It just feels like it is time to pass along some questions to our loyal readers…
- Knowing what you know now would you have been OK with a straight up trade of Kyle Tucker for Cam Smith?
- Have to admit that the idea for this came from a discussion on the 610 radio this morning. But the base question is great – has Cam shown enough that years of control of him would be better than one year of Tucker?
- What is the biggest surprise to you in the bullpen crew?
- Bryan King – 35 gm – 3-1 – 2.97 ERA
- Steven Okert – 31 gm – 1-2, 1 sv, 2.52 ERA
- Bennett Sousa – 23 gm – 1-0, 2 sv, 1.57 ERA
- What is the biggest surprise to you in the starting rotation?
- Ryan Gusto – 17 gm (11 starts) – 5-3 – 4.62 ERA
- Colton Gordon – 8 gm – 3-1 – 3.98 ERA
- Brandon Walter – 4 gm – 0-1 – 3.80 ERA
- What is a bigger surprise? Note – WAR numbers taken from baseballreference.com
- The top three position players in WAR being – Jeremy Pena (4.6), Isaac Paredes (2.4) and Jake Meyers (2.1) or….
- The bottom three position players in WAR being Jose Altuve (-0.2), Yordan Alvarez (-0.5) and Christian Walker (-0.9)?
- What is a bigger surprise?
- The Astros being 47-33, second-best record in the AL and tied for third-best in the MLB after everything that has happened to them or….
- The Astros being 16-6 in June with Yordan Alvarez, Lance McCullers Jr., Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, Chas McCormick, Zach Dezenzo and a cast of thousands all missing time for all or part of this month
- Who is doing a better managing job in the AL than Joe Espada (47-33)? A.J. Hinch (50-31)? Anyone else?
- What is a bigger surprise?
- The Astros being 5-1 in extra inning games.
- They have traditionally been bad with the Manfred rule including 6-10 last year
- The Astros being 16-7 in one run games
- Last year they were a poor 18-27
- They were good last year (46-25) but that’s only a 92 win pace
- The Astros being 29-13 (The equivalent of a 111 win pace) at home
- The Astros being 5-1 in extra inning games.
- If you were the Astros GM Dana Brown heading towards the deadline, would you trade for…
- A solid #3 starter to solidify their rotation for the playoffs?A right hand reliever to offset their overly lefty (4 of them) bullpen? When have we ever said that?A solid left handed bat who could move between the outfield and first base?
- Other?
- Who does Joe Espada need to sit a little (or lot) more?
- Christian Walker.
- Jose Altuve.
- Taylor Trammell (this one is a bit of a joke).
- Brendan Rodgers (when/if he returns).
- Who does Joe Espada need to play a little more?
- Victor Caratini (has played 53 of 80 games)
- Luis GuillormeCooper Hummell
- Shay Whitcomb (who they would have to recall first)
So, what do you think?


35 responses to “Astros’ 2025: 10 questions for you”
Well somebody gave this post a 2 out of 5 star rating – I hope it is a fat finger mistake
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2, 3: no right answer
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Wow…amazing job on the formatting of my post. Sorry for any confusion there, folks.
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I watch these games and then I get up and walk around a bit, shaking my head. It’s rare to watch any club with so many deficiencies (at least on paper) keep winning so many baseball games so efficiently!
I keep thinking it can’t keep up. But now we’re starting to close in on the All Star break with a pretty good lead. And some of the calvary might be on the way before long. So even with a stumble over the next couple of weeks, we’ll likely be able to absorb it. I’ve had fun watching this club, but my stomach does not feel the same way.
Dan, I’ll respond to your post in the morning with coffee in hand, as the neighborhood monkey troop is raiding the mango tree.
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Good morning,
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On to the rest of the story –
6. Espada. He took over a franchise that lost 3/5th of its rotation, then lost 3/5ths of the replacements. He is getting guys in spots they can succeed. One run games are an indicator of how well a manager “gets” his roster. He had some growing to do last year as the head man. He is clearly made for the job. We’ll always have moments where we think he shoulda went with that guy in the 7th or done this in the 8th (example, I would have not pitched King last night, that might have cost Hunter the W). But overall, he has been a great drum major.
