First, Happy Mother’s Day to every mom. Those reading this and those ladies you call mom. My mom just turned 82 and you can see a little tribute on Instagram or Facebook this morning. Honor your mom today!
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Now, to the question of the day!
Can the Astros run away and hide from the rest of the American League? Or at least from the rest of the AL West?
Jose Altuve isn’t yet hitting like Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa is picking up the pace of late, Carlos Beltran has a .685 OPS and Superman Marwin Gonzalez leads the team in home runs (9).
And, yet, the Astros are just a smidgen away from a double-digit-game lead in the division. Of course, no other team has a winning record and the Rangers have shown a few signs of life lately to stay within eight games of Jeff Luhnow’s boys.
Yes, yes, yes, I’ve noticed that Dallas Keuchel is pitching like 1972 Steve Carlton and is on a pace to finish 27-0 with 265 IP. And, yes, it hasn’t escaped my attention that Lance McCullers Jr. may be solidifying his position as that #2 stopper that the team has needed since Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens backed up Roy Oswalt.
Can the 2017 version of the Astros — the one Sports Illustrated predicted would win a World Series — run away and hide? Would it be prudent for the Astros to run away with the division title?
To be sure, not every player has hit his stride.
Heck, Collin McHugh hasn’t thrown a pitch, Alex Bregman hasn’t hit a home run and Beltran is stroking a “wonderful” .248/.285/.380 line. Two starters have 5+ ERAs and the team’s chosen closer has turned in a 4.20 ERA (though he has saved 10 games).
Still, the Astros are on pace for a franchise-record 113 wins.
Can the organization you’ve followed lo these many years actually run away and hide from the Rangers, Mariners, A’s and Angels?
Dallas will stumble along the way, and Marwin will not lead the team in home runs come September. Can Chris Devenski, Brad Peacock and Will Harris be lights out for an entire season? Who will step up if they do?
Has Luhnow finally pieced together the magical combination? Can this unexpected array of characters do something no other assemblage of Houston teams has ever done? Six times in history, the Astros have won their division, and the ’98 and ’86 teams stand out among those.
But this team may be special. The ’98 team had the Killer B’s with Bagwell, Bell, Biggio and Alou. There was a pitching staff anchored by Mike Hampton until Randy Johnson joined for the last-half run. Of course, the unforgettable ’86 team had the Cardiac Kids with Glenn Davis, Kevin Bass, Billy Hatcher and, of course, that pitching staff. (Shane Reynolds, Nolan Ryan, Bob Knepper and Jim Deshaies).
While those two teams — and perhaps a few others — have been special in Astrodom, this 2017 team may turn out to be the specialest.
Can the 2017 Astros run away and hide?
Yes, the could. But Keuchel won’t be 27-0 and Marwin won’t hit 40 home runs. Not every player has to hit on all cylinders for the entire season. But it will require that 2-3 position players carry the load at any given time and it will require Joe Musgrove or Mike Fiers (or McHugh) to stand up when Keuchel or McCullers stumble.
Your turn: Can the 2017 Astros run away and hide from the rest of the AL West? What will it take?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
130 responses to “Can the 2017 Astros run away and hide from the AL West?”
My expectation for this season is to win the division and have the rotation fully rested and lined up for an extended run into the post season. And a healthy, rested group of guys ready to hit the ball and run around the field. Running away and hiding though? We’re still going to slump. We’ll have injuries. Some other club will get hot. Lot’s of baseball to play. I also don’t want it to be run away and hide easy. I want our guys to keep an edge. Happy Mother’s Day ladies!
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Chip. do you have any idea how blessed you are to still have your mom? My parents left 30 years ago. As in pythAGOrean. And no other family either.
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Mine too Diane. But I know where she is, and I WILL see her again….that’s a promise my Lord has given to me🙏💒
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Thanks, Becky. Every word helps.
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Could they? Yes. Will they? Doubtful. As someone noted the other day, the other teams in the division are all suffering from important injuries. Those things tend to even out over the season. Except for the 86/98 seasons you mentioned (both of which were followed by disastrous/heartbreaking playoff results), the Astros never make it easy!
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1) Welcome back Chip – woohoo – I needed the break. The readers probably need the break too.
2) I’m enjoying the early small ball in the 3rd inning today.
3) I think this is a special year – there will be ups and downs – but I believe this will be a 100 win year.
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You do an EXCELLENT job!!
