THE PALLILOG
Here's why Astros have a different role in mind for one of their best players
Mar 12, 2021, 8:10 am
Carlos Correa could be the leadoff man. Composite image by Jack Brame.
Inside three weeks to Major League Baseball opening its regular season. Yay! The Astros will do so in Oakland against the team that ended the Astros' three year grip on the American League West title, though the Astros then dispatched the A's in an American League Division Series. Both teams are of lesser quality than they were starting last season, giving some hope perhaps to the Angels. Still, the Astros and A's are the top two picks.
General Manager James Click wasn't particularly believable in saying it was purely coincidence that the Astros made a deal with free agent pitcher Jake Odorizzi shortly after Framber Valdez suffered his season jeopardizing broken finger, but it's an excellent signing on the risk/reward scale. Odorizzi turns 31 in a couple of weeks. He had his career season in 2019 with the Twins making the AL All-Star team and finishing 15-7 with a 3.51 earned run average. 2020 was a fail with only four starts, and two injuries. Neither injury was to his pitching arm. For six consecutive seasons (2014-2019) Odorizzi made at least 28 starts. He can be a valuable innings eater, and signing him for two seasons plus a cheap player option for 2023 assures the 2022 Astros of having at least one starting pitcher with at least one good full major season on his resume. Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke are free agents-to be. Valdez, Lance McCullers, and Jose Urquidy have a combined zero good full big league seasons.
Speaking of good full MLB seasons, Carlos Correa has exactly one on his resume. Only in 2016 did Correa stay healthy and excel. If he and the Astros don't agree on a contract extension before Opening Day, Correa has gobs of money riding on his health and performance this year. Interesting of Manager Dusty Baker to say that he's thinking of Correa as his leadoff man alternative to Myles Straw starting the post-George Springer era. Straw is the fastest Astro and it's not close. But it's baseball not a track meet. If Straw can slap out enough hits (he should be practicing bunting every darn day) and draw a decent number of walks he can be fine as a leadoff man. He was routinely overmatched and atrocious at the plate over 82 at bats in 2020, but fared a bit better over 108 at bats in 2019. Straw was a .300 hitter in the minors, as a total Punch and Judy hitter. He totaled four home runs in more than 1800 minor league at bats.
Correa represents quite the contrast. Average speed, but some tremendous power though he has yet to hit 25 homers in a season. That's not just about the injury history. In the short 2020 Correa mustered all of five homers in 58 games played before going off in the postseason.
Straw should bat 9th out of the gate. If he proves up to it, moving to the top of the order certainly becomes an option. Over the course of a full season the leadoff spot in a batting order comes up well over 100 times more than the nine hole. Going with (until/unless proven otherwise) one of your worst offensive players in the leadoff spot is simply not smart.
Another loss for the Rockets
This rotting corpse of a Rockets' season resumed Thursday night with a loss at Sacramento. The Kings are lousy as always, heading for their 15th consecutive non-playoff finish. The Rockets are worse, now 11-24 for the season. Their losing streak is 14. A Houston Rockets franchise record-tying 15th is a near certainty with them playing at Utah Friday night. The Jazz is 27-9. Presuming the highly likely outcome comes to pass, the Rockets "go" for history Sunday at home vs. the Celtics. The corpse is not being revived. General Manager Rafael Stone has until the March 25 trade deadline to get what he can for Victor Oladipo and P.J. Tucker, and maybe drug a colleague into taking Eric Gordon.
March Madness
More fans would prefer it the other way around, but Texas is a vastly better college basketball state than college football state these days. Baylor is a favorite to reach the Final Four. It's no pipe dream for Houston, Texas, or Texas Tech. The Bears, Cougars and Red Raiders all stunk on the gridiron in 2020, the Longhorns were their typically disappointing selves. Texas A&M is the notable exception with Jimbo Fisher having Aggie football in a way better spot than Buzz Williams has the hoop team.
Prairie View and Texas Southern could play Saturday for the SWAC Championship and automatic NCAA Tournament bid, though in the semifinals TSU has to upset Jackson State which like PV went unbeaten in conference play.
Buzzer Beaters:
1. 2021-24, who QBs more wins: Dak Prescott or Deshaun Watson?
2. David Johnson last offseason, Mark Ingram this. What RB do the Texans add next offseason, Marshall Faulk?
3. Daylight Saving Time kicks in late tomorrow night, yes! Best "Time" songs: Bronze-Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes "The Time Of My Life" Silver-Jim Croce "Time In A Bottle" Gold-SOS Band "Take Your Time"
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The Houston Astros didn’t just sweep the defending champs this weekend, they changed the tone of their season.
Dominant pitching. Star power. Road swagger. The three-game dismantling of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine wasn’t about revenge or validation. It was about showing, once and for all, that this version of the Astros, short-handed and all, belongs squarely in the conversation with baseball’s elite.
A statement series
The Astros pitching staff was lights out against one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball, holding the Dodgers to just six runs across three games, including two contests where LA managed just a single run. Lance McCullers Jr., much-maligned after getting shelled by the Cubs last week, bounced back in a big way. He worked around four walks, giving up just one run on a solo homer, a much-needed course correction as the Astros evaluate their playoff rotation options.
On the offensive side, the stars delivered in a big way. Jose Altuve torched Dodgers pitching with three home runs, seven RBIs, two walks, and just one strikeout. Christian Walker matched him with six hits of his own, including a pair of long balls and six RBIs.
A shift in expectations?
This wasn’t just a series win. This was a proof of concept.
Houston came into the series already heating up, now they’re officially on fire. Over the last 30 days, the Astros rank third in runs and fifth in RBIs. For the season, they’re top 10 in nearly every key offensive category: eighth in OPS, first in batting average, ninth in slugging. Defensively, the numbers are just as strong. They lead MLB in strikeouts and opponents’ batting average, and rank second in WHIP.
Put it all together, and you’ve got a team with top-five upside in both pitching and offense. The pieces are clicking. The vibes are real. And the Astros suddenly look like a legitimate World Series contender again.
Is help on the way?
Reliever Hector Neris rejoined the team this week, offering a veteran boost to a bullpen that’s been leaned on heavily. Neris brings postseason pedigree and a reputation as a clubhouse leader. The Astros hope a return to familiar surroundings, and the guidance of one of the best pitching development staffs in the league, can get him back on track.
Tayler Scott returns on a minor league deal, and while the move may not turn heads, it adds another layer of depth to a bullpen that’s already one of the league’s best.
Background noise in LA
No Astros-Dodgers series goes by without a little extra noise and this one was no different. During the broadcast, former Cy Young winner and Dodgers analyst Orel Hershiser raised eyebrows by implying that Houston’s offensive surge might not have been entirely on the level.
Predictable? Absolutely. Meaningful? Not even close.
If anything, it’s a weird kind of compliment. No one questions legitimacy when you’re losing. But after a lopsided 18-1 beat down people start reaching for answers, or excuses.
Inside the Astros clubhouse, though, that chatter doesn’t register.
They know exactly what this sweep meant. And so does the rest of the league.
There's so much more to get to! 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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