In Through the Out Door

When Led Zeppelin released their 8th studio album back in the summer of 1979, they were reflecting upon some of the recent struggles the band was going through. Oddly enough, the biggest of these involved two of the biggest guarantees in life: Death and Taxes. Not surprisingly, the band broke up two years later. Some close to the band speculate that the recording helped awaken something within all of them. Perhaps it was stress or creative differences? It is hard to say for sure.

The Houston Astros, similarly, are dealing with some early struggles of their own. Brian McCann has not gotten a hit yet this spring. Yuli Gurriel went under the knife, the fight for his spot at first base is heating up among the likes of three players. They include J.D. Davis, Tyler White and A.J. Reed. (More on him shortly!) Additionally, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, is having his own struggles behind the plate, giving up a passed ball and striking out 4 times across his first 11 at-bats. The defending champs are certainly going through some early motions right about now.

Despite this, there is no reason for anyone to really fret. Rather, it is a chance for some kinks in the hose to be undone as early as possible in time for Opening Day. I still very much believe that all things will come into place by the time the end of the month rolls around. Skipper A.J. Hinch knows how to solve any puzzle put in front of him. I mean, he was instrumental in getting this team and city it's very first World Championship, so nothing should be out of his reach.

There is one grey area that seems to be getting a little too dark. It involves A.J. Reed. Just this morning, I had my latest House of Houston post sent out about how I feel on the matter. You can feel free to take a look at the tweet link below:
Here's what it boils down to. Reed has not made any of the necessary adjustments that a hitter needs to make. Not only that, but he his a liability on both sides of the ball. There are reasons that he hasn't made the big league roster over time, with the exception of 2016. The biggest is the lack of adjustments. Does he show signs of being a solid major league player? Of course, he does. Left-handed power is especially rare in this game.

What Reed has in power, he does lack in almost everything else. His contact percentage is below average, his strikeouts are well above what they should be, and he's not all that quick with the glove, either. For a team that has players like Davis and White, who have both made adjustments and are incredibly versatile in the field, there is almost no need to even have a player like Reed around anyways. That's not a knock on Reed himself. It's just the truth, and we all know it sets people free.

I know there are a lot of people out there wanting to see Reed full time in an Astros uniform. And maybe with enough time, that could still happen. But I am of the opinion that he should be used as trade bait for a pitching prospect. In my HOH piece, I suggested the Chicago White Sox because, as a native of Indiana, Reed can be with a team that is close to where he and his kin live. They can come and see him in more games, and everyone would be happy. That would include Reed himself, I would imagine.

Only time will tell what actually takes place. But with everyone putting in so many chips on Reed over other players, I have to speak up and say something about it. Think clearly, Astros fans. Do we really want a duplicate Chris Carter or Jon Singleton? All power and nothing else? This has resonance when it come to Evan Gattis, because everyone screamed that about him for the longest time after his first season in H-Town. Even though he has made adjustments, there are some out there that still want to label him the same way. There are clear differences between these two players, and really anyone else on the 40 man roster, compared to Reed.

This is one struggle that the team does not have to keep enduring upon themselves. Hinch said he would give him opportunities, but Reed has, so far, squandered every last one of them. Something needs to awaken within this ball club and organization to throw in the towel and ship Reed off to another team he can crack the major league roster on. I'm sure plenty of AL teams can use a 1B/DH type of player. The organization just needs to shop around.

Original Photo Credit: Joel Auerbach of Getty Images

The seemingly shaky ground is about to even out! Let's just hope the right decisions on things are made.


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