Maybe all this sudden greatness has spoiled us all

Yes, the Astros have the best record in the American League and the second-best record in baseball. Just doesn’t seem like it some days.

Yes, the Astros have a 15-game lead in the AL West and the other four teams in the league are looking like “wait ’til next year”. But on some days, it seems like the most precarious 15-game lead in history.

Yes, the Astros have the best batting average (by 15 points), the best OBP, the best slugging percentage and even the best OPS (the next closest team is .47 behind Houston!). Not only in the AL, but in all of baseball! Some days though, that just doesn’t seem like enough. Heck, some days, that is not enough!

The ship seems so easy to right. Get Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh (and Lance McCullers Jr.) back in shape by September. Hope Will Harris can get back. Hang on until Carlos Correa and George Springer get back in the lineup!

But is the ship really off course? Or is this just a late summer diversion that is giving the stars some down time that will actually keep them fresh in the long run?

Yes, the American League pennant can still go through Houston, that’s for sure. But Houston is still eight games behind the National League juggernaut Dodgers too!

Back on Opening Day (April 3), everything was working just like Dr. Jeff had prescribed! Keuchel was dominant, Luke Gregerson and Ken Giles were boom-boom, and that lineup had nary a hole!

In fact, compare the lineup April 3 with Sunday’s makeshift card. It’s not that Derek Fisher, Marwin Gonzalez, Josh Reddick and others aren’t good players. In fact, each in their own right is quite good. But that April 3 lineup was killer. Springer is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. As the Astros have discovered, you can’t replace Correa. Yuli Gurriel is a better seven-hole hitter than cleanup hitter. Marwin is the best reserve player in the game today.

April 3 August 6
Springer Fisher
Bregman Altuve
Altuve Reddick
Correa Gurriel
Beltran Gonzalez
Reddick Beltran
Gurriel Bregman
McCann Centeno
Aoki Marisnick

When each player can settle into his particular role, his just-right spot, he performs better. That’s why the best teams are the best teams. Not because they necessarily have all the best players, but because they’re able to play each player in the place he performs best. And there are no holes.

Can you imagine how Fisher will perform when Springer and Correa return and he can move to the spot in the lineup where he can truly shine?

Right now though, the Astros are being forced to play day in and day out with a patchwork lineup that — even at its worst — is better than many teams’ best lineups! That explains four straight winning months, great offensive numbers and a 15-game lead.

The big questions, however, are how long can they keep this up, and can Luhnow and A.J. Hinch turn this around? Because — yes, let’s face it — the ship is taking on water fast. The injury demons that hit the pitching staff early on have now infested the lineup (Correa, Gattis, Springer, McCann et al).

Houston should coast to the West Division title simply because the rest of the division is lacking. After that, though, tough questions abound.

  • Is it possible the team will implode and give up the biggest lead in major league history?
  • Is it as bad as all that? Or is this just simply a summer solstice in need of a major Return of the Jedi in September?
  • Who does this team miss more: Correa, Keuchel, Springer or someone else?
  • You’re writing the prescription: What is the antidote?
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239 responses to “Maybe all this sudden greatness has spoiled us all”

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    • Follow the money sir, follow the money. It’s all about business and the almighty dollar! Some people will “collect” every jersey! That’s why you can buy lime green trucks, orange cars, german chocolate raspberry shakes and at least 75 different flavors of coffee!

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  2. One of the craziest plays you’ll see – first time I’ve seen it. Chisox hitter pops it up – all 4 infielders converge behind the mound and nobody takes charge and it drops. Hitter sees 3rd base open and keeps going but Mc Hugh dashes over and hitter slams on the brakes and gets caught and tagged in a rundown.

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  4. Looks like the guys are going to drop another one. Not playing with much heart.
    Oh well……tough road trip already.

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  7. Isn’t this the scene in the movie where it is revealed that Dave Hudgens and Brent Strom went through a Freaky Friday body switch?

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      • Tim, it’s been clear from the start Becky wanted Sonny Gray or Chris Archer. The latter wasn’t on the market. The former went to NYY or an uninspiring return. I see no irony in her complaints.

