2025 Final: ChipalattAwards September

I’ve put this off as long as I could, but it is time to see if anyone actually should be awarded for the Astros mess of a September.

Their 12-13 record was actually better than it seemed, but helped to finish off three straight months of losing records that dropped the team out of the AL West lead and eventually out of a playoff spot.

Their team numbers for the month….

Offense • September • Ranking in the AL

.238 BA (10^th) / .302 OBP (11^th) / .698 OPS (10^th) / 114 runs (6^th) / HRs 31 (T-5^th)

Pitching – September – Ranking in the AL

4.07 ERA (9^th) / 5 saves (10^th) / 1.25 WHIP (6^th) / 208 Ks (11^th) / 77 walks (6^th best) / 36 HR (2^nd worst)

A few things standout – that the Astros scored a lot more runs than you might expect looking at the slash numbers. And two – even though the pitching was pretty middle of the road – that did not help them.

For the month the Astros scored 7.25 runs in their wins and only 2.07 runs in their losses. On the flop side they gave up 2.92 runs in their wins and 5.61 runs in their losses. In general, the hitting really piled it on in wins and choked like the NY Yankees in their losses.

But enough team talk, now on to the individual awards….

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

Name	Gm	W	L	Svs	IP	ERA	WHIP	Ks/9 IP	BAA	OBPA	OPSA	BAbip	IR/ IS
Framber Valdez	5	1	4	0	27.2	6.51	1.590	9.4	.281	.346	.811	.325	N/A
Hunter Brown	4	2	2	0	23.2	3.04	1.141	9.1	.218	.292	.636	.267	N/A
Lance McCullers	3	0	1	0	5	1.80	1.60	7.2	.227	.320	.729	.235	0/0
Cristian Javier	4	1	3	0	21	5.57	1.381	7.7	.277	.322	.780	.328	N/A
Colton Gordon	5	2	0	1	17.1	4.15	1.038	5.2	.194	.261	.696	.161	0/0
Bryan Abreu	9	0	0	3	9	5.00	1.778	10	.324	.390	.823	.423	3/2
Bryan King	10	1	1	1	11.2	2.31	.686	3.9	.186	.186	.581	.143	7/1
Steven Okert	12	1	0	0	11.1	3.97	1.324	11.1	.238	.313	.693	.321	6/0
Kaleb Ort	3	0	0	0	2.2	13.50	2.250	10.1	.333	.429	1.012	.375	0/0
Jason Alexander	5	0	1	1	22.2	5.16	1.368	7.5	.278	.323	.856	.292	N/A
A.J. Blubaugh	7	1	0	0	18	0.00	0.778	9.5	.102	.209	.308	.150	3/0
Enyel de los Santos	13	1	0	0	14	5.79	1.500	10.3	.296	.350	.924	.343	10/3
Logan Van Wey	1	0	0	0	1	0.00	0.000	9	.000	.000	.000	.000	0/0
Craig Kimbrel	10	0	1	0	9	3.00	1.222	12	.235	.297	.709	.300	0/0
Jayden Murray	9	0	0	0	11.2	1.54	1.114	6.2	.227	.277	.504	.278	6/2
Nick Hernandez	6	0	0	0	4	4.50	1.750	9	.250	.368	.806	.333	0/0
J.P. France	4	0	0	0	4	2.25	1.000	11.3	.143	.250	.464	.222	0/0

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

• Starting Pitcher of the Month  – Hunter Brown – This was not even his best month, but he really did not have much competition as the starting pitchers melted down on the whole in September.
  • Runner-up –  A.J. Blubaugh – He only had 2 starts of his seven appearances, but that was not his fault.  If he had taken more of the starts in September, the team might have made the playoffs.  
  • Last Month – Winner – Jason Alexander / Runner-up – Hunter Brown

• Relief Pitcher of the Month – Bryan King – He pitched often and was very good when he did with a win and a save and a great slash against.
  • Runner-up – Jayden Murray – He pitched well down the stretch when hardly any of his compadres were.
  • Last Month – Winner – Bryan Abreu / Runner-up – Steven Okert & Enyel de los Santos
• Special Recognition – J.P. France – He actually looked good in a very small sample after finally returning from injury.

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

Name	ABs	Runs	Dbls	HRs	RBIs	BBs	Ks	BA	OBP	OPS	BAbip
Carlos Correa	95	11	7	3	8	8	24	.284	.346	.799	.353
Jose Altuve	78	8	4	3	12	8	18	.218	.295	.680	.241
Christian Walker	80	13	3	6	14	3	31	.244	.277	.754	.302
Cam Smith	36	7	1	1	2	5	12	.194	.318	.679	.250
Yainer Diaz	87	10	8	2	15	1	13	.276	.284	.721	.306
Jeremy Pena	73	12	6	3	12	6	17	.301	.363	.869	.358
Jesus Sanchez	60	10	1	2	6	7	20	.133	.224	.474	.158
Victor Caratini	46	4	1	1	3	5	9	.239	.364	.690	.278
Mauricio Dubon	47	5	2	0	5	4	6	.170	.235	.448	.195
Yordan Alvarez	51	7	4	2	6	5	11	.392	.446	1.035	.474
Isaac Paredes	27	2	0	1	3	1	9	.185	.241	.538	.235
Ramon Urias	38	2	0	2	6	2	12	.132	.171	.460	.120
Jacob Melton	3	2	0	0	0	1	1	.333	.500	.833	.500
Cesar Salazar	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.333	.333	.000
Taylor Trammell	21	5	2	0	1	2	6	.143	.217	.455	.200
Zach Cole	47	9	2	4	11	5	20	.255	.327	.880	.348
Brice Matthews	7	1	0	1	1	0	2	.286	.286	1.000	.250

• Positional Player of the Month – Jeremy Pena – after returning from injury – he warmed up and returned to his productive self in September.  
  • Runner-up – Yordan Alvarez – if only… he had a full month or for that matter a full season. That may have been the story of the season.
  • Last Month – Winner – Christian Walker / Runner-up – Carlos Correa
• Special Recognition – Zach Cole was very productive playing half of September allowing the fans to hope for more.

• Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Cole came out of nowhere to get a promotion and played very well in a pennant race.
  • Runner-up  – Tie – A.J. Blubaugh / Jayden Murray – both pitched excellently in a pressure cooker of a race.
• Last Month – Winner – Jason Alexander / Runner-up – Kaleb Ort

• Biggest Disappointment – Framber Valdez – The guy who was supposed to be their co-ace, the guy who was supposed to be playing for a huge payday let the team down and eventually himself.  
  • Runner-up – Jesus Sanchez – They sent three players out for him and both his hitting and his fielding let them down.
  • Last Month – Winner – Taylor Trammell / Runner-up – Chas McCormick

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

• Christian Walker had the most runs scored and the second most RBIs for the team. But I can’t get past those 31 Ks vs only 3 walks.
• Yainer Diaz had a better month hitting, but Jeez Louise – 1 walk in 88 ABs. That sucks.
• Does Lance McCullers Jr.’s better numbers in a small amount of appearances mean anything?
• Bryan Abreu did not pitch like a future closer as the current closer. Was it too big for him or was it as he said – getting rusty from not enough appearances?
• Using 17 pitchers and 17 position players in a single month was extreme.
• Carlos Correa had another good month after the trade. Is this just temporary or is he going to give us more of this in the future?    

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