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ChipalattAwards for July

The Astros finished the month of July, somehow with a 15-10 record. We say somehow because it was a month that Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier combined for 1 win and had ERA’s 6.8+. Hunter Brown barely slid in under a 6 ERA with a 1-3 record. Phil Maton melted down to a 9.64 ERA after a great start to the season. Ryan Pressly had a non-closer-ish 4.15 ERA. Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve missed about ¾ of the month injured. Corey Julks came back to earth hard – ending the month on a 0 for 33 run. Mauricio Dubon and Jeremy Pena had batting averages hovering around the Mendoza line with awful OBPs and OPSs for the month. And Martin Maldonado was even worse than normal.

But somehow the team overcame all these problems and put up a solid month that moved them within a half game of the faltering Texas Rangers. How did they do that? Well, many of the July Chipalatta Awards winners hold that secret.  

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

NameGmWLSvsIPERAWHIPHRKs/9 IPBAAOBPAOPSABAbipIR/ IS
Framber Valdez4110217.291.619410.3.299.367.862.367N/A
Cristian Javier4010216.861.286410.7.218.330.753.265N/A
Hunter Brown513024.15.921.685410.7.330.389.914.429N/A
Brandon Bielak522027.12.651.31727.2.210.331.641.250N/A
J.P. France540031.2.301.24515.7.277.310.637.323N/A
Ronel Blanco101064.500.833213.5.150.261.711.111N/A
Ryan Pressly13119134.151.00039.0.229.264.702.2353/1
Hector Neris12300122.251.333310.5.214.353.829.2400/0
Rafael Montero910011.22.310.94328.5.132.267.609.1204/2
Phil Maton121119.19.642.46426.8.333.4801.095.36710/6
Ryne Stanek1200011.15.561.23527.9.214.292.720.2269/2
Bryan Abreu1310112.12.191.135213.9.205.280.644.2923/2
Seth Martinez80008.28.311.731210.4.306.375.958.3754/0
Parker Mushinski40005.11.691.125111.8.250.286.736.3331/0
Shawn Dubin100042.251.25006.8.231.353.736.2730/0
Joel Kuehnel2000218.003.00014.5.455.5001.318.4440/0
Kendall Graveman100010.002.00009.0.333.500.583.5000/0

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

Starting Pitcher of the Month – J.P. France and it wasn’t even close. The cool, calm, tall drink of water was exactly what the team needed. Led the team in wins, innings pitched, ERA and WHIP in July. He had a fairly high batting average against, but didn’t let traffic score that often and only gave up 1 HR.

Runner-up – Brandon Bielak – OK, if not him, who? He had the second most wins and the second best ERA. He had the problem of giving up unearned runs – but even if you add that in, he was giving up less than 5 runs per 9 innings, which is still better than Javier, Valdez and Brown.

Last Month – J.P. France – Starting Pitcher of the Month / Framber Valdez – Runner-up

Relief Pitcher of the Month – Bryan Abreu – After some struggles in June, he seemed to get his mojo and a little better control back in July.

Runner-up.   Hector Neris – He was the Mr. Houdini of July as he seemed to have someone base all the time, but with minimal runs given up.

Last Month – Hector Neris – Relief Pitcher of the Month and Ryan Pressly – Runner-up

The Under the Radar Award – Rafael Montero -We flinched whenever he entered the game, but he actually pitched a lot closer to what we were expecting from him entering the season in July.

Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ position players in the month of July.

NameABsRunsDblsHRsRBIsBBsKsBAOBPOPSBABIP
Martin Maldonado595235124.136.150.472.156
Jose Abreu951534151019.263.333.754.292
Mauricio Dubon9011119316.200.234.501.233
Jeremy Pena799129514.205.262.531.238
Alex Bregman961846161212.260.343.832.244
Corey Julks725305816.194.281.517.246
Chas McCormick771646231124.351.4401.128.438
Kyle Tucker921987231414.359.4461.119.356
Yordan Alvarez18512423.389.4761.254.385
Jake Meyers416212312.244.296.661.321
Yainer Diaz72113614314.264.299.854.245
Jose Altuve30702359.300.400.967.368
Grae Kessinger18211114.278.316.816.308
Bligh Madris13000024.154.267.421.222

Positional Player of the Month (Tie) – Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick – These two carried the offense for the month. Tucker had a slight edge in runs, doubles and homers, but due to a certain manager, who did not always play Chas despite how hot he was, he had 15 less at bats than Tucker in July.

Runner-up – Alex Bregman – His 18 runs scored and 16 RBIs were a big contributor to the offense even with him only hitting .260 for the month.

Last Month – Kyle Tucker – Positional Player of the Month and Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu – Tied for Runner-up

Special Recognition – Yainer Diaz – He was not Yordan Alvarez when Yordan was gone, but he put up a solid month with his 6 HRs, 14 RBIs, .264 BA, .854 OPS (don’t ask about his OBP). This was not bad for a rookie who hits better when he is playing a position than when he is DHing like he did so much this month.

