Houston Astros 2018 Season

[eagle eye]

If you watched the All-Star game last night you saw a pretty good game that featured the unusual stat that every single run, save one, in an 8-6 AL win scored because of a home run. There were 10 home runs hit in the game and all but 2 were solo shots. The multi-run shots were hit by Seattle’s Jean Segura who hit a 3-run shot in the top of the 8th giving the AL a 5-2 lead at the time and a 2-run shot by Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett in the bottom of the 9th that tied the game and sent the contest into extra innings. That 3-run shot by Segura was the difference in the game in terms of overall scoring. Still, a really nice game with the last 3 innings of regulation and the 10th inning featuring a pretty awesome display of power.
The AL led 2-0 as of the top of the 3rd thanks to solo HR’s by Aaron Judge in the 2nd and Mike Trout in the 3rd. It was star vs star as Judge homered off Max Scherzer and Trout hit his HR off Jason deGrom. Blake Snell of Tampa gave up a 2-out solo shot to the Cubs Wilson Contreras in the bottom of the 3rd to make the score 2-1. The score remained the same heading into the bottom of the 7th when Houston’s Charlie Morton gave up a solo HR to Rockies SS Trevor Story Tying the score at 2. In the top of the 8th came Segura’s 3-run shot making the score 5-3. In the bottom of the 8th the NL came back and got a solo HR off Morton by Tampa’s Christian Yelich, in his second inning of work, to close the gap to 5-3. The AL went down without scoring in the top of the 9th. In the bottom of the inning came Cincy’s Gennett’s 2-run blast to tie the score at 5. In the top of the 10th Alex Bregman hit a leadoff HR to give Houston a 6-5 lead. George Springer was up next and he went deep to extend the AL lead to 7-5. Jean Segura followed with a single. Mitch Mooreland was next and he hit a slow rolling single into right. Segura was hustling all the way and he advanced to 3B on the play. Yan Gomes struck out next for the first out but Michael Brantley picked him up by hitting a sac fly to left that allowed Segura to score making the score 8-5 and the only run scored in the game not as a result of a home run. Oakland’s Jed Lowry grounded out for the final out of the inning but the damage had been done. Former Astro and current Blue Jay JA Happ came to lock down the game for the AL but Happ gave up a solo HR to Cincinnati’s Joey Votto to make the 8-6. Happ buckled down after that and he retired the NL 1-2-3 to end a really good game.
In the 10th it was like a 2017 World series flashback with the Astros and Dodgers coaching staffs coaching the game for their respective leagues and Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling on the mound facing the Astros Alex Bregman and George Springer to lead off the inning. Just like the WS Houston hitting bested Dodger pitching as Bregman and Springer went back-to-back to give the AL a 2-run lead.
Alex Bregman won the MVP Award and I’m happy for him but he was wrongly credited with the game winning hit when he was responsible for the go-ahead home run. Bregman was 1-2 with a K and a HR. Nice but not MVP worthy. George Springer actually hit the home run that was responsible for the winning run and Springer went 2-2 with a HR, a single with 2 runs scored and an RBI. If a Houston player was going to win it should really have been Springer. If it was up to me Jean Segura would have won the MVP. He hit the 3-run homer in the 8th and he singled and scored the AL’s 8th run to give him a 2-2 night with 3 RBI’s, 2 runs scored and a HR. Fans voted online for the MVP and Bregman is a fan favorite so good for him.

[eagle eye]