7. All those numbers are stats they probably have a regression to the mean coming. That’s why it’s important to not to think we are set, but pursue an upgrade or two.
8. A lefty hitting LF that can hit tough pitching. Doesn’t have to be a superstar, or a ton of pop, just a decent average against righties guy that also won’t be strikeout fodder in the playoffs against Cy Young caliber pitching.
9. Can’t sit Walker. Or Altuve. Bats are too important. Rodgers should already be released. Trammell can also go, he has no role on this team since he isn’t the answer to 8.
10. Oh man Shay Whitcomb where you have gone. Guy has done everything in the minors he can. Joe has no confidence in him. He is behind a lot of people on the depth chart. He would be better off in another town where 3B is a problem and he can get an opportunity.
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Finding that lefty bat and finding a place to put that lefty bat is a real conundrum. LF and 2B are the only places to hide Altuve. Maybe DH every now and then is still an option, as it seems Yordan has been spending time in left over the past week, running and throwing. Maybe it means nothing. Ultimately, if we get that lefty bat, the only solution for Jose is 2B when a righty is on the mound. And that means he might put up a -3.0 dWAR on the season. These issues are just another indication of how well Espada has managed the constantly changing 13 guys he has to work with.
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Earlier in the week, one of the producers for local sports talk here mentioned something you were surely aware of. The Mets had dropped another game to the Braves and were in the midst of a 1-10 stretch. After winning the last two games, NYM are now 48-34 on the season. I think this points to just how good a job Espada has done this year. As Chip pointed out, the team will drop a game here or there but are winning just about every series they are in. That’s how you get to the postseason. What happens with the Mets? Well, I personally think they’re a dysfunctional lot prone to streaky baseball. I have always had the opinion for an MLB team, no matter how bad the roster your team should be able to play baseball approaching .500 if the players are invested in winning.
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9 &10. Sit Walker more an play Caratini more.
Until we get more LH hitters in the lineup, teams will continue to roll out RH starting pitchers against us.
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Back to a separate issue. We’ve played half the season. Jose Altuve has a -0.4 combined WAR. If you look at his Baseball Savant stats broken out, both offensively and defensively, it’s hard to find anything positive.
This would not happen in 2025, but going forward, what are the chances he becomes a part time player on a team getting younger all around him, despite his quest for 3000 hits?
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I’ve said it before – but I think that Altuve and his agent structured the contract the way they did so that by the end of year 3 most of the money will have been paid. It will not surprise me if he retires at 36 and moves on in life.
I know watching his at bats right now are painful – it seems he goes out of the zone, and I mean pitches that statcast would call “uncompetitive” pitches by the pitcher – just going after them too much. I don’t know if his read time is disappearing before our eyes and he is starting to “cheat” to get out in front of it a little, and the result is just some bad swings, or if he is still there physically and pressing. Pitcher makes a mistake to him middle up or middle in he still makes them pay – but the rest of it, he looks very “gettable” to a pitcher.
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His 2024 stats aren’t a whole lot better than his 2025 stats and he had a bref oWAR of 4.8 last year compared to 0.9 this year. The differences are getting hits in about 1 more out of every 30 AB and stealing more bases. His slugging is also down a little thanks to fewer doubles, but statistically that’s related to the fewer hits thing. The stolen bases may or may not be influenced by where he is hitting in the lineup and team strategy. His performance will likely continue to drop off. At the same time, look around the league and see guys like Mookie Betts (32) putting up a .728 OPS for LAD with 7 more years of $30M to 35M on his contract after this one and maybe you’ll feel a little better.
