THE PALLILOG
Stop us if you have heard this before: Texans need to find a way to protect Watson against Jags
Sep 13, 2019, 6:56 am
Deshaun Watson takes his act to New York. Tim Warner/Getty Images
No must win game looms for the Texans Sunday against Jacksonville. Unless you are gaga over the Titans after their season opening humiliation of the Browns in Cleveland, the AFC South does not look to have a team capable of pulling away and ripping off 12 wins. Maybe not even 10. Last season the Texans extricated themselves from an 0-3 mess of a start to win the division, so 0-2 wouldn't mean curtains. But if the Jaguars turn out to be decent with rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew and a rejuvenated defense, the Texans dropping a home division game to fall to 0-2 would be problematic. At eight and a half or nine points the Texans are the third biggest favorite in the NFL this week. Baltimore at home is -13 vs. Arizona, New England is a whopping 19 point road favorite at Miami.
Except for one awful decision and throw Deshaun Watson looked like a top 10 quarterback at New Orleans. Alas his career will be inevitably altered for the worse if the offensive line play doesn't improve and Watson doesn't speed up that imaginary clock in his head by half a tick.
Developmental prospect or not, if second round draft pick Max Scharping isn't very soon good enough to move right tackle Seantrel Henderson out of the starting lineup, the pick looks bad.
It really would be nice if Head Coach Bill O'Brien stops uttering pedantic and/or condescending nonsense. The Texans' secondary alignment on the Saints' last completion before the game winning field goal was simply indefensible. Billy Bluster's pearl of non-wisdom: "We made a call there that we thought was the best call for us." As opposed to coaches who make calls they think are the worst for them? The call was absurd! Safeties stationed as close to Mississippi as to the line of scrimmage? Two cornerbacks lined up as if covering skunks who'd just taken swims in a toxic waste pool? It's as if the Texans thought they were up by four and not one. You don't suppose…? Nah.
And Coach, about using a timeout and then immediately losing another one because of a challenge after the same play…
Astros drop three straight
In winning three in a row at Minute Maid Park after getting demolished 15-0 in the series opener, the Oakland A's administered the latest reminder that as great as the Astros are they are a lock for nothing when their postseason starts in three weeks. The A's have a better record than the Astros over the last three months. So do the Indians. Any team can beat any other team in a three out of five baseball series. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply wrong.
Thursday's 3-2 loss to the A's dropped the Astros to 0-47 on the season when trailing going to the ninth inning. As I've covered before, all teams lose almost all of their games when down after eight. Few actually lose every one of them.
It has worked out quite well that the Astros were forced to move to the American League in order for the owners to approve the sale of the franchise from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane's group. Latest example: Yordan Alvarez is pretty much a lock to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Everything else being equal, as amazing as he's been Alvarez would have little shot at the NL rookie honor. Not with the Mets' Peter Alonso entering the weekend with 47 homers and 109 runs batted in. In the end you get credit for what you did accomplish, not for what you might have accomplished if called up sooner.
Not even counting his winning World Series Most Valuable Player George Springer's "career year" to date was 2017. He played 140 games that season with 34 homers and 85 RBI. Through 109 games played this season: 34 homers and 85 RBI. If he hadn't missed a month with a hamstring injury Springer might be right there with Alex Bregman as top alternatives to Mike Trout for AL MVP. Springer's contract is up at the end of the season, but he can't become a free agent until after next season when he'll already be 31 years old. Would the Astros say "too much" or Springer say "not enough" to a suggestion of four years 80 mil?
Down week for colleges
Overall it's a dud of a college football schedule this weekend. Not one Top 25 matchup on the card. UH plus nine and a half vs. Washington State feels like the right side Friday night at NRG Stadium. Texas can seemingly name its score -32 vs. Rice at NRG Saturday.