The week wasn't terrible but the last two weeks Houston had a chance to sweep bad teams and on consecutive Sundays the team as a whole stunk to high heaven. After winning back-to-back games to begin the post All-Star Game run to the playoffs Houston failed to show up against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Lance McCullers started today and it was clear the AS break hurt him. He lasted only 4.1 innings giving up 5 runs putting Houston in a hole they couldn't crawl out of. Joe Smith pitched a third of an inning without giving up any runs and Brad Peacock did the same and virtually every other pitcher who made an appearance today sucked. The Astros offense was pretty much anemic too. Oh, George Springer and Marwin Gonzalez had multi-hit games but everyone else was a limp noodle. Jose Altuve came into the series hitting .333 and after today's 1-5 day he's down to .328. Evan Gattis continues to struggle. Yuli Gurriel has begun the 2nd half of the season in lousy fashion and where, oh where, is the Alex Bregman who won the ASG MVP award? Houston took a 14-5 shellacking just a week after Detroit put a smack-down on them. Houston did win the series and they picked up a game on Seattle last night but they gave it right back today as they continue to lead the AL West by 5 games. After Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander looked like the #1 and #2 starters in the rotation, McCullers looked like a poor man's #5. It's messed up how much better Verlander's 10-5 record looks than McCuller's 10-5. McCullers is still the starter for Houston I trust least. It's the offense and their lack of consistency that bothers me. On Friday Houston eeked out 3 runs in support of Keuchel and fortunately that's all he needed. On Saturday Verlander struck out 11 Angels in 6 shutout innings but how messed up is it that I was still biting my nails in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings before the Astros closed out a 7-0 win that featured George Springer's 6th career grand slam. In both games Houston had multiple opportunities to score more runs, especially early, but failed to do so. With Gurriel, Evan Gattis and Josh Reddick struggling they was they are in 2018 the only bright spot at the back of the Astros lineup has been Tony Kemp. Jake Marisnick and his .199 batting average has been sent to AAA for Kyle Tucker's .143 BA. Tyler White was sent down because he just can't seem to figure out big league pitching and the brought up for the 3rd time this season JD Davis. Davis has more position versatility than White and, if truth be told, even though White was hitting .219 to Davis' .200 the potential of Davis has a higher ceiling. The fact is the only starter hitting .300 or better is Altuve and his BA is heading the wrong way and Yuli Gurriel's .301. Springer is 30 points lower than last year. Reddick's BA is 60 points lower than last year. Worst of all Marwin Gonzalez' BA was .303 last year and his average after today is .236, 67 points lower than last year. Carlos Correa was around 50 points below what he hit in 2017 when he went on the DL on June 28. It's a testament to the Astros resilience that they actually have the 2nd most wins in baseball behind Boston. The Bosox are 70-31 as they won their 70th today. Houston is 66-36. This matters as home field advantage in the playoffs was a huge key to Houston's World Series win last fall. Houston is 4.5 back of the Red Sox in the home field race.

Houston goes to Colorado for a 2-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday before they come back to the Juice Box to play the Rangers next weekend. Either the AL West is tougher than it was last year or Houston just isn't as tough as they were last year. Who knows but if they don't start to mesh they could be in for a very disappointing fall in their quest to repeat as world champs.

[eagle eye]

I was listening to ESPN radio yesterday evening. I never do that but I was out and about running some errands and I was listening to the Patrick Crayton show and his topic du jour was, “Do you think the Astros are underachieving?” I answered out loud to the radio in my truck and emphatic, “YES!” Coming into the 2018 season the experts all agreed the Astros offense was much better than the one that led all of Major League Baseball in almost every offensive stat you could find. Wow, did the experts ever set us all up for a big letdown. I believe if the offense was what it was in 2017 Houston would have 80 wins by now with a double-digit lead in the division and the best record in baseball. Statistically, the 2017 Astros offense were a juggernaut and this 2018 club was projected to be better.
What are you gonna do, cry about the fact that 3 of your top 6 starters (Springer, Correa, Reddick) are hitting 50 points worse than last season? No.
Are you still going to sit around pouting because other contributors are having an extremely subpar season compared to last year (Gonzalez, Marisnick, Gattis)? Hell’s no!!!
Are you going to going to have a hissy fit because your starting shortstop and catcher have missed, and will continue to miss, time due to back issues and knee surgery? Not on your life!
All that said Houston still has the 2nd most wins in MLB and their run differential, the difference between how many runs Houston has scored and the runs their opponents have scored is an astounding +188 which leads all of baseball by almost 20 runs. By contrast 2nd place Seattle differential is +1! Plus freaking ONE!! and they are only 5 games behind Houston in the AL West standings!!! Boston, who has the best record in the league is at +169 and nobody else is even close. The dichotomy between what the Astros are and what they are not is inexplicable and a source of frustration to fans who bought into the preseason hype. And still they are winning games.
Right now, I would juggle the Astros lineup starting with putting Tony Kemp (LF) in as the leadoff hitter. His .301 BA and .400+ OBP is just the table setter for the lineup as it stands. I would keep Bregman (3B) and Altuve (2B) hitting 2nd and 3rd. Springer (CF) would hit cleanup and Gurriel (1B) would hit 5th. The Astros have missed Correa’s pop in the lineup and Springer has the juice that been missing with Correa out. Reddick (RF) would hit 6th and Marwin Gonzalez (SS) 7th. Gattis (DH) would hit 8th and Max Stassi (C) would hit 9th. I would ride this lineup without change for the rest of July and into August and see what happens. I’m tired of screwing around with the Kyle Tucker’s, JD Davis’s and Tyler White’s. It’s too late in the season to be patient with players who aren’t producing the way they should or, the way you would like them to. In April and May you can be patient but August and September you need to win games.
Houston takes on Colorado in Denver tonight and tomorrow. Gerrit Cole is on the mound looking for win #11 on the season. Houston has 60 games left in the season to be played over the next 69 days left in the season. What that means is Houston will get more days off than they had pre-All Star Game. They have only 28 home games left in the season which means they play 32 games on the road. Fortunately, playing on the road is no problem at all for this team. If Houston continues to play at a .647 winning percent then they will finish the season with a 39-21 record which will give them a final tally of 105 wins and 57 losses. That’s better than the 101-61 record they had last year.

