What is Astros Open Forum?

The level of knowledge among regular contributors to the Crawford Boxes is off the charts. So from time to time, instead of the staff at TCB telling you what we think, we’d rather hear what you think.

Every week we will try to host the Astros Open Forum, a chance for TCBers to share their wisdom on topics of Astros interest. We encourage well reasoned, well researched responses to our inquiries, either in the comments below, or in the Fanposts. We would like to post the best Fanpost responses to the front page.

Today’s Topic: Who should be Starting in the Outfield for the Rest of the Season.

We won’t be discussing World Series MVP George Springer here. But after him the choices become a bit murky. Josh Reddick, who makes $13 million, is customarily considered a lock on the second position, but a case can be made that he is the fourth best outfielder this year, behind Marwin Gonzalez and Tony Kemp. Furthermore, Kyle (Ted) Tucker, although sporting poor results in his brief tryout in the Majors earlier this season, was demonstrably the victim of bad luck, and after his return to AAA put up huge numbers there. Does Tucker, the future of the Astros outfield, deserve another shot when the AAA playoffs end?

I did not mention Jake Marisnick here, but feel free to add his name to the mix if his game winning catch in Boston Saturday night convinces you that his defensive contributions outweigh his offensive liabilities.

Below is a chart with some basic stats for each player. Our well informed readership will no doubt want to delve into deeper statistical analysis.

Note: Kyle Tucker had 24 home runs in AAA.

So who are the top three outfielders as the Astros struggle against the Oakland A’s for the AL West Division title? Which two sit on the bench.

Leave your comments below.