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ChipalattAwards for June

The Astros finished the month of June at 13 wins /14 losses and had to win the last three games of the month to get that close to .500. The Astros had a league leading 3.29 ERA in May. It rose to 4.20 ERA in June which had them at 10th in the league for the month. However, in May they were 10th with a team .243 BA/ 12th with a .311 OBP/ 9th with a .718 OPS and 12th in runs scored with 118 runs.  They then improved in June and were 5th with a .257 BA and .325 OBP/ 3rd with a .761 OPS and 4th with 136 runs scored. So, if they could ever get their pitching and hitting to work together….

But we are not here to spend a lot of time on the team stats, but are here to honor the individual stats for the month and hand out those much coveted Chipalatta Awards.

Here is a quick chart of the Astros’ pitchers in the month of May.

Name Gm W L Svs IP ERA WHIP HR Ks/9 IP BAA OBPA OPSA IR/ IS
Framber Valdez 5 2 2 0 33 2.73 1.061 1 9.0 .219 .280 .583 N/A
Cristian Javier 5 1 0 0 23.1 5.79 1.671 2 4.2 .319 .383 .873 N/A
Hunter Brown 4 1 2 0 24.2 3.65 1.095 5 8.4 .195 .278 .692 N/A
Brandon Bielak 3 1 2 0 16.1 6.61 1.837 5 5.0 .343 .403 1.017 N/A
J.P. France 5 2 2 0 33.1 2.43 1.140 3 4.9 .220 .288 .610 N/A
Ronel Blanco 5 2 0 0 28 4.82 1.357 9 7.4 .226 .325 .815 N/A
Ryan Pressly 12 2 0 6 13 2.08 0.923 1 9.7 .170 .226 .567 0/0
Hector Neris 12 0 1 0 10 0.90 1.300 0 7.2 .182 .342 .554 5/2
Rafael Montero 11 0 0 0 11.2 8.49 1.543 4 9.3 .313 .377 1.065 0/0
Phil Maton 14 1 2 0 14 3.86 1.357 1 10.9 .250 .361 .726 5/4
Ryne Stanek 8 0 0 0 6.1 7.11 1.895 1 12.8 .321 .387 .923 3/1
Bryan Abreu 13 0 1 0 12.2 3.55 1.421 1 11.4 .255 .333 .738 1/1
Seth Martinez 7 1 2 1 10.1 5.23 1.355 1 9.6 .231 .362 .721 4/0
Matt Gage 2 0 0 0 2.2 0.00 0.750 0 10.1 .143 .250 .393 5/0
Shawn Dubin 2 0 0 0 5 10.80 2.000 1 14.4 .375 .400 .983 0/0

Note – I added the IR (Inherited runners) / IS (Inherited runners who scored) stat for the relievers.

Starting Pitcher of the Month. J.P. France – Framber is ahead of him in a few areas, but what France brought to the team was irreplaceable. The team absolutely had to have a young pitcher step up and France has done a great job as a mature rookie to hold the fort.

Runner-up. Framber Valdez – Framber spent another month being unsupported by his offense and ending it with a bum ankle.  But he again posted excellent numbers for the month and was an innings eater.

Last Month – Cristian Javier – Starting Pitcher of the Month / Framber Valdez – Runner-up

Relief Pitcher of the Month.  Hector Neris – Neris’ only problem was walking people, which affected hit OBP against and his WHIP, but otherwise he kept the opponents to a low batting average and mostly away from scoring while pitching high leverage innings.

Runner-up.  Ryan Pressly – There were a few bumps along the road, but in general he was very effective and one of the few sure things coming out of the bullpen in the month of June.  

Last Month – Hector Neris and Phil Maton – tied for Relief Pitcher of the month

The Under the Radar Award. His ERA was not great, but Ronel Blanco did keep the team in most of his games and gave them the third most innings pitched from the pitching staff out of an unexpected source.  