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      • The irony has been from the beginning. The constant reminder of all the ‘bad trades’ Luhnow has made, but still wanting our GM to make trades is very ironic. Oh, the return for Gray was very inspiring as it was the Yankees 4th, 8th and 12th best prospects from a farm system that, at the time, was higher ranked than the Astros. We would’ve have probably needed to include Tucker and/or Whitleyif we wanted to get Gray.

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      • Mr. Luhnow has already released key prospect names to media he would have had to trade to get deals done. Whether that was the whole story remains to be seen.

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      • I don’t recall Luhnow leaking any names. Do we know who was in the agreed upon Britton deal? I might have missed the rumored names that were to be traded.

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      • Tim, I didn’t keep the newspaper, but I believe it was the day after or two days after deadline, although I’m not absolutely positive. Names mentioned, as I recall, were Fisher, Tucker, Whitley, maybe one more.

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      • Wow! I never saw anything with any of those names. If that is true and all those players were being offered for Britton I wish to thank the Orioles for backing out of the trade. That would have been a lot for 1 1/2 years of Britton. However, if he was willing to make that trade then those wanting Verlander might be happy because I think Detroit would be open to some of those players for him.

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      • Diane,

        I’m not trying to be argumentative, but if Luhnow was willing to offer these players for Britton then who was on the list of 6-7 untouchables he wouldn’t trade? If you have a link I’d be interested in reading it, but otherwise I can’t believe this is true.

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      • Whoa, wait up, Tim. I’m saying those names were among players he was not willing to trade, and I was not speaking of Britton at all. I know nothing about that specific non-deal.

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    • If I were a conspiracy theory guy . . .

      If I were a conspiracy theory guy I would believe that the F.O. brought in Francisco Liriano to make fans stop complaining about our lefty reliever being Tony Sipp.

      If I were a conspiracy theory guy I would believe that Keuchel, Liriano, and Devo are all tipping their pitches.

      If I were a conspiracy theory guy I would believe that the Cardinals have hacked our into our system once again and are telling our opponents every move we are going to make before we make it.

      What would you believe if YOU were a conspiracy guy or gal?

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      • If I was a conspiracy theory guy I would think Keuchel is intentionally pitching poorly to prove Luhnow made a mistake by not adding more at the trade deadline. Luckily, I am not a conspiracy theory guy.

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  13. Bonnie Tyler and her band just showed up at the Astros’ clubhouse in Chicago. They set up their instruments and sound system and Rorie Dodd started singing to what was left of our team: Turn around . . .

    Then Bonnie sang: ‘every now and then I get a little bit nervous that you’ll never come around!

    It went on from there:

    Turn around . . . every now and then I get a little bit tired of hearin’ people say the trade deadline has derailed our year.

    Turn around . . . every now and then I get a little bit petrified the Mariners will pass us right by.

    Turn around . . . every now and then I get a little bit nauseous when I see other teams exchangin’ high fives.

    Turn around, good guys! I just can’t stand to watch you fall apart!
    Turn around, good guys! Come on and play like you were playin’ at the start!

    Go out and win tomorrow night!
    Somebody flash some gold glove leather!
    And if your Peacock can just take flight . . .
    we can still do this thing together!
    The Astro star can still shine bright
    and we’ll still play in cooler weather!
    We can take to the end of the line!

    Once upon a time folks were cheerin’ you on,
    now they say you’re fallin’ apart.
    But all that can stop you . . .
    is a total eclipse of the heart.

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  14. Here on this August morn, I know a few things about right now. DK lost his control, a little speed, and ball movement. McHugh is fooling no one with chest high FBs and knee high curves. Might as well tell the batter what you are throwing. The OFers are dropping flies they used to catch. Fisher is a sucker for a chest high heater. And finally McCann’s bat is as cold as my ex-wife’s heart.

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    • Doubt it makes anyone feel better, but if Astros continue to play at their post All Star game clip that is below .500, they end up with 93 wins. Mariners still have to play over 70% wins to get 93 wins. We still have over a month to right the ship.

