Houston plays two strong NL West teams
Big week ahead for Astros against stiffer competition
Aug 17, 2020, 9:03 am
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Astros Carlos Correa
With the win on Sunday to complete the sweep of the Mariners, the Astros completed a 5-1 week against the struggling Giants and Seattle at home. The winning performances were a welcome change for Houston, who the weekend prior had just wrapped up a 3-6 road trip capped off by a sweep by the division-leading A's to send them back home with a five-game losing streak looming over their heads.
With a Rangers loss against the Rockies in Denver on Sunday, the Astros, now on a four-game winning streak, now sit in sole possession of second place in the AL West, 4.5 games behind Oakland. They took care of business against teams that the Astros of recent seasons would have no trouble with giving a glimmer of hope that even with the mounting injuries and offensive struggles of some key players, notably Jose Altuve, that the 2020 Astros may still be one of the best in the league.
First up, four against the surging Rockies
This upcoming week will probably do more to show us what this team is capable of considering the team's status and the strength of opponents. Over the seven-game slate this Monday-Sunday, the Astros will first split a four-game series with the 13-8 Rockies in a home-and-home series, starting with two at Minute Maid Park, then two at Coors Field. If the current rotation stays as scheduled, here's how the series should line up:
- Monday (COL @ HOU): Kyle Freeland (2-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Brandon Bielak (2-0, 1.76 ERA)
- Tuesday (COL @ HOU): Antonio Senzatela (3-0, 3.91 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke (1-0, 2.53 ERA)
- Wednesday (HOU @ COL): Framber Valdez (1-2, 1.90 ERA) vs. Ryan Castellani (0-0, 1.04 ERA)
- Thursday (HOU @ COL): Cristian Javier (2-1, 2.91 ERA) vs. German Marquez (2-3, 2.25 ERA).
This schedule puts two of Houston's younger arms on the mound in the thin Denver air on Wednesday and Thursday, and against a potent Rockies offense that averages over six runs per game at home. The good news for Houston, though, is that during this past homestand, it looked like their offense may have finally gotten up to speed, especially during their nine-run outburst of an inning on Friday in Yordan Alvarez's return.
A weekend in San Diego to wrap up the week
After the Rockies, Houston's next opponent is the 11-12 Padres, with a three-game series in San Diego. Despite being third in the tightly-contested NL West, the Padres sit tenth (the Astros are eighth) in the entire league in runs scored, showing their lineup potency. So between the Rockies and Padres, the Astros are likely in for a week of back-and-forth offense with their highest chance of coming out ahead being a week full of timely hits and several longballs per game.
Let's talk about injuries and Altuve
That leads to one of the ongoing question marks in terms of injury with the Astros. Michael Brantley, one of Houston's most reliable bats, landed on the IL over the weekend, and Yordan Alvarez was a late scratch for Sunday's game with knee discomfort, something he battled with during his rookie campaign in 2019. While this lineup can afford to miss a few games without one or two bats, if you take out a Brantley and Alvarez, and throw in a struggling Altuve, all of a sudden this lineup that is usually intimidating top-to-bottom all of a sudden looks a lot more beatable towards the bottom.
Speaking of, let's address the Altuve situation. After his recent struggles, he made, in my opinion, a seasoned and self-aware decision to approach his manager and request to be moved down in the lineup. That, to me, exhibits leadership and a team-above-self mentality. Public opinion may decide how Altuve's career gets evaluated as a whole in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal. Still, if he's the selfless teammate he appears to be in situations like this, then getting a spark to turn his year around in Denver may come at just the right time.
In terms of injuries, on the pitching side, mystery abounds regarding what the Astros may have available for the rest of this shortened 60-game season. Jose Urquidy is ramping up in Houston's alternate site in Corpus Christi, but no concrete timetable is available on when he may join the team, and in what capacity. Both closer Roberto Osuna and ace Justin Verlander, after initially being reported as having to miss the remainder of the year with their respective injuries, have recently been described as "working out" with hopes to rejoin the team in some capacity this year. Time will tell, but until more optimistic updates become available on some of these notable arms, the Astros will have to press on with what they have.
