The Pallilog
The sports world halts for Coronavirus; what does that mean for we the fans?
Mar 13, 2020, 5:28 am
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Friday the 13th. That's just a silly superstition for triskaidekaphobes. If only COVID-19 was so silly. I have said on multiple occasions that the most important variable in sports is the same as the most important variable in life. Health.
So how to go about typing a sports column when the sports world is essentially shut down? Amidst this coronavirus pandemic and the specific fallout of the last couple of days, it's absurd to do nuts and bolts sports analysis and commentary. So I won't do so here, though I very much look forward to embracing the next chance to rightfully do so.
This is unprecedented ground. The 9/11 attacks in 2001 were a giant fell swoop of devastating terrorism. Less than a week later Major League Baseball was playing again. The NFL resumed after one weekend off. Now? An altogether different and open-ended March Madness has forced cancellation of the NCAA Tournament in its entirety. The NBA is on hiatus for least a month. Just two weeks from the scheduled start of the baseball season, we know that that season won't be starting until at least two weeks after March 26. The NHL is temporarily out of business. And MLS. And XFL. And the world tennis tours. And golf tours. The rest of college sports and presumably all high school sports. It's everything.
The Rockets mostly brutal play the last week and a half of games? Big deal.
The Hate On The Astros road show? It'll just have to wait.
Tom Brady's free agent destination? Who gives a flip right now? Next week, different story since the NFL will open for free agent business as scheduled on Wednesday.
I have not seen the 2011 movie Contagion, but it feels like we're living a real life sequel. It's starting to feel like that leading a semblance of a normal life may make exposure to if not contraction of COVID-19 a probability. It is worth noting, or reminding, that beyond the heightened risk for the elderly and already ill (which of course is very serious), for most coronavirus is something to be ridden out. Let the scientists and medical community do their work, and accept some new realities as to how we should lead our lives. As in the aftermath of 9/11.
It's said you can't miss what you never had. Man will we miss sports for however long we're without them. But it's not going to be forever. In the meantime, we can talk, and read, and explore other interests.
Buzzer Beaters
1. It's also said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. That's not always true. But work with me here! 2. Faint silver lining: Say the start of the baseball season is pushed back a month. That consumes part if not all of Justin Verlander's recovery time from his lat strain. 3. Maybe trite to some, but should be true for all: Bronze-The Golden Rule Silver-Take nothing for granted. Gold-Tomorrow isn't promised.
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Astros lose tight one despite brilliant outing from Hunter Brown
May 15, 2025, 10:29 pm
It’s a fun series between the Astros and Rangers through the weekend in Arlington, but by no means is it a critical series. It would be nice for the Astros to not lose three out of the four games (or obviously all four) to their upstate rivals. The Astros have lost their last five road series, dropping two out of three games in each of them. As with the Astros, pitching has been the strength of the team for the Rangers thus far. After the humdinger Hunter Brown-Jacob deGrom mound matchup Thursday night, the Rangers give the ball Friday to Nathan Eovaldi with his earned run average at 1.78, then Saturday it’s Tyler Mahle with his even more sparkling 1.47 ERA. Heading into Thursday play, the Mariners having lost five of their last six games meant just a game and a half separate first from fourth place in the American League West. The Astros, Rangers, and Athletics are all right there. Only the Angels are inconsequential.
Star power!
There is an asterisk to attach but Jeremy Pena is making a real charge at becoming a first-time All-Star game selection. Among American League shortstops, the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. is clearly the best. The clear number two in the pecking order coming into this season was the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson, who is on fire after a slow start that began with him missing seven games on the injured list. Athletics’ rookie Jacob Wilson goes into the weekend batting .350 and amazingly has struck out just nine times in 164 at bats. Rangers’ stud Corey Seager being on the injured list with a balky hamstring for the second time this season helps the Astros this weekend and likely frees up an All-Star spot.
Now to that aforementioned asterisk. Pena has been sensational so far, indisputably the Astros’ best everyday player. We just need to see more staying power of performance before fully slotting Pena in the top tier of shortstops. Pena’s four-hit game Wednesday night hiked his batting average to .315, his OPS to .840. Well, last year Pena put head to pillow the night of May 15 with his batting average at .333, his OPS at .830. The rest of the season Pena hit .240 with a meager .653 OPS. That Pena drew a paltry 18 walks over his last 114 games. 2025 Pena has showed markedly better plate discipline. He’ll never be a high walks-drawn guy but incremental improvement matters, and can bear fruit in other ways.
Fruitless continues to describe an awfully high percentage of Christian Walker’s plate appearances. 2023 Jose Abreu was better (2024 Abreu was not). Plenty of season still remains for a turnaround, but more than a quarter of the season is gone and it’s not as if Walker is trending in the right direction. In three games against the Royals he went zero for 12 with seven strikeouts. With his final whiff, Walker reached the 50 strikeout “milestone” for the season in his 154th at bat. Feeble and lousy are fair characterizations of a .208 batting average and .625 OPS, magnified for someone batting clean-up most nights. Starting play Thursday 13 big leaguers actually had struck out more than Walker so far this season, among them only the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds carries a lower OPS. Walker has been even worse with runners in scoring position, batting just .171, with a sub-abysmal 20 strikeouts in 41 at bats.
Using Baseball-Reference's Wins Above Replacement statistic, the Astros’ three worst non-pitchers this season are Walker, Yordan Alvarez, and Jose Altuve. Those are the three highest paid players on the team. Altuve’s extended funk has him hitting .202 over his last 27 games with a .538 OPS. Altuve was dropped to second in the batting order basically at his request. It has not sparked him. If Altuve doesn’t pick it up, manager Joe Espada will have to consider dropping Altuve several more spots down the lineup. Alvarez is at 11 games and counting missed with a muscle strain in his right hand. He will not be approaching the career-high 147 games played last season.
Relief pitcher Tayler Scott was a revelation last season. Before joining the Astros at age 31 Scott had a big-league ERA of 9.00 in 46 innings scattered over three seasons. So it was pretty much out of nowhere that the only South African pitcher in MLB history posted a scintillating 1.36 ERA into early August before fading and winding up with a still stellar 2.23 mark. The clock struck midnight on his Cinderella story this year though, and with the Astros needing to open a roster spot this week, Scott was designated for assignment.
Book it!
Longtime Astros’ broadcasting stalwart Bill Brown has authored several books. His latest is Wartime Athletes, which tells the stories of athletes across a number of sports who served in the U.S. military during various wars. If you know anything about Bill Brown, you know each story was meticulously researched and makes for an interesting read. I’m no Oprah when it comes to the power of suggestion for reading material, but Wartime Athletes is worth your time and/or is a worthy gift for someone else.
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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