TIME FOR PAYBACK?
How Astros & Rockets fans could find themselves with more money in their pockets
May 8, 2020, 6:54 am
Photo by Bob Levey /Stringer/Getty Images.
If you signed up for home delivery of bottled water, agreed to pay $20 a month for the service, but two months go by and no water … wouldn't you want your money back?
Well, I signed up for AT&T SportsNet because they said I'd get Houston Astros and Houston Rockets games, and two months have gone by and no games … so I want my money back. Or at least credit on future cable bills.
I sure didn't subscribe to AT&T SportsNet for taped replays of old footvolley (volleyball played with your feet) tournaments or IFA Redfish kayak races or the dreaded "paid programming." I watch AT&T SportsNet for one reason, two reasons really, and those are Astros and Rockets games.
So far, not a peep from the cable or satellite TV providers. I called Comcast, the biggest cable provider in Houston and asked, will you offer refunds or credit to AT&T SportsNet subscribers for no games, but lots of pain and suffering and fishing shows?
Comcast hasn't made an announcement yet, but here's the plan: "Any rebates will be determined once the NBA, NHL and MLB announce the course of action for their seasons, including the number of games that will be played, and of course we will pass those rebates or other adjustments along to our customers," said Michael Bybee, Comcast's director of external communications.
Plus I'm sure programming providers don't want to wait for the Texas attorney general to force them to refund money, like what's being threatened in New York.
Right now, and everything is totally tentative, baseball is hoping to re-start (it's still) spring training in June with Opening Day slotted for July 1. That would allow big league teams to play about 100 regular season games in this highly irregular season.
Baseball has a few scenarios up its sleeve. Teams may play home games in their usual home ballparks. Or teams could be grouped by geography and play in certain designated stadiums. Or they could play only in cities with smaller numbers of coronavirus infections.
NBA is trickier business because its season was almost completed when play was halted in March. There are several scenarios being discussed, including resuming the season in June or July, heading straight to the playoffs, or canceling the 2019-20 season altogether. As you'll recall, the Rockets had a 40-24 record, with 18 regular season games remaining. If the NBA moves directly to the post-season, the Rockets, sitting in 6th place in the Western Conference, would make the cut.
In all scenarios discussed, games will be played without fans in attendance. While I don't doubt that the Astros, like all MLB teams, are disappointed that the season is on hold, I'm thinking maybe the Astros are a little less disappointed. At least they have the most to gain if the season is played with reduced travel and no fans. It wouldn't be the worst thing for the Astros to play in empty stadiums.
Consider what's happened the past six weeks of no games. Star pitcher Justin Verlander was able to rehab his lat strain injury. How long was he supposed to be out of action? Six weeks. Meanwhile, Alex Bregman has been able to rehab his image by forming Alex's Army to raise $2 million to feed families facing financial problems due to COVID-19.
When games resume, oh no, you mean the Astros won't have to travel to New York, America's city hardest hit by coronavirus, to play the Yankees in front of 50,000 maniac Yankee fans who absolutely hate the Astros for cheating during their 2017 World Series season? Yankees fans are crazy enough without having an ax to grind. And the Astros won't have to play road games in front of Dodgers, A's and Red Sox fans who hate their guts, too? Such a pity. Thank you, coronavirus' silver lining.
If the Astros have to wait a whole year to play in front of fans, that's OK. America is a forgiving nation. Shoeless Joe Jackson got a lifetime ban for allegedly helping his White Sox team throw the 1919 World Series. I say allegedly because he went on trial with seven of his teammates in 1921 and a jury found them innocent. Two days later, the Commissioner of Baseball took it upon himself to ban the now-Black Sox forever. You didn't know that the Black Sox played the 1920 season, did you? Shoeless Joe played 146 games and batted .382 the year after he allegedly helped throw the World Series.
Now Shoeless Joe is some kind of folk hero. According to a poll, most Americans would like to see him in baseball's Hall of Fame. It was a lifetime ban, right? Well, the guy's been dead more than 70 years. His lifetime is over.
Pete Rose also was banned for life in 1989 for betting on baseball. Now most Americans think 31 years is enough and it's time to let the Hit King back in the game.
Yes, we may not forget but we forgive. In 1966 John Lennon proclaimed that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Some Americans, particularly in the Bible Belt, were so outraged that radio stations refused to play Beatles music and there were public bonfires to burn Beatles records. Lennon has since become a cherished (I almost said worshipped) icon of popular culture and his song Imagine is performed during the Olympic closing ceremonies.
Jane Fonda was the most hated woman in America in 1972 after she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese cannon presumably aimed at U.S. planes. She was "Hanoi Jane." Within 10 years, she won her second Academy Award for Best Actress and starred in the first of 14 workout videos.
Mike Tyson went from convicted rapist to a lovable crazy person on Comedy Central roasts and star of a one-man show on Broadway. Alex Rodriguez, suspended from baseball for steroids, is now the voice of baseball on ESPN and Fox, and he's a panelist on Shark Tank and engaged to Jenny on the Block.
So the Astros may not be the cheating bad boys of baseball for long. Time heals all wounds. In a year or two, Jose Altuve will be cuddly again.
One note: this forgiveness thing? O.J. Simpson need not apply.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's 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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*ChatGPT assisted.
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