POINT BLANK
Joel Blank: The Warriors are coming. Are Rockets fans ready to step up?
May 7, 2018, 7:24 am
Steph Curry and the Warriors are coming. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
You asked for it, you got it! Toyota Center better be rocking when the Rockets need you the most!
It's the matchup everyone wanted to see ever since the Chris Paul trade. The two teams that everyone wanted in the Western Conference Finals are about to tango. The Rockets have been obsessed with the Golden State Warriors for over a year. Halfway through the season, Daryl Morey came out and admitted that this team was "obsessed" with the champs and built for a matchup with Golden State. The Warriors are the reigning champions and are the team that everybody has marked on their calendar as must see TV. They are the gold standard, pun intended, and it's one thing to pack the house to see them play in the regular season, it’s on another level when it can determine who goes to the Finals. The obsession is now a reality and dreams can come true if the Rockets and their fans can live up to the expectations that they have set for themselves.
Houston played all year to capture home court advantage and have a series deciding contest in their house. They felt like they were evenly matched with Golden State and the difference could be having that Game 7 on the Toyota Center floor instead of at Oracle Arena. With that in mind, they took care of business in the regular season and even took it a step further and assured themselves of home court throughout the NBA Finals by having the best record in the entire league.The time is now to make sure that there is some value in that achievement and Red Nation needs to step up big at the biggest time of the year. That means showing up on time and staying late, while they cheer loud and make sure that the world knows this can be a basketball town too. Texas is known as a football state, and that goes for the city of Houston too. They do a great job supporting the Texans, but have also proven to be a heck of a baseball community as they rocked the roof off of Minute Maid Park during the Astros run to a World Series title. Why then has it taken so long to do the same thing for the hometown hoop team?
So far this postseason, and let's be honest, in the regular season as well, attendance at Rockets games has been anything but stellar. Whether it's traffic, parking, ticket prices, family commitments or other excuses, Houstonians are quick to be on the defensive, but not as quick to jump behind their basketball team and support their efforts to return the community to the days of Clutch City. I don't wanna hear any of the excuses and believe me, I have heard them all season long as you have called the radio station and tried to defend your actions, or lack thereof? I know the failures of playoffs past have not helped and James Harden has let you down. But that was then, this is now and you could help write the script for the future. I'm not looking for more defensive fans, I'm looking for a solution that puts butts in seats, and does so on time. Maybe a match up with the Warriors is just what the doctor ordered and the inspiration that H-town needed?
Look across the league and all the cities that have a team that participated in this year's playoffs and for the most part you will find a community that is passionate about their hoop squad and fans that are rabid. They are in their seats way before tip off and raucous, creating an environment that makes it difficult for the visiting team to hear, let alone execute a play. Meanwhile in Houston, the regular season laissez-faire attitude of the fan base has continued over into the first round and a half of the postseason. With Houston one game away from the Conference Finals and likely meeting the Warriors, it's time to put the past behind us and step up to help this team in the biggest series it has faced since they last lost to Golden State in the 2016 West finals. Fans forget that a season full of hard work that earned them this huge edge if it comes down to one final game, can all be lost if this team falters in one of its first three home contests against the "Dubs." This Rockets team did its part by earning the best record and all the accolades that come with it, it's now time for the fan base to do their part and back this team when it needs you the most. I don't care if it's a 7 o'clock game or an 8:30 late night affair, I expect you to be there and be on time. I would love to see a sea of red T shirts on rabid Rockets fans as they welome the squad with the best record in the NBA onto the floor for pre-game warmups, instead of a sea of T shirts stuck on the backs of empty chairs as people continue to dress up like empty seats come tipoff time.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
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 YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.