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Astros 2024 Oddities

As anyone who may read this post knows, I almost always link present-day Astro occurrences with some happening in Astros and baseball history after my almost 60 years of fandom. Sometimes I’m sure it may be annoying. “Oh, here he goes again, telling us about the time Julio Gotay pulled the hidden ball trick in a game sometime back in the late ’60s. Why doesn’t the know-it-all just shut up?”

Today’s post heads off in a completely different direction. This one looks at several oddities with the 2024 Houston Astros that this brain cannot link to any other known occurrence (to me).

Here goes….

The Kyle Tucker Return of the King

While this could have been about Tucker being the first guy shelved for three months by a bruise, the recent reveal of his actual fracture removed his injury from consideration for this list.

However, the oddity in this case is Tucker’s likely return to the Astros lineup this weekend. This is the first time in my knowledge that a player has missed this much time (he last appeared in a game on June 3rd) and gone right back into the lineup without a rehab assignment.

For instance, when Jose Altuve missed a couple months after being hit by a pitch in the World Baseball Classic last season, he had a minimal rehab (2 Games at Corpus and 3 Games at Sugar Land) before returning to the big club.

I’ll be happy to see Tucker back as soon as possible. I just hope he can get his swing back soon, too.

The Singleton Saga

There are several fascinating things about Jon Singleton’s long and winding road to being a part-time first baseman for a pennant contender in 2024.

  • He was part of the return from the Phillies for Astros’ favorite Hunter Pence during the Great Deconstruction back at the 2011 trade deadline. Who else came back in that trade? SP Jarred Cosart, RP Josh Zeid and OF Domingo Santana.
  • He was the #27 top prospect in the majors heading into the 2013 season according to Baseball America.
  • He was the first player the Astros successfully signed to a major league contract while still in the minors – signing a five-year / $10 million contract that might have bought out some of his arbitration years, if….. he had a normal career of a high draft prospect.

But what got Singleton on this list was the sidetrack his career took. He was given the first base job in 2014, and on the plus side, he had 13 doubles, 13 home runs, and 44 RBIs in 95 games. But he was an all-or-nothing hitter, striking out 134 times in 310 ABs with a .168 BA.

Jon only played 19 games with the Astros in 2015 with similar poor results. He kept having problems as his weed habit had him facing multiple suspensions. He was waived in the fall of 2016, made it through waivers and spent 2017 at AA Corpus. In the off-season before the 2018 season he was suspended 100 games for marijuana use and the team released him. He admitted he was a drug addict and needed to work on it and disappeared.

He resurfaced three years later in the Mexican League in 2021 and played well enough to hook into the Brewers AAA for 2022. He got a short, bad cup of coffee with the Brewers in 2023 and was released. The Astros signed him, and after tearing things up at Sugar Land, he was called up for the end of the season, which was highlighted by his first home runs in the major leagues since July 29, 2015, which was more than an eight-year gap.

He is being forced to play more in 2024 more than maybe folks would like, but he is doing OK. Sure, a bit under MLB average but certainly better than what Jose Abreu was bringing to the table.

I can’t recall a situation like this where a major leaguer went eight seasons between home runs. Usually, those folks are long gone from baseball before that could ever happen.

Ronel Improves with Age

Age is the operative word with Ronel Blanco, who signed with the Astros organization out of the Dominican at 22 years old. Excellent international prospects don’t sign at 22 or 21 or 20. Cristian Javier also signed out of the Dominican, but he was pitching in the Astros’ organization as an 18-year-old. You just don’t see a pitcher signed this late become anything. And certainly, he did not exactly charge up the rankings. He first appeared at AAA in 2019, putting up an uninspiring 5.74 ERA at 25 years old. He threw 6 poor innings with the Astros at 28 years old in 2022 and was very mediocre with a little longer stint in 2023.

If someone can suggest a parallel to this (other than the guy from “The Rookie”) of a guy who was thought to be franchise filler and a reliever to boot becoming a star in the majors for the first time at the age of 30. A guy who makes the rotation out of Spring Training because a) he pitched well in ST and b) the Astro starting pitchers were dropping like flies.