Name ABs Runs Dbls HRs RBIs BBs Ks BA OBP OPS BABIP
Martin Maldonado 60 4 2 2 5 6 21 .133 .212 .479 .162
Jose Abreu 96 10 6 5 21 4 25 .292 .311 .821 .333
Mauricio Dubon 83 13 7 3 9 0 9 .277 .274 .724 .278
Jeremy Pena 89 11 3 1 4 6 24 .236 .292 .595 .313
Alex Bregman 101 14 3 5 24 18 19 .257 .370 .825 .273
Corey Julks 73 12 3 3 11 9 18 .260 .342 .766 .308
Chas McCormick 65 10 2 3 7 6 20 .308 .392 .869 .405
Kyle Tucker 99 20 8 4 16 12 12 .313 .384 .899 .321
Yordan Alvarez 26 6 0 3 7 4 7 .231 .333 .910 .188
Jake Meyers 60 10 4 1 4 10 15 .183 .296 .596 .222
Yainer Diaz 84 8 8 5 12 1 15 .310 .314 .897 .323
Jose Altuve 75 16 5 3 11 12 11 .253 .360 .800 .258
Grae Kessinger 10 0 0 0 0 4 2 .100 .357 .457 .125
Bligh Madris 13 2 1 0 0 2 3 .154 .267 .498 .200

Positional Player of the Month. Kyle Tucker – That .313 BA/.384 OBP/.899 OPS slash was much needed with Yordan Alvarez out most of the month.

Runner-up. Tie – Alex Bregman/ Jose Abreu –  Their .825 and .821 OPS were both very good, but their combined 45 RBIs was huge for the team. Bregman as usual was picking up the pace a bit after another slow start in April and Abreu was coming back from the depths of hell.

Last Month – Yordan Alvarez – Positional Player of the Month / Alex Bregman – Runner-up

Special Recognition – Chas McCormick – Considering how sporadically he is used, he put up a genuinely great slash in June – .308 BA/ .392 OBP/ .869 OPS. Now explain to me why he had barely more ABs (65) than Jake Meyers (60) and Martin Maldonado (60) and less than Corey Julks (73).

Biggest Surprise (Positive). J.P. France – Granted he had pitched well at AAA before the call-up, but he had been walking 5.1 / 9 IP at Sugar Land and that usually translates to more troubles at the MLB level. But the month of June he threw at least 6 innings in each start, including 4 of 5 starts of 6.2 innings or more and with a top notch ERA. This is more than could be expected.

Runner-up.  – Yainer Diaz – yes we know he is a talented hitter, but he is inexperienced and his .310 BA/314 OBP/.897 OPS was great (except for the lack of walks – more on that later).

Last Month – Biggest Surprise (Positive) was Phil Maton / Martin Maldonado – Runner-up

Biggest Disappointment. Rafael Montero – Four HRs allowed in 11.2 innings, a slash against of .313 BA/ .377 OBP/ 1.065 OPS – he continued to disappoint the team and did not have the turnaround that Jose Abreu (May’s most disappointing) had.

Runner-up. Tie – Martin Maldonado – Not that I was expecting Johnny Bench out there, but a slash of .133 BA/ .212 OBP/ .479 OPS is just awful. The only question here is why would anyone walk him 6 times. Cristian Javier – His numbers across the board were bad and he might have made the biggest disappointment spot if there was not a feeling that he is pitching through “something”.

Last Month – Biggest Disappointment was Jose Abreu / Rafael Montero – Runner-up

Some Comments on June

  • The Astros have the Yin and the Yang of the on-base world on this roster. I know some folks want to promote Mauricio Dubon for the All Star team and yes he has done an admirable job of being the Astros Swiss Army Knife moving around the infield as needed and hitting for a nice average. But you don’t make an ASG walking 0 times in 83 ABs.  Yainer Diaz has a similar problem, walking 1 time in his 84 ABs for the month and it is starting to affect him as the Rangers struck him out three times on Sunday where he swung at pitches well outside the zone twice in each of those ABs.
  • On the positive side, three of the Astros’ hitters were excellent at plate protection in June. Jose Altuve had 12 walks and 11 Ks, Kyle Tucker had 12 walks and 12 Ks and Alex Bregman clocked in at 18 walks and 19 Ks for the month.
  • If you ever needed a lesson in why the “win-loss” stat is often no indication of performance, this month may well be the poster boy for it. The starting pitchers with the worst ERAs, Javier and Blanco, both had winning records. The three pitchers with the best ERA, Valdez, France and Brown were at .500 or below for the month.
  • Where did playoff MVP Jeremy Pena go? Well, he has that “diving after sliders out of the strike zone” disease and the only cure is to stop offering at crap.
  • If you were going to bet on who would have the one non-Pressly save for the team in June, would Seth Martinez be in your first five guesses?

