MESSAGE RECEIVED
How J.J. Watt's final message to Bill O'Brien was his most powerful
Oct 9, 2020, 2:38 pm
In J.J. we trust. Photo by Getty Images. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
It's apparent now that a recent "heated exchange" between Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien and star J.J. Watt led to O'Brien's firing earlier this week.
Should fans point to Watt and think, here's another big-money, super-ego, malcontent player who got his coach fired?
Or should fans just send Watt a thank you note?
I vote for the thank you note, something tasteful, from the Hallmark store, not aisle 6 at the supermarket. People can tell.
While the O'Brien-Watt blowup may have been the final straw, O'Brien leaves behind a haystack of bonehead trades, a sourpuss disposition, poor clock management, head-scratching play calling and, the unpardonable sin of an 0-4 train wreck drained of high draft picks next season. O'Brien ransomed the future for the now, and now doesn't have any wins.
The Texans had only five draft picks this year. Only one team had fewer, the Saints, but at least they had a first-round pick.
Now we hear stories that Texans management was aware of O'Brien's temper tantrums, but did nothing as long as the Texans were winning the AFC South.
O'Brien didn't just lose the locker room, he lost the whole city. It was like sports talk radio was playing a loop of "Fire Bill O'Brien" calls. Stations were wearing out their bleep button.
The day after O'Brien's firing, Watt posted a tweet that was as subtle as a ton of bricks landing on Wile E. Coyote's head. Beep beep.
pic.twitter.com/8oKQUmECnG
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 6, 2020
The tweet was a simple image of the sun beaming into NRG Stadium with its roof open.
Oh, so that's what the stadium looks like with its roof open? It's been a long time.
If that tweet could talk, it would sing I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash, the reggae singer who was born and lived his whole life in Houston. Nash passed away this week, the same day that Watt posted his tweet.
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way,
Gone are the dark clouds that had me down,
It's gonna be a bright sunny day.
Just to be sure, the dark clouds are O'Brien and the sunny day is interim coach Romeo Crennel.
It's difficult to find any mourning for O'Brien's coaching tenure with the Texans. The popular refrain in Houston and around the NFL was, "What took 'em so long?"
Fans piled on like ding dong the king is dead. To borrow from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar (maybe my favorite Cliff's Notes), fans come to bury Bill O'Brien, not to praise him. That's what 0-4, a loss to the Vikings, and no first or second draft pick next year.
Watt made no attempt to hide his glee after O'Brien joined the ranks of the unemployed.
"We have a fresh start. We had a good practice today, and we're looking forward to Jacksonville," Watt said.
"RAC (Crennel) is a great man. He has rings. He has a positive air about him. He has a jolly nature to him. You can't help but smile being around RAC. It should be fun," Watt said.
Great man, positive air, jolly, smile, fun. Hmmm, as opposed to …?
The Jaguars, 1-3, are in town Sunday. As America's dad Clark Griswold once said (sort of), "The Texans are going to have so much fun, they'll need plastic surgery to remove their smiles." Kickoff is noon.
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Takeaways from the Astros’ series win over the Orioles
The bats carried the Astros to a series win over the Orioles. Houston scored 7, 10, and 9 runs in the first three games — and they needed every bit of that production to hold off a scrappy Baltimore team that kept fighting back. It was a sharp contrast from their previous series against Detroit, when the Astros managed only two runs across three games.
Over the past seven days, Houston’s offense has been middle-of-the-pack, ranking 12th in runs scored and 22nd in OPS, while the pitching staff has struggled with a 5.19 ERA, 24th in MLB.
Offense heating up
Carlos Correa has led the way during this stretch, hitting .370 with a .901 OPS. He’s been far from alone, though. Jesús Sánchez (.368 AVG, 1.032 OPS), Victor Caratini (.976 OPS), Yainer Díaz (.304 AVG, .820 OPS), and Christian Walker (.276 AVG, .921 OPS) have all delivered at the plate. The collective surge has been timely, giving the Astros’ rotation and bullpen some much-needed margin for error.
Can the bullpen hold up?
That margin might not last if the bullpen wears down. Bryan Abreu has been excellent, but his workload is becoming a concern. With Bennett Sousa landing on the IL with elbow discomfort, depth is thinner than ever. Houston hopes Craig Kimbrel — added from the Rangers’ minor league system — can provide another leverage arm. His debut was encouraging: no runs, two strikeouts.
Still, inconsistency looms. Cristian Javier continues to struggle with command. Javier recorded 10 walks over his 9.2 innings in his rehab starts with Sugar Land. Unfortunately, those control issues have followed him back to the big leagues. McCullers is dealing with the same issues, walking five batters in just four innings in his most recent start.
Walks have not only led to quick rallies, but also forced the bullpen to absorb heavy innings when starters can’t work deep. Javier's latest start against Baltimore was a prime example: spotted a five-run lead in the first, he immediately walked the first two batters and gave the runs right back in the first two innings. Then the bullpen had to cover the final seven frames. AJ Blubaugh really came through for the club, delivering four innings.
Patience with Javier
There may be a silver lining. Javier looked sharp in his first outing back from Tommy John surgery, and perhaps expectations were set too high too quickly. Manager Joe Espada has urged patience, reminding that bumps were always likely during the recovery process. The key for Javier — and for Lance McCullers, will be consistently throwing strikes.
MLB realignment thoughts
On a different note, realignment has been a popular topic this week. Personally, I like the Astros in the American League, where rivalries with the Yankees and Red Sox have added juice. The AL West isn’t the toughest division, which benefits Houston, though the late-night West Coast trips remain a grind. If a shift happens, it’ll come with trade-offs, but for now the AL feels like the right home.
There's so much more to get to! 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 on Thursday!
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