Neo Workxx » Every two weeks let’s update the performance of the Astros;

who’s hot Edinson Volquez Jersey , who’s not, and how they compare to the league"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Houston Astros NewsGame ThreadsHouston Astros Minor LeaguesAstros Game DayPodcastsAstros Trending: Bi-Weekly ReviewNew,24commentsEvery two weeks let’s update the performance of the Astros; who’s hot, who’s not, and how they compare to the leagueCDTShareTweetShareShareAstros Trending: Bi-Weekly ReviewThe joy of the Astros is contagiousErik Williams-USA TODAY SportsLast year I wrote Astros Trending as a weekly update for Astros fans to keep track of the statistical trends of our favorite team. I wanted to have a place where fans could go, not just to find basic individual and team statistics, but to see how the team was trending. And not just against itself, but also in comparison to the rest of the American League. As an analytically oriented Astros website, this column is designed to provide periodic statistical ballast to our opinions, and thereby help us guard against false impressions.This year I’ve decided that a weekly update is too often, that a longer period of study reveals more meaningful trends; more than one starting appearance, a better mix of home and away games, etc.This is the first installment of Astros Trending for 2019, and after two weeks the Astros have a .615 winning percentage, not far off season expectations, and therefore a pretty good baseline. Record:W-L 8-5, 2nd in AL West, 4 games behind Seattle MarinersPythagorean W-L 7-6, 51 Runs, 44 runs allowedTeam Hitting:Astros Hitting through 4-11TeamOPS/rankwRC+/rankruns/rankk%/rankHR/rankBABIPTeamOPS/rankwRC+/rankruns/rankk%/rankHR/rankBABIPDespite a very weak opening road trip, the Astros have finished this two-week period near the top in most hitting categories, except runs. That’s because they remain near the bottom in batting average with runners in scoring position, 14th in the AL at .187. The Mariners are tops, at .305. The Mariners are tops in most other hitting categories as well: runs (110), Home runs (34), wRC+ (157), ISO (.263), about .80 higher than the Astros.Individual Hitting:Although I wouldn’t have been able to say this last Thursday, if you’re an opposing pitcher, this is a scary lineup. Five starting players are hitting over .300. Three players have OPS over .900 and three more over .800. Those six batters happen to be hitting 1-6 in the batting order, followed by Yuli Gurriel Kendall Graveman Jersey , .758, and Josh Reddick, .303 BA.And if Jake Marisnick gets in, he has started out red-hot as well. He leads the team in OPS at 1.087, although in only 21 PA’s. He is showing much better contact skills so far this year, making contact 74% of the time, compared to last year’s 67%. He is also displaying far more plate discipline. His first strike percentage is 47.6%, down from 60.4% last year and best on the team. His swinging strike percentage is 12.8%, down from 16.8% last year. Standard small sample disclaimer applies.For all the Jake skeptics out there, I must mention his unrealistic BABIP; .500. Expect some regression, of course.Another pleasant surprise thus far is new starting catcher Robinson Chirinos, who, besides being a warrior, has a .894 OPS.Among players who qualify, Alex Bregman leads the team in BA, .341, and OBP, .440. Jose Altuve leads the team in home runs with five, which is third in the AL, tied with Mike Trout, and OPS at 1.015.Disappointments so far: DH Tyler White, OPS .593 and C Max Stassi, .205Team Pitching:Astros Pitching until 4-11PitchersERA/rankxFIP/rankSIERA/rankBB%/rankk%/rankPitchersERA/rankxFIP/rankSIERA/rankBB%/rankk%/rankAstros pitching is not as phenomenal at this stage of the season as it was at this stage last season, when it was challenging for breaking records in team ERA. But it is good, in the top fourth in the league in most categories.The bullpen is fifth in ERA, but by peripherals it is league leading in xFIP and SIERA.Overall, the best staff in the AL is the Rays’ by ERA, but peripherals are very close to those of the Astros. The Indians have the best rotation. Who’s Hot and Who’s NotHot:Ryan Pressly, not just no runs allowed, but only half a base runner per inning, 35% K% Jose Canseco Jersey , no walks, an xFIP below 1, (far less than Josh Hader) and SIERA just above 1.Will Harris, no runs allowed, 33% K%, FIP and xFIP 1.60.Collin McHugh, 2.65 ERA with a 33.3% K rate and 0.88 WHIP in 17 IP. His record is 2-1.Overachiever: Wade Miley has a 2.31 ERA but peripherals very close to 4. His BAA is .255. Worrisome: Justin Verlander so far looks like the not so hot pitcher we got from Detroit the year he came to the Astros instead of perhaps the best pitcher in the AL that he has been with the Astros since then. His ERA is 4.24, with peripherals to match. It’s early, but in three games he’s been about as good as Dallas Keuchel was last year, pretty average. Mostly he has had command issues, so perhaps he will find his spots as the season progresses.Not: Rookies Framber Valdez and Josh James, with ERA’s of 6.00 and 7.88 respectively. Both are having control problems, especially Josh James, who walked 17.7% of batters. They have WHIPs of 1.67 and 1.50 respectively, although Valdez’ BABIP is a ridiculous .444. To be fair both pitchers have much better peripherals that ERA.This first two week period justifies this column as a bi-weekly.If I had written about week one, when the team was 2-5, it would have been a terrible tale of gloom and doom.Followed by a week two report about the triumph of a perfect team, 6-0, and comeback monsters.I’ll be back in two Fridays with another bi-weekly update.For now, on to Seattle to put those upstarts back in their place.Go StrosNote: Framber Valdez was optioned since this writing and replaced with Reymin Guduan. Jumping to a pile of potential conclusions based on one measly move."Nick Senzel was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds with the #2 overall pick of the 2016 MLB Draft as a 3B out of the University of Tennessee. Of course, the Reds have Eugenio Suarez tied down to a $66 million contract to be their All Star 3B, which meant that Senzel’s path to playing time in the big leagues was destined