The Astros had a great June, but things did not go as well in July.
How did the Astros perform in July vs. the other teams in the American League?
Offense – July – Ranking in the AL
.265 BA (T-2nd) / .328 OBP (3rd) / .753 OPS (T-6th) / 123 runs (7th) / HRs 29 (T-13th)
Pitching – July – Ranking in the AL
4.39 ERA (8th) / 8 saves (T-1st) / 1.32 WHIP (10th) / 234 Ks (3rd) / 76 walks (6th best) / 37 HR (T-12th best)
Looking at those numbers, it is no wonder the team only put up a 12-13 record in July. A team that had ridden over-performing pitching to a solid lead in the AL West, saw that pitching fall off as might be expected relying on so many newbies to fill in for the injured. They were a mediocre run scoring team and a mediocre run prevention team. And that is how they performed in July.
Now on to the awards….
Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ pitchers in the month of July.
| Name | Gm | W | L | Svs | IP | ERA | WHIP | Ks/9 IP | BAA | OBPA | OPSA | BAbip | IR/ IS |
| Framber Valdez | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2.16 | 1.040 | 11.9 | .219 | .265 | .619 | .311 | N/A |
| Hunter Brown | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 5.54 | 1.423 | 10.7 | .262 | .330 | .777 | .333 | N/A |
| Lance McCullers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11.2 | 7.71 | 2.057 | 7.7 | .319 | .448 | .938 | .371 | N/A |
| Ryan Gusto | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21.2 | 4.98 | 1.246 | 6.6 | .268 | .315 | .741 | .297 | 1/0 |
| Colton Gordon | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 6.14 | 1.636 | 6.5 | .330 | .360 | .942 | .342 | 0/0 |
| Brandon Walter | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 3.38 | 0.792 | 8.3 | .198 | .225 | .620 | .203 | N/A |
| Josh Hader | 9 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 4.09 | 1.273 | 13.1 | .205 | .311 | .747 | .250 | 2/0 |
| Bryan Abreu | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 2.79 | 0.931 | 17.7 | .171 | .275 | .589 | .333 | 0/0 |
| Bryan King | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11.1 | 1.59 | 1.147 | 9.5 | .278 | .311 | .683 | .367 | 1/0 |
| Steven Okert | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 | 4.76 | 1.412 | 6.4 | .262 | .340 | .626 | .324 | 4/1 |
| Bennett Sousa | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13.2 | 4.61 | 1.390 | 8.6 | .275 | .339 | .810 | .500 | 3/0 |
| Kaleb Ort | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.2 | 2.79 | 0.828 | 8.4 | .156 | .229 | .666 | .100 | 0/0 |
| Luis Contreras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | .667 | 9 | .000 | .182 | .182 | .000 | 0/0 |
| Jason Alexander | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13.2 | 4.61 | 1.756 | 7.2 | .321 | .375 | .821 | .356 | 0/0 |
| Nick Hernandez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.2 | 6.75 | 1.875 | 16.9 | .200 | .385 | 1.185 | .000 | 1/1 |
| Hector Neris | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2.25 | 1.500 | 11.3 | .241 | .343 | .688 | .316 | 1/1 |
Note: I added the IR (Inherited runners) / IS (Inherited runners who scored) stat for the relievers.
Starting Pitcher of the Month.
- Framber Valdez. This was an easy pick as the starting pitching was a mess in July. The Astros won all four of Framber’s starts in the month and his excellent pitching allowed that to happen.
- Runner-up. Brandon Walter. Yes, he only had three starts. Yes, he is on the IL. Yes, he went 0-2 during the month. But he had the lowest WHIP, BA against, OBP against and was .001 from having the best OPS against among the starters. He was very good and the team misses him.
- Last Month – Winner – Hunter Brown / Runner-up – Framber Valdez
Relief Pitcher of the Month.
- Bryan Abreu.He was solid and more reliable than that longer haired fellow who comes out for the ninth inning. That 17.7 Ks/ 9 IP rate? Fabulous.
