After spending the previous blog post convincing everyone that pre-season numbers don’t matter, let’s explore where the Astros are at this point in Spring Training.
And we are doing that ….why? Because there is not much else to write about …
Offense
How are those players we think will be in the starting lineup doing? (Thru Sunday)
- Jose Altuve – .118 BA/ .285 OPS – Ouch
- Yordan Alvarez – .091 BA/ .273 OPS – Double ouchie
- Yainer Diaz – .077 BA/ .277 OPS – Well at least we have Walter Janek
- Cristian Walker – .000 BA/ .125 OPS – Making sure we can’t trade him now
- Jeremy Pena – .182 BA/ .432 OPS – A bit better, except he’s sitting most or all of ST out with his broken finger
- Isaac Paredes – .125 BA/ .864 OPS – Not hitting, but is showing off his walking ability
- Carlos Correa – .000 BA/ .250 OPS – He truly is leading the team this ST
- Jake Meyers – .083 BA/ .237 OPS – Also not helping his trade value
- Zach Cole – .143 BA/ .493 OPS – Not taking advantage this spring of a wide open OF
- Joey Loperfido – .211 BA/ .558 OPS – Looks good vs. what else is being thrown out there this ST
- Cam Smith – .278 BA/ .965 OPS – On the rise after a solid Sunday
This grouping of those most likely to make Opening Day have two homers (Paredes/ Smith) and 6 RBIs (3-Cole, 1-Paredes, 1-Smith, 1-Loperfido) total in 15 games. Yuck!
Starting Pitching
On the other hand, we will look at what the starting pitching has looked like so far (and will feel a lot better). I’m skipping the bullpen right now – will look at it farther along in ST.
- Hunter Brown – After his brilliant Sunday start (4 IP, 0 hits, 9 Ks) he is sporting a 1.04 ERA in 3 starts
- Tatsuya Imai – He’s only pitched 3 innings in his 2 starts, but has a 0.00 ERA. Now he can just build up from that
- Mike Burrows – In 8.2 IP (same as Hunter) he has a 0.00 ERA has given up 3 hits and has 10 Ks
- Colton Gordon – In 3 games (2 starts) he sports a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP
- Lance McCullers – He had a nice first start – a scoreless inning (after last season, that is a nice start), but…where is he? He has not appeared since.
- Jason Alexander – 6.35 ERA in 3 starts, but all the runs came in his first brief start and he has been much better since.
- A.J. Blubaugh – Has not started a game, but has to be on the short list to do so if needed. Continues his good numbers from 2025 with a 1.59 ERA so far.
- Ryan Weiss – Also, has not started a game, but has put up a 0.00 ERA in a couple of appearances.
This snapshot of the team to date is scary when looking at the offense and very encouraging when looking at the starting pitching.
Just remember, if someone goes 5-for-10 over their next 10 ABs or gives up three runs in an inning, these numbers can flip in an instant.
Anyways – talk among yourselves.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
7 responses to “But if spring training numbers mattered…”
I’m going to try and ignore our lack of offense for another week. We can’t be the worst team in MLB since the Mets went 42 and 120 back in the day.
But you guys need to let me in on the secret. The apparent super secret reincarnation of Lance J. McCullers Jr. None of you guys have told me what’s going on. Even Chandler Rome has not said a peep. We all know the stats. 8 official Spring Training pitches thrown. I inning. No sweat broken. When did we start hiding guys from the world? No photos? No drone video? No comments? Maybe Lance really has been reinvented. Maybe he’s a Cy Young candidate. As usual I’m dubious though. There’s another guy I’m wondering about too. What is El Reptil doing? He’s got no official stats Spring stats to date.
I’ll going to hold off on my outfield thoughts for the time being too.
As Steven would accurately say, I think we’ve got some pitching. That will keep us in enough games to give Dana Brown time to build an offense. Maybe.
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Well, if my office was near the Ballpark at Palm Beach (or whatever it is called) – I might be able to report on things better daveb.
Apparently, Javier does exist though not in a game yet. Abreu, Javier’s unique friendship has crossed both countries and decades – but…..he is shown as the starter for today’s game.
And Lance is shown as the starter on Tuesday. So hang in there Sloopy
The offense may improve if some of these “starters” play everyday rather than once in a while.
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Javier pitched against Venezuela last week. He didn’t look great, but didn’t look awful.
https://www.mlb.com/stories/game/831440
I’m going to continue to complain the hitters aren’t hitting. However, things are a little different these days. I don’t know if it’s the WBC or if it’s the new normal, but pitchers used to come into camp throwing lighter and work up to their normal velocity. Now we have guys hitting 99 on the radar gun in their first appearances of the spring. Obviously I question the validity of those readings some, but as a hitter going out there and having to face that kind of heat this early is difficult.
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Good points and I wasn’t thinking about whether the MLB vs. WCB exhibition were in the stats.
Daveb – Javier against Venezuela (which has a strong lineup) 2 innings – 30 pitches – 1 run – 3 hits – 0 walks – 0 Ks
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For the record, Correa is at SS today. Paredes is at 3B.
And, you man Javier pitched 1 2/3 innings today with 3 walks, and 3 Ks.
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Today – Javier – 52 pitches – good / 1.2 innings – bad/ 2 runs – 1 earned – soso/ 3Ks – good / 3 walks – bad
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Astros offense working today -10 runs – Correa and Paredes get above/to the Mendoza line. Loperfido had two hits including a home run and 3 RBIs, Trammel (.318 BA/ 1.059 OPS) continues a hot spring with another hit and 2 RBIs
Weiss with 3 innings – 1 run – 6 Ks
Peter Lambert – 3 more scoreless innings and the win
Murray with a single shutout inning and 2 Ks
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