ASTROS REPORT
Astros finish hot first half of season and head into All-Star break with disappointing week
Jul 16, 2018, 7:29 am
Alex Bregman is playing at a very high level. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
The Astros looked to cap off a hot start to the season with a strong winning week to take them into the All-Star break. However, things did not go as planned, and here's why:
Monday, July 9th: 50-40 A's (Frankie Montas) vs. 61-31 Astros (Gerrit Cole)
The week got under way on Monday night with a pitcher's duel. Gerrit Cole was dominant, going six innings while giving up just three hits and getting yet another double-digit strikeout game with eleven. Unfortunately for Houston's offense, Frankie Montas was equally dominant for Oakland, also giving up just three hits during six innings. The A's would win the battle of the bullpens, with two of their relievers combining for the final three innings, completing the shutout of the Astros. For Houston, it was Brad Peacock and Will Harris allowing the two runs, both to Stephen Piscotty, that made the difference in the low scoring game that gave the Astros a loss to start the week.
Final Score: A's 2, Astros 0
Tuesday, July 10th: 51-40 A's (Sean Manaea) vs. 61-32 Astros (Justin Verlander)
Tuesday's game started out as many would have predicted, then ended in a bizarre way on many levels. It was Justin Verlander providing the expected outcome early; a strong pitching performance. Verlander went six innings during which he gave up just three hits and struck out six. That appeared to put him in line for the win, with Alex Bregman homering in the first, George Springer hitting two RBI singles, one in the second and one in the fourth, then Bregman getting his second homer of the game in the seventh to make it 4-0. Chris Devenski and Joe Smith took care of business in the seventh and eighth innings, setting up what should've been an easy end to the game for Ken Giles in the ninth. Instead, Giles struggled in another non-save situation, allowing three consecutive singles and a run before recording an out. That resulted in A.J. Hinch coming to relieve him, to which Giles appeared to share some colorful displeasure with Hinch's decision. Hector Ronon was out next but would be unable to clean up the mess and allowed Oakland to tie the game 4-4. The game headed to extras, where the A's looked to have their comeback complete with a solo homer in the top of the eleventh to take their first lead at 5-4. Houston came back to life in the bottom of the inning, starting with a leadoff walk by Josh Reddick who moved to third on a single by Kyle Tucker, then scored on a groundout by Tony Kemp to tie the game at 5-5. With the winning run on second, George Springer flew out, leaving it up to Alex Bregman. What happened next was one of the weirdest baseball plays, especially one to end a game, I've ever seen. Alex Bregman hit what appeared to be a foul ball, bouncing mere inches in front of the plate, hitting the ground in foul territory, then rolling back fair, just in front of the plate. Jonathan Lucroy picked it up but while reaching to get the easy tag on Bregman to end the inning, instead lost the ball, resulting in Bregman taking off for first. Lucroy lasered the ball towards first but the ball clipped the edge of Bregman's helmet, sending the ball down the first base line, allowing Tucker to score to end the game on a walk-off error.
Final Score (11 Innings): A's 5, Astros 6
Wednesday, July 11th: 51-41 A's (Chris Bassitt) vs. 62-32 Astros (Lance McCullers Jr.)
Oakland recovered well from the disappointing night on Tuesday by taking advantage of a lackluster start by Lance McCullers on Wednesday. The A's scored three runs off of him in the top of the first, two on a double and one on a sac fly to put Houston down 3-0 early. That lead doubled in the fourth on a three-run home run, giving Oakland a commanding 6-0 lead. McCullers would finish the fourth inning, but that would be it for him in a disappointing night with six earned runs. Yuli Gurriel gave the Astros some signs of life with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, then Tyler White hit a solo homer in the fifth to trim Oakland's lead to 6-3. The A's would stop Houston from getting any closer than that, though, with four shutout innings by their bullpen during which Oakland extended the lead with runs in the sixth and ninth off of Brad Peacock and Cionel Perez, a prospect called up to take a roster spot in the bullpen after Ken Giles was sent packing to Fresno after his explosion on Tuesday night.
Final Score: A's 8, Astros 3
Thursday, July 12th: 52-41 A's (Trevor Cahill) vs. 62-33 Astros (Charlie Morton)
The Astros looked to be in a position to get the win on Thursday and split the series after going up 4-0. It was Alex Bregman getting the scoring started in the third with a two-RBI double, then Tony Kemp added two of his own on a homer in the fourth. Charlie Morton had been doing well early, allowing just two hits through the first four innings, but once again struggled at the end of a start, giving up three runs to allow Oakland to trim the lead to one before ending his short day. From there it was the battle of the bullpens as the 4-3 Houston lead held until late in the game. It was Chris Devenski having an off day which opened the door for the A's to complete their comeback, getting three runs in the top of the eighth while Houston's bats were held in check the rest of the way, giving Oakland the series win with three games to one.
