I know it is ST, but I can't help but notice that in the last week of ST when we start playing close to a normal lineup, Loperfido consistently batted ahead of Walker and Diaz in the lineup. Walker and Diaz kept slotting in at 7-8.

I wonder if that trend will continue, either to get another LH higher in the order or to mitigate struggles of Walker/Diaz.

HTownAg98 said:

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It's going to be a lot longer than 15 days. Hence why I said "significant time."

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OK but no one has reported anything to that effect and you just said that's your guess base on prior rehabs, etc. so...

HTownAg98 said:

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It's going to be a lot longer than 15 days. Hence why I said "significant time."

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Man, I missed this in the preseason thread... like see you after the All Star Game?

For you and the poster above, it's my PREDICTION he's going to be out a lot longer than his current stint on the 15-day DL. I'm basing this on how terrible the Astro's staff has been at getting guys back from injury, or just flat-out lying about how bad an injury is. I don't have any kind of inside knowledge, and you didn't miss anything.

HTownAg98 said:

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No, just speculation on my part based on how this team diagnoses injuries.

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Unlike our hitting coach, I will cut the medical staff a break for now...didnt we bsacially replace the entire staff?

Can you not read? I literally said it's my prediction, aka a guess, that Hader is going to be on the DL for longer than 15 days, and I'm basing it on some things that have happened in the past. The only things I'm certain about is the sun will rise in the east tomorrow and I'll die someday.

Maybe just write the initial statement as a guess instead of a fact? or go back and edit it...

It reads like something 2015 would write and even he uses some possibility that what he heard may not be 100%

txags92 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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This thread is in midseason form already

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Can't wait for that first GIDP with RISP.

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I bet that will be Diaz, in the opening series

texasaggie2015 said:

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This thread is in midseason form already

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Oh you WOULD say that.

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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txags92 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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This thread is in midseason form already

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Can't wait for that first GIDP with RISP.

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I bet that will be Diaz, in the opening series

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I hope either Diaz gets it together at the plate this year or that Vasquez has a resurgence in his hitting this season. I am not sure I can watch Diaz flail at pitches in the opposite batter's box with RISP for 4 out of every 5 games for another full season.

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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txags92 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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This thread is in midseason form already

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Can't wait for that first GIDP with RISP.

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I bet that will be Diaz, in the opening series

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"Alvarez at 3rd, Altuve at 2nd, Correa at 1st… zero outs Astros down 1"

- Walker: strikes out at high fastball
- Diaz: rollover grounder to short for a double play

Only four pitchers on this year's 26-man Opening Day roster were on last year's OD roster for the Astros: Brown, Abreu, King and Okert. https://t.co/L3hUoLiSe5

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 25, 2026

Opening Day is gonna be packed! @DaikinPark has limited seats left - standing room only tickets are now available!

🎟️: https://t.co/5Q21bImJDb pic.twitter.com/VtHLpnt9Zq

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 25, 2026

tjack16 said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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txags92 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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This thread is in midseason form already

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Can't wait for that first GIDP with RISP.

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I bet that will be Diaz, in the opening series

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"Alvarez at 3rd, Altuve at 2nd, Correa at 1st… zero outs Astros down 1"

- Walker: strikes out at high fastball
- Diaz: rollover grounder to short for a double play

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Sounds like mid-season form to me.

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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Maybe just write the initial statement as a guess instead of a fact? or go back and edit it...

It reads like something 2015 would write and even he uses some possibility that what he heard may not be 100%

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My God, the original statement was in the three positive/negative predictions that everyone has been doing, and I've clarified it several times in follow-up posts. I don't know how to make it more clear. If you didn't pick that up, that's not my problem.

MY BALLOT
1. Rangers suck
2. Astros winning streak 6+
3. Astros make playoffs
4. Astros score 700+ runs
5. Paredes > 20 HRs
6. Alvarez > 80 RBIs
7. Bregman > 20 HRs
8. Framber > 13 Wins
9. Yainer Diaz > 20 HRs
10. Correa > 65 RBIs
11. Altuve > .275
12. Abreu > 30 holds/saves
13. Hunter Brown > 190 Ks
14. Aggies 4-0 at season end
15. Pena team leader in Batting Average

Tiebreaker #1
Astros 92-70

Tiebreaker #2
LSU scores 27 on Aggie defense

texasaggie2015 said:

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Let's waste no time...

Official Texas Astros Thread Meetup date poll. Which of these four days works best?

A. Thursday, June 4th (vs Pirates) 2 votes
B. Friday, June 5th (vs. A's) 1 vote
C. Friday, June 19th (vs Guardians) 3 votes

Reply with the date (or dates) that work for you and I'll tally them up and pick the date that has the most votes.

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Pick a date and if you want a spirit tagged, married into A&M, board regular who several on here can vouch for, to show up, I'm in.

This is an undertaking. I hope you have some kind of conditional formatting or filtering process to find all the different "squares."

SpaceCityAg05 said:

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I know it is ST, but I can't help but notice that in the last week of ST when we start playing close to a normal lineup, Loperfido consistently batted ahead of Walker and Diaz in the lineup. Walker and Diaz kept slotting in at 7-8.

I wonder if that trend will continue, either to get another LH higher in the order or to mitigate struggles of Walker/Diaz.

