ChippalattAwards for May 2026

It is a recognition of how poorly the Astros played in April that their 15-14 record in May is considered “good”.  Their overall 27-34 record moved them into fourth place in the AL West, 4.5 games behind the surging Seattle Mariners. They are also 2-1/2 games out of the last Wild Card spot held by the Toronto Blue Jays.

How do they look vs. the other teams in the American League?

  • Offense
    • .219 BA (14th) / .287 OBP (T-14th) / .663 OPS (T-12th) / 103 runs (13th) / 39 HRs  (3rd) / 8 SBs (15th)
  • Pitching
    • 3.66 ERA (6th) / 15 Wins (T-5th) / 1.21 WHIP (4th) / 209 Ks (13th) / 112 walks (3rd most) / 31 HR (T-5th most)

This is almost a complete flip-flop from the March/April numbers, where their hitting was the best in the league, and their pitching was the worst.

It also further emphasizes how pitching is more important towards winning….at least for the Astros, as top-third pitching in May brought them slightly above .500, while having the best hitting in March/April brought them a .375 win percentage.

But enough of the team stuff. How did the individuals do in May?

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

NameGmWLSvsIPERAWHIPKs/9 IPBAAOBPAOPSABAbipIR/ IS
Mike Burrows523031.24.551.2326.0.248.311.765.255N/A
Lance McCullers Jr.201089.002.00011.3.324.4101.087.381N/A
Peter Lambert5320303.901.2007.2.206.306.606.244N/A
Tatsuya Imai413020.24.791.0656.5.186.296.696.160N/A
Ryan Weiss10104.112.462.76910.4.381.4801.194.4293/0
Spencer Arrighetti5410290.931.1386.8.165.311.517.200N/A
Kai-Wei Teng621022.12.411.16410.1.173.311.604.2292/0
Enyel De Los Santos11001121.500.5839.0.140.159.322.1943/0
Bryan King1200513.21.981.2444.0.231.298.606.2449/1
Steven Okert12000122.250.6679.8.146.222.465.1882/0
Bryan Abreu1020291.001.2227.0.143.368.547.1903/0
Cody Bolton400010.25.061.7819.3.289.373.928.3444/3
AJ Blubaugh1000018.12.951.1456.4.175.293.563.1843/0
Jayden Murray30005.18.442.0630.0.390.4401.005.3911/0
Bennett Sousa30002.04.501.5004.5.250.333.583.2861/1
Jason Alexander311016.17.711.4697.2.284.342.895.3140/0
Alimber Santa30105.00.000.0007.2.000.000.000.0000/0
Nate Pearson40013.20.001.0914.9.167.286.536.2000/0
Logan VanWey30003.00.000.33315.0.100.100.200.2000/0

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

  • Starting Pitcher of the Month  –  Spencer Arrighetti – Arrighetti held on to the crown with brilliant numbers for the month of May, his 0.93 ERA and .517 OPS against standing out.
  • Runner-up – Kai-Wei Teng – It should be noted that some of Teng’s numbers came from the 3 relief appearances he had at the beginning of the month. But as a starter, he still had a very good 2.84 ERA.

Last Month Starting Pitcher of the Month – Spencer Arrighetti / Runner-up – Hunter Brown  

  • Special Acknowledgement – Peter Lambert pitched solidly (3.90 ERA) and was second in innings pitched. Mike Burrows still had below average numbers, but he improved almost every single stat significantly from March/ April. Also, after a very bad start to the season – Tatsuya Imai has settled down with a 2.70 ERA / 0.864 WHIP in his last three starts.
  • Relief Pitcher of the Month –  Bryan King – King held it together as the closest thing the Astros have currently as a closer to garner 5 saves, while putting up a 1.98 ERA and stranding 8 of 9 inherited runners.
  • Runner-up (Tie) –  Enyel De Los Santos and Steven Okert – De Los Santos had better numbers, but Okert seemed to be pitching every other day. They both helped hold the back end of the bullpen together.
  • Last Month Relief Pitcher of the Month – Kai-Wei Teng / Runner-up – Bryan King
  • Special Discussion – Based on numbers only, Bryan Abreu could have made a claim to one of these two awards. Well except for the huge .368 OBP, which reflected his inability to keep the ball in the strike zone (7 walks in 9 innings). But his results were better this month and at least that is encouraging even though he helped them blow the first game of the Brewer series.
  • Also – A.J. Blubuagh put up very good numbers this month – even though he was being used a lot for multi-inning outings.

