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Astros vs. Rangers: Here they go again!

The last time the Astros and Rangers faced off, there was a bit more at stake than there is for this early season weekend series in Arlington. If the 2023 ALCS is any guidance, and likely it is not, the Astros should sweep the Rangers in their home field.

The Astros and Rangers have had a bit of a chippy competition since the days of Jeff Banister and Rougned Odor (among others). The Game 5 ALCS “situation” between Bryan Abreu and Adolis Garcia is just the latest and makes one wonder who is going to get thrown at next. Hopefully, both teams will take a more mature path to the three games this weekend, but there is really nothing that makes us believe that.

Rangers

The Rangers head into the weekend tied for first place with the Ohtani-less Angels at 4-2. They’ve scored 12 runs more than their opponents, and they are riding their offense (third in the AL in runs/game) more than their pitching (Tied for eighth, allowing 3.83 runs/game).

The Rangers will be throwing Cody Bradford, who gave up two runs in five innings, Jon Gray, who gave up five runs in 3.2 innings, and Dane Dunning, who gave up 3 runs in 6.1 innings in their first starts.

So far, the hottest hitters for the Rangers have been 1B Jared Walsh, who the Astros have faced many times with the Angels, All Star SS Corey Seager, and 3B Josh Jung, who will be out with a broken wrist. RF Adolis Garcia (3 HR/ 6 RBIs) continues to produce despite his .240 BA/ .286 OBP.

Six of the Ranger’s relievers, including David Robertson and Jacob Latz, are unscored upon this year. Jose Leclerc, who is usually a critical cog for them, has had control problems and given up 6 runs in 2.2 innings.

Astros

The Astros have been underperforming. They are 2-5 and in the fourth spot in the division. They’ve outscored their opponents by 7 runs (mostly due to 10-0 and 8-0 drubbings of the Blue Jays) but are three games under .500 at this point. If you look at their underlying stats, they are leading the AL in slash numbers – .295 BA/ .361 OBP/ .855 OPS while only seventh with 4.29 runs/game. Their anemic performance with runners in scoring position (.224 BA/ .278 OBP/ .532  OPS) explains a lot of this.

The Astros’ starting pitching has been sterling to date, with a league-leading 1.29 ERA. We can complain about how deep they go in their starts, but only the Royals starters have put up more innings to date in the AL. The Rangers are 12th in the AL in starting ERA at 3.58 ERA.

The Astros will be throwing Hunter Brown in the opener, who pitched well (0 runs) but not long (4 innings) in his previous start. In Saturday’s game, the Astros show the dreaded TBD, though the hope is that it will be the not-so-dreaded J.P. France fresh off paternity leave. France gave up 3 runs in 5.2 innings in his first start. And Sunday? That would be the new folk hero and changeup aficionado, Ronel Blanco, ripe from a rip-roaring complete game no-hitter in his first start of 2024.

On the other hand…..the Astros bullpen is 13th in the AL with a lousy 6.00 ERA. The Rangers are only ninth, but their 3.38 bullpen ERA looks microscopic next to the Astros.

A sweep of the Rangers would be great and really get the Astro back on their feet, but the big thing is to continue the momentum from the Blue Jay series and continue to roll back towards .500.

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42 responses to “Astros vs. Rangers: Here they go again!”

    • Yessir, that was hard to watch. He just wasn’t fooling anybody tonight. But again – everybody has forgotten how to hit the *&^%^& ball at the same time. Again!

      Oh well, I’m sure the bullpen will lock it down until they start hitting…….. Right?

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  2. You know, Bielak has no business being on a big league club. I know, Biggio is the one who coerced Luhnow to draft him, in 2017. Just goes to show that Biggio is NOT a scout for a good reason.

    So, he has no options left so go ahead and waive him. If a club claims him then work out some kind of deal with that club. Otherwise, if he clears waivers then DFA him and resign him to the minor leagues.

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    • I turned it off and found a western when it reached 10-0. MLB may not have a 10 run rule (yet) but I do. Poor Hunter (not rich Hunter) got shellacked like the back stairs handrail, man. But it wasn’t all his fault. That was a total team collapse.

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  6. I’m glad I didn’t see it either. What sorry $$$ performance. Something ain’t right in the Bayou city but damn if I know what it is. I hope somebody figures it out and soon. 