- Runner-up. Bryan King – I swear I was surprised to look at King’s stats and see that 1.59 ERA. It did not seem to match the eye test.
- Last Month. Winner – T – Josh Hader / Bryan Abreu / Runner-up – Bennett Sousa
- Special Recognition – Kaleb Ort – those are very good stats for a guy who had fallen down the totem pole of leveraged appearances.
Here is a quick stat chart of the Astros’ position players in the month of July.
| Name | ABs | Runs | Dbls | HRs | RBIs | BBs | Ks | BA | OBP | OPS | BAbip |
| Isaac Paredes | 56 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | .286 | .365 | .847 | .304 |
| Jose Altuve | 91 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 11 | 15 | .363 | .429 | 1.055 | .384 |
| Christian Walker | 88 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 23 | .318 | .367 | .833 | .391 |
| Cam Smith | 98 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 8 | 34 | .214 | .278 | .563 | .323 |
| Yainer Diaz | 84 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 12 | .286 | .319 | .842 | .275 |
| Jake Meyers | 21 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | .333 | .440 | .964 | .438 |
| Victor Caratini | 82 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 13 | .293 | .318 | .806 | .299 |
| Mauricio Dubon | 83 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 11 | .325 | .391 | .837 | .366 |
| Cooper Hummell | 60 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 18 | .150 | .271 | .471 | .195 |
| Jacob Melton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .167 | .167 | .000 |
| Brice Matthews | 35 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 18 | .143 | .211 | .611 | .143 |
| Shay Whitcomb | 23 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .174 | .174 | .478 | .176 |
| Taylor Trammell | 59 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 19 | .276 | .358 | .824 | .368 |
| Zack Short | 50 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 18 | .220 | .291 | .671 | .300 |
| Chas McCormick | 30 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .200 | .194 | .427 | .240 |
| Jon Singleton | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .111 | .111 | .222 | .125 |
Positional Player of the Month.
- Jose Altuve. I am trying to forget the disaster of his last couple of August appearances and concentrate on a month of July where he was the biggest run producer and that great slash of .363 BA/ .429 OBP/ 1.055 OPS.
- Runner-up. Christian Walker. The month we were waiting for finally arrived for Mr. Walker.
- Last Month. Winner. Jeremy Pena / Runner-up – Cam Smith
Special Recognition.
- Tie. Mauricio Dubon/ Victor Caratini – Dubon seemed to be getting on base every time you turned around. Big month. Caratini was excellent as he played almost every day between catcher and DH.
Biggest Surprise (Positive).
- Taylor Trammell. A solid slash of .276 BA/ .358 OBP/ .824 OPS from a totally unexpected source.
- Runner-up. Brandon Walter. Unfortunately ended the month on the IL, but before that came out of nowhere to be a very viable part of the rotation.
- Last Month. Winner. Bennett Sousa / Runner-up – Shawn Dubin
Biggest Disappointment.
- Lance McCullers Jr. Maybe it was the blister, but most fans were hoping that Lance would overcome that slow start to the season and find his stride. Nope.
- Runner-up. Cam Smith – This is probably unfair because of his age and lack of experience, but after a terrific June, he crashed hard in July.
- Last Month. Winner – Lance McCullers / Runner-up – Christian Walker
There are some interesting and puzzling things that happened to the Astros in the month of July:
- How the heck did Bennett Sousa put up a 4-0 record with a save, while also compiling a 4.61 ERA and allowing a .500 BA against?
- It sure is sad to see those very good numbers from Isaac Paredes and to know he will not be appearing again this year.
- Pretty tough to see why Cooper Hummel received 60 ABs in the month while slashing .150/. 271 / .471 except for the lack of depth in the organization and so many folks on the IL.
- Maybe Luis Contreras (3 scoreless, no-hit innings) should be getting more looks.
- Hector Neris’ numbers are not as bad as our eye test said, but giving up 3 unearned runs kept his ERA down while not holding down the number of runs allowed.