[eagle eye]

Aside from an inexplicable 6 run outburst in the 10th inning of Game 1 against the Rockies on Tuesday night this Astros offense has been horrendous. Opposing pitchers with ERA's over 5 have been making this team look like crap. Now, to add injury to insult Dallas Keuchel wasn't his best in Game 1 against the stupid Rangers and the bullpen was even worse. Add to that this limp noodle offense and you have the cellar dwelling Rangers kicking the stuffing out of the Astros to the tune of 11-2. I don't like it when Houston loses but losing to the Rangers is just the pits. (I just threw up a little bit in my mouth ---- yech!) The past few years, even when they have been good the Astros go on vacation in August. Last year the only losing month for a team that won 101 games was August. It actually started in late July when Carlos Correa went on the DL and now Jose Altuve is nursing a sore knee (we hope it's only sore) and he was held out of last night's game. Correa might be about ready to come back as his rehab has gotten more aggressive of late. It's about time with him already being gone over a month now. That's the rub about Correa, he seems to need to spend significant time every season on the DL. It makes you appreciate how durable and reliable Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell were.

Houston has made a couple deals to bolster the roster this past week as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches. First, Houston got catcher Martin Maldinado from the Angels in exchange for minor leaguer Patrick Sandoval and $250 K. Maldinado is a nice pickup as he's a Gold Glover which is an upgrade behind the plate and the best thing is he leads the AL and he's 2nd overall in MLB in throwing base runners out. He's gunning down base stealers at a 44.4% clip this season. At the plate, even though he's only hit .223 for the Angels, it's still an upgrade over Tim Federowicz who was optioned to AAA to make room for Maldinado on the roster. Maldinado made his first appearance for Houston last night as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning and he drove in the Astros 2nd run on a sac fly.

The other move was to get reliever Ryan Pressley in a deal with the Minnesota Twins. Pressley is a definite upgrade for Houston as they get a player who will be with Houston through the 2019 season and he's one of the best relievers in baseball. So far this year he is 1-1 with a 3.40 ERA. He has 69 K's in 47-2/3 innings. Pressley is tied for second in innings (51) in the AL and he's tied for 3rd in K's and he's 7th in K's/9 innings (13.03) AJ Hinch said that he will be a good fit in Houston because he fits the style the Astros like to pitch. It is quite possible he will see action this series against Texas. The good thing is the Astros didn't have to give up any of their top prospects for either deal made this week. To get Pressley Houston traded minor league prospects Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino. Nice work by GM Jeff Luhnow to upgrade the roster without giving up much in the process. Now, if he could just figure out how to jump-start the blasted offense.

[eagle eye]

This week in review is easy. The Astros suck. They went 1-4 on the week wasting pitching performances by Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander and today Lance McCullers was both good and horrible as he struck out 11 Rangers batters but he also allowed 4 runs, 3 earned as Houston was swept by the hated Rangers in a series where they only averaged a tick over 2 runs per game. The bullpen was decent for a change as 3 relievers over 3.2 innings did not allow a run. The Rangers didn't overpower the Astros in the series they just didn't suck as much as Houston did. When the opposition runs starting pitchers out with an ERA over 5 on consecutive days and the limp noodle boys can only muster 2 runs you have to just throw up your hands and wonder WTF out loud. Tony Kemp is the best hitter the Astros have right now and he's the only man on the roster with an OBP over ,400. Why he's not leading off is a total mystery to me. Kemp needs, and deserves, more at-bats than the 3 a game he's getting at the ass-end of this suddenly putrid lineup. He should be hitting leadoff and Springer, who has hit 3 homers since the All-Star break, should be hitting cleanup. Gurriel should be hitting 3rd and he would see better pitches with Springer behind him. I don't know where they are but the real Josh Reddick and Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis better show up soon or the Mariners will pass the Astros by lickety-split. Houston has such high hopes for JD Davis but he sucks and has every time he's been brought up to the big club. His .190 BA makes me long for Jake Marisnick to come home from Fresno. Tyler White was brought up to replace the suddenly absent Jose Altuve who was placed on the 10 day DL with that bum knee he aggravated in the 5th inning on Wednesday against the Rockies. White did what White does, he played well in the first game but, and trust me on this, he will suck from here on out. White has been up and down more time than a yo-yo over the past 3 seasons between Fresno and Houston because he can't seem to consistently solve big league pitching. Kyle Tucker is struggling as you might imagine a rookie would do but he is almost as bad as Alex Bregman when he first came up in 2016. This team is dying for some offense and AJ Hinch won't do anything to shake the offense out of their doldrums. Just before the All-Star break the offense struggled and they have struggle since the ASG and still Hinch does nothing. He is doggedly determined not to make any changes even though this team needs to be shaken, not stirred, like a James Bond martini.

