Astros Crawfish Potluck: March 7th, 2020

Spring Training is in full effect and it’s been exciting to see that the Astros’ pitching has been rather on point. There’s a lot to be excited about for the team with the race for the 5th starter going strong. It seems that Josh James has emerged as a strong contender but its not quite a done deal just yet as we still have about two and a half weeks before Opening Day is officially upon us.

While the Spring Training exhibition games has been a little tiring with all of the booing and unending stories about the cheating scandal, there has also been a slowly growing feel of a return to normalcy. I’ve been enjoying watching Astros games and have even begun watching college baseball because I feel thirsty for more after Spring Training games end. I’ve also begun doing deeper research into individual players as we approach fantasy baseball draft season.

(Speaking of fantasy baseball, Danteslion is setting up a TCB-themed league, so if you haven’t yet you can check out the introductory post here and, if interested, touch base with him about joining.)

Even with all the noise I’m looking forward to this season. I don’t think that the Astros will underperform because of broken morale based around angry fans from other teams. I also think that the narrative of sustained anger across the course of 6 months is overblown as I have trouble imagining teams such as the Tigers filling the stands with angry fans in late August while on their way to a 90-loss record.

We’re also getting to a point where there’s really not much more that can be squeezed from the Astros cheating scandal. I see other stories, such as the Coronavirus and actual baseball being played, eventually pushing it from the forefront of national attention. We’ll see, but either way I’m looking forward to some real baseball being played again, boos be damned.

In the meantime, let’s get the potluck going. As per usual, if you’d like to bring another topic to the discussion please feel free. In the meantime, here are three questions to get us going:

1. Does Josh James have the inside track on the 5th starter position?
2. Would you prefer Stubbs or Straw as the 26th man?
3. Is the Coronavirus outbreak changing your baseball plans?