Astros 2025 – DIY Blog

Dan P is heading out for some well-deserved vacation time, so today – you get to write the blog.

Here is a bit of fill in the blank for you…..

  • The biggest surprise about this year’s Astros so far is ……
  • The worst case scenario for this Astros season would be…..
  • The best case scenario for this Astros season would be….
  • The best out of the box move the Astros have done so far is….
  • If I were filling out the Astros lineup card right now it would look like this….
  • The key Astros offensive player who needs to get it going is…..
  • The key Astros pitcher who needs to keep it going is…..
  • If the playoffs started today (and the Astros were in it) my rotation would be….
  • Between Jim Crane, Dana Brown and Joe Espada – the one doing the best job this year is….
  • I think when the 2025 season ends, Lance McCullers Jr. will have ……

Thanks for your help today. You will get the same salary I do.

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13 responses to “Astros 2025 – DIY Blog”

  1. We are finally seeing some more complete team ball and the Astros record is improving. Walker had a good night after the day off we wanted him to get (the one they gave to Yordan when he didn’t need it). Ronel finally looking like 2024 Ronel – that was good. They were exactly right about Paredes taking advantage of that pull heavy fly ball swing.

    OK – c’mon guys lets get on a streak.

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  2. It was so good to see Blanco go 7 very good innings and Walker come to life. I really like Parades and Cam Smith might be a future good glove right fielder. I was impressed with Whitely two days ago and hope he can avoid another injury. He just might be the long reliever the Astros can use. I wish Dezenzo could get more playing time as he and Smith together in the lineup would probably give more strength offensively to it. Also Dan, I’m looking forward to my paycheck.

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    • The checks in the mail Larry!

      The good part to this season is that the offense has stunk far below where it will end up and they are still above .500 and only two games back.

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  3. Biggest surprise – Jake Meyers. Even his outs are hard contact.

    Worst case – Losing either Framber or Hunter to the dreaded TJ.

    Best case – All 5 of the guys you started with all give you 24+ starts, with Brown and Valdez going 30+, and LMJ giving you 12-15.

    Best out of the move box – Moving Cam Smith to RF and putting him in the everyday lineup.

    2B – Altuve, 3B – Paredes, DH – Alvarez, 1B – Walker, C – Diaz, RF – Smith, SS – Pena, LF – Dezenzo, CF – Meyers with Rodgers pushing Altuve to LF occasionally against lefties, Dubon spelling everyone else when they need it and Caratini catching more, pushing Alvarez to LF, Diaz to DH when I need another lefty against a righty that is terrorizing righties, but honestly, I’m looking for another left handed bat to replace Rodgers. I’m still a little stunned Hummel didn’t make this team over Rodgers, but I get it – Rodgers has at least a significant amount of experience at the major league level and helps hide Altuve’s declining defense at 2B.

    Walker and Diaz both need to get it going, and more than the one game they got it going yesterday.

    If Hunter Brown stays on his current pace he will break 200 innings, win 20 and a Cy Young. Keep it going young man, but we realize its not realistic to finish the year with 1.16 ERA.

    Brown game 1, Framber (on a short leash) game 2, Ronel game 3. Assuming Spencer is back could be game 4, or LMJ if he manages to be upright at that time. Wesneski has the kind of plus stuff that could get through 3 or 4 in a playoff game, or he could get yoinked.

    Not happy with any of them, but Espada is at least dancing around the teams weaknesses enough to keep in contention.

    100 innings. I wouldn’t bank on it if I was the GM, but I think fans are about to be pleasantly surprised by LMJ.

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  4. Dan, have an excellent adventure! I will dutifully respond to your busy work.

    1. Biggest surprise? Yainer has been hopeless at the plate. He hit a double last night and looked bad. He’s too talented. But he’s done getting anything close to the plate until he can become more disciplined.
    2. Worst case? I presume you mean on the field. Pitching staff gets decimated by injuries and the bats keep stinking.
    3. Best case is simple. The Astros win the World Series.
    4. Best move is certainly the Tucker trade.
    5. It’s impossible to build a good Astro line up right now, but so far, I can’t hold any crappy line ups against Joe, due to the horrible hitting as a group. I would not keep trying new things though. Altuve, Paredes, Alvarez, Walker and then Pena probably. I’d play Diaz a bit less for now. I might put Cam at 6 or 7. The bottom third you use the guys that are good match ups, or maybe had a good game the night before. Jake hitting 5th makes no sense. His OPS is back down to .640 something. But he certainly is showing his value in other areas.
    6. See number 1. But Yordan has to set the tone.
    7. I’d say Framber needs to give us Framber.
    8. I can tell you that my first pitcher in that rotation would be Hunter Brown at this moment.
    9. Dana had a good off season. Joe deserves some credit for keeping things stable. I’m still not getting meeting minutes from Crane though.
    10. No clue on Lance, but I’d sure like him to be healthy.

