Today we will take a time machine back to March of this year. You are a good and loyal fan of the Astros waiting around for the season to begin. You are fairly confident in the team and why shouldn’t you be? They won the 2022 title by sweeping the first two rounds of the playoffs, falling behind in the World Series before turning the series on its ear and winning the last three games for the title. Yes, they lost Justin Verlander, and they are facing a few injuries, most notably Michael Brantley who is due back anytime from his shoulder injury, Lance McCullers Jr., who should be ready a few weeks into the season, and Jose Altuve who is recovering from that broken wrist and may miss the first six weeks of the season.
You are walking down the street, and my Delorean appears right next to you out of nowhere. I hop out as the dry ice fog effects surround the silver surfaces of the car. I spot you wearing your Rafael Landestoy rainbow jersey and immediately rush over to talk to you. You look rather flustered as it is downtown Houston and sometimes you have to be careful with whom you are talking. But I guess my Mark Lemongello jersey puts you at ease, though maybe it shouldn’t.
“Listen, you are not going to believe this, but I just came back from July 25 of this year.”
“Uh yeah.”
“No, no, I’ve really returned from the future. Ask me anything, anything you want.”
“Well, how are the Astros doing?”
“Not as good as last year, but they are closing in on the Rangers and are sitting at 58-44 and have a 77% chance of making the playoffs.”
“Hmmm – how is the starting rotation doing without Verlander?”
“Pretty solid, they have the third best ERA in the AL, really close to the top spot, and have thrown the third most innings also.”
“So, behind Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, and Lance McCullers Jr. have been really rolling, huh?”
“It’s true that Framber is leading the rotation with top-notch performance. But, uh, Cristian pitched pretty well for a while, but now his ERA is at 4.32 and rising. McCullers never came back and had season-ending surgery.”
“Well then, Hunter Brown, Jose Urquidy, and Luis Garcia must be lifting the boat?”
“Hunter has pitched a bit up and down, he’s made every start, but his ERA is above 4. Garcia made 6 starts with a 4.00 ERA and then had Tommy John Surgery. Urquidy also got hurt after 6 starts and hasn’t pitched since April….though he’s supposedly close to coming back.”
“Who the heck has been filling in behind Framber?”
“It has been mostly J.P. France and his 3.13 ERA….”
“Who?”
“And Brandon Bielak with his 3.62 ERA”
“Really????”
“And Ronel Blanco has not been terrible…”
“Huh?”
“Hey, somehow it has been working out OK.”
“Well then the offense must have been carrying the team so far.”
“No, not really. They are 6th in the AL with 4.70 runs per game just a tad over league average.”
“I thought with an offense led by Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez they would be rolling.”
“Well, you know how Altuve was not supposed to start the season with his broke thumb? Well, he came back the third week in May, but on the 4th of July he strained his oblique and hasn’t played since. Yordan had strained his oblique earlier in June and is still not quite back. He and Altuve have been on the field together for only 13 of the first 101 games (and counting).”
“I would have thought the addition of Jose Abreu and the return of Michael Brantley might have filled the gap there.”
“Brantley looked like he was going to be back in May after a rehab, but then he suffered a setback and it has just kind of floated onward. Abreu was running neck and neck for the first two months of the season with Martin Maldonado on who was the worst hitter in the majors. He’s been better since, but…”
“Well, with Jeremy Pena with more experience and Jake Meyers another year removed from his surgery I bet they are really rolling now.”
“Ahhh…. better hold on that betting bit. Pena was pretty good early and pretty ghastly lately. Meyers has shown a good glove and little else.”
“Well, where are the runs coming from? Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker?”
“Yes, especially Tucker, who is making a bid to lose the MVP to Shohei Ohtani. Bregman’s BA is down, but he is driving in a bunch of runs. Frankly, the biggest boosts they have had have been from Chas McCormick, who finally in the last 6 weeks has been getting steady playing time and has an OPS over .900. Similarly, rookie Yainer Diaz has finally gotten some DH at bats with Yordan out and has a lot more production than Maldy in a lot less at bats. And Mauricio Dubon has been quite good filling in for Altuve.”