As usual, it is your turn to comment. Any awards you disagree with? Any new ones you want to award?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
40 responses to “ChipalattAwards for July”
Dan, it’s a tough time to talk about Astro awards! Maybe in the morning.
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Astros Acquire John Rooney From Marlins – MLB Trade Rumors
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I understand daveb, but whatcha gonna do? Time goes on and months go on and the awards are out there even though our team of sinking numbskulls seem to be finally hitting the wall.
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As an Astros fan, this was a rough weekend for me. And you.
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The last 22 games…. 7 – 15.
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That 0.792 WHIP and the .198 BA against is enough for me to give Brandon Walter the top spot for July. We expect what Framber gave us, his usual excellence. But arguably, Walter gave us more. We had no expectations of him.
Altuve, Walker, Frenchie, Victor all were deserving in July. But I’m going to recognize Issac for the last time this year. He was the quiet anchor of this club, mature beyond his years on the baseball field. It took a couple of days, but things changed when he went down. I hope this club puts him back at third base in 2026.
Dan, Bryan Abreu simply goes out and does his job. He actually digs deep and pitches better when he’s had a load. I don’t know if we can get him extended, but it sure should happen.
Trammell has done what different guys have been doing all year. He picked the club up. Can he keep it up?
Chas has been a favorite of mine for years. Seems he always had to fight for playing time even as he performed better than his competition for three seasons. But alas, maybe he really does need a change of scenery at this point. I don’t believe he’s lost it at the age of 30. That’s why he’s my biggest disappointment. Yeah, he only had 30 AB’s in July, but he did not even show a glimpse of what he’s got inside. How can you hit .200 with a .194 OBP?
As always Dan, thanks for the effort.
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And good morning! “our team of sinking numbskulls seem to be finally hitting the wall”.
Why is that? Well heck, for one thing, the injuries simply became too much to deal with. There was no place to turn for help. Except maybe the deadline. Inexplicably, we didn’t get any help. We actually gave up pitching at the deadline instead. Why sink 70 million dollars over the next three years into third base and not do something about the pitching. We don’t need another third baseman for three years. Seems the Astros might be looking at bringing Ryan Pressly back. Yesterday they got another lefty, a career minor leaguer by the name of John Rooney. They got Nick Hernandez back on August 1. And they got Nick Robertson too, who cleared waivers and was sent to Sugar Land. I had never heard of this Nick either. The Astros management team seem rather desperate at this point. It looks like they should be. I have a funny feeling that our rehabbers are not really progressing as quickly as hoped. But that’s nothing new.
Spencer Arrighetti will start in Miami this week. If Spencer can show up and give us 79 major league pitches, then we might have a third starter. But his 79 pitches as a Space Cowboy last week sure were not encouraging. We’ll just have to see. Tonight we get Jason Alexander. Gosh, and the Fish are hitting the heck out of the ball right now. I’m not even sure who our fifth starter is. Maybe the numbskulls are management.
I do think we’ll start hitting the ball and I do think at some point, we’ll bottom out and show resiliency. But I just don’t see enough pitching for this stretch run.
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By the way, I wouldn’t rule out JV either.
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I’m not going to hit a panic button. The Red Sox are a good team. They are hot. We ran into a buzzsaw. We had our two aces on the mound. One of them pitched like it. Credit to Criswell. He likely won’t stay in the rotation much longer, but he pitched a great game. Like we’ve always noted, every pitcher that gets to the big leagues is capable of a 7 inning, 1 run performance. Its just are they capable of doing it again, then again, then again. I think we are learning that Colton Gordon is our new France, he gave us some good starts, but now he is putting us in catch up mode every start. This team needs Gordon and Alexander and undecided out of the rotation soon.
Framber had a Framber inning. It was frustrating. Somewhere around the 5th hit in a row I just told my wife I’m done and went on to other Sunday activities. Well, I saw the error too.
They need to button their chin straps for Miami. They are coming off a sweep of the Yankees, are 15-4 in their last 19, and all of a sudden are playing great baseball despite sending us their right fielder.
