Chipalatta Awards: 2024 Season

Your faithful servant knows that in general the most critical thing for the fans is that the Astros did not make it to at least the ALCS for the first time since 2016. But it is worth looking at the individual performances for a team that rallied from the depths of a bad start to another AL West division title.

Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ pitchers for the season.

Name	Gm	W	L	Svs	IP	ERA	WHIP	BAA	OBPA	OPSA	BAbip	IR/ IS
Framber Valdez	28	15	7	0	176.1	2.91	1.106	.221	.286	.595	.213	N/A
Hunter Brown	31	11	9	0	170	3.49	1.271	.242	.310	.667	.307	0/0
Ronel Blanco	30	13	6	0	167.1	2.80	1.088	.190	.273	.627	.221	0/0
Spencer Arrighetti	29	7	13	0	145	4.53	1.407	.250	.334	.758	.321	0/0
Justin Verlander	17	5	6	0	90.1	5.48	1.384	.274	.331	.781	.303	N/A
Yusei Kikuchi	10	5	1	0	60	2.70	0.933	.188	.234	.542	.241	N/A
Cristian Javier	7	3	1	0	34.2	3.89	1.413	.233	.329	.740	.263	N/A
J.P. France	5	0	3	0	25.1	7.46	1.697	.290	.364	.868	.321	N/A
Josh Hader	71	8	8	34	71	3.80	0.958	.171	.248	.591	.230	11/7
Bryan Abreu	78	3	3	1	78.1	3.10	1.162	.207	.299	.643	.287	28/8
Tayler Scott	62	7	3	0	68.2	2.23	1.165	.188	.299	.609	.232	27/10
Ryan Pressly	59	2	3	3	56.2	3.49	1.341	.264	.322	.718	.338	6/1
Seth Martinez	44	3	2	1	52.2	3.59	1.272	.246	.321	.743	.269	20/3
Shawn Dubin	31	1	1	2	45.1	4.17	1.566	.256	.353	.728	.331	14/2
Rafael Montero	41	1	1	0	38.1	4.70	1.409	.248	.348	.809	.243	9/3
Bryan King	28	1	0	0	26.1	2.39	1.139	.211	.303	.597	.302	12/4
Kaleb Ort	22	1	1	0	24.2	2.55	0.811	.180	.215	.653	.161	9/3
Caleb Ferguson	20	0	1	0	21	3.86	1.476	.265	.351	.676	.375	7/2
Hector Neris	16	2	1	1	15.1	4.70	1.043	.237	.270	.744	.263	4/0
Brandon Bielak	10	0	0	0	17.1	5.71	1.673	.297	.373	.860	.306	4/2
Parker Mushinski	10	0	0	0	11	6.55	1.455	.256	.340	.735	.250	0/0

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

Here is a comparison between 2023 and 2024 for Astros starting pitchers:

Year	W	IP	ERA	WHIP	BAA	Ks	BBs	HRs
2023	61 (1st in AL)	900 (2nd)	4.17 (8th)	1.29 (9th)	.248 (9th)	852 (5th)	312 (12th)	130 (T11th)
2024	59 (4th in AL)	880.2 (4th)	3.81 (T5th)	1.24 (8th)	.233 (2nd)	887 (2nd)	326 (14th)	111 (4th)

Anyone closely watching the Astros season knows that the biggest component in their rise from 10 games back in June was a drastic improvement in a makeshift starting rotation that was missing Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia from the get-go and who lost J.P. France, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy early in the year.

Top Starting Pitcher of 2024 – Ronel Blanco – If we don’t count Kikuchi who only pitched in ten starts for the team, Blanco led the Astro starters in ERA/WHIP/BAA/OBPA. He was moved to the bullpen for the playoffs due to the amount of extra innings he pitched in 2024. But looking at his brilliant numbers in September this might have been a mistake.

Runner-up – Framber Valdez – He stumbled a bit in his wild card appearance, but he was right there with Blanco as the best starting pitcher for the entire season.

Top Starting Pitchers from 2023 – Framber Valdez / Runner-up – J.P. France

Special Recognition – Hunter Brown and Yusei Kikuchi – After struggling to start the season and going to the bullpen for one appearance, Brown went 11-5 with a 2.48 ERA the balance of the season and was looking more like Justin Verlander than Verlander did at the end of the year. Kikuchi came in with most of the faithful fans doubting the trade that brought him here. He went 5-1 and the team went 9-1 in his starts with the team only falling in a game that did not matter and where he gave up two unearned runs.