“So, the bullpen must be doing a lot of the heavy lifting so far? Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly would be a late inning juggernaut.”
“Pressly has been overall very good again with a few hiccups here and there. Montero has been the worst reliever so far with an ERA over 6.”
“Stanek been picking up where he left off?”
“He would be the worst reliever if Montero was not in the bullpen.”
“Well, at least tell me they replaced Phil Maton. He was pretty bad in 2022.”
“In fact, though he’s struggled a bit lately, he and Hector Neris were the best relievers for most of the first half of the season.”
“So, you are telling me I am supposed to believe that with all this poor performing and injuries going on that the Astros still are near the top of the AL West?”
“Yes.”
“I think I believe in time travel before I believe that.”
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
60 responses to “Astros 2023: Taking a time machine back to March”
Bringing this over from the last post/comments
Jose Abreu has had the most success against Andrew Heaney – the Rangers pitcher. He is hitting .333 against Heaney in his career and has 4 HRs and 9 RBIs in 15 ABs. That is more than all the other Astros listed combined.
Altuve and Alvarez were not listed against him because they are STILL not activated, but with the help of Baseball Reference….
Jose Altuve has slashed .355 BA/.375 OBP/ 1.020 with 2 HRs and 2 RBIS against Heaney in 31 ABs.
Yordan Alvarez has slashed .308 BA/ .357 OBP/ .742 OPS with 0 HRs and 0 RBIs against Heaney in 13 ABs
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The Astros announced a few minutes ago that Altuve and Alvarez are both activated. I haven’t seen the corresponding roster move yet.
They haven’t announced the lineup yet but I can’t imagine they are not in it.
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Never mind I see it – CPT Bligh and Hensley sent to AAA.
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Yeah my brother said they were sending Chas and Tucker to AAA
He’s a bit of a card
I would have said Chas and Diaz….
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Lineup
Altuve
Pena
Tucker
Bregman
Alvarez
Abreu
McCormick
Julks
Maldonado
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It’s actually not that bad. I would bump Tucker up to 2nd, everyone else up a spot with Pena down to 8th. But maybe he is hoping Pena can get out of this funk.
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I just don’t like Diaz sitting. And I have no idea how much work he’ll get this weekend against TB.
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What kind of friend are you to come back in the Delorean from 7/25 and not bring me the numbers from the $1B powerball drawing last week?
Honestly, I’m surprised that Dubon has put up such strong offensive numbers. Obviously he’s fallen off quite a bit from his start, but he’s had some big hits this summer. I expected injuries to the pitching staff, but perhaps not in that number.
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I’m so ashamed. I was too busy cashing everything out and taking my Delorean back to 1986 and investing it all in Microsoft stock….
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Dan’s version of the lineup
Altuve 2B
Bregman 3B
Tucker RF
Alvarez DH
McCormick CF
Abreu 1B
Diaz C
Julks LF
Peña SS
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My version of the perfect lineup –
2B Altuve
RF Tucker
3B Bregman
DH Alvarez
CF McCormick
C Diaz
1B Abreu
LF Julks
SS Dubon
I would love for Brantley to return and give us a lefty option for somewhere between 6-9. Its looking more and more unlikely.
Pena is in a real funk right now. Whether or not you keep playing him or not in order to try and break that slump and get more energy out of him is not a hill of argument I’m dying on. I think Dooby is a better baseball player, but Dooby also serves an important role in his versatility also.
But we will keep seeing Maldy at 3 of every 5, Abreu ending hat inside out moments batting between Alvarez and McCormick, Pena batting second, etc.
