EVERY-THING SPORTS
3 jump-out-the-gym reasons you should be watching the young gun Rockets
Oct 6, 2021, 12:45 pm
Get ready for a high-flying season! Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.
"Light the fuse" is the Rockets' marketing slogan for this season. Teams come up with one of these slogans every year in order to build a campaign around said slogan in order to sell tickets and merch. Realistically speaking, this fuse may take a while to burn and pay off. However, the future is bright enough to have positive hope. There are a few things to look at and look forward to right now. Let's take a look and a few things to key in on this preseason that may lead to some things to look forward to in the upcoming season:
The new backcourt: Kevin Porter Jr and Jalen Green are the future in the backcourt for this team. KPJ was a steal in a trade last season from the Cavs. He had several moments last season, including a 50 point game, that warranted him getting a second chance in Houston despite the rocky start to his career in Cleveland. Green is the hot shot number two overall pick with unlimited potential. He's a scorer who needs to develop and unlock parts of his game that haven't been developed yet. These two guys are the Batman and Robin of the Rockets' future. Watching how they play together and how their chemistry is building will give a glimpse into the future of what this team can possibly do.
Supporting cast: Christian Wood is seen as one of the building blocks for this young team, but rumors of his poor attitude coupled with the known fact that he wants a max extension make him a candidate to either be traded, or not re-signed. Alperen Sengun (the second of the four first round picks taken in this past draft) makes Wood somewhat expendable if he can develop his game and adjust to the NBA. The Turkish rookie has the skill set most teams are looking for from their bigs nowadays (shooting, passing, rebounding). Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba were the other two first rounders. Christopher has a chance to be a scoring spark off the bench, while Garuba can be a defensive presence. Jae'Sean Tate and Kenyon Martin Jr are two holdovers from last year that look to figure prominently in the future of this team.
The rotation: An underestimated part of watching preseason basketball is seeing what guys will be in the regular season rotation. Most teams will use 8-10 guys every game. Preseason gives the coaches a chance to see who works well together and which guys deserve to start, come off the bench, the roles they'll play, and who gets more minutes. Lineups and rotations of course can change. Minutes will be dictated by who has the hot hand and matchups so they'll vary from night to night. One thing that stays consistent will be the group of guys getting the most playing time.
The Rockets have a very young team. They'll be fun to watch because of their overall athletic ability to produce highlights. Will they threaten for a playoff spot? Most likely they won't, unless it's one of the last play-in spots. This will prompt most casual fans to drop. I'd encourage them to stay. This young group seems to be having fun together. If they enjoy each other this much and can build & grow together, it'll make them the next up and coming, must-watch team in the league. I say watch and get to know these guys now, rather than looking to hop on the bandwagon after it gets rolling.
How latest reports abruptly shift Houston Astros rotation x-factors
Mar 18, 2024, 7:23 pm
Bruce Bochy doesn’t ever want the Texas Rangers to let go of those memories of their first World Series title.
“We just don’t want to lean on them,” said Bochy, whose first season with the Rangers ended with the first World Series championship for the 63-year-old franchise, and his fourth as a big league manager.
While Texas has the opportunity to be the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back world championships — the New York Yankees were the last, with three in a row from 1998-2000 — the Rangers aren’t even defending champs in their own division.
And they aren’t favored to win the AL West this season.
Houston is again the odds-on favorite in the division it has won each of the last six full MLB seasons since the Rangers finished on top in 2016. The Astros won their regular season finale last Oct. 1, matched Texas at 90-72 and won the AL West since they were 9-4 head-to-head.
The Astros have made the AL Championship Series the past seven seasons, even when not division champs in the 2020 season shortened to 60 games because of the pandemic. They made four trips to the Fall Classic and won two titles in that span.
Dusty Baker retired days after Houston lost ALCS Game 7 at home to the Rangers last fall, finishing with 2,183 wins over 26 seasons as a big league manager with five teams.