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      • Logical, rational thinking is not what we need when the Astros are going through their worst stretch of baseball. 🖐

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    • One of my previous comments involved a generalization. There are exceptions to every rule, and I’m sure yours was one of those. 🙂

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  15. I can’t decide if we had a mediocre team that played extremely well and had all the breaks and luck in the first half or a very good team that’s having a bad streak with no luck in the second half.

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    • Probably neither. The Astros are not a .700 winning percentage team and they’re not a .325 winning percentage team. They are probably somewhere in the middle.

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  16. Good news we still have all our prospects and that’s important for 2018, since we wont win a playoff series this year it looks like, unless Peacock and Fires become Kershaw and Darvish. I know Tim neither are lefthanders or in the AL so we wont see either anyway. I wanted to save from having to post that.

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    • Hi Kevin,

      Can you clarify your last sentence? Did I say anything about Kershaw or Darvish being in the N.L. or being RHs? Also, it’s good to know you’re dismissing the Astros playoff chances already. Considering they are the only WS contender that has endured a rough stretch during the regular season it makes sense to arbitrarily assume they will be eliminated in the ALDS.

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      • No way the Astros sink and fade away. We all know the best of teams will go through a lull, Astros included. No way the Dodgers continue at the torrid pace they are enjoying. At some point they to will hit that brick wall. I have faith the stros will recover & return to their groove, pitching woes and all.
        Apparently this is the tm we roll with here on out with no major moves on the horizon so we’d better buckle our seatbelts and enjoy the ride.

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  18. The prescription is to get BOTH Keuchel and LMJ 100% healthy and back to form —
    whatever it takes! Then cobble together a #3 starter combining Peacock/McHugh for the postseason. Morton and Fiers will eat up innings, but are NOT capable starters for the playoff run. Harris, Devenski and Liriano are key and must step up. Punt on Martes, Paulino, Hoyt and Feliz — they are all too green under the gills to be reliable in the postseason. Avoid injuries to our core offense! Fisher and White should both get tons of playing time to (hopefully) earn ABs (translate: key pinch hits) in the postseason. Giles and Gregerson just need to continue to do their jobs. Do NOT spend $40mil+ and prospects for Verlander! Don’t panic…but get prepared for October. It’ll truly be a team effort if this squad has a deep run this fall.

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    • If Liriano is really key, we have no hope of advancing beyond the first round. He is totally useless, and does not need to come anywhere close to a playoff roster. But fortunately, I vehemently disagree with the premise that the-has-been-who-used-to-be-Francisco-Liriano is key to anything. Musgrove, Martes, and Morton are a whole lot better in relief than the broken pieces of Liriano – even without any prior playoff experience.

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      • I want to jump on the Liriano stinks train as well, but many people are missing the point. Luhnow did not acquire him to pitch to right handed hitters in October.
        – Last night he faced a lefty and got him out. Then, he walked a RHH, gave up a single to a switch hitter (allowing 2 runs), and finally retired another switch hitter. In October, he wouldn’t have thrown any pitches to Engel, Garcia, or Sanchez…he would have been getting high fives and one of our RHP relievers would have faced Engel.

        – Against TOR in the 10th he got Smoak out to start the inning, then TOR pinch hit for Carrera and Liriano walked that guy. Again, he’s not pitching to a RHH in October in that situation.

        – Against Tampa, yeah, he stunk. He had a fresh slate and got out a RHH before giving up a single and walk to two lefties before being relieved.

        I’d give some of the blame on this to Hinch. Regardless, I agree with you that Liriano is key the same way Giles is key. In 2015 we had no one who could get out LHH and no one who could strike a guy out. Luhnow has tried to fill those two holes, although neither is a guy any of us were clamoring for before their acquisitions.

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      • Liriano has made three appearances as an Astro.

        Aug. 3 against the Rays: started the 7th inning with us up 3-2; he immediately gave up the lead – allowing a hit, a four-pitch walk, and a total of 2 R in 10 pitches and 0.1 IP. He only got one out [a fly ball].

