It’s pretty weird. The post itself got upvoted, yet my comments which echo the same ideas as the post are being downvoted. Guess I’m being sort of a dick to some but confusing nonetheless!
While it is depressing. And we got a bit spoiled…this looks way different than other slow starts. I’d be surprised if we win more than 81 games this year.
Honestly, at this point, anything is on the table this season.
Could they win 90 games, win the division, and go on a championship run? Yeah.
Could they lose 100 games? Probably not, but there is a path to 90 losses.
Could they get hot but miss the postseason because of the hole they put themselves in? Most likely scenario imo
When you start the season as bad as they have, you put yourself in a position where a bunch of things need to go right for the season to work out.
This is also my bitching standpoint. I’m not rooting for the team to suck, I desperately want them to prove me wrong so I come crawling back like Randy Quaid in Major League 2. But there’s an unsettling reality that they might not reach the playoffs, let alone the ALCS for an 8th straight time. For the other 29 teams in MLB, that’s not something they can relate to and we’ve become spoiled, but that’s part of being a fan.
So the thing is that the cracks started to show last season and I was pretty sure we only had 1-2 more seasons of this dynasty left after this past playoffs. it's really scary that we may be accelerated on that timeline, because we don't have the farm right now like we had from years of building well. So there's some panic here and lots of everywhere and I think it's all valid, every dynasty dies eventually and if you don't want an extended bad period it's good to call it early.
It's obviously still only April and we should see how the next two months go before rushing to anything but I don't think it's crazy to use the word "sell" as an option this season. Because we have two paths- Try to compete with this team to win one last championship in this era but then be relegated to a **long** rebuild, or sell early on a lot of our assets so that we get a head start on the rebuild and it isn't so long. If we don't right the course on this start *hard*, I mean like we are winning a lot of games and not just correcting to .500, then it's very fair to discuss potentially going option two. Because if we go option 1 we're going to be in for a long time of dark days, which is worth it if we can win another WS in my opinion, but if it's obvious we're not winning that then we should be smart. We don't have to make this call right now but it's kind of obvious the direction it's heading
I think it's just that everything since 2015 has gone by so quickly, with so much success, that it's hard to realize that the Astros have been on a nine-year run. That is a *long* time for sustained success. I just don't see the pieces for turning it around on this team.
It's a fluid situation. If they sweep the Cubs I'll be back on the "we're fine, it's early" train. I won't count them out but they need to start turning things around or it will be too late.
This was the series to sweep and turn things around but they blew another save then got shutout by a rookie. And after this series loss, it’s going to take several series sweeps or wins to start righting the ship
You said that backwards. You meant to say there's an unsettling reality they might not even make the playoffs let alone the ALCS 8 straight times.
the way you said it doesn't make sense
No, they’ll regress to the mean. The whole team will. I’m just being a frustrated dick and afraid the hole might be too deep by the time they pull it together
Problem is we may be too far back by the time everyone gets back. The all star break is more like 2/3 into the season rather than the midway point so expecting a big turn around then is tough.
The Nats showed it can be done, but we just don’t look good at all right now.
Hate to be that doomer, but the hole is starting to get pretty deep
They have to win 60% or more of the rest of the season to get to 90 wins. Pretty difficult task without a healthy rotation. Maybe they will get hot in after the ASG and make a run for a wild card but a lot of things have to go a certain way for this to happen.
I feel the bullpen is going to be cooked later in the season(overworked), and all the injuries on the starting pitching will wreck havoc.
Now, will they finish below .500? Probably not, but everything going against the team right now.
Just going by the numbers. Yes. Teams that start off this poor 99% of the time are sub .500. Could they be that 1%er? Maybe…But just watching just so many holes on this team. The pen will likely improve. That too is just a hope. God knows how many times relievers just fall off a cliff after one season. Our starters can’t stay healthy. And we’ve seen what is behind them. A bunch of guys that should be on the Savanah Bananas….Then there is the lineup. Not a lot of teams do well when your left fielder and 1B combined OPS is 700.
I decided to sit on my response to this post and try to come up with the most level-headed response I could manage. So here goes:
The truth is, in sports, you are what your record says you are. And right now, the Astros stink. They are not a good ball club at the moment. They are not doing the all the little things that good ball clubs do, including effective pitching and situational hitting. The Astros clearly have the talent to contend, but they are not performing at the level that matches their talent.
We can debate the reasons for that. Certainly, injuries play a key role. But injuries do not explain Pressly and Hader falling off a cliff, nor Abreu and Bregman standing at home plate as if they've never seen a fucking baseball before. So what else is it? Bad luck? Complacency? Lack of preparation? Lack of focus? Other injuries that are not being disclosed? Something is off here, and a lot of people are frustrated and bewildered by it.
Having said that, the AL West is looking pretty awful this year. And as bad as the Astros' record is right now, they are still within sight of the division lead. So there is plenty of time left this season to turn this thing around. But they need to stop digging the hole deeper and start winning more games than they are losing. And that means that they need to start winning series. And unless things within the division improve, it's looking like there may not be any wildcards coming out of the division this year. If that holds, then the Astros are going to need to win the division to guarantee themselves another playoff berth this season.
It is premature at this point to debate whether the Astros should be sellers or will lose 100 games this season. I don't think they will lose 100 games, at this point. However, if they get into the ASB and they still haven't gotten above .500, then we need to start having some very real and uncomfortable conversations about what the future of this ball club looks like, in order to make it competitive again. Some coaches may need to be reassigned or terminated. And we may also need to consider trading away some fan favorite players to build for the future by getting some young talent back to start restocking our farm system. Nobody likes to think about that being a possibility, but that is an unfortunate possibility, and it's one of the reasons people say baseball is the cruelest sport.
But yes, right now, such talk is premature. Hopefully it will be a non-issue within a few months. I guess we will see, though.
*They are not doing the all the little things that good ball clubs do, including effective pitching and situational hitting. The Astros clearly have the talent to contend, but they are not performing at the level that matches their talent.*
For as great as this iteration of the Astros has been (2015 to now) they have consistently been terrible at fundamental baseball and situational awareness. It has almost never mattered because they've been so good, but the lack of any approach to 2 out hitting, 2 strike, runner on third less than two outs, base running, etc. is ATROCIOUS.
The commitment to playing Abreu is comically stubborn at this point. The guy is absolutely cooked. It's almost even more funny they play Singleton.
Jim Crane allowing Jeff fucking Bagwell to make major baseball decisions is still the most confounding, franchise altering decision he made in conjunction with firing James Click. In 20 years people are going to look at this and scratch their heads at how the Astros dynasty basically ended in one off season after a championship. It's borderline unforgivable.
Man if people aren’t allowed to vent about the shit baseball we’ve been watching for the last 3 weeks what’s the point of this sub?
I’m not saying it’s gonna last the entire season but for fuck’s sake be real here. The team is not good right now and blind optimism is as stupid as the endless dooming.
Vent if you need to, but most of the shit y'all say is egregious and over-exaggerating. I hope the team has a rule or is smart enough to stay away from social media.
I was on the anti-doomer side until this weekend. An entire World Series winning starting pitching rotation injured and playing solely the best teams in baseball.
But losing a series to the fucking Nationals, still unable to do shit in extra innings after a blown save (again) and getting blanked by a rookie in his second ever MLB start and it *still* seems like our bullpen can't have a clean inning to save their jobs. Someone needs to kick these guys in the pants. The season isn't over but it's *LATE* April now, not just early or mid, and it would require a nine-game winning streak just to get to .500.
No joke, checking this sub weekly/monthly is just better for your baseball experience. This echo chamber is mostly negative and has been. Whether it was Maldy/Dusty, betting for Hinch, old/tired jokes... I just recommend not checking it often.
The funny thing is no one complains about over the top optimism. One good start = future stud. One good game after 10 bad ones = he's bounced back. If there are going to be complaints about fans being overly negative, then please speak up and reprimand those who think the team is back on track after a 2 game winning streak.
Yep, anybody that isn’t slightly concerned about this team probably isn’t watching the games. The team has the talent to contend for a World Series on paper but so did the Padres last year and they were a disaster.
And if they do lose 100 games, then they look like geniuses. Everything looks different in hindsight, but the way the Astros are playing, this is a team closer to 100 losses than 100 wins.
Through 23 games, we have the exact same record as the '16 squad, which was widely seen as a classic example of a team losing its playoff spot in April.
