Incredible close match up on offensive stats....CLE vs. HOU

[Deleted]

Through 157 games, I could not believe how close offensively we stack up against Cleveland.  Uncanny.
                         Hou.    Cle.

Runs	785	787
Hits	1359	1390
Doubles	276	284
Triples	18	18
Home Runs	199	210
Total Bases	2268	2340
RBI's	751	759
Batting Average	.257	.257
On Base Pct.	.331	.331
Slugging Pct.	.428	.433
OPS	.759	.764

          
        Granted they have feasted on some pretty crappy AL Central pitching, but the offensive evenness makes a compelling matchup for a great ALDS.



                                                        

[Deleted]

On the pitching side..... Not such a close story.


                              Hou.    Cle. 

era	3.13	3.77
saves	43	40
complete games	3	5
shut outs	12	17
inn. pitched	1412	1412
quality starts	100	84
earned runs	491	591
runs	527	628
walks	423	392
K's	1644	1498
batting avg. angst.	.217	.242

Fielding Pct?   Houston has a MLB leading .989. Cleveland, 11th at .986

[bearbryant]

usually a good match when they face-off

[thomasj13]

Sept 26, 2018 9:30:36 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

usually a good match when they face-off

Bernie Kosar days.

[unionstation82]

I miss those days.

[olpapa]

The Clipboard vs Francona matchup concerns me.

[astrosdoug]

Even in the month of September alone, CLE and Astros are looking very similar.

[Saint]

Sept 27, 2018 6:38:20 GMT -6 olpapa said:

The Clipboard vs Francona matchup concerns me.

Francona seems a little overrated to me.  He's certainly a good manager, but he has also been given a ton of talent to work with over the years.  In fact, this year I would even say his team under-performed given their star players and rotation talent. 

[olpapa]

From what I have seen of Hinch and Francona, Francona is better at real-time game management. This is primarily with the handling of the pitching staff. Too often AJ makes a move 2 or more batters too late.

[astrosdoug]

it's really only a matter of how this season goes down in the record books, but one number I'm watching is the Astros team ERA, currently at 3.13. The mark to beat is 3.10, set by the 1980 pitching staff. If the Astros could come close to blanking the Orioles over the four-game series, they might just be able to shave 3 points off the team ERA and match the franchise record.

Even if they don't, this year's pitching staff will always be superior in my mind because the 1980 staff was pitching to other pitchers around 6% of the time.

As a footnote, the 1971 Astros (led by Wilson / Forsch / Dierker) also posted a 3.13 ERA yet the hitting was so poor, the team went 79-83 that year.

[astrosdoug]

Here are the pitching staff's numbers for the second half of the season (post-ASB). I thought these were interesting numbers to look at because they eliminate the results compiled back in April-June when the personnel and health condition of the staff was quite different from where it is today.

I ordered the list by Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) to try to eliminate the effects of certain pitchers playing with the defensive A-team behind them and then others getting backed up by AAA call-ups.

Like any stat, it's not necessarily the case that the pitchers with a low FIP are categorically better than the ones with higher FIPs, but I'm pretty sure this is a stat that HInch and Luhnow look at when they try to put together the postseason rosters.

[astrosdoug]

I don't expect Guduan will pitch in the postseason despite leading off the list Good inning there though, Reymin. It genuinely was a GoodOne.

If Hinch were looking at FIP alone (of course he's not), it would seem that Harris, McCullers, and Sipp are all locks for the postseason in spite of there having been a lot of doubt, for various reasons, about all three.

Smith and James have probably earned themselves spots too, but at maximum there will only be 12 pitchers carried into the ALDS, so 8 and maybe 9 guys on the list above will have to be left off.

Devo has thankfully pitched himself out of the postseason with highlight and underscore. No difficult decision there. In spite of his excellent ERA, Framber's peripherals might be enough to convince Hinch that he's not yet ready for the postseason.

If it were up to me, Rondon would not be carried into the ALDS. He's just too sore by this point in the season to be more than a mop-up pitcher, in spite of having posted excellent numbers in the first half. I'd be tempted to leave off McHugh too but his ability to throw multiple innings, and his postseason experience, might convince Hinch to carry him.

[blcoach8]

Sept 27, 2018 18:35:08 GMT -6 astrosdoug said:

I don't expect Guduan will pitch in the postseason despite leading off the list Good inning there though, Reymin. It genuinely was a GoodOne.

If Hinch were looking at FIP alone (of course he's not), it would seem that Harris, McCullers, and Sipp are all locks for the postseason in spite of there having been a lot of doubt, for various reasons, about all three.

Smith and James have probably earned themselves spots too, but at maximum there will only be 12 pitchers carried into the ALDS, so 8 and maybe 9 guys on the list above will have to be left off.

Devo has thankfully pitched himself out of the postseason with highlight and underscore. No difficult decision there. In spite of his excellent ERA, Framber's peripherals might be enough to convince Hinch that he's not yet ready for the postseason.

If it were up to me, Rondon would not be carried into the ALDS. He's just too sore by this point in the season to be more than a mop-up pitcher, in spite of having posted excellent numbers in the first half. I'd be tempted to leave off McHugh too but his ability to throw multiple innings, and his postseason experience, might convince Hinch to carry him.

I would take Rondon over Harris anytime

[bearbryant]

Ryan Pressly turned out to be one hell of an acquisition

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2018 9:33:03 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

Ryan Pressly turned out to be one hell of an acquisition

Yes he did. Really help bolstered the middle innings.

[Saint]

And then it ended up not close at all in the series. Personally, I highly overrated Cleveland. I expected a lot more from Encarnacion, Ramirez, and Donaldson. Not to mention a stronger game from Kluber and better appearances by Bauer.

[Deleted]

I sure didn't expect a sweep either. Big question is....... are we that good, or were they that bad?

[blcoach8]

Oct 9, 2018 10:53:40 GMT -6 Saint said:

And then it ended up not close at all in the series. Personally, I highly overrated Cleveland. I expected a lot more from Encarnacion, Ramirez, and Donaldson. Not to mention a stronger game from Kluber and better appearances by Bauer.

Good pitching stops power hitters much of the time and it did in this series.  Lindor was basically the only threat Cleveland had.

[bearbryant]

Oct 9, 2018 11:01:15 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

I sure didn't expect a sweep either. Big question is....... are we that good, or were they that bad?

I wonder if the Indians quit on their manager. There were some moves Tito made that left me scratching my head, and I could've sworn Alonso had a pissed look about
not getting a PA in the last game. Just a thought