Biggest Surprise (Positive) – JP France – He was decent starting out, but he took it to another level during July, where he was the best starter on the staff.

Runner-up  – Parker Mushinski – He has been up and down from the minors, but when they have used him, he has looked like he belongs.

Last Month – Biggest Surprise (Positive) was J.P. France and Yainer Diaz was Runner-up

Biggest Disappointment – Framber Valdez – Yes, I know he just threw a no-hitter a couple days ago. But that was in August. In July he was not performing well, which was bad enough, but he was falling into meltdowns like we have not seen since his early days in the rotation. Hopefully, that is all in the rearview mirror now.

Runner-up – Cristian Javier – Just a step better than Framber, his last start in July showed flashes of his swing and miss invisiball. The fans are hoping he comes all the way back to the pitcher who was tremendous down the stretch and through the post season in 2022.

Last Month – Biggest Disappointment was Rafael Montero / Martin Maldonado and Cristian Javier Tied for Runner-up

Some Comments on July

  • For the offense, July was a tale of two cities as it seemed like hitters were either very good (Tucker, McCormick, Bregman) or very bad (Maldonado, Pena, Dubon, Julks). OK, you might throw Abreu in the middle area, but there was a lot of highs and lows here.
  • Your loyal servant was disappointed that neither Chas or KTuck were the AL Player of the month. Yes, I know Shohei Ohtani hits and pitches well. But along with his flashy 9 HRs and 1.152 OPS, he only had 14 RBIs – way under the Astros duo who were way above him in BA. And his pitching was so-so 2-2 and a 4.97 ERA for the month. Should he have gotten the award over them just for hitting and pitching? Well then just retire the award until he stops playing.
  • Kind of strange that Javier’s ERA was so close to Framber’s when Framber’s other numbers (WHIP, BA against, OPS against) were way worse. I guess he just did not stop them at all when they got on base.
  • Weird that Hector Neris had 3 wins for the month, more than Valdez, Javier and Brown put together. Wins are always an odd category.
  • Look at those comparative numbers between Maldy and Diaz. But two things this week have helped Dusty stay with Maldonado going forward. The no-hitter he called and caught and the trade for Justin Verlander, who will no doubt want to stick with the guy he knows.
  • It is sure good to see Altuve and Alvarez back in there. Those are difference makers in this lineup.

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

 

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116 responses to “ChipalattAwards for July”

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    • Here’s a fun stat. Since Alvarez and Altuve have come back, the Astros are 5-0 when Diaz gets a start. They are 1-5 when Maldy gets the start. It’s a small sample obviously but a couple of thoughts come to mind.

      It further erodes the hoax continually perpetuated by Baker that Maldonado helps this team win.

      Any good manager would find a way to get Diaz in the line up more than Baker has.

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  2. UK, I was watching one of those animal kingdom shows where a young male challenged an old alpha male for dominance of a herd. In the end the young male overpowered the alpha to earn control of the herd. The young bull on the Astros has clearly dominated the alpha male yet the alpha remains seated, not by his overwhelming experience, but by proxy. A changing of the guard will come. We just don’t know when.
    Was on the fence about robo umps. This selective strike zone by umps is making me change my mind.

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    • “Was on the fence about robo umps. This selective strike zone by umps is making me change my mind.”

      I’m a traditionalist. Was against the DH when that started. Now I like it. But when it comes to instant replay and robo umps, all it takes to convince me they’re both good ideas is Angel Hernandez.

      I’m still against this Manfred crap of starting the runner at 2b in extra innings, though. The longer a game goes, the better I like it!

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    • Old School, that changing of the guard will come in 2024. The Alpha guy is making sure he does not get invited back.

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  4. Another weak K with RISP from our $20,000,000/year man, Kimchi. How much more of this will be tolerated? He’s completely useless!

    Thank God Meyers remembered how to hit the freaking ball……

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  5. So is it true that MMP is going to have a Jeremy Pena bobble hands statue giveaway next homestand? He’s so overrated…….

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  7. Darn lucky to get outta that filthy city with a split. Twelve walks given away. Fourteen strikeouts. Bregman, McCormick, and Kimchi with 3 apiece and everybody except Altuve with one.

    Another poor fielding performance by our gold glove overrated SS. Kimchi obviously needs more than one day on the bench. Maybe a few years? The only bright spot was Meyers pulling his head out of his rear end with the two jacks.

    Angel Hernandez was doing everything he could possibly do to hand this game to the Stankees. Thank God they’re so bad even he couldn’t do it.

    Now a quick trip to the Den of Corruption to visit Dusty’s zero – I mean hero before they get their butts destroyed by a real baseball team in Baltimore.

    Monday will probably be the best day the Astros have this week.