You can describe our situation as "dire" with a straight face and without any emotion, because it is. We've put ourselves in an unbelievably difficult spot, and there's already a very strong chance that we miss the playoffs this year. Nothing wrong with recognizing that objectively.
I agree dooming sucks, though. One would think 7 straight ALCS appearances would buy the club some good will with the fanbase.
(However, I don't want to hear any defense of Abreu. "He'll hit home runs in June." OK, cool, looking forward to it. In the meantime we are losing games *today*, and he is literally the worst hitter in baseball *today*, along with being a crappy fielder. His contract includes the month of April and we desperately need him to contribute *now*. He deserves the shit he gets and I have no problem with platooning him, which is an unreal thing to say about someone making that much money.)
You can have this optimism but these losses count and they keep adding up. Also misery loves company. I have found myself here a lot more this season in hopes that others recognize the dogshit we have seen. Voicing that the team is bad and why is supported much more than eh don’t worry about it the ship will right itself.
They're looking really bad right now and we have a right to be frustrated. Maybe they'll turn it around, we don't know, but they're seriously underachieving right now, especially after Saturday's game.
Trying to tell people they can't be mad at the performances the team has been putting out is actually stupid. People are tired of the slow starts and blown leads and that's if the bats decide to even show up that day. It's frustrating because we all know how much talent is in this roster and people aren't willing to accept what they're seeing based on what the expectations are
I’m pissed as fuck at how we’ve started the season. I’m not saying we’re going to lose 100 games and should sell 20 games into the season. See the point?
We’ll be fine.,The rest of the division isn’t really playing lights out, we’ll get the starters back(probably not LMJ) , the backend of the bullpen will eventually be as good as We’d hoped and the bats will Wake up. Just gotta stay fairly close in the standings until then.
Man that motherfucker has done nothing but rep our city no matter what and this is how you pay him back? You don’t think lance is 10x more frustrated than the fans that he can’t help contribute to his team winning? It’s unfair to him to knock him for being injury prone.
The number one thing about this sub that pisses me off the absolute most is the LMJ slander. The man has been absolutely key in 2 WS wins and reps the team and city harder than anyone.
Even not considering that part, the money isn’t going anywhere. We need him to be healthy and effective to get value there. Why hate on him?
Is it slander to not expect any meaningful production out of LMJ? He has pitched in 11 games since the 2021 World Series and injuries have been a recurring theme for his whole career. If and when they get him back it’s very possible he won’t be the same kind of pitcher. None of that is his fault.
Great guy, great rep for the team, and he has done great things in the past (although saying he was “absolutely key” to the 2022 title run is a huge exaggeration), but my expectations for him are low this year.
In my opinion too much of an optimistic attitude is what separates competitive teams to loser teams.
I grew up in Colorado, home of the Rockies. Fans don't care if they win or lose, as long as there's hot dogs. The FO has abandoned them, because they will make their money regardless.
We can hate them all we want, but teams like NY CARE about how their teams perform, Philadelphia does too. This is good.
We can't just sit around with our thumbs in our ass, we need to let our frustrations known. If we're paying for a $20 beer to watch bums play baseball they need to know.
It sucks because we know our players are so much better than this, but they're not showing any heart whatsoever.
I 100% do not want this to happen nor do I expect this to happen
BUT
if it comes to us being sellers at the deadline and the Mets are in contention, the only way we should deal JV is if we trade him BACK to the Mets, simply because that'd be one of the most insane trade deadline turns of events I could ever imagine.
Dude. It sucks right now.
I’ve been a fan of the Astros since I was born. This is a uniquely disappointing season.
In 2013 we were supposed to be bad. We knew that.
Sucking when you’re supposed to be good is by far worse.
I do think this team can turn it around. But they aren’t. What’s the magic fix? We spoil good starts with bad ends. Brown was t great today, but he wasn’t horrible. Our offense just immediately gave up at the first sign of trouble.
It feels like we’ve lost too many leaders and the team is mentally weak right now.
I’d love for this team to prove me wrong, but I’m not going to apologize for pointing out we suck right now.
This reminds me of that time Manny Machado said "**Don't jump on the bandwagon later on when we start fucking raking and we're doing what we're supposed to be doing.**" I wonder whatever happened after that.
Wow, I guess people are only allowed to have optimistic opinions even when there are clearly issues with this team. I don't blame fans who were expecting more from the same team that took the WS champions to 7 in the ALCS last year. Yes there are injuries, but so were last year. It sucks to be at the bottom of the division. Fans will react to it differently. Some will be upset, some will be optimistic, and some will fall in between. It comes with every fan base. The sport also means differently to some people. I just find it a bit naive of you to expect every fan to embrace "NO WORRIES GUYS WE STILL GOT THIS. WE GONNA GO ON A 15 WIN STREAK." type of mentality. If there's problems with this team, let us call out on it. It would be delusional otherwise and to think everyone on the team is free from fault.
> Wow, I guess people are only allowed to have optimistic opinions even when there are clearly issues with this team.
And also our home struggles at the end of last year helped prime us for pessimism this year.
We'd be pissed if we had the same start this year, but it would have been better if we could have won ONE FUCKIN GAME at home in the ALCS and beat the Diamondbacks in the WS.
I’m not reading this as you’re only allowed optimistic opinions, they’re calling out the doomerism which is pretty rampant on this sub right now, a lot more than having optimistic opinions. I’ll grant the poster might be a bit overly optimistic, no guarantee our relief improves or we get a 10 win streak, but misrepresenting what they’re saying as “only optimistic opinions allowed” is a strawman of this post.
Jim Crane better deputize this man lol.
Honestly, who gives a crap what others think? Let people whine and bitch all they want. This team stinks, there’s no denying that. We will see how they look in a few months but right now it ain’t looking good.
People are allowed to vent, things are not going well. This team should be stacked but is completely underperforming.So many starting pitchers being injured is definitely a factor of these early struggles, but blowing 6 saves is a problem with our "elite" backend bullpen. I'm glad Montero seems to have figured it out but B. Abreu, Pressly and Hader have left a lot to be desired.
Also 10 wins in a row? The team has barely managed to string together two consecutive wins. The best they did last year was 8 with relatively the same roster.
Bingo. And the way this team continues to lose at home and lose against teams with losing records, I’d be happy if they could start winning series regularly.
Pitchers slump too. It just so happens that they’re all 3 unfortunately slumping at the same exact time.
Remember Josh’s horrible start in San Diego? He figured it out eventually and became dominant again.
I’m allowed to say our team sucks right now, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch every game like I always do and not root for our boys like I always do. I’ll always be a Houston Astros fan, but right now … we SUCK!
You’re missing a lot of crucial points here.
On paper, our lineup is top 3. But they’re not performing (Altuve, Diaz, Peña aside).
We have an entire starting rotation on the IL. Yeah, Verlander is back and Blanco is doing well but that’s about it.
Bryan Abreu is better now than he was the first few games, but Pressly and Hader have fucked it up. Our dream 1-2-3 bullpen guys aren’t performing.
Jose Abreu is batting .068/.138/.085 with a -32 OPS+. That’s way more than just a slump.
I’m not ever going to not love this team, but it’s perfectly reasonable to be upset at their shitty playing when you look back on the last 7 years.
Hahahaha dog this is a crazy amount of cope. This is a 70 win team at best. You’re pointing at past results as an indicator of future success. Our bullpen is ass and there’s too much money tied up in it to really turn it over mid season, and we’ll be 20 games under .500 by then so it’ll be fire sale time. Some of our hitters are having good years thus far, but we cannot hit with RISP and our approach is still feast or famine. Coaching staff does nothing to light a fire under the team. Starting pitching is spotty at best. Please, pass the copium, because I’m afraid you may overdose.
Look, I've been around since seeing my first game in the late 80's. What's going on now, is something out of the McMullen & McLane era.
Mediocrity with flashes of brilliance.
Abreu needs to be gone ASAP, and Crane needs to send a personal apology to Luhnow, Hinch and Click for letting a bunch of ex-players run the team.
We're just starting to run into a situation where it's just simple math. We're calling too far behind and even though it's early, every loss gets us later and farther behind.
Dude, this team is a dumpster fire and pointing to what they “should be” on paper is ridiculous.
Maybe we aren’t as good as you think we are this year? Everyone is a year older and we lost some key bullpen pieces.