They need a pep right now. The Mariners and Rangers neither one are playing an exceptional brand of baseball the last two weeks and still cut that lead in half.
I think the overall mistake was focusing on Correa instead of pitching. I agree San Diego’s asking price for Cease was out of bounds. Brown may have been getting similar prices in calls about Ryan or Gallien or Kelly. But right now, you feel like you have to win Framber and Hunters starts because you are going to lose 2 of the next 3 if not all 3.
As for JV Dave – certainly he passes through waivers. He has 6 quality starts this year in 18 games. He’s got 3 more where he went 5 and gave up 2 or less. So in 9 of his starts he gave his team a chance to win. In 9 of them he likely put them out of it. He is probably not the solution a team trying to win is hoping for. But he would be better than Alexander or Gordon.
I am under the assumption that the Astros focused on the guys they focused on at the deadline because they feel really good about Arrighetti and Javier. If CJ is throwing the way all the reports say, he is your best number 3 option in a playoff series anyway. Verlander would likely not even make the postseason roster. You’ve already blown up the tax threshold this year, why not bring him in and stick him in Alexanders spot for a few million? After he clears waivers he can probably be had for a 26 year old reliever that hasn’t gotten past A ball too.
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And think about this – it’s yet another olive branch out to the man when he has to decide what hat he is putting on his HoF bust. Be the place where you had your best years AND finished your career. I’m assuming after a 1 win year and making his chances at 300 practically 0.00000001%, that he retires.
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Yeah, I’m with you on Gordon and France.
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I’m enjoying y’alls sharings a lot better than any baseball right now – even with me “watching” two of the games on my phone rather than on my paid for cable that wasn’t showing them.
I can understand them not giving up the house for Cease. I don’t understand including Gusto in the Sanchez trade. If the Marlins wouldn’t make the trade – then you live without Sanchez. I’m also wondering why they brought back Correa under that contract. It forces you to play him going forward past this season. I would rather have gone for a rental 3B if there was one.
It does feel a bit desperate with the team’s moves right now. I think the nice big lead they had and the way they were playing gave them a false sense of security and had them waiting until the last minute to make trades. I would just as soon they picked up Charlie Morton who has been pitching solid rather than chase Cease who has been meh.
The team sure has been unfortunate running into the redhots lately.
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Carlie Morton went six against the Phillies last night, 4 hits and a run. 1 BB, 6 K’s.
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I agree with Steven. Not time to panic yet. This team needs to gel with three new mostly everyday players weaved into the lineup.
Yes, I was in on Morton a few weeks back. That would have been a good acquisition IMO.
The Astros actually passed on JV at the deadline, if you believe the stories. And it would be nigh impossible for the Astros to acquire him now unless he is releaesed outright. The Giants consider themselves still in the wild card race, so that probably won’t happen soon.
It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the Astros’ War Room, especially as it concerns Paredes, Chas, and the offseason. The team now has three players whose position is third base: Paredes, Correa and Urias. And a long list of players who can play second base, starting with Altuve.
Come November, pitching will have to be the focus. I’ll use Steven’s number (0.00000001%) to describe the chances that Framber is back in an Astros’ uniform in 2026, so it’s feasible and reasonable you could see Paredes (traded again?), Urias, Chas, Jake and/or others dangled to get a starter with upside value.
Then again, Paredes will need to be healthy to be traded, and there is so much we don’t know about his situation.
In addition, you should note that Cease himself will be a FA in the offseason as well as starters like Zac Gallen, Jon Gray, Zach Eflin, Jordan Montgomery and, yes, Justin Verlander.
In other words, hang tight, stay tuned, we’ll see, check back later, more to come. It’s an ever-changing story that will have some high points and not-so-high points.
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I’m reading this afternoon via Rome that Paredes has opted to undergo a platelet plasma injection along with rest and rehab rather than electing for surgery with the hope his hamstring will allow him to play again this season. The report notes that surgery would likely provide a more permanent solution. I think I’d rather see him lose 6 or 7 months and have the surgery.