        Aug. 5 against the Jays: came in to start the 10th inning in a 3-3 game. Walked one, and though he is a lefty he allowed the guy he walked to get a big lead and steal 2nd base on him. He then gave up the hit that scored the eventual winning run for Toronto. He threw 21 pitches, only 10 of which were strikes, over 0.2 innings. Gregerson had to come on to finish the inning.

        Aug. 9 against the ChiSox: came in with two on in the 6th and Astros down 5-0. Promptly walked the bases loaded, then gave up a two-run single to allow two more Toronto runs to score.

        To be frank, Liriano has absolutely sucked every single time out. His BAA in a Houston uni is .375. And his troubles did not start with the trade. His ERA on the year is 5.98, his WHIP is 1.66, his K/9 is 0.89, and his BAA is .282.

        This guy needs a long DL stint at best, and more likely a very expensive DFA.

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      • I love my stros, but man it does look bleak with what’s transpired with all our pitching.
        Maybe a miracle will happen, I sure hope so. I have no clue what our Gm could or couldn’t do at the deadline and it matters little now.

        I think the shame was, like I have stated to may times, LMJ history of being injury prone, DK once again hurt out for 2 months, McHugh on the DL since ST, not good.

        The Gm and gang put their faith in all those pieces working out ,it hasn’t. Maybe in hindsight the trade or move should have been made way before the trade deadline,
        when a deal could have been made with out it being a 911 and getting fleeced..

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      • For us against lefties, Liriano’s ERA is 27.00 and his WHIP is 9.00. He has gotten only one LHH out of the four he has faced out. He has struck out no lefties, and has given lefties 2 hits and 1 walk. There is no way to put lipstick on this.

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      • I don’t want to go back and fact-check, but I’m fairly certain that for Tampa Dickerson singled and Duda walked. The other LHH he has faced have both made outs – Smoak grounded out to SS and Narvaez popped out to the third baseman. .333 AVG, .500 OBP, .250 SLG, 0 RBI.

        He hasn’t been good, but we need to only see him against LHH. The RHH have knocked the runs in against him.

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      • This year Liriano has a .250 BAA against LHs and it is .220 for his career. I think Devin’s point is that Liriano will probably be used strictly as a LOOGY in the playoffs and using his very short sample size as a member of the Astros while he adjusts to a new team and new role doesn’t seem fair. I’m not a big fan of the acquisition, but I’m not going to judge his effectiveness on 3 appearances, especially when his last appearance (last night) he got out a LH. His entire season has been as a starter and he’s not good against RHs. Considering the large percentage of hitters in MLB are RH and I imagine any good manager would stack his lineup with RHs when Liriano started using his overall ERA and WHIP this season also doesn’t seem fair. Liriano will be on the playoff roster and you can bank on that.

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      • Who is pitching on a given night for the Tri City Valley Cats of the Appalachian League may not interest you – but tonight it might. Making his 2nd professional start will be our top draft pick this year, J.B. Bukauskas. How well did Uncle Jeff spend that $3.6 Million signing bonus? In J.B.’s first start he went 4 scoreless. Some scouts have said his slider is ‘the nation’s best breaking pitch’. Go J.B.! Go Valley Cats!

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    • I sort of agree, but Martes can have at least one batter from me. If he can’t throw a strike, yeah punt. If the #3 is currently on the roster, I would take Morton for 3 innings over McHugh, but Peacock will probably need to be long relief out of the pen. But if DK and LMJ don’t return to form, we will probably last one series in the playoffs, if lucky.

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      • I am not sold that HcHugh will pitch his way into form before the postseason arrives. Martes just doesn’t have the composure to be relied upon in the crunch, but he can eat some innings and gain some experience until then…

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  19. Well to be a contrarian again, we have faced recently a pitcher with a BA against over .300, a guy that got killed in his previous appearance, etc. Right now, they all look like Cy Young against us. SO MAYBE, we stink all the way to October, limp in with a 1 game lead and all our current pitchers become unhittable. I have to quit sniffing glue.

