Can the Astros just skip the All Star break?

Perhaps that question above has a definite NO answer for the two certain All-Stars (Jose Altuve and Will Harris) and the one potential addition to the game (George Springer). They all want to stop and enjoy the national acclaim of playing with the best of the best. And truth to tell, I am sure that most of the balance of their team are looking forward to a few days away from the game, heading home or heading out on vacation.

But with the Astros on a tremendous run and not (knock on wood) waiting for someone to come back from the disabled list, the fear may be that they lose their recent mojo over this break.

Since the Astros have topped out at a seven-game winning streak this season, it may not be apparent how hot they are right now. Since the 22nd of May they have been a tremendous 29-11 (28-8 against teams outside the state of Texas). More recently they have won 16 of 20. The four losses in the last three weeks were as follows:

  • A 4-2 loss to the Reds in 11 innings
  • A 6-1 loss to the Royals that was 1-1 until a seventh inning Fister-Sipp meltdown
  • A 7-6 loss to the Chi-Sox
  • A 4-1 loss to the Chi-Sox where they were only behind 2-1 heading into the 8th inning

So, basically in the last 20 games, they have won 16 games and had a real shot in all four losses late. You cannot ask for more than that.

So, the questions for you are as follows:

  • Are you looking forward to this mid-summer celebration of the National Past time?
  • Will you actually watch the game? How about the Home Run Derby?
  • Are you afraid the Astros will lose the momentum they have built up over the last 6 weeks during the break?
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172 responses to “Can the Astros just skip the All Star break?”

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  1. Rogelio Armenteros continued his good work for Lancaster last night, throwing a 2-hitter over 6 innings, during which he struck out 8. Lancaster won 4-0, largely on the strength of two hits by catcher Trent Woodward and DH Brooks Marlow’s 2-run HR. Armenteros’ ERA – in the high desert – is now 2.67.

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  2. The Astros are 47-40 after 87 games. Last year they were 49-38 after 87 games and 2 games into a 6 game losing streak.
    If they win 3 of their next 4 they will be ahead of last year’s pace and back in May I never thought that would be possible in early July.

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  3. We may need to consider letting Will Harris rest the next two games before the break. His great start notwithstanding, his last few outings have not been sharp at all. The old pitching coach in me diagnoses ‘tired arm’ – the precursor to ‘dead arm’.

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    • The A’s played Moneyball brilliantly in the 9th – running long counts, laying off close ones, spoiling good pitches and jumping on mistakes.
      Yeah Harris probably could use a day or two off. Maybe the team will win a laugher or two the next couple days.

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      • That Hoyt kid is only striking out 15.9 batters per 9 IP. If he could only get that up to 16…

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    • Tongue-in-cheek here… it seems that anyone being named the Astros’ closer is a sure bet to experience meltdowns…

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  4. We’ll be best off when the bullpen is again aligned in more of an envisioned fashion, Harris in the 7th or 8th, then Gregerson and or Giles. Feliz also does not like Superman all of a sudden. As much a I don’t want the AS break to slow momentum, I do think these guys need a rest. Even Altuve is struggling a bit. He has not hit the ball hard since his three run shot a week ago.

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  6. I’m pretty sure Bregman did not play last night because he was headed to San Diego for the Futures game.
    Tommy Shirley was so bad last night that Fresno had to relieve him with another starter, Valdez. With Musgrove gone to the Futures game, Fresno is short-armed, also. Why did I just think of T-Rexes and alligators?
    To make matters a little worse, Fresno has a double header to play today against Reno and Peacock is starting game 1 and they don’t have a starter listed for game 2. Fortunately, Fresno is off for their ASG break and don’t play again until Thursday night.
    Fresno lost 9-4 last night but Teoscar had two hits and a BB, as Bill mentioned earlier. All of Fresno’s runs came on a Tyler White grand slam, which got Fresno back in the game before Chapman and McCurry gave up three runs in the eighth.

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  10. Is Colby hurt? Odd that he’d keep playing after a bad May, then gets hot and brings his batting average up about 20 points only to be benched after a couple of bad games.

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    • He’s not benched, he’s sick. He has an ear infection and that is hard to play baseball with. He sits unless there is an emergency. If he were healthy he would be in there against a righty.

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      • Ok thanks for the clarification. ..I currently do have an ear infection so I know how rough it is.

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  11. I just met Becky and we had a very nice conversation. What a sweet lady and, like me, a die hard Astros fan. Becky, if you’re reading this I want you to know how much I enjoyed our conversation and meeting you. Good luck and many blessings with your treatment that starts on Tuesday. I will be praying for your recovery and return to our blog. God bless you!

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    • I love that Tim. Wish we could all meet someday, wouldn’t that be awesome?

      Best of luck Becky, I too will be praying for you while you’re in treatment. Wishing you a speedy recovery from your treatment. Hopefully you can check in with us from time to time.

      You two enjoy the game and bring us a win!

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      • We will meet someday Sandy……of that I have no doubt! I’d love to meet ALL the girl friends who are a part of this blog! We’ve been with one another or a looong gime!

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  16. It was a pleasure meeting you today Tim! I think I told you I didn’t have a very good feeling about today’s game, and I was right. Our guys were going down like dominoes today…….the A’S pitcher was on his best game . Man….McCullers has GOT to improve if this team is gonna do anything in the post season. The last inning he pitched was pure agony to watch. Brent Strom has some work to do with this kid.
    Let me tell you about Tim! He’s very tall, and very nice looking! We did have a nice conversation about our guys, and I shook his hand, and then a big hug! It’s nice to get to see the face behind the posts on here! I remember about 8yrs ago when we were all trying to get together at a game, but it never happened. Maybe next year we can pick a game and meet one another! I think he recognized me pretty quick as I was wearing my Springer shirt with lots of *bling*! Today was a good day!

