Astros’ ChipalattAwards for May

May felt like a better month for the Astros, however, they ended up 2 games above .500 (15-13), after finishing April 2 games above .500 at (16-14).  They did move up to ½ game back of the first place Mariners.

How did they perform in May vs. the other teams in the American League?

Offense – May – Ranking in the AL

.275 BA (1st) / .335 OBP (2nd) / .769 OPS (3rd) / 121 runs (6th) / HRs 34 (T-4th)

Pitching – May – Ranking in the AL

4.27 ERA (12th) / 6 saves (T-8th) / 1.280 WHIP (8th) / 276 Ks (1st) / 98 walks (12th) / 30 HR (9th best)

This is not how May felt to us, when we thought that the pitching was still outperforming the offense. The offense was actually good in May, while the pitching had fallen some. Now, it needs to be stated that a couple stinkers like the two the Astros had in the Rays’ series can skew those numbers severely.

But these awards are individual awards and we need to look at how the individuals did do in May.

Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ pitchers in the month of May.

NameGmWLSvsIPERAWHIPKs/9 IPBAAOBPAOPSABAbipIR/ IS
Framber Valdez6410422.360.9529.0.199.258.646.255N/A
Hunter Brown532030.22.931.01111.4.200.261.606.258N/A
Ronel Blanco3120202.701.0009.9.194.256.604.250N/A
Lance McCullers Jr.501018.15.891.69112.8.260.374.815.354N/A
Hayden Wesneski101049.001.7506.8.313.3891.076.333N/A
Ryan Gusto5010128.252.5009.8.315.441.997.3590/0
Colton Gordon401019.25.951.3739.2.289.322.852.339N/A
Brandon Walter100050.000.8009.0.176.222.458.250N/A
Josh Hader900691.000.77815.0.129.229.519.2000/0
Bryan Abreu1100011.21.541.02910.0.150.261.511.1923/1
Tayler Scott50005.26.352.1187.9.263.444.708.3335/2
Bryan King103109.15.791.2869.6.270.325.703.3465/0
Steven Okert1001011.13.970.88211.9.171.244.512.2405/1
Bennett Sousa900011.23.861.20010.8.261.286.699.3444/2
Logan Van Wey2000315.002.66712.400.4711.071.5002/2
Kaleb Ort1311012.16.571.3788.8.244.327.727.3006/0
Shawn Dubin920010.20.841.31310.1.231.318.626.3334/1
Forrest Whitley40005.116.882.81310.1.360.5001.260.4123/3

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

Starting Pitcher of the Month  – Framber Valdez – After a shaky April, Framber was on a solid roll in May (4-1, 2.36 ERA) and helped re-build the image of the two headed monster at the top of the staff.

Runner-up –  Hunter Brown – the other head at the top of the staff – Brown’s numbers were skewed by his start in the Tampa wind tunnel bandbox. Take that away and he was very, very good in May (3-1, 1.76 ERA outside that start) and could have taken the top spot.

Last Month – Winner – Hunter Brown / Runner-up – Tie – Ryan Gusto and Hayden Wesneski

Special Recognition – Brandon Walter’s single start in his MLB debut – 5 innings of shutout ball.

Relief Pitcher of the Month – Josh Hader – Hader was basically automatic as the only run he gave up during the month was in a non-save situation (surprise).

Runner-up – Bryan Abreu – He pitched a couple times more than Hader and his 1.54 ERA was a bit higher, but he was also overall excellent for the month.

Last Month – Winner – Steven Okert / Runner-up – Tie – Josh Hader and Bryan King

Special Recognition – Shawn Dubin – He was normally coming in the lower leveraged 5th/6th inning area, but he was excellent in May, only giving up a run in his last appearance of the month.

Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ position players in the month of May.

NameABsRunsDblsHRsRBIsBBsKsBAOBPOPSBAbip
Isaac Paredes103163471317.262.347.850.250
Jose Altuve10313358717.262.306.743.268
Jeremy Pena110134518514.327.380.898.337
Christian Walker103103316527.223.268.627.267
Cam Smith759707922.307.388.788.434
Yordan Alvarez4000001.000.000.000.000
Yainer Diaz99123512517.283.330.795.299
Jake Meyers981653111016.327.389.879.367
Brendan Rodgers466113322.152.204.443.261
Victor Caratini716328311.310.367.804.339
Zach Dezenzo5811427923.241.343.757.364
Chas McCormick18210214.222.300.578.285
Mauricio Dubon52741712.314.333.762.323

Positional Player of the Month – Jeremy Pena – Pena takes the top spot again – leading the team in RBIs and putting up an excellent slash of .327 BA/ .380 OBP/ .898 OPS.

