How big will not having Yuli at first base, affect our defense? He saved so many outs/runs with his picks at 1st, especially from Pena (would Pena have gotten his golden glove if Yuli wasn't there?). Jose Abreu is not as good defensively, and will most likely not prevent nearly as many errors from the other infielders, as Yuli did. These errors lead to worst defensive metrics, and ultimately runs.

I love Yuli, but (of course) Jose Abreu is better overall for the team.

So are we assuming that our defensive metrics will get worse, our runs against will increase, but our runs scored should increase to counter?

Or, am I overemphasizing Yuli's impact on our defense, and we're going to be the same, or better on defense?

I wonder if there will be less throwing errors without the shift, as the players will have more similar throws as they stay in the same general area/position more. Or maybe there will be more, because they will be on the move more? idk.

I do suggest watching the Rangers broadcasts, every once in a while, when they play us, as their announcer's commentary offers a different perspective on our team, org, and stadium. I try to listen to the other team's announcers whenever I'm traveling and use the mlb app, or listen on the radio (for the same reasons).However, it's easier for us Texans to cheat on our crew during the Rangers series, as we get their games on our TVs too (at least I do in Austin).TK and Blummer are great, but like most announcers, they use catch phrases and the same descriptions over and over, which is a bit monotonous for 162 games, so different perspectives makes the games more interesting (like Baggy for a few series). For the most part, the other announcers emphasize how talented the team is, how nice Minute Maid Park is, etc...I do get some tidbits that I never knew, like Minute Maid park's grass is known as one of the worst playing surfaces in the league, and it has been discussed that they may go back to artificial.

Right now, after 71 games (81 games is half a season), the Astros have the best record in the AL (.606 winning percentage is higher than .603 of Oakland, and .597 of the Red (and White) Sox. Hopefully we don't play down to our opponents in the next few series, and we keep this momentum going.

Giants and Dodgers have better records, but I'd be okay if we won the world series in either of those towns.

I was surprised by this. I imagine that he's too expensive.

Has there been any further details around LeBron's film, 'Sign Language', about the Astros sign stealing scandal? I don't see anything since May, but maybe there has been discussion on sports radio or the such? Wondering when that would see the light of day. Also, it was supposed to be on Quibi, which is now gonzo, so I assume it will be reformatted for a television : ) I assume that it's going to be biased because of how LeBron reacted to the scandal initially, so it'll be hard to watch, but necessary.