DON'T PANIC
Lance Zierlein: The Astros aren't hitting. So what?
Lance Zierlein
Apr 11, 2018, 8:52 am
When you do a sports talk show, sometimes you watch sports differently than the average fan. You have to. Oh, wait... I'm not saying we are better than other fans or that we have some elevated sense of understanding of the sport that your average fan can't possibly have. No, that's not what I'm saying at all.
What I'm saying is that when writers and talkers watch sports, we are often trying to put pieces together to fit them into a narrative that we can talk about in print or on the air. Sometimes these topics are timely, thought-provoking, and even illuminating. At other times, we may be grasping at straws or extrapolating when the sample size doesn't call for it.
And let's be clear. I'm not talking about coming up with click-bait topics or intentional hot takes to garner attention and agitation from the reader/listener. There are plenty of people who do that, but I don't see that at this radio station (ESPN 97.5). This morning John Granato and I got into a debate that will eventually end in either a foreshadowing or a non-issue category.
John Granato is worried about the bats and after the last six games, maybe he should be. The Astros have scored 12 runs over their last six and have been wildly unimpressive at the plate with a complete inability to break out or even string hits together. Me? I’m much less worried because history is on my side.
At the top of the lineup, George Springer is hitting .186 and Alex Bregman is hitting .186. If you don’t set the table, it’s hard to eat. It’s easy to get worked up by a bad six game run on the offensive side - especially on the heels of the World Series run where the offense carried the team. But why worry when this is always what happens with Springer and Bregman? Here are their career splits in March/April:
NAME | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
George Springer | .223 | .300 | .392 | .692 |
Alex Bregman | .228 | .340 | .283 | .623 |
These guys never get off to a great start, check that, an average start at the beginning of the season. The 2018 version of who they are at the plate in in April is who they usually are to start the seasons. The good news is that things change for these guys in May:
NAME | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
George Springer | .285 | .391 | .546 | .937 |
Alex Bregman | .276 | .308 | .531 | .838 |
Now, if Springer and Bregman keep slumping through May, then I’ll write a different column. However, they are in the early stages of their prime. They aren’t likely to have bad seasons. Bad months? Yes, that’s actually the norm in baseball, but a bad season is unlikely. And guess what? They are playing .750 baseball despite a lack of consistent hitting in half of those 12 games.
Every MLB team has concerns no matter how great they may be or appear to be. For the Astros, I don’t see it as the hitting. They are just going through an early season lull. Instead, I am concerned about Dallas Keuchel and his inability to get back to his pre-All star form last season. I’m worried about Ken Giles and whether or not Brad Peacock can be the full-time closer. There are things on my mind and the hitting health of Springer and Bregman is not one of them.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?