Runner-up – Jake Meyers – Meyers led the team in runs scored and also put up an excellent slash of .327 BA/ .389 OBP/ .879 OPS.

Last Month – Winner – Jeremy Pena / Runner-up – Isaac Paredes

Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Cam Smith – Even without a home run during the month of May, Smith showed he really belonged between his excellent fielding and base running and his strong slash for the month – .307 BA/ .388 OBP/ .788 OPS

Runner-up  – Dubin

Last Month – Winner – Gusto / Runner-up – Okert

Honorable Mention – Zach Dezenzo – in only 58 at bats, his 11 runs scored and 7 RBIs were big contributors to a better offense effort in May.

Biggest Disappointment – Tayler Scott – After being one of the feel good stories of 2024, Scott pitched his way off the roster fairly quicky in May. Here’s hoping he can pitch his way back to the bigs with Arizona.

Runner-up – Ryan Gusto – After pitching very well the month before, he fell on hard times in May with that 8.25 ERA sticking out like a sore thumb.

Last Month – Winner – Yainer Diaz / Runner-up – Tie – Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker

Honorable Mention – Forrest Whitley – Is this the last stand for Forrest? He has to step beyond being a human punching bag for the opponent. And he has to stay healthy.

Some Comments on May

There are some interesting and puzzling things that happened to the Astros in the month of May:

  • The starting pitching only picked up 8 of the 15 wins for the month.
  • Bryan King and his 5.79 ERA picked up as many wins (3) as Hunter Brown. Of course, if you drop his one terrible, horrible, very bad appearance (5 runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Rays) he had a 1.00 ERA in his other appearance during the month.
  • It sure did not feel like Isaac Paredes had the same amount of RBIs (7) for the month as Mauricio Dubon, Dezenzo and Smith.
  • Christian Walker had a below average slash, but he did drive in the second most RBIs (16) in May.
  • Yainer Diaz had much better numbers for the month than my eyes would have told me.
  • Those pitching numbers for the month of May are schizophrenic – for every good set of numbers there is a godawful set of numbers.
  • The numbers may emphasize the difficulty of Joe Espada’s job. Who do you trust? Who do you give more at bats to? Who do you sit? Who gets the high leverage innings? Who comes in when you are down 12-2?

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

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31 responses to “Astros’ ChipalattAwards for May”

  1. Forrest Whitley did nothing in Sugar Land this season to earn his call up. There really are not many other options on standby though. He’ll continue to get some innings when a game is out of reach, one way or the other. But not for long. The Astros have committed nine years to the former first round pick. If he becomes a successful ML pitcher, I do not think it will happen with the Astros.

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  2. Good morning. I know this is not awards related, but I was discussing Framber with my brother last night via back and forth texts. The Astros have six guys due to collectively make 138 million in 2026; Altuve, Yordan, Hader, Lance, Walker and Javier. Even if they want to, how can they pay Framber? That still leaves 19 more guys to get contracts to. Some of them ready for Arb money. Significant Arb money. Keeping the payroll in Crane range will not give us a whole lot of wiggle room. And as the boss has insisted, the Astros will never be sellers. Does that still apply?

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    • One of the sites publishes a “we tried” leaderboard each offseason. It tracks the offers to players which teams know won’t be accepted. That’s what Houston’s plan is here. Going into last offseason Framber and Max Fried were basically the same pitcher. So far, Fried has been really good and Framber has been only a hair less-good. The real difference is that NYY gets him for only $14.5M this year and next, but then gets to pay him $31.5M for 6 consecutive years. This gives me the opportunity to bring up that NYY has paid Gerrit Cole $180M and is on the hook for $144M more over this season and the next three. I don’t know the timeline for his return, but I would expect it’s no later than mid-summer 2026. We can’t do those contracts or take that risk. Just paying Altuve this year and the remainder of his contract is a problem we’ve already discussed this year. The options really were try to win with Framber this year or try to move him for prospects. Our farm didn’t have enough potential replacements to make that move without seriously damaging the team’s chances to win in 2025. That has to be Brown’s top priority and it’s not going to come via free agency due to the budget constraints mentioned above.