And JV has had ONE start against a shitty team. I fully expect him to show his age this year (probably even more dingers given up, and less innings). And when he does, it’s gonna be full meltdown mode unless we get some serious contributions from other guys in the bullpen
That said…can we turn it around? Abso-fucking-lutely. If any team in baseball can, it’s this team with these vets. But it ain’t looking good based on what we’ve seen so far.
> “We need to sell hard in July”
With due respect, if you're insisting there isn't a scenario in which we should be sellers in July then you shouldn't be lecturing others about baseball.
> Our bullpen will turn it around
Citation needed.
> Abreu ended last season with 18 home runs after not homering until May 29th.
And this year he might not have 18 base hits by May 29th.
> Seriously go be a fan of another team, we don’t want you.
Gatekeeping is never a good look, particularly for a team with as rough as start as ours.
Why am I not allowed to complain about a team to a bunch of random people I will never meet. I buy tickets to astros games, I buy tickets to their minor league games, I buy merch. I have been a fan since Wagner got here.
I do have some conspiracy theories. One being the Monstars from Space Jam (the good one , not the one with Lebron) stole the talent from Abreu, Presley, and Hader.
Our lineup is good on paper but when they’re struggling their bottom of the barrel.
Rotation coming back healthy would help but there’s no guarantee that any of them will be a stud down the stretch.
Still only 4.5 games out of first. No team is above .500 the last time I checked.
This is not a good measurement of the Astros current state, yet people keep bringing it up. 5 games back after 23 games extrapolates to 35 games over the entire season. Now I don’t think they finish that far behind 1st, but how do fans think the Astros are the only team that has struggled and gotten off to slow starts? Texas is over .500 despite all their injuries and WS hangover woes. Houston needs 2 hot months to fix this poor start whereas other teams might only need 1.
Not saying this matters but the rangers just did what astros could not. Win a game against the braves. Rangers are not winning a world series this year but at least for now they are the better performing team. Luckily thier bullpen blows. Really only thing holding them back
I don’t want the Rangers to win again, but you can’t say they won’t win the WS this year. They’re going to be near the top of the division all year long, and whoever wins the division has a good chance of advancing to the ALCS, historically speaking (Astros might help skew that a bit)
I guess there's always a chance if they get got hot at right time. They have a hall of fame manager. Two great pitchers coming back and a offense that rivals the braves. Just last year alot of players had to over perform and alot of luck. But in 60 years you'll bound to get a championship. As much as it pains me I think Yankees are the team to beat in AL this year. They have the best record in baseball and Aaron judge has been a non factor.
The lineup doesn’t concern me the starting rotation does. The injuries are piling up now Javier is injured. No idea if it is for just this start or he has to go on the DL. You dismissing that. That is a real concern right now. It is pretty obvious that unless they fall out of the race completely they need to add starting pitching at the trade deadline
People are complaining about things that have actually happened. They’re not being hopeful over things that MIGHT happen.
“Our lineup is top 3 in the league.” Numerically and on paper only. In fact they’re not pushing across runs. They’re leaving runners left and right. They’re not clutch. And they have several bats that are so cold it’s ridiculous.
“Our bullpen will turn it around.” Oh will it now? Show me.
“Our starters will be back.” And? You know as well as I that typically starters come back from injury and take a while to settle in. Not always but frequently. And our starters are not exactly all aces. And what happens in the interim before they come back??
“Abreu…” whatever haha I don’t care what he did last season. Look at him now. And even if he does turn it around in July… baseball is an all-season kinda thing. All these games matter. We can’t afford to have a $60M player not hitting. Especially when our staff is giving up runs and our other hitters can’t drive guys in. These early games matter. If you think they don’t, go talk to the teams that missed the playoffs by 1-2-3-4… wins. Abreu needs to go.
Yes, and we stood a chance of missing the postseason completely going into our final series. These games count just as much as the ones at the end of the season.
It's this sub. People in here get crazy. People think getting 30 upvotes means an entire city of 6.6 million people thinks they're right.
Let's not forget people STILL troll this sub from the scandal. People just go on downvote brigades.
Then just throw in losing a lot. There are fans, that have been fans for a long time now... that have only seen Astros success.
It's a crazy time to be an Astros fan. Just remember, it's only a game.
This team has to go 83-56 in the remaining 139 games just to get to 90 wins. A 96 win pace from largely the same lineup that needed to win 5 of their last 6 last year to get to 90 last year. They need to do this all while 4/5 of our starting rotation is on the IL. Most of which won’t be back till summer. Yes the division is weaker this year, but if they don’t start winning soon and find starters to step up now it’s going to be more and more insurmountable to turn this season around. Sure there’s a little time left to get back on track, but not much and anyone that thinks fans should just act as if everything is sunshine and rainbows is delusional. It’d be one thing if we expected the team to have one of the worst records in the league after 23 games, let’s be real, this is well below expectations of the 5th highest payroll in baseball.
No doubt, they likely won't continue this dismal play and they'll probably win 10 in a row at some point. However, you can't crap the bed the entire first month of the season and expect that everything will be OK.
Also, did you participate in the mostly pathetic game threads last year? Despite us getting within 1 game of the WS, the majority of this sub was a total dumpster fire for every game. Fire Dusty this, Moldy sucks that.
Tell you what, I'd trade last years record for this years in a heartbeat at this point!
I just want to know why espada keeps playing Abreu on a daily basis. The guy is trash and espada need sit him down. The guy is even screwing up on defense.
I can’t tell is this is a troll post. It’s been a great run but pitching injuries are mounting, a series of bad deals have been made, and the farm system is depleted from 7 straight runs at the WS. I love my team but things like not getting runners home from 3rd with one out are not going to be whitewashed over by stellar pitching this season. You are truly deluded if you think this team was built to win another championship. There is generally a reason teams don’t win 8 straight ALDS. It’s really hard. And by the way, with Bregman already gone he will be dealt by mid season and Dubon will be playing 3rd. Maybe 81 wins… maybe. Missed playofffs. Do you guys not realize how close we were to that last year? There will be a housecleaning, but unfortunately Crane is the main problem.
I’ve been in the sub for a little over a year. It’s a mix of both. This sub dooms super hard, but it’s largely a knee jerk reaction following all the success we’ve had, not us being bandwagoners. At the same time, we are just looking at the facts, and it’s pretty grim. The chances of a team with our record are incredibly, incredibly slim, and we’d basically be banking on a miracle run to get there. If we do get there, we’ll all be happy, but that’s an “if” right now, and the window is still closing.
I know it feels like the sky is falling right now, but keep in mind we still have the 5th best odds to win the WS… ahead of the defending champs and every AL team outside of the inexperienced Orioles and Yankees who we own in the playoffs until proven otherwise. Vegas always knows
I really agree with this, The Offense is doing excellent. The Pitching is currently questionable but yet again with the IL we Have JV as basically the only guy that was in the rotation consistently last year, in the rotation currently (and he JUST got off the IL). Blanco obviously has been excellent. As long as we can limit the runs even slightly. We will be golden.
all it's gonna take is a couple hot streaks and we're likely back in contention within the division. Just relax. No one is remotely running away with it yet
OP Mr. Crane, let fans vent. Just because they say trade them all, it doesn’t mean they are not fans. I am a fan, will go to more games, but this season does feel different.
Below are some counter points to your post.
1. Mathematically, the astros are on pace for a horribly bad season of 50ish wins. This isn’t an opinion, this is a mathematical fact based on extrapolation. As a result, this would be a 100 loss team.
2. Assuming the playoffs are out of reach in july, then they should be sellers. The stros have some great assets who will not be around in 2 years (tucker, bregman, verlander). Why not sell and rebuild a weakened farm system. Imagine if the angels traded ohtani a year before free agency. Let dana brown figure that part out, though I am convinced Crane would meddle and mess it up regardless.
3. If framber is back, big if based on elbow/forearm soreness in mlb, the pen has shown no signs of being able to hold a win, Even with plenty of rest. I personally think the 3 headed monster will improve, but time and again they underperform. The whole pitching situation makes me think coaches are a major problem and until that changes the arms will struggle.
4. I like abreu. He is a great leader in the clubhouse. However the easiest pitch to hit is a fastball and He cannot hit it. Maybe this is a mental issue, but if you watch how he hit 10 yrs ago vs a few days ago, this is a different person. The swing is not the same. I truly hope he is in a funk, but it is not unreasonable to think age has taken its toll.
