THE PALLILOG
Jose Altuve is showing signs of life at a critical time for Astros
Aug 7, 2020, 11:13 am
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
60 game Major League Baseball season or 162 game season, when it's approaching mid-August and you want to win your division, as a second place team two and a half games off the lead you best not get swept in a three game series at the team ahead of you. That's what the 6-6 Astros face heading into their weekend set at Oakland, and face probably some of if not all without George Springer thanks to the right wrist sprain he incurred Thursday night in Phoenix.
You look at the mish-mash that is the Astros pitching staff and if this were a normal playoff format year missing the postseason would loom as a real possibility. Instead, with eight of 15 American League squads getting in it would be a pretty big surprise if the Astros' O doesn't lead them into the tournament.
The rotation and bullpen are both troublesome. In the rotation, Justin Verlander pitched the opener two weeks ago and came down with the forearm strain that we may hear in the next few days formally ends his season. Lance McCullers has been poor in two of three starts. Zack Greinke has had one bad one good. Josh James has already been demoted out of the starting rotation. Framber Valdez gets in off one quality lengthy relief outing. Brandon Bielak was okay at AAA last season and is not a hot prospect, but showed well in his first big league start Thursday. Thank goodness for rookie Cristian Javier. It's only two starts but he may have the goods. In the bullpen Roberto Osuna is likely done, Ryan Pressly was a complete disaster in blowing the Diamondbacks series finale, Joe Smith opted out, and Will Harris is gone. Dusty Baker is basically throwing darts when he waves in one of the 73 rookies now in the Astros' pen. Lefty Blake Taylor has been excellent. After that, a very shaky grab bag.
Dusty Baker giving Bielak the start Thursday night means now-nominal ace Greinke takes the ball for the series opener at Oakland. Mike Fiers pitched for the A's Thursday, so we'll have to wait for the first Astros vs. Fiers matchup since the Fiers-started Astros' cheating revelations were proven.
Before Thursday night Jose Altuve had looked as lost at the plate as we have ever seen him. 20 percent of the regular season is done (granted only 12 games) and after his three for four night Altuve is still batting only .192. Early last season Altuve endured an eight for 59 stretch (.136 batting average). He struck out only eight times in those 59 at bats. In his first 49 at bats this season Altuve struck out 13 times. Regularly chasing balls well out of the strike zone has been an issue. Altuve turned 30 in May so it's a pretty safe bet that he's not suddenly washed up and is more likely to get piping hot for a stretch. The Astros are on the hook with him for 26 million dollars per the next four seasons, so if Altuve winds up slipping from elite to just good it's problematic.
"Fans" in the stands
Props to the big league teams having some fun with some of the cardboard cutouts putting "fans" in the stands. If you catch any Astros-A's this weekend try to get a gander of the hot dog vendor to the right of home plate as you look in from the pitching mound. It's Tom Hanks, who was a vendor at A's games in the 70s. Best I've seen so far is Seattle where the Mariners had Jeffrey Maier over the right field wall in one game. In the 1996 American League Championship Series Maier was the 12-year-old who blatantly interfered with a fly ball, got away with it giving Derek Jeter a bogus home run as the Yankees were en route to their first World Series title of their dynasty in that era. The Mariners also had Steve Bartman down the left field line in a spot analogous to where he was at Wrigley Field in 2003 when…..ah, Google it. Next Mariners homestand, Seattle music legends Eddie Vedder and Jimi Hendrix are expected to be "in attendance."
Burst your bubble
Buzz kill to the Rockets-Lakers matchup Thursday night with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook sitting out. James's absence was no surprise. Lakers said he has a sore groin. If feeling great LeBron playing would have served no purpose behind increasing viewership for TNT. The game meant nothing to the Lakers who have already clinched the top seed in the Western Conference. James played 30 minutes Wednesday night and as amazing a specimen as he is LeBron turns 36 December 30. Having him go back-to-back in a meaningless game would basically have been stupid.
Buzzer Beaters:
1. One week to the Texans' first scheduled practice in pads.
2. James Harden, cut down the silly fouls! You know you're too good and too important to pick up four in the first half, or a fifth in the third quarter.
3. Wow athlete shared birthday pairs: Bronze-Hakeem Olajuwon and Jack Nicklaus Silver-LeBron James and Tiger Woods Gold-Michael Jordan and Jim Brown
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.