Yordan Alvarez 1B HOU

[RBI Sports 84]

Altuve is day to day and Diaz is the plug in defensively. I don’t see this helping Alvarez find his way to the majors 

[Sonny_D 1,962]

2 hours ago, RBI Sports said:

Altuve is day to day and Diaz is the plug in defensively. I don’t see this helping Alvarez find his way to the majors 

 

Thanks, but the assumption was a more serious injury to Altuve. Nobody knew it was a day to day thing at time of posting. 

[RBI Sports 84]

I understand. But I still can’t imagine anyone else playing 2nd, other than Diaz, Correa, or possibly Bregman when Diaz needs a break. Maybe then Alvarez goes to 1st....when Diaz needs a night off...if Altuve was to miss significant time. 

We’re just going to have to wait until June. Brantley at DH is what I see happening.

[Baur10 2,085]

You also could look at it as a similar situation to Senzel when Scooter got hurt. If they're truly working on his defense in the OF they may not want to bring him up at a different position temporarily.  

[KilloWertz 2,533]

1 hour ago, Baur10 said:

You also could look at it as a similar situation to Senzel when Scooter got hurt. If they're truly working on his defense in the OF they may not want to bring him up at a different position temporarily.  

The thing is though... Hasn't Alvarez already played in the OF for years?  If so, then he's likely is what he is out there and then it just turns into an excuse.

[Dark One 492]

3 hours ago, RBI Sports said:

Brantley at DH is what I see happening.

Except that Brantley is very solid defensively and in the first year of a two year $32M deal - he's done nothing to warrant moving him to the full time DH role. Absolutely you spell him in the field every now and then to try to keep him fresh given his injury history, but he's giving the Astros everything he has right now.

They're also starting to run away with the division and have no real threat to be overtaken. I want Alvarez up yesterday as much as the next fantasy manager does, but there's just no urgency to clear a spot on the 25 man roster and start his service clock - especially when they have other viable options already available on the 40 man roster should the immediate need arise.

 

1 hour ago, KilloWertz said:

The thing is though... Hasn't Alvarez already played in the OF for years?  If so, then he's likely is what he is out there and then it just turns into an excuse.

He's played 120 games in the OF since 2016 and per Luhnow's direct quote he still has trouble getting a read on the ball on certain routes and has to continue to develop defensively - he did acknowledge the bat is MLB ready (which of course is obvious), but he's not a good defender at 1B and Luhnow also indicated he doesn't want to call him up unless he has a position in the field. You just have to be patient, it's not about excuses when your team doesn't have an immediate opening and is playing extremely well.

Edited May 11, 2019 by Dark One

[RBI Sports 84]

Oh I agree Brantley is a better defender and hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s pure speculation on keeping him healthy. Moving him to DH should take out at least 75% of the risk of injury 

[meh2 3,133]

This is taken from an article from the Houston Chronicle a couple weeks ago :

The manager values versatility. He'd prefer a spot on his roster not reserved for just a hitter. It's why the organization was furious in introducing Alvarez to left field during spring training and, now, the minor league season. He's started nine games there, not committed an error and has two assists.

Alvarez' aptitude in the outfield seems crucial to his eventual call-up. The Astros don't need an elite defender — Alvarez is not going to come up and usurp the everyday job from Michael Brantley.

But, let's say Brantley is at designated hitter for a game. Hinch is committed to spreading those at-bats around. He's already given Brantley four games there this season. Is Alvarez able to man left field?

Or, what if Alvarez is inserted as a pinch hitter late in a game that goes extra innings and options on the bench are scarce? He'll need to be prepared to play defense whenever he's called upon. Proving to the front office that is possible could be the final hurdle to a call-up.

 

I take it to mean that when Yordan comes up he’ll see the majority of his at bats as the dh but will need to be a capable left fielder for days when they want Brantley to have somewhat of an off day at dh. I suspect that barring an injury requiring a IL stint to Brantley, Springer, Reddick, Gurriel, or White we won’t see him until after super two passes, and even that may not be a slam dunk.

[brockpapersizer 11,401]

I don't mean to alarm anyone but

 

 

[SpecialFNK 1,477]

Alvarez called up!! ..oh no wait it's just an attempt to get clicks.