I want him to be our third baseman going forward, but the acquisition of Correa, who I presume still has his no trade clause intact could create a real quagmire.
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Dave, not a fan of this decision. Haven’t we seen this movie before with Lance McCullers Jr.?
At this rate, he’s putting himself in jeopardy for the ’26 season. The 6-7 month recovery (with surgery) was already eating into his spring training prep time, but if he has a setback (or two) with this and THEN has surgery, he’s looking at maybe next summer.
And, the way the Astros’ medical stuff has gone … oh well, I’ll let Dan tackle that one!
All that said, surely the braintrust has had the discussion about how they’d handle the lineup card before they traded for Correa. They have options to be sure.
If I were guessing, we’ll have another Tucker-like trade that will help the Astros cure the $33 million.
Is that Yordan? Javier ($21.4 million)? Someone else? I think there’s a lot up in the air right now.
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So, we have Costanza 2.0 against Sandy Alcantara who the Astros were supposedly pursuing at one time.
The lineup
Pena SS
Sanchez LF
Altuve 2B
Correa 3B
Walker 1B
Caratini DH
Diaz C
Trammell CF
Smith RF
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chaps. Your help please?
am watching live. Top of the 8th
why wasn’t Caratini out at second?
didn’t the 2B tag the base in a force?.
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1st baseman stepped on 1st removing the force at 2nd. Their SS had a brain fart when he stepped on 2nd thinking it was a force but it was not. He then had a chance to tag out Carratini but was his mind was just not with the program. A bug break for us since we scored 2 runs afterwards.
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I see …. it’s the put out behind by them that removes the force. I had no idea!! 28 years of following baseball and you still learn something new!
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Simon I have to admit in all the time I’ve watched baseball (60 yrs) I’ve never seen this mistake made. I’ve seen them miss a tag but not miss the fact that they had to tag them.
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I shoulda explained I was watching it live on the tv in a sports bar so there was no sound / commentary to go by, just the pictures. I guess the radio or mlb commentary explained what happened with the tagging behind thing. For me, it was a mystery!
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I shoulda explained I was watching it live on the tv in a sports bar so there was no sound / commentary to go by, just the pictures. I guess the radio or mlb commentary explained what happened with the tagging behind thing. For me, it was a mystery!
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Yes, that would have been an odd one to watch and go – wait – why is Caratini still on 2nd. Watching it live – I knew it was a miss right away – I was going – why did that guy not tag him? I also have to wonder why the 2B or someone else there did not yell “tag him”. But they didn’t and I am proud that the Astros took advantage with driving in two – 2 out runs when they should have been taking the field.
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I shoulda explained I was watching it live on the tv in a sports bar so there was no sound / commentary to go by, just the pictures. I guess the radio or mlb commentary explained what happened with the tagging behind thing. For me, it was a mystery!
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I’m thinking maybe the Fish went out and had a whole bunch of cocktails on Sunday night following their dismantling of the Yankees over the weekend. They didn’t look very sharp on Monday.
Seems our Astros will use an Opener tonight, and I don’t recollect our club ever doing that. Mr. Rooney maybe? Maybe someone can correct me. It’s going to be a weird month. But as of right now our Astros still lead their division by 3 games.
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I spent the last 2 days thinking “undecided” meant Arrighetti and they just weren’t announcing it for certainty. He pitched last on the 31st of July, so it lined up. But he is announced now for tomorrow. So it does look like a BP game.
They haven’t had one this year, but I think Dubin was the front end of 2 bullpen games last year? If memory serves one went well and the other, mediocre.
I really have no idea where he might find 3 innings from the current pen to start a game. Maybe 2 from Okert. Maybe we see a roster move to activate Dubin this morning, but I don’t even think he is in Miami. Maybe he tries to squeeze 3 innings out of Hernandez. You have 9 innings to get today, and with Spencer making his first start in months, and in a day game, you need some bullets tomorrow too. It wouldn’t surprise me to see VanWey and Dubin activated tomorrow as the shuffle continues as this BP might need to navigate 13-14 innings in 2 games. Lucky an off day comes on Thursday.