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  5. Dan, have an excellent adventure! I will dutifully respond to your busy work.

    1. Biggest surprise? Yainer has been hopeless at the plate. He hit a double last night and looked bad. He’s too talented. But he’s done getting anything close to the plate until he can become more disciplined.
    2. Worst case? I presume you mean on the field. Pitching staff gets decimated by injuries and the bats keep stinking.
    3. Best case is simple. The Astros win the World Series.
    4. Best move is certainly the Tucker trade.
    5. It’s impossible to build a good Astro line up right now, but so far, I can’t hold any crappy line ups against Joe, due to the horrible hitting as a group. I would not keep trying new things though. Altuve, Paredes, Alvarez, Walker and then Pena probably. I’d play Diaz a bit less for now. I might put Cam at 6 or 7. The bottom third you use the guys that are good match ups, or maybe had a good game the night before. Jake hitting 5th makes no sense. His OPS is back down to .640 something. But he certainly is showing his value in other areas.
    6. See number 1. But Yordan has to set the tone.
    7. I’d say Framber needs to give us Framber.
    8. I can tell you that my first pitcher in that rotation would be Hunter Brown at this moment.
    9. Dana had a good off season. Joe deserves some credit for keeping things stable. I’m still not getting meeting minutes from Crane though.
    10. No clue on Lance, but I’d sure like him to be healthy.

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  6. Thoughts

    • Strange how fast things can flip – after their 5-1 home stand – the Astros are 1 game out of first place in the AL West and 1-1/2 off the best record in the AL
    • My brother texted me about how Ryan Gusto reminds him of Brad Peacock. Between him and Wesneski they are giving the Astros a shot every time out.
    • Not great hitting last night but enough,
    • Now they are talking about moving Cam Smith to CF? That would really shorten Jake’s role since he only plays center. A trade may follow
    • Walker over the Mendoza line and Diaz following

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  7. I can’t link to it here, but on the Astros mlb.com page there is a MLB Pitching Power ranking that has Hunter Brown at 6th. 6th!!! Sorry – the dude has been top notch all year. It makes no sense.

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  8. TK and Blummer were gushing over Pena. I saw two soft grounders he beat out, a grounder that hit a base, and a grounder that deflected off the pitcher. I don’t see an improved player. Different batting stance, same slider chaser. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on him, .265 with 15-20 HR from your SS that will also play very good defense and run the bases like his pants are on fire is great to have (until he costs 15M a year, then probably not). But no amount of saying he is improved is showing he is improved.

    Walker is starting to pick pitches. When that happens, the 30 HR power is shortly to follow.

    Gusto has more than just a cool baseball name. He has pretty darned good command, at least through 50 pitches. Pitches 51-70 look questionable, and we haven’t really seen him past that yet but I would assume thats because Joe sees that too. Five outstanding innings on repeat is more than a lot of teams have in that 5 spot in the rotation.

    Dan – I’m sure Jake Meyers could play LF or RF as well, he just isn’t on a roster with Julio Rodriguez – he will always be the CFer when he is on the field with this roster. But if Cam Smith, who is the type of athlete that can handle CF, were to move there the Astros could move Jake, especially while he is hitting. Meyers is making 2.3M this year and Chas is at 3.4M, and Jake may actually bring you a relief pitcher that could help. Chas could be moved just to get the roster spot freed up on the 40 man and the 3.4M off the books. At a combined 5.7M they could be the breathing room you need to bring help at the trade deadline – and Cam in CF opens a door for Zach in RF. I think we all agree that Zach is a better hitter than both Chas and Jake.

    Lets say Houston made a deal right now – Jake Meyers to Detroit for Houston native (and pretty darned good relief pitcher) Will Vest? We might need to throw in a minor leaguer but it helps both teams – as Detroit just has zilch in CF and we need the 7th inning arm. Thats what Cam can do for us in CF.

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    • Steven, I’d suggest Jake needs to bring back more in return to be worth the move. His bat may disappear, but the defense should play. Look no further than the 2024 Yankees for how quickly the season can end because of poor defense. Even if you could move Cam to CF you would still benefit by having Jake as our defensive OF replacement over Dubon.

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    • I like that the Astros are allegedly trying to at least consider how to generate more offense than Jake has historically provided.

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  10. The biggest surprise of this season so far is the Astros current record, at 13-11.

    The worst case scenario for this season would be letting another free agent walk without getting some good players in a trade for him.

    The best case scenario for this season would be having LMJ come back healthy, getting Javier back healthy and trading Valdez.

    The best out of the box move so far is getting two starting position players and a starting pitcher for Tucker.

    The key offensive player who needs to get going is Diaz.

    The key Astros pitcher who needs to keep it going is Blanco.

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