Yup. There is even a Vegas Prop on how many times they will get Hit by Pitch (the theory being that some teams will be throwing at them on purpose). https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...s-in-2020-season-set-at-83-5-by-william-hill/ But with Dusty on the bench, they should have a good shot in 2020 (even after losing Cole).
Dusty will be good for them. I wanted Buck S but Dusty is fine! The series in NY will be interesting. The fans there are crappy to other teams on any given day, should be ramped up a bit when the Astros get there. Going to be a rough year for the Astro fans even if they win 100 games. Deserved though. And the post season could be epic in drama if everything plays out as predicted. A NY/HOU ALCS and HOU/LA World Series would drive MLB ratings sky high I think.
Pretty simple... compare their home batting averages to their away batting averages. Compare that delta with the averages home/away for the rest of the players in the league. Any outliers get whacked. Also, Clayton Kershaw ought to be able to walk up and kick each Astro player in the nuts that was in the game where ZERO of them swung at his curve/slider. They cheated him and cost him huge in his career.
I like all this, but I think the odds on Houston going anywhere are small. Their home batting averages were off the charts versus away and that's what got them to the Playoffs / Series. They won't have that this year and will come back down to Earth. This year they will actually swing at Curve Balls and Sliders. They swung at ZERO Curves/Sliders against Kershaw... what are the odds? =)
Great point. Cole was loved here but minutes after Game 7 he took off his Astro gear and told reporters he no longer worked for the Astros so lost some fan respect. But then this week came out big to refute the 2019 cheating accusations the NYY are suggesting. That took some mojo as he is of course a Yankee now. So he has some lost respect regained. Will be interesting to see how the fans here react to him at MM Park.
I think the one thing on their side is a desire to redeem themselves by winning it all. I’m not sure they can but it will be some type of advantage I think. Yankees are good but cursed with injuries again already it seems. They can not catch a break. I like Stanton but that guy gets hurt, a lot, and he is built like a marble statue in Athens. Just weird. I’m not sure the Nats won’t be back. They were clearly the best team in baseball the second half of the year last year. Twins will be better. Braves, Cards and Mets as well. Lots of strong contenders. I think Houston loses in the post season, not the WS.
I find the concept of “stealing signs” to be a stretch of credibility. Millions of people watching TV can see the sign the catcher is making, yet somehow that information must be kept secret from the opposing team. Get real.
I think it was just technology catching up with a age old practice of sign stealing. What’s amazing is that no one fully caught on sooner. If a batter can hear the trash cans, so can the catcher and ump. As well as the 1st baseman and ump there. No ideal how they did not notice.
Yup. NYY visits 5/15 to 5/17. Of course, given the nuance of the 5-Man Rotation, it is possible that Cole may not start any of the 3 games at MM. Just saying.
I hope he does. Single game tickets for the season go on sale the 4th. I’ll go to a couple of games at most. Too far and too expensive. Independent League team much closer and cheaper. Sugarland Skeeters. Beautiful ballpark too. :0
I am thoroughly enjoying watching those punks get hit by pitches. I am sure that will stop when the season starts because the MLB will start handing out huge fines so the money threat will stop it. But I would love to see it continue.
It needs to stop. Too easy for a serious a head injury. Nobody wants that. At some point the Astros will have to start to hit opposing teams in retaliation. The injuries will not just be limited to the Astros.