THE PALLILOG
Charlie Pallilo: Astros bullpen likely to get some help
Jun 15, 2018, 7:09 am
Ken Giles is perfect in save situations, but do you really trust him? Al Bello/Getty Images
It is not a coincidence that the Astros’ schedule eased up and they’ve stopped losing games. The Seattle Mariners continue to rack up the victories at a shockingly impressive pace, but it will still be a shocker if they’re neck and neck with the Astros in the American League West come late September. There are so many teams the Astros simply overmatch.
The Astros have no real weakness that jeopardizes much. Until the playoffs that is, when the bullpen will rightfully be viewed as shaky. Rightfully viewed as shaky, as presently constituted. But you know….Ken Giles is a perfect 11 for 11 in converting save situations this season! Which just helps prove that the save stat is sometimes ridiculous. A.J. Hinch has generally babied Giles, hardly ever putting him in tough save spots. Giles has one save all season in which he protected a one run lead in the 9th. Mariners closer Edwin Diaz has 15 of them. Part of that is the Mariners playing so many more one run games. But Giles clearly does not (and should not) have the unshaken faith of his skipper.
There is little question Jeff Luhnow will pursue a bullpen arm between now and the end of July. Two names of lefties of note: Zach Britton and Brad Hand. Britton just started his season this week after recovering from an Achilles tendon tear. Britton was the best lefty closer in the game for the three year stretch 2014-2016, his very best in 2016 with 47 saves and a 0.54 ERA. The hopeless Orioles have no reason to not trade Britton who is a free agent after this season. The Astros tried hard to acquire Britton last season but whatever deal was in play fell through.
Hand is the Padres’ closer having his third straight terrific season. Unlike Britton, Hand is signed for two more years at a value price, total guarantee only 14.5 million dollars. That of course is “only” in Major League Baseball money.
If the asking price is too steep on Britton and Hand, Cincinnati closer Raisel Iglesias is righthanded, but really good and also under contract for the next two years at a lower salary than Hand. The Reds have little need for a good closer. They rarely have ninth inning leads to protect.
Justin time
It’s been so sad over the last three-plus weeks watching Justin Verlander slowly crumble before our very eyes. His season ERA has gone up in each of his last five starts. It started at 1.05. Then to 1.08. Then 1.11. Then 1.24. Then 1.45. After giving up three earned runs in Oakland Thursday it’s now all the way up to 1.61!!! What a dominant machine Verlander has been. Now 15 starts into his season he still has not given up more than three earned runs in a game. A.J. Hinch gets to pick the American League starting pitcher for next month’s All Star Game. Unless Verlander starts the Sunday two days before the ASG, as of now Hinch has a very simple decision.
The first voting returns in American League All Star voting were released this week. Jose Altuve is the only Astro on course to be elected a starter. That’s actually how it should be to this point in the season. Altuve is running away with the second base. He’s off a bit from his MVP level of last season he’s still easily the best second baseman in the league.
Carlos Correa was voted the AL starting shortstop last year. He’s fourth in the first returns this year. About where he belongs. Shortstop is stacked in the American League this year. The Orioles’ Manny Machado leads the vote with the Indians’ Francisco Lindor, Angels’ Andrelton Simmons, and Mariners’ Jean Segura at least as good as Correa so far this year.
George Springer is having a heck of a season. But it will be tough for Springer to be voted a starter for a second year in a row. Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, and Aaron Judge are 1-2-3 in the voting, and all are deserving.
If you’re into online ballot box stuffing, All Star voting ends July 5.
Goal oriented
I won’t much get into the World Cup until the knockout round of 16 gets here but my two favorite teams are Iceland and Belgium. The U.S. has a population approaching 330 million and pathetically failed to qualify. Iceland has a population of about 350-thousand (less than 10 percent more than Corpus Christi) and made it. As for Belgium, big fan of its waffles.
Buzzer Beaters
1. Benardrick McKinney is a very solid inside linebacker. But five years, 50 mil seems pricey. 2. I love the high scores at the U.S. Open Golf Championship 3. Best ballparks to visit with the Astros this season: Bronze-Safeco Field (Mariners) Silver-Fenway Park (duh, Red Sox) Gold-AT&T Park (Giants).