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Devin, Mookie is someone’s else’s problem, but he’s got a 2.7 WAR today because he can still play defense. Speaking of Jose, he’s on pace to have a negative WAR on the 2025 season. Hopefully his bat will heat up, but he’s not going to get better defensively going forward. He’s 35. He had a solid positive 3.4 combined WAR last year. That’s a huge fall off, both offensively and defensively. So do you want to see him play every day next year in that quest for 3000 hits if he continues his decline?
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Dave, back in the spring I suggested we’d see Altuve pulled for defensive substitutions late in the game and you disagreed with me. We’re seeing it. I have no illusions as to whether his defense is as good as Betts’ who is 3 years younger. The point is about the money and what’s owed. We have yet to see a big contract in Houston really benefit the team. I don’t want to see Altuve play 162 games as he clearly can’t do that at age 35 and beyond. I’d rather see Altuve in his decline chasing 3000 than Luis Guillorme or Brendan Rodgers with the caveat that Espada should be smart as to when to rest him, when to pull him for performance reasons, and when to let someone else play the field.
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Love all the responses – have enjoyed reading them…
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Thoughts
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Good morning,
Brandon Walter is turning into a real story. I’ll bet there are a few Red Sox fans that would like to know why their organization could not coax what the Astros have from Walter. He worked his way around a heck of a line up last night.
I’m not ready to give up on Ort yet either. He’s got good stuff, just does not know where it’s going all the time. Can a 33 year old with a big arm be tamed? The walk screwed up his inning. The double was of the seeing eye variety.
It was so good to see those two big three run shots from Cam and Yanier. I sure hope our bats give Lance some cushion tonight.
I’m not sure about our new third base coach when he’s directing traffic over there. Tucker at least has an accurate arm, and Paredes, already slow, is just getting over the hammy problem.
Trammell might be better off turning down the amps a notch or two. It might not help, but at 27, he’s not very polished in any area.
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Thoughts
Off the bat I did not think Yainer’s homer was a homer – low angle but a ton of carry
Cam’s was a long moon shot looked gone when he connected
Sorry we had to use Hader last night but just two pitches
Getting a lot of mileage out of Walter, Gordon and Gusto – not just quality but decent length outings. That will be the thing to watch with Lance tonight
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Well, that didn’t take long!
Tampa Bay has DFA’d Forrest Whitley only two weeks after acquiring him from the Astros. Of course, I’m sure his 15.43 ERA in 4 2/3 IP over 5 games didn’t endear him very much.
Someone else will undoubtedly take a flyer on him though. Even if they don’t, he can take the $4 million he’s been paid and make a life out of it.
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Well, it’s a shame, but maybe he just had too much success early without having to really work for it and then was not prepared to work hard enough to play with the best ball players on the planet.
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I think he dropped the bag early in his career and then couldn’t get past the injury issues to become the pitcher they hoped he would. We’ve seen a few guys overcome wildness and harness their ability but he was just too inconsistent when on the mound. Still, there are certainly options out there for him that don’t exist for normal folk like you and me.
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The Astros had the type of game last night that I’ve been expecting. Tampa Bay, a good team, lost 22-8 on Friday night. Sometimes it’s just wise to fold early. Joe Espada correctly did not want to jeopardize two games last night. Today we’ll have Framber and a full compliment of our best relievers with the hope of winning yet another series against another first place team.
Right now the club has the luxury of giving Lance McCullers his turn in the rotation. But hopefully, Joe will have other options returning, maybe as early as late July along with our trio of AAA saviors. Lance does not have enough quality pitches to throw right now. When he can get them over the plate, the slider, sinker and change are too hittable. And it seems that gone are the days of his unhittable curveball and four seamer that would freeze batters when everything was working. Those pitches are rarely used by Lance today
LJM is great competitor. I appreciate that he handles his position so well, a rare thing for an Astro pitcher. We might not find out until next year if he can be a guy we need to fill a role in the rotation. He obviously does not want to pitch out of the pen. And right now, he does not throw enough strikes to help in the pen regardless. Lance is just one more issue for Joe to manage. He’s got to try and help McCullers become successful again, but not at the expensive of the team.