Here is a comparison between 2023 and 2024 for Astros relief pitchers:

Year	W	Saves	IP	ERA	WHIP	BAA	Ks	BBs	HRs
2023	29 (13th in AL)	42 (9th)	545.1 (15th)	3.56 (4th)	1.27 (7th)	.230 (3rd)	608 (8th)	225 (7th)	71 (T-5th)
2024	29 (T7th in AL)	43 (T6th)	551.1 (13th)	3.66 (4th)	1.25 (7th)	.228 (T7th)	592 (8th)	218 (8th)	72 (T8th)

Some folks may complain that the Astros spent big money to bring in Josh Hader and it got them nowhere as they basically performed very close to their 2023 numbers. On the other hand, the Astros had lost Phil Maton, Hector Neris (for a while), Ryne Stanek and Kendall Graveman (due to injury) from the 2023 bullpen and still held things steady.

Top Relief Pitcher of 2024 – Tayler Scott – After moving through ten organizations with minimal MLB success, Scott came in and pitched terrific out of the bullpen going 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA until an injury ended his season. He filled that 6th/7th inning spot that Maton filled in 2023.

Runner-up.   Bryan Abreu – He was a step down from his 2022 and 2023 lights-out performances, but of the three prime pitchers at the end of the bullpen (Abreu, Josh Hader, and Ryan Pressly), he had the best numbers in the high-leverage innings.

Top Relief Pitchers of 2023 – Tie – Bryan Abreu & Hector Neris / Runner-up – Phil Maton

Special Recognition—Bryan King and Kaleb Ort—Both pitchers came in and pitched very well in significant innings down the stretch for the Astros. King, a 2019 30th-round draft choice by the Cubs, was picked up off waivers in December 2022 (during the Astros GM gap period). Thirty-two-year-old Ort had run through seven different organizations, including five in the last year, before the Astros picked him up off waivers from the Red Sox.

Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ position players for the season.  

Name	ABs	Runs	Dbls	HRs	RBIs	BBs	Ks	BA	OBP	OPS	BAbip
Yainer Diaz	585	70	29	16	84	24	107	.299	.325	.766	.338
Jon Singleton	355	48	13	13	42	47	111	.234	.321	.707	.299
Jose Altuve	628	94	31	20	65	47	119	.295	.350	.790	.337
Jeremy Pena	602	78	28	15	70	25	111	.266	.308	.701	.301
Alex Bregman	581	79	30	26	75	44	86	.260	.315	.768	.264
Mauricio Dubon	402	45	25	4	47	16	55	.269	.296	.657	.299
Jake Meyers	461	51	20	13	61	35	117	.219	.286	.646	.263
Kyle Tucker	277	56	13	23	49	56	54	.289	.408	.993	.282
Yordan Alvarez	552	88	34	35	86	69	95	.308	.392	.959	.317
Victor Caratini	245	30	8	8	30	23	53	.269	.336	.744	.310
Chas McCormick	242	32	6	5	27	17	72	.211	.271	.576	.274
Jose Abreu	113	10	2	2	7	4	28	.124	.167	.361	.143
Joey Loperfido	106	11	5	2	16	7	43	.236	.299	.658	.371
Trey Cabbage	86	12	8	1	8	4	34	.209	.253	.590	.333
Ben Gamel	58	13	3	1	4	11	17	.259	.377	.739	.350
Jason Heyward	55	8	2	4	9	5	17	.218	.283	.756	.235
Shay Whitcomb	41	1	3	0	5	5	8	.220	.304	.597	.273
Cesar Salazar	25	5	2	0	8	2	6	.320	.387	.787	.381

Here is a comparison between 2023 and 2024 for Astros position players.

