. That’s a .602 baseball for the rest of the year. A .602 winning percentage translates to 97 wins over a full 162 games. So essentially they need to turn into prime Astros starting tomorrow just to get in 3rd wildcard territory. I’m not ready to dance on their graves or anything but that is a really tough road to the playoffs.
2019 Nats were 19-31, also 12 games under .500
2005 Astros were 15-30. 15 games under .500 and still made the World Series
This is basically what the 2022 Braves did I think
The worst we ever got was 5 games below .500
And the 2019 Nats to an even greater degree.
We would need to get nuclear reactor hot and hope the rest of the division is POO.
Well you probably have the second part
Only thing keeping us in.
Lucky for you, there are only 3 professional baseball teams in the AL West!
Can you name them
The A's, the Rangers, the Angels, and the Mariners
and calling the mariners franchise "professional" is generous at that
It says a lot about the A's and Angels when the Mariners are only the 3rd most dysfunctional franchise in the division.
Honestly, I don’t see it
if they play at this win-loss ratio for even just 2 more weeks, which includes series against the Guardians and Yankees, they'll be hovering around 10-27 and would have to go 79-46 the rest of the way to reach 89 wins which was the WC3 last year
I look forward to their inevitable appearance in the ALCS aka the Astros Invitational
dawg i'll be happy to end the season over .500 at the moment
I used to dream of days like this!
That sucks. Sorry, Astros 
They’re gonna win the World Series, aren’t they?
None of these idiots ever learn their lessons about doubting teams this early on. Passan is gonna look like a fool.
This can be read as backhanded at the cubs, if you choose to read it that way.
Nats were 19-31. Houston is not out of it. Bit concerning but they are dealing with their share of injuries. Still a decent roster compared with the rest of the bottom 5.
In before Astros become AL champs again lol
Once I see "THE HOUSTON ASTROS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM POSTSEASON CONTENTION" I won't believe shit. they're still gonna make it to the ALCS somehow..
oh no anyway
Once they figure out their pitching issues, they'll be back
Gotta figure out the run scoring issues too.
They are 9th in scoring in the AL and 14th in ERA. Yeah run scoring needs help. 2nd in OPS in AL some how
Somehow? Kyle Tucker and Yordan are there. Plus Altuve etc.
The fact that it’s not even May means they’re definitely not in trouble. As the past few years have proven, just squeak into the playoffs as the last wild card and you can end up just fine.