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    • Thank you, Becky! That is very sweet of you to say. I’ll gladly show my wife your post. 🙂

      I’m always open to meeting others on this blog at a future game. We may not always agree on how we feel toward decisions made by the Astros, but one thing we can agree is that we all love this team with a passion. I mean it when I say I don’t hold grudges. Whether we agree or not doesn’t matter. I’ll always be open to meeting you and talking about our favorite baseball team. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet Becky today and I have a newfound appreciation and respect for this lovely and kind lady.

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  17. Miguelangel Sierra played in his 14th game for Greeneville today. Yes, he’s the one with great instincts, smooth defense and a line drive swing but scouts have rated him a 30 on a scale of 20-80 for power.
    He hit his 7th and 8th home runs of the short season today and has 12 extra base hits of his 17 total hits. His average is over .300 now but he’s not drawing walks like he used to. Of course his .855 SLG makes up for it.
    Maybe they should take him out of the leadoff spot and let him drive in some runs, too.
    He’s 18 years old.

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  18. Kent Emanuel gave up 8 hits and six runs in the first two innings in Tulsa this evening and was taken out. Corpus Christi scored seven runs late in the game and beat Tulsa 7-6. Our prospects are learning how to win. I can’t wait for the time they will be allowed to do it for the Astros.

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      • I don’t know. He threw a three-hit seven inning shutout in game 1 last night, and he has been horrible for most of the season. It’s crazy, but it’s no more crazy than the Astros getting beat by a guy who threw only fastballs for nine innings.

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  20. Fresno did sweep that double header last night. Hoyt came into the second game for what would have been a two inning save but gave up the tying run in the sixth. Max Stassi homered in the bottom of the sixth to get the lead back and Hoyt pitched the seventh and got the win, 4-3. Peacock had shut out Reno in game 1, 5-0.

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  22. When four of your starting nine are hitting under .220, you really cannot expect much. Bring on the AS Break- we’re dying here.

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    • When a guy hitting over .340 sac bunts twice against a guy with a 5+ ERA, bringing up a guy hitting .262, followed by a guy hitting .215, I think he virtually guarantees his team will lose. This is some of the worst baseball I have ever seen.

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  24. Mr Bill yes, DaveB7 Amen. This series they look like they just broke ST again, tired bored, no focus, no sense of urgency. I just wonder if Uncle jeff likes what he sees?

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  25. This facial hair presentation (I hesitate to call it a “beard”) that Carlos Correa is attempting…any bets on how long it will take to complete?

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  26. Looking for a positive. At least Keuchel’s ERA has finally dropped below 5.0. Can’t see any other real positive take-aways from getting made to look totally outclassed and overmatched by a guy who came in with a 1.467 WHIP and a 5.85 ERA

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    • Sort of sucks, we had chance to go into the break with momentum and after the win Friday, Hinch let everyone take the weekend off. *(^&*%&^% These are the times I really question our toughness and a true leader on this team. Need a Biggio and Bagwell.

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    • Our game was ugly; so was theirs. At least ours turned out, miraculously to be an ugly WIN. The North Texas Redshirts, not so much. The Redshirts are swooning! The Redshirts are swooning!

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  34. I couldn’t be prouder of the Astros. To be seven games over .500 at the All-Star break, 2 games out of the wild card and only 5.5 games behind Texas is quite an accomplishment after the first six weeks of their season.
    They have their faults and they still have a ways to go to be a WS contender, but the effort is there. This break comes at a perfect time for them because I think they expended a lot of energy during this run and now they can charge their batteries.
    They need it because they start off with a big road trip.
    Have fun guys, you’ve earned it.

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  35. Positives? The Stros have won Keuchels last five starts. Anyone here that would have been disappointed with being seven games over .500 at the break if asked two months ago? I’ll get back to complaining tomorrow.

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  37. Baseball is just plain weird!
    Tonight, Lancaster beat Inland Empire 17-0 and got 18 base hits.
    Here’s the weird part. Johnny Sewald was Lancaster’s leadoff and was the DH and was 0 for 5 with 3 Ks and yet had 1 RBI.
    Brian Muniz was Lancaster’s cleanup hitter and was 4 for 6 and scored 4 times but had zero RBIs.
    How does stuff like that happen?
    Bostick is back in Lancaster and pitched seven shutout innings allowing only one hit, but walking four guys.

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    • Well Josh Hader struck out the only hitter he faced…. wait a minute….
      Musgrove had the scoreless inning and Bregman had 3/4 of the cycle. Pretty darn good.

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      • Becky, the trait Hader has which will make him successful is that he is driven to success! I hope he continues the trajectory into the Brewers’ rotation and can stay a starter.

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  39. If this series against Oakland was played in April the Astros would have been swept. They are showing the makings of a resilient team and finding ways to grind out wins when they are not playing their best. OP is dead on about this being the perfect time for the ASB. The boys seemed to have slid into the ASB playing average baseball, but still finding a way to win 2 games they could’ve easily lost. This is the perfect time to take a break, recharge the batteries and prepare for this lengthy road trip starting on Friday.

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