Apologies to the pioneers of Progressive rock music (King Crimson), but the title of a track on their debut album seemed like a perfect lead-in to today’s post.
As the Astros struggle to move back towards .500 or at least respectability, we are left asking ourselves – which of these schizophrenic players is the real deal?
- Is it – The Justin Verlander who gave up an Astro career-worst seven runs in a start last week….
- Or is it – The Justin Verlander who flirted with a no-hitter on Sunday and looked 2022 dominating.
- Is it – The Yordan Alvarez who has a Bregman-esque slash in losses (.212 BA/ .290 OBP/ .542 OPS)….
- Or is it – The Yordan Alvarez who has a Bunyan-esque slash in wins (.328 BA/ .391 OBP/ 1.145 OPS)
- Is it – The Cristian Javier who was 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his first 4 starts before his neck injury….
- Or is it – The Cristian Javier who had a 47.30 ERA in his 1.1 innings since returning from the IL
- Is it – The Jose Abreu who is batting .500 with a 3-1 count (yes it is only 4 ABs)….
- Or is it – The Jose Abreu who is batting .072 the rest of the time
- Is it – The Hunter Brown who is 0-4 with an 8.89 ERA in his starts….
- Or is it – The Hunter Brown who is 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his lone relief appearance
- Is it – The Yainer Diaz who slashed .333 BA/.381 OBP/ .931 OPS with 3 homers in his first 13 games….
- Or is it – The Yainer Diaz who has slashed .247 BA/ .273 OBP/ .595 with 0 homers in the 25 games since
- Is it – The Josh Hader who was 0-2 with 1 save and a 9.39 ERA in his first 9 games….
- Or is it – The Josh Hader who is 1-1 with 4 saves and a 1.93 in his last 8 appearances
- Is it – The Alex Bregman who is slashing .120 BA/ .120 OBP/ .240 OPS with an 0-2 count…
- Or is it – The Alex Bregman who is slashing .333 BA/ .625 OBP/ .958 OPS with 3 ball counts
- Is it – The Bryan Abreu who was 0-1 with a 9.35 ERA in his first 6 games ……
- Or is it – The Bryan Abreu who is 1-0 with 6 holds and a 1.35 ERA in his last 12 appearances
- Is it – The Jose Altuve who was slashing .345 BA/ .414 OBP/ 1.010 OPS in March/April….
- Or is it – The Jose Altuve who is slashing .238 BA/ >273 OBP/ .511 OPS in May
This could go on all day and night, but it is time to tune into Monday night’s game…..
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
122 responses to “Astros 2024: 21st century schizoid men”
A solid team effort for the W. Good to see it!
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I did not realize last night that Hunter Brown got a win. You know, had he given them one less run and one more inning, his would have been a quality start. Little steps. Mechanics. During the first half of last year, he knew better where he was throwing. It’s in there somewhere. One more out and one less walk in the 4th, no three run dinger.
Was looking at stolen bases throughout the league. We don’t run much, but when the line up frequently includes Bregman, Alvarez, Singleton, Caratini, Diaz and Jake who does not run much, that provides limited opportunities. The good news is that we are 27 and 5 in steals, which is a solid 80% plus.
And although we’ve looked helpless at times again base stealers, we’re pretty much in the middle of MLB and improving a bit, just better than the league average of 23% CS rate.
One thing I can’t figure out is that our oppnents steal .58 bases off us in Minute Maid but .95 bases against us when we’re on the road. That’s a big disparity for a stat that does not usually vary as much between home and road games.
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The Astros have a much better home record than they do on the road. The giving up stolen bases is just part of that. They have sucked on the road in all phases of the game.
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Yes 1oldpro, that’s a good point. After last nights game, we’re 12-12 at home. That’s a big accomplishment because we could not buy a home win late in 2023 and took that same tendency into 2024. And indeed, if we leave our own friendly confines next week and continue our much better play on the road, that number should improve too!
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Caratini has a good arm. Perhaps as good as Diaz. He’s sure been mowing down attempted theives recently and I love to see it!
Seems to me like pitchers are no longer even trying much to hold runners at 1b anymore.
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At only 4 games back of Seattle, this season is far from over. Especially with a 4 gane series coming up soon. The Astros have just as good a chance to win the west as anybody else. Better than Oakland.
As long as they play up to their abilities and not down to their competition. And keep Heinz Abreu in Florida……
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The strike zone tonight is bizarre and getting worse every AB.
The game needs robo umps calling balls/strikes.
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Worst, most erratic zone of the season.
Verlander can be very stubborn. Never should have tried to keep getting that fastball past an excellent hitter.
We’ve got too many guys still not hitting. And Bregman is a tease.
Still can win the series tomorrow, but a whole lot of good things will have to align for the Astros.
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Sitting at home with a surgically repaired Achilles’ tendon, I get to watch several BB gms daily. These umps with their selective strike zones grates my nerves calling strikes balls and vice versa. I’m about ready for robo umps
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It’s time. Like many long running institutions in our society, baseball is being governed (and ruined) by the politics of incompetence and entitlement.