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If you are a believer in the third time is a charm, go ahead and book the Texans for their first ever appearance in the AFC Championship game! Saturday is the Texans’ third crack at the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Of course, the Texans had a third time is the charm opportunity at advancing beyond the division round back in 2016 and came nowhere close. Charm will have nothing to do with the outcome at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs have administered the Texans’ two most humiliating postseason defeats in franchise history. They came as the bookend postseason appearances of Bill O’Brien’s tenure as head coach. In 2015, the Texans won the worst division in the AFC (that sounds familiar) but as a division champ got to play host to the Wild Card 11-5 Chiefs. The visitors were three-point favorites. They won by 30. 30-0 to be more precise. Knile Davis returned the opening kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown. It would have been in the Texans’ best interest to have forfeited right then and there. In what was not exactly a shocking development, Texans’ quarterback Brian Hoyer wasn’t up to the task, throwing for just 112 yards and four interceptions. On the Chiefs’ side third-year tight end Travis Kelce had eight receptions for 128 yards. Taylor Swift was not in attendance.
The second Texans-Chiefs playoff get together is the most incredible game in Texans’ history. The Texans showed up in Missouri fresh off the greatest comeback win in their history, having come from down 16-0 in the third quarter to best the Buffalo Bills in overtime. In what could safely be characterized as stunning, the Texans put up three first quarter touchdowns for a 21-0 lead. *Massive bonus points if you can name the three Texans who scored those TDs, answer below. A field goal made it 24-0 Texans with 10:54 left in the second quarter. In a collapse tough to pull off, the Texans would trail before halftime. The Chiefs scored four touchdowns in nine minutes and eleven seconds of game time, with that Kelce fellow scoring the last three of them. Some will recall O’Brien calling a fake punt from his own 31-yard line with the Texans up 24-7. Too soon? Justin Reid (now pursuing his third Super Bowl ring in three seasons as a Chief) was stopped short. An even more damning O’Brien moment came later in that game when he actually had to use a timeout to change his mind and go for it with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter, the Texans down 48-31, and facing fourth and four at the K.C. 42. That was a fire-able on the spot offense! Instead it took an 0-4 start to the 2020 season for O’Brien to be ousted. 51-31 Chiefs was the final score, and they went on to win the first of their three Super Bowl titles in the ongoing Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes era.
Back to the present
Those routs were then, this is now. For a 15-2 team the Chiefs seem vulnerable. Maximum credit to them for having won an NFL record 16 consecutive games decided by eight or fewer points, 11 of them this season including their 27-19 victory over the Texans December 21. Perhaps the two-time defending champions were often bored with the regular season and often did just enough to win. The Texans would have been tied with them late in the third quarter had Ka’imi Fairbairn not botched an extra point. On the other hand, it was the play that got them within 17-16 which resulted in Tank Dell’s catastrophic season-ending knee injury. Who besides Nico Collins will do something in the passing game Saturday? Last Saturday the Texans’ pass rush harassed and flustered Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert. Mahomes is a different breed. Four weeks ago the Texans sacked Mahomes just once and did not intercept him. That seemingly must change for the Texans to pull off what be a shocker for most people. Saturday’s high temperature forecast for Kansas City is 25 degrees. Not ideal for the Texans but better than if the game had been scheduled for Sunday when the high is supposed to be 16.
Still standing
Four Texans who dressed for the debacle five years ago will suit up against the Chiefs Saturday: Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard who were in their first season with the team, Fairbairn, and long snapper Jon Weeks. Granted he’s just a long snapper (important role but not physically taxing), but Weeks is in his 15th season with the Texans and has yet to miss a game-244 regular season games (with Saturday his 14th playoff game, also without a miss). Presuming he is back next season, Weeks (who turns 39 next month) can crack the top five list of most consecutive games played in NFL history by answering the bell in the first 12 regular season games.
*The Texans’ three early TDS in the 51-31 loss at KC: 1. Kenny Stills with a 54-yard reception 2. Lonnie Johnson with a 10-yard return of a blocked punt 3. Darren Fells with a four-yard grab
For Texans’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me on our Texans On Tap podcasts. Thursdays feature a preview of the upcoming game, and then we go live (then available on demand) after the final gun of the game: Texans on Tap - YouTube
The Astros are always in season for discussion. Our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts drop Mondays: Click here to watch!