With the Astros on the cusp of the quarter pole of the season, what are the concerns about this team?
I’m concerned ….
- That after Saturday’s outing by Lance McCullers Jr. there are concerns about whether he is hurting and whether he is ready to be a part of the rotation at this point. He faced eight hitters gaining only one out. He hit one batter, walked three, gave up three hits including a three run homer and gave up five runs while he was in the game and was responsible for seven runs scoring. Before we totally panic – lets remember a worse first inning pitching line from 2024 – 14 batters faced – 2 outs – 1 walk – 11 hits including a home run – 9 runs allowed by Hunter Brown.
- For humanity or for what sometimes disguises itself as humanity these days. Death threats against Lance McCullers need police intervention and jail time. Death threats against his wife and children – triple up that jail time. I am not sure if this is based on just a$$-hat trolls or somebody who lost this week’s paycheck betting on the over for McCullers strikeouts. I know that most folks are not unhinged, but there are some out there and it worries me for the future of the planet.
- That after a decent start to the season, the starting rotation has me concerned at least for the short run. McCullers had a very concerning outing. Spencer Arrighetti – there has been no update on him since the end of April and they still show a mid-May return for him. Since mid-May is this week and no update on him throwing – this does not appear to be happening any time soon. Hayden Wesneski is on the IL now. AJ Blubaugh was bad in his one appearance. Ryan Gusto had a bad outing out of the bullpen after being pretty good as a starter. The only recent blurb about Luis Garcia, J.P. France and Cristian Javier is that Javier threw 15 pitches off a mound on Friday, so maybe he could come back by mid-season? On the plus side, Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco are all coming off very good outings.
- That Yordan Alvarez lied about his age and he is actually the same age as Yuli Gurriel. Or his hands and knees are.
- That Jose Altuve (who may or may not miss time over a hamstring pull) is going to further continue the fade of 2024. Two years ago he slashed .311 BA/ .393 OBP/ .915 OPS, last year .295/.350/.790 and so far this season .259/.308/.682. As a reminder he is making $33 million this year and the next two before sliding down to “only” $15 million his last two contract years.
- That the five relievers with ERAs under 2.00 – Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu, Brian King, Steven Okert and Bennett Sousa may not be able to keep up this excellent performance, especially with the rotation facing their challenges.
- That for the first time in many seasons my concerns may come to fruition.
So, what’s bothering you about the Astros these days?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
18 responses to “Astros 2025: What Concerns You?”
What bothers me is that I went onto the four letter network’s scoreboard on Saturday to find out what time the Astros game was. There was only room to display a handful of games and ours was not one of the lucky ones with out hitting the see all link to display the rest. Why was there no room? In between each matchup there was a sponsored link to whatever betting site showing the line for each game. I need to train myself to go elsewhere to get information about sports, but old habits die hard.
I’m not going to overreact to LMJ having a stinker. If he gives us something it will be great. If he doesn’t, well, I guarantee he will be more disappointed than anyone else. Arrighetti’s bone has to mend correctly and he’ll need some time to ramp back up. I think mid-June would be a more realistic target.
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Dan, yes, I’m concerned. Have been for a year or two, though the Astros have had a bit of luck (and resilience) along the way.
It’s much easier to get to the top of the mountain than to stay at the top, and that explains a little of what we’re seeing…
It looks like Espada has used 37 different lineups. Four different players have hit cleanup and five different players have hit in the nine hole…all — as Dan suggested — before the quarter pole.
It may still be early to panic for 2025, but I’d probably be more concerned about the long-term direction of the club. Is Crane/Brown going year to year or do they have a 5-year plan?
Are they thinking/planning tactically or strategically?
What’s the plan when Altuve and Framber are gone?
I’m also wondering what you may consider the over/under date for Cam Smith going to SugarLand. They aren’t playing him every day and he realistically needs to be on the field every day.
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I would like to see Dezenzo play at some position every day. I think Altuve should play every day also. I believe Dezenzo is better defensively in LF and could probably handle 2nd better than Altuve also (even though he is 6’5″). I think the new 2nd baseman from Colorado is not necessary as we have Dubon. Put Altuve where he will hurt the team the least. I did not agree with Cam Smith starting with the Astros, and I still think he would benefit with more seasoning at AAA. The team seems to be patient with Lance and hopefully he will regain his stride. I hope they can identify the idiot who threatened him and his family
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Thats a great question Chip. Personally, I think baseball has to be a year to year plan. Thinking in terms of 5 years – from the 2020 squad only Altuve remains in the lineup and Framber as a rotation piece (that gives you something). I think your “long term” just has to be 3 years at most.
The best plan is just draft and develop well. That’s it. Take contracts as they come, and stop letting guys you know you aren’t going to be competitive for in the market walk with no return. Talk about plans, think how good this team might be if 2 or 3 of the countless prospects you could have gotten for Correa or Springer or Bregman become productive major leaguers, or even 1 of them become a star.
I’m not saying you have a firesale every July of every available free agent. But I don’t know if you let one of the more productive pitchers in baseball walk in November if you know you aren’t ready to compete for his services. I am not even sure they should, they have probably gotten Framber’s best years, so why give him the 5/130 it will take, and what if a bidding war ensues and someone goes 6/155? Does anyone that has watched this team REALLY think it’s winning a world series this year? It’s not a bad team, it’s just not a great one.
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Hey Chip
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And a call out to the crawfish boxes
Astros Crawfish Boil: May 12, 2025 – The Crawfish Boxes
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My concerns –
Wesneski is on the IL with elbow issues and decreased velocity. That diagnosis has not gone well for the Astros in recent years.