The fans are sick of it already. The technology exists. No reason not to use it.
Except politics.
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Gotta get Yordan out of this slump immediately. We’re missing all those RBI. Could’ve used 2 or 3 or them today. And he had his chances.
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The top of the lineup was 3-18 w/ 2 walks. The high BA/OBP/OPS is trending in the wrong direction for some. We need those guys at the top hitting better to keep this momentum going
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It wasn’t our imagination last night. That whack job missed 16 calls last night. And that’s just balls and strikes.
That guy was awful!
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Caratini put that throw exactly where it had to be to nail that runner. As a former catcher, I am greatly impressed with his arm! Perfect throw!
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Carlos Correa chimed in suggesting umps use the PitchCom system to help reduce the # of bad calls at the plate. I’m hearing more of this chatter on blogs
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I’m an engineering type guy who believes in eliminating human error from any equation whenever and wherever possible. Sometimes when it’s not. 😉
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Arrighetti did a great job with this game! That swinging bunt was Caratini’s ball all the way. It was Spencer’s job to cover the plate on that play.
Good job, kid!
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Arrighetti gave the club a great six innings. Joe’s decision to send the rookie back out almost gave the game back.
Excellent series to win against a good club.
One of these days all these guys will start hitting.
Unfortunately, it seems Bagwell is dragging Abreu back next Friday. Is Bagwell the only guy that can’t see the team is better without him?
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Yeah what we need is to bring Abreu back and send Loperfido and his .300+ BA packing
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Just having that conversation with my brother. Although Kessinger already rusts on the bench, he’s the back up for the only viable infield back up.
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https://blogs.fangraphs.com/tuck-on-roll-the-astros-have-a-new-best-player/
This article should be of interest to all on our site.
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At this point, Tucker knows the strike zone better than the umps do. If we ever see the day where technology takes over calling balls and strikes, Tucker will benefit further.
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With the Angels in town for a 3 game set and Seattle playing at Stankee stadium, this is a tremendous opportunity to pick up some ground on those losers. Go to it, boys!
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Dear Queen Tucker,
Please make sure Kyle has his home run shoes along with him when he goes on that west coast trip!
Thank you,
Astros fans everywhere
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I’ll say it again, Framber screws around out on the field too much. He’s just not the professional he needs to be out on the mound each time he takes the mound. I don’t want him around next year. And if we at any point have enough healthy guys to get us through the season, trade him and get something for him.
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I hear you. You never know which Framber is going to shot up at game time.
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IMO he’s a head case. When things don’t go just right he can’t seem to put it aside and the result is another number in the loss column. I think there’s a few we should unload.
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Wow, this game sure changed complexion quickly! I wish I had blinked and missed it…… 😦
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For God’s sake, send Montero to the same place yuu sent Heinz Abreu.
Gonna have to name that town (wherever it is) Lost Wages……
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In case you haven’t heard they’re talking about bringing him back Friday. What a downer!
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The way Singleton has been playing, Heinz is gonna have to knock him out of the lineup. With his iron glove and lead shoes? Or with his whiffle bat?
I’m not going to holler until I’m bit. Let Espada make his mistakes one day at a time just like the rest of us.
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tof, Singleton is no bargain either. His stats for the month only stink less because we’re comparing him to Abreu. He’s still got a negative WAR on the season. Full time work? No. He’s hitting .178 with a .559 OPS over the past two weeks. Again, Singleton is a nice story, but is just not good enough to play MLB, offensively or defensively. We’ve got a first base solution hiding in plain sight!
I’m not trying to pick on the guy. I’d rather point fingers at Bregman. Every time the guy strings a couple of hits together he celebrates the end of his annual slump. Not so fast. He’s hitting .225 with a .280 OBP over the past month. He’s got 8 BB’s and 15 K’s during that time too. That shows how out of whack he remains.
I’ll talk about Framber later. I suspect we’ll hear from our Chipalatta leadership at some point today. Dan, we need direction!
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Snap,crackle and pop out ends the game. Still scratching my head over this loss
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Our infield played a great game tonight. All four of them made some fantastic plays to cut down Angels. Sure can’t blame the defense for this one.
Nor can we blame the offense though even with his recent improvement Bregman still doesn’t belong at 4th in the lineup IMO. Altuve and Doobie both dood it and Pena looks like he wants to be an MVP.
100% Valdez implosion in the fifth. And it all blew up so fast it reminds me of watching my brother empty a 10g can of gas on a lit campfire. I still have no idea what he was thinking at that moment, either.
But I’m left wondering why, time after time this season, our starting pitcher loses control and starts getting battered while there is nobody starting to get warmed up going into the bottom of the fifth? How does this happen?
Pitching coach? Bullpen coach? Manager?
Is Bagwell making that decision, too?
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Lots to chew on.
Alex Bregman had a great 2 games. Since then he has kind of slumbered back into OK. Last night we couldn’t ask for a better scenario in the 9th given the rest of the game. And he popped up to CF.