Yes, probably do see Rooney tonight in his debut. I only know this guy by his baseball reference but call me unimpressed.
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Not impressed by Mr. Rooney?
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Daveb – the Marlins sweeping the Yanks and then falling on their collective faces to us – reminds me of the Astros sweeping the Dodgers in LA and then coming home and getting swept by the Guardindians. Can’t ever explain baseball.
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I remember Hector Rendon back in 2019 or so started a game and I think gave up 6 runs in the first inning. Kind of screwed up his ERA for the season.
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Thoughts
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It’s next years issue but I’m just wondering on something I haven’t heard much if anything about what happens at third base next year. Assuming Paredes is OK to play, it looks like a conundrum of sorts with two potential third basemen. Any thoughts from our bloggers?
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I think they might shop Walker and move Paredas to first if they can. Altuve will return to second base and Sanchez will play left field while Alvarez is the DH.
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Good morning!
You know Sarge, I have no idea what the club will do. I’m one of the few that does not like the Correa acquisition because I just don’t think his years 26-28 are going to age well. But maybe the Astros will try to move Walker as Dan suggests. That would mean moving him along and helping out with cash to the buyer. We’ve had too many of those darn trades though. And I just don’t think Carlos will hold up. And besides that, this club has played its best baseball with Issac Paredes at third base.
But for now, I’m willing to see what the Astros can do for the remainder of the season. The good news is that we’ve only lost two games in the standings since the All Star break. Somehow we still lead the league by 3 games. Six big innings by Alexander on Monday and five more from Blubaugh last night were a huge boost. At the same time, I don’t have regular expectations of those guys.
I think the M’s and the Rangers both have better pitching than us. That’s usually what wins down the stretch. Big game tonight. Another solid five by Arrighetti would be great.
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Dave, apparently Brown tried to include Walker in the Correa deal, so it does reveal their hand or at least some insight into their WarRoom thinking.
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Hi Chip, I think further discussion on that from Bob Nightengale stressed that it was Minnesota that asked about Walker.
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I don’t see the Astros making a lot, if any, real significant moves. Correa is not tradeable. Paredes is a better and cheaper player at this point in their respective careers outside of the fact that you can still slide Correa over to SS if need be. Paredes once played 2B in the major leagues, but that looks like it was about 30 lbs ago. I don’t think the Astros have any intent on trading Christian Walker as the rumor is that is who Minnesota wanted for Correa and the Astros said no. If anyone is in trouble, I would think it would be Yordan, but that seems unlikely too.
I think the Astros go into ST with Correa, Paredes, Pena, Urias and Dubon all able to play the IF. If everyone is healthy, Altuve becomes a permanent LFer, Alvarez a permanent DH, and you probably will see Paredes move around between 2B and 3B, Correa at 3B, and Urias playing all 3, just to get them PT. But the chances that group of players are all healthy, that’s not the track record.
It’s hard envisioning Dubon and Urias both being here – I hope it’s the case though. I’m partial to Duby because we’ve watched him grow. He is way more flexible defensively, and probably better at the positions they both play. Urias has a little bit more power, but Duby strikes out way less. The thing that scares me is this team will be willing to spend 60-65M on Correa but might let Duby go in the offseason because he will probably make 2M more than Urias, knowing Dubon, right now, is a comparable player to Correa at the plate and the most defensively flexible player maybe in the league.
I think Chas is a goner. If Luis Garcia doesn’t pitch in September, he is probably a goner. Caratini is probably a goner now. We know Framber coming back is extremely unlikely. Rodgers is gone, and might be waived before the season ends. Okert is probably not going to be back. I think Trammell, Short, Hummel, all journeymen that saw their short time through, are gone. Maybe the accountants have figured out how to get under the cap for 2026 with Abreu, Montero, Pressly and Valdez all off the books, but that leaves little room to add a starting pitcher or another catcher.
