Falcon Points

After the off-season from hell, what do the Astros look like on the field in 2020?

Yordan Alvarez Astros
Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

The Astros apparently have a new manager in Dusty Baker. They soon will have a new GM. They have the same basic lineup as last year.

So with all the off-field turmoil, suspensions that became firings and high profile scandals, how will things play out on the field where it matters most?

One outlet had the Astros as the SEVENTH best team in baseball heading into the season. We will spare you the need to click on the story, and just tell you they had the Yankees, Dodgers, Braves, Rays, Nationals and Twins ahead of Houston.

Still a potent lineup

Unless you believe the only reason the Astros hitters were any good was the cheating scandal (and hey, there are those who think that), this is still one of the best lineups in all of baseball. While decisions will have to be made after the season on several key pieces (George Springer, Carlos Correa, Yuli Gurriel and Michael Brantley most notably) for 2020 they are still loaded with Springer, Altuve, Bregman, Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez, Gurriel, Brantley, Josh Reddick and Kyle Tucker all returning. No team outside of LA or New York can boast that kind of lineup. Jake Marisnick is gone, but presumably that opens up innings for Myles Straw, an exciting prospect with terrific speed, something the Astros do not have at that level in the lineup.

The bigger issue

The article's main issue is with the Astros starting pitching. Behind ace Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke are a lot of question marks. But few teams can match the Astros 1-2 punch. The names behind them though hardly inspire confidence. Lance McCullers will be on a pitch count coming off Tommy John surgery. Jose Urquidy has too small of a sample size. Forrest Whitley remains a myth. Austin Pruitt could be a sneaky good addition, however, and the Astros can always add someone at the trade deadline. More on that in a moment.

What about the bullpen?

The Astros lost Will Harris, but bring back Ryan Pressley, who was dominant until getting hurt, the controversial Roberto Osuna and Joe Smith on the back end. Josh James might be a contender to start, along with Brad Peacock. If not, they will help in relief. Harris was great for them last year, but the Astros in the past have done a terrific job of finding pitchers like that. Which brings us to the final question...

Loss of Luhnow

While the loss of A.J. Hinch can be mitigated - managers are not all that difficult to replace - life after GM Jeff Luhnow is a major question mark. Luhnow could be trusted to add players at the deadline (Verlander in 2017, Greinke in 2019), find some hidden gems (Charlie Morton) and add players that fit the Astros analytics approach. Will they still be that kind of team? Will Baker buy in if they are? Pitching coach Brent Strom remains, and should continue to work his magic. But will Luhknow's replacement be able to find the right kind of arms for him? Will the new analytics team be as effective?

These are all valid questions.

However...

Putting them seventh seems more like wishful thinking from a bitter media. The 2021 Astros will have serious questions and in fact might plummet out of contention entirely, depending on what moves happen in the next 12 months. But for 2020? Sure, Verlander and Greinke could both fall off the map, the other starters fail to stabilize and the team simply does not get it done. But that is a lot to go wrong. More likely, the lineup continues to pound the ball, Verlander and Greinke carry them and someone else emerges as decent 2-3 rotation pieces. That being the case, the only team that enters the season in the AL better on paper is the Yankees, who were almost as good as the Astros last season and poached one of their best weapons, and figure to be healthier in 2020.

Distractions?

Yes it has been wild off-season. But other than Luhnow, does it have any real impact on what happens on the field? Probably not. There could be some regressions - Alvarez most notably - but the offense has more than enough weapons. Straw could wind up being a sneaky good weapon. Tucker could finally emerge. If that happens, the so-called distractions will have minimal if any impact on the product on the field.

So yes, seventh seems a but silly, but fortunately, baseball scribes with their biases don't determine what happens on the field. The players do.

And the Astros still have plenty of those.

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The Astros beat the Twins, 10-3. Composite Getty Image.

Jose Altuve and rookie Jacob Melton drove in three runs each as the Houston Astros jumped on Chris Paddack early and cruised to a 10-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Paddack (2-6) tied career highs by allowing 12 hits and nine runs — eight earned — in just four innings for his third straight loss.

Houston rookie starter Colton Gordon (2-1) gave up six hits and two runs with five strikeouts in a career-high six innings.

Jeremy Peña tied a season-high with four hits and rookie Cam Smith had two hits and two RBIs as the AL West-leading Astros won their third straight.

Willi Castro, Royce Lewis and Ty France all hit solo homers for the Twins, who were blown out for the third time in four games after losing to Texas 16-4 Tuesday and 16-3 Thursday.

Lewis, who missed the start of the season with a hamstring strain, pulled up as he was running to first base on a single in the ninth inning and was replaced by a pinch-runner. There was no immediate word on his injury.

The Astros got to work early in this one. The bases were loaded with two outs in the first when Smith hit a two-run single to center field to make it 2-0. Melton followed with a single to right field to drive in another run.

There were runners on first and third with one out in the second when Altuve’s double scored two to make it 5-0.

The Twins loaded the bases with two outs in the third but Carlos Correa grounded out to end the threat.

Melton hit a two-run triple with no outs in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 7-0. A sacrifice fly by Mauricio Dubón made it 8-0.

The Twins got on the board with Castro’s two-out homer in the fourth inning.

Altuve homered to left-center to start the bottom of the inning and make it 9-1.

Key moment

Smith’s two-RBI single in the first that gave Houston the lead for good.

Key stat

The Astros had four doubles to give them 15 in their last three games.

Up next

Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.82 ERA) opposes Twins RHP Joe Ryan (7-2, 2.96) on Saturday.

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