So, he starts the season for the first time in the majors and in his first start….he throws a complete game no-hitter. We get told that the Astros’ GM Dana Brown had pinpointed him as being starter material in 2023 and he worked like a dog on a third pitch (a changeup) that hypnotized hitters for most of the 2024 season.

The closest I can come to his story with the Astros was when Brad Peacock, after struggling for years with injuries and performance, busted out as a 29-year-old critical cog in the Astros’ 2017 championship season. But even with Brad, he had been given 24 major league starts in the 2014 season. It was not entirely out of nowhere. But Blanco has been.

You Are from Where? The Tayler Scott Story

Tayler Scott seems to fit into this collection of oddities perfect. Before he came along, the number of pitchers from South Africa, who made the major leagues was exactly zero.

He was born in South Africa and when he turned 16 his family (partially) moved to the U.S. to allow him to go to school and play baseball. At 19 he could have gone to the University of Arizona, but instead he was drafted and was signed by the Chicago Cubs. He became an immediate success. Well, not quite.

He spent five seasons in the Cubs organization, only making it up to the AA level before being released. He bounced around until he made his major league debut at 27 with the Brewers and then with the Orioles in 2019. They were both small samples, but bad samples.

He then became the first South African pitcher to pitch in the Japanese league – JPWL – for two seasons. He returned to the U.S. in 2022 and over the next two seasons had a number of cups of coffees in the majors to mixed success before being picked up by the Astros before the 2024 season.

Not counting the time in Japan, the Astros are his 11th (eleventh!!!) organization. So, here he is at 32 years old doing the Astros a solid. If you look for perseverance in the dictionary, there is a picture of Tayler Scott, who has a 2.04 ERA after 5 months of shoring up the Astros’ bullpen.

Scott’s may be the most unusual path among the 2024 Astros. But this is part of what makes baseball and this particular club so fascinating to follow.

 

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34 responses to “Astros 2024 Oddities”

  2. To OP, regarding the sod, the outfield grass, lately, has shown bare areas where the outfielders routinely set up. I had made mention to the wife about it during the past month. This morning, as I perused the local news on Fox 26, the website had a story with pics showing the new sod being laid in the field thus replacing the bare areas. I thought to copy and post it but then I became distracted.

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    • I thought the outfield grass must have gotten beaten up by non baseball events. It looked like a bigger mess than the outfielders could have made when I was there back in early July.

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  3. I feel Singleton has played well enough to receive a look in spring training next year. If we do not sign a new first baseman or if one of the inhouse minor leaguers do not grab the chance, then Singleton would probably be penciled in as the starter for most games. Because he is a first baseman only, his opportunity to make the club, next year, is tight.

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    • Numbers are a funny thing. We sometimes prescribe parameters to ourselves that really are arbitrary. If a guy is hitting .260, we think, that is serviceable. If he is hitting .240 we think, below average. The actual impact of .260 to .240 is felt once every 15 games. But .250 seems a number most people have stuck in their heads.

      So I turn to Jon. Considering the Astros are paying a guy 19.5M next year to sit at home and drink cocktails by his pool, and that there are going to be considerable holes at 1B, 3B (likely), LF, probably 2 starting pitchers, and maybe another arm, you have to ask how many of these positions are going to be filled with a 20M a year dude? And who is out there at 1B better? Walker and Alonzo. Thats pretty much it. Walker is likely getting 25M a year for more years than you want to go at his age, and Alonzo, well, break out the checkbook for that one.

      My plan would be Yainer at 1B. But they don’t care about my plan.