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  20. One has to wonder why our pitchers are so fragile year after year. They typically hang in till the break and then fall apart. Maybe we need two rotations. One for the first half and another for the second.

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  21. I’m not going to get into a shouting match about the trade for Liriano. If that ws supposed to impress us, it failed miserably. That’s all I’m go to say about that.
    This is amazing to me, but have you noticed that nearly everytime Peacock pitches these guys go on a homerun jag, and score a TON of runs for him!!!

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  22. I think that missed pop up kind of sums up these games since the ASB. Hopefully, a happy ending since we did get the guy out but how embarrassing.

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  23. It’s an enigma , we keep drafting or signing supposed great young pitchers, and somehow our management philosophy in the minors turns them into either injury prone, cant throw strikes , have no durability, we trade them, or release them.

    Who is the last pitcher we drafted that a has had a a solid 5-7 year career, winning consistently, and an inning eater , Oswalt?

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    • To get a picture of why that is so, let’s look at all the pitchers the Astros have drafted in the first 10 rounds since 2011 [the draft before the Luhnow era began];

      2011:
      Adrian Houser [2nd round – traded to Brewers in Gomez/Fiers deal]
      Jack Armstrong [3rd round – never pitched in our org; had surgery; retired 2014]
      Chris Lee [4th round – traded to Orioles for cash considerations in 2015]
      Nick Tropeano [5th round – traded to Angels for Hank Conger; out with TJ now]
      Brandon Culbreth [8th round – got massacred from the start; retired in 2015]
      Jonas Dufek [9th round – released in 2015 after reaching AAA]
      Kyle Halleck [10th round – released in 2014 after reaching AA]

      2012:
      Lance McCullers [1A round – spots of brilliance but health problems]
      Brady Rodgers [3rd round – one great year at AAA, rest mediocre, now off for TJ]
      Daniel Minor [9th round – never got above AA – released]

      2013:
      Mark Appel [1st round – 1st pick – o my!]
      Andrew Thurmond [2nd round – traded to Atlanta for Gattis and Hoyt]
      Kent Emmanuel [3rd round – not looking good at AAA]
      Austin Nicely [10th round – not looking good; struggling with Tri-City]

      2014:
      Brady Aiken [1st round – ahhh, now you see it!]
      Daniel Mengden [5th round – now with the As, part of the Kazmir trade]
      Jacob Nix [6th round – uh-huh, see #1 above]
      Brock Dyxxhoorn [7th round – still a possibility – but not excelling yet; now at CC]
      Derick Velasquez [8th round – never got past A – voluntarily retired]

      2015:
      Tom Eshelman [2nd round – traded to Phillies as part of Giles package]
      Riley Ferrell [3rd round – has a 4.83 ERA and 1.51 WHIP for Corpus Christi]
      Trent Thornton [5th round – struggling this year at AAA]
      Michael Freeman [7th round – struggled at CC to begin year – has not played since May]
      Zac Person [9th round – left organization, now in independent ball]
      Scott Weathersby [10th round – not heard from at all in 2017; was at low A in 2016]

      2016:
      Forrest Whitely [1st round; looking good]
      Brett Adcock [ 4th round; has shown some promise]
      Tyler Buffett [7th round; didn’t sign; signed with Reds in 6th round in 2017]
      Nick Hernandez [8th round: pitching very well at Corpus Christi]
      Ryan Hartman [9th round; pitching well at Buies Creek]
      Dustin Hunt [10th round; really struggling at Quad Cities]

      As you can see, scouting, drafting, and training pitchers for the major leagues has not been a strength of either the Ed Wade or the Jeff Luhnow administrations.

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      • Dang OP TY for all the home work and supporting my post. This should justify why we didn’t make a move in the trade market before July 31st- Sarcasm Font.