As usual, it is your turn to comment. Any awards you disagree with? Any new ones you want to award?

 

And a happy 4th of July to everyone!

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25 responses to “ChipalattAwards for June”

  2. The hit machine is churning for the good guys today. Love it!
    Has Dusty given up on Diaz C? Brown pitched better with Diaz C and he seemed to hit better navigating between DH & C. Hope Diaz can harness his aggressiveness and not give our HC anymore reasons to mismanage him.

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  4. This game was been incredibly frustrating to watch. I hope no one else was subjected to the Ranger’s crew. In retrospect I should have put it on mute. In terms of the actual game, I don’t recall any point in time where the Rangers looked uncomfortable in the box? If Maldonado is calling the pitches he needs to come up with a better gameplan.

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  5. What a remarkable game I missed while flying to America. I hope Javier just needs rest. But boy, however imperfect, there are some guys with life on this club. I hope to get to Houston tonight, but we are awaiting the caterers delivery for the 16 people on this packed flight that are supposed to get a meal.

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  6. Chaz is kicking az.
    Dubon is not the same player he was last season. He grew up.
    Jose Abreu found his mojo. He and Bregman came off the field today with an arm around each other and were sharing some funny stuff.
    Having Altuve back in the lineup is the difference in this team. He has everybody jacked up.
    Javier should never have begun the 5th inning.
    Ryan Pressley was dope in this series. I have never used that expression before.
    I expect Tucker to end up in the All-Star game if they need an outfielder.
    The difference in winning that game or not was two games in the standings. The Astros reminded me of the Astros who took 3 of 4 in Yankee Stadium last summer with a number of guys hurt.

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    • Thoughts
      – Jose Abreu finally looks comfortable and in synch with his swing. His home run was a Jordanian blast. His double in the 9th theoretically should have been caught, but was hit so hard it made it tough to judge
      – Tucker is so on right now – he is barreling up everything
      – Chas should be making it hard to sit him. Between his bar and his glove he is making clutch play after clutch play – if he’s left out of the lineup any time soon I will be screaming
      – Totally worried about Javier – he’s in Montero-like meltdown. I’m hoping he just needs a rest but who knows?
      – If they keep putting up these short starting outings the bullpen is going to be in distress

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      • Two corrections on my last comment
        – It should have said Yordanian blast
        – I was talking about Chas’ bat not his bar

        Fat fingers on my phone

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    • 1oldpro, dope is cool. Pressly seems to be back in that groove of his that helps stabilize the pen. If we can count on him ignoring the wackiness that has transpired before getting the ball handed to him, it’s a comforting thing.

      Please don’t trade Chaz Dana.

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  7. It was a good series. Batters worked pitchers. Something we talked about for a month. Good to see it happen. Yainer is still swinging at everything that he can actually reach. When he figures that out he will be a core piece.

    Blummer is saying the same thing a few chipalatta-ites said at the start of the season, his velocity is not there. I do think that velocity loss is twofold for him – it’s changing that movement to actually put a smidgen of drop on the pitch and leaving the pitch where hitters are expecting. Hopefully, the rest will get his arm right.

    Chas is earning his PT. It’s corresponding with Meyers spending a lot of at bats looking lost.

