Houston Astros Christmas Wish List for the 2017 Season
Let’s get out our Houston Astros Christmas Wish List for Jeff Luhnow!
Say you’re in Jeff Luhnow’s chair going into the final week of the year. You’ve built yourself a nice little organization here with the Houston Astros. They have surrounded a great group of young studs with battle-tested veterans for the 2017 campaign.
But is it enough?
More from Climbing Tal's Hill
Let’s start with our lineup. After some heavy tinkering this offseason, the Astros looked primed to take on any American League team this coming season. From 1 to 9, this lineup is now stacked with parts to spare, at every position.
To go with their already potent young infield, you’ve acquired veteran batterymate Brian McCann and stacked the outfield with Josh Reddick, Aoki and Carlos Beltran.
Seems good enough no?
Where can we improve?
For starters, our starters, pitching that is.
@cloudnme #Astros starters had 5th-best ERA in 2016 w/ injuries to Keuchel & McCullers. Another SP would be good, but not required.
— Ghost of Tal’s Hill (@TalsHillMMP) December 3, 2016
To contend with the beasts of the American League, namely the Indians, Rangers and Blue Jays, we’ll have to get better in our rotation. Hoping for bounce back seasons from Keuchel and McCullers may not cut it. Hoping for bounce back seasons plus another stud pitcher at the top of this rotation – now we’re talking.
We’ve kicked the tires at Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, Danny Duffy, Quintana, Sale and Yordano Ventura. Sign any one of those pitchers, and you’ve got yourself a well-rounded staff with Joseph Musgrove, Charlie Morton and Collin McHugh rounding up the bottom end.
@brianmctaggart C Archer and S Gray sounds great. Adding 1 of those 2 pitcher is what the Astros need.They have Ace potential. Wat R D odds?
— Gabriel Vargas (@Vargas15Gabriel) December 7, 2016
How about our bullpen?
Ah, the bullpen. As evidenced in this years’ playoffs, the bullpens were absolutely key in the Cubs and Indians’ successes in the postseason. Were it not for a few miscues and overuse of some of their key bullpen horses, the World Series could’ve gone either way.
Mr. Luhnow addressed a glaring need in our bullpen last winter by acquiring Ken Giles from the Phillies. Although he stumbled out of the gate, Giles contained his composure and ended off rather nicely.
The top bounceback stories in MLB this season, from Ken Giles to Zack Greinke: Four weeks into the 2016 seaso… https://t.co/EI3h8JgJlm
— Patty O’Sullivan (@patty_osullivan) August 12, 2016
Losing Pat Neshek will sting a bit, but the nucleus of Giles, Luke Gregerson, and Will Harris should suffice for Astros games’ final innings.
One glaring hole is a lefty specialist out of the pen. Tony Sipp was nearly unstoppable in 2015 but after nailing down a sizable nest egg for his future took a big hit in 2016.
#Astros: A look at Tony Sipp’s 2016 Campaign https://t.co/1EQV3nBpM2
— Climbing Tal’s Hill (@astrosCTH) October 17, 2016
Yes, we did take great strides to making this team a championship caliber team for the 2017 season. Our hitting looks as solid as it gets and our pitching can compete with the best of them.
A few items to add to our Houston Astros Christmas wish list and you can start planning the parade in 2017!
***Stats from Baseball-Reference***