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The Astros had the type of game last night that I’ve been expecting. Tampa Bay, a good team, lost 22-8 on Friday night. Sometimes it’s just wise to fold early. Joe Espada correctly did not want to jeopardize two games last night. Today we’ll have Framber and a full compliment of our best relievers with the hope of winning yet another series against another first place team.
Right now the club has the luxury of giving Lance McCullers his turn in the rotation. But hopefully, Joe will have other options returning, maybe as early as late July along with our trio of AAA saviors. Lance does not have enough quality pitches to throw right now. When he can get them over the plate, the slider, sinker and change are too hittable. And it seems that gone are the days of his unhittable curveball and four seamer that would freeze batters when everything was working. Those pitches are rarely used by Lance today
LJM is great competitor. I appreciate that he handles his position so well, a rare thing for an Astro pitcher. We might not find out until next year if he can be a guy we need to fill a role in the rotation. He obviously does not want to pitch out of the pen. And right now, he does not throw enough strikes to help in the pen regardless. Lance is just one more issue for Joe to manage. He’s got to try and help McCullers become successful again, but not at the expensive of the team.
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I recall going to games in the dome where the Cubs fans outnumbered our Astros faithful. From the highlights that seemed to be the case last night as well. At the same time, there were a lot of home town fans cheering for Tucker and I don’t really blame them. It’s not his fault he wants to get paid like the other players in the league. I’m still glad we’re (hopefully) not going to be debating the merits of his contract 5 years from now.
Spot on about not blowing two games trying to salvage one. The Astros are going well and there is no reason to overreact. We’ve got a couple weeks until the AS break and may as well try not to limp into it.
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Thoughts
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I really appreciate how impressive Framber has been against some very difficult opponents. Might he be a post season performer this year? Overall, the pitching remains almost incredible. It won’t always look so easy. I think someone mentioned yesterday the Astros have nine or ten shutouts combined. Bryan Abreu dominated the Cubs for two innings on Sunday. They did not seem to have a chance against him. Hader looked like an automatic. Those two guys got nine straight outs, five of them K’s, nothing hit hard, against an excellent offense.
I don’t know about the Cedric Mullins “rumors”. Never thought I’d say this, but if we send Jose back to second base, then I’m thinking we can do a better job covering left field with in house guys, unless Dana can bring us more than a Mullins. I’d start by putting Chas out there most days, giving him a shot to get back into a groove. That’s our best outfield defensively. And if healthy, I think he’ll still hit enough with pretty good pitch recognition. But alas, Chas is one guy that could be gone in a few weeks.
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I really appreciate how impressive Framber has been against some very difficult opponents. Might he be a post season performer this year? Overall, the pitching remains almost incredible. It won’t always look so easy. I think someone mentioned yesterday the Astros have nine or ten shutouts combined. Bryan Abreu dominated the Cubs for two innings on Sunday. They did not seem to have a chance against him. Hader looked like an automatic. Those two guys got nine straight outs, five of them K’s, nothing hit hard, against an excellent offense.
I don’t know about the Cedric Mullins “rumors”. Never thought I’d say this, but if we send Jose back to second base, then I’m thinking we can do a better job covering left field with in house guys, unless Dana can bring us more than a Mullins. I’d start by putting Chas out there most days, giving him a shot to get back into a groove. That’s our best outfield defensively. And if healthy, I think he’ll still hit enough with pretty good pitch recognition. But alas, Chas is one guy that could be gone in a few weeks.
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Unless the O’s pick up almost all of the remaining salary we can’t afford him. Honestly, it looks to me like one of those trades where someone thinks a change of scenery will magically turn someone around. I’d rather stay the course at this point. Besides, for October I’m more worried about lefties (Fried, Rodon, Skubal) than getting left-handed bats into the lineup.
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Enough already
Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib – MLB Trade Rumors
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Well, we’ve got a solid defensive guy for short. And if we can just hang on until the AS break, I think we’ll hit quite a bit better in the second half. Next man up!
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