    I love Jeremy Pena. He has power. He is not scared of any moment. He can hit any velocity. He won a gold glove, not sure it was deservedly so, but he is at the very least an above average defensive short stop. But I would not hate Dana if he made Jeremy the centerpiece in a trade that brings in Cease or Burnes. Losing Garcia, McCullers, and now the questions of Javier puts a lot of pressure on Framber to be THE game 1-5-available to pitch in 7 guy, and it could miscast Brown into a 2-6 and leave Javier in a 3-7 spot. And I think Dubon is a better baseball player than Pena, so I have no reservations about handing him a SS job. I can see a playoff game with Altuve, Dubon, Yordan, Bregman, Tucker, Abreu, Brantley, Chas and Maldy as a starting 9 and being happy with it, with Diaz available to replace Maldy late if you need O, or first bat off the bench if Brantley gets a left handed pitcher from the pen in the 8th.

    You would have to find an infielder, but there are ones available out on the market you can snag. Not saying Aledmys but I’m saying Aledmys is probably available for a 24 year old A ball player no one has heard of simply for Oakland to be rid of the salary at this point.

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  9. Good game as Julks was 4 for 5, Dubon 2 for 5, Myers and Kessinger both 2 for 4 with a HR for Kessinger (1st). Bielak pitches 7 shut out innings (Are pigs flying?). Only downside is 3 for 13 with RISP and 13 LOB. I feel like if we’re going to trade an outfielder I’d rather it be Jake. I don’t think Julks is a flash in the pan but who knows.

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  10. Great to be back at an Astro game today. Great job by Bielak. Good game by Kessinger. As discussed, too many guys left on base, but a couple of those bases loaded situations ended with well hit balls. Sometimes it goes that way. The rookies keep stepping up. That’s become the theme of this team. And the word on Altuve is ominous. We’re going to have to keep getting contributions from unexpected places.

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  11. Dubon had trouble getting the ball to 1B late in the game. Wonder if he pulled something on that amazing throw on the back end of a DP.
    Bielak was the star of Tuesday’s game.
    I continue to be impressed by Julks’s bat speed and foot speed.
    Will not be surprised by a trip to the IL for Altuve. It will make winning the AL West that much harder.
    Hammate injury for Trout. I believe that Will Wagner had surgery for the same thing, as did Yuli a number of year’s ago.
    I’m hoping Pena is recovered and ready to play.

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  12. The lineup behind France today (hope France does not surrender…old military joke)

    Dubón 2B
    Bregman 3B
    Tucker RF
    Abreu, J DH
    Diaz, Y C
    Madris 1B
    Julks LF
    Peña SS
    Meyers CF

    Thoughts
    – Good to see Pena back
    – Worried about Altuve being out
    – Shaking my head about Chas sitting – I hope Dusty has enough sense to use him off the bench if he needs a clutch hit late
    – Diaz catches two games in a row – good
    – Madris – I know Dusty likes to make sure all these guys get starts, but with Altuve out we need all our bats like Chas

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    • Remember, In Dusty’s algebra class (Hits+ Solid Defense + Clutch performance) = No Chance for Chaz. Try solving that equation.

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  13. Would you pick Bregman as the Astros’ top draft pick of the last 10 years?
    https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/each-team-s-best-draft-pick-of-the-past-10-years?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

    When you look back this would be from 2013 to 2022 and so would not included Springer or Correa – so in my opinion it is a two man decision between two 2015 draft picks ….Bregman and Tucker. Bregman has done more, because he was a good bit older and he had two really great seasons in there 2018 and 2019. Tucker has been better 2020-2022. Tough pick.

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    • Bregman might be the best player the Astros have gotten in the last 10 years. But “the team’s best draft pick of the past 10 years” might be Jeremy Pena because he was not picked anywhere near the top of the draft and his return on their investment has been just incredible.
      His performance in the 2022 playoffs and at SS in one and a half regular seasons far surpasses what anyone considered him to be worth when he was drafted.

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      • I think Pena was a 3rd rounder, but agree no one expected to see him turn into a WS MVP. The only other guy I could see beating out Bregman or Tucker would be Hunter Brown. Regardless, grading on contributions made it has to be Bregman in the lead right now.

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      • I think when it’s all over, that trade with the Indians will rank right up with the Anderson Bagwell deal. We’ve already gotten our moneys worth from Maton and Diaz and Diaz has not even been properly utilized yet.

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