The only saving grace of the past week is that Seattle and Oakland have been slumping too. Houston is still leading the AL West by 5 games although that will change as Seattle is handing the Angels a loss this afternoon which means Houston's lead will shrink to 4 games by the end of today. Houston is still the 3rd best team in the AL as the Yankees have equaled the Astros 67 wins on the season with 3 fewer losses and both are way behind the 74 win Red Sox. Home field advantage seems like a pipe dream right now. What to hear something scary? Houston plays Seattle 10 of the next 20 games. Generally, Houston is terrible in August and the end of their July isn't exactly a rosy picture.

Martin (pronounced mar-TEEN) Maldinado made his first start of the season for Houston since he was acquired on Thursday. He was behind the plate for a team record 19 K's for the game. How do you strike out 19 batters and lose. Well, your starter sucks and the offense sucks worse, that's how. I saw Maldinado giving the home plate ump an ear-full for squeezing his pitcher. That's what Houston has missed with Brian McCann on the DL, a backstop to remind the umpire to pull his head out and call a strike a strike and a ball a ball. Thank you Mar-teen. Welcome to Houston.

Verlander is 10-6 in 23 starts, Cole is 10-2 in 21 starts and Morton is 11-2 in 20 starts. All 3 are in the top ten in K's with Verlander and Cole #'s 4 and 5. Verlander and Cole are in the top ten in ERA and all 3 are in the top ten in Batting Average Against them with Cole #2, Verlander #5 and Morton #8. How in the world do these guys have so many (23) no-decisions between them? (knock-knock-knock. Hello offense, could you please wake the heck up? Hello bullpen, could you find a way not to suck every other day?) It was a bad week and as July rolls into the Astro-dog days of August I worry this team might not even make the playoffs much less win the division.

[Dracula]

Tell me where I am reading this wrong.

Lance McCullers Jr.
5.1 6 3 0 11

Joe Smith
0.2 0 0 0 2

Collin McHugh
2.0 0 0 1 4

Brad Peacock
1.0 0 0 0 2

11+2+4+2= 19 strike outs +1 walk=20 at bats. The Rangers had 6 hits=26 AB's but the line sheet is showing 34 AB's. I don't understand the math.

What I do understand is that right now the Astro's suck.

[eagle eye]

Houston lost yet another All Star when George Springer when down with a shoulder problem after diving for a ball in the 2nd inning of last night's game. He is being listed as day to day. With Springer joining Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa on the injured list where the heck are the Astros going to find any offense. Well, last night it was juiced by two guys who you would expect some juice from, Evan Gattis and Josh Reddick. Both had 2-run homers to go with a run scored in the 5th by Tony Kemp on a Josh Reddick single. Houston won 5-2 with Charlie Morton getting his 12th win going 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 8. Morton probably could have gone another inning as he only threw 90 pitches but AJ Hinch chose to rely on the bullpen instead. The 'pen was steady allowing 0 runs on just 1 hit from a combined 4 relievers. Hector Rondon got the save.

So far this afternoon Houston is leading the Mariners 4-2 through 4 innings with Marwin Gonzalez and the just called back up Jake Marisnick providing the fireworks so far. Marwin has 2 homers in the game, one in the 2nd inning and another in the 4th. Marisnick hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning as well. Dallas Keuchel is on the mound trying to bounce back from a so-so outing against the Rangers last Friday night. Keuchel got in a jam in the bottom of the 2nd loading the bases allowing both runs. Outside of that 2nd inning Keuchel has been pretty good.