Singleton needs to start hitting better. He watched a pitch go down the middle on strike 2 and then swung at a pitch a foot off the plate for strike 3 in his second plate appearance. I appreciate his eye. He extends at bats. It seems even when he strikes out its with a full count. But if he can’t put the barrel on the ball more consistently than that guy coming here on Friday is going to end up back in the lineup. I don’t like looking at short sample, so the last 2 weeks are irrelevant to today’s lineup or else we would have benched Bregman and Alvarez both multiple times, but the overall line of .224/.323/.678 is not going to win many first base jobs around the league.
The last month has been a blast with Martin Maldonado back in the lineup. Yainer Diaz has an OPS of .597 in the last 28 days. He hasn’t hit a HR in a month.
All offensive woes aside, they are still playing well. Valdez imploded in true Framber style. It’s not the first time, but it was definitely one of his most confounding meltdowns after mowing through 4.
Friday is interesting. The Astros not only look like they are going to give us Abreu back but Urquidy and McCormick both look like they will be back on the active roster by Monday, McCormick maybe sooner. Only an idiot would sit Meyers right now, gotta play this hot streak out, but Loperfido should be the unquestioned everyday LFer. He isn’t though because the rookie is getting Baker’d by Bakers understudy, and he is using LF to get Dubon at bats. Now unlike a Diaz/Maldy situation, Dubon is actually a good hitter in his own right, but he can play all over the place. McCormick is only going to muddy those waters. A McCormick trade for a pretty good middle relief arm or a youngster that we don’t have 40 man right now could actually be an announcement that wouldn’t surprise me.
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I question how much authority the coaches have in the dugout. We probably should see Dubon getting some action at 3B with Loperfido in LF, but someone is convinced that not only is Bregman not struggling but they are doubling down and batting him cleanup. I normally agree with the position in the order doesn’t matter argument, but it mattered last night when Alvarez comes to bat as the tying run and the pitcher is pretty happy to give him first base to bring the potential winning run to the plate.
Singleton and Framber have both shown you who they are. Singleton will occasionally run into one and get the stadium rocking, but he has trouble letting go of the previous pitch too often. Framber, well, I’m not sure how I should feel about him. If we had good Framber in the 2021 and 2023 postseasons we probably win the WS both those years. We had great Framber in 2022 and won the WS. We had very good Framber in 2020 and came very close to making it to the WS. There are a lot of fanbases who would build a statue in front of the stadium for bringing home a single pennant. I think a lot of this comes back to my first point, though. We’re seeing a lot of hitters and pitchers not compete with anything close to their ability on a frequent basis. Who is going to hold them accountable?
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Losing Chas would not surprise me. But even though Jake is hitting right now, I’d prefer it be him for a couple of reasons. Chas can play all three outfield positions. Jake only plays center. Chas seems to have a better feel of stealing a base. Chas has hit more over a longer time frame. Either way, we might get some real value back. Selfishly, I hope the dust settles with an outfield of Leon, Loperfido and Tucker at some point. 2025?
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I’m sure Jake could handle all 3 OF positions. The only question about him and RF would be the arm, but that is true of most of the roster currently, including Chas. I think he plays CF exclusively because he is thought of by Espada as the best defensive option on the club, not because it’s all he can play.
I don’t buy that he has all of a sudden learned to hit, like I don’t buy it with Pena. But I do support how Espada has moved them up the lineup card to support their recent success and dropped people that haven’t performed (Bregman the present company excluded). Pena should continue to bat 2, 4 or 5, and Meyers should continue to play.
I do hope also that Loperfido is the CFer in Houston for the next 6-7 years. I don’t know about Leon in LF, there is a lot of the opposite of success before he has found it this year, but it will be fun seeing if he can earn it. No one has ever denied the physical tools.
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In observing Jon’s AB’s, his inability or unwillingness to crush meatballs opposing P don’t seem to mind throwing him down the pipe is head shaking. His power is K Schwarberish. While I appreciate the walk ability, I’d like to see him not eyeball so many hittable FB’s
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I agree with you on Pena, Steven. Be nice to see him tap into his XBH/HR power, but I’m cool with slap happy singles. Batting low in the order gets him P to hit more often. His bad day at the office consists mostly of opposing P feeding him a steady diet of sliders/breaking P (he’s not alone there).
I expected Diaz to regress some offensively given his OJT. His chase rate has him slotted in the 8th hole mostly. Kid has to learn to walk and chew gum to improve his AB’s.
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I just read this article https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/framber-valdez-allows-8-runs-3-home-runs-to-angels and am really not feeling too good about it.
I am afraid that Joe Espada is simply a younger version of a toothpick chewing moron named Baker.
Why in the hell didn’t he have a reliever warming up going into the 5th inning last night? Why did he leave an obviously beaten down Valdez out there after the 2 singles and the first 3 run homer?
The idiot even said he saw the problem.
““When you start seeing fly balls out of Framber’s performance, you know his stuff is starting to flatten out in the zone,” Espada said.”
OK, Joe. So if you saw it happening and knew what it meant, why in the name of little green apples making you sick didn’t you DO anything about it?
Just WTF do you think your job is, Joe?
Dumbass…….
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