Mmmmmmm baseball!

[Unknownstrohsfan]

At Cacti park of the Palm Beaches, that has a,,,,,,,, weird ring to it.

[wfishtx]

Just glad its finally back. I wish the Astros would have done a little more this offseason, specifically around the contracts of Bregman and Tucker and maybe another starting pitcher, but here we are. No reason why this team shouldn't continue to compete for a WS again this year. Maybe Abreu will actually find his bat and his glove before the All-Star break this year. Maybe Framber has rid himself of the mental demons that have been his demise and hopefully Hader continues to be the best reliver in baseball. A lot of maybes in there, but excited to see just how those things turn out.

[Spinky]

Pitchers and catchers today

[Unknownstrohsfan]

Pitchers and catchers today

How is your squad looking Spinks? I am excited to see if Mcullers is actually a part of the Active roster this year, also am curious to see if H brown will make a step forward or backward as a sophmore.

[Unknownstrohsfan]

Just glad its finally back. I wish the Astros would have done a little more this offseason, specifically around the contracts of Bregman and Tucker and maybe another starting pitcher, but here we are. No reason why this team shouldn't continue to compete for a WS again this year. Maybe Abreu will actually find his bat and his glove before the All-Star break this year. Maybe Framber has rid himself of the mental demons that have been his demise and hopefully Hader continues to be the best reliver in baseball. A lot of maybes in there, but excited to see just how those things turn out.

Really not a lot they could do, given the money they gave Altuve and Hader, they showed good signs by re-signing Dubon. It's only cubic money, but there are limitations. They still have team control over Bregman and and Tucker.

[Spinky]

How is your squad looking Spinks? I am excited to see if Mcullers is actually a part of the Active roster this year, also am curious to see if H brown will make a step forward or backward as a sophmore.

Starting rotation could be a very iffy proposition in the first half of the season. Scherzer had disc surgery in the offseason, out until July or so. DeGrom not scheduled to be back until August (we'll see ) and their signee in the offseason, Mahle, was already on the IL after TJ surgery (WTF?). GM has indicated they're pretty much through with signings, with Jordan Montgomery still out there unsigned. Says he wants to come back to Arlington, but can't believe he's still available at this late date. They're just hoping to tread water and pray for some good health. They've signed a ton of relievers to minor league contracts with invites to camp to try to avoid that train wreck of a bullpen they had last season.

As far as the everyday lineup, pretty rock solid. Their first round draft choice from last year Wyatt Langford could push for a roster spot in the outfield/DH after going from college ball to AAA in one season. Guy can absolutely rake. Other than that, not fixing what ain't broke..

Should be an interesting season, lots of Rangers/Astros games early on.

[WillieT]

Starting rotation could be a very iffy proposition in the first half of the season. Scherzer had disc surgery in the offseason, out until July or so. DeGrom not scheduled to be back until August (we'll see ) and their signee in the offseason, Mahle, was already on the IL after TJ surgery (WTF?). GM has indicated they're pretty much through with signings, with Jordan Montgomery still out there unsigned. Says he wants to come back to Arlington, but can't believe he's still available at this late date. They're just hoping to tread water and pray for some good health. They've signed a ton of relievers to minor league contracts with invites to camp to try to avoid that train wreck of a bullpen they had last season.

As far as the everyday lineup, pretty rock solid. Their first round draft choice from last year Wyatt Langford could push for a roster spot in the outfield/DH after going from college ball to AAA in one season. Guy can absolutely rake. Other than that, not fixing what ain't broke..

Should be an interesting season, lots of Rangers/Astros games early on.

Rangers need Montgomery and another starter, a number 3 at least, if they plan on making another run. They have to many out to start the season, and who knows if they will come back on the timeline they project. Lineup looks solid but pitching is suspect.

[Spinky]

Just like last year, frankly. If Heaney can hold his own, Dunning continues his path from last year and Eovaldi's elbow holds up, they should be able to at least tread water. I'm not confident at all that the trio of Scherzer, Mahle and especially DeGrom will be back on the timeframes they said, old guys take longer to heal. It's time for their highly drafted minor leaguers to step up and make the next move. Especially Leiter!
They have plenty of runs represented in their starters and bench guys, definitely going to need all that offense again. Seager should be good to go early on from his hernia surgery, which they waited until last month to do on an injury from the WS. Have never understood why they do that. That's also what worries me about Eovaldi and his old elbow.

[Unknownstrohsfan]

Rangers need Montgomery and another starter, a number 3 at least, if they plan on making another run. They have to many out to start the season, and who knows if they will come back on the timeline they project. Lineup looks solid but pitching is suspect.

Double digit scores, and triple digit run differentials covers up a lot of pitching problems.

[WillieT]

I still believe the old adage, good pitching beats good hitting. They have a great every day lineup, but they lack pitching depth, especially to start the season.

[Unknownstrohsfan]

I still believe the old adage, good pitching beats good hitting. They have a great every day lineup, but they lack pitching depth, especially to start the season.

Umm, Score board, How many times did Spinky cry about that give it away bullpen, and yet they had the best, which wound up being second best run differential in baseball. The best defense is a good offense. All boils down to the same thing, you make it to the post season, all bets are off, it's a brand new season and anything can happen.

[WillieT]

Umm, Score board, How many times did Spinky cry about that give it away bullpen, and yet they had the best, which wound up being second best run differential in baseball. The best defense is a good offense. All boils down to the same thing, you make it to the post season, all bets are off, it's a brand new season and anything can happen.

You gotta get there first.

[Spinky]

Umm, Score board, How many times did Spinky cry about that give it away bullpen, and yet they had the best, which wound up being second best run differential in baseball. The best defense is a good offense. All boils down to the same thing, you make it to the post season, all bets are off, it's a brand new season and anything can happen.

Do we know you from a different life??


Anyway, hell yeah I whined about their bullpen all season, they were horrible. They had the worst save percentage of any team to advance to the playoffs EVER. They were absolutely flammable. If they had even been average, there wouldn't have been an AL West stretch race, at least not for first place.
Whatever happened in the playoffs, who knows? Leclerc and Sborz somehow found the strike zone and good things started happening. And yes, their offense hid a lot of shitty pitching along the way, no question. No reason the offense should drop off much this year, but it'd really be hard to match last years output for sure. Just hoping they can build on Leclerc's newfound confidence and find some other workable arms from the parade of guys they're bringing in for the bullpen. They're going to need some good long relievers, especially in the first half of the season.

[Unknownstrohsfan]

World series bound' up 7 -1 in the 5th the first preseason game.