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  24. I have an app on my phone called “the score”…..MLB had a interview with Reddick this afternoon….and I was RIGHT. He said the entire team felt let down when the Astros didn’t make a trade at the deadline. He said everyone felt “down in the dumps” when the trade deadline passed and nothing was done to improve their team. I understand these guys make millions to play this game, but judging from the way these guys have been playing since July 31st……he has a point.

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    • Hmm I guess he and the others missed the memo on all the outstanding minor league prospects we still have. Ok more sarcasm , shame on me , I apologize. I total get what they’re saying , I just wish they would not air it in the media. How about they get focused on playing the game again, like it should be played

      No matter who is trying to pitch , this team should score 6 -7 runs a night.
      They are starting to sound a little like cry babies enough Play Ball.

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      • Kevin, those guys are still human beings though. Highs and lows. They knew they needed pitching help and were confident they were going to get it. They all busted ass when they were playing well. They are still busting ass now. But momentum, good vibes in the clubhouse, many different variables play a role in how a team performs. They got a punch in the gut. Like everyone else does, they are slumping now. They’ll get over it. The question now is if we have enough healthy pitching to go deep.

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      • Thanks I read it. Two things, everybody is disappointed including the FO, the owner, the players and the fans. Second thing, Josh said they need to get over it! They are professional baseball players, they get paid to play a game, most of us would give a body part to be in their position! Fans maybe don’t have to get over it, although I think it is well past time. Go Astros!

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    • To take it one step further, the Cubs, Yankees, Indians, Royals, Mariners, Dodgers, and Nationals all made trades trying to get better. I guess the Astros did too, but it was for an under the radar guy. It was a bargain basement pickup similar to getting Sipp, Harris, McHugh, etc., But early returns are not promising.

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    • When Keuchel made the original comments, it was my belief that he was indeed speaking for the clubhouse. There is really no way to understand or measure what the impact the lack any significant deadline moves had on this club. But we all know that the players on the club know better than us what the real weaknesses on the club are. And we have a pretty good idea.

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  25. Wow the top of the second we looked like a last place Rookie league team on the bases.That’s not pitching, time fror Hinch and whoever are the leaders on this team to kick some butts

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    • White was a defensive liability who reverted to trying to hit everything out of the park. I think they want a prolonged look at Davis rather than sending him down with mostly failure, but more importantly, as Chip pointed out, it impacts Gurriel and Marwin less.

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  28. OK, no one except Becky should be upset with Luhnow. He dumped her favorite player, Jonathan Villar. She is still seething about that. And look, he is now hitting .213 for the season and has a NEGATIVE 0,4 WAR. He also has 12 errors. I have looked and looked but cannot find his BHBRE. That is the stat that measures Bone Headed Base Running Errors. (Insert Sarcasm font)

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  31. I can understand Davis getting the nod over White for the reason Chip stated. But someday, White will be a successful hitter on a ML club. Davis, I don’t see it, yet anyway. He’ll also be a marginal defensive third baseman. And he is almost as slow as McCann, who’s got a decade on him and a couple thousand games crouching behind the plate. No I don’t think J.B. should be our 14th best prospect. And if he really is, then our prospects are overrated.

    Who would have thought that in August of 2017 Peacock would have become our ace?

    I think we’re still 12 of 13 games up. Maybe it will get to 5 or 6, but this slump is the first real one of the season. It’s going to happen. Now if the club totally folds and fails to get into the post season, then Luhnow might be in a bit of a hot seat. Some guys will decide that Houston is not a likely place for them to win it all.

    If Luhnow really believes that Keuchel and McCullers will be effective again this season, I think he will get a Verlander deal done. I’m sure we’ve all been following his stats over the past month. He’s been Verlander again.

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  32. Last night I had a nightmare. It was 2013, and the Astros were . . . well, horrible. But one one very special night they finally managed to get a rare well-pitched start against a mediocre team, and they mustered just enough offense to go into the ninth with a one-run lead.

    Of course, their closer blew the save, and they got swept, having been outscored in their most recent series 18-8.

    Will someone please call me on my cell and see if the ringing of the phone will wake me up?

