THE PALLILOG
6 intriguing Astros observations with a quarter of the season almost in the books
May 14, 2021, 10:21 am
What a start for Yordan Alvarez. Composite photo by Brandon Strange.
Silver Boot Fever! No, but the Astros and Texas Rangers this weekend at Minute Maid Park and next weekend up in Arlington should have the Astros distancing the .500 mark in their rearview mirror for this season. Seven games with the Rangers are wrapped around a three game set at Oakland next week. The Astros taking the first of them Thursday night assures they'll be over .500 as they finish the first quarter of the season.
Some quick almost quarter pole facts and thoughts:
1) The starting rotation lacks an ace, but the depth of at least pretty good pitchers enables them to withstand the continued absences of Framber Valdez and Jake Odorizzi. The bullpen is shaky but Brent Strom gets the benefit of the doubt toward coalescing pieces into all right.
2) Yuli Gurriel has been tremendous thus far. He turns 37 next month so we'll see how he holds up through the summer, but after an abysmal 2020 showing Gurriel is well positioned to bat .300 this season (he's at .333). Before his inept .232 last year, Gurriel hit .299, .291, and .298 in his first three full seasons.
3) Among Astros only Yordan Alvarez has been as good as Gurriel in the batter's box thus far. Yet while hitting .350 Yordan has not been better than he was as a rookie. That's because the Cuban missile launcher has only drawn four walks so far this season.
4) Carlos Correa's drive for a monster free agent contract has not gone well to this point. A .246 average and .299 on base percentage are simply not good numbers. Forget his injury history, from 2018 to now Correa is a .257 hitter. Not the stuff of which 10 year 300+ million dollar contracts are made.
5) Myles Straw was obviously going to be a huge dropoff offensively from George Springer but he has been a serious disappointment to this point. They have no viable alternatives.
6) Jason Castro should be getting more starts behind the plate as Martin Maldonado continues to flail away mostly hopelessly at the plate. Astros' catchers bat ninth for a reason and aren't expected to be big offensive producers but Maldonado has been almost unbelievably bad. Castro will never be confused with Mike Piazza or Joe Mauer but should be getting at least half the playing time right now. Castro is plenty competent behind the plate. Maldonado's handling of pitchers and pitch framing skills aren't so good as to justify his getting two thirds of the playing time if his OPS is .507. His OPS is .407.
It's good for franchise imaging and future recruiting efforts which is just fine given that Jim Crane and the organization decided to provide furnished apartments for all their minor leaguers this season. No other franchise has done that. Most players in single-A make five hundred dollars per week. That's about eleven thousand dollars for the entire season.
Rockets wrapping up the season
The Rockets' season mercifully draws to an end Sunday. Yes, the Rockets have been playing games the last several months. Losing almost all of them. Consider that after losing a franchise record 20 consecutive games the Rockets have gone 5-24. Owner Tilman Fertitta this week spoke enthusiastically about the club's future. Did you expect him to say they could stink for several more years? Stinking for at least the next two seasons is quite likely, especially if the Rockets lose their first round pick by having it drop to the number five pick on draft lottery night June 22. That would give them three straight losing seasons, after having just three in the prior 36.
The two years roughly 92 million dollars left on John Wall's contract are a pair of cement sneakers the organization is wearing. A buyout that could save Fertitta several million and let Wall try to latch on as a backup with a contender makes sense for both sides.
Texans schedule
The NFL full 2021 schedule release Wednesday marked four months to go until the Texans' season opener. Stifle the yawn or laugh. Barring quite a turn of events that wind up with Deshaun Watson starting at quarterback for them September 12, the Texans' 20th NFL season will be by far the least anticipated in franchise history.
Buzzer Beaters:
1) So, if the Texans lose their season opener at home vs. Jacksonville do you immediately start thinking 0-17 is possible? It would be pretty funny if they go 1-16 with the lone victory coming at Arizona. DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt would see that differently.
2) The horse did nothing wrong, but Medina Spirit should not be trying to get two-thirds of the way to the Triple Crown by winning Saturday's Preakness Stakes. Trainer Bob Baffert is shady.
3) Best Jennifer Lopez OR Ben Affleck movies: Bronze-Out of Sight Silver-The Town Gold-Good Will Hunting (really a Matt Damon or Robin Williams movie but work with me).
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
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