Wabs said:

---

Bunch of empty seats in the upper deck in Cleveland

---

There were always empty seats at the opening series day games for the Astros as well. Just a nature of the beast.

So, 2 of the 5 teams in the division are replacing their managers and, so far, we are sitting on our hands.

Do I understand the current status correctly?

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

Wabs said:

---

Bunch of empty seats in the upper deck in Cleveland

---

Can't blame them. Tuesday, noon game and they didn't know they'd be hosting it until less than a week ago

Tigers take the series lead 1-0

Skubal 7 2/3 - 14 strikeouts - 1 earned run on 3 hits. Lawd have mercy.

Cleveland just Astro'd the end of that one. Ramirez on third with no outs and they failed to score.

Jose Ramirez got to third base with nobody out on an infield single/E6 but they couldn't get him home.

Strikeout
FC, got him coming home
Pop out

The general trend in these wild card series is that the home team usually takes the L

I still think we would have won the wild card series if we got in. Especially at Cleveland

This had the feeling of 2020 to me

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

So all of those ground balls hit right at the shortstop should have bounced differently and not been easy outs?

txags92 said:

---

Re: Framber, I am all for offering him the absolute minimum we can in terms of salary for 1 year to meet the QO and not a penny more. The guy is a ticking time bomb on the mound and you never really know which version you are going to get. He can be absolutely nails for half a season, then just fall apart like he did this year, seemingly just by losing it mentally. Add in the likelihood of TJ sometime in his future and I don't want to be tied to him long term.

In terms of hitting coaches, seeing pitches, etc. I think raising your pitch count is only effective if you are using it to get better pitches to swing at. If you run the count to 8 pitches, but 6 of them were well outside the strike zone and you were swinging and fouling them off, you are not doing yourself any favors. The pitcher knows they can keep throwing pitches you can't handle and you will keep swinging. If you run the count to 8 pitches because you watched 3 balls and fouled off 2-4 strikes that you got fooled on, you are forcing the pitcher to give you a strike. Our free swinging lineup has not been very good at "getting their pitch to hit", and when they do, they have mostly missed them.

I don't expect a new coach to come in and change who Yainer is at the plate. He is going to swing at pitches outside the zone because he is not good at recognizing them. But what a good coach should be able to do is convince him to quit trying to pull those pitches to left field. If they are going to pitch you outside, hit it where they pitch you. I also would expect new coaches to work on situational things like elevating in sacrifice situations, hitting behind runners, etc. We were terrible at situational hitting this year and last and it is one of my biggest beefs with the hitting coaches. We would make the same stupid mistakes over and over and over and nobody seemed to be stepping up to try to get it corrected.

---

He doesn't have a high pull rate tho. He goes up the middle mostly.

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

So all of those ground balls hit right at the shortstop should have bounced differently and not been easy outs?

---

Do you think that is what I am saying?

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

Diaz sure has a lot of allowed stolen bases. I wonder what this figure would need to be to equal out his batting? I view him as a catcher with good slug %, but man, giving up all those stolen bases really waters that down.

Farmer1906 said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Re: Framber, I am all for offering him the absolute minimum we can in terms of salary for 1 year to meet the QO and not a penny more. The guy is a ticking time bomb on the mound and you never really know which version you are going to get. He can be absolutely nails for half a season, then just fall apart like he did this year, seemingly just by losing it mentally. Add in the likelihood of TJ sometime in his future and I don't want to be tied to him long term.

In terms of hitting coaches, seeing pitches, etc. I think raising your pitch count is only effective if you are using it to get better pitches to swing at. If you run the count to 8 pitches, but 6 of them were well outside the strike zone and you were swinging and fouling them off, you are not doing yourself any favors. The pitcher knows they can keep throwing pitches you can't handle and you will keep swinging. If you run the count to 8 pitches because you watched 3 balls and fouled off 2-4 strikes that you got fooled on, you are forcing the pitcher to give you a strike. Our free swinging lineup has not been very good at "getting their pitch to hit", and when they do, they have mostly missed them.