    On the other hand if any of you missed the Women’s semi final NCAA basketball games you missed a treat, especially the UConn – Iowa game. A back and forth match up and to be honest, Ive never seen such back and forth constant hustle ever in a basketball game. Congrats to Iowa and South Carolina as finalist for the title on Sunday.

    Tonight it’s U Conn vs Alabama and Purdue vs NC State. I’ll be pulling for State as I hope they continue their run for the title. Beginning with the ACC tournament they have won 9 in a row. Pretty impressive. Only need two more. Go Wolfpack!

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  7. On the plus side, it only counts as one loss. On the minus side we’ve had to count one – six times in eight games so far.

    This is the first time this year that we had a game that we were not in. Even when we lost 7-1, we were up 1-0 heading into the 7th and only trailing 2-1 heading into the 8th.

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  9. A friend of mine who has some contacts in the organization said he had asked for it. Saw he had fallen down the pecking order here.

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  10. Our guys are difficult to watch right now. I remain most concerned about our pen. We know Pressly said all the right things when Hader was signed, but I have to wonder how pleased he and Abreu are with the new arrangement. 

    Two things that remain positive.  We are getting enough good performances out of our makeshift rotation. And we will hit consistently at some point.

    In the meantime, I’m not watching as much.   

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  11. Last night I watched most of the game until Pressly gave up the 4 in the 8th.

    • Another baserunning gaffe by Altuve hurt them. In the third he singles with one out and gets picked off – the next three guys get on and luckily Seager boots and then throws away an easy chance and they score two runs. But it felt like it could have been one of those 4 or 5 run innings and it was not.
    • France pitched very well, I don’t know why they didn’t let him finish the 6th.
    • Yeah daveb, worried that both Abreu and Pressly are taking the Josh Hader addition the wrong way.
    • Bregman seems to be coming around a bit. Abreu looks like he’s on his last legs.
    • Twelve runners and 2 runs is typical for their losses.
    • They seem to be missing something, but maybe its nothing that a winning streak won’t change

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  12. It’s becoming obvious that replacing the much loved Yuli Gurriel with Abreu was one of the worst mistakes I’ve seen any team make in a while. The team has a dead spot at 1b that isn’y going to be filled by Jon Singeton.

    Bregman’s slow start is infuriating and has been costing them games.

    Good to see that Alvarez is apparently finally on track.

    But the bullpen. Oy……

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  14. Managed to watch the game and at last a win but here are my grades thus far:

    A+ – Blanco

    A – Diaz, Pena, Framber, Javier

    A- – Altuve, Montero

    B+ – Martinez

    B - Meyers, Caratini

    B- – Yordan, Tucker,

    C+ – McCormick,

    C – Dubon, France

    C- Brown

    D – Singleton, Bregman, Hader

    D- – B Abreu

    F – Pressley, Mushinski, Bielak, J Abreu

    I – Diaz M, Coleman, Scott, Kessinger

    Just my subjective opinions.

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  15. Well, here I go being encouraged again. But I will go off on Bregman pretty soon if he continues his malaise. 

    We got acceptable innings out of Montero and Pressly last night. Alvarez did what we expect from him. I have to hope Hader gets his act together. Outside of getting even worse on the bases, Altuve looks like he’s 26 and ready to have another solid year. Jake walked again and got a base hit. Overlooking a batch of mostly 0-fors last night, Tucker, Chas, Diaz, Pena all have looked pretty good at the plate.

    Outside of Hunter, our starters have been better than most clubs. And Blanco, he’s been the savior so far. We talk about a couple of guys showing up every year to help get us through rough patches. Last year it was Chas and Diaz. Keep in mind though, that Ronel threw 88 innings in 2017. That’s his career max. We’re going to need to dial him back at some point. But if he can perform like the swingman Javier was for us originally, that’s a great help in 2024.

    The elephant on the room obviously is Jose Abreu. He looks as bad as he did last year when his back was bad. Maybe he should be on the DL. In the meantime, Loperfido has played first his last two games. He’s got 5 homers and 11 RBI in 8 games. .258 BA, .306 OBP, .792 SLG and 1.048 OPS. He’s also got 14 K’s against just 3 walks. It’s too small a sample though. He need more at bats, a higher BA and a better OBP. But he’s already more mobile around first than Abreu. He makes it easier to be encouraged. But does Crane allow Jose to sit at any point?