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They can…..but only if they keep that little league club in arlington out of the win column. I posted this last night, but the A’s, play us like a drum nearly everytime we play them yet the arlington idiots have beat them 3 games in a row! And that’s WITH the broken down bullpen. The M’s, have 4 out of 5 of their starters on the DL. The only team that has held their own is the A’s. I can’t figure out where they get their pitchers, but just when we think they are down for the count they find another arm!!
Chip, give your sweet mother a kiss on the cheek for us, and one for your dad too!
Not feeling so hot today, so I might let my family take me out to eat next Sunday….
Happy Mothers Day to all my girlfriends on this blog, and a very happy mothers day to all your wives and mothers! My mother is in Heaven🙏❤ Becky⚾
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Those two pitches from Fiers were batting practice offerings against two of the better hitters in the game. He can’t keep throwing that crap up there game after game.
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Happy Mother’s Day
Can they: Yes
Should they: Yes
Will they? Mike Fiers has made me grumpy, so I plead the fifth.
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GIDP’s don’t make you grumpy?
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Without a doubt, even though I believe Bregman is going to be very good, he did it twice swinging at pitches out of the zone, first time on ball four that would have loaded the bases with nobody out. This game could have been out of reach early. But on the flip side, this club wins so many of these games. And if they don’t, well we’ve got to expect an off day from time to time.
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This ump is giving this kid a Maddux strike zone.
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Fires and *errors* are a disaster waiting to happen. Gurriel has 2 errors already.
Thankfully….Hinch is out to take the baseball. JEEZE.
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Fiers is bad enough without having all those errors behind him. Got to give him credit today though, he didn’t let them get to him.
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Fiers and a pitching mound are a disaster waiting to happen.
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Devo coming in to pitch……which will make him in available tonight. ((( sigh)))!!
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Yuk
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WOW……that inning went south in a hurry. I feel bad for Devenski, not fun to hammered when you didn’t do anything to start it. Oh well, the worst we can do is a split. DAM-IT.
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What do you do here? Concede and let Sipp finish or deplete the pen and and at least try?
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We were overdue for a stinker. Pen can’t do it every time out. I would have been ok with a split going in on Thursday, but at this point, I’d much rather see our guys ruin the Jeter festivities.
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Chip, to answer your question, yes, they can run away and hide. They just cant play like they did in today’s game 1.
The other teams can’t catch them if they play the way they have the first six weeks.
The other teams can only catch the Astros if they fold.
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They need a starting pitcher to replace Fiers in the rotation and they need a good left handed reliever.
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The Rangers won 6 straight games, at home, against the Padres and the A’s. They still only gained 1 game in the standings. While a 6-game winning streak is nice it was at home against inferior competition. I am still not too worried about the Rangers yet.
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My reply above was meant to be to Becky’s comment. Sorry!
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The A’s……got swept today. Don’t look now, but we could lose this lead in a heart beat.
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I might have sat Bregman in game two. The manager is wise and I am not. I think these guys don’t care where they play.
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Have to like how they came out in the 1st inning of the second game and put up a 6 spot.
I hope Morton can go deep enough so we don’t completely wipe out the bullpen
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Morton goes 5 2/3 again. Strikeouts are sexy but they ran his pitch count up. If Feliz quashes this mini-rally I hope Hinch leaves him in to pitch the seventh. I think it was a mistake to only use him for one hitter in game one.
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Hey drbill14…..where have you been!! Good to see you back!
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Indeed doc, you’ve been missed.
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Who is this guy!!!!???? WTH??? Are you kidding me!!! Really?
Now you gotta go to your closer……and let the flood gates open!! OH LORD.
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This is getting ridiculous!
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Geez! That was not pretty!
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“Lord! it’s a miracle!” (Warden Norton in the Shawshank Redemption).
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But, taking 3 of 4 from the Yankees on the road is great. I just was afraid we were going to evolve back to days past. Go team, Go.
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Well that was scary but bottom line they won 3 out of 4 on the road against one of the better teams in the majors. On to Miami!
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Dan, you are correct, three of four anywhere, especially in NY with a rainout and a double header and a Jeter extravaganza and all that stuff, our guys are ballsey.
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So does Peacock shake off the rust and mow?
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Even when the bullpen isn’t perfect, they still win by three runs on the road on a Sunday night in a double header, against the gods of baseball in front of an adoring crowd and to the tune of a bunch of Yankee suckups on TV. And win despite an umpire who couldn’t recognize a strike even if he wasn’t blind.
