Start your engines! Photo via: Wiki Commons.
Kyle_larson_(51383019233)
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Motor Speedway this week for race two of the Round of 8. After Kyle Larson earned a championship birth at Texas, the rest of the field is as tight as it gets. Currently, the championship four as of now would be Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch. This week, we can expect to see a heavy focus on the top eight coming this week. Kansas has provided some great finishes over the year, including a battle between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano which saw Logano take the checkered flag and advance to the championship race. Aerodynamics will play the biggest role in this race as it's a mile and a half track and while it might be tough to pass, the drivers will all be closer together. It will be all about timing, and the driver who makes the right move at the right time will more than likely win.
Last week, Kyle Larson went on to claim his 8th win of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. There was plenty of drama for the playoff contenders as Martin Truex Jr and Joey Logano both had issues that ended their race. While Texas has been known as sort of cookie-cutter mile and a half track over the years, this week there was plenty of drama and things to talk about.
Another playoff driver who garnered some controversy this week was Denny Hamlin. After getting involved in a run-in with Chase Briscoe, Hamlin channeled his inner Connor McGregor on the radio after the move, "Like who the [Expletive] are you?" when talking about Briscoe on the radio. While overall, this didn't affect his overall race, it was strange to see him get so triggered about a driver that was only racing him hard. This could be a problem here in the next few races if he gets too invested in other drivers. This has been an issue for a while with Denny Hamlin, he always drives like he is the only driver out there and nothing is ever his fault. It's caused a lot of problems for him in the past, like 2010 when he seemed to have the championship locked up but got nabbed speeding on pit lane at Phoenix and could never recover. Regardless, he is still the driver that poses the biggest threat to Kyle Larson in these next few races.
The driver who isn't in the Round of 8 but has been the most impressive is William Byron. These last two weeks he has been so fast and probably should have won both races at the Roval and at Texas, but an untimely caution or unfortunate circumstances have cost him a shot at victory. He will for certain be a championship contender in 2022 if he continues to run like this. He will also be one to watch this weekend at Kansas, as he has finished in the top ten in his last two consecutive starts. He starts ninth come Sunday.
The driver I have winning this weekend is Chase Elliott. As everyone knows Elliott is on the outside looking in, he is currently eight points out. The biggest reason as to why he isn't in the top four right now is not because he had a bad result, but because he only scored three stage points as opposed to Busch who scored 11. That has made all the difference. This week I see him changing all that and coming out and having a big weekend where he at least wins a stage along with the race. Here at Kansas no active driver has a higher average finish in the past five than Elliott. Plus, he has a victory here back in 2018. Look for Chase to join his teammate Kyle Larson in the championship race with a win. He rolls off fifth this weekend.
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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.