    Steven has mentioned Brandon Belt several times. I’d take him today in place of Singleton. And I’d hope Loperfido keeps hitting and playing a quality first base. I don’t know how we get rid of Abreu, but if he is hurt, it’s actually a potential solution.  

    So, forgetting about the Yankee debacle, a win tonight with Framber on the mound re-establishes him as the guy we might be able to rely on going forward, and it also gives us a 4-3 record over our last 7 games. Things could be worse.  

     

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    • I’d like to know what the Astros told Loperfido when they sent him down. Obviously the Abreu contract is an albatross. Are they pushing him to try to hit for more power? He didn’t strike out too much at Corpus, but struggled at Sugarland last year. 

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      • Hopefully they didn’t tell Loperfido the same thing they told Dirden a year ago when he tore it up in spring training and then got sent to the minors.

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    • Probably the biggest thing that stops a Belt signing isn’t the 4M he will want, but the fact that Belt’s presence will require more PT than Singleton. They can play Singleton at 1B once a week and pinch him once a week, and no one cares. Belt changes that.

      Abreu isn’t hurt. It wasn’t a back that caused last year either. It’s age. Simple as that. He has two hits. One of them was because the defense shifted – but I don’t know why unless someone accidently gave them 2018s spray charts. The other was because Guerrero was shaded to the bag due to a baserunner and he got that gap. He hasn’t gotten an actual honest straight up hit yet. I am actually glad when I see Singleton’s name in the lineup right now because Abreu is just that bad.

      Now again, we talked about this before – I think he will, again, be better in June, July, August, we just have to wait for it. And I don’t think you can sit him, the price of sitting him is that you won’t get that June and July because he won’t get those old bones going. Besides, sitting Abreu means Singleton. That is going nowhere.

      Another option could be to bring up Hensley. As bad as last year was at both levels for him, he can tell the difference between a ball and a strike. His bat is just as slow as Abreu’s though and he doesn’t have age to fall back on. He also bats right, not left, part of the reason of Singleton’s presence is to sometimes get another a 3rd lefty bat in there or sometimes even 4th with Caratini while still being able to maintain Yainer’s presence. It’s a giant puzzle in how you use those lefty’s but we need better lefty secondary bats, for sure. Joey L might fit that bill, but I would be more interested in seeing what he does in 350 ABs at AAA playing every single day before I turn him into a part timer here. Maybe by July he has convinced Brown.

      More than likely folks should probably just get used to watching the lineup as it’s currently being deployed. Changing the names seems like it’s not a probability. You could tinker with the lineup a little, maybe on off days for Abreu deploy Yainer to 1B instead of Singleton, which would free up LF to leave Chas there – in effect you are trading Singleton PT for more Meyers/Dubon time in CF, and just rearranging chairs on the deck. It takes the lefty out of the lineup, the whole point of Singleton, but being lefty doesn’t matter if the best I can hope for at the end of the day is look guys I got one hit today!

      I don’t want to sound like I’m piling on Abreu. If he had gotten out of Cuba before he was 27, if he had gotten to the bigs at 22 and been productive as a young player he would marginally be a hall of famer. He has been one of the very best players of the second half the decade. But he isn’t that guy anymore. He is pretty much the guy that we will watch struggle to get it going, and hit .240ish with 15 HR by the end. That’s a lot of frustrating days, some good ones too, but a lot of frustrating days. I am rooting for him, eating some crow in August means he is hitting .270+ and has 20+ HR at that point, and no one would be happier for him than me. It just feels like a real uphill fight for him at this point.

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      • Steven, perhaps you have information that I don’t have access to. I was referring to Abreu’s trip to the injured list on August 12 due to back inflammation. Based on his swing, then and now, it sure looks like his back is not in great shape.

        I also don’t see a need for Loperfido to accumulate 350 AB’s in AAA ball. If Abreu is still doing basically what he’s doing now at the beginning of June and Loperfido is excelling in AAA at the same time, then I’d expect to see a move made, especially if the club is still struggling. Sure, if the Astros are jelling in spite of Abreu, then he gets more time and Loperfido waits, unless perhaps if Jake reverts back to being the Jake that we’re all familiar with.