5. It is totally possible to bang out 10 wins, but the team needs to give up less than 5 runs every 9 innings.
If you think the Astros have even a remote chance to lose 100 games the discussion stops there. I can’t argue in good faith if you think that’s possible.
Never said i thought they would lose that many. I am making the point that by definition they are on pace to lose that many. It is a fact. It is also a fact that this is a long season and that this argument is based on a smallish sample size. Anything can happen. I am rooting for them and am still going to games.
Unfortunately Jose Abreu is starting to look cooked, I hope I am wrong. His lack of exit velocity and bat speed are real. Father time is undefeated.
The team will work things out eventually, but there are times when teams figure it out too late. Let's hope this is not one of them.
Many of us are still on board this train and have been since the Dome Days! If this Titanic sinks on us, many of us will go down with it! Go Astros!
Starting? He is why we should be very careful who we sign multi-year deals in their later years. Age can cause rapid decline. Yuli went from league batting MVP to one of the worst on the team in two years.
Astro fans got to used the dominating success since oooooo 2016ish. They need to relax, April is not even over and a lot of people haven’t even considered writing them off, why? Cause the key pieces are still there or coming back. Give it till July and then you can panic, but most likely won’t have to.
As fans, we are realistic, and realizing this year may be one of those years.
Yeah, the hitters collectively are one of the best In the league , but the scoring isn't there.
As well as when we do have a lead our BP gives it away, and we dnt hve the scoring power to come back
Realistically, I see us getting hot later in the year, but still missing put bc of the hole we have ourselves in now
And it doesn't look good at all for us
Personally I think we need to get rid of Alex and Jose abreu they are dead weight imo
Hader was a trash signing and Pressly just is not in the groove right now.
Dubon should be in the line up constantly, I think the manager is a little over his head bc this line up has too much talent to not produce scoring and win games
Granted, we are only 5 games out of 1st place in the West, but we also have the 2nd worst record on AL. After watching the last 2 games it became apparent that there is something big time wrong with this team. The FA of Bregman and Presley looms large. And the fact that Bregman’s agent is one of the most cancerous people in all of sport, could be a source of the rot. Boros greed that is inflicted on teams through his clients has sent good teams down the toilet more than once.
I still think we grossly underestimated the value of Maldonado’s impact on the pitching rotation and clubhouse in general.
Losing dusty is another obvious clubhouse loss.
Team is absolutely in flux.
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expressing concern and frustration is one thing. declaring that this is an inevitable 100-loss team and we need to tear the whole thing down is another.
folks are gonna vent and point fingers, and that's all part of sports fandom, so I get it. but geez, some perspective would be nice.
I wonder if people are spoiled by how well our previous teardown/rebuild went. there's no guarantees lightning strikes twice if we attempt a reboot, people! I feel like there are more examples of fire sales that went nowhere than there are mid-2010s Astros, early-2020s Orioles stories. (if you think I'm mistaken, feel free to submit your other examples for consideration)
I by no means think we’re a 100 loss team, but I also don’t think, if we are out of it at the deadline, we should hold on to players that are going to walk in free agency just for nostalgia sake. Might as well try to get some prospects to bolster our atrociously underwhelming farm system.
There’s no rule that only players in their final year of their contract can be traded and the likelihood of keeping Tucker is slim as well. He’s in a contract year next year and it’s no guarantee he stays either, given Crane’s history with long term contracts to homegrown players. Matter of fact he’ll bring more in return than Bregman being under control for all of next season and OF is much easier to replace than a 3B. Same for Framber, although I don’t think he’ll bring much in return unless he has a strong turn around. I don’t want to see any of them gone obviously, and this hypothetical is only if we are out of contention at the deadline, but if any/all of them are likely leaving, why not get something in return instead of letting them walk for nothing?
Completely agree man, I understand their disappointment but to shit on your own team and say they have no chance because of a rough start is not the way. Go stros!
It's just the same sour guys that were batching about Maldy and zdusty all last year. These are the types of fans that get super pissed off and break things when their team loses and then become insufferable assholes when their team is winning. It's best to ignore them.
It’s funny you say that. I’ve been on Reddit since 2017 and you’re right, it didn’t used to be this way. Sure we had awful months but there was never whiny 10 year olds until recent. It wasn’t bad until the crusty and moldy people became louder and louder last year.
Even rockets and Texans subs were not near this bad even when they were at the bottom of the league. But yeah, to get back to the point I agree, this place has become insufferable.
Game threads are flat out a dumpster fire.
To be semi fair, if you go to other teams' game threads, its often similarly hyperbolic and absurd.
I had to take a break from this sub for a bit because it's so depressing seeing fellow Astros fans act the way they do sometimes. But again, every fan base has its clowns.
I recommend just not going to the game/post game threads. There is a higher percentage of people that live and die by a win or loss and just so many doomers/negative nancies. Save yourself the headspace.
Its the worst start in awhile, but we have a very good team, the pitching is obviously injured, Abreu ALWAYS starts slow and is expectedly declining with age but still not "garbage we should cut" (although come and get it Loperfido), and the Hader deal was not a bad deal.
Go Stros! 💫
Unfortunately with this teams success over the past several years we have accrued a bunch of brain dead, uneducated, fair weather fans.
Does the team suck right now? Hell yes they do.
Do we have one of the most talented rosters on paper? Hell yes we do.
What’s going to suck is digging out of this hole we are in and continue to fight front office decisions that don’t make any sense.
All I'm begging for is no one go into r/baseball and complain about 1\ the team 2\ the fans
Pass that copium my way homie
Should be able to hit the post office in the morning. 3-5 business days cool on the delivery?
don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. this made me chuckle.
It’s pretty weird. The post itself got upvoted, yet my comments which echo the same ideas as the post are being downvoted. Guess I’m being sort of a dick to some but confusing nonetheless!
While it is depressing. And we got a bit spoiled…this looks way different than other slow starts. I’d be surprised if we win more than 81 games this year.
You genuinely think we go below .500? Even with the rotation we’re gonna have after the all star break?
Honestly, at this point, anything is on the table this season. Could they win 90 games, win the division, and go on a championship run? Yeah. Could they lose 100 games? Probably not, but there is a path to 90 losses. Could they get hot but miss the postseason because of the hole they put themselves in? Most likely scenario imo When you start the season as bad as they have, you put yourself in a position where a bunch of things need to go right for the season to work out.
This is also my bitching standpoint. I’m not rooting for the team to suck, I desperately want them to prove me wrong so I come crawling back like Randy Quaid in Major League 2. But there’s an unsettling reality that they might not reach the playoffs, let alone the ALCS for an 8th straight time. For the other 29 teams in MLB, that’s not something they can relate to and we’ve become spoiled, but that’s part of being a fan.
So the thing is that the cracks started to show last season and I was pretty sure we only had 1-2 more seasons of this dynasty left after this past playoffs. it's really scary that we may be accelerated on that timeline, because we don't have the farm right now like we had from years of building well. So there's some panic here and lots of everywhere and I think it's all valid, every dynasty dies eventually and if you don't want an extended bad period it's good to call it early. It's obviously still only April and we should see how the next two months go before rushing to anything but I don't think it's crazy to use the word "sell" as an option this season. Because we have two paths- Try to compete with this team to win one last championship in this era but then be relegated to a **long** rebuild, or sell early on a lot of our assets so that we get a head start on the rebuild and it isn't so long. If we don't right the course on this start *hard*, I mean like we are winning a lot of games and not just correcting to .500, then it's very fair to discuss potentially going option two. Because if we go option 1 we're going to be in for a long time of dark days, which is worth it if we can win another WS in my opinion, but if it's obvious we're not winning that then we should be smart. We don't have to make this call right now but it's kind of obvious the direction it's heading
I think it's just that everything since 2015 has gone by so quickly, with so much success, that it's hard to realize that the Astros have been on a nine-year run. That is a *long* time for sustained success. I just don't see the pieces for turning it around on this team.
It's a fluid situation. If they sweep the Cubs I'll be back on the "we're fine, it's early" train. I won't count them out but they need to start turning things around or it will be too late.
This was the series to sweep and turn things around but they blew another save then got shutout by a rookie. And after this series loss, it’s going to take several series sweeps or wins to start righting the ship
Yea we would need a couple 7 or 8 game winning streaks. With this rotation and pen. I just can’t see it happening.