When you look at Diaz and you see 6 walks all year he is leaving that door open. If that .270ish average with double digit dinger power was being accompanied by a .330 OBP you would think Dusty’s hands are tied. Who knows. I agree with what Blummer said, Diaz is a heck of a talent and he can hit as well as anyone else on that team – but he is pressing because he feels like every at bat he has to do damage – he doesn’t know the next time he gets a chance. Dusty is mishandling of our best prospect in years, at least since Tucker was a prospect.
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And big news on a contract extension.
No – it’s not Tucker. No it’s not Framber.
It’s Rob Manfred extended as Commish thru 2028.
I said it was big news, not good news.
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Hey folks – really enjoyed this article from friend of the blog Gary Trujillo – a huge A’s fan who often stops by here.
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I second the motion for your lineup Dan. It absolutely makes the most sense (including the fans). Unfortunately your vision does not have the support of our illustrious HC who has adopted a prima donna card for some of the P (Lord, forgive me for judging) and an obstinate dependence on, uugghhhh, Maldy. No offense MM, nothing personal. Diaz is the present and the future
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Framber and his composure problem is a real problem at this point.
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I kinda hope they throw out half the Rangers, ALL the Astros, and call it a night. I’ve seen enough! They don’t deserve to call themselves an MLB team after this kind of performance.
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Yes sir. That was not a good look. Com’on guys, breath. Don’t take no $*+@ off the Rangers. Let your bats talk whatever the outcome now.
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Oh my. That was the worst thing I’ve seen in a long time. MaldaNADA’s hound dog mouth got them into something their puppy dog tails couldn’t handle. Another good reason for him to be riding the pine IMO.
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Welp, our guys got punched in the nose tonight.
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And hit the canvas face first in their sleep. After this showing by the bullpen and our “ace” I don’t hold out much hope for watching Astros games in October.
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Good morning! There is some good news out there. The back end of our pen got the night off. Jose and Yordan are really back. And the Astros took 2 of 3 from the Rangers after 3 of 4 a couple of weeks ago. We’re only 2 out! I know, it sounds hollow.
Our pitcher whisperer seems to have lost his touch. If Framber can’t pitch to his beloved personal catcher, what do we do? Framber keeps getting worse. The Angels game, then the A’s and last night the embarrassment against the suddenly rejuvenated Rangers. We, or more pointedly, Framber handed them back their self respect by once again losing all composure on the mound. The Rangers were on the ropes. And they walked away with a resounding win, one they really needed.
Framber can’t go on the injured list for ten days in hopes of repairing his fragile mental state. This is just one more significant issue for our club to overcome.
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I was feeling pretty good after the Astros scored those 3 in the bottom of the first. The Rangers were on their heels after losing the first two games in heart breaking fashion and the Astros getting out quick with the Bregman shot to left.
But then they threw what looked like intentionally at Yordan and hit him not too far from the head. The knee jerk reaction was to retaliate, but it ended up poking the bear as Semien then scored on a homer and followed up with his own homer off Framber in the 4th inning along with some mouthing off at the mound as he circled the bases and some head to head with Maldy.
Maybe Framber was going to melt down anyway, but did it do any good to get into head games with the Rangers, especially when your pitcher may be a bit of a head case right now.
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The thought crossed my mind that maybe Bochy suggested Mr. Heaney bring one in on Alvarez, as the first three Astros looked very comfortable at the plate. Real or not, it set off a really bad outcome. And Dan, you’re right, all the drama could not have helped Framber.
Retaliation rarely pays off. The best response is to go about the business of finishing off an already wounded opponent. It’s far more rewarding.
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Based on the catcher, my impression was the Rangers were not trying to hit Alvarez but just going up and in to make him uncomfortable. I’m not opposed to the Astros retaliating as we saw them get plunked a lot last year and earlier this year with no response…but if it lit a fire in the Rangers and led to an offensive outburst with Framber falling apart then maybe we shouldn’t do that again.