Final Score: A's 6, Astros 4
Friday, July 13th: 40-55 Tigers (Mike Fiers) vs. 62-34 Astros (Dallas Keuchel)
Alex Bregman gave Mike Fiers a warm welcome back to Houston with a two-run homer to kick off the scoring in the series opener on Friday Night. Yuli Gurriel added to that lead by converting yet another runner in scoring position with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, making it a 3-0 lead. Dallas Keuchel, despite working around several hits, was able to get another high-quality start, finishing six innings of shutout baseball including working out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the sixth with a popout and groundout to keep the shutout going. Tony Sipp was first out of the bullpen and threw a scoreless seventh, then Brad Peacock completed the eighth and held the three-run lead. Despite getting runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom of the eighth, Houston would be unable to add any insurance runs, but they wouldn't be needed as Hector Rondón would come in and work around a two-out walk to get the save in the ninth inning to complete the shutout win.
Final Score: Tigers 0, Astros 3
Saturday, July 14th: 40-56 Tigers (Michael Fulmer) vs. 63-34 Astros (Gerrit Cole)
Gerrit Cole was activated off of the bereavement list after the game Friday night, putting him back on the roster for his start on Saturday, and sending Jake Marisnick back down to AAA (again). Cole was given an early 2-0 lead to work with after a sac fly from Yuli Gurriel and RBI bloop single by Josh Reddick in the bottom of the first. George Springer and Alex Bregman doubled that to 4-0 with RBIs in the bottom of the second, then Marwin Gonzalez extended it to 5-0 with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. Michael Fulmer had his only inning without a run in the bottom of the fourth, but allowed back-to-back home runs to Reddick and Evan Gattis in the bottom of the fifth, ending his day early with seven earned runs and leaving the Tigers in a 7-0 hole. During all that offense, Gerrit Cole quietly got through the first five innings with no runs and eight strikeouts. After getting two outs in the sixth, he would allow Detroit's first run of the day on an RBI double, ending his day with Joe Smith coming in for the final out of that inning. Chris Devenski was next out of the bullpen and threw two perfect innings with two strikeouts, during which Tyler White knocked in two more runs on a homer in the bottom of the seventh. Cionel Perez received some more major league experience with a quick ninth inning to close out the lopsided win.
Final Score: Tigers 1, Astros 9
Sunday, July 15th: 40-57 Tigers (Francisco Liriano) vs. 64-34 Astros (Justin Verlander)
Justin Verlander's former teammates on the Tigers did not do him any favors on Sunday, handing him a disappointing end to the first half of the season. It was a weird start for Verlander, who looked absolutely dominant in some innings as he finished with twelve strikeouts, but also looked completely pedestrian in a couple of spots that were costly. In the second inning, Verlander allowed a two-run homer then sac fly to give Detroit an early 3-0 lead. He then gave up three more homers across the fifth and sixth innings before his day was over. Houston was able to get two runs of their own during that period with Yuli Gurriel scoring unconventionally twice, once during a slow double play and later on a wild pitch. Detroit's bullpen held Houston's offense at bay through the rest of the game, holding on to the 6-2 lead until the bottom of the ninth where Alex Bregman hit a leadoff double then tagged twice on fly outs to score before the game was finished off.
Final Score: Tigers 6, Astros 3
Summary
Despite a great first half of the season when looking at the whole picture, this last week was a disappointing way to end it. The A's have been nearly unstoppable recently, but the Astros still can't let a team take three of four against them at home. The loss on Sunday can be blamed on Verlander's poor start, but that series against the Tigers still should have been a clean sweep. A 3-4 losing week to go into the break is not the most motivating way to refresh the mental game to prepare for the big push to the end of the season. The good news is, Houston's rotation is healthy, and other than a few bad starts here or there, appear to be on the rise. Carlos Correa should rejoin the team healthy and rested, which will put another key piece back in the lineup and defense. The team deserves a few days off, they've had a solid start to the year, and as long as they keep playing their game and stay healthy, they've got nothing to worry about until October.
MVP of the Week - Alex Bregman:
Bregman continued his hot summer this week with another good stretch at the plate. Bregman had a hit in every game this week, finishing 10 for 26 over the seven games for a .385 average while driving in seven runs including three homers. It's still extremely early in Bregman's career, but I'd be much more surprised if he doesn't turn into a star than if he does.
Honorable Mention - Yuli Gurriel: Gurriel had a great week himself, including extending his hitting streak to twelve games, raising his season average to .310, and getting five RBIs over the six games he played this week.
This Week:
- Monday: 2018 MLB Home Run Derby
- Tuesday: 2018 MLB All-Star Game
- Fri-Sun: (64-35) Astros @ (49-48) Angels
Bregman will be one of the eight contestants for the home run derby on Monday night in Washington, D.C. Not only will he represent the Astros, he will represent the whole American League since the other seven players all come from the National League. Bregman, along with starter Jose Altuve, reserve George Springer, and pitchers Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and recently added Charlie Morton, will represent Houston on Tuesday night for the 2018 All-Star Game. The regular season will resume this weekend, with the Astros heading to Los Angeles for a weekend series against the Angels.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.