I don't expect a new coach to come in and change who Yainer is at the plate. He is going to swing at pitches outside the zone because he is not good at recognizing them. But what a good coach should be able to do is convince him to quit trying to pull those pitches to left field. If they are going to pitch you outside, hit it where they pitch you. I also would expect new coaches to work on situational things like elevating in sacrifice situations, hitting behind runners, etc. We were terrible at situational hitting this year and last and it is one of my biggest beefs with the hitting coaches. We would make the same stupid mistakes over and over and over and nobody seemed to be stepping up to try to get it corrected.

---

He doesn't have a high pull rate tho. He goes up the middle mostly.

---

Not for lack of trying. When you reach out and try to pull a ball 6" outside, you are not going to launch it to left field. You are usually going to hit it weakly on the ground into the heart of the infield defense.

Farmer1906 said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

So all of those ground balls hit right at the shortstop should have bounced differently and not been easy outs?

---

Do you think that is what I am saying?

---

I am saying I don't think the "batted ball" stats that use velocity and launch angle among other things to assess how "lucky" a hitter is tell the entire story.

Chef Elko said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

Diaz sure has a lot of allowed stolen bases. I wonder what this figure would need to be to equal out his batting? I view him as a catcher with good slug %, but man, giving up all those stolen bases really waters that down.

---

Astros pitchers share a lot of blame for the ineptitude of our catchers in throwing out runners. They are almost uniformly slow to the plate and do almost nothing to shorten the lead of the baserunners.

Chef Elko said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

Diaz sure has a lot of allowed stolen bases. I wonder what this figure would need to be to equal out his batting? I view him as a catcher with good slug %, but man, giving up all those stolen bases really waters that down.

---

Yeah, his defensive regression is what bothers me. He's got it in him (blocking and throwing). He showed it. Two things, tho. Our pitchers are deadful at holding runners on. We were 2nd only to the Marlins when it came to preventing bases gained on the basepaths (due to pitchers). One of Yainer's biggest weak spots is becoming less critical - framing. With ABS, I would assume there will be less emphasis on framing and more emphasis on blocking and throwing.

Fair take, not something on the back of a baseball card for the coaches to fix.

I did see the Marlins first and Astros second in allowed stolen bases per game, makes sense. I listen to the games more than I watch them.

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

So all of those ground balls hit right at the shortstop should have bounced differently and not been easy outs?

---

Do you think that is what I am saying?

---

I am saying I don't think the "batted ball" stats that use velocity and launch angle among other things to assess how "lucky" a hitter is tell the entire story.

---

I agree. There are going to be guys who outperform it yearly like Paredes, who turns .010 xBAs into HRs with his crazy air pull rate.

But there are plenty of well-hit balls (even on the ground) that were outs at a much higher rate than league average. The odds are it won't happen like that again.

Look at the 2 seasons below. Can you tell which was 2024 and which was 2025? Without looking, which season do you think is better?

FB%: 23.3 vs 18.7
LD%: 24.9 vs 25.5
GB%: 46.0 vs 51.2
Pull%: 36.7 vs 38.3
Straight%: 40.2 vs 40.5
Oppo%: 23.1 vs 21.2
EV: 89.9 vs 90.2
LA: 10.2 vs 8.9
Brl%: 9.6 vs 7.6
K%: 16.8 vs 17.3
BB%: 3.5 vs 3.9
xwOBA: .340 vs .339
xwOBA on contact: .396 vs .395

Brandon Walter update pic.twitter.com/Ezh2a7CfUf

— CJP64 #correatruther (@TherealCJP64) September 29, 2025

tjack16 said:

---

I still think we would have won the wild card series if we got in. Especially at Cleveland

This had the feeling of 2020 to me

---

While missing the postseason this year basically ended the Golden Era, great things happened after missing it in 2016. I'd guess this may be the most important off season since that year, so hopefully they get this "reset" right across the board.