That Luis Garcia is done.
That Lance McCullers will not see a velocity increase. Right now he is very hittable. He knows it. That’s why he is picking around the zone and walking people.
I’m concerned that Framber is going to walk for a 85-77 team that misses the playoffs, for nothing.
What I’m not concerned about –
Third base. Isaac is not Alex, but his strengths are what I think make players make the most of their skillset.
First base – at least for 2025. Has Walker struggled, absolutely. But is he behind every fastball and lining foul balls into the first base dugout? No. He will be fine.
Yainer is Yainer. Don’t expect selectivity. But expect mistakes like yesterdays fastball belt high in the center of the zone to get punished with 3 run homers. And expect the get aggravated when he strikes out an outside slider when you needed the ball in play.
Cam Smith – first to say he probably should be at AAA, at times he looks overmatched, but he is confident and will see a hot streak.
I am not concerned about an Altuve fade because I expect it. His OBP will continue to drop. His batting average won’t drop as much as his OBP but it will also drop some. He is 35. It is what it is. Can he still be productive? To a point, yes, and I am happy to see him spend more time at 2B to get Zach in the lineup over Rodgers, even if that is not our premium defensive lineup.
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I’m concerned about plagiarizing what others are saying.
First, I have not read the content of what was apparently said on X regarding the McCullers family, but if as advertised, there should be an arrest made.
Is our medical team and on field staff in sync? Wesneski loses 4 mph on his fast baseball and skips a start. He goes on the IL following his next start a week later with an elbow issue. Was he already hurt before the KC start?
Altuve goes out with a hamstring issue 2 days ago. He’s playing tonight. Why?
How long was Yordan’s hand throbbing during the worst offensive start of his career before the club reacted?
Urquidy, Garcia, France, McCullers, how many rehabs have gone wrong with this club?
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Regarding Altuve, where do we hide him defensively for the next five years? And is he aging quicker than I thought he would, or is he simply stuck in a month long slump like most of his teammates have experienced at some point this young season?
Maybe Cam Smith will heat up. I was initially disappointed that he was not sent down in March for daily live pitching in AAA games, which likely would have given Dezenzo and Chas more reps. But I’ve watched him play a quality outfield and show the best reads on the bases of any guy on the club. He’s got great instincts. In my head, he gets at least until the end of May at this point. Will he help the team in positive ways during this next 14 game stretch?
Speaking of Chas, at some point, I think he’s going to play everyday for another team and we’ll miss him. He’s almost been discarded, but he has not gotten enough done is the brief shots he’s gotten in 2025. He’s a quality centerfielder that will hit if playing daily.
There are plenty of other concerns, but I want to balance things out a bit. Paredes has done everything we could ask of him except for hitting on the road. Diaz and Walker are starting to remind us that they can hit and will hit. Jake has helped us win some games. Admittedly, I’m still dubious. If Blanco can give us most of what we got last year, it’s a pretty solid top of rotation with Framber and Hunter. Let’s see what Gusto does tonight. He’s kept us in games. (a couple of bad pitches in the 2nd inning and a couple of good ones that should have given him three outs) When Arrighetti finally gets back, well after the clubs initial vague time table, he should stay well below his innings count of 2024, but at this point, he needs a full Spring Training.
I forgot about McCullers. Lance missed 900 something days. He’s certainly not ready to pitch in the big leagues yet. But he is. That’s poor management. How many starts does he get?
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I think you play Altuve at LF or 2B through the end of the contract and make decisions on a game to game basis whether to bring in a defensive replacement late in the game. His offense will dictate how many starts and how difficult it is to pull him in those games. I have no inside knowledge, but I’ll say he has to decide how hard to apply himself to limit his liability.
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I guess it’s appropriate to be concerned about our starting pitching at this point.
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Under the concern category: Based on Baseball Reference methodology, Jose Altuve now has a -0.8 dWAR. He’s going to need a hefty OPS to counter his lack of defense.
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I like Ryan Gusto. With good health, I think he’ll be a successful major league starter. With a bit of help, he let that game get away last night with two outs in the second inning. A ball four that could have been called a strike. A bloop hit. A bad route to what turned into a triple. And then he could not throw a strike. 1 zip turned into 7 zip very quickly.
This club will still be in pretty good shape if we’re playing .500 ball after the next 13 days. As discussed, we’ve got some warts, but if we get to a point where we are hitting and pitching at the same time, the Astros will be competitive.
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Thoughts
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Sunday evening, Roster Resources had Colton Gordon listed as Wednesday’s starter for the Astros. I looked lots of other places to confirm that, but couldn’t. Now, on Tuesday morning, it is announced and I realize that we don’t get all the info that others are privy to.
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Jeremy Pena ended last April at .327. He hit .275 in May and at the end of May was at .285 with 5 HR and 21 RBI. He is on pace to beat those numbers a bit by 1 June this year but he wasn’t bad at the start of last year either. It sticks out this year because the rest of the offense has been bad.
Now, the caveat, he finished May last year with 8 walks. He is already at 11 with 16 games to go before 1 June. If that number is at 20 by 1 June, THAT is the real step forward. When I watch him, he looks like a guy that is laying off at least some of those sliders that have plagued him for years. The path to controlling your ebs and flows is strike zone control. And he is showing an improvement in that in a way that should keep his streaks longer and his slumps shorter.
Will that turn into the mythical Pena step forward season? I hope so. It seems to have become an annual event projecting it.
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For years I have marveled at how poorly Houston performs when playing the KC Royals.
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Astros Crawfish Boil: May 13, 2025 – The Crawfish Boxes
And we shout back to the crawfish boxes for linking to us today
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