Nearing the halfway point
This week can prove pivotal in the short season as the Astros try to keep pace with the A's for the division lead, and the Rangers who are making a bid to take advantage of the short season to get into the playoffs as well. Quite frankly, Houston cannot afford to have another disastrous road trip like they did last time. With lingering injuries and other struggles, they may not be able to make it up down the stretch as we are already approaching the halfway point of the 2020 regular season.
In fact, after Sunday's game against the Padres, the Astros will have already put 28 of the 60 games in the books. So having a good position in the division at that point may not only be desirable, but necessary, for the ultimate outcome of this season.
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Cross your fingers that Isaac Paredes’s hamstring tweak Thursday night is only a tweak. The Astros’ mediocre lineup would absorb a hard blow if Paredes winds up heading to the Injured List. But don’t worry, is there any doubt the Astros’ medical staff has it handled? Paredes has been excellent, a better player than was 2024 Alex Bregman. If he is to miss some time with the sore hammy, that will hurt Paredes’s “on pace for” numbers, but his 15th home run of the season Thursday has him on pace for 35, his 42nd run batted in has him on pace for 98. Reminder that Paredes is making $6,625,000 this season versus Bregman’s 40 million. The Astros sure hope that Paredes doesn’t wind up joining Bregman on the IL.
Follow the money
Never blame a player for grabbing every last dollar he can. However, when taking more money to join a clearly lesser organization, one loses the ability to honestly say, “winning is the most important thing to me.” It’s no sin if winning isn’t absolute priority one. It’s a life choice and business decision. Hello Carlos Correa.
The Astros host the Minnesota Twins at Daikin Park this weekend. Correa is now in his fourth season with the Twins. If his level of play doesn’t pick up, it will be the worst season of his career. Correa is in the third year of the six-year 200 million dollar contract he signed with Minnesota after exercising his opt out clause following the first year of the three-year deal he initially inked with the Twins. In total he has seven years with and 235 million dollars coming from the Twins. When Correa first hit free agency the Astros final offer to keep him was a very reasonable five years and 160 million dollars. If Correa had re-upped with the Astros, he’d have become a free agent after next season. No way would he then have gotten 75 million over two years to match the total haul of 235 over seven he bagged.
Financially, Correa played it correctly. But is he having the same fun playing home games in Minneapolis where the Twins are averaging barely over 20,000 per game in announced attendance, versus the Astros who are announcing about 32,000 per? Correa has played in the postseason once in the three years, and the Astros eliminated him, while the Astros have been in every year. The Twins start the series here this weekend with a record only a game and a half behind the Astros, but while the Astros lead the weak American League West by four and a half games, the Twins about need a telescope to see the Detroit Tigers eight games in front of them in the AL Central. The AL West is the only of the six divisions in Major League Baseball that has just one team with a winning record.
Correa turns 31 years old September 22, the same day Jeremy Pena turns 28. Correa is making over 37 million dollars this season. The Astros are paying Pena four-point-four mil. Over 2026 and 2027 Correa will pull down nearly 65 mil. Over those same two seasons, the Astros will likely pay Pena a total of between 20 and 25 million. Last season Correa was a significantly better player than Pena, except that Carlos played only 86 games. This year Pena has made a quantum leap and is playing like a superstar, while Correa’s game has eroded. Fun factoids: Pena stole his 14th base of the season Wednesday. Correa’s last stolen base came in 2019. To be fair, speed was never a signature of Correa's game.
Double trouble
In 1948 the Boston Braves had a tandem of starting pitching aces in future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. The rest of the rotation was a bit shaky. Boston sportswriter Gerald Hearn wrote “First we’ll use Spahn, then we’ll use Sain, then an off day followed by rain. Back will come Spahn, followed by Sain, and followed we hope by two days rain.” Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez are the Spahn and Sain of the 2025 Astros. Brown has been marvelous all season, Valdez has a 2.02 earned run average over his last seven starts. I leave Brown/Valdez poetry to you.
Spahn is among the handful of greatest left-handed pitchers in history. He debuted in 1942 and pitched in four games, before serving in World War II that took him out of the 1943, ‘44, and ‘45 seasons. Spahn logged his first big league win in 1946 when he was 25 years old. He’d win 362 more and will never be caught for the honor of most wins by a lefty in big league history. As a 42-year-old Spahn went 23-7 and threw 22 complete games. When men were men! It was the 13th time in Spahn’s career that he was a 20-game winner.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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