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  3. I’ll take a shot at this Daveb – using Spotrac to help me

    • Like you said – those 6 guys will be making $138 million
    • The “luxury” tax for 2026 is supposed to be $244 million
    • On the plus side – Jose Abreu ($19.5MM), Rafael Montero ($8.5 MM), Ryan Pressley ($5.5 MM) and Tayler Scott ($200K) will not be owed anything in 2026 – a little less than $34 MM
    • Current arb folks will get raises – my guess at their final number – Paredes ($9.5 MM), Pena ($9 MM), Dubon ($6 MM), B.Abreu ($7MM) and Meyers ($5 MM), Chas McCormick ($3.5 MM) and Luis Garcia ($2 MM) – $41.5 MM for 7 more people (13 total)
    • New arb – Hunter Brown ($4.5 MM) and Yainer Diaz ($4 MM) – $8.5 MM for 2 people (13 total)

    Note – they will certainly want to buy out a couple of these guys with extensions – but will it happen?

    • Free agents likely coming off the payroll – Caratini ($6 MM) and Rodgers ($2 MM) – I think they would like to re-sign Caratini but may not be able to afford him in a bidding war.
    • Setting aside Framber – the Astros have approx. 10 other players on the 26 man that are making approx league minimum (~$800K each) ~ $8 MM (25 total)
    • So that gives you $229.5 MM without Framber – not enough to sign him and stay under the $244 MM
    • Even if the Astros unload Dubon, Chas and Jake – which I think all may happen – that only pulls $14.5 MM off the payroll down to $215 MM. Maybe you could then get Framber for that $29 MM if you make no other additions to the roster – sign no other free agents.
    • I don’t see it happening – but on the other hand – I don’t know where the innings to fill his spot are coming from.

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    • Dan, I think Chas and Frenchie go. Based on what Jake is doing now, he makes the cut. Chas might be gone this year, if healthy.

      I wonder about Victor though. He’s been good and has one of those rare lefty bats.

      I also think Hunter gets more than 4.5 million. Can you get away with giving a 20 game winner that little?

      We decided last night that Framber might take somewhat of a hometown discount. I just don’t see him being comfortable elsewhere. But that still would be at least 5 years at 30 million. Plenty of teams would pay more than that. And the Astros might not pay that much.

      So do the Astros use him to the end, hoping for post season magic? Or would Jim Crane follow the Tucker concept of getting what we can for him at the deadline even if we’re competitive in the division? I think Crane would have us getting nothing for Framber before he’d fold on the season.

      Dan, I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to get excited about monthly awards, or even consider them.

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  4. On another note – I don’t see many comments when I put up the awards – it is fairly labor intensive and if folks don’t care for it – I can go other directions. Just wondering.

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    • I appreciate the effort, but generally don’t have any disagreements with your awards. My suggestion would be to pare back the information a bit and not present as much. I’d maybe give your selection and brief explanation for a couple categories and only offer a comparison if it’s a close race.

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    • I think brilliant posts from you every time. I love reading them. Don’t have much to disagree with, and not enough watching what’s going on experience to get free any contradictions. weirdly, with the local blackouts and so on, I see the Astros less now that I live here in HOU than I do when I’m back home in the UK, with my mlb app / deal. I can see them in the screens in the Yard House, but of course the commentary is not available (it’s a loud bar). but the posts are brilliant

      please keep going

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    • I think brilliant posts from you every time. I love reading them. Don’t have much to disagree with, and not enough watching what’s going on experience to get free any contradictions. weirdly, with the local blackouts and so on, I see the Astros less now that I live here in HOU than I do when I’m back home in the UK, with my mlb app / deal. I can see them in the screens in the Yard House, but of course the commentary is not available (it’s a loud bar). but the posts are brilliant

      please keep going

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  5. Lots of great information today guys. Dan, your awards look is great, you should keep doing them. Sometimes people forget that baseball is played in cycles and get stuck on overall numbers. The overall numbers are terrible for this offense, but for the last month they have not been that bad.

    My take – what makes Cam important to this lineup right now is that unlike Pena, Diaz, Walker, Dubon, even Altuve, he lays off bad pitches at an acceptable rate. He is no Isaac, but the ability to lay off outside pitches or even be willing to let that less hittable strike go by is the first ingredient to getting to all-star level. Sure, some guys bat to ball is so good they can either hit that bad pitch (like Altuve) or really punish mistakes (Yainer), but most guys need to have more focus on the strike zone and forcing their pitch. I don’t really know how the Astros rank in the overall, but they have seen 162 3-1 counts so far this year, the Yankees have seen 235. And that is no coincidence that the Yankees have a .345 OBP and the Astros a .321. Force your pitches. But, the Astros were much better at laying off pitches in May than they were in April. Some of that maybe less at bats by less desirables like Rodgers, but they did it while missing their best hitter most of the month.

