LESS IS MORE
How Astros are somehow operating more efficiently than expected
May 2, 2023, 5:38 pm
The new rules are having an impact on offense. Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images.
Went to my first Astros game this season on Sunday. The game started at 6:10 p.m. The final out of the Astros’ 4-3 win was at 8:56 p.m. Downtown traffic was light, the Southwest Freeway was smooth sailing. I was home by 9:30 p.m. The post-game TV show was still on.
I like MLB’s new rules: no infield shifts, a pitch clock, bigger bases, fewer pickoff attempts, all leading to shorter, faster-paced games with fewer hitters stepping out of the box to scratch themselves. You know, they have ointment for that now.
Sunday’s game took 2 hours and 46 minutes, which actually is longer than most baseball games this season. After years of MLB inventing rules to shorten the time of games that didn’t work, they finally got it right this time. The average time of a game so far this season in 2 hours and 36 minutes. Last year, the average game dragged on for 3 hours and 3 minutes.
Back to the Astros post-game show for a moment. Two questions: why do hosts Kevin Eschenfelder and Mike Stanton keep swapping chairs, and that baseball that Stanton is always holding like a security blanket – is that the same baseball every night, or does he get a new ball each show?
Minute Maid Park was packed with 41,669 fans Sunday. It was the conclusion of a very successful weekend series against the Phils, at least for owner Jim Crane’s bottom line.
Saturday afternoon the Astros lost 6-1. The game took 2 hours and 51 minutes to play in front of 41,240 fans. Friday night’s game, a 3-1 defeat, took only 2 hours and 26 minutes with 40,719 fans.
Shorter games, bigger attendance. So far this season, including Monday night’s victory over the Giants, the Astros have played 17 games at home, drawing 638,941 fans for an average crowd of 37,530. That’s 4,000 fans more than they averaged last year, a 15 percent bump.
That’s a lot of numbers but they all add up to one thing – baseball is back big time. Attendance is up 4 percent across the league. Cleveland’s attendance is up 57 percent.
Tonight should be another big crowd for the Astros-Giants game. It’s Dollar Dog night, always a fan favorite. And attendance should get a booster shot in a couple of weeks when school lets out for summer.
If MLB’s new rules were intended to increase offense and spur more exciting play, that’s exactly what’s happened. League-wide, hitters batted .242 in April. Last year, they batted .231. This year teams attempted 759 stolen bases, the most in any April this century.
Of course every silver lining has a cloud behind it. The Astros used to cut off alcohol sales after the seventh inning. The policy was to allow fans who may have had too much to drink time to sober up before driving home. This year, because the games are about 30 minutes shorter and fans are staying the whole game, the Astros have extended beer sales to the entire game. Longer beer hours are available at about half of the concession stands. The other half will continue to cut off sales after the seventh inning. Fine print: the Astros will stop selling alcohol if a game exceeds four hours.
We’re talking about a lot of beer. Fans spent $28 million on alcohol at Minute Maid Park last year, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. In fact, the Astros ballpark trailed only AT&T Stadium in Arlington for alcohol receipts at sports venues in Texas.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.