THE PALLILOG
If early noise means anything, here’s what the Astros should hear
Apr 10, 2025, 2:54 pm
THE PALLILOG
What a wild four day pendulum swing of results for the Astros. The season is two weeks old and they may already have on the books what turn out to be their biggest comeback and biggest blown lead all season. Not one time all last season did the Astros win a game they trailed after eight innings. 0-56. We know they can't match that futility in 2025 after Sunday's wow of a win at Minnesota after trailing 7-1 early, and 7-5 going to the ninth. If yin was that win, Wednesday's yang really stang (stung doesn't rhyme!). It's no easy feat to blow a game you lead 5-0 with two out in the eighth inning. The Astros' bullpen proved down to the challenge in Seattle. Had to make the flight home feel extra long. The Astros have played four series this season. They have won two and lost two. Their record sits below .500 because while taking two out of three from the Mets and Twins, and losing two of three to the Mariners, they got swept three by the Giants. The Astros' 5-7 mark means that over the next 14 games they can go 3-11 and still have a better record than the 7-19 mess they built through the first 26 games last season! Bet the over.
While losing Spencer Arrighetti to a fluke injury broken thumb is a bummer, Astros’ starting pitching remains a strength. Hunter Brown has been rock solid in all three of his starts. Framber Valdez has been fabulous in two of his three starts. Hayden Wesneski has flashed quality. Ronel Blanco has not thus far, but it’s two starts. Bullpen depth will remain a question but a bigger concern is Bryan Abreu blowing two save opportunities in Seattle.
The offense continues to be, well, mostly underwhelming is a nice way to put it. Jake Meyers hasn’t been the second-best hitter in the lineup because he has morphed into prime Mike Trout (more on him later). The Astros have still failed to score more than three runs in back-to-back games. That will soon change. Yordan Alvarez has jarringly feeble numbers, but think of him as a bomb soon to detonate. It’s a sluggish start and nothing more. Elite hitters have down stretches, Alvarez just happens to have had one out of the starting blocks. Last May, for the entire month Yordan hit two home runs with only four runs batted in. He began last season absolutely atrociously with runners in scoring position, going eight for his first 50 at bats (.160 batting average). The rest of the season he mashed to a .369 average in those spots. Over 162 games water finds its level.
It’s still too early to be deeply concerned about a player’s performance, but geez Yainer Diaz has been awful. Batting 61 sums it up. Not .161. .061. Two hits (both singles) in 33 at bats. Though his power disappeared for multiple long stretches last season, Diaz hit .299 for the year. At 26 years old he hasn’t lost the ability to hit.
Christian Walker also remains mostly a mess. His strike zone management has been abysmal. At least Walker finally drew his first two walks of the season Wednesday. That goes with his .146 average and 18 strikeouts in 48 at bats. Remember, Walker missed a chunk of spring training with an oblique issue. That’s not a full alibi, but perhaps somewhat explicative of his scuffles. In seven of 12 games played, Walker has struck out at least twice. He’s a slugger who is going to whiff, averaging over 130 strikeouts the last three seasons.
Angels in the outfield
The Astros get the Angels this weekend at Daikin Park. They will not face Yusei Kikuchi on the mound, with the briefly stellar ‘Stro having pitched Wednesday for his new team. If Kikuchi turns out to be a complete bust with the Angels over his three-year 63 million dollar contract, he won’t come close to being the worst free agent signing in Halos’ history.
If you think the Astros have gotten a paltry return on Lance McCullers’s contract, of course you’re right. But Lance’s five-year 85 million dollar deal pales in disaster comparison to the Angels’ ill-fated marriage with Anthony Rendon. You will not see the Rice-ex this weekend, or perhaps ever again on a big league field. Rendon has this season and next left on the seven-year 245 million dollar contract he signed with the Angels fresh off a monster 2019 season in which he finished third in National League Most Valuable Player Award voting and helped the Washington Nationals beat the Astros in the World Series. In the short-COVID 2020 season, Rendon stayed healthy and played very well. He ended 2020 with a career batting average of .290 and an .862 OPS, for perspective those numbers are both better than Alex Bregman’s. Over the four full seasons since, Rendon has hit .231 with a .666 OPS, while never playing more than 58 games in a season. That pathetic OPS number is fitting since Angels’ fans have come to think of Rendon as somewhat the Devil. He has a total of 13 home runs post-2020. Injuries ruined the back half of what had the potential to be a Hall of Fame career. But what really put Rendon in the crosshairs with Angels’ fans, his laissez-faire attitude toward the game, seemingly at times almost brandishing his lack of passion for it.
Then there’s Trout. He’s simply one of the greatest players of all-time. Mickey Mantle was at most slightly better than Mike Trout. Willie Mays is the greatest all-around player ever but offensively he was not as good as Mike Trout. Injuries have ravaged Trout over the last four seasons and at 34 he’s no longer in the league of what he once was. The Angels are paying Trout more than 37 million dollars this season, and each of the next five seasons. He’ll be 39 when the deal expires.
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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The Houston Astros are looking to stop the bleeding.
After dropping their fifth straight game Monday night, and their 10th in the past 11 at Daikin Park, the American League West leaders turn to right-hander Jason Alexander on Tuesday night to face the Washington Nationals in the second game of the series.
Houston still sits atop the division at 60-47, but the recent slide has begun to test the edges of their depth and momentum. They’ll try to steady things against a Nationals team that’s playing better than its record suggests. Washington has won six of its last 10, including Monday’s 2-1 series-opening victory, and arrives with a bit of confidence behind starter Mike Soroka.
Alexander (1-1, 8.14 ERA) will make his third start of the season for Houston and is still looking for consistency after a bumpy start to his campaign. The Nationals counter with Soroka (3-8, 4.85 ERA), who has quietly put together a string of solid outings while showing improved command. Soroka has struck out 83 and posted a 1.13 WHIP over 78 innings.
Offensively, both teams have had their share of struggles of late. The Astros have hit just .241 over their past 10 games and have been outscored by 13 runs during that stretch. On Monday, they managed just one run for the third straight contest, wasting a 12-strikeout night from Framber Valdez.
Veteran second baseman Jose Altuve remains a key contributor with 17 doubles and 17 home runs, while Christian Walker has been one of Houston’s more reliable bats lately, going 12-for-37 over the past 10 games.
For Washington, Luis Garcia has tallied 22 doubles and 45 RBIs on the year, and Josh Bell has chipped in with two homers in his last 10 outings.
The Astros are still favored to bounce back — listed as -142 favorites by BetMGM — but with the recent home woes and a struggling rotation, nothing seems guaranteed right now in Houston. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.
Lineup takeaways
What is Joe Espada doing to try to snap the losing streak? He'll start with Taylor Trammell leading off and playing left field, which has Jose Altuve as the DH and hitting second. Christian Walker will once again hit third, with Cam Smith (RF) back in the cleanup spot after a day off.
Jacob Melton is returns to center field and will hit fifth, followed by catcher Yainer Diaz and Mauricio Dubon (3B).
Espada, looking to shake things up and provide the offense with a spark, goes with Shay Whitcomb over Brice Matthews at second base, and Zack Short (SS) will hit ninth.
Expecto Patronum ✨Lineup✨
⚾️: 7:10pm
🏟️: Closed
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— Houston Astros (@astros) July 29, 2025
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