Post by joshsbix on Oct 16, 2023 7:37:35 GMT -5
As the kids say, one more sleep until the deadline. As the hours countdown to the non-waiver trade deadline, the Astros are reportedly taking offers for their veterans. There has been reported interest in Cliff Lee and Jason Isringhausen, however, there have yet to be any reports of anything official.
This is the official proverbial white flag. The Astros went for it, fell flat, but have a lot of guys under contract. There is no rush to get deals done, the offseason is looming and there will be some cap money available. There will be another injection of Pittsburgh cash next year, so financially things are looking ok. If the right deal presents itself, the Astros will be willing but now doesn't have to be the time. It is likely to be be another interesting offseason for the Astros and another dull deadline.
In a rather dull sim, the Astros split with the Marlins. In typical Astro fashion, they gave up 12 one game and scored 11 the next. Both games were decided by 5 runs or more.
The Astros have 3 games coming up and then 4 games against Philadelphia in Philly. As things are going, they will be lucky to find themselves only 14 back. The Phillies are a hot or cold team as we have established in our previous biased preview. The Astros offense is mostly cold and sometimes room temperature warm.
To save the Commissioner clicks, and prolonging his anti arthritis days, I am going to do the Biased preview for the series here as well. Please consider this upon grading!
The Phillies come into the series using a 4 man rotation and there is no rest day between now and the Astro series. Unless a 5 man rotation is implemented before the next sim, here are the scheduled pitching matchups.
Derek Lowe is slated to start game one against Cole Hamel.
Lowe has been hot and cold recently. He hasn't seen the Phillies this season but has had a pattern of hot and then cold starts. He is due for a good game if the pattern continues. Astros take the series lead 1-0
Brian Anderson gets the nod in game 2 and he will be opposed by John Thomson.
The defense completely failed Anderson in his last outing where he allowed 5 unearned runs and was lifted with 2 outs in the first. The Astros went on to win 11-6. Hopefully the 6'1" lefty has another good start in him and the bats can keep giving run support. Astros win in extra innings. 2-0 series lead
Bronson Arroyo will go for what hopefully a meaningful game, at least in this series game 3 against Chris Young.
Arroyo had a really nice outing, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings against Pittsburgh. The key to this game will be the offense. Young has shown recently that he will give up some runs. However, that Philly offense has bailed him out scoring 24 runs in his last 3 starts. If Arroyo can limit the Philly bats, and thus their run game, the Astros win game 3 to go up 3-0 in the Series. It is worth noting that Arroyo
Game 4 starters will be Rookie Dontrelle Willis against #1 Starter Bobby Madritsch
The D-Train may be in over his head here. Madritsch is looking to bounce back from a performance where he was failed by his defense. He will be likely be a tough nut to crack as he has given up 2 runs or less in 70% of his starts this year. Phillies win game 4. But it doesn't matter because the Astros take the series 3 games to 1
It is worth noting that the Astros and Phils met for a 3 game series in April that the Astros won 2-1. The two starters for the wins were Arroyo and Lee. Lee won't get a go this time around but let's see how it goes.
This is the official proverbial white flag. The Astros went for it, fell flat, but have a lot of guys under contract. There is no rush to get deals done, the offseason is looming and there will be some cap money available. There will be another injection of Pittsburgh cash next year, so financially things are looking ok. If the right deal presents itself, the Astros will be willing but now doesn't have to be the time. It is likely to be be another interesting offseason for the Astros and another dull deadline.
In a rather dull sim, the Astros split with the Marlins. In typical Astro fashion, they gave up 12 one game and scored 11 the next. Both games were decided by 5 runs or more.
The Astros have 3 games coming up and then 4 games against Philadelphia in Philly. As things are going, they will be lucky to find themselves only 14 back. The Phillies are a hot or cold team as we have established in our previous biased preview. The Astros offense is mostly cold and sometimes room temperature warm.
To save the Commissioner clicks, and prolonging his anti arthritis days, I am going to do the Biased preview for the series here as well. Please consider this upon grading!
The Phillies come into the series using a 4 man rotation and there is no rest day between now and the Astro series. Unless a 5 man rotation is implemented before the next sim, here are the scheduled pitching matchups.
Derek Lowe is slated to start game one against Cole Hamel.
Lowe has been hot and cold recently. He hasn't seen the Phillies this season but has had a pattern of hot and then cold starts. He is due for a good game if the pattern continues. Astros take the series lead 1-0
Brian Anderson gets the nod in game 2 and he will be opposed by John Thomson.
The defense completely failed Anderson in his last outing where he allowed 5 unearned runs and was lifted with 2 outs in the first. The Astros went on to win 11-6. Hopefully the 6'1" lefty has another good start in him and the bats can keep giving run support. Astros win in extra innings. 2-0 series lead
Bronson Arroyo will go for what hopefully a meaningful game, at least in this series game 3 against Chris Young.
Arroyo had a really nice outing, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings against Pittsburgh. The key to this game will be the offense. Young has shown recently that he will give up some runs. However, that Philly offense has bailed him out scoring 24 runs in his last 3 starts. If Arroyo can limit the Philly bats, and thus their run game, the Astros win game 3 to go up 3-0 in the Series. It is worth noting that Arroyo
Game 4 starters will be Rookie Dontrelle Willis against #1 Starter Bobby Madritsch
The D-Train may be in over his head here. Madritsch is looking to bounce back from a performance where he was failed by his defense. He will be likely be a tough nut to crack as he has given up 2 runs or less in 70% of his starts this year. Phillies win game 4. But it doesn't matter because the Astros take the series 3 games to 1
It is worth noting that the Astros and Phils met for a 3 game series in April that the Astros won 2-1. The two starters for the wins were Arroyo and Lee. Lee won't get a go this time around but let's see how it goes.