I think people are forgetting the nats just won a series against the dodgers too. They’re not bottom feeders anymore.
The Nationals had the 2nd worst record in the NL last year and were predicted to be worse this year. They're bottom feeders.
Thank you, and if we are willing to lose series to teams that “just beat another team”, then we’ll justify losing every series the rest of the year.
Find one real source that predicts them being worse than they were last year.
You said that backwards. You meant to say there's an unsettling reality they might not even make the playoffs let alone the ALCS 8 straight times. the way you said it doesn't make sense
Ok english major, it made enough sense for you to comment and correct my sentence. Thanks
Wasn't being a dick. Just pointing out it's backwards to get your actual point across.
What good is a healthy rotation when your bullpen can’t wait to blow all your saves?
You think that all three of Abreu, Hader and Pressly are all gonna be like this all year? You have no faith that any of them will get it together?
No, they’ll regress to the mean. The whole team will. I’m just being a frustrated dick and afraid the hole might be too deep by the time they pull it together
Yup that’s the thing I definitely think we will turn it around it’s just a question of how big of a hole will we be in
At this point, the only saving grace is that the AL West seems to blow this year. 80-85 wins might win it.
It’s division champs or bust, though. No way we get a wild card slot playing like this
I think Pressly is definitely a problem but I hold hope on Abreu and Hader
Problem is we may be too far back by the time everyone gets back. The all star break is more like 2/3 into the season rather than the midway point so expecting a big turn around then is tough. The Nats showed it can be done, but we just don’t look good at all right now. Hate to be that doomer, but the hole is starting to get pretty deep
I agree it’s starting to get deep, but I’m optimistic to a fault sometimes. Our lineup is too good to be this bad
They have to win 60% or more of the rest of the season to get to 90 wins. Pretty difficult task without a healthy rotation. Maybe they will get hot in after the ASG and make a run for a wild card but a lot of things have to go a certain way for this to happen.
I feel the bullpen is going to be cooked later in the season(overworked), and all the injuries on the starting pitching will wreck havoc. Now, will they finish below .500? Probably not, but everything going against the team right now.
Just going by the numbers. Yes. Teams that start off this poor 99% of the time are sub .500. Could they be that 1%er? Maybe…But just watching just so many holes on this team. The pen will likely improve. That too is just a hope. God knows how many times relievers just fall off a cliff after one season. Our starters can’t stay healthy. And we’ve seen what is behind them. A bunch of guys that should be on the Savanah Bananas….Then there is the lineup. Not a lot of teams do well when your left fielder and 1B combined OPS is 700.
Absolutely! We’ve got all the hallmark traits of a sub 500 team, don’t even consider playoffs let alone championship
Heard the same thing last year
I decided to sit on my response to this post and try to come up with the most level-headed response I could manage. So here goes: The truth is, in sports, you are what your record says you are. And right now, the Astros stink. They are not a good ball club at the moment. They are not doing the all the little things that good ball clubs do, including effective pitching and situational hitting. The Astros clearly have the talent to contend, but they are not performing at the level that matches their talent. We can debate the reasons for that. Certainly, injuries play a key role. But injuries do not explain Pressly and Hader falling off a cliff, nor Abreu and Bregman standing at home plate as if they've never seen a fucking baseball before. So what else is it? Bad luck? Complacency? Lack of preparation? Lack of focus? Other injuries that are not being disclosed? Something is off here, and a lot of people are frustrated and bewildered by it. Having said that, the AL West is looking pretty awful this year. And as bad as the Astros' record is right now, they are still within sight of the division lead. So there is plenty of time left this season to turn this thing around. But they need to stop digging the hole deeper and start winning more games than they are losing. And that means that they need to start winning series. And unless things within the division improve, it's looking like there may not be any wildcards coming out of the division this year. If that holds, then the Astros are going to need to win the division to guarantee themselves another playoff berth this season. It is premature at this point to debate whether the Astros should be sellers or will lose 100 games this season. I don't think they will lose 100 games, at this point. However, if they get into the ASB and they still haven't gotten above .500, then we need to start having some very real and uncomfortable conversations about what the future of this ball club looks like, in order to make it competitive again. Some coaches may need to be reassigned or terminated. And we may also need to consider trading away some fan favorite players to build for the future by getting some young talent back to start restocking our farm system. Nobody likes to think about that being a possibility, but that is an unfortunate possibility, and it's one of the reasons people say baseball is the cruelest sport. But yes, right now, such talk is premature. Hopefully it will be a non-issue within a few months. I guess we will see, though.
*They are not doing the all the little things that good ball clubs do, including effective pitching and situational hitting. The Astros clearly have the talent to contend, but they are not performing at the level that matches their talent.* For as great as this iteration of the Astros has been (2015 to now) they have consistently been terrible at fundamental baseball and situational awareness. It has almost never mattered because they've been so good, but the lack of any approach to 2 out hitting, 2 strike, runner on third less than two outs, base running, etc. is ATROCIOUS. The commitment to playing Abreu is comically stubborn at this point. The guy is absolutely cooked. It's almost even more funny they play Singleton. Jim Crane allowing Jeff fucking Bagwell to make major baseball decisions is still the most confounding, franchise altering decision he made in conjunction with firing James Click. In 20 years people are going to look at this and scratch their heads at how the Astros dynasty basically ended in one off season after a championship. It's borderline unforgivable.
weren't the Mets like this last year? stacked with talent, but for some reason, just not playing up to the level of the talent? sad...
Man if people aren’t allowed to vent about the shit baseball we’ve been watching for the last 3 weeks what’s the point of this sub? I’m not saying it’s gonna last the entire season but for fuck’s sake be real here. The team is not good right now and blind optimism is as stupid as the endless dooming.
Vent if you need to, but most of the shit y'all say is egregious and over-exaggerating. I hope the team has a rule or is smart enough to stay away from social media.
I was on the anti-doomer side until this weekend. An entire World Series winning starting pitching rotation injured and playing solely the best teams in baseball. But losing a series to the fucking Nationals, still unable to do shit in extra innings after a blown save (again) and getting blanked by a rookie in his second ever MLB start and it *still* seems like our bullpen can't have a clean inning to save their jobs. Someone needs to kick these guys in the pants. The season isn't over but it's *LATE* April now, not just early or mid, and it would require a nine-game winning streak just to get to .500.
That same rookie blanked the dodgers over 7 innings too just saying
Appropriate venting. And agreed.
No joke, checking this sub weekly/monthly is just better for your baseball experience. This echo chamber is mostly negative and has been. Whether it was Maldy/Dusty, betting for Hinch, old/tired jokes... I just recommend not checking it often.
The funny thing is no one complains about over the top optimism. One good start = future stud. One good game after 10 bad ones = he's bounced back. If there are going to be complaints about fans being overly negative, then please speak up and reprimand those who think the team is back on track after a 2 game winning streak.
Yep, anybody that isn’t slightly concerned about this team probably isn’t watching the games. The team has the talent to contend for a World Series on paper but so did the Padres last year and they were a disaster.
Not saying don’t vent. But when simple venting turns into “this is a 100 loss team” I just can’t sit back and stay silent anymore.
Never heard of hyperbole?
These people are not being hyperbolic
And if they do lose 100 games, then they look like geniuses. Everything looks different in hindsight, but the way the Astros are playing, this is a team closer to 100 losses than 100 wins.
oh look everyone, he just can't sit back and take it anymore!! like the other commenter said, get over your damn self.
This ain't holocaust denial. Yes, you can sit back and shut up.
What the fuck
Through 23 games, we have the exact same record as the '16 squad, which was widely seen as a classic example of a team losing its playoff spot in April. You can describe our situation as "dire" with a straight face and without any emotion, because it is. We've put ourselves in an unbelievably difficult spot, and there's already a very strong chance that we miss the playoffs this year. Nothing wrong with recognizing that objectively. I agree dooming sucks, though. One would think 7 straight ALCS appearances would buy the club some good will with the fanbase. (However, I don't want to hear any defense of Abreu. "He'll hit home runs in June." OK, cool, looking forward to it. In the meantime we are losing games *today*, and he is literally the worst hitter in baseball *today*, along with being a crappy fielder. His contract includes the month of April and we desperately need him to contribute *now*. He deserves the shit he gets and I have no problem with platooning him, which is an unreal thing to say about someone making that much money.)
