Second Half Lions!
In paraphrasing the title of the 2003 film starring Haley Joel Osment, the Houston Astros now begin the second half of the season as bold as lions. Holding the best record in the American League, and only a game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best overall record, the spacemen find themselves in tremendous company for the remaining 73 games of this 2017 season. The pitching has kept it together, while the bats remain a sweltering inferno all around. If any moves are made by the deadline, it would be to add another starter to the mix. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen.
While there is so much good to this team, there are ways they can make themselves even better down the stretch. I took the liberty of highlighting such things in my most recent piece with House of Houston. You readers can check it out in the tweet below!:
I'm not the only one that believes this to be true. Just check out this tweeted story from Astros Insider:
He wouldn't even have to do it completely. Just be willing to take a couple more rest days than he was accustomed to back in the first half of the season. It really isn't that hard. The team may be winning, but Beltran has not been the biggest part of that. Sure, he's mentoring the young guys, but that sort of service is meant for a coach, not a player. Perhaps it's time for folks to accept that Father Time has caught up to him, and that he may best be of service to this team filling in the shoes of Gary Pettis as third base coach.
None of these realizations or ideas are all that asinine, in the grand scheme of things. If Hinch really doesn't want to consider the formula I outlined in my HOH article, it may be time to consider reassigning Beltran to a different role in the organization. You can't trade him or release him, really, unless you just want to eat his contract. Knowing this ball club, they won't do that. So it's time to consider a shake up of things. And no, trading Gattis for ANY reason is not the shake up I'm talking about!
The "don't fix what isn't broken" mentality needs to be abandoned at this point. Beltran is not the same hitter he was, and is the clear weak link in the offensive chain. Instead of constantly trying to justify, and failing miserably at doing so, playing Beltran just for the amount of money he was paid or switch hitting abilities, start playing the better hitter you have in Evan Gattis. He's way younger, and has plenty of more prime years left in his career. Stop restricting his play, and unleash the bear from his cage. We need to hear him roar!
While there is so much good to this team, there are ways they can make themselves even better down the stretch. I took the liberty of highlighting such things in my most recent piece with House of Houston. You readers can check it out in the tweet below!:
Besides for the concerns surrounding pitching, I made it my most determined stance to keep advocating for more playing time for your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis. As much as everyone keeps wanting to harp on Carlos Beltran and his supposed "veteran presence," he's just not cutting it anymore. For anyone that does not have time to read, or doesn't feel like reading, my article, here are the current stat lines between the two players:Via @tvwizard85 - The 2nd half HAS ARRIVED. Here are THREE tweaks they can take to task for continuity. #Astros ⚾️🔥🤔💯https://t.co/56n8Sdgdyr— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) July 13, 2017
Carlos Beltran: .227/.284/.406/.690 82 wRC+ -0.6 WAR 11 HR, 35 RBI
Evan Gattis: .284/.343/.490/.833 122 wRC+ 1.2 WAR 8 HR, 39 RBIYes, Beltran has a few more homers than Gattis does. But honestly, that only comes from him getting more at-bats overall. It also shows that, despite less playing time, El Oso Blanco is putting in more work and producing far superior results when given the opportunities to do so. This should be a big wake up call to skipper A.J. Hinch and Mr. Jeff Luhnow. The bear clearly needs to play more!
I'm not the only one that believes this to be true. Just check out this tweeted story from Astros Insider:
It just does not make sense, or is ethical, to keep benching the bear anymore. Especially, when you also consider that Gattis has the second longest active hit streak in the entire major league. He's only behind Kansas City Royals first basemen, Eric Hosmer. There's no logic, or even justice, in staying this same course with Beltran anymore. I say this with all of the respect and admiration for Beltran's Hall of Fame caliber career. But it's honestly time for him to step aside.Evan Gattis (@BulldogBeing) deserves more playing time in the second half of the season: https://t.co/6nZJOrOQKT— Astros Insider (@AstrosOnScout) July 7, 2017
He wouldn't even have to do it completely. Just be willing to take a couple more rest days than he was accustomed to back in the first half of the season. It really isn't that hard. The team may be winning, but Beltran has not been the biggest part of that. Sure, he's mentoring the young guys, but that sort of service is meant for a coach, not a player. Perhaps it's time for folks to accept that Father Time has caught up to him, and that he may best be of service to this team filling in the shoes of Gary Pettis as third base coach.
None of these realizations or ideas are all that asinine, in the grand scheme of things. If Hinch really doesn't want to consider the formula I outlined in my HOH article, it may be time to consider reassigning Beltran to a different role in the organization. You can't trade him or release him, really, unless you just want to eat his contract. Knowing this ball club, they won't do that. So it's time to consider a shake up of things. And no, trading Gattis for ANY reason is not the shake up I'm talking about!
The "don't fix what isn't broken" mentality needs to be abandoned at this point. Beltran is not the same hitter he was, and is the clear weak link in the offensive chain. Instead of constantly trying to justify, and failing miserably at doing so, playing Beltran just for the amount of money he was paid or switch hitting abilities, start playing the better hitter you have in Evan Gattis. He's way younger, and has plenty of more prime years left in his career. Stop restricting his play, and unleash the bear from his cage. We need to hear him roar!
Original Photo Credit: Michael Zagaris of Getty Images
We Need to See More of This Bat in the Second Half. Make it Happen, Astros Organization!!!!
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