Keep an eye on Kyle Larson this weekend. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads west for the Wise Power 400 in Fontana, California to kick off its west coast swing. It’s hard to believe it, but this will be the first race at this track since 2019. Since then, this massive two-mile oval has set dormant both figuratively and literally as there are many questions regarding its future. Back in 2020, it was announced that the track would be reconfigured to a half-mile short track. This was met with mixed reactions among fans and drivers alike. There were many questions about how this would work. How were they going to actively take a two and a half-mile racetrack and turn it into a short track, and most importantly, when? The long-term goal was to run a final race on this current configuration last year, but due to pandemic-related reasons, NASCAR couldn’t go to the track, and now it has moved the renovations back a year. There is even a chance they don’t change it all. Only time will tell. For now, in the track's current iteration, we see a lot of bumps in the racing surface which makes it difficult on tires. There is a good chance we see tire wear come into play this weekend.
Last weekend at Daytona, Austin Cindric took home his first career victory. The race was pretty much your typical race at Daytona, everyone sort of laid back after the first big wreck, then went right back to crashing at the end.
The finish was rather controversial as Cindric threw a block forcing his teammate Ryan Blaney into the wall and causing a melee at the finish line. Over the radio, Blaney exclaimed “I’m going to kill that kid,” then when interviewed outside the infield care center, Blaney thanked everyone but his rookie teammate. This could be an interesting storyline going forward, but more than likely Roger Penske will step in. I don’t see this progressing much further, after all it was for the Daytona 500, and you don’t get many opportunities to win the biggest race of the year.
Bubba Wallce continues to improve on his superspeedway efforts, he backed up his victory at Talladega in the fall last season with another impressive second place finish in the 500. In the final 100 yards, it looked like Wallace was gaining momentum to take the victory, but simply ran out of time. While he was disappointed he didn’t get the victory, this could be a really big building block for the rest of the season. I look for the 23XII racing team to make great strides this year
After all of the dust settles at Daytona, this week we will see a bit more of the usual suspects at the front. This Sunday will be no different as I am taking the defending champion Kyle Larson to win. Even in the early parts of his career, Larson always dominated these tracks like Auto Club and Michigan. At one point, he had four victories in a row on these types of tracks. Overall, he seems to be able to run the outside around the wall here better than anyone and find grip where no one else can. Another thing to consider is how much better a racecar he will have this time around as opposed to his last start here in 2019. I look for Larson to begin his title defense with a win at Auto Club come Sunday.
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The phrase most associated with the late former Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis was “Just win baby.” One has to think Al would strongly approve of the Houston Astros. Going to the fifth inning Sunday against the Mariners the Astros were facing a 3-0 deficit and staring at the prospect of being swept out of Seattle and having their American League West division lead slashed to just two games. Now after roaring from behind with 11 unanswered runs to take the series finale in the Emerald City, and then sweeping three games from the Diamondbacks in Phoenix, the Astros stand six games up with 60 games to go. So, if the Astros play just .500 ball the rest of the way (which would have them finish with 90 victories), the Mariners have to play .600 ball to catch them. If somehow the Astros are to maintain their season long win pace to the finish line they’d close with 95 wins, and the race is already over unless someone thinks the M’s are poised to uncork a finishing kick of 41-19 or better. It’s quite a pleasing perch from which the Astros survey the standings. Coupled with the freefalling Detroit Tigers having dropped nine of their last ten games, the Astros amazingly start this homestand sporting the best record in the entire American League. On the homestand they follow four games against the team with the second-worst record in the American League (Athletics) with three versus the team with the second-worst record in the National League (Nationals). I know, I know. There is fear of the Astros playing down to the competition, but that is not the way to look at it. A bad Major League team can beat a good team in a series at any time. If it happens it happens, but it wouldn’t mean it happened only because the Astros didn’t take their opponent seriously. This isn’t the NBA.
Trade deadline looming
Of course, It hasn’t been all good news with Isaac Paredes badly injuring a hamstring Sunday. Paredes could be back in three weeks (doubtful), he could miss the rest of the season. GET WELL SOON JEREMY PENA! Lance McCullers’s latest Injured List stint could be considered addition by subtraction for the Astros’ starting rotation. Whether impacted by his blister issue, Lance was lousy in four of his last five starts. So, one week from the trade deadline, if general manager Dana Brown has the ammo to get one deal done, where does he make the upgrade? The left-handed hitter everyone knows the Astros can use regardless of Yordan Alvarez’s status is a natural priority. With the Astros’ weak farm system it would seem difficult for Brown to put forth the winning offer for the top bats that could be in play. That probably rings even truer now, since if he wasn’t already untouchable, Brice Matthews may have cemented untouchable status by darn near winning the first two games of the Diamondbacks series by himself. Matthews is going to struggle mightily to hit for a good average if he can’t make notable improvement in the contact department, but the power is obvious, as is the athleticism in the field. The 23-year-old Matthews and 22-year-old Cam Smith (though presently mired in a three for 36 slump) are the clear (and right now only) two young shining beacons for the lineup’s future.
You can't have enough pitching
While Brandon Walter has been a revelation, a starting pitcher would make sense unless the decision is to hope Spencer Arrighetti and/or Cristian Javier can contribute meaningfully upon return to the big leagues, likely sometime next month. Going after a reliever or two may make more sense in terms of availability and transaction cost. Overall the Astros’ bullpen has been excellent, but Bryan Abreu is the only trustworthy right-handed option for Joe Espada. Back to Walter. Barely two months ago no way Walter himself would have believed he’d be where he is now. Nine starts since being summoned basically out of desperation, Walter has a 3.35 earned run average, and a stunning 13 to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with his 52 strikeouts against a measly four walks allowed in 53 2/3 innings. Walter has pitched fabulously in seven of his nine starts. He only has two wins, but that’s because in five of the six Walter starts the Astros didn’t win the game they failed to score more than two runs. Walter turns 29 years old in September. His only prior big league experience was 23 innings in relief with a 6.26 ERA for the Red Sox two years ago. The Bosox released him last August, the Astros signed him basically as minor league depth. Look at him (and the Astros) now.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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