Question about Keuchel. I saw he's 6-10 in his last 18 road starts. He's clearly a beast of a pitcher, which makes his struggles on the road that much more confusing. Since I don't really follow the astros at all, I was wondering if any astros fans had any possible explanation for his road struggles.

True, but it's not like he's losing 1-0 ballgames on the road. His ERA, over the last 18 road starts, is right at 4.00. I get that there's usually some increase in these numbers on the road, but his road ERA is nearly 2 full runs higher than his home ERA. MMP always seemed like a hitters park to me, so it just seems odd to have such a disparity in the splits.

it kind of has an unprofessional feel to it. To be so bad away from home. Like road games are not being taken as serious or not being prepared for in the same manner

MMP, for some reason, is always talked about as a hitter's park, but it plays neutral.

Maybe it's just me, but there is something deceptive about the Crawford Boxes that makes it look small. I just looked at the MMP dimensions and I never would have guessed that they were 315.I know that's short, but it's not absurd like I thought it was.

is a *****

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The whole team sucks

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FIFY

Right now, if I'm a starting pitcher for the Astros, I go to the mound all puckered-up in the first inning knowing that I have to be perfect because the offense & defense behind me is highly questionable. Dang, just this past week I've seen two players drop simple infield pop-ups! The starters have got to have zero confidence in their ability to pitch right now.

And while I'm on a rant, I have to this point given Hinch a "pass". I'm not sure about that anymore. I was watching one of the games against the rangerettes and, out of context, an Astro hitter did something good. A run scored. The runner entered the dugout to the high-fives and fist bumps of his teammates but Hinch just stood there, arms crossed, and never once acknowledged the runner. That tells me that there is something wrong with the chemistry of this team and, in large respect, that is his job. A job that he is miserably failing at.

Here's an interesting read on the velocity drops of some of the best pitchers in the league. Seems like it's not a Keuchel thing but a pretty widespread trend.

Just a few notable pitchers who have recognizable velo drops when looking at average fastball velo of April 2015 and April 2016

Gio Gonzalez -2.3
Kyle Hendricks -1.9
James Shields -1.8
Mike Pelfrey -1.6
Chris Sale -1.5
Madison Bumgarner -1.5
John Danks -1.4
Mat Latos -1.4
Felix Hernandez-1.3
Matt Harvey -1.3
Dallas Keuchel -1.2
David Price -1.2

I think it's less Keuchel's velocity going down and more that he is not getting the borderline strike call like he was last year.

Shelled for 8 tonight. Would be shocked if he isn't on the DL soon.

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I think it's less Keuchel's velocity going down and more that he is not getting the borderline strike call like he was last year.

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This. The calls he is getting this year are not anywhere near the same as he got last year.

Doesnt rule out other causes, but this is primary IMO.