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  33. Comments from last nights game:
    Davis ain’t cuttin’ the mustard…send him back to Fresno
    RISP – 1 for 8, LOB 9, GIDP – 2
    We were lucky but walks are killing us (pitching). There is definitely a change in attitude with these guys, you can just sense it by looking at them. They are frustrated beyond belief. Peacock is now our #1 guy.
    Maybe time for a clubhouse behind closed doors meeting.
    And Hinch says he’s not worried about our starting rotation is like the captain of the Titanic saying, it’s just a little iceberg, nothing to worry about.

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    • Maybe your best suggestion there: “Maybe time for a clubhouse behind closed doors meeting”. Yup, this ain’t little league. These are grown men who can/should take the bull by the horns! It’s trite, but they control their own destiny, individually and collectively. Keuchel is the one who needs to call and conduct the meeting.

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    • I don’t disagree on Davis. He has had a taste of the big league club. Hopefully he can regroup and come back next year better prepared, like Moran did this year. I see some good actions from him, but bad body language and he’s struggling with the rookie strike zone he is getting.

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  34. I agree with pencil01. I know it’s trite, but these guys are getting well paid to play a game most of them love. Some people don’t have enough money to feed their children decent food and these blokes are out there whining to the media? Just play the game like grown men even if you’re actually little boys, and if you don’t get in the playoffs, you don’t get in. The fans can take it; we’ve been there before.

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  35. We could not get ‘up’ for the lowly White Sox. Will we be able to get ‘up’ for the Rangers? Somebody has to take the helm of this team’s offense in Carlos Correa’s absence. Altuve keeps doing his thing, but somebody has to give him some help. Who will it be?

    – Springer [1-8 with no BB, 1 K, and 0 RBI since returning from DL]?
    – Bregman [4-11 with 4 BB, 0 K, and 3 RBI vs. the White Sox]?
    – Reddick [1-13 with 1 BB, 3 K and 0 RBI vs. the White Sox]?
    – Beltran [2-10 with 0 BB, 2 K, and 0 RBI vs. the White Sox]?
    – McCann [1-8 with 0 BB, 0 K, and 0 RBI vs. the White Sox]?
    – Gurriel [6-15 with 0 BB, 1 K, and 1 RBI vs the White Sox]?
    – Marwin [3-11 with 1 BB, 2 K, and 1 RBI vs the White Sox]?
    – Fisher [1-4, with 0 BB, 3 K and 1 RBI vs the White Sox]?
    – Marisnick [1-5 with 2 BB, 4 K, and 1 RBI vs. the White Sox]
    – J.D. Davis [uh . . . you don’t want to see those stats!]

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  36. Who will take charge of the bullpen in Will Harris’ absence?

    Here is what the bullpen guys have done since the ASB:

    – Devenski [9.1 IP, 2.89 ERA, 0.964 WHIP, 2 WP, 1 HBP, 6.8 K/9, 3 HR]
    – Giles [9.2 IP, 1.86 ERA, 0.828 WHIP, 14.07 K/9, 0 WP, 0 HBP, 3 SV, 1 HR]
    – Gregerson [11.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 10.8 K/9, 1 WP, 0 HBP, 1 SV, 1 HR]
    – Guduan [4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, 4.5 K/9, 0 WP, 0 HBP, 0 HR]
    – Martes [13.0 IP, 4.15 ERA, 1.231 WHIP, 13.8 K/9, 2 WP, 2 HBP, 0 HR]
    – Hoyt [7.4 IP, 6.17 ERA, 1.909 WHIP, 6.1 K/9, 0 WP, 0 HBP, 0 HR]
    – Musgrove [16.0 IP, 2.81 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 0 WP, 0 HBP, 1 HR]
    – Liriano [16.1 IP, 7.71 ERA, 1.837 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 1 WP, 0 HBP, 2 HR]

    With the exception of Hoyt and Liriano – sometimes Martes and Guduan, and last night’s blown save by Giles – it hasn’t been nearly as bad as you might think. The bigger problem has been our SP – and our suddenly not-so-powerful offense.