Year	BA	OBP	OPS	Runs	HRs	SBs	Ks	BBs
2023	.259 3rd in the AL	.331 (3rd)	.768 (3rd)	827 (3rd)	222 (5th)	107 (8th)	1241 (2nd)	550 (4th)
2024	.262 (1st)	.322 (2nd)	.740 (4th)	740 (5th)	190 (5th)	93 (10th)	1176 (2nd)	448 (13th)

Baseball experienced a 0.23 run per game per team drop in scoring in 2024. But the Astros doubled that as they dropped about a half-run scoring per game this season. That was a little disturbing, even with Kyle Tucker missing about half the season with his injury, since both Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez missed significant time in 2023 and the Astros had both Martin Maldonado and Jose Abreu in the lineup the whole season. That approximate 20% drop in walks sure stands out.

Top Positional Player of 2024 – Yordan Alvarez – Yordan was not as good in 2024 as he was in 2023, but he was still the best hitter for the Astros, who played the whole season with his strong .308 BA/ .392 OBP/ .959 OPS. One thing that stands out in his numbers is that he had 142 ABs in 2024 but had 11 less RBIs. Now was this due to trying a little too hard to produce with runners in scoring position or showing that he was missing the protection of Tucker for 3 months of the season?

Runner-up – Tied – Jose Altuve / Yainer Diaz – Altuve put up very good .295 BA and .350 OBP numbers, along with a team-leading 94 runs scored. Even though Diaz’s propensity to avoid walks suppressed his On-base numbers – his .299 BA and his 84 RBIs were critical for this team and unheard of for an Astro usually playing catcher.

Top Positional Players of 2023 – Yordan Alvarez / Kyle Tucker

Special Recognition – Kyle Tucker – Tucker played in only 78 games on the season. If you double that you get 156 games – he played in 157 games in 2023. Doubling his production, he could have ended up with a special season – 112 runs/ 46 HRs/ 98 RBIs/ 22 steals. One of the best things about his stats was that in a season where his teammates were whiffing a lot more often than walking – he had 56 walks vs. 54 Ks.

Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Ronel Blanco – Blanco was a 30-year-old making his first MLB roster out of Spring training. He had a career 4.78 ERA with 24 appearances (7 starts) before 2024. But in his first 2024 start he threw a no-hitter. He kept the rotation afloat when no one else was pitching well. He put up excellent numbers for the season. Without Blanco the Astros would have headed home earlier than they did.

Runner-up – Tayler Scott – As detailed above, the first MLB South African pitcher became a constant positive out of a bullpen where those around him were disappointing the fans.

Biggest Surprise (Positive) 2023 – Yainer Diaz / Runner-up – J.P. France

Biggest Disappointment – Chas McCormick – I could give this to Jose Abreu, but frankly, what were we expecting from him this year. Chas went from the guy who gave them an excellent stat line in 2023 (.273 BA/ .353 OBP/ .853 OPS/ 22 HRs/ 70 RBIs in only 405 ABs) to the guy who disappointed the heck out of them (.211 BA/ .271 OBP/ .576 OPS/ 5 HR/ 27 RBI in 242 ABs.

Runner-up – Justin Verlander – maybe unfair due to his injuries, but he never looked like the guy who had always pitched lights out for the Astros.

Biggest Disappointment 2023 – Jose Abreu / Runner-up – Rafael Montero

Some Comments on Season Stats

• Altuve led the team with 94 runs and Alvarez with 86 RBIs. The last time the Astros had no one reach either 100 runs scored or 100 runs knocked in was way back in 2015.
• Maybe the Astros should not bring in Josh Hader to dig out of a jam. He allowed 7 of 11 inherited runners to score. Ryan Pressly only allowed 1 of 6 inherited runners to score. Of course, Hader was usually trying to clean up behind Pressly.
• Seth Martinez only allowed 3 of 20 baserunners to score. That is very good and unexpected.
• That .315 OBP by Alex Bregman is 40 points lower than his worst in the previous 7 seasons, which is a bit disturbing for someone who wants the Brink’s truck to back up (again) to his locker.
• The catching combo of Diaz and Victor Caratini is the best-hitting duo the Astros have ever fielded behind the plate.
• Hader had the most saves (34) on the team – duh. Pressly was second (3) – tell me something I did not know. Third was…. Shawn Dubin with two? Surprise.
• Fascinating how closely the bullpen of 2024, as a whole, tracked the numbers for 2023. The same amount of wins, 1 more save, 6 more innings pitched, 0.1 higher ERA, .02 lower WHIP, .002 lower BAA, 16 fewer K’s, 7 fewer walks, and 1 more HR allowed.

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