EVERY-THING SPORTS
New regime, new philosophy, new depth chart for Houston Texans
Aug 10, 2022, 1:30 pm
EVERY-THING SPORTS
It's early August and still hotter than a pot of gumbo cooking outside on the south Louisiana swamp. Back to school pics are flooding social media. The Astros have all but clinched the AL West. Chocolate, frozen foods, and other sensitive items still melt before you can get them home. Hurricane season is upon us. We also have the no more weekends without football until early February! Rejoice!
The return of football means NFL training camps are underway. The Hall of Fame Game and ceremony kicked things off this past week. With that comes unofficial depth charts. This is when teams will put out a depth chart of who's getting what reps in practice and whatnot. It's not "official" because we aren't in season. It's "unofficial" because it'll inevitably change due to injury (God forbid), play, or possibly even a change in scheme from game to game.
Screenshot via: Mark Berman/Twitter
What I noticed is the rookies and younger guys are no longer buried on the depth chart simply because they're rookies or inexperienced. Derek Stingley Jr. and Jalen Pitre are starters because they've played themselves into those positions. Kenyon Green has been banged up, or else he'd also be a starter. Christian Harris is a backup, for now, because the vets in front of him have a better grasp of the scheme so far. Nico Collins and Davis Mills have proven themselves to be head and shoulders above the others at their respective positions (#2 receiver and starting quarterback respectively).
Gone are the days of bygone eras in which teams would bury young guys simply because they didn't have the experience. This old school mentality has long since needed to be trashed. If a guy can play, he should get the most playing time. I understand that their first and second rounders are starters, but they're also more talented than others. Collins and Mills were thrust into the spotlight as rookies because the team was devoid of talent last season. They used their time to earn a starting spot and have proven that they're still thought of as such even with the influx of new talent.
Could they have traded for or drafted a guy to compete with Mills? Sure. But why not give the guy a shot? If that third round pick turns into the franchise quarterback, you solved a MAJOR question mark with a cheap option and can use draft capital to sure up other areas of need/best player available. Letting these young guys earn valuable playing time also lets you know whether or not they're a fit in more ways than one.
For example: if a guy can show enough athleticism to earn playing time, can he learn the playbook to entrench himself as a starter and vice versa? Is this someone we want to extend ASAP? Do we need to find a replacement because he isn't cutting the mustard? Imagine if these guys pan out and the team has cheap starters for three to four years and are able to spend money on bringing in vets to help round out a roster that could be ready to contend? Novel idea, huh?
All that being said, I'm glad young guys are getting their shots. The best players should always play, no matter their age or draft status. Some with higher draft status will get longer leashes and that's good business. However, if a guy isn't cutting it, he shouldn't be ahead of someone who can do just as good, if not better. Kudos to the Texans for turning the corner and getting the ship headed in the right direction.
While holding one’s breath that for a change the Astros aren’t publicly grossly underestimating an injury’s severity with Jose Altuve having missed the last game and a half with “right side discomfort…”
The Astros averting a sweep vs. Oakland Thursday was in no way a must-win, but getting the win allowed a mini sigh of relief. The Astros are NOT in the process of choking. Could they collapse? Sure that’s possible. Also possible is that they’ve just been in one more ebb phase in a season of ebb and flow. They certainly have left the door ajar for the Seattle Mariners to swipe the American League West, but with the M's simply not looking good enough to walk through that door the Astros remain in commanding position. The Astros made a spectacular charge from 10 games behind to grab the division lead. But there was a lot of runway left when the Astros awoke June 19th 10 games in arrears. September 3 the Astros arose with a comfy six game lead over the M’s. With Seattle blowing a 4-1 eighth inning lead in a 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers Thursday night, heading into Friday night the Astros' advantage is back up to four and a half games despite the Astros having lost six of their last nine games and having gone just 10-12 over their last 22 games. Not a good stretch but nothing freefalling about it.
While the Mariners have the remainder of their four-game series vs. the dead in the water Rangers this weekend, the Astros play three at the lousy Los Angeles Angels. The Astros should take advantage of the Halos, with whom they also have a four-game series at Minute Maid Park next weekend. Since the All-Star break, only the White Sox have a worse record than the Angels 19-31 mark (the White Sox are 6-43 post-break!). Two of the three starting pitchers the Angels will throw this weekend will be making their third big league starts. To begin next week the Astros are in San Diego for a three-game-set against a Padres club which is flat better than the Astros right now. That does not mean the Astros can’t take that series. The Mariners meanwhile will be still at home, for three vs. the Yankees.
There are some brutal Astros’ statistics that largely explain why this is merely a pretty good team and not more. As I have noted before, it is a fallacy that the best teams are usually superior in close games. But the Astros have been pathetic in close games. There used to be a joke made about Sammy Sosa that he could blow you out, but he couldn’t beat you. Meaning being that when the score was 6-1, 8-3 or the like Sammy would pad his stats with home runs and runs batted in galore. But in a tight game, don’t count on Sammy to come through very often. In one-run games the Astros are 15-26, in two-run games they are 10-14. In games that were tied after seven innings they are 3-12. In extra innings they are 5-10. The good news is, all those realities mean nothing when the postseason starts. So long as you’re in the postseason. In games decided by three or more runs the Astros have pummeled the opposition to the tune of 53 wins and 28 losses.
General Manager Dana Brown isn’t an Executive of the Year candidate, but overall he’s been fine this season. Without the Yusei Kikuchi trade deadline acquisition the Astros would likely barely lead the AL West. Brown’s biggest offseason get, Victor Caratini, has done very solid work in his part-time role. Though he has tapered off notably the last month and change, relief pitcher Tayler Scott was a fabulous signing. Scrap heap pickups Ben Gamel, Jason Heyward, and Kaleb Ort have all made contributions. However…
Dana. Dana! You made yourself look very silly with comments this week somewhat scoffing at people being concerned with or dismissive of Justin Verlander’s ability to be a meaningful playoff contributor. Brown re-sang a ridiculous past tune, the “check the back of his baseball card” baloney. Dana, did you mean like the back of Jose Abreu’s baseball card? Perhaps Brown has never seen those brokerage ads in which at the end in fine print and/or in rapidly spoken words “past performance is no guarantee of future results” always must be included. Past (overall career) performance as indicative of future results for a 41-year-old pitcher who has frequently looked terrible and has twice missed chunks of this season to two different injuries is absurd. That Verlander could find it in time is plausible. That of course he’ll find it? Absolutely not. His next two starts are slotted to be against the feeble Angels, so even if the results are better, it won’t mean “JV IS BACK!”
Presuming they hold on to win the division, the Astros’ recent sub-middling play means they have only very faint hope of avoiding having to play the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Barring a dramatic turn over the regular season’s final fortnight, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are the obvious choices to start games one and two. If there is a game three, it is one game do or die. Only a fool would think Verlander the right man for that assignment. No one should expect Brown to say “Yeah, JV is likely finished as a frontline starter.” But going to the “back of the baseball card” line was laughable. Father Time gets us all eventually. Verlander has an uphill climb extricating himself from Father Time’s grasp.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I 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.