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  37. If the F.O.’s goal was to showcase J.D. Davis as a possible after-deadline trade piece, that’s looking like another epic fail.

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    • Luckily, we know it was not. Anyone on the 40 man would have to pass through waivers to be traded. Someone would surely claim him.

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    • If I remember right, they said it was a righty/lefty “decision” for the weekend. That said, it’s not uncommon to put most of your roster through waivers in August, especially since you can pull them back if they are claimed.

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  38. This might lead to the next discussion, but if these guys go to arlington and self destruct, you will find me on the San Jacinto bridge looking down at the ship channel. I’m not feeling that good today anyway, but watching them lose to the arlington little league, would put me over the edge.
    I don’t care who it is, but ONE of these guys has GOT to have a team only come to Jesus talk before they let this amazing year slip through their fingers.

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  39. Here has been our main problem of late -starting pitching.

    Since the ASB:

    Dallas Keuchel [0-2, 3 starts, 12 IP, 10.50 ERA, 2.583 WHIP, 5.3 K/9, 3 HR]

    Lance McCullers [0-1, 3 starts, 14.1 IP, 9.42 ERA, 2.233 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 0 HR]

    Mike Fiers [2-2, 5 starts, 30.1 IP, 4.75 ERA, 1.220 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 7 HR]

    Colin McHugh [0-1, 4 starts, 22 IP, 5.32 ERA, 1.364 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 4 HR]

    We have gotten a little better production from Morton and Peacock:

    Charlie Morton [3-1, 5 starts, 31.2 IP, 3.6 ERA, 1.011 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 3 HR]

    Brad Peacock [3-0, 4 starts, 26.1 IP, 4.10 ERA, 1.117 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 4 HR]

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  40. To reiterate, a slump is not the end of the world. Getting through one can make a team stronger. And this club has the luxury of a very healthy cushion even after a couple of weeks of uninspired play.

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  41. I know I am preaching to the choir here but on some of these other blogs and posts I think some people want the Astros to fail so they get their “I told you so.” As was stated in a prior post here, we don’t know what was offered and turned down. For all we know some team wanted Correa and Springer to start. The team is in a funk. Not because what happened or didn’t happen at the end of July. I for one will root for them to win even if it proves me wrong.

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    • I am with you, ac45. I could care less, at this point, what did or did not happen at or around the trade deadline, or who was to blame. I could care less if we do or do not trade for Verlander at this point. I want the guys we have to get over this funk and get back to playing like they know how to. I don’t expect a .700 winning percentage the rest of the way, but I do expect something above .550. And I expect our guys to have enough pride to show up full-bore against the Texas Rangers, and take at least two out of those three games!

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      • Yes, and even more to your point, what if the Astros gave up the farm for Verlander and the rest of the team remained in its funk! Then what?!?!? At this point, we aren’t talking a one or two player turnaround. If they don’t fix this funk, they could add 3 Verlanders and still be in trouble!

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      • To my view, how far this season goes will be determined by how well our first half players play from here on out – not by how well – or poorly – guys acquired at the deadline [Liriano and Jumbo Diaz] or theoretically afterward perform.

        If Springer, Altuve, Reddick, Correa [upon his return], Gurriel, Bregman, Beltran, McCann, Fisher, Marwin, Marisnick, and Gattis [upon his return] don’t get it done for us on offense, whatever a Liriano, Diaz or Verlander might do for us will be irrelevant.

        if Keuchel, McCullers, Morton, McHugh, and Fiers don’t win the majority of their starts, one more starter won’t make a big difference.

        If at least five of bullpen members Peacock, Devenski, Harris, Gregerson, Musgrove, Martes, Giles, Hoyt, and Sipp don’t improve on their numbers the rest of the way, nothing the offense or the starters can do will matter.

        We are a really good team. But we need to start acting like it again.

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  42. I agree what happened to this great team , great chemistry , great team attitude?? For whatever reason we couldn’t make the trade, geez man up and get over it, and start being and acting like high paid professional young men again, enough crying over spilled pitching.

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