Optimism: Hope springs eternal?

A couple of the comments the last few days from both Sarge and Chip were a bit on the downside. I know it’s tough when you stand back and look at your team, the Astros,  where it seems like they have five solid infielders for four spots and 0 solid outfielders for three spots, and wonder in the words of the late, great Slim Pickens, “What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-goin’ on here?”

Such gloom and doom, though, are meant for some time after the season has begun and the team has begun to fail us. Springtime and spring training are meant for butterflies a-floating, birds a-flying, and flowers a-blooming optimism.

So, what can I do to assuage your inner sadness and make you feel positive again?

The first few steps are important…

And so far, the first few steps, as demonstrated by the starting pitching, have been strong for the Astros. Yes, it is Spring Training, but the Astros starting pitchers had more than a ½ run lead on every other MLB team in ERA with a 1.96 ERA. And this was before Tatsuya Imai threw three scoreless innings on Wednesday which lowered it to 1.80 ERA.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter….

Hunter Brown has not missed a beat without his second hand (second arm?) Framber Valdez. He has a 1.04 ERA after 8.2 IP and 14 huge Ks. He just needs to stretch out before the season and pray his team scores for him this year.

Imai be right, Imai be crazy…

This guy is fun and enthusiastic like Casey Candaele, but he also appears to be talented. He was recently chosen in an mlb.com article as the most likely Rookie of the Year candidate from the AL West division. He has not shown anything this spring to make anyone doubt him as he has given up 0 runs in 6 innings of pitching with 2 hits, 1 walk and 7 Ks.

Drop the Mike….

Why did the Astros send two highly regarded prospects to Pittsburgh for a right handed pitcher named Mike Burrows? Maybe because they looked at him and decided he might be the perfect pitcher for their pitching factory, where they take average and make good and take good and make great. So far, Burrows has pitched 8.2 scoreless innings in his 3 starts, allowing 3 hits and striking out 10.

Cam Coming Back

The second half of 2025 was so disappointing for Cam Smith that the front office basically told him he did not have a job with the big club in 2026. He has seemingly taken that to heart and is having one of the best offensive Spring Trainings to date for a team that is starving for good spring performances. (.318 BA/.423 OBP/1.014 OPS).

More Yordan

No one player should get fandom’s circulation going like the healthy return of Yordan Alvarez. He played only 48 games last season due to injury, but frankly, he played most of those 48 games like someone who was still hurt or was not ready to come back.

He has been an instant high BA/high OPS player every season prior to 2025 and he has averaged 41 homers and 118 RBIs for every 162 games he has played. If he is healthy, his at bats are appointment TV.

That Infield

Yes, there has been a lot of hand-wringing about the over-staffing of the infield, but from an offensive standpoint and defense (except for one glove at 2B) this will be a team strength no matter who is playing. Jeremy Pena (assuming his broken finger tip is ready early in the season) is one of the best defensive/offensive SS in the biz. Carlos Correa has a solid bat, and he flashed his strong arm and glove over at 3B late in the season. Jose Altuve is still a positive force on the offensive side. Christian Walker is a good glove at 1B and even with a down year knocked in 88 runs last year. Isaac Paredes can play multiple positions and puts up big, battling at bats every time up.

From an optimism standpoint, what warms your cockles headed into 2026?

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14 responses to “Optimism: Hope springs eternal?”

  1. Correa at SS again. This is moving in a more concrete direction.

    I also find it interesting that the ESPN Astros’ depth chart lists Paredes as the backup at four different positions: 1B, 2B, 3B, DH. And, FanGraphs is showing Paredes as the starting third baseman for the moment, with Pena out.

    I’m guessing Paredes is completely off the trade block? That’s a good thing, right? That’s optimistic, right?

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    • They certainly need to think hard about this trade happening ever. Not that I want anyone hurt, but certainly both Correa and Altuve have missed a fair amount of games in some of the recent years

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    • I don’t really care much about “logjams.” Isaac Paredes is 26 and a good ballplayer. He should be signed to a long term contract, not traded because we have a bunch of old guys creating a “logjam.” I will never look at that word the same again.

