They're back! Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Altuve's late homer helps lift Astros over Yankees in finale
In a move that brought a collective sigh of relief among Astros fans, the World Series champs announced they are bringing back their entire broadcasting team for the 2023 season.
On the TV side, Todd Kalas will return for play-by-play on AT&T SportsNet, along with color analyst Geoff Blum and, according to the team's press release, "sideline reporter" Julia Morales. We’ll discuss that baseball doesn’t have sidelines later. Blum and Morales will be entering their 11th season with the Astros, Kalas his seventh.
“Thrilled and honored to be back for another season of Astros baseball with my good friends Blummer and Julia along with the rest of our incredible Astros fan base. Crazy to think about how much success this team has had during our previous six years together, and looking forward to calling many more special moments in the future,” said Kalas.
Robert Ford and Steve Sparks will enter their 11th season calling games for the Astros Radio Network. During their time with the Astros, Ford and Sparks have broadcast six American League Championship Series and four World Series, 86 postseason games in all.
Of course Kalas, Blum and Morales don’t get to call postseason games because the national networks pay big bucks to inflict their announcers on Astros fans. It’s a great injustice.
Spanish language announcers Francisco Romero and Alex Trevino are entering their 16th season together on Univision, one of the longest-running radio duos in the big leagues.
“We are incredibly fortunate that our broadcast teams love this city and love our fans and that comes across. They’re genuine and authentic people. They don’t just broadcast our games, they are an important part of the Astros,” said Anita Sehgal, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the Astros.
They’re an important part of Astros fans’ lives, too. I watch or listen to a hundred Astros games every year and I never get tired of our broadcasters. That’s the thing about the Astros. From early spring to later and later each fall, when there’s nothing else on, there’s usually an Astros game. All told, the Astros play more than half the days of the year. Add ‘em up.
"What’s fun about watching TK, Blummer and Julia is they’re almost like a little family unto themselves. Geoff is like a big kid. TK has a good sense of humor, too, but he’s just an old soul. They complement each other very well. Julia, too. They’re good friends. They care about each other. Their banter is very natural. So you’re entertained when you hang out with them,” Sehgal said.
Sehgal added that the Astros haven’t finalized a slate of guest announcers for 2023 but she anticipates that Jeff Bagwell will be making visits to the TV broadcast booth.
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It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. 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!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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