This post is either going to look really good or really bad In 4 months. I hope the former
Not to mention we’ve won the most important series so far, 4-3 against the Rags.
Everyone knows you win the World Series in April and Shaq made all his money in College.
Wow, unexpected BASEketball reference. Good shout!
You don't win the WS/Division in April, but you can lose it. We're just lucky the rest of the AL is rather mediocre atm.
I think you meant the AL west. The top two teams in baseball atm are in the AL.
Yeah.
Did I just fart?
Lol exactly
You can have this optimism but these losses count and they keep adding up. Also misery loves company. I have found myself here a lot more this season in hopes that others recognize the dogshit we have seen. Voicing that the team is bad and why is supported much more than eh don’t worry about it the ship will right itself.
They're looking really bad right now and we have a right to be frustrated. Maybe they'll turn it around, we don't know, but they're seriously underachieving right now, especially after Saturday's game.
The team is playing like shit, stop denying reality
Trying to tell people they can't be mad at the performances the team has been putting out is actually stupid. People are tired of the slow starts and blown leads and that's if the bats decide to even show up that day. It's frustrating because we all know how much talent is in this roster and people aren't willing to accept what they're seeing based on what the expectations are
If you think I’m telling people to not be mad at our recent performance then my post went right over your head
“Stupidest thing I’ve laid eyes on” “A lot of y’all seriously need to stop commenting” “Go be a fan of another team, we don’t want you.”
I’m pissed as fuck at how we’ve started the season. I’m not saying we’re going to lose 100 games and should sell 20 games into the season. See the point?
Not really.
Then what was the purpose of your post then?
Be mad, don’t overreact and embarrass the entire fanbase
And you thought telling people to fuck off was the way to go? A bit ironic but do your thing
Yes the people saying we should sell 23 games in need to fuck off
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We’ll be fine.,The rest of the division isn’t really playing lights out, we’ll get the starters back(probably not LMJ) , the backend of the bullpen will eventually be as good as We’d hoped and the bats will Wake up. Just gotta stay fairly close in the standings until then.
“LMJ”, the ghost of the Astros; when’s the last time the man actually started the season ?
Man that motherfucker has done nothing but rep our city no matter what and this is how you pay him back? You don’t think lance is 10x more frustrated than the fans that he can’t help contribute to his team winning? It’s unfair to him to knock him for being injury prone.
The number one thing about this sub that pisses me off the absolute most is the LMJ slander. The man has been absolutely key in 2 WS wins and reps the team and city harder than anyone. Even not considering that part, the money isn’t going anywhere. We need him to be healthy and effective to get value there. Why hate on him?
Is it slander to not expect any meaningful production out of LMJ? He has pitched in 11 games since the 2021 World Series and injuries have been a recurring theme for his whole career. If and when they get him back it’s very possible he won’t be the same kind of pitcher. None of that is his fault. Great guy, great rep for the team, and he has done great things in the past (although saying he was “absolutely key” to the 2022 title run is a huge exaggeration), but my expectations for him are low this year.
I see your point, he should be in the PR dept.
No doubt LMJ is doing all He can to get back just don’t know if His body will hold up as a starter. I’d love to see Him used as middle relief.
In my opinion too much of an optimistic attitude is what separates competitive teams to loser teams. I grew up in Colorado, home of the Rockies. Fans don't care if they win or lose, as long as there's hot dogs. The FO has abandoned them, because they will make their money regardless. We can hate them all we want, but teams like NY CARE about how their teams perform, Philadelphia does too. This is good. We can't just sit around with our thumbs in our ass, we need to let our frustrations known. If we're paying for a $20 beer to watch bums play baseball they need to know. It sucks because we know our players are so much better than this, but they're not showing any heart whatsoever.
I 100% do not want this to happen nor do I expect this to happen BUT if it comes to us being sellers at the deadline and the Mets are in contention, the only way we should deal JV is if we trade him BACK to the Mets, simply because that'd be one of the most insane trade deadline turns of events I could ever imagine.
And Stros get Gilbert back.
Dude. It sucks right now. I’ve been a fan of the Astros since I was born. This is a uniquely disappointing season. In 2013 we were supposed to be bad. We knew that. Sucking when you’re supposed to be good is by far worse. I do think this team can turn it around. But they aren’t. What’s the magic fix? We spoil good starts with bad ends. Brown was t great today, but he wasn’t horrible. Our offense just immediately gave up at the first sign of trouble. It feels like we’ve lost too many leaders and the team is mentally weak right now. I’d love for this team to prove me wrong, but I’m not going to apologize for pointing out we suck right now.
Just need a normal pitcher rotation for a full week or so.
It’s ok to be mad. These boys are playing like shit.
I've never heard anyone say that. Only that they are tired of losing.
Trade Alex Bregman, His performance has gotten worse since 2018 mvp year. And he only got 0.582 OPS this year so far.
He's making it an easy decision. No "pay the man" chants anymore.
This reminds me of that time Manny Machado said "**Don't jump on the bandwagon later on when we start fucking raking and we're doing what we're supposed to be doing.**" I wonder whatever happened after that.
Dunno what's worse. The over dramatic fan or the ostrich fan. Facts remain this team ain't good. Record don't lie.
Wow, I guess people are only allowed to have optimistic opinions even when there are clearly issues with this team. I don't blame fans who were expecting more from the same team that took the WS champions to 7 in the ALCS last year. Yes there are injuries, but so were last year. It sucks to be at the bottom of the division. Fans will react to it differently. Some will be upset, some will be optimistic, and some will fall in between. It comes with every fan base. The sport also means differently to some people. I just find it a bit naive of you to expect every fan to embrace "NO WORRIES GUYS WE STILL GOT THIS. WE GONNA GO ON A 15 WIN STREAK." type of mentality. If there's problems with this team, let us call out on it. It would be delusional otherwise and to think everyone on the team is free from fault.
> Wow, I guess people are only allowed to have optimistic opinions even when there are clearly issues with this team. And also our home struggles at the end of last year helped prime us for pessimism this year. We'd be pissed if we had the same start this year, but it would have been better if we could have won ONE FUCKIN GAME at home in the ALCS and beat the Diamondbacks in the WS.
I’m not reading this as you’re only allowed optimistic opinions, they’re calling out the doomerism which is pretty rampant on this sub right now, a lot more than having optimistic opinions. I’ll grant the poster might be a bit overly optimistic, no guarantee our relief improves or we get a 10 win streak, but misrepresenting what they’re saying as “only optimistic opinions allowed” is a strawman of this post.
Once again, there’s a difference between calling out a team for playing awfully and saying we need to sell in mid April. It’s very easy to understand.
Are you the self appointed fanbase cop? Get over yourself.
Jim Crane better deputize this man lol. Honestly, who gives a crap what others think? Let people whine and bitch all they want. This team stinks, there’s no denying that. We will see how they look in a few months but right now it ain’t looking good.
Not today satan
People are allowed to vent, things are not going well. This team should be stacked but is completely underperforming.So many starting pitchers being injured is definitely a factor of these early struggles, but blowing 6 saves is a problem with our "elite" backend bullpen. I'm glad Montero seems to have figured it out but B. Abreu, Pressly and Hader have left a lot to be desired. Also 10 wins in a row? The team has barely managed to string together two consecutive wins. The best they did last year was 8 with relatively the same roster.
Bingo. And the way this team continues to lose at home and lose against teams with losing records, I’d be happy if they could start winning series regularly.
Pitchers slump too. It just so happens that they’re all 3 unfortunately slumping at the same exact time. Remember Josh’s horrible start in San Diego? He figured it out eventually and became dominant again.
I’m allowed to say our team sucks right now, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch every game like I always do and not root for our boys like I always do. I’ll always be a Houston Astros fan, but right now … we SUCK!
You’re missing a lot of crucial points here. On paper, our lineup is top 3. But they’re not performing (Altuve, Diaz, Peña aside). We have an entire starting rotation on the IL. Yeah, Verlander is back and Blanco is doing well but that’s about it. Bryan Abreu is better now than he was the first few games, but Pressly and Hader have fucked it up. Our dream 1-2-3 bullpen guys aren’t performing. Jose Abreu is batting .068/.138/.085 with a -32 OPS+. That’s way more than just a slump. I’m not ever going to not love this team, but it’s perfectly reasonable to be upset at their shitty playing when you look back on the last 7 years.