to b a quirky one from the start, and it surely has.The stud infielder spent a decent bit of time around the infield while in college, so the idea that he could simply slide over to 2B as a way to shovel him into the big league lineup was far from farfetched. The only problem with that, though, is that 2B is being manned by Scooter Gennett, the owner of an NL-best .321 batting average and a personal favorite of team owner Bob Castellini, which is a thing that matters in this particular organization. So, the logical next move was to get Senzel some time playing shortstop, since that was the only potential weak spot in the Cincinnati infield. That’s precisely what happened on June 16th, as Senzel finally got a start at SS after returning from his bout of vertigo Jed Lowrie Jersey , going 2 for 5 with a dinger and 3 ribbies. Of course, if you look back on the 75 games that 24 year old Jose Peraza has played since Senzel made his professional debut as a AAA SS, you’ll find that the incumbent SS has hit a rock-solid .314/.356/.484 in 333 PA, which is more than good enough to warrant holding command of that position going forward.Senzel’s finger injury and subsequent surgery ended his AAA season just a week after that SS appearance, which made moot many of the lingering questions about how he’d fit into this particular Reds team. However, as the folks at Baseball America noticed just yesterday when the Reds released their instructional league roster, Senzel appears set to begin getting reps as an OF, which once throws a giant wrench into how this roster might look heading into 2019.There are several scenarios that could be in play here, so let’s burn through them all.First, there’s the chance that this doesn’t actually change a single damn thing, and that’s a plausible one in theory, I suppose. Gaining experience in the OF might be something the Reds would like to see Senzel get so that they have one more way to work him into a lineup where he doesn’t have a fixed spot, similar to how the Chicago Cubs have managed to integrate Ian Happ into their lineup more often than not, or how the Washington Nationals eased Trea Turner into their lineup here and there before the SS spot was readily available. This, of course, would give him a super-utility role for 2019 until other roster spots may come open due to contract situations, which is feasible in the grand scheme of how big league dugouts run by folks like Jim Riggleman operate. However, it certainly doesn’t seem like the best way to integrate the #4 overall prospect in baseball into the bigs, though for only one season it’s certainly not the end of the world.The next scenario here is one that seems to be more and more likely by the minute - that the Reds are going to keep Scooter Gennett beyond this year, and likely extend him beyond 2019. This would mean that 3B, SS, and 2B are all accounted for not just for an experiment 2019 season in the OF for Senzel, but for the foreseeable future, meaning Senzel is simply going to have to play elsewhere to get into the lineup. Ideally here, Senzel will get a chance to see if his athleticism is good enough to pick up CF with Billy Hamilton entering his final season under team control, as both Jesse Winker and Scott Schebler could flank Senzel in corner OF spots in the newfangled Cincinnati OF. Hamilton, you’ll remember, came up through the minors having played nothing but SS before being immediately thrust into an everyday CF role upon reaching AAA Louisville, so perhaps there is a bit of precedent here.The third scenario would feature Senzel getting time as a corner OF, which is probably the most boring, predictable http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-khris-davis-jersey , painfully obvious scenario here. With Adam Duvall out of the equation, perhaps the Reds see putting Senzel into an OF mix with Winker, Schebler, and Hamilton and rotating them around would work like the early four-man OF rotation worked in 2018 before injuries and trades, but that would seriously put a dent into what Senzel could provide the team defensively, which makes little to no sense. Moving a player that far down the defensive spectrum is one thing, but doing it while keeping a sub-par defender as an everyday regular at, say, 2B while parking Senzel in a corner OF spot on a rotational schedule simply seems like an outright terrible idea. (Not to mention that it squeezes out Phil Ervin, who has played pretty damn well in that role the second half of this season.)The fourth scenario here is one where this all blows over and is forgotten in a hurry, which just might be the most likely despite the concept of him getting any run in the OF sending me into a blathering, 1000+ word dissection of the possibilities. I mentioned Senzel getting a shot at SS for one whole game earlier this year, and that was it - one game, despite there being a reasonable furor around that concept when the Reds first announced it as a possibility. Perhaps that’s all this OF shindig will reveal, too - the Reds giving it some face time, but ultimately conceding that Senzel is an elite bat with the kind of elite defensive skillset that profiles as a 3B or 2B, and settling back on that evaluation. It wouldn’t clear the logjam in front of him for a full-time big league role in 2019, and any Scooter extension would further serve to muddy that, but it might still be their ultimate admission that ‘hey, we have a really, really talented infielder with a really, really talented infield in front of him’ and letting things simply sort themselves out down the road.Fortunately for the Reds, this time around the top prospect they’re moving all over the place is more than just a bat-swinger, and is a plenty capable athlete to at least let our imaginations run. While it would’ve made for quite the formidable offense, seeing Yonder Alonso try to play LF in order to get him into the lineup alongside 1B Joey Votto was painful, but I get the impression that Senzel is going to be just fine with the glove pretty much anywhere he is played, he just simply needs the experience out there before doing it at the big league level. And regardless of where he ends up, he’s going to add a hell of a lot of value to a Cincinnati club that desperately needs it.