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I agree, think that may actually help Walker and Diaz's psyche to be moved down the order a little bit. I think in Walker's case especially, him being new to the team last year, the combination of wanting to perform at a high level to earn your contract and being placed in the cleanup spot (a spot he rarely was in with Arizona), I think caused him to press more.

I don't really have a theory to explain Yainer's historically terrible start to the season last year lol

So gents I've got some findings for the season based off a Simulation on OOTP 27, the most accurate sports sim in the world (according to me)

the good:

1. Altuve has a resurgence with an .810 OPS and a Fielding Run Value of 1.9 at 2B for the season, 5.2 WAR
2. Correa beast mode. .813 OPS, 29 HR, 109 RBI, plays a great 3B fringe MVP candidate
3. Cole- Team MVP. .963 OPS in 109 games, 6.0 WAR, 97% Batting Run Value, 87% fielding run value
4. Hunter Brown- Fringe Cy Young Candidate, 3.04 ERA, 1.1 WHIP in 209 IP
5. Yainier- All star, runner up for silver slugger. 5.2 WAR, 32 HR, 88 RBI, .882 OPS

the bad

1. Imai- electric stuff, walks too many people and gives up the long ball. 5.13 ERA in 190 IP, 5.2 BB/9 10.3 K/9,
2.4 HR/9

2. Hader and Abreu - blown saves galore. 17 between them, Hader especially bad
3. Alvarez - .983 ops.......... in 47 games. Major injuries to hand, hamstring and knee.
4. Walker - negative War, 5% batting run value, 21% fielding run value, 600 OPS.

McCullers, serviceable but 1/4 season missed due to injury
Burrows: meh, 4.81 era in 162 innings but xERA better
Pena- meh, .710 OPS decent SS 1.8 WAR

84-78 record, no wildcard. Mariners are absolutely nuts, Rangers slightly better than us.

Be nice

Here are the Astros' minor-league rosters. Kevin Alvarez and Xavier Neyens are at Single-A Fayetteville. Ethan Frey and Caden Powell go to High-A Asheville. Walker Janek, Lucas Spence, Joseph Sullivan, James Hicks and Bryce Mayer at Double-A Corpus Christi. pic.twitter.com/Qo4Bt0osB1

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 25, 2026

Severian the Torturer said:

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So gents I've got some findings for the season based off a Simulation on OOTP 27, the most accurate sports sim in the world (according to me)

the good:

1. Altuve has a resurgence with an .810 OPS and a Fielding Run Value of 1.9 at 2B for the season, 5.2 WAR
2. Correa beast mode. .813 OPS, 29 HR, 109 RBI, plays a great 3B fringe MVP candidate
3. Cole- Team MVP. .963 OPS in 109 games, 6.0 WAR, 97% Batting Run Value, 87% fielding run value
4. Hunter Brown- Fringe Cy Young Candidate, 3.04 ERA, 1.1 WHIP in 209 IP
5. Yainier- All star, runner up for silver slugger. 5.2 WAR, 32 HR, 88 RBI, .882 OPS

the bad

1. Imai- electric stuff, walks too many people and gives up the long ball. 5.13 ERA in 190 IP, 5.2 BB/9 10.3 K/9,
2.4 HR/9

2. Hader and Abreu - blown saves galore. 17 between them, Hader especially bad
3. Alvarez - .983 ops.......... in 47 games. Major injuries to hand, hamstring and knee.
4. Walker - negative War, 5% batting run value, 21% fielding run value, 600 OPS.

McCullers, serviceable but 1/4 season missed due to injury
Burrows: meh, 4.81 era in 162 innings but xERA better
Pena- meh, .710 OPS decent SS 1.8 WAR

84-78 record, no wildcard. Mariners are absolutely nuts, Rangers slightly better than us.

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If Imai throws 190 innings with a 5.10 era that will mean our offense must be giving him tons of run support

You get 1.8 WAR at SS just standing there. Pena averaged around 3 in the first 3 seasons with an OPS of around .710.

Cole is going to have a hard time winning MVP if he's playing for the Space Cowboys.

MY BALLOT
1. Rangers Suck (Free Space)
2. Astros win Opening Day
3. 90-94 win total
4. Rockies >52 wins
5. Carlos Correa > 15 HR
6. Hunter Brown >14 wins
7. Aaron Judge hits 50+ HR
8. Alvarez to lead the team in RBI
9. Alex Bregman >20 HR
10. Aggie baseball team wins series vs. sips April 10-12
11. NL player wins the HR derby
12. Pena makes the All-Star team
13. Jose Altuve bats .>.275
14. Justin Verlander wins < 8 games
15. Mike Trout plays 100 games or more

PICK BOTH OF THESE

FIRST TIE-BREAKER: What is the Astros' regular season final record? 93-69

ULTIMATE TIE-BREAKER: 27

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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No, just speculation on my part based on how this team diagnoses injuries.

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Unlike our hitting coach, I will cut the medical staff a break for now...didnt we bsacially replace the entire staff?

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Hitting coach is new too.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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This is an undertaking. I hope you have some kind of conditional formatting or filtering process to find all the different "squares."

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I spent about 6 weeks before spring training developing a sophisticated method that will allow me to make quick, accurate updates as needed.

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Lol.
You have a typo at the tip of your finger (there's a period before 25). Just thought I'd point it out if you're using Ctrl+F to find specific values.