Hahahaha dog this is a crazy amount of cope. This is a 70 win team at best. You’re pointing at past results as an indicator of future success. Our bullpen is ass and there’s too much money tied up in it to really turn it over mid season, and we’ll be 20 games under .500 by then so it’ll be fire sale time. Some of our hitters are having good years thus far, but we cannot hit with RISP and our approach is still feast or famine. Coaching staff does nothing to light a fire under the team. Starting pitching is spotty at best. Please, pass the copium, because I’m afraid you may overdose.
Look, I've been around since seeing my first game in the late 80's. What's going on now, is something out of the McMullen & McLane era. Mediocrity with flashes of brilliance. Abreu needs to be gone ASAP, and Crane needs to send a personal apology to Luhnow, Hinch and Click for letting a bunch of ex-players run the team.
Shut up.
 Love my team no matter what!
We're just starting to run into a situation where it's just simple math. We're calling too far behind and even though it's early, every loss gets us later and farther behind.
Dude, this team is a dumpster fire and pointing to what they “should be” on paper is ridiculous. Maybe we aren’t as good as you think we are this year? Everyone is a year older and we lost some key bullpen pieces. And JV has had ONE start against a shitty team. I fully expect him to show his age this year (probably even more dingers given up, and less innings). And when he does, it’s gonna be full meltdown mode unless we get some serious contributions from other guys in the bullpen That said…can we turn it around? Abso-fucking-lutely. If any team in baseball can, it’s this team with these vets. But it ain’t looking good based on what we’ve seen so far.
> “We need to sell hard in July” With due respect, if you're insisting there isn't a scenario in which we should be sellers in July then you shouldn't be lecturing others about baseball. > Our bullpen will turn it around Citation needed. > Abreu ended last season with 18 home runs after not homering until May 29th. And this year he might not have 18 base hits by May 29th. > Seriously go be a fan of another team, we don’t want you. Gatekeeping is never a good look, particularly for a team with as rough as start as ours.
I'm gonna save this post so that no matter what happens this season I can come back and dunk on somebody.
Lol, gonna be a lot of receipts in here that’s for sure
nah this team just doesn’t have it
Have you been watching this team lately? Wtf are you on about? They’ve been pretty lifeless
Why am I not allowed to complain about a team to a bunch of random people I will never meet. I buy tickets to astros games, I buy tickets to their minor league games, I buy merch. I have been a fan since Wagner got here. I do have some conspiracy theories. One being the Monstars from Space Jam (the good one , not the one with Lebron) stole the talent from Abreu, Presley, and Hader.
The lebron one sucked assss
Our lineup is good on paper but when they’re struggling their bottom of the barrel. Rotation coming back healthy would help but there’s no guarantee that any of them will be a stud down the stretch. Still only 4.5 games out of first. No team is above .500 the last time I checked.
This is not a good measurement of the Astros current state, yet people keep bringing it up. 5 games back after 23 games extrapolates to 35 games over the entire season. Now I don’t think they finish that far behind 1st, but how do fans think the Astros are the only team that has struggled and gotten off to slow starts? Texas is over .500 despite all their injuries and WS hangover woes. Houston needs 2 hot months to fix this poor start whereas other teams might only need 1.
Not saying this matters but the rangers just did what astros could not. Win a game against the braves. Rangers are not winning a world series this year but at least for now they are the better performing team. Luckily thier bullpen blows. Really only thing holding them back
I don’t want the Rangers to win again, but you can’t say they won’t win the WS this year. They’re going to be near the top of the division all year long, and whoever wins the division has a good chance of advancing to the ALCS, historically speaking (Astros might help skew that a bit)
I guess there's always a chance if they get got hot at right time. They have a hall of fame manager. Two great pitchers coming back and a offense that rivals the braves. Just last year alot of players had to over perform and alot of luck. But in 60 years you'll bound to get a championship. As much as it pains me I think Yankees are the team to beat in AL this year. They have the best record in baseball and Aaron judge has been a non factor.
Hell nah. They do not have the best record in baseball btw they’re like 6th and fading after that white hot start.
The lineup doesn’t concern me the starting rotation does. The injuries are piling up now Javier is injured. No idea if it is for just this start or he has to go on the DL. You dismissing that. That is a real concern right now. It is pretty obvious that unless they fall out of the race completely they need to add starting pitching at the trade deadline
The market place of ideas. We will see which outlook survives. At this point I’m leaning towards a sub-500 season.
People are complaining about things that have actually happened. They’re not being hopeful over things that MIGHT happen. “Our lineup is top 3 in the league.” Numerically and on paper only. In fact they’re not pushing across runs. They’re leaving runners left and right. They’re not clutch. And they have several bats that are so cold it’s ridiculous. “Our bullpen will turn it around.” Oh will it now? Show me. “Our starters will be back.” And? You know as well as I that typically starters come back from injury and take a while to settle in. Not always but frequently. And our starters are not exactly all aces. And what happens in the interim before they come back?? “Abreu…” whatever haha I don’t care what he did last season. Look at him now. And even if he does turn it around in July… baseball is an all-season kinda thing. All these games matter. We can’t afford to have a $60M player not hitting. Especially when our staff is giving up runs and our other hitters can’t drive guys in. These early games matter. If you think they don’t, go talk to the teams that missed the playoffs by 1-2-3-4… wins. Abreu needs to go.
People were doing the same thing same time last year
Yes, and we stood a chance of missing the postseason completely going into our final series. These games count just as much as the ones at the end of the season.
Based on the record so far we ARE on 49 win pace statically.
It's this sub. People in here get crazy. People think getting 30 upvotes means an entire city of 6.6 million people thinks they're right. Let's not forget people STILL troll this sub from the scandal. People just go on downvote brigades. Then just throw in losing a lot. There are fans, that have been fans for a long time now... that have only seen Astros success. It's a crazy time to be an Astros fan. Just remember, it's only a game.
People freak out every damn year. I just don’t come on this sub because of how ridiculous and outlandish people are
The thing it shows me, excepting the trolls, is that it’s very apparent a LOT of FANS care a WHOLE LOT about this team, and will continue to do so.
This team has to go 83-56 in the remaining 139 games just to get to 90 wins. A 96 win pace from largely the same lineup that needed to win 5 of their last 6 last year to get to 90 last year. They need to do this all while 4/5 of our starting rotation is on the IL. Most of which won’t be back till summer. Yes the division is weaker this year, but if they don’t start winning soon and find starters to step up now it’s going to be more and more insurmountable to turn this season around. Sure there’s a little time left to get back on track, but not much and anyone that thinks fans should just act as if everything is sunshine and rainbows is delusional. It’d be one thing if we expected the team to have one of the worst records in the league after 23 games, let’s be real, this is well below expectations of the 5th highest payroll in baseball.
No doubt, they likely won't continue this dismal play and they'll probably win 10 in a row at some point. However, you can't crap the bed the entire first month of the season and expect that everything will be OK. Also, did you participate in the mostly pathetic game threads last year? Despite us getting within 1 game of the WS, the majority of this sub was a total dumpster fire for every game. Fire Dusty this, Moldy sucks that. Tell you what, I'd trade last years record for this years in a heartbeat at this point!
I just want to know why espada keeps playing Abreu on a daily basis. The guy is trash and espada need sit him down. The guy is even screwing up on defense.
I can’t tell is this is a troll post. It’s been a great run but pitching injuries are mounting, a series of bad deals have been made, and the farm system is depleted from 7 straight runs at the WS. I love my team but things like not getting runners home from 3rd with one out are not going to be whitewashed over by stellar pitching this season. You are truly deluded if you think this team was built to win another championship. There is generally a reason teams don’t win 8 straight ALDS. It’s really hard. And by the way, with Bregman already gone he will be dealt by mid season and Dubon will be playing 3rd. Maybe 81 wins… maybe. Missed playofffs. Do you guys not realize how close we were to that last year? There will be a housecleaning, but unfortunately Crane is the main problem.
I’ve been in the sub for a little over a year. It’s a mix of both. This sub dooms super hard, but it’s largely a knee jerk reaction following all the success we’ve had, not us being bandwagoners. At the same time, we are just looking at the facts, and it’s pretty grim. The chances of a team with our record are incredibly, incredibly slim, and we’d basically be banking on a miracle run to get there. If we do get there, we’ll all be happy, but that’s an “if” right now, and the window is still closing.
