Good overview with a lot of solid rationale, Marty. If this was 8 years ago, I'd say just turn Brent Strom loose on Kikuchi, do the spin-rate thing, and a nasty(er) pitcher is made better! I'm guessing our two pitching coaches have carried over Strom's philosophies!
It’s a crap shoot, but people are acting like Loperfido, Bloss and Wagner are sure things. Two are “old” for rookies (and one of those hasn’t even played in MLB at 26).
Bloss could grow into something, but I’m guessing it’ll be closer to ‘26 when and if that happens.
The Mariners got better and the Astros needed to do something. Couldn’t keep throwing Bloss out there every fifth day and getting 4 and a third innings.
And, thankfully, the ‘Stros made their move 4-6 weeks ago to move Brown into a pull-the-trigger stance with, now, a shot to make the playoffs.
Not knowing a thing about Kikuchi before yesterday, I was pleased to see he’s a lefty. That’s a plus right off the…..uh, bat! Plus, if we get one or a couple of the injured Ps back, so much the better.
Good overview with a lot of solid rationale, Marty. If this was 8 years ago, I'd say just turn Brent Strom loose on Kikuchi, do the spin-rate thing, and a nasty(er) pitcher is made better! I'm guessing our two pitching coaches have carried over Strom's philosophies!
It’s a crap shoot, but people are acting like Loperfido, Bloss and Wagner are sure things. Two are “old” for rookies (and one of those hasn’t even played in MLB at 26).
Bloss could grow into something, but I’m guessing it’ll be closer to ‘26 when and if that happens.
The Mariners got better and the Astros needed to do something. Couldn’t keep throwing Bloss out there every fifth day and getting 4 and a third innings.
And, thankfully, the ‘Stros made their move 4-6 weeks ago to move Brown into a pull-the-trigger stance with, now, a shot to make the playoffs.
Not knowing a thing about Kikuchi before yesterday, I was pleased to see he’s a lefty. That’s a plus right off the…..uh, bat! Plus, if we get one or a couple of the injured Ps back, so much the better.