Who's the Man?
Lance Zierlein: I started an Astros Civil War
Lance Zierlein
Feb 7, 2018, 8:26 am
I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my role in starting the Great Astros Civil War of 2018. It was unintentional. I promise. I didn’t begin my Twitter comments with hate in my heart—I simply said what I thought all Astros fans were thinking. I had no idea that so many of us are not on the same page.
It started innocently enough with a graphic that was re-tweeted to me.
Of course, I took one look at that tweet and retweeted it adding the comment:
“Uh...........‘real possibility’ ??? Yeah..... it's already a thing.”
Now, it was my understanding that we were all on the same page here as Astros fans. Remember that incredible World Series win and the subsequent celebrations? Remember Altuve’s three-homer game in Boston? Remember Altuve’s MVP season and third batting crown in four years? Yeah, that didn’t really matter to some of you who are ready for a Saturday Twitter scrap.
To begin with, my first thought was “Wait…. it’s Jeff Bagwell and not Craig Biggio? I thought it was probably Biggio.” I actually tweeted that and it definitely touched off a skirmish. The sabermetric watchdogs feverishly searched BaseballReference.com to hit me with as many forms of “WAR” as they could to prove that Bagwell > Biggio. Baggy’s 1994 was astounding. As baseball historian Bill James pointed out years ago, it was one of the great offensive seasons of all time. With that said, he never reached that level again for the rest of his career.
Bagwell‘s numbers were great, but also heavy on power (in the midst of the most infamously tarnished era in baseball) and light on production when it matters most—in the playoffs. Bagwell played in 33 postseason contests with a career batting average of .226 and an OPS of .685. As a point of reference, his career average was .297 with an OPS of .948. Altuve’s best season didn’t come in his fourth year. No, his best work has come over the last two seasons with this year’s MVP season as his finest.
Oh, and about the postseason. He’s played in 24 career playoff games with a batting average of .268, but an OPS of .842 which is higher than his .816 career OPS. Did I mention he has 7 postseason home runs to Bagwell’s 2? And Altuve is getting better with each passing season. Did Bagwell ever figure out how to quiet those hands and improve his contact? No. Did Biggio ever learn to lay off the slider away? No. Altuve, on the other hand, was so disappointed in his approach to curveballs that he worked tirelessly on it in the offseason and ended up hitting over .400 against the pitch this season.
There were Bagwell vs. Biggio battles. There were Bagwell vs. Altuve arguments and there was even an Altuve vs. Joe Morgan argument made by one fan that believed that Morgan was a better Astros second baseman than Altuve *eye roll emoji*. I understand the argument that Altuve hasn’t reached the statistical achievements of Bagwell or Biggio, but that’s an apples to oranges argument since we are simply waiting for time to pass so the sample size is more even. He’s on a Pete Rose pace in terms of hits. He doesn’t have to get to 3,000 hits or 400 home runs for him to match or pass Bagwell or Biggio as the greatest Astro ever. No. Altuve did something in the postseason that will live with Astros fans forever. Altuve as the undisputed “greatest Astro” is just a matter of time. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
CJ Stroud put a lot of Texans fans at ease when he showed up to mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and participated in throwing drills. Many were concerned that Stroud might have received surgery in the offseason, and that was keeping him from throwing at voluntary OTAs last week. But Stroud put that narrative to bed, denying any offseason surgery.
Stroud told the media that he's been working on getting his body right this offseason, focusing on, among other things, lowering his body fat, improving his hip flexibility, and gaining speed.
CJ implied that the extra training this offseason might have been a factor in the soreness that kept him from throwing last week, but that should be expected. Pushing your body can sometimes lead to soreness, but it's not anything to be worried about.
He also said he had been throwing prior to minicamp on Tuesday, but this is the first time the media has been around to witness it.
Thoughts on the new system
CJ had positive things to say about the Texans' new OC Nick Caley. He pointed out that he cares more about the "person" than the system. He likes the energy from his new OC, even saying Caley calls him frequently, but doesn't always answer because Caley is “always yelling.”
Stroud also confirmed that the new offense allows him to have more control at the line of scrimmage, something we heard he was wanting last season.
Caley and CJ have watched old videos from 2003 and 2004 of Tom Brady working with Josh McDaniels. They believe this will help Stroud learn how to take “ownership” of the protections.
You can watch the full interview in the video below.
So what else happened at mandatory minicamp?
Newly signed running back Nick Chubb participated in drills. Head coach DeMeco Ryans credited GM Nick Caserio with signing the four-time Pro Bowler.
Nick Chubb takes the handoff in first #Texans practice @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/P4X9NGXB4B
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 10, 2025
How did the receivers look?
The big play of the day came from 2nd round receiver Jayden Higgins, who caught this pass from Stroud against Kamari Lassister. This looks like a connection the Texans will count on for years to come.
🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/4wLhMtduBd
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 10, 2025
3rd rounder Jaylin Noel was in attendance but didn't participate.
Nico Collins and Stroud appear to be in midseason form.
Nico Collins showin’ ‘em how it’s done. #MiniCamp #Texans pic.twitter.com/Ir4qrGsL15
— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) June 10, 2025
Anything new with the offensive line?
Not really. The Texans lineup up from left to right with Cam Robinson, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews, Tytus Howard, and Blake Fisher. Later on, rookie Aireontae Ersery got some work in at left tackle.
Current #Texans O-Line combination protecting Stroud: LT Airenontae Ersery, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Jake Andrews, RG Tytus Howard, RT Blake Fisher.
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) June 10, 2025
The Texans will wrap up minicamp Wednesday, and we'll keep you in the loop with any further developments.