The Houston Astros of the American League West

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

I'm watching rn it's a good one

well didnt see that sweep coming

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

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

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

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

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

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

nuts

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

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

200 hits for Altuve

tying runs on in 9th w/ no outs

alas, Springer GIDP, Correa groundout

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

it's getting late early out there

so holy shit future hall of famer jose altuve

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

oh stop that

life can't be all xFIP and wrc Morbs!

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

he is also walking 2x his career rate

goat

McCullers back tonight, tough return to be @ bos

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

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

springer hits a linedrive p much every ab

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

been in the bigs ten days? whatever

these 1980 vintage unis, ow my eyes

Devenski?

carlos gomez dfa'd!

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

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

3 hits from 1000

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

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

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

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

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

gurriel up

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

13 games up

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

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

id put over/under at 105 wins

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

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

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

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

five HRs in a 19-1 win

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

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

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

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

Used these as a general guide:

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