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Right on Dan. They sorta rained on the Jeter parade.
The broadcast was unbearable. I had to mute it and just watch the game.
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Just looked this up – the Yankees were 12-3 at home before the Astros showed up. So winning 3 of 4 was even more impressive than I thought
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Becky, in case you missed it, ESPN will be carrying the game again tonight.
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Thanks Sandy!! I found that out while watching last night’s game!!
Woo-hoo…..I’m a happy girl! I’ve already informed my husband it will be a pizza night since the game starts so early! Go Astros! Go big Joe!!
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Apparently the internet is under attack this morning and it is very hard for any manuevering on my pc. I want to tell all of you how wonderful it is to communicate with you. You are my friends. stay safe. 1OP
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Well, we gave up 18 runs in 18 innings but still got a win. The rotation did not exactly implode, but the pen can’t keep coming in so early. Even though they got beat up yesterday, we should have enough rested guys for tonight.
Fiers offends me though. At this point, I do not think he’s fully dedicated to his craft. Just far too many lapses. The guy is just not focused on every pitch. In May, 8 dingers in 16 plus innings. He’s getting worse, rather than better. Is there a secret plan for Peacock? He sure is not getting much work.
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The Jets and the Sharks have rumbled. It will be go down in history as the Great ‘Mother’s Day Massacre’. The streets of New York run pink with blood. Tony [a/k/a Derek Jeter] has been over-dramatically mourned.
On we go to the mean streets of Miami Vice. The part of Sonny Crockett will be played by Carlos Correa. Who will step up and play the part of Tubbs?
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There is, you may notice, an extra word in the 2nd sentence above. The extra word is ‘be’. I struggled mightily with the eternal issue of to ‘be’, or not to ‘be’. But since it was still so close to Mother’s Day I chose to follow the counsel of mother Mary and Let it ‘be’.
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No, it has nothing to do with any Killer ‘Be’s’. No Killer Be’s were harmed in the publishing of this post.
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Yordan Alvarez, the 6′ 5″, 225 lb, highly-sought after 19 y/o Cuban 1B we got from the Dodgers in the July, 2016, trade for Josh Fields, is now in from extended spring training and playing his first game for the Quad Cities River Bandits. Last year in a short sample of 16 games for the DSL Orange Astros he slashed an excellent .341/.474/.974, with 12 BBs to only 7 SOs.
So far today he is 0-2 with a strikeout and a ground-out to 2nd.
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Alvarez has just made his first offensive contribution. He drove in a run with a sac fly in the 6th inning. Bandits now up 4-1 after 6.
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That guy who came into pitch the 9th yesterday……was on the first flight bak to Fresno last night. Whose big idea was it to bring him up anyway. Let’s not have another “experiment” like that anytime soon, ok! JEEZE
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Not ready for Prime Time I guess
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The Astros and the Yankees were afforded the benefit of adding a 26th player to the roster for the 2nd game of the DH yesterday (per the new CBA rules). By using him they didn’t have to pitch Gregerson or Hoyt so I would argue it was a very good idea to bring him up and a 6-run lead in the 9th inning was the proper time to put him in the game. We’re going to probably need to lean on both Gregerson and Hoyt tonight.
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And possibly Peacock.
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Peacock threw 25 pitches yesterday in the 2nd game. They probably won’t use him unless it’s for a few batters in a non-competitive game. I would imagine Giles would still be available since he only threw 11 pitches.
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Once again, Mr. Bill, you are correct and I was wrong. Peacock in to pitch the 9th inning. Good call!
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I know nothing about his history but he has been banging around the minors for 11 years. Maybe Diaz can become the next Bret Strom miracle.
And he has manged a career negative WAR which may be a useless stat. Haven’t gotten to that part of the book.
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With the game being in an NL park we don’t have the luxury of the DH. Beltran is not starting and Gattis is at catcher. I thought they would probably catch Gattis tonight since Keuchel and LMJ pitch the next 2 games and they both like pitching to McCann. I doubt we’ll see Beltran in this series other than as a PH as the Marlins park is expansive.
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Let’s consider it a bonus rest day (or series) for Beltran if that’s the case. I like having the extra PH on the bench, but dislike how our bullpen looks going into the series.
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Devin, if we get a better than average start tonight, our pen should be fine with Keuchel and Lance coming up. Two out of three on the Coast, two for two at home, three of four in New York. In the old days I’d expect a letdown by now, but this group does not seem to have that gene. And one of these days soon Altuve will start hitting again too.
