Astros tall road back should be jumpstarted by its most critical on-field challenge, which is...
TOP PRIORITY
23 April
TOP PRIORITY
After another series loss over the weekend, the Astros have Monday off to regroup as they have the Cubs up next on the schedule before they head to Mexico City to play the Rockies.
So far for the Astros this season, nothing is coming easy and the injury bug continues to bite the club. The Astros got Justin Verlander back over the weekend, but loss Cristian Javier to the injured list with neck discomfort.
Hunter Brown pitched for Javier on Sunday and surrendered three runs before recording his first out. It's hard to imagine he'll be in the starting rotation when Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, and Cristian Javier return from the IL.
With the Astros currently sitting at 7-16, it's difficult not to point the finger and play the blame game. And there's plenty of it to go around. Let's start with the back of the bullpen. Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader have been a disaster. They are the highest-paid pitchers in the 'pen, and no lead seems safe when they enter the game.
We can blame the offense for struggling with runners in scoring position all we want, but if the team can't hold a lead, they're not going to win many games. The middle relief hasn't been the problem, Seth Martinez, Rafael Montero, and Tayler Scott all have ERAs under three. Who saw that coming? Pressly and Hader both have an ERA over eight and are killing the team late in games.
On the bright side, these are players with a long history of success. If they can get back on track and get healthier in the starting rotation, the pitching should be okay. But they are running out of time. They're just lucky they play in the weak AL West.
The elephant in the room
Astros GM Dana Brown addressed Jose Abreu's putrid start to the season in an interview with Astros broadcaster Robert Ford over the weekend.
Astros general manager Dana Brown on José Abreu via @AstrosRadioMLB. Abreu, who is not in today's lineup, is 4-for-59 this season with four singles, 17 strikeouts and has committed three errors at first base. pic.twitter.com/CWd21PdF5z
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 21, 2024
Thankfully, Brown did not go with the “back of the baseball card” excuse. He acknowledged that they can't keep playing him every day and hoping he gets better. They're going to give some other guys some playing time at first base and hope Abreu figures it out because, “…he's got to climb out of it or else we're going to have to mix and match because it's tough to keep going in that direction.”
Finally! The dude is hitting .068! And this team has no margin for error. If they don't snap out of it soon, they are not making the playoffs. The problem here is there aren't a lot of good options at first base. Jon Singleton is hitting .229 with zero home runs and zero RBIs. I wouldn't mind seeing Yainer Diaz play some first base and let Victor Caratini catch more often. And considering Abreu's struggles on defense, (4 errors already) would Diaz be that much of a downgrade? Caratini isn't a plus offensive player (.276 batting average this season), but he's a way better option than what Abreu is giving you. Mauricio Dubon could also be an option at first, but it doesn't look like the team is considering that at the moment.
We all hoped the version of Abreu we saw in the playoffs would carry over to the 2024 season, but it just hasn't happened. We're disappointed about it, but not surprised. Which brings us to Alex Bregman. He's a notorious slow starter, we get it. But how long can he continue to hit third or fourth in the lineup?
Can't we move him down a couple of spots in the order until he starts producing? He's hitting .213 with zero home runs on the season.
Be sure to watch the video above as we address all the issues that are plaguing the Astros, and identify some solutions that could help turn things around!
Josh Allen has never said a bad word about Stefon Diggs. As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face their former star receiver in a visit to Houston on Sunday, he insists the two went their separate ways on good terms.
And the quarterback wasn’t changing his stance a week ago, not wanting to ruffle any feathers when asked about the early season success the Bills have enjoyed with their spread-the-ball motto on offense.
He later explained that he spoke out after reading comments on social media in which people were attempting to twist the “everybody eats” motto into something being directed at Diggs.
Allen understands why Buffalo facing Diggs for the first time since a blockbuster trade sent him to Houston this offseason is a big deal. He raved about his former teammate.
“I’ve got a lot of love for him. I still do,” Allen said. “The things that he did for me in my career, and the things that he did in a Buffalo Bill uniform won’t be forgotten anytime soon, especially from me … (but) going into Year 7, I understand the business, and the aspect of what this league is, and again, I’m just trying to focus on what we got going on in this building.”
Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowler, is second on the Texans with 25 receptions for 233 yards. He has two receiving touchdowns and had the first rushing score of his career last week against the Jaguars. He spent the last four seasons in Buffalo, where he had more than 1,100 yards receiving each year, highlighted by an NFL-leading and career-high 1,535 yards in 2020.
He didn’t address Allen directly this week when talking about his time in Buffalo. Diggs did say his tenure with the Bills was “amazing” but that he’s solely focused on his future now and not interested in rehashing the past.
“A lot of other people are going to feel a way or have a lot to say about X, Y, Z, and I’m not mad at it,” he said Wednesday. “Football is a very emotional sport. I go in there and wear my heart on my sleeve, and I won’t stop, but for me, I block out the noise.”
“Nobody is going to run the routes but me,” he continued. “Nobody is going to watch the tape but me. I try not to get back into the back and forth about the opinions or how people feel. I’ve got a job to do; I try to get it done.”
Diggs has helped the Texans to a 3-1 start and Allen hasn’t missed a beat without him. The Bills also are 3-1, though they’re looking to bounce back after a 35-10 loss to the Ravens last week.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans certainly knew how talented Diggs was when he arrived in Houston but said he has been pleasantly surprised to see his passion for the game.
“He loves football … you see it in the way he practices, the way he plays the game,” Ryans said. “He loves ball, he plays with effort and that is all you want.”
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady was still kicking himself for calling a trick play that backfired, squelching any chance of a Buffalo rally in the loss to Baltimore.
After opening the second half with a TD to cut the deficit to 21-10, the Bills faced second-and-7 at the Baltimore 44, when receiver Curtis Samuel took a direct snap and pitched the ball to Allen. The Ravens weren’t fooled and forced a fumble, which led to a TD six plays later.
“I probably can’t say it on Zoom,” Brady said when asked to sum up the call in one word. “There’s no excuses. I can give the justification of why it was on the call sheet, but at the end of the day, the timing was not what it should’ve been and it was costly.”
While much of the focus this week has been on Diggs facing his former team, the star of Houston’s offense so far this season has been another receiver. Nico Collins had a career-high 12 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars for his third 100-yard game this season. He leads the NFL with 489 yards receiving and is the first player in franchise history with more than 450 yards receiving though the first four games.
“He’s a strong, physical, fast, and big receiver,” Ryans said. “That’s an easy target for C.J. (Stroud) and Nico has showed up every time that we needed him.”
In the Bills’ “everybody eats” motto on offense, Samuel has had difficulty finding a regular place at the table. The eighth-year player who enjoyed his best season in Carolina under Brady as the Panthers coordinator in 2020 has been limited to eight catches for 48 yards. More curious is Samuel has been on the field for only 68 of a total of 230 offensive snaps.
“We’d love to get him going and whether or not Khalil is in or out this week,” Allen said, referring to receiver Khalil Shakir, who is nursing a right ankle injury. “So we’re going to be calling on his number, and he is going to have to step up, make some plays, which we’ve got no doubt in his ability.”
Update: Shakir has been ruled out (ankle) for Sunday's game.