Top of the 5th Houston has put another run on an RBI single by Josh Reddick and the Astros still have runners on 1st and 3rd with just one out. Houston needs to get the run home from 3rd but I don't have much faith in Max Stassi who is currently up to bat. Okay, I'll eat my words, Stassi hit a 3-run homer to center giving Houston an 8-2 lead.

Houston acquired more relief help when they picked up Roberto Osuna from Toronto. Osuna is on a rehab assignment following completion of a 75 game suspension for domestic abuse. For this type of situation Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said the Astros did "unprecedented" due diligence in acquiring Osuna. Osuna comes to a very close clubhouse and he will get the benefit of the family nature of the Astros as a team. Osuna has paid the price for domestic abuse in the USA but he still has domestic violence charges in Canada. Nobody knows any details of the DV charges and I'm sure the team will be under close scrutiny for this deal which saw Houston send 2 top pitching prospects and Ken Giles to Toronto for a guy who is acknowledged at a top closer and a former All-Star. All of you out there who were tired of the Ken Giles ordeal now have a potential sure fire closer on the roster. Not only that but Osuna is only 23 so he could become an Astro for a long, long time. He is currently on a one year deal so a long term deal would have to be done after the season is over. All of that is contingent on his off-field issues.

Houston is leading Seattle 8-2 after 5-1/2.

[eagle eye]

Houston won by the way. On Wednesday, you remember, I left my last post with Houston leading 8-2? The Astros hung on to win 8-3 and Keuchel evened his season record - again - going 6 innings allowing the 3 runs. For the 2nd game in a row Houston banged out 15 hits as it's looking like the offense may be showing signs of waking up.

Tonight the Astros are going into a much ballyhooed 2017 World Series rematch with the LA Dodgers. Appropriately enough, Justin Verlander will be on the hill for the series opener. Both teams are pretty much different physically and spiritually but you know how the media likes to exaggerate situations.

Remember how I said this team is different? Well, a big difference is Houston currently has 3 main players out of the lineup. You know about them, Altuve, Correa and Springer are currently out. Now, Correa has begun a rehab assignment with the AA Corpus Christi Hooks and should be back next week. Springer's shoulder is not as bad as first feared and he could be back in the lineup as soon as tonight. Altuve is slated to come off the DL next week. But, another Astro is joining them on the DL. Relief pitcher Chris Devenski was placed on the 10 DL with tightness in his hamstring. Astros #4 prospect, Cionel Perez was recalled from AAA Fresno.

The team Houston needs to be looking out for is the Oakland A's. They have been making a push from the nether regions of the AL West to come up and push their way into sole possession of 2nd place in the division. The A's and Mariners were tied after Houston's win over Seattle Wednesday coupled with the A's win over the Angels Wednesday. Houston and Oakland had yesterday off while Seattle lost it's 3rd straight to Detroit yesterday to fall 1/2 game behind Oakland. Houston is maintaining a 5 game lead in the division.

Houston's newest acquisition, relief pitcher Roberto Osuna, is slated to make his Astros debut this weekend against the Dodgers. I would imagine there is quite a bit of rust to knock off after he served a 75 game suspension for domestic violence charges but we'll soon see how rusty he really is soon enough.

[Big T]

Big lead for the hometown heroes up 12-0 at LA in the 8th. Unfortunately Lance went down with elbow soreness tonight. Just as you think the team is getting healthy again, another key piece of the puzzle falls to the injury bug. It's just that time of the season when guys bodies start breaking down. Better now than in September and October.

[Big T]

3-2 loss today for the good guys and Srpinger left the game with what the team is calling thumb discomfort. It looked like he was in a lot of pain. They've been falling like dominoes here the past few weeks.

[eagle eye]