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They said on ROOT Sports tonight that Beltran may get a start tomorrow with Keuchel pitching. He’s an extreme GB pitcher so if you’re going to start Beltran tomorrow is the best time.
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On paper, this is how the teams getting ready to tangle in Florida match up:
Team BA:
Houston [2nd among 30 teams] – .274
Miami [12th among 30 teams] – .259
Team OBP:
Houston [4th among 30 teams] – .343
Miami [18th among 30 teams] – .318
Team Runs scored/game
Houston 4.97/game
Miami 4.36/game
Team Runs allowed/game
Houston 3.84/game
Miami 4.83/game
Team HRs:
Houston [5th in MLB] – 51
Miami [14th in MLB] – 44
Team offensive Ks
Houston [26th highest in MLB] – 270
Miami [25th highest in MLB – 277
Overall Pitcher’s ERA
Houston [3rd in MLB] – 3.57
Miami [22nd in MLB] 4.35
Overall Pitcher’s WHIP
Houston [2nd in MLB] -1.20
Miami [26th in MLB] – 1.39
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So you are telling me the closest battle is which team will strike out the least?
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If games were played on paper, we would win most offensive match-ups going away – and that one by a nose. But Dan Strailey has been pitching a whole a lot better than Joe Musgrove has, so I guess we’ll find out tonight if the other match-ups hold true with what looks like a starting pitching mismatch that favors the Marlins pretty decisively.
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We “blinked” first……but I gotta tell you Joe Musgrove is improving every time he goes out there. Sorta like you guys say “growing up before our very eyes”. He’s just gonna get better and better. He WANTS it soo bad!! Love his bull dog attitude!
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Yuli! Yuli! Yuli!
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2 slams in 2 days.
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WOOOO-HOOO GIRLFRIEND!!!
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******************A GRAND SLAM**************!!!!!!!
OH MY GOODNESS THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!
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How come no Jake in the outfield up 6 to 1 in the 7th?
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After he let that single get through him to the fence last night – Hinch will never trust him again – haha
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So daveb – they saved Jake to PH for Hoyt in the 8th.
And in response to your Altuve beginning to hit request – he hits a homer and a single with 3 RBIs.
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Yes Dan, double like! And Yuli hit the big one in front of many of his countrymen.
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Haha – had not thought of that but very true
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Astros released Keegan Yuhl today. He had been on DL, and I guess they let him go when he came back.
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Another Happy Day in Astroland as another player rises up and takes the Golden Wrestling Belt. Congratulations to Yuri and a strong consolation prize to Joe Musgrove for a solid pitching outing. Go Stros!
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Book Report:
Having been given the assignment of reading Keith Law’s Smart Baseball, from time to time, I will post a Book Report. It will be a snippet. Also, for those not interested, it will have the heading of “Book Report” so you can ignore it
First report is writing style. For those of us that enjoy? Tim’s opinions, let me say that compared to Keith Law, Tim is milquetoast, spineless, and has no opinion.
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Yes, Tim is a softie.
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Cool. It is good to know that no one will get offende by any of my future comments. Well, at least those that have read or are reading Keith Law’s book ( I’m looking at you, AC45 and Dave).
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Last night was the kind of win that really good teams find a way to produce.
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True Mr. Bill. And I feel like going to Denny’s and enjoying those Grand Slam breakfasts every hour of the day, especially with our guys on a slam streak…..
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Anyone keeping up with the minor leagues this year? In prior years it was more fun…because they were winning and the Astros were not. I just glanced through the box and realized there aren’t too many ‘names’ performing well thus far this season. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the always meaningful prospect rankings following the draft. Counter arguments from anyone?
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No counter arguments, but if Luhnow determines he needs a starter or a closer, it will be harder to get a deal done without someone coming off the ML roster.
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Can’t send a link but enjoyed an MLB.com article by Allyson Foote – it declares a new #1 in the Power Rankings – guess who?
They also state that the last time the Astros were 15 games over .500 was the last day of 2005. That’s pretty amazing.
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The good news for the Astros in their efforts to acquire another starting pitcher at the deadline is that there should be plenty of starting pitchers available, which should depress the cost some. I am more concerned about getting a pitcher to add some depth to the starting rotation than I am about making the team better (of course, it will be nice to improve the team as well). We really have no clue on whether McHugh will return fully healthy and our depth in the upper minor leagues is rather thin. By the latter part of June we should have a decent idea what teams will be buyers and sellers.
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