3 Discussion Topics

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1.) Who is the Astros greatest pitcher of all time?

This should be a really interesting topic, which I hope will spark some lively discussion. Who was/is the greatest Astros pitcher of all time? To try to be clear, I’d like to limit this to what the pitcher achieved while in an Astros uniform. So someone like Randy Johnson would only be judged on his absolutely ridiculous 10-1, 1.28 ERA run with the Astros in 1998, not his full Hall of Fame Career.

Tell us what made you choose the player you did? Something about his pitches? The way he made batters look foolish? Just pure statistical case?

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2.) Will Mike Trout go down as the best player of all time?

The other day, I found an article by the New York Daily News that asked “Is Mike Trout really better than Derek Jeter?” and while the article is ridiculous and I’m assuming satire, especially since it ends with an amusing “Jeter, .310. Trout, .306. Don’t ever waste my time again.”

But when I saw it, it made me stop and think, Jeter isn’t even in Trout’s league, he will potentially go down as the greatest player of all time. And well, that’s a bold statement.

His career .305/.419/.581 triple slash is absurd enough that it was 72% better than the rest of the league in baseball. His 73.4 WAR has already passed quite a few all time greats, and at 28 years old, we can hope that there is still more than half a decade for him to accumulate accolades. Speaking of accolades, since his Rookie of the Year season, Trout has made 8 consecutive All-Star Teams, won 3 MVP awards (with an absurd 4 second place finishes), and has taken home the Silver Slugger every year but one.

Of course, some will knock Trout as the Angels have struggled in futility during his career, which has only allowed him 12 AB in the Post Season in which he hit .083/.267/.333 (this is an extreme case of small sample size).

The other big factor that will come into play is health. I grew up watching Ken Griffey Jr, who through his first 9 seasons (a year younger than Trout) had produced at a .302/.381/.562 pace with 294 HR (Trout .305/.419/.581, 285 HR). Unfortunately as we all know, injuries ended up hampering Griffey’s future years. (Though I still think he had the most beautiful swing of all time).

So do you think we’re witnessing the greatest player of all time? Will his name replace some of the greats or be added to the list when people compare to Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, etc?

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3.) What are your expectations for Garrett Stubbs going into 2020?

With just 39 Plate Appearances, it’s tough to know for sure what type of performance we should expect out of Garrett Stubbs. In his first taste of the majors, Stubbs struggled with a .200/.282/.286 triple slash and while his xwOBA shows he was slightly unlucky, it still pointed to a disappointing performance at the plate. Here were the notes from CrawfishBoxes top prospects post:

“A contact-and-defense catcher, Stubbs has a unique profile but rejuvenated his stock with a strong 2018 campaign. After a 2017 in which he struggled mightily at the plate, Stubbs put together a .310/.382/.455 slash with Triple-A Fresno with a pretty 15.6% K rate. He doesn’t really hit for power- he has hit 18 home runs in four minor league seasons- but is a well regarded defender, has had a double-digit walk rate at every single stop in his minor league career, and has real bat-to-ball skills. Outside of his rocky 2017, Stubbs has hit every stop of the way, and is ready for the show defensively. He’s also a 50 runner, so he won’t clog the bases like some catchers and can even steal the occasional bag. There isn’t a ton of upside here, but Stubbs is big-league ready and could have a long career as the second half of catching tandems. He has some similarities to Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.”