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Didn’t get to see the 1st half of the game so I guess I was spared the “fun” part. However, there IS an issue with Framber’s meltdowns. Maybe a visit to Dr Renee Russo (Tin Cup) is in order to get him back on the right track. The Rangers are now moving up in my most disliked teams. Right up there with the Yankees and Dodgers.
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Sugarland lost 12-11 last night in Las Vegas. they had 17 hits, 8 bases on balls and committed 6 errors, which led to 4 LV unearned runs.
In the 9th inning LV scored the tying and winning runs this way:
With one out, Berryhill dropped a foul popup. The batter then got on base on a fielding error by Perez. Paredes walked the next batter and the next batter to load the bases. The tying run scored on a sac fly and the winning run scored on a fielding error by Singleton.
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Maybe they’ve been watching the Astros and figure the best way to get called up is to allow unearned runs.
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Oh boy. What a hand to draw to. But they did get 17 hits. Hitting the ball hard once in a while would be an improvement. I was amazed that Bregman actually did something besides popping up against a lefty last night. Only time will tell whether that is a trend or a fluke.
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Just put last night’s game under a tiny microscope, the Astros had a 3-0 lead with one out in the 3rd inning in a game that meant TWO games in the standings, when Framber decided to get payback by hitting Semien. The Rangers scored the next 13 runs and left the Astros in their dust, the way they have all season. The Rangers leave town all fired up and have that two-game lead again.
Our catcher gets all talkative and challenges Semien verbally which was worth baby vomit, gets himself thrown out and his “backup catcher” hits a two run homer to be the only answer to the Ranger’s 13 run pounding.
The whole idea that the bush league HBP of Yordan, that was totally intentional after Bregman’s home run, meant nothing to any Astros coach is just crap. Somebody in that dugout should have gone out on the field and had it out verbally with the umps and gotten himself kicked out of the game and gotten the home team fired up instead of putting it on Framber’s shoulders and getting the visiting team fired up.
The whole scene was disgusting for me to watch as an Astros fan whose team doesn’t have a manager that will go out there and take one for his players.
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I agree it was completely disgusting. I hope there’s not a bunch of kids watching MaldoNADA mouthing off like that and going out emulating it on Little League fields. I guess that’s what you do when you’re washed up and can’t make any statements with your bat or your glove and you know it.
As far as Dusty ever going out and “taking one for the team” I won’t hold my breath. That would mean he’d have to get within 6 feet of another human being. God forbid he would do that without a hazmat suit!
Crane needs to outright release MaldoNADA so Dusty can’t play him and then tell Framber to either ditch the prima donna act and man up or go back to where they found him.
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Tiredoldfan
Welcome – are you a new commenter or an old one under a new name?
I’m not expecting much of a resolution unless Maldy gets hurt or Dusty starts retirement early. Sorry
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Hi Dan! Been lurking here for a while but the frustration finally boiled over and I recently registered as a commenter so as to vent a little bit. 🙂
Sadly, I agree with you 100% re: MaldoNADA and Dusty the Clown. We’re going to be feeling the effects of his mismanagement of our (once great) pitching staff for a long time to come, I fear. After all, there is no guarantee that either Garcia or McCullers will ever return to their pre-injury levels. We can only hope.
When it comes to the 2023 Astros, I am forced to reflect back to what a very expensive psychiatrist once told me: In this world, the key to happiness is often the strict maintenance of low expectations.
So I’m hoping Dana Brown doesn’t give away the future in a stupid trade in hopes of saving a season that is already lost.
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Glad you are here Tired? TOF? Need to come up with a shortened Tiredoldfan.
I think we just have to hope the players overcome this themselves, but not sure if it will happen. But if Altuve and Alvarez get rolling and Tucker, Bregman, Chas and Abreu are solid – they can do a lot of damage with rallies that will die in the 9 spot.
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Either is OK with me, Dan. We’ll see what they can do. That’s why they play em on grass and not paper. And part of why I love baseball is because it’s never over until it’s over.
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Tiredoldfan- welcome – are you a newbie or an old reader with a new name?