    As for all the salary/contract talk, it’s interesting. They have a lot of ways they can go. They are still paying Greinke next year. In the end, Zack is getting roughly 88M from the Astros for giving us a Kikuchi like run in 2019, and being an innings eater in 2020 and 2021. So 52 starts, 88M. And not all was at a superstar level. My point, the Astros should let Framber go. I heard the guys on SportsMap guess that Framber’s starting point – 5/160. We have gotten Framber’s best years. We don’t need to pay insane amounts of money for his lesser years because he “earned” them in his early years. See Zack Greinke for reference. That’s why they should trade him EVEN IF they are contending this year and still looking for pitching themselves. He is an ace, and you can get back an aces return from Boston or Toronto or the Phillies who think they all have legitimate shots this year – and we might get the next Cam that we watch for at least 5-6 years.

    Cam has shown enough to me for the Astros to look at what the Red Sox just gave Kristian Campbell as a model. Yes, Kristian is going to make a boat load of money in years 7-10 of that contract, but the overall tax count on that contract comes out to something like 9M a year. They should also look at getting Hunter a bump for the next 3 years in order to buy out the first 2 years of FA, and then if he is that good through those 5, he is in the same boat as Framber. Let someone else pay a stupid salary for his older years.

    In the end it’s Jose’s fanbase that got him resigned. His merch alone probably pays a bit of that salary. But on the field he is not likely to earn all of that 25M a year, but I think he can still have streaks like the last 14 days.

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    • Yeah, Framber fills an immediate need for us. But he can also help us continue to fix a roster without being here. Thing is Steven, I don’t think Crane lets him go at the deadline if we are still looking competitive as we head towards the home stretch.

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      • Agree Dave, I don’t think they would trade him if they are contending, I just think they should. But they haven’t called me yet to get an opinion.

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  6. Dan P’s thoughts:

    • So guilting works? OK – I did not do that to get unearned responses – but to find out what works and what does not with my awards features. Unfortunately – now I need to write the whole response for some and the executive summary for others – LOL.
    • I think they should work to bring Caratini back and if Meyers continues anywhere close to this pace. But I was trying to see what it would take to slice enough from the budget to get Framber back. Frankly it does not make enough sense to me to chase him.
    • The bigger question is the one brought up by a number of you – do we trade Framber or ride him to the end of the season and let him walk? (Or re-sign him which I don’t really see as a possibility). Straight away – there is no guarantee we trade him and get a Tucker haul or anything close. But the key to sustaining this team is infusions of youth. Even a “veteran” like Paredes (26 y.o.) brings quite a bit of value with years of control. I’d love to see them take a shot with a deadline trade – but in reality, I don’t think they do that unless we fall off badly in the next two months.
    • The big rolling dice thing here – can they count on Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, J.P. France and even Lance McCullers Jr. through the end of the year and beyond. A crazy question but if Lance pitches well the next two months and you could find a trading partner, would you send him off for some youth? Even if you need to slide some cash along with it?

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    • Dan, I just LOL’ed. I guess I’m selfish. When I have a thought on my mind, I write about it, because the other option is to forget what I was going to write about.

      Time flies. The deadline is already less than two months away. And anything can happen between now and then. I hope we see some creative, significant changes especially as it applies to getting younger and more athletic. I hope the club is continuing to think that way.

      I’d like to see Walker wake up and have a solid stretch. Someone else might think they need him. That gives us more options going forward.

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      • If the Astros are out of the race at the trade deadline, I would trade both Hader and Framber.  Fans would riot if Altuve or Yordan were traded and I doubt if we would get equal value if we traded LMJ, Walker or Javier.

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      • AstroNut, I agree that other clubs would want Hader too, but I don’t think the Astros have a full rebuild in mind. Il like what he’s turned onto this year. And although it might be a sacrilege, and certainly would and could not happen due in part to a no trade clause that I’m sure is somewhere in the contract, I’m personally not so sentimental, so I would not mind if Jose Altuve played his last years on another team. But to reiterate, it would never happen.

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    • No! Why pay LMJ when he wasn’t pitching and then trade him when he finally comes back? He looked good tonight and you need three good starters in the playoffs

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  7. Heck of a game. Lance matched Skenes for six innings. He held the Pirates to two hits and a single walk. LMJ has made remarkable progress coming off his 900 plus day rehabilitation. I did not expect what he’s provided.

