SHOTS FIRED!
Splashy moves, cheap heat at Astros expense sets stage for fireworks in the MLB's 3rd act
Aug 1, 2023, 12:12 pm
WWE's Trish Stratus took a shot at the Astros on Monday night. Composite Getty Image.
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Newton’s Third Law of Motion says for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Bet you weren’t expecting a science lesson here. According to Sir Isaac, if the Astros are rising, then the Rangers must be setting in the West. And it's about damn time, too.
This could be the week the Astros reclaim their constitutional right to be in first place. I believe it’s the Sixth Amendment.
Despite trade deadline headlines by the Rangers and Angels, the Astros are in good shape for the pennant drive and another spot in the World Series.
Sure the Rangers made a splash by acquiring Max Scherzer from the Mets, but he’s clearly in his pitching twilight years. His earned run average is up, strikeouts down. Statistically he’s having his worst season in the past 10 years.
Max Scherzer and many of today’s superstars have become hired guns, jumping from team to team chasing a World Series title. Look at Scherzer. He’s a future Hall of Famer, no doubt. Throughout his career he’s been able to name his place and price. He has pitched for six teams since arriving in the big leagues in 2008: the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Nationals, Dodgers, Mets and now the Rangers.
If the Wagner Group ever fielded a baseball team, their starting pitcher would be Max Scherzer. With Justin Verlander warming up in the bullpen.
Free agency, payroll budgets and trade deadline frenzy have created a caste system of haves and have-nots in baseball. Lucky for fans in H-Town, the Astros are the most-have team in MLB the past six years.
Of course it’s not a hard and fast rule that wealthy teams win and penny-pinching teams lose. The Baltimore Orioles are in first place with the 29th lowest payroll (there are only 30 teams), while the Mets are holding a yard sale despite the highest payroll in baseball history. The Padres have the third-highest payroll and they’re below .500 right there with the Mets.
Contracts aren’t loyalty oaths that a player will stay in that city for the length of the deal. Contracts are really just pay schedules. Teams can trade players and players can force their way off a team. Look at Verlander. He signed a two-year deal with a third-year option with the Mets. He practically got a tattoo that said “I Love NY.” His bags are packed after only four months with the Metropolitans.
Kind of makes you admire great players who stick with one team their entire careers, like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell … and let’s wait and see, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman.
A funny thing happened Monday night with the World Wrestling Federation in town at Toyota Center. Trish Stratus, a bleach blond evil rulebreaker, was running her mouth about fan favorite Becky Lynch when, out of nowhere, she said, “One thing I’m not is a cheater … like the Astros!”
Yeah, she went there. The sold-out crowd rained boos and jeers on Stratus. It was the loudest crowd reaction of the night. Who the hell are you to say that about our beloved Astros? Hey, we can criticize the Astros and rant on Twitter, but not you Trish Stratus!
Lately there's been a lot of criticizing manager Dusty Baker about his decisions, mostly his continuing to play Martin Maldonado at catcher instead of rookie Yanier Diaz. Maldonado is batting .169, while Diaz is hitting more than a hundred points higher. Baker’s heard it. This week he responded.
“Yanier has trouble with lefties. Everybody’s trying to help me manage. I don’t really need it, thank you,” Baker said.
Baker is right about Diaz’s futility against pitchers who throw left. He’s batting .179 against southpaws.
Just as you can’t blame Baker for asking fans to get off his back on Twitter, fans are entitled to snipe at the manager’s moves. It’s not being disloyal to the team. That’s how baseball works, the team and fan dynamic. So complain all you want. Just not you, Trish Stratus.
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!
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