Astros week in recap was pretty good but the past 3 weeks they have lost on Sunday which taints your impression of the week. In a ‘What have you done for me lately.’ world, the lately hasn’t been great. On one hand, Houston went 4-2 but on the other hand they lost the first and the last game of the week. Houston’s record is 71-42 and you ask me if I would take a 67% winning percentage like they had this past week and I would be all over that. I would prefer they win every single game but that’s just the homer in me. Another downer was that Oakland won their 6th straight game and moved to within 4 games of the Astros division lead. The A’s have been the second-best team in the bigs for the past two months as they rose from the ashes to their current status. They have been so good that they were buyers, not sellers, up to the non-waiver trade deadline.
Another thing not so good is the way the Astros are dropping like flies. Already without Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa the Astros have lost George Springer again when he injured his thumb trying to steal 2B in the 3rd inning of yesterday’s game. X-rays on his thumb were negative but he may miss a bit of time if he has swelling in the thumb. Correa was sent on a rehab assignment over the weekend to AA Corpus Christi and he’s scheduled to return to the team Thursday. Lance McCullers left his start on Saturday in the 5th inning with elbow soreness and he and Altuve were sent back to Houston to get more thorough checkups yesterday. McCullers is currently on the 10-day DL.
Good things happened last week too. Houston picked up a veteran catcher, Martin Maldinado, from the Angels and they added a nice reliever in former Minnesota Twins pitcher Ryan Pressley. They also made a deal late in the week for former Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna. There was a downside to the trade for Osuna because he just came off a 75-game suspension for a domestic violence incident earlier this year in Toronto. DV is a hot button issue and according to GM Jeff Luhnow the Astros did unprecedented due diligence before pulling the trigger on the deal. Osuna was activated Sunday but did not pitch. Maldinado is a great pickup as he has thrown out 44% of potential base stealers so far this year and he gunned down a Dodger in Saturday’s game. Pressley has pitched a couple of scoreless innings in a couple of appearances this past week.
The question is, ‘Who will replace Lance McCullers in the starting rotation?’ This is the reason the Astros kept Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock and I believe the guy who gets a start or two while McCullers is out is McHugh given how well he has pitched all season. He has earned the right to start and I think he’s the best option.

[eagle eye]

On Monday Charlie Morton went 7 innings allowing just one run on 3 hits with 3 BB’s and 8 K’s. Yesterday Dallas Keuchel went 6 innings allowing just one run on 3 hits with 2 BB’s, a hit batsman and 5 K’s. What they have in common is neither factored in the decision. Their brilliant starts were not wasted because on Monday night Marwin Gonzalez hit a 3-run homer in the top of the 9th that led to a 3-1 victory and yesterday afternoon Tyler White hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 8th that led to a 2-1 Astros win and a sweep of the short 2-game series with the San Francisco Giants. The Mariners and A’s were off on Monday and both lost last night so Houston picked up a game and a half on both. Houston has a day off today as they return home for 4 games against the Mariners beginning Thursday.
You feel bad for Morton and Keuchel because they didn’t get any run support until after they had left the game. Keuchel especially because the Astros went 1-11 with RISP and they had 3 baserunners on 3B with less than two outs and failed to score any of them. Part of the reason was SF’s Madison Bumgarner the rest was all on Astros poor hitting.
JD Davis was recalled way back on July 21st and he’s gone 6-37 at the plate since that time. He is currently batting .183 for the season. Derek Fisher was recalled from AAA on Monday and he’s had one AB the past two days and he’s oh-fer so far and he’s batting just .171 for the season. Throw in Kyle Tucker and 3 of Houston’s top prospects are the biggest busts ever in their time in the bigs even though they were tearing up the pitching in the minors. Very disconcerting.
Bright spots are present though. Tyler White has been hitting pretty consistently since his most recent call up in late July. He’s hitting 12 for 45 (.267 BA) in that time and he got the game winning home run yesterday. Also, Jake Marisnick was called up again from AAA on August 1st to replace the struggling Kyle Tucker and he has been on fire since. So far in August he’s gone 6 for 14 (.429 BA) as he is above the Mendoza Line for the first time all season (.212 BA). Jake is kind of my pet cat on the Astros. He’s one of the top 3 or 4 defensive outfielders in the game and I’m glad to see him finally getting his hitting on track.
Busy transaction week as the first week in August passed. Lance McCullers was placed on the 10-day DL with arm soreness but he will not like be back until September. At least the worst fears were allayed when tests showed it wasn’t his elbow and he’s not a candidate for Tommy John surgery. Cionel Perez was called up to take his place. Chris Devenski was placed on the 10-day DL with tightness in his hamstring. Roberto Osuna was activated this past Sunday. George Springer was placed on the 10-day DL yesterday with a sprained thumb. Again, the injury is not as bad as first feared. The bright spot here? With none of the injuries serious this is giving some of the Astros best players, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve included, a good long rest. It’s giving these players a chance to heal up and when they do come back they will be rested and healthy with fresh legs. As long as the guys on the roster keep winning this is a win-win situation both literally and figuratively. Correa may be back on Thursday when Houston begins a homestand against the Mariners.
Okay, does this sound familiar? Game tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning and Ken Giles comes on giving up 5 runs on 4 hits and a walk with two home runs in just 2/3 of an inning before getting the hook by his manager. Giles’ team ends up losing the game 10-7 because he sucked so bad. Thank goodness this is a nightmare the Toronto Blue Jays will have to deal with now since Giles was part of the Roberto Osuna deal last week that sent him to Toronto. I’m not sure how this will affect the US-Canadian relations but at least he’s not going to cost Houston any more wins.