It's not like this team doesn't have plenty to work with next year, but some guys are obviously going to have to step up to help handle more of the load. Altuve has for so long which needs to change some so he can stay as healthy as possible on the way to 3k hits.

texasaggie2015 said:

---

Mr.Bond said:

---

Joe's gotta go

---

My dad would scream the same thing at the TV watching Fox News around 2022

---

Your dad sounds like someone I want to have a beer with

Farmer1906 said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Farmer1906 said:

---

Offensively, Yainer was the same guy he was in '24 as '25 but with ****ty luck. If he does the same thing (batted balls) in '26, he's likely going to be a top 10 catcher offensively.

---

So all of those ground balls hit right at the shortstop should have bounced differently and not been easy outs?

---

Do you think that is what I am saying?

---

I am saying I don't think the "batted ball" stats that use velocity and launch angle among other things to assess how "lucky" a hitter is tell the entire story.

---

I agree. There are going to be guys who outperform it yearly like Paredes, who turns .010 xBAs into HRs with his crazy air pull rate.

But there are plenty of well-hit balls (even on the ground) that were outs at a much higher rate than league average. The odds are it won't happen like that again.

Look at the 2 seasons below. Can you tell which was 2024 and which was 2025? Without looking, which season do you think is better?

FB%: 23.3 vs 18.7
LD%: 24.9 vs 25.5
GB%: 46.0 vs 51.2
Pull%: 36.7 vs 38.3
Straight%: 40.2 vs 40.5
Oppo%: 23.1 vs 21.2
EV: 89.9 vs 90.2
LA: 10.2 vs 8.9
Brl%: 9.6 vs 7.6
K%: 16.8 vs 17.3
BB%: 3.5 vs 3.9
xwOBA: .340 vs .339
xwOBA on contact: .396 vs .395

---

I think the fact that you can't tell the two apart based on stats like that should tell you something about the value of using those stats to evaluate a season. Hitting it where they ain't is just as important as hitting it hard.

first postseason win for Chicago since 2017

Tucker 0-3 with a K. Postseason has begun.

Wabs said:

---

Tucker 0-3 with a K. Postseason has begun.

---

That post-season for Tucker has been going on for 4 years

By the way guys, I'm already kinda bored despite running Texans Bingo and a Survivor game and playing in the Pickoff and having 2 fantasy football teams and am definitely leaning to whoever said we should have Astros Off-Season BIngo as well.

Any and all suggestions for squares are welcome, although we'll have to either do it really fast assuming the coaches and Espada get retained/fired in the next week or just leave them out of it.

All suggestions welcomed. Free agency starts Oct 31

Wabs said:

---

Tucker 0-3 with a K. Postseason has begun.

---

To be fair, the Cubs struck out 13 times, with Happ and Crow-Armstrong each producing a hat trick.

However, Tucker is a guy that helps you get to the playoffs. Not win in the playoffs.

Wabs said:

---

Tucker 0-3 with a K. Postseason has begun.

---

It has been rough sledding for him since that two home run game against the Phillies

Drunken Overseas Bettor said:

---

By the way guys, I'm already kinda bored despite running Texans Bingo and a Survivor game and playing in the Pickoff and having 2 fantasy football teams and am definitely leaning to whoever said we should have Astros Off-Season BIngo as well.

Any and all suggestions for squares are welcome, although we'll have to either do it really fast assuming the coaches and Espada get retained/fired in the next week or just leave them out of it.

All suggestions welcomed. Free agency starts Oct 31

---

Jerry dipoto or AJ Preller makes a trade.
JV signs with either the Tigers or Astros.

Woah Pujols back in the division...now at manager

Albert Pujols' phone will ring any moment. He will be announced as the Angels' new manager, according @Elreydelaradio. https://t.co/TjN1BXZkBQ

— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) September 30, 2025

Looks like Martin Maldonado is hanging up his cleats after this season! @Padres @astros What a great career he had behind the dish! pic.twitter.com/mEUXboYi85

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) September 30, 2025

Now that is a guy I can see being an excellent manager. Smart guy, game prepper, analytically minded, tough as nails. I would be willing to make him an assistant coach tomorrow.

The question is whether he wants to pursue that path.