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  16. TEN GAMES IN … 1/16th of the Season Burned

    Yordan Alvarez is tied with _____________ for the team lead in HR.

    Yordan Alvarez is tied with _____________ for the team lead in RBI.

    Jose Altuve leads the team in OBP. A distant 2nd is ______________.

    Jose Altuve leads the team in OBP. A distant 2nd is ______________.

    Jose Altuve leads the team in hits. In 2nd place is _______________.

    Kyle Tucker leads the team in strikeouts. Tied for 2nd are ______ and ________.

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  17. Let me take a shot Mr. Bill – good questions

    Yordan Alvarez is tied with Jake Meyers_____________ for the team lead in HR.

    Yordan Alvarez is tied with Kyle Tucker_____________ for the team lead in RBI.

    Jose Altuve leads the team in OBP. A distant 2nd is Yordan______________.

    Jose Altuve leads the team in OBP. A distant 2nd is department of redundency department?______________.I think you meant a different question

    Jose Altuve leads the team in hits. In 2nd place is Yainer Diaz_______________.

    Kyle Tucker leads the team in strikeouts. Tied for 2nd are Chas______ and _Abreu_______.

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    • 3-7 Record = 10 games in;

      3 HRs lead the team – Alvarez & … Jose Altuve.

      6 RBI lead the team – Alvarez & … Jeremy Pena.

      Distant 2nd to Altuve’s .432 OBP belongs to … Chaz McCormick with .371

      Tied for 2nd behind Altuve’s 15 hits – both Pena and Diaz have 123

      2nd most strikeouts is indeed J. Abreu; tied for third most are Chaz and Bregman

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  18. Thoughts on your thoughts

    • Sarge – hope yesterday made up a little bit for a horrendous first couple of games
    • Z – Yeah the ladies put on some really great shows – but SC was too tough for Iowa. I like your grades of the individuals
    • TOF – I think the Astros picked the right time to replace Gurriel – who followed up an ineffective 2022 with an equally ineffective 2023 in less at bats. They just brought in the wrong replacement at way too big a cost. At the time, I thought it was a good pickup and I was way wrong.
    • Dave B – thanks for staying positive (overall). Sometimes that is tough when so much is going poorly
    • Devin / Old Pro – man I hope Loperfido does not turn into Dirden
    • Steven – you really do a good job of covering any aspect you want to write about – I wish there was a better option for 1B
    • Mr. Bill – thanks for the quiz

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    • A better option for our 1B dilemma is for Bregman to start hitting like it’s a contract year and give Brown the luxury of waiting until July make the best move possible to help the team. I’m not sure how many assets and payroll flexibility Crane will approve putting into play so filling multiple holes may be off the table. 

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  20. Miguel Diaz designated for assignment to make room for Henley.

    Framber back in Houston for doctors to examine his elbow.

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  21. Earlier today I noted Blanco had thrown a a max of 88 innings in his professional career. I was wrong. Between Sugar Land, Houston and 9 innings in the Puerto Rican winter league, he actually threw 134 innings last season. 

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  22. Looks like I’ll miss this evening game as my laptop (aka: my redneck entertainment center) is in the shop. Possibly overnight.

    I hope they can come outta there with a split!

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    • They might wanna take him to a doctor after the drubbing he took today! Can’t help but feel for him.

      That could leave some psychic marks.

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  25. I’m trying to figure out why they’d bring up Henley rather than justing trying to get a couple of innings out of Diaz. Any answers?

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  27. I did not envision the Astros getting the split I was hoping for in the manner it happened tonight. I’m happy to see the big league club pick Henley up. I’m happier to see the Astros earn a split in Arlington. It’ll be one of those significant wins along the way to October.  

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  28. I’m glad I missed seeing the kid get all beat up like that. Was that his 1st MLB start?

    I finally figured out how to catch a stream on my fancy new cell phone just in time to see the Yordan homer. Well, I almost saw it….

    My laptop should be repaired tomorrow.

    Glad to come outta that place with a split considering the circumstances. Coulda been much worse.

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