      You don’t get rid of some permanency because of a temporary issue.

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  2. My biggest worry, if you want to call it that, is the pitching staff. Beyond Hunter, who can go 7 – 8 innings each game, who can do the same beyond him? My disappointment resides with the starting pitchers seemingly unable to go beyond 4 – 5 innings. I look at the ST stats thus far and see the back end starters throwing a lot of pitches over 2 – 3 innings, pitch counts that would normally be for 5 – 6 innings.

    Arrighetti 112 p / 6 inn

    Javier 82 / 3.2

    France 67 / 3.3

    McCullers 60 / 4

    These are stats from February 27 – March 11.

    Could this be due to pitch experimentation?? Maybe. Could it be due to Luhnow’s tandem practices back when he was the GM? Maybe. Either way, it does cause concern for me. The club needs a few workhorses on the pitching staff.

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    • Sarge I think your best shot at workhorses outside Hunter are two guys you did not mention – Imai and Burrows. The best way to chew up innings is to pitch well and limit your walks. If you can be sitting at 65 pitches after 5 innings – that bodes well for going deep. I don’t see Arrighetti or McCullers being that guy. From what we are seeing with Javier – I don’t think he will be that guy either.

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      • Dan, I did not mention Imai and Burrows because I do not consider them to be back end starters. Thanks, however, for reading what I wrote.

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    • Brown is really a 6 inning guy who had more 5 inning games than 7 (4 times) and 8 (just once). But I get the point. He is a pretty reliable 6. Given the lack of leverage arms I trust I would like to see him take one more small step in command and get to where he can reliably finish 7 like Framber would. Maybe get 7 innings 7-8 times instead of 4, 8 innings 2 or 3 times, and let us see a CG. I would like him to take the ball out of a middle relievers hands and get it straight to Abreu or Hader. That is what will help him win more games. Get it to the guys you trust. Maybe that 2-1 lead holds, or that 2-1 deficit stays 2-1 to give the offense a chance late.

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  5. No, I’m not optimistic at this point. And I’m not necessarily pessimistic either. Maybe a bit dubious. And I think realistic.

    Take Hader. We all knew he was not going to be ready on March 26. Biceps tendonitis can lead to more serious problems. Maybe it already has. He’s been out for 8 months now. There is no timetable for him, except for that 20 million a year for the next three years. Several of us were dubious of the deal. It’s another Crane job. So let’s not hold this one against Dana. But I do not expect Hader back anytime soon. If he gets shut down and misses the season, I’ll shrug.

    Ironic that I was sort of hoping for another club to find themselves in need of a first baseman, ideally the long shot, Walker. We had the injury instead. Hopefully this is a short one for Pena, and Joe can get on with the business of keeping all 5 of his starting infielders busy enough. Now we have to hope for no more injuries.

    I am cautiously optimistic in regard to our pitching staff. Hunter looks like Hunter. Imai looks great. I’d like to see him have an excellent first couple of months and get extended for 5 years. I think Burrows will prove to be the reliable guy he’s been over the past couple of weeks. There must be a fourth guy in the rotation that I have not identified yet as reliable. I do like the way Weiss goes to work out there. But our other guys? Like I said yesterday, I think Lance will fall somewhere between help and hinder. I don’t know about Reptil and Arrighetti. And injuries remain inevitable.

    I’m going to choose to be optimistic about our outfield that has not hit to date. Yordan, the exception, will get 50 starts in left, mostly at home, but I’m not sure if Joe will send him out there two nights in a row. The balance of the other guys are all athletic, run well and will cover ground, have solid arms excepting Jake, ( whom I still think could get traded) and don’t hit. But someone has to show up with a bat. And I want to see Brice Matthews on the opening day roster playing centerfield against left-handed pitching.

    The pen is my own biggest concern. If Abreu steps up and acts like a closer, then that will be a real relief. And I think Blubaugh is a key element to our success or failure as a pen. That’s putting pressure on the guy, but he’ll be 26 by June, so it’s time. And our lefties have to get guys out from both sides of the plate.

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