I found it profusely humorous that Correa proclaimed to the world in a camera that he is a third baseman now. Did he ask the Astros actual current third baseman before he just walked in and declared the position his for the next 3 years? Paredes is, afterall, the Astros third baseman. He is arguably as a good a defender, and a better hitter. But he just said “I’m a third baseman now” like Isaac doesn’t exist. This is what I’ve never liked about Correa. He is used to everything being about him. I hate to tell him, no guy with a .700ish OPS should be walking in and declaring anything his. What he should have said is “this is Jeremy’s team now, I’m here to help anywhere they think I can, and I will leave the rest up to Joe.”
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Truth be told, I’ve always thought Correa to be a scheming manipulator.
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Another question is do they consider turning Cam Smith into a CFer? Jesus Sanchez is not a superstar, but he can be a competent mostly everyday RFer (might need to sit against lefties). Can you find enough playing time for Altuve, Meyers, Smith, and Sanchez, with Duby still in the picture?
There are 13 spots. Two of them are catchers. Correa, Paredes, Pena, Urias, Walker, Dubon, Altuve, Meyers, Smith, Sanchez, Alvarez. Thats the 11, if they are all healthy. I would say, that’s an expensive team. And none of them are guys that should sit 5 times a week, but someone is going to sit. So it’s fair to assume they will try and move on from 1 or 2 expensive contracts.
But here I am supposing things that don’t matter in the now. Right now, they have to buckle up. Yordan is swinging a bat again, and we are not hearing about soreness (yet). Arrighetti pitches today. Javier should get one more start at either AA or AAA depending on travel schedules. Garcia and France are appearing in live games. A perfect storm of bad can happen and crash it all, and everyone including Yordan is shut down the rest of the year. But a perfect storm of good could also happen and all these guys are on the roster and pitching in September. Likely, it’s in the middle of that with some of it working out. IF the Astros can avoid the short series and the 1st round, they have as much a shot as anyone else.
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Lot’s of interesting takes from everyone. I tend to agree with Steven and DB7 about Correa. Yes we needed a 3rd baseman but I guess no one else could fit. As for next year, (starting pitching) we’ll not have Framber which frees up 18MM but you have Javier at 21.4 and the albatross, LMJ at 17.7.
In the bull pen Hader gets 19MM and you know Abreu is going to get a sizeable increase. Okert might still be around and is Arb-3 so if he stays he’ll likely get another 1MM. Except for Neris who is a free agent there’s nothing there that would cost us.
As you said it’s likely that Caratini will be gone as I’m sure he’ll be looking for an increase from his annual 6MM. Diaz will be in his 1st year of arbitration.
In the infield you have Walker for 2 more years at 20MM, Correa at 20.5MM (ave) till 2028, Paredes at 6.625M who will get an increase, Dubon at 4.1 and will get an increase, Pena at 4.1 who will get a big bump, and a couple of pre-arbs. Rodgers will be gone.
In the outfield you have Altuve at 33MM for two more years and 13MM for another two. Chaz will in all likely hood be gone. Jake Myers should still be here and is still affordable. No other players there who will cost a bunch.
Last is Yordan (the hand) Alvarez at DH who is at 26.8MM for the next 3 years.
We are off the hook for 19.5 of Jose Abreu, Montero at 7.7MM, Pressly at 5.5MM, and a host of others for about 1.5MM plus or minus.
The future does not look all that bright so I’ll put away my shades.
One final question. I seem to remember (if correctly) that years ago a team would sign a player and then trade him. That would be interesting to try in Framber’s case. One might say why would would anybody trade for him after he’s been signed for significant money and years? As far as the Astros are concerned, who needs to know that he would be on the market? Or they could sign him and trade him at the 26 deadline for a big haul especially if he’s pitching well. Just a thought. Of course I might be living in Fantasy Land.
I won’t say anything about today’s game so as not to jinx the guys.
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