 

TEASE!

https://razzball.com/points-leagues-yordan-alvarez-called-up/

Quote

I’m wondering how many of you rushed to another site to see if Alvarez was indeed getting the call. Allow me to clear things up. He’s not. At least not yet. I figured using this title would at least get few extra of you in the door. Sorry for the deception. Wait, no I’m not. Despite leading AAA in home runs (14) and runs batted in (44) and boasting a .398 batting average, Yordan Alvarez appears no closer to Houston than the next Astros prospect. Speaking of Astros’ prospects, there’s also the problem of Kyle Tucker, who is a more heralded prospect. Unlike Alvarez, however, Tucker is having a rather mediocre start to 2019. He has hit a fair share of homers, but that’s about it. Considering Tucker already struck out in his first taste of the Majors, I’d say Yordan has the edge should a need arise on the Astros roster. And that brings us to the real problem. The Astros roster. In order to get Alvarez on it with regular playing time they’d have to expose either Tyler White, Max Stassi or Tony Kemp to waivers and I don’t believe they are ready to do so. Couple that with the fact that the Astros offense is near the top of many categories, there just isn’t a place for Yordan Alvarez. Sadly, many (myself included) see mid to late June as a more realistic timeline for a call up. For what it’s worth, I stashed him two weeks ago. Hopefully we are all wrong and he’s up sooner.

 

 

from thinking Alvarez is being called up, to being really disappointed.

 

 

.

[Overlord 527]

Razzball using THAT title?

[Dark One 492]

2 hours ago, RBI Sports said:

Oh I agree Brantley is a better defender and hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s pure speculation on keeping him healthy. Moving him to DH should take out at least 75% of the risk of injury 

I would think Brantley would have to suffer a multi-week injury in order for them to consider that route for him upon his return. They seem to enjoy rotating the DH in order to give certain players regular breathers while keeping their bats in the lineup. I've read that they don't really want to change that method up as it's working out well for them. I'd certainly love to see Alvarez's bat in the lineup for sure, just as a fan of baseball, let alone wanting to plug him into a few fantasy lineups.

[Dark One 492]

1 hour ago, brockpapersizer said:

I don't mean to alarm anyone but

 

 

Interestingly enough, Kyle Tucker also isn't in the lineup.

[brockpapersizer 11,401]

10 minutes ago, Dark One said:

Interestingly enough, Kyle Tucker also isn't in the lineup.

doesnt seem like either is imminent, probably a false alarm 

[einstein2u 485]

15

[Baur10 2,085]

[hypeiz4real 54]

So an MLB ready bat needs to work on his fielding in LF so the clear solution is to start him at DH the day after an off day. 

[Overlord 527]

Tyler White right now:

[aMediumPace 284]

49 minutes ago, hypeiz4real said:

So an MLB ready bat needs to work on his fielding in LF so the clear solution is to start him at DH the day after an off day. 

They can’t just come right out and admit it’s because of Super 2. 

[Dark One 492]

44 minutes ago, hypeiz4real said:

So an MLB ready bat needs to work on his fielding in LF so the clear solution is to start him at DH the day after an off day. 

They also moved Kyle Tucker up in the lineup to the 2 spot and started him in LF, so it's possible that Tucker would be the first planned call up should the need arise - and if that happens Alvarez would have LF to himself for awhile. We're also not sure why Alvarez was scratched the day before - they could be taking it easy on him in the field if it was due to any kind of soreness/illness.

[Dark One 492]

Just now, aMediumPace said:

They can’t just come right out and admit it’s because of Super 2. 

I doubt it's due to Super 2 at all - they just don't have an urgent need for the call up to start his service time clock. They're 10 games over .500 (about to be 11) and are running away with the division.

[Sonny_D 1,962]

2 minutes ago, Dark One said:

They also moved Kyle Tucker up in the lineup to the 2 spot and started him in LF, so it's possible that Tucker would be the first planned call up should the need arise - and if that happens Alvarez would have LF to himself for awhile. We're also not sure why Alvarez was scratched the day before - they could be taking it easy on him in the field if it was due to any kind of soreness/illness.

 

They scratched him so he wouldn’t hit #15 yesterday, adding even more pressure to bring him up. 

[Dark One 492]

Just now, Sonny_D said:

 

They scratched him so he wouldn’t hit #15 yesterday, adding even more pressure to bring him up. 

What pressure?

[hailfire4 413]

Astros are winning and they have no division challenges for the playoffs. Neither Tucker or Alvarez will sign the team friendly contracts that have gotten so many prospects to the majors last 2 years. If Tucker or Yordan would sign an Ozzie Albies contract they would be up tomorrow

[PhilaFanBoy 293]

Doesn't help that the bottom half of the Astros' lineup is starting to hit a bit (nothing extraordinary, but not total garbage). 26 runs and counting for the Astros during the last 48 hours, without Altuve.