      I will say this – the numbers don’t lie. His stats on 2nd and 3rd consecutive days are mind blowingly better. On third consecutive days + they are ALMOST serviceable 1B like. But doing that is taking a chance, because you have a much longer track record of just abhorrent suck. If he is in the first base mix next year, it should be as the starter, with the occasional off day against lefties. He has proven he is a rhythm player, he says it, the Astros recognize it, it feels that way in his at bats, and it shows in the stats. If you are not going to give him a rhythm, you should release him, because he is a substandard player in every other regard. He tried to score from 1st the other day on that double, and he was out by a mile. A better athlete makes that. He is a defensive liability, making the occasional good play because he has been playing that position his whole life, but also letting grounders bounce off his forearm for leg em out doubles. But if you want a guy to hit .230+, with a .310+ OBP, work pitchers, and hit the occasional bomb, you are going to have to live with the warts. The option is spend money you don’t have on an upgrade or creatively fill it internally. But not to sound arbitrary, but a .400 SLG from a 1B would be nice.

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  4. This has been a most remarkable season. I really hope these guys finish September strong and clinch the division, putting us back in the post season where no team will be excited about playing us.

    I said early in the week that by my suspect math 14 of the guys on the 28 man expanded roster were not with the Astros in 2023. Most of that was not scripted. And I know we’ve used 30 something pitchers. So many stories. We’ve gotten help from so many different unexpected sources. And we’ve gotten so little help from some expected sources.

    We’ve watched our new manager in his best and most suspect moments. We sent our first baseman home and the new old guy has somehow hung on to the job, for better or worse. So many injuries.

    Of course I wrote these guys off in June. That’s probably why this might be my favorite Astro team. And I have to admit, when people bad mouth this club, it offends me. That clan across the way seems to think it’s their given right to be watching the Astros in the ALCS and anything less is a disgrace.

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  5. correctomundo db7! I think most if not all of us thought the Astros were toast in June but baseball for the most part is not a sprint. As you pointed out there were numerous disappointments but also some pleasant surprises. It seems that when I stream the game live the bugaboos come out and when I don’t they are nonexistent. I think we all believe we can get to the finish line again and move on to the playoffs. I look forward to that. I think we’ve been a little bit spoiled by our previous successes. Hopefully that will continue.

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  6. Good morning!

    We sure are getting a lot of the good Framber lately. He’s our ace. We’re now 17-8 with him on the mound.

    The M’s seem to have shaken their demons, at least for the time being. We need to win a few in a row again. All of the teams we’ll be seeing as we head down the stretch are playing competitive baseball right now. I’d like to get a game back this weekend.

    Alex Bregman must really be hurting. He’s played just three of the last eight games and gone 1-8 at the plate. We need him hitting and playing as much as we need Tucker hitting and playing.

    Kikuchu has performed well beyond expectations. Can he give us another one against a tough offense?

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    • Remember that could have been a blog entry I wrote on winning percentages? It’s why I still don’t want Blake Snell. Even if the pitcher doesn’t win, it’s his job to put his team in a position to win. JV and Framber are over 60% for their career – basically those two dudes, if you have 5 of them, you win 100 games every year (well pre-2024 JV anyway lol). Blake Snell is at 51%. 5 of him, you are not even a playoff team. Thats how good/imporant Framber is (17-8 means the Astros are a .680 club when he pitches!). Now what does that mean for a contract? Thats up to his agent. I wouldn’t go past 4 years for him, given his age, and that he is a pitcher – but it should be an easy contract to get insurance on given his track record so I would be up for it.

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  9. Good morning! I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s almost cool up here in the hills. Very unusual for early September.

    5.5 game lead again. Kirby pitched a beautiful game giving up just one hit through seven innings and then allowed a 2 run dagger in the bottom of the 8th. His guys could not score.

    Tonight would be a wonderful time for Justin Verlander to show us a bit of readiness for our own optimism, and more importantly, for his too. He’s a big key. If he can manage this line up tonight, I know I’ll feel better.

    Tiny sample here, but I am reaching for something. Chas, in 8 games over the past two weeks has hit .304 with an .812 OPS. Gosh, if he emerges from a season long slump now, it would be a great help.

    Are we going to see both Tucker and Bregman in the line up tonight in support of the Verlander cause? Two of three would leave a hollow feeling at this point.

    An early road test for the Texans today!