I’m afraid the only thing that will change the Maldy situation would be an injury or if Dusty gets ill or something.
It does bug me that we don’t have someone to come out of the dugout and sacrifice themselves for the players. Like I said – we did not need to put this on Framber’s already shaky psyche.
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In most every direction, wherever one looks, the few supporters of Dusty Baker have all but disappeared. This has been a tough season to watch. I know I’m spoiled to a degree. We used to be comfortable with a lead because our pitching staff lacked any real holes. We played better defense We got hits when we needed them. We won 107 games last year and then lost only two post season games.
In several ways, I really appreciate what our baseball players have collectively accomplished during 2023 with all the obstacles placed in front of them. But the biggest obstacle is the manager. Over and over he’s sabotaged the roster by making irrational decisions.
he’s been a terrible, spiteful leader. In spite of all, we’d be in first place today, maybe comfortably, if the best players were used on the field. In some respects, I just want this season to be over. I want our GM to be able to have the last word on roster decisions, choose his manager, who will then build his coaching staff. All like minded. It’s really time to move on, back into the 21st century.
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I would have liked David Robertson for the pen. The Fish got him for two solid Rookie League prospects.
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Me too
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I don’t know that guy. Just read that Brown traded Korey Lee to get Kendall Graveman back from the Cubbies. IIRC, he showed flashes of being pretty good interspersed with a few complete breakdowns. IMO, he shoulda been the one we kept from that trade rather than Monterrible. We’ll see.
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I’ve had a little time to process the events. That game was nuts. I would agree with 1OP it’s unfortunate that Valdez had to stick up for his guy himself – but I think even if Dusty comes out and gets tossed, Valdez still has that responsibility. I just don’t think he foresaw the HR by Lowe, and that unnerved him. From there, it just went south on him until Semien got his pay back.
I was talking to someone about it, and they told me I was looking at it from the prism of an Astros fan. But I don’t think anyone would agree that good baseball decorum is after you get hit, probably intentionally, and then you hit a HR off the guy that hit you, that the best response is to stare down the pitcher as you round 1st, and jaw at him at as you round 3rd, then put a finger up to hush a catcher that is sticking up for his guy. If I was the catcher, I would have McCanned it and stood right in front of homeplate and dared him to cross it. And I don’t understand, if warnings had been issued, why was Semien not ejected after crossing homeplate for taunting. It wasn’t just Dusty’s inaction, or Bochy who also probably should have been out of the dugout if not after Semien was hit maybe after the chin music to Lowe – but neither manager could be bothered. And the Umps could have defused that by tossing Heaney and Valdez both after their chin music pitches, or Semien after his HR.
Now in all these years of watching Framber, I think thats the first time I ever saw him do that. And his expression and body language after he hit him, he walked off the mound, circled to the right, put his back to the entire situation, and his face said, man I wish I hadn’t done that. That was the moment I thought this thing turned, because he doesn’t even have confidence in his own action. I think having to do that is what unnerved him, not the next at bat.
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It may just be me, but I felt like going after Semien with a hit by pitch was allowing the Rangers to take our focus off the game. It is kind of like in a basketball game where you get a sub to bug the heck out of the star and get himself T’d up or ejected. They know they are not as good as you, but they know they can tip it in their direction if they can get the star off their game or out of the game.
The Astros had everything in their favor; Big crowd, playing at home, after two wins in very tight games with calls that went our way and a nice solid lead right out of the box. And we let the Rangers dictate the way the game was going to go.
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Dan, as I said yesterday, retaliation rarely pays off. And Semien milked it very successfully for all it was worth.
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My like star is working for the first time. I’m going to like every post for the balance of the weekend. Please, nothing overly offensive gentlemen.
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Uncleknuckle’s mama wears army boots. OK – maybe too offensive.
I’m trying to work on a new post on the side during lunch and after work. Some days it comes in a hurry – some times it doesn’t – today I was held up by needing to do research first.