Buzzer Beaters
1. The "Texas Kickoff" really shouldn't take place the third full weekend of the season. 2. It would be a downer if Carlos Correa only gets to play in a championship series this year while rehabbing with Round Rock during the Pacific Coast League Championship Series. 3. Look away triskaidekophobes! Greatest athletes to wear #13 (A-Rod is disqualified and an honorable mention for Billy Wagner): Bronze-Steve Nash Silver-Dan Marino Gold-Wilt Chamberlain
As the Houston Astros continue to navigate a season riddled with injuries and inconsistencies, the question looms larger than ever: can they keep their heads above water? With a barrage of pitching injuries threatening to derail their season, the Astros are finding themselves in a position where every decision matters more than ever.
The recent setbacks to the pitching staff (Hayden Wesnieski, Ronel Blanco) have placed even more pressure on the club. Lance McCullers, whose performances have been inconsistent, is now squarely in the spotlight. The Astros will need him to step up and shoulder a larger portion of the load. At the same time, the bullpen, which has been a bright spot so far, must continue its elite play to keep the team afloat. In particular, Houston can't afford to make mistakes in its decision-making, whether in the lineup or on the field.
Take, for example, the decision to give Chas McCormick a second start after his costly mistakes in Game 1 against the Rays. McCormick’s two pick-offs in that game showed he's lacking focus, yet he was given another chance to start Game 2. Houston needs to be making the right calls on the field, and this was a moment where the manager’s trust in McCormick might have been better placed elsewhere, considering his lack of success in the series.
On the offensive side, the Astros’ struggles have been just as apparent. Jose Altuve, a cornerstone of the franchise, has been attempting to bunt while hitting in the 3-hole. It’s a strategy that just doesn’t make sense. With the Astros needing to produce runs, Altuve's role is to drive them in, not waste strikes with ill-timed bunt attempts.
Is Houston's roster poorly constructed or just unlucky?
Given the pitching woes and offensive troubles, some are beginning to question whether the Astros’ roster is poorly constructed, or if it’s simply been an unfortunate series of events. The bad luck with pitching injuries is undeniable, but the offense tells a different story—particularly when it comes to the lineup’s balance.
One glaring issue is the team’s heavy reliance on right-handed hitters. With players like Christian Walker struggling at the plate, it’s hard to overlook the potential misstep in roster construction. Walker’s performance this season has been abysmal, and it’s fair to wonder if the Astros would have been better off investing in a more flexible first-base platoon. Players like Jon Singleton, Victor Caratini, Zach Dezenzo, Yainer Diaz, and even Mauricio Dubon could have filled in at first base, providing much-needed depth at a fraction of the cost. At this point, they couldn’t have done worse than Walker, who has posted a paltry .199 batting average, .270 OBP, and .607 OPS on the season.
In comparison, Walker’s numbers this season are worse than Jose Abreu’s 2023 campaign with Houston (.237 batting avg, .296 OBP, .680 OPS). Walker is a player known for slow starts, but nothing quite as severe as what we’ve seen in 2025. His struggles are reminiscent of a disastrous start to the 2022 season that saw him fail to find his rhythm until much later in the year, but even then, his slugging percentage was significantly better than what we’re seeing now.
Would a return of “career Yordan Alvarez” fix Houston’s offensive woes?
Amid the offensive malaise, the return of a fully healthy Yordan Alvarez could certainly provide a much-needed spark. If Alvarez were to return to his “career” form, with a healthy pitching staff, an intact bullpen, and a potential resurgence from key hitters, the Astros could see a drastic improvement in their fortunes. However, this is all contingent on a lot of “ifs,” and there’s no guarantee that a turnaround is on the horizon.
Observations and further concerns
As if the struggles on offense and pitching weren’t enough, the Astros’ defense has also been plagued by lapses in fundamentals. One of the more puzzling trends this season has been the number of stolen bases allowed, especially at third base. If the Astros continue to give up steals at this rate, it will be difficult for the pitchers to recover, especially if they are walking batters and putting runners in scoring position with alarming frequency.
We have so much more to get to. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday! Note: because of the holiday weekend, our next episode will be after Memorial Day on Tuesday.
*ChatGPT assisted.
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