The Astros just came off of a 6-3 road trip where they averaged 7.33 runs per game, capped off by their 20 hit / 14 run effort against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. The team has been turning into a juggernaut with production up and down the lineup. How has that looked so far?
It is one of those days to toss out a few thoughts and see if anything sticks.
Between the manager and the general manager of a baseball team, how many decisions do you think they make in the course of a season from Spring Training through the playoffs (with God’s good grace)? 10,000? 20,000? More?
Today we hit on a couple topics of interest, at least of interest to your loyal scribe.
May looked like it would be a tougher month than April on paper, but the Astros ended up a ½ game better than April at 15-12 as they went 8-5 in the division and split with some tough teams outside the division (Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Padres). They held on despite pitching injuries (Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Jake Odorizzi, Lance McCullers, Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor, Kent Emanuel) and positional player injuries (Michael Brantley, Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel). And the team is starting June on a roll, so hopefully, this will be the month they take over the division.
The Astros are in the midst of an almost excellent and so far OK, 9 game homestand. They have played three top-performing teams in the L.A. Dodgers, San Diego Padres and the Boston Red Sox (one game so far) and have held their own. In fact, with some better help in the bullpen, they could easily be 5-1 instead of 3-3 at this point in the homestand.
The Astros are past the 30 per cent mark in the season as we are about to celebrate Memorial Day and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
The list of reasons for the Astros to lose the finale of a two-game series with the Dodgers, which they won 5-2, was a lot longer than their list of reasons to expect a win.