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  8. Some of Dan’s texts during the game
    – Is Peña on drugs?
    – Neris struck him out but Angel Hernandez knew better
    – The problem is it takes too long to get a starter ready to bring him in to relieve
    – Don’t know Why you bring in the most tightly wound reliever they have (Maton) with the bases loaded

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    • I was thinking all four of those things myself, Dan. Plus I thought that if we are forced to call on Urquidy out of the bullpen, we will be in the same bad spot as we are with Maton.
      He’s just not a high leverage guy. So if he can’t cut it as a starter (which he can’t if today is an example) then his only value is as trade bait to find that LH bat and a competent first baseman that we desperately need.

      Kimchi has got to be replaced.

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  9. ‘WHITEHOUSE DAY’ 2023 – WHY DOES WS 2022 SEEMS SO LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY?

    After winning two world championships in six years, and exuding excellence even in the years we fell slightly short, I admit I have become somewhat spoiled. I do not expect perfection, but I do expect professionalism, and … yes … excellence.

    This team is a good team, with an ‘outside’ chance of making the playoffs – but it is not an excellent team. Nor is it a world championship team. Nor is it even the best team in our division. There are many reasons for this – not the least of which are a crippling pile of injuries and the residual effect of the ‘Ye shall have no #1 or #1 draft choices’ sentence resulting from ‘that debacle of which we do not speak’.

    The question I have to face now is ‘can I scale back my expectations, and just become a ‘long-suffering’ Astro-fan again’? Well, at least we are not the Lastros, right?

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    • I think this is a very fair question Mr. Bill – we have been “spoiled” a bit in the last 7+ seasons, but that was only after many years – 50 of more for many of us – of bad baseball or close but no cigar efforts.
      No team has ever gone to 6 straight ALCS or NLCS since the playoff era. This team does not look like it should do that, but neither did the 2020 team. But even if they don’t….even if they are in a pennant race and just fall short or make the Wild Card but fall, we need to be happy that this is not 2011-2013.

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    • Before the Astros switched over to the AL, I was a Twins fan having grown up in that frozen hell hole and remembering them from before they even were an expansion team.. After coming to Texas for keeps in ’85, I still couldn’t hold my nose enough to root for a Dallas team. The Twinks were a pretty good team in the late 80’s & early 90’s, so I stuck with em. But when the Stros came over to the more exciting league with the DH, I changed my baseball allegiance for keeps, too.

      But one thing that has carried over is the ability to keep expectations at a very low level.

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  10. The Astros have 49 games to take control of the AL West. A 10 game streak might do that, but the Rangers are playing better baseball. We’ve had mediocre series against those Rangers, then the Rays and Indians and now the Yankees. In fact, we have not played good ball in more than a month. We’re not managing well nor playing well. That’s a bad combination. Same old suspects. Bregman goes into a funk. Abreu really needs to get moved this winter. Diaz sits for 3 of the 4 games in New York. The pen remains a problem. Baker put out his worst line up card of the season in a pivotal match up again the Yankees. None of this stuff really offends me, because I pretty much expect it. Jeremy Pena though, that kid has me pissed off. His on field demeanor is clearly negative. Lazy and lackadaisical. That’s not the way the Astros act on the field. Someone needs to look him in the eye and tell him. And if he does not listen, sit him.

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  11. As soon as I put this comment up, Dan will post something new.
    I’ll do it anyway.
    Corey Julks was optioned to Sugarland this morning and the Astros said they will make a corresponding move before tomorrow’s game.
    Is Brantley finally going to be activated or is someone else going to debut? I hope it is Brantley. Baltimore is pitching three right-handers against us and I am ready to see a more effective lineup.

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  12. Well after seeing Dans post, if it is Singleton, I guess I can add that we’ll also know pretty quickly if he can hit or not.

    One thing that makes me feel a bit chagrined is that whether it be Brantley or Singleton, it will continue to take still more at bats from Diaz.

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  14. More like this:
    Altuve
    Bregman
    Tucker
    Abreu
    Alvarez
    Meyers
    Dubon
    Pena
    Maldonado
    Oh I forgot, Jose needs a day off so it’s Kessinger in his spot

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    • Your lineup looks like a Dusty special Z, lol. I get your point though. UK, the O’s series has Framber, Javier, Brown as starters. That portends more splinters for Diaz, especially if Brantley/Singleton are in the mix. Will Meyers 2 HR barrage spell a renewal of musical chairs for Chas?
      Bregman went hitless the NY series. Abreu had 1 hit. Pena had more IF/err hits than actual hits. We need our big boppers bopping!
      Friday’s lineup was more in line with what we wanted to see, and it was productive enough. Unfortunately we won’t see that again anytime soon.

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      • Old School, I also thought of Chas as Jake hit those 2 much needed dingers. That’s probably enough to put Jake back in Dusty’s good graces.

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