ASTROS REPORT
Astros end slump at Minute Maid and may have found a hidden gem
Apr 26, 2021, 4:12 pm
The Astros got a much-needed series win. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
After starting their season with a 6-3 record, the Houston Astros were swept by the Detroit Tigers, lost two of three games to the Seattle Mariners and were swept once again by the Colorado Rockies (who had the worst record in baseball at the time) in a 2-game series.
During this 1-7 stretch the Astros offense was atrocious as they were unable to score runs consistently.
Sure they didn't have Alex Bregman, Robel Garcia, Martin Maldonado and Yordan Alvarez in four of those games during that stretch due to being placed on the COVID-19 reserve for contract tracing, but other players were not stepping up as they should have.
One player in particular who has had a tough season is Kyle Tucker.
His batting average is .181 to start the year with 16 strikeouts.
Martin Maldonado is another Astros' player who is slumping as his batting average is .111 and leads the team with 23 strikeouts.
The two bright spots of the 1-7 slump were Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel.
Both batters continued to stay hot at the plate has they were able to hit above .300 and keep the team afloat during this valley portion of the season.
The Astros looked to change their fortunes by starting the first half of an eight game homestead against the Los Angeles Angels.
Thursday night's game to start the series was historic, as it was the first time the Astros played exclusively on YouTube.
The popular video sharing site seemed to bring good luck, as Houston went on to score the most runs in a game since their initial 4-game series against the Oakland A's.
A more likely factor for their good offensive fortunes could be that Astros' manager Dusty Baker made a change to his lineup by putting Carlos Correa as the leadoff hitter for the first time in his career.
This seemed to work as Correa had two hits, two RBI and scored three runs.
Alex Bregman had his best performance since returning from the COVID-19 list landing three hits and three RBI.
Cristian Javier made his Astros return after spending some time at the alternate site. He struck out a career-high nine batters and threw five scoreless innings.
The Astros broke their 3-game losing streak and beat the Angels 8-2.
Friday's game proved to be more difficult as Houston needed extra-innings and an unlikely hero to win their second straight game against the Angels.
Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead in the 5th inning but Gurriel tied the game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 7th.
The Angels scored two runs in the top of the 10th on RBI singles by David Fletcher and Astros' headache Albert Pujols off Ryan Pressly to take a 4-2 lead. These were the first earned runs given up by Pressly this season.
The bottom of the 10th started with Kyle Tucker on second base and went to third on a fly ball by Aledmys Díaz. Myles Straw singled to score Tucker and the lead was cut to 4-3.
Jason Castro then hit a ground-rule double into the right field corner to send Straw to third. The play was reviewed to see if it was a foul ball, but the call was upheld.
Correa was able to score Straw on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 4-4.
With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, the number 2 spot came up in the batting order. Instead of the usual Michael Brantley hitting in that place, it was Robel Garcia, who just returned from being on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Brantley was pinch run for by Chaz McCormick earlier in the game and Garcia was pinch hitting for McCormick.
Garcia took two quick strikes from Angels closer Raisel Iglesias but hit an RBI single to score Castro to win the game 5-4 for the Astros.
Saturday's game was arguably the best game for the 'Stros, as they scored a season high 16 runs and found an unused gem in their bullpen.
Jake Odorizzi started the game for the Astros, but only lasted 1/3 of an inning as he left the game early with an injury.
Enter Kent Emanuel who didn't think he was going to pitch anytime soon.
"All of the sudden they were like: 'Hey, you better start loosening up,'" he said. "I was like ... 'here we go."' Emanuel said after the game.
The former Astros minor leaguer made his major league debut by pitching the remaining 8 2/3 innings of the game.
"It's pretty wild," Emanuel said. "But I've been expecting this moment for quite some time now. So, I was ready."
He allowed five hits and two runs and became the fourth pitcher to have a relief outing of 8 2/3 innings or more in the modern era. Fred Smith (1907), Maury Kent (1912) and John Montefusco (1974) were the others just in case you were wondering.
The Astros gave Emanuel a lot of run support to say the least.
Correa, Bregman and Kyle Tucker all hit home runs in this game to give the Astros their best offensive performance of the season.
Sundays' game ended the week on a sour note, but was still eventful nonetheless.
Lance McCullers started the game and pitched more than five innings for the first time and left the game with a no decision after Yuli Gurriel hit his fourth homer of the season to tie the game 2-2.
Angles two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani broke the game open with a solo home run off Luis Garcia in the top of the 8th to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.
The Halos won the game 4-2, but still lost the series to the Astros 3-1.
This was the first series win since their first one of the season in which they swept the Oakland A's in four games.
UP NEXT: The Astros finish out their homestead with four games against the Seattle Mariners before heading on the road Friday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.