    That’s quite a defensive outfield of Melton, Meyers and Smith. What if they all hit?

    Christian Walker has had some timely homers.

    Sure would be nice to see Gusto throw a good game tonight.

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  8. Thoughts

    • Lance McCullers Jr should change his middle name to Whenhealthy. When healthy he has continued to be a very good pitcher. Can he help us bridge the time until reinforcements show?
    • The Astros came extremely close to winning two 1-0 games in a row
    • Not too often you total 9 hits over two games and win them both
    • How bad is the Pittsburgh offense that Paul Skenes is 4-6 with a 2.05 ERA? I think we saw some of it last night
    • Walker continues to be feast or famine, but his homers have been vital this year like daveb said
    • The Astros are screwing with my head to the point where I go – who is that new guy at 2nd base – oh its Altuve
    • This was the game it looked like the Astros would lose – let’s see if they can get on a roll through the rest of this series

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    • I like to remind people that Roger Clemens was near-unhittable in 2005. 13-8 with a 1.87 ERA across 211 IP. The team lost six games in which he surrendered 0 runs. He had two losses where he surrendered more than 3 runs. Skenes is going to look really similar at the end of the year…but with more Ks.

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      • He’s only had one season (2021 – 166.1 IP between majors and minors) where I say – that is a whole season of pitching – since he was a rookie in 2015 and pitched 157.2 between majors and minors. So – I am just a leeeeeeettle bit wary.

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  9. Skenes

    • Has won 3 games where he gave up 0 earned runs and 1 where he gave up 1 earned run
    • He has lost two where he gave up 1 earned run – including last night, two where he gave up 2 earned runs, one where he gave up 3 and one where he gave up 5
    • His no decisions include one where he gave up 1 earned run and two where he gave up 2
    • He has gone 6 or more innings 11 times and 5.1 and 5 one time each
    • He is leading the majors in IP, tied for most starts, best WHIP in the NL, and highest WAR in the NL for pitchers

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      • Basically, he said that he would play who he wanted to play instead of whom Click/Brown wanted him to play. He also solicited Crane to nix the Wilson Contreras trade.

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  13. Last night’s game just frustrated me as I watched them make Burrows look like DeGrom. So it got me thinking. This game happens in the margins. Hitting into double plays when you have opportunities. Striking out with runner on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Over the years we have watched this get worse and worse and worse as we have always replaced players with slightly lesser players every time they leave. We haven’t had a LF since Brantley got injured. We haven’t had a CFer since Springer left. Cam is a bright spot to watch grow but he is no Kyle. 1B has been a mess since Gurriel got old. Pena is much improved but he is no prime Correa (not today Correa who somehow still plays baseball looking like he can’t stand up). I love Isaac, but MVP caliber Bregman was a beast. Only at catcher do we seem “better” but man Yainer can frustrate you at times.

    The Astros have scored 3 runs or less in 34 of 61 games. They are amazingly 12-22 in those games, which is actually pretty good. Consider that Seattle has scored 3 runs or less in 26 games and are 6-20. Most contenders look like Seattle. We are being carried by pitching. Even though Gusto looked once again very hittable, and not throwing strikes, the Astros still ended up giving up just 3 runs and went against a guy making his 3rd major league start – their version of Gusto or Gordon, not a heralded prospect but kid thrown into the fire because of availability, and we got nothing. How good is our pitching been? We and Kansas City are the only teams in baseball with a winning that has scored 3 runs or less in more than half their games. Thats how good.

    I think my point here is every time they run up against someone that is pitching well they have no ability to scratch out runs. You have to tip your cap to Burrows, he is a not that young of a prospect that spent years in the minors to get here, making his 4th appearance against a playoff caliber team, and shut them down. But why are we giving Walker 20M to flub up a 1st and 3rd situation with just one out? Mike freaking Burrows man, you are Christian Walker. Come through. I get it when Paul Skeenes does this to you. I don’t get it when you let Mike Burrows do it to you.

    If you can’t scratch out against Mike Burrows, what is going to happen when its a playoff series against Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt? The thing is, because of Hunter, Framber, and that bullpen, we are probably getting there, but will probably let Detroit or New York or Seattle send us home early unless this offense somehow morphs into a team that can lay off marginal pitches.

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    • Steven – you made point after good point here. The Astros offense is worse because the players overall are worse. I will point out that Walker was the main reason you beat Skenes, but the point is well taken – they just are not producing when the easy runs are ripe for the picking.

      Getting a “real” Yordan back will help, but will not patch all the holes out there – that’s for sure.

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