My #Astros report card for 2014:
Starting Pitching> B- Peacock & Oberholtzer dragged this category down a half grade at least. The Cosart trade didn't help either.
Bullpen> F Just an absolute abomination led by their closer, Chad Qualls who had 5 blown saves against the A's giving up 4+ runs on more than one occasion vs the Athletics, not to mention his 27.00+ ERA vs Oakland. The combination of other triple A & 4A pitchers out of the Astros bullpen spelled doom right from the start.
1B> D Krauss, Guzman, & Singleton, earn the Astros a D with a few HR from Singleton saving them from an F.
2B> A+ Jose Altuve (enough said)
3B> F Matt Dominguez is quite possibly the worst everyday player in all of MLB. If not the worst, then the bottom 2 or 3 at best.
SS> D+ inconsistent play with a glaring number of errors allowed by first half starter Jonathan Villar.
Catch> D After showing signs of rounding into a solid MLB catcher in 2013, Jason Castro stunk up the joint in 2014 both at the plate and behind it.
LF> D While nobody wants to see success from Robbie Grossman more than myself, the bottom line is, the production just wasn't there in 2014. Every time I hear the name JD Martinez it sickens me. If you have followed me on twitter for a couple years you will know I called this success for Martinez. (and I'm not ordaining myself a baseball god but I honestly said he would do exactly what he's doing now) What I saw in his hitting tools over 2 years ago convinced me he would be a legit MLB threat at the plate. The Tigers are loving life!
CF> B Centerfield garnered this grade with the combination of Springer and Fowler. Fowlers lackadaisical 1st step & lack of interest in the game situation caught up to him late in the season as he suffered thru a few clown show games.
RF> C If Springer would have joined the team out of spring training (as he should of) and stayed healthy all season this position could have earned a much higher grade.
DH> A- If not for the first half swoon by Chris Carter this would easily have been an A++
