Here's some bonus cards of really, really excellent Astros cards that didn't make the cut!
LINEUP: Lord help opposing pitchers, the Astros lineup arrives at a GAUDY 3,930 points!!! WOWZA this team is loaded with offense, including not one... not two... but THREE OB 10, HR at 17 hitters in the opening four slots. What's terrifying is all three of those hitters are on the current 2019 Astros' squad! Oh and the fourth guy is 2017 MVP Jose Altuve, rocking a highly efficient and quick card with lots of doubles! Sure, Altuve should probably lead off and Bregman should hit second, but Springer is leading off (as is Astros' tradition). With the firepower of this offense, it almost doesn't matter. Following all these big OB 10 bats is a lethal Carlos Correa -- bringing an OB 9, HR at 17 card to the 5 hole. He's followed by another OB 10, the lone player from pre-2015, Lance Berkman. The Houston legend isn't at his peak production years here, but he brings a high OB card who should be a productive RBI guy following the incredible 1-5 of this lineup. Then, a pair of decent speed OB 9, 2B at 15 players are in the 7 and 8 hole! Both Marwin and Michael are likely #2 hitters on most squads, but here they're hitting 7 and 8.... what a deep lineup! Rounding it out is 2018 Maldonado, who got selected by fans over the vastly superior 2019 Chirinos (who would make this lineup incredible with an OB 8, 2B at 15, HR at 18 card). However, Maldo brings a +11 arm, which will limit stealing players to A(22) and (23) guys.... and those guys probably won't want to test his arm. With the pitching as good as it is, definitely devastating to opponents that they're struggle to advance the rare baserunner with a free bag. However, the catcher vote kept the Astros from having the first 4000 point lineup and being the first team over 7500 total points...... But hey, trust in the fans and defense!! Points wise, this is still the best lineup yet, at edging out the OB 9, HR at 17 laden Marlins.
Rotation: Houston brings out an absolutely lethal lineup of Tier 2 aces. They're led by the Colby/Matthew created Dallas Keuchel of 2015! Dallas won the Cy Young and was a foundational part of bringing Houston back to relevancy (and they aaaaalmost knocked off the Royals in the ALDS)! His IP 8 is devestatingly effective too. He's followed by a pair of modern aces with Tier 2, no doubles cards. 2018 Verlander is potent and helped the Wisconsin Wolves' Showdown team take home the giant league that Matt was playing. Cole brings his Cy Young contending card from 2019 to the #3 slot and should strike out/dominate plenty of lineups. Colby/Matthew's 2015 Collin McHugh gives them an incredible fourth Tier 2 starter (and Grinke would be too, as seen above)... McHugh gets the nod with the Control 6 card. Overall, not a weak link to be found -- completely lethal!
Bullpen: Wow, the starting pitching is lights out... and then it gets even better in the bullpen! Houston brings out Tier 1, Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2, Tier 2 for their dominant collection of arm talent. Moreover, they've got three Control 6 guys to bring out and a strong IP 2 pitcher in case someone gets rocked early in a game. That leaves Osuna, who's a completely nasty Control 4 closer. Overall, this is the best bullpen we've released yet and it's for the team that needs the least amount of backend help!
Overall, Houston is easily stronger than the previous All Decade teams (despite essentially being formed out of a half-Decade team). In fact, Houston is the first team to surpass the 7000 point barrierl! At an incredibly 7420 points, the Astros look like a *real* team to beat in the AL West and a superior contender for the All Decade championship! The only weakness to this team is the weak-ish defense and honestly... who cares with a lineup, rotation, and bullpen stocked full of talent.
Here's where the All Decade teams updated point totals so far:
- Astros 7420 points
- Mariners 6880 points
- Marlins 6750 points
- Tigers 6710 points
I’m stumped by a 20 homerun for the 2019 verlander
ReplyDeleteHe got surprisingly lit up by the long ball this year!! Unfortunately finished with 1.5 HR/9, which is the "HR on chart" rate!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, makes him a fascinating card to build a team with -- Pedro with a lot of extra risk!
Alright been overseas for the past two weeks so haven't been able to recap these posts! Sadly my Yankees got defeated as I was standing in line at security at Heathrow- not the ideal place to have such heartbreak...but nonetheless here we go:
ReplyDeleteBatting order:
That 2019 Bregman card is a STUD. Best card on the team with an expected runs created of 6.69 runs, just ahead of Alvarez' 6.46. I disagree on your pick of 2019 Correa over 2017 Correa however with a 5.18 vs. 4.97 runs created and both with +3 defense I think it's worth giving up a bit of pop for that 10 OB and one less out. McCann 2017 comes in at 2.37 runs to Maldonado's palty 1.31, however neither card is going to add much offensively so I absolutely understand taking the ridiculous defense. Stassi's 2018 card does give you about a run extra and +6 arm so that's another option.
Rotation:
Cole's card comes in at the top for me with 5.41 runs, slight head of 2018 Verlander, 2017 Keuchel and 2015 McHugh. 2015 Keuchel comes in at 6.046 runs to 2017's 5.66 does make me a bit nervous given the 3 control. Honestly there's so much depth here it really isn't a big hit regardless of direction you take.
Relievers:
I have Harris 2019, Osuna 18, Devenski 17, Giles 17 and McHugh 2018. Similar to yours, however slightly different. Harris and Osuna are definitely the best two, albeit the others are still very good cards. Devenski comes in at 5.70 runs expected, Giles and McHugh at 5.86. Pressley comes in just below 6 and Gregerson at 6.14.
Overall this team is studly though and they have enough depth at every position except catcher that you really can't go wrong.