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  10. $3.75 million per GAME to play football!!!??? Are you f___ing kidding me!?

    And people think I’m looney tunes when I tell them it’s all a big scam. Yeah, I’m the crazy one. Uh huh……

    That’s a LOT of money for bread and circuses while our country rots from the inside out!

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      • I don’t know…apparently JV gave up a 3 run shot and then a grand slam to the same guy. That’s not good, but it’s pretty impressive.

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      • And a solo shot, too, apparently. A two run dinger now and he’ll have hit the cycle out of the park.

        Gotta be the first time that’s ever been done. Hell, I kinda hope he does! Why not?

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      • Just checked gameday and it looks like he may get another AB if his teammates can help him out. But no 2 run homer yet.

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  13. I wasn’t able to get on after the game last yesterday (Saturday) and I wanted to make a note and a question here…

    Carroll, for the diamond backs, slid into second base, on a double play, and literally upset Altuve. 99.9% of runners, on first base, will duck out of the way on their way to second base on a double play ball. Carroll did not, thus subjecting Altuve to possible injury. If I were managing, Carroll would have been dusted off the next time he came to the plate for that play at second base but, nope, he did not go down or even faced chin music or any high cheese in subsequent at bats.

    No, today, looks like JV is very, VERY rusty.

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  17. Thoughts

    • Yeah Dave – Chas is hitting the ball the other way or up the middle and suddenly he is good again.
    • On the radio they said this was the 4th time in his career JV had given up a grand slam and the last time was 14 years ago to former Astro Luis Valbuena when he was with the Guardindians. That is rather amazing.
    • I think they also said that the last time he gave up 8 runs in 3 innings or less was like 11 years ago.
    • So, along with the way he started the game walking the bases loaded – JV is doing extraordinary things for the first time in forever – just not extraordinary in a good way. If you look at gamecast – they were mostly feasting on 93 or 94 mph fastballs left over a good chunk of the plate. Never good.
    • The team might have dug out of a 3 or 4 run ditch yesterday but 8 runs was a bridge too far.
    • When did Nick Hernandez show up? I think I missed that transaction.
    • Tucker got a hit even if it was a bloop, had an RBI and two runs scored. Something.
    • They get a day off and then take on the A’s who have been hot (do the Astros get to play anyone who isn’t hot?)

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    • Astros sent down Whitley and Salazar to make room for Hernandez and Meyers a few days ago. Brown is probably trying to make sure the Space Cowboys are ready for the postseason. Regarding climbing out of the hole, they had opportunities with runners on and just couldn’t capitalize. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.

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  18. in watching JV he couldn’t get the ball ove with any of his breaking stuff and his 93/94 mph fast ball had no movement at all and caught a lot of the plate. The batters were just sitting on the fastball.

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    • That was the first game I have gotten to watch this year and I saw the exact same thing. Zero movement on his fastball and only vertical drop out of the zone on his breaking ball. The only time the Arizona batters were fooled was when the ump called a strike on pitches that were out of the zone. Batting practice baseball.

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  19. I did this exercise last week when at whatever point the Astros had gotten the lead back up to 6.5 games.

    As of today, if the Astros were to go 10-9 the rest of the way, the M’s would need a 14-4 finish to end up with an 87-75 record. They’d likely win the division based on present head to head records.

    A lot of stuff will happen between now and the finish line. Winning the division is not an automatic.

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  21. Good morning,

    JV looked hittable. That’s the best way I can put it. Yes, as noted by others, fastball has no movement, sits at 92, and the hitters can sit on it because he can’t throw anything else for strikes. Right now it’s just ugly. I wouldn’t make a career out of doubting JV but right now he looks ever bit of 41 and has to be contemplating the “this is it” button.

    Chas is going to make this playoff roster interesting. Gamel and Heyward are both lefties that probably aren’t going to play CF. Chas may still sneak on to this playoff roster.

    To be honest, Ronel has earned that playoff rotation spot more than JV or Spaghetti. Spencer does provide a strikeout arm though you can go to in a 2nd/3rd and one out spot.

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