Joel Blank goes game-by-game through the Texans schedule and shares his thoughts on which games will be wins, and which games will be losses for Houston. His final win total for the team might surprise you.
While the weekend didn't go as planned for the Astros (dropping a 3-game series to the Royals), they find themselves leading the division by a game and a half over the Rangers with 12 games left to play.
Of course, the big topic of discussion is the Astros' inability to take care of business against lesser opponents. Is it a lack of focus that's causing the problem, or is this version of the Astros less consistent, and just not quite as good as last year's team?
We know one thing for sure, the players know there is an issue. Otherwise, 3 team meetings wouldn't have been called in the last several weeks. Fatigue plays into this as well, nobody has played more baseball in recent years than the Astros. And as much as Dusty Baker says everyone on his team plays, maybe some guys are playing a little too much.
Older players like Jose Abreu and Martin Maldonado could benefit from some extra rest, allowing them to be as fresh as possible when they are needed most. The pitch clock might also be a factor that's causing the starting pitching to regress this season.
Whatever the issue is, whether it's playing at home, or the batter's eye being an issue against left-handed pitching at Minute Maid, the margin for error is incredibly slim.
Be sure to watch the video above for the full discussion!
Don't miss Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) every Monday on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel.
And listen to ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM for Houston's best sports talk.