[eagle eye]

I am writing this week's recap even as the final game of the week is still in progress. One reason why is because my wife wants me to do a honey-do and the other reason is I really believe Houston will go ahead and lose. The Astros were 0-3 in their last 3 home games and they are currently 0-7 since they blew today's game. Why was I so sure Houston will lose? Because after losing the first 3 games of this four game series with Houston scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 3-2 lead only to see that lead disappear on a Ryan Healy solo home run to tie the game. Houston went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th. As I have been writing this Roberto Osuna came on in the 10th getting a leadoff out then a single and a double that scored the runner from first to take a 4-3 lead. Mitch Haniger has been royal pain in the derriere. I think about 3 games ago I would have hit drilled Haniger with a fastball right in the earhole. The top of the 10th ends with Seattle leading 4-3. Houston is doomed and they will have been swept by division rivals in four game series. Two weeks ago Texas tuned up the Astros and this week it was Seattle. I cannot figure out for the life of me why Houston stinks so bad at home. Assuming I'm right, Houston will have gone 2-4 on the week. They are still in the lead in the AL West but that lead will either be 3.5 or 2.5 games margin over the Oakland A's depending on how Oakland fares against the Angels of Anaheim. That game is tied 3-3 after 3 innings in Anaheim. The Yankees have passed Houston for the 2nd best record as they had the Rangers to beat up on.

It's not just one phase of the Astros that are letting them down but their offense continues to be putrid as they only managed to score 13 runs in the four games against the Mariners while allowing 20 runs to the Mariners. Just in case rudimentary math is not your strong point Houston averaged 3.25 runs per game. If this was April when the starting pitching was nearly flawless the Astros might have swept Seattle but not now when the starters were porous as a screen door. Dallas Keuchel is the exception and he was really abused again today as he gave the Astros 7 innings of work allowing just one run. Unfortunately, the offense didn't score until the 8th inning. It did save Keuchel from taking another hard luck loss but it's little consolation when you get swept at home. Verlander, Cole and Morton were bad in varying amounts in the previous three games. The only saving grace for the week was Houston beating San Francisco in a short 2-game series to begin the week. With roughly 6 weeks left in the season Houston not only has to worry about the surging Oakland A's but by getting hammered by the Mariners it got them right in the thick of things as they are only 4 games back in the division now.

Houston's offense is short handed with George Springer, Jose Altuve, Brian McCann, Lance McCullers, Chris Devenski and now Jake Marisnick all on the DL. The only guy expected back is Springer next weekend - maybe - the Astros have to figure out a way to generate some offense. The starting pitching has been spotty and the bullpen seems to be good until it's time to hold a team to get a win. I really wish the Astros would fire their hitting coach. This is nothing new because I have been bitching about him since AJ Hinch was hired. I don't have any faith in the guy. Their is no excuse for more than half the lineup hitting 50 or more points less this season compared to last season. How else can you explain why top prospects like Kyle Tucker, JD Davis and Derek Fisher hitting well over .300 at AAA and they can't get above the Mendoza Line in Houston?

Houston has a short two game series against Colorado beginning on Tuesday and then they play their next 9 games on the road all against division foes. In fact, Houston plays nothing but division foes to the end of the month. It is a make or break stretch for a team that is struggling mightily but they have to find a way to pull it together or they could very well be watching the playoffs at home instead of the dugout.

Justin Verlander pitches on Tuesday with an eye on rebounding from the shortest outing as an Astros in the first game against the Mariners on Thursday night. He went 2 innings giving up six runs including 3 home runs. In the second inning of that game Verlander picked off Mitch Haniger on 1B but he was called for a balk by the home plate ump. It was a BS call and instead of getting the 3rd out of the inning Verlander gave up a 2-run homer followed by a solo HR to give the M's another 3 runs before getting out of the inning. It also gave the Mariners an insurmountable 6-0 lead in the game. After seeing the replay in the dugout Verlander gave the ump royal hades, so much so, he got tossed. Hopefully, he has regained his composure and can shut down the Rockies and get back on the winning track.

