Surging Astros find critical answers for postseason march, still searching in other areas
IT'S ALL RIGHT THERE!
19 August 2024
IT'S ALL RIGHT THERE!
The Houston Astros are on a roll, winning nine of their last ten and now leading the AL West by four games.
One of the biggest reasons for their recent success has been dominant starting pitching, especially from Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown.
And don't look now, Justin Verlander is set to return to the club on Wednesday, starting the series finale against the Red Sox.
The vibes are certainly good in Houston right now, but there are some areas of concern. The Astros are about to be tested with a brutal stretch on the schedule beginning this week.
The club has upcoming series against the Red Sox, Orioles, Phillies, Royals, and D-Backs. Certainly the pitching has been great, but the 'Stros will have to get the bats going to compete with some of the top offenses in baseball.
The bottom half of the lineup has struggled to get anything going, that's why we've seen the so many minor league prospects elevated to the big league club. Manager Joe Espada is looking for a spark, but it's just not happening.
Outside of Yordan Alvarez, the lack of offensive production from the outfield can't be overstated. This team misses Kyle Tucker, and he's' not a lock to return anytime soon.
The infield is also struggling, with Alex Bregman missing time with an arm injury and Zach Dezenzo going four straight games without a hit after his big home run at Fenway.
With three right-handed pitchers starting for Boston this week, don't be surprised if we see Jon Singleton get more opportunities at first base. Yainer Diaz is starting at first Monday night, so maybe we see him more at first base in the coming days.
Power outage
Bleacher Report posted an article recently about the “biggest red flags” for every team. For Houston, Jose Altuve has seen a big dropoff in power after the first 80 games of the season.
Altuve “slugged .473 through his first 80 games, but since then he has only seven extra-base hits and a .353 slugging percentage.”
Altuve hit a home run on Sunday to give the bullpen some breathing room, but the falloff in his slugging percentage is real. Is he dealing with a nagging injury, or is he showing fatigue from playing so many games at 34 years old? Our guess is the latter, but it's hard to know for sure.
Be sure to watch the video above for the full discussion!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo 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.
Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.