New Astros manager Joe Espada, their bench coach for six seasons, is certainly familiar with a lineup that has big hitters Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and a loaded starting rotation.
Espada isn't the division's only new manager. Ron Washington, who took the Rangers to their previous World Series in 2010 and 2011, was hired by the Angels, who still have Mike Trout but not two-way star Shohei Ohtani, now with the other team in Los Angeles.
Seattle again revamped its roster without big spending in free agency and hopes for a quicker return to the playoffs. The Mariners missed by one game last season, a year after its first postseason appearance since 2001.
And just like last year, the Athletics go into another season not knowing if it will be their last in Oakland.
HOW THEY PROJECT1. Houston Astros. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, reacquired in a deadline trade last July, will start this season on the injured list. But the 41-year-old’s IL stint is expected to be a short one. The Astros still have lefty Framber Valdez (12-11, 2.45 ERA, 200 strikeouts and a no-hitter) and right-hander Cristian Javier. Eight-time All-Star second baseman Altuve signed a new $125 million, five-year contract that goes through 2029. But two-time All-Star third baseman Bregman, the only other position player to make all seven ALCS trips, is at the end of a $100 million deal.
2. Texas Rangers. After going from six losing seasons in a row to a World Series title, the Rangers should be playoff contenders again. They return ALCS MVP Adolis García and most of the lineup that hit 233 homers and scored an AL-high 5.4 runs per game. But World Series MVP and AL MVP runner-up shortstop Corey Seager (sports hernia), Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (oblique strain) and All-Star third baseman Josh Jung (calf) missed significant time in the spring. All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi tops a rotation still missing injured multiple Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
3. Seattle Mariners. The front office put together a roster that might be better than last year, but everybody has to stay healthy. Seattle should be better offensively with the additions of Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco and Luke Raley to go with young superstar Julio Rodriguez. If J.P. Crawford can replicate last season at the plate and Ty France returns to his 2021-22 form, the lineup will be deeper. Couple a better offense with one of the best rotations in baseball led by Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners should once again contend in the division.
4. Los Angeles Angels. They feel like they’re starting over yet again and still haven't been to the playoffs since 2014. Ohtani left after six seasons for a record $700 million with the perennially contending Dodgers. The Halos added almost nothing in free agency, only revamping their bullpen again and taking low-cost flyers on Aaron Hicks and Miguel Sano. Trout and Anthony Rendon are back, and an open DH spot will allow them to rest their injury-prone bodies more regularly. Their rotation is last year’s group minus Ohtani. The 71-year-old Washington brings a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm, which should benefit an exciting crop of young talent ready to break through in the majors.
5. Oakland Athletics. This could be the final season playing at the Coliseum with a lease set to expire. So the A's are still trying to figure out where they will play beyond this year with a new ballpark and move to Las Vegas scheduled for 2028. Manager Mark Kotsay has been committed to keeping his team focused on what it can do to be better on the field after two years with a combined 214 losses (112 last season). The A’s acquired Ross Stripling from the San Francisco Giants and added Alex Wood to the rotation.
OLD SKIPPERSWhen the 74-year-old Baker retired, Bochy became the oldest manager in the majors. That lasted only a few weeks until the Angels hired Washington. Bochy will turn 69 on April 16, just 13 days before Washington turns 72. Bochy, with 2,093 wins going into his 27th season, is one of six managers with four World Series titles, his first three coming in San Francisco (2010, 2012 and 2014). Washington won a franchise-record 664 games in eight seasons with Texas from 2007-14. He was on Atlanta's staff the past seven years, and part of the Braves' 2021 World Series title.
RELIEF HELPSeveral new relievers are in the AL West, including hard-throwing lefty Josh Hader with the Astros, veteran right-hander David Robertson and former All-Star closer Kirby Yates in Texas, Gregory Santos and Ryne Stanek in Seattle and Robert Stephenson with the Angels.
Hader's $95 million, five-year deal was the biggest after becoming a first-time free agent. The 29-year-old, once in the Astros' minor league system, turned down a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from San Diego.