An Ode to the Astros’ Veterans

[Snuffy]

With all the focus on the youth of the team, this insightful article highlighted the vets.

When the accolades are being given out for this 2017 Astros championship, they’ll deservedly go to the club’s young core. They were spectacular.....

....When we last tried to measure game-calling, McCann was the sixth-best starting catcher in baseball by our estimate.

It’s easier to see how important the veterans were on that pitching side. The pitchers under 28 on this squad were a more muted 13th in the big leagues overall, while the pitchers over 30 came in sixth....

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/an-ode-to-the-astros-veterans/print/.

Part 2: Charlie Morton Was Baseball in 2017

Last night, with the franchise’s first championship hanging in the balance, Astros manager A.J. Hinch handed the ball to Charlie Morton. He never asked for it back, and four innings later, the Astros mobbed Morton on the mound. They are champions today in part because of Charlie Morton, and there was perhaps no more fitting player to get the last out of the 2017 season, because Charlie Morton embodies so much of what baseball is today....

....Morton didn’t just get better versus left-handers, he held them to the second-lowest wOBA of any right-handed starter in baseball this year. After spending nearly a decade as a contact pitcher who couldn’t get left-handers out, he posted the highest strikeout rate against lefties of any righty starter. After running one of the largest platoon splits in baseball for the first 900 innings of his career, Morton just turned into an entirely different pitcher.....

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/charlie-morton-was-baseball-in-2017/

And it's easy to forget how Fiers came through while so many starters were on the DL.

[JimR]

Great articles. I am happy for everyone involved, of course, but happiest of all for Charlie Morton.

[austro]

Great articles. I am happy for everyone involved, of course, but happiest of all for Charlie Morton.

Morton has always looked vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. This morning it hit me: he looks like Kevn Brown. Which makes his Game 7 performance fitting in a couple of ways, I suppose.

[toddthebod]

And it's easy to forget how Fiers came through while so many starters were on the DL.

I actually feel more than a little bad for Fiers.  The Astros would not have been in the position they were in if not for Fiers.  He was the glue when so many of the pitchers were out.  Unfortunately, he just collapsed at the end of the season and, for good reasons, didn't make the post-season roster.  And not I'm don't even think he will be on the team next season.  So Fiers is really an unsung hero on this team. 

[Astros Fan in Big D]

Agree.  Fiers and Peacock held things together and the bullpen was lights out,  that's how the huge lead was built that enabled the Astros to endure the injuries/slump in July/August.

It'll be interesting to see if bullpen failures in this postseason change the way clubs use their pens in the regular season (i.e. scheduled rest periods for individual pitchers beyond the current practices, tandem starts,  etc).

[GreatBagwellsBeard]

Morton has always looked vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. This morning it hit me: he looks like Kevn Brown. Which makes his Game 7 performance fitting in a couple of ways, I suppose.

Smoltz (I believe) made this comparison too.

[juliogotay]

Smoltz (I believe) made this comparison too.

are we talking physical wise or stuff-wise? Or (C) all of the above which would be my vote.

[Mr. Happy]

are we talking physical wise or stuff-wise? Or (C) all of the above which would be my vote.

+1 Morton now has more velocity than Brown.

[NeilT]

+1 Morton now has more velocity than Brown.

I'd guess so.  Brown's gotta be close to 60. 

[juliogotay]

I'd guess so.  Brown's gotta be close to 60.

52 and I'd like another shot at him.

[JimR]

I'd guess so.  Brown's gotta be close to 60.

Nominated.

[Mr. Happy]

I'd guess so.  Brown's gotta be close to 60.

Very cleverly played, counselor!