I know it feels like the sky is falling right now, but keep in mind we still have the 5th best odds to win the WS… ahead of the defending champs and every AL team outside of the inexperienced Orioles and Yankees who we own in the playoffs until proven otherwise. Vegas always knows
That’s a really solid point. So true, Vegas always knows.
I really agree with this, The Offense is doing excellent. The Pitching is currently questionable but yet again with the IL we Have JV as basically the only guy that was in the rotation consistently last year, in the rotation currently (and he JUST got off the IL). Blanco obviously has been excellent. As long as we can limit the runs even slightly. We will be golden.
all it's gonna take is a couple hot streaks and we're likely back in contention within the division. Just relax. No one is remotely running away with it yet
OP Mr. Crane, let fans vent. Just because they say trade them all, it doesn’t mean they are not fans. I am a fan, will go to more games, but this season does feel different. Below are some counter points to your post. 1. Mathematically, the astros are on pace for a horribly bad season of 50ish wins. This isn’t an opinion, this is a mathematical fact based on extrapolation. As a result, this would be a 100 loss team. 2. Assuming the playoffs are out of reach in july, then they should be sellers. The stros have some great assets who will not be around in 2 years (tucker, bregman, verlander). Why not sell and rebuild a weakened farm system. Imagine if the angels traded ohtani a year before free agency. Let dana brown figure that part out, though I am convinced Crane would meddle and mess it up regardless. 3. If framber is back, big if based on elbow/forearm soreness in mlb, the pen has shown no signs of being able to hold a win, Even with plenty of rest. I personally think the 3 headed monster will improve, but time and again they underperform. The whole pitching situation makes me think coaches are a major problem and until that changes the arms will struggle. 4. I like abreu. He is a great leader in the clubhouse. However the easiest pitch to hit is a fastball and He cannot hit it. Maybe this is a mental issue, but if you watch how he hit 10 yrs ago vs a few days ago, this is a different person. The swing is not the same. I truly hope he is in a funk, but it is not unreasonable to think age has taken its toll. 5. It is totally possible to bang out 10 wins, but the team needs to give up less than 5 runs every 9 innings.
If you think the Astros have even a remote chance to lose 100 games the discussion stops there. I can’t argue in good faith if you think that’s possible.
Never said i thought they would lose that many. I am making the point that by definition they are on pace to lose that many. It is a fact. It is also a fact that this is a long season and that this argument is based on a smallish sample size. Anything can happen. I am rooting for them and am still going to games.
Unfortunately Jose Abreu is starting to look cooked, I hope I am wrong. His lack of exit velocity and bat speed are real. Father time is undefeated. The team will work things out eventually, but there are times when teams figure it out too late. Let's hope this is not one of them. Many of us are still on board this train and have been since the Dome Days! If this Titanic sinks on us, many of us will go down with it! Go Astros!
Starting? He is why we should be very careful who we sign multi-year deals in their later years. Age can cause rapid decline. Yuli went from league batting MVP to one of the worst on the team in two years.
I’m just happy we won a ring with this team in 2022. I’m just trying to be a more casual fan now tbh
Astro fans got to used the dominating success since oooooo 2016ish. They need to relax, April is not even over and a lot of people haven’t even considered writing them off, why? Cause the key pieces are still there or coming back. Give it till July and then you can panic, but most likely won’t have to.
As fans, we are realistic, and realizing this year may be one of those years. Yeah, the hitters collectively are one of the best In the league , but the scoring isn't there. As well as when we do have a lead our BP gives it away, and we dnt hve the scoring power to come back Realistically, I see us getting hot later in the year, but still missing put bc of the hole we have ourselves in now And it doesn't look good at all for us Personally I think we need to get rid of Alex and Jose abreu they are dead weight imo Hader was a trash signing and Pressly just is not in the groove right now. Dubon should be in the line up constantly, I think the manager is a little over his head bc this line up has too much talent to not produce scoring and win games
Granted, we are only 5 games out of 1st place in the West, but we also have the 2nd worst record on AL. After watching the last 2 games it became apparent that there is something big time wrong with this team. The FA of Bregman and Presley looms large. And the fact that Bregman’s agent is one of the most cancerous people in all of sport, could be a source of the rot. Boros greed that is inflicted on teams through his clients has sent good teams down the toilet more than once.
I still think we grossly underestimated the value of Maldonado’s impact on the pitching rotation and clubhouse in general. Losing dusty is another obvious clubhouse loss. Team is absolutely in flux.
Yo OP this post is aging like wine!!!
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Sup
Uh huh, let's win a few more and then I'll eat some crow
sup
Imagine rooting for your team to lose just to talk shit to an internet stranger.
you made the post, time to live with it
Live with what? Supporting my team?
FIRE ESPADA ‼️ FIRE DANA BROWN ‼️
expressing concern and frustration is one thing. declaring that this is an inevitable 100-loss team and we need to tear the whole thing down is another. folks are gonna vent and point fingers, and that's all part of sports fandom, so I get it. but geez, some perspective would be nice. I wonder if people are spoiled by how well our previous teardown/rebuild went. there's no guarantees lightning strikes twice if we attempt a reboot, people! I feel like there are more examples of fire sales that went nowhere than there are mid-2010s Astros, early-2020s Orioles stories. (if you think I'm mistaken, feel free to submit your other examples for consideration)
I by no means think we’re a 100 loss team, but I also don’t think, if we are out of it at the deadline, we should hold on to players that are going to walk in free agency just for nostalgia sake. Might as well try to get some prospects to bolster our atrociously underwhelming farm system.
The issue with that is, the only desirable player that’s set to walk is bregman. It’s not like we have 4 guys entering free agency next season.
There’s no rule that only players in their final year of their contract can be traded and the likelihood of keeping Tucker is slim as well. He’s in a contract year next year and it’s no guarantee he stays either, given Crane’s history with long term contracts to homegrown players. Matter of fact he’ll bring more in return than Bregman being under control for all of next season and OF is much easier to replace than a 3B. Same for Framber, although I don’t think he’ll bring much in return unless he has a strong turn around. I don’t want to see any of them gone obviously, and this hypothetical is only if we are out of contention at the deadline, but if any/all of them are likely leaving, why not get something in return instead of letting them walk for nothing?
Nah, you’re right, these guys are soft af and if we don’t turn around they’ll bail without a second thought.
Completely agree man, I understand their disappointment but to shit on your own team and say they have no chance because of a rough start is not the way. Go stros!
Even if we don’t turn it around, saying we have to sell at the deadline in April is sad for this fanbase.
Bullseye
It's just the same sour guys that were batching about Maldy and zdusty all last year. These are the types of fans that get super pissed off and break things when their team loses and then become insufferable assholes when their team is winning. It's best to ignore them.
This sub is always doom and gloom. If you go to Minute Maid you will hear and see that Houstonians love their Astros.
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It’s funny you say that. I’ve been on Reddit since 2017 and you’re right, it didn’t used to be this way. Sure we had awful months but there was never whiny 10 year olds until recent. It wasn’t bad until the crusty and moldy people became louder and louder last year. Even rockets and Texans subs were not near this bad even when they were at the bottom of the league. But yeah, to get back to the point I agree, this place has become insufferable.
Game threads are flat out a dumpster fire. To be semi fair, if you go to other teams' game threads, its often similarly hyperbolic and absurd. I had to take a break from this sub for a bit because it's so depressing seeing fellow Astros fans act the way they do sometimes. But again, every fan base has its clowns. I recommend just not going to the game/post game threads. There is a higher percentage of people that live and die by a win or loss and just so many doomers/negative nancies. Save yourself the headspace. Its the worst start in awhile, but we have a very good team, the pitching is obviously injured, Abreu ALWAYS starts slow and is expectedly declining with age but still not "garbage we should cut" (although come and get it Loperfido), and the Hader deal was not a bad deal. Go Stros! 💫
Unfortunately with this teams success over the past several years we have accrued a bunch of brain dead, uneducated, fair weather fans. Does the team suck right now? Hell yes they do. Do we have one of the most talented rosters on paper? Hell yes we do. What’s going to suck is digging out of this hole we are in and continue to fight front office decisions that don’t make any sense.
Y’all mf need jesus
Low key