Oh well – it will happen when it happens.
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Dan, she roller skated at 80. She’d have worn Army boots to church for a laugh!
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Don’t let that work thing get in the way of your real talent; keeping us all informed, educated, amused, laughing, and just enjoying the comradery here.
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Graveman back to Astros for Korey Lee?
1. Does Graveman want to be in Houston?
2. Does this mean I have to worry about another one year deal with Maldy in 2024?
Now I don’t feel like going for a rum or three on the beach. Maybe six.
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Seems like being in Houston would beat being in Chicago. Warmer weather but about the same number of stray bullets. I wouldn’t like either one. But that’s just me.
Guess I picked the wrong decade to stop drinking and sniffing glue…..
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Chip Bailey just texted me with this
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/07/white-sox-trade-kendall-graveman-astros.html
I thought they would use Korey Lee as a trade chip for a starter not a reliever
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Both posts at 3:33 PM. That’s ominous.
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Lord knows they need both, though.
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Daveb asks a good question – does Graveman want to be in Houston? He was solid for us in 2021, but recall he sounded quite upset at being moved from Seattle to Houston despite going to the team that should have won the WS. The money is good and I’m expecting Lee’s ceiling as a catcher is about the same as Jake Meyers’ as a CF. I think relievers will be more important in the postseason than starters, but that’s just me.
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Here is my weak take on the trade.
Graveman isn’t a rental and that ups his value a lot, especially with a couple of relievers leaving at the end of the season.
Apparently the Astros didn’t have the same twinkle in their eye about Korey Lee teaming up with Yainer as next year’s duo at catcher as I did. Maybe Yainer is good enough to be #1 in their minds that they considered Lee to be their backup catcher and was only equal in value to Graveman, who they really need this year badly.
Graveman allows them to shift a not-as-good reliever back to Sugarland.
Finally, just because Graveman didn’t want to leave Seattle to come to the Mariner’s biggest enemy, doesn’t mean he won’t be happy to come back to Houston and get out of Chicago! He is probably happy as heck to get out of there.
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I think you’re right about relievers being more important in October. However, as I’ve mentioned before, I have serious doubts about the Astros playing very far into October this year.
My understanding is that Graveman is under contract through the end of 2024. Maybe he’ll be able to contribute to a comeback for the good guys. But if he cops an attitude, all bets are off, of course.
I know that if I were a middle aged (in baseball terms) pitcher, I wouldn’t be very happy about being put in a position where Dusty Baker can do a Mark Prior or Kerry Wood on my arm and end my career prematurely.
But that’s just me.
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tof, good points. As 1OP noted, maybe Graveman will be happy back with the Astros in a pennant race. And hopefully he’ll outlast Dusty Baker. GM Brown is trying to get these guys into the post season. Once there, who knows what might happen. Let’s see if a more thrilling deal comes our way in the next couple of days.
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We shall see. I’ll be hoping against hope the next three days that Dana doesn’t do something dumb just because he can. While simultaneously trying to maintain my set of low expectations (i.e. happiness).
But for one reason or another (better not to go into here) I’ve lost a LOT of confidence in anybody in any position of authority in the last 10-15 years….. 😉
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Back to the business at hand. I was hoping Maldy might get a day off and Diaz a start behind the plate. No such luck.
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Personally, I’m hoping MaldoNADA soon gets a LOT of consecutive days off. But only the ones that end with a “y”.
I’m pretty sure Dan is right. This torture will end with him and Dusty the Clown riding off into the sunset together. Laughing all the way to the bank.
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It’s actually kind of odd. The other night when we were watching Seth Martinez throwing batting practice, I was thinking about Graveman and wishing we still had him. I’m not in the habit of having premonitions.
But maybe if I think REAL hard about Biggio and Berkman tonight…….
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Oh boy. Nice going, Javy. Let’s start by digging a big hole to stand in. Welp.
Another day of doing the same things and expecting different results. What do they call that again?
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