Poor Jake Marisnick. He came back from his latest demotion to AAA on fire at the plate. Since he came back on August 1st he raised his BA from .192 to .217. This late in the season improving your batting average nearly 20 points is big. How big? He hit .421 with an OBP of .560 in August, that's big. He pulled a groin muscle legging out a double on Friday that landed him on the 10-day DL but the Astros said today he will likely miss several weeks. Some of the reason teams win championships depends on how healthy they are especially down the stretch of the season. Houston has definitely not been lucky avoiding the injury bug in 2018. How do I know that? Just look at the players on the DL and when you realize this is the first time in his career Jose Altuve has even been on the DL you see just how unlucky the Astros have been.

[eagle eye]

The Astros threw their fans a bone last night winning 12-1 over the Rockies in the series and homestand finale. This leaves Houston with a dismal 1-5 record in the recent homestand. It was nice to see the Astros win but you’d love to see this a little more consistently.

The Astros offense threw Garrett Cole a bone by giving him some run support for a change enabling him to finally get his 11th win of the season. It only took him 5 starts going all the way back to July 14 to get win #11. The only other pitcher on the staff with more of a gripe about lack of run support is Justin Verlander but, to be fair, he has sucked at times.

Evan Gattis threw himself a bone by getting off an 0-20 string of AB’s going 3-4 with two RBI’s and 2 runs scored. At least for one game Captain Caveman was back. Here’s hoping that gets him going again and his alter ego Major Whiff will be kept under wraps for the rest of the season.

Carlos Correa threw baseball fans everywhere a bone with a crazy play to get a batter out with one out in the 9th inning. The Rockies Tony Wolters hit a ground ball up the middle with the Astros playing a shift to the right side meaning Correa was playing just on the right field side of 2B. Correa got a great jump on the ball - too great - as he overran ball. In desperation Correa got low and reached behind his back and he actually stopped the ball. He quickly recovered and threw out Wolters by a step. It would have not been possible to make the play if Wolters had not hit the ball hard which gave Correa time to make the spectacular play.

Last, but not least, Seattle threw Houston a bone by beating Oakland snapping an A’s 4-game winning streak and increasing Houston’s division lead to 2 games. Houston begins a 9-game road trip where all their games will be against division opponents starting with those pesky A’s on Friday. As they say back on the ranch, “It’s nut-cuttin’ time boys!”

George Springer will likely return to the lineup this weekend which is good news. Jose Altuve fielded grounders, took some BP and did some running yesterday which would make you think his return to the lineup is imminent. Brian McCann is out on a minor league rehab assignment so he should be back soon, maybe after the current road trip.

[eagle eye]

To recap last week I just need a moment. The Astros suck right now. They have sucked for about 3 weeks. To be clear, it's a group effort that I have chronicled before. Starting pitching, relief pitching, defense and offense have all contributed to the lousy state of affairs. The Astros ended the week with a big win over the A's to regain sole possession of 1st place in the division but after going 2-3 for the week that was highlighted (?) by blowing a win on Friday over the A's, losing 7-1 to fall into a tie for the division with those same A's the Astros pulled out a win on Sunday.

George Springer returned to the lineup on Friday only to have to sit out the past few games because of a pulled quad muscle. Carlos Correa returned to the lineup on August 10th but so far he's gone 6 for 35 (.171 BA) which is the opposite effect on this struggling offense. George Springer came back on August 3rd and he had been doing okay batting .261 since his return but the pulled quad has been a problem. Jose Altuve had on rehab assignment at AAA Fresno which technically came in Tacoma Washington against the Tacoma Rainiers. The game was convenient for the Astros as they were about to begin a series with the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Altuve played his only game in AAA on Sunday getting his first AAA hit but it didn't prepare him for his return to the big club on Tuesday as Altuve went 0-3 with a walk. Houston is pretty close to being at full strength again assuming Altuve's knee doesn't act up again and Springer's quad calms down. You just don't know with this team. As I've stated before, the August swoon by the Astros actually began in mid July and they are 3-11 in the last two weeks. The Astros have successfully lost their division cushion to the A's and they also successfully brought a dead and buried Seattle team back to life. If Houston continues down this path they will watch the A's win the division and Seattle claim the 2nd Wild Card spot. Houston has 36 games left as of today and they only need to win 24 games to get to 100 wins. Can Houston go 24-12 to finish the season? The way they are playing now, especially with their offensive struggles, it doesn't seem likely. At least they hung on to beat Seattle last night to remain in a first place tie with the A's. Maybe the A's are due a slump of their own. I certainly hope so. Heck, even the Red Sox are slumping going just 6-4 in their last ten games and losers of 3 straight. If Houston can get on a roll at the same time the A's stumble it could be just the thing to get Houston through September in good shape. Just a homer and his desperate dreams.