Dan P, your fandom schizophrenic, has decided today that there is still hope for the Astros. Don’t listen to that evil Dan P that wrote the last post. Hope came in the form of minor league call-up lefthanded OF Zach Cole, who earned an MLB look based on a decent season in AA (.263 BA/ .363 OBP/.868 OPS/ 14 HRs/ 49 RBIs) followed by a blazing 15 games at AAA (.353 BA/ .459 OBP/ 1.204 OPS/ 5 HRs/16 RBIs).
In the third inning with a runner on first, starter Hurston Waldrep decided to challenge Cole with a 93-mph fastball with his first major league pitch. A couple seconds later the ball was 423 feet away in the right center field bleachers.
Cole enjoyed that so much, he decided to drive in runs with matching run scoring singles the next two innings in a row. In doing this, he set a new Astros record with four RBIs in a debut. This broke the team debut record of John Paciorek back in 1963 when he scored four runs and drove in three RBIs in his only game in the majors. His career was cut short by injuries. His brothers Jim and long time major leaguer Tom also played in the majors.
As part of our hope here, we hope that Zach does not follow the shortness of Paciorek’s career.
Cole’s homer came in front of his family, who got the word he might play in this series on Wednesday and jetted in from Missouri. So many times families do this and their loved one does not get to play or pulls an 0 for in their debut. But not this time.
Also in the spotlight was GM Dana Brown, who was sitting in the TV broadcast booth answering questions from Todd Kalas and Geoff Blum and excitedly got to see the line shot from Cole. Good call on the call-up Mr. Brown.
If you want to be a Debbie downer, Cole did strikeout in his fourth at bat, which is the biggest strike against him coming from the minors. But we will take what we saw in this game from the young man.
Cole’s 3 RBIs out of the Astros first four unleashed an avalanche on this Friday night in Atlanta. High on the hope meter…
- Three innings of one hit shutout ball from Jayden Murray
- A nice couple of shutout innings from Nick Hernandez and steady Eddie – A.J. Blubaugh
- Four innings of three run ball from Colton Gordon that saved the rest of the bullpen
- Two hits including a homer from Jose Altuve, who had been in the depths of a slump
- Three hits and two RBIs and two runs scored from Christian Walker
- Two hits and two RBIs and two runs scored from Jake Meyers
Did one game solve all the Astros problems? No. But it did provide your faithful writer with some hope for the stretch run.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
13 responses to “Astros’ 2025: Hope springs eternal”
Wishy washy.
No worries. It’s due to blind loyalty, I think a good trait.
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He was tearing up AAA and is only 25. He guite a contrast to some of these automatic outs that we’ve been seeing . I hope he can continue his productivity with the Astros .
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They are a joy to watch when they score 11 runs in a game – when they score 2 runs a game for a streak… not so much.
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Dan wrote:
“Dan P, your fandom schizophrenic, has decided today that there is still hope for the Astros. Don’t listen to that evil Dan P that wrote the last post.”
What an outstanding way to start the article!
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Thanks Sarge – once in a while this blind squirrel does find an acorn. Haha
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I also feel the Astros might have a rotation addition with Blubaugh. He seems to control the strike zone, has a good arm and has composure .
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Good morning. Framber Valdez needs to have a good outing today. It would certainly give his credibility a much needed boost. The M’s have won eight in a row and the Rangers six. So we have no choice but to maintain pace in order to keep Dan’s schizophrenia in check.
Why has Yordan decided to trend towards a slump now? Getting some early runs for Mr. Valdez would likely be helpful today. And I don’t know if young Zach Cole is going to see anything but breaking balls going forward.
Apparently Hunter Brown was still feeling some effects from an illness yesterday. I didn’t even realize until looking at the box that he only had two K’s over the 20 outs he got. And at one point, he had thrown only eight first pitch strikes to the 24 hitters he faced. That’s grinding.
The Astros still control their own destiny with 13 games to go!
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We obviously don’t know what’s going on in Framber’s head, but he has to be aware enough to know he is slated for 3 final starts to the season: @ATL, SEA, @ANA. Coming out and shutting the door on those three will go a long way towards getting that contract he wants (from someone). Going out and pitching poorly could cost him an eight figure amount. The other two guys currently lined up for the SEA series are Hunter and Alexander. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself…we have to get through TEX to make sure we still control our destiny with that series. Alexander and Javier get the first two games before a TBD matchup with deGrom in the finale.
So, yeah, it would be nice if we could see some of those offensive games Dan likes to take some pressure off those arms.
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I’m with you on the offense Dave. Watching Alvarez’s swing and miss last night was agonizing. And Cole’s flaws were quickly exposed when he showed he could not lay off those breaking P out the box, unlike Saturday when he got P to hit in the box and did damage. Moving forward it will be breaking balls like you said. The offense has to be pivotal the rest of the way.
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For anyone confused, the bref affiliate link does it again. The guy you actually want is at:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coleza01.shtml
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Well Dan, Framber mailed in a 12 out performance today as the offense went back to sleep. Take deep breaths.
I’d really like to know what might have happened in his head between his six pitch, three quick outs in the 4th to his total inability to find the plate in the 5th, which blew the entire Astro vibe on a potential sweep day.
I do think he really has impacted this team beyond his poor performance over the past six weeks. No doubt in my mind that with the benign version of Framber still with us, we’d be in first by several games. Instead, he’s been the difference maker in the worst of ways.
I hope our guys can circle the wagons.
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And then Seattle wins big and they blow past the Astros. The next 6 games are MUST win games. Otherwise, the club could be on the outside looking in.
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Out of thoughts – this was the day that seemed inevitable lately as the M’s take over first. I’m going to go work on a new post today.
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