How Houston Astros GM can put his foot down on Montero situation
STONE COLD 'STROS
26 June 2023
Houston Astros relief pitcher Rafael Montero is going through a rough patch, well that might be putting it mildly. With the All-Star break on the horizon, Montero is coming up on a shockingly bad first half of the season.
He currently has the worst ERA of all qualified relief pitchers in MLB (7.76), and he can no longer be counted on to protect a lead. Yet, manager Dusty Baker continues to play him in high leverage situations with little to no success. At least in Montero's case.
So how do the Astros fix him? The team isn't going to cut Montero, he has a boatload of money left on his contract. And relief pitchers are inconsistent by nature, having good years after bad ones regularly. But this just isn't a bad year for Montero, he's unplayable at this point if you ask anyone outside of Dusty.
The team also can't just ship him to Triple A, he's out of options. Astros GM Dana Brown certainly has his hands full. He didn't sign Montero, owner Jim Crane did. And you have to think Baker had some role in the offseason, with no GM steering the ship during free agency. So he has to be careful with this situation as to not ruffle any feathers.
His best bet may be coming up with a fake injury and working on getting Montero fixed on the backfields of a minor league facility. This would also remove him from the active roster, and Baker couldn't be tempted to use him in a game.
Montero needs to come up with a quality secondary pitch to get batters out. Per the Houston Chronicle, Montero's four-seam fastball is an effective pitch. Batters are hitting only .238 against it. But against all of his other pitches, batters are hitting a whopping .405.
Nobody said figuring out this situation would be easy, but the team cannot continue to run Montero out on the field. This isn't 2022, winning the AL West will be much more difficult this year with the Rangers and Angels playing significantly better baseball.
It's time to earn your money, Dana Brown. Good luck, we're counting on you.
What battles Houston Texans must win to shock the world, derail Chiefs dynasty
Jan 16, 2025, 3:49 pm
Make no mistake about it, the Texans have their biggest challenge of the season this Saturday in KC, trying to keep the Chiefs from moving on and possibly winning their third straight championship.
And the level of difficulty goes much further than just a fierce opponent. The Chiefs are fully rested, and the Texans will be short-handed again on offense.
After releasing disgruntled receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Cade Stover heading to IR, Houston will need someone outside of Nico Collins to make an impact in the passing game. Joe Mixon is a prime candidate to catch some passes this week, but he missed practice on Thursday (ankle) so that will be something to watch.
Not to mention, Robert Woods has missed practice time this week with a hip injury. Which means outside of Collins, the Texans will have to lean on John Metchie III, Dalton Schultz, and Xavier Hutchinson to move the ball through the air.
As opposed to the Chiefs who have a full complement of weapons with Travis Kelce, Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, and burner Xavier Worthy, with Patrick Mahomes pulling the trigger. Oh yeah, they also have Andy Reid calling the plays.
It certainly appears the Chiefs have the edge of offense, but the Texans defense has gotten healthy at the right time. Especially on the defensive line that gave Justin Herbert fits in the Wild Card round.
X-factors
Tank Dell was Stroud's most effective target against the Chiefs in December, recording over 100 yards and scoring a touchdown. Collins was held to just 60 yards on 7 catches. If that happens this time around, that could spell trouble for Houston. Metchie is now the Texans No. 2 receiver because of injuries, and he got off to a terrible start last week, fumbling on the first offensive play of the game. He's done a decent job of getting open this year, but he's struggled to hold on to the football. The moment can't get too big for him this week. Also, Texans OC Bobby Slowik has to do a better job of calling plays that will keep the team out of third and long situations. Something that has plagued the team all season.
On defense, limiting Mahomes' ability to create big plays with his legs will be key. He escaped through the B gap several times in his last matchup with DeMeco Ryans' defense. Those runs led to first downs and KC's first touchdown of the game.
What does Vegas think?
The Chiefs are favored by 9, and the total is set at 41.5 points.
We have so much more to get to! Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview and predictions for the big game.
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