Nothing bad about the Astros having a 3-4 road trip given they played four at Baltimore and three at Philadelphia. Nothing but brilliance from Spencer Arrighetti who bookended the trip with six shutout innings against the Orioles, and then a no-hit bid into the eighth inning at the Phillies. Yeah, one can think “coulda, woulda, shoulda” about the two they lost to the Orioles, but the Astros also have wins this season they “coulda, woulda, shoulda” lost. Besides, the rule of thumb with the 2024 Astros is they lose most of their close games and win the more one-sided tilts. It is a myth that the good teams win most of their close games, but geez the Astros' results are as if they are trying to really disprove the myth. They are an awful 14-23 in one-run games, a merely subpar 10-13 in two-run games. In games decided by three or more runs, the Astros are a sensational 47-26. The 3-4 trip vs. upper echelon competition is acceptable, though the Mariners winning two series two-out of-three in the meantime whittled the Astros’ American League West lead to three and a half games. The Astros should continue to count their blessings for being in the AL West. With their season record at 71-62, if in any other division Astros’ division title chances would be between slim and none. The closest to first place they’d be in any other division is four and a half games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. But as ever, play the course.

The Mariners play their next ten games against losing teams: three at the Angels, four at the A’s, three at the Cardinals. The Astros play through the weekend in a four-game set against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park. The Royals are Major League Baseball’s biggest surprise in 2024. Last season the Royals finished 56-106 with only the Oakland A’s worse (50-112). This season they are probably headed to the postseason, though they do have a fairly tough closing schedule. The Royals arrive in Houston at 75-59, including a three-game demolition of the Astros in KC in April. The Royals are on pace to win 90 games. No team in MLB history has ever won more than 87 games in the season following a 100-loss season.

There are numerous reasons for the Royals’ dramatic turnaround. Near the top of the list is shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. exploding into a superduperstar. If he plays the final sixth of the season at near the level he’s played the first five-sixths, Witt will finish with one of the 10 most awesome all-around seasons any shortstop has ever posted. Honus Wagner is generally regarded as the greatest shortstop of all-time. Wagner had one season as dominant as what Witt is doing this season. The same for Ernie Banks, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr., and Robin Yount—one season apiece on par with Witt Jr.’s 2024. Derek Jeter never had a season close to this good. Bobby Witt Jr. is 24 years old. The small market Royals have him signed for six more years before Witt Jr. can opt out for free agency at age 30. The American League Most Valuable Player Award race has only two candidates: Witt Jr., and Aaron Judge who is having a peak Mickey Mantle-esque season for the Yankees and has a shot at the Triple Crown. With his 51 home runs and 123 runs batted, Judge has those two categories sewn up. He goes into the weekend batting .333.

Not to excessively fawn over Witt Jr. (ok, maybe a bit), but he leads MLB with a .346 batting average and has a 1.017 OPS. With runners in scoring position he’s batting a spectacular .393 with a 1.219 OPS. And he probably is going to rightfully win the Gold Glove for his defense. As a team the Royals lead MLB batting a stout .293 with runners in scoring position (believe it or not the Astros are ninth best at .268). Witt leads all players with teammates Vinnie Pasquantino second at .360 and Salvador Perez seventh at .346. Yainer Diaz ranks fifth at .351, Jose Altuve eighth at .343. That is among the 137 players with the minimum number of plate appearances to qualify in rate statistics. For inquiring minds who want to know… Jeremy Pena ranks 34th among the 137, Yordan Alvarez 54th, Alex Bregman 92nd (with just three hits in his last 25 at bats with RISP), and Jake Meyers 107th.

It is sadly ironic that after a stunningly miserable season-long performance, Chas McCormick finally loses his big-league roster spot after homering as a pinch-hitter in garbage time of the Astros’ Wednesday laugher over the Phils. The homer “improved” McCormick’s average to .192, his OPS to .548. “Chazzy Fizzled Out” was overdue to get sent to the minors. The signing of 35-year-old Dodger dumpee Jason Heyward makes it a reality. 32-year-old Ben Gamel isn’t going to become some big offensive force, but he has been a nice boost with 10 hits in 23 at bats since joining the Astros last week. It’s a boost where every little bit helps in a close race if Heyward and Gamel deliver even modest improvement over the carousel of impotent offensive output the Astros’ have gotten since Kyle Tucker went down June 3.

*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 The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.