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

NameABsRunsDblsHRsRBIsBBsKsBAOBPOPSBAbip
Isaac Paredes9966391118.222.319.692.244
Jose Altuve517314211.235.273.706.288
Jeremy Pena4910038110.286.333.803.297
Christian Walker105171919825.200.276.743.169
Cam Smith9210326826.217.294.609.281
Yordan Alvarez981438121733.238.340.856.238
Yainer Diaz9010001.222.222.566.250
Jake Meyers35311317.229.250.593.259
Carlos Correa16211235.313.421.984.400
Brice Matthews84812636.202.253.550.259
Christian Vazquez654026512.185.243.520.196
Taylor Trammell223002010.273.304.668.500
Dustin Harris7000001.429.429.857.500
Nick Allen31501515.258.294.649.269
Shay Whitcomb6000102.167.167.333.250
Braden Shewmake646327210.250.269.659.264
Cesar Salazar18000133.056.227.283.067
Zach Cole513138121.157.189.542.185
Zach Dezenzo455412418.200.265.621.308
  • Positional Player of the Month –  Christian Walker – Yes, his slash stats stunk, but he drove in 19 runs, 7 more than any of his teammates, and he also led the team with 17 runs scored and 9 home runs.
  • Runner-up –   Yordan Alvarez – Yordan could not keep up the pace of March/ April and he didn’t, but he still was solid with 14 runs/8 HRs/ 12 RBIs despite a low (for him) .238 BA.
  • Special Acknowledgement – Jeremy Pena – If you double up his numbers (since he missed about half the month) – you get 20 runs, 6 homers and 16 RBIs out of your lead-off hitter, I sure would take that anytime.
  • Last Positional Player of the Month – Yordan Alvarez / Runner-up – Christian Walker
  • Biggest Surprise (Positive) –   I’ll go with Braden Shewmake, who I had no expectations for – and he did well in a month where he was needed with Carlos Correa out for good and Jose Altuve out for short time, we hope.
  • Runner-up  – Nick Allen – getting anything out of the guy with a great glove was a positive.
  • Last Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Christian Walker / Runner-up – Christian Vazquez
  • Biggest Disappointment –  The offense as a whole. I know there were a lot of newbies in the lineup, but there was hardly anybody (Altuve, Paredes, Walker, Alvarez, Vazquez) hitting up to their career BA numbers.
  • Runner-up –  That Lance could not make it through 2 months before having a return to an injury that may take him down for the season.
  • Last Biggest Disappointment – Tatsuya Imai / Runner-up – Bryan Abreu

Some Comments on May

There are some interesting and puzzling things that happened to the Astros so far in 2026:

  • Alimber Santa with a .000 BA/.000 OBP/ .000 OPS slash against, but with a loss due to the stupid extra inning rules.
  • The only hitter who walked as much as he struck out (3 BBs/ 3 Ks) was their worst hitter Cesar Salazar (.056 BA).
  • Looking at that .313 BA/ .421 OBP/ .984 OPS slash for Carlos Correa is just depressing as we will not see him again this season (on the field).  
  • Have to love those .000 ERAs (in small samples) for Santa, Nate Pearson and Logan VanWey in their 10 total appearances.
  • Even though Ryan Weiss was overall awful, at least he stranded the 3 runners he inherited.

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

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15 responses to “ChippalattAwards for May 2026”

  2. Good morning.

    Dan, as you noted, quite a flipflop. It’s pretty easy to see a solid rotation in our immediate future. It’s not so easy to see a solid offense. The OBP for May sticks out.

    Our guys are not getting on base. Even Yordan, with 8 dingers only reached at a .340 clip, which is very low for him. Pena should help, but Correa is gone. Issac, .319? He’s a different hitter so far in 2026. Where else do we get more offense from, more selectively? We might get a boost from Jose, but we won’t get more selectively from him.

    On the flip side, Hunter looks to be about ready. With Imai seemingly suddenly finding his way, we’ve got a bunch of starters that are providing 5 plus innings. At some point there has to be a correction from Arrighetti. But maybe now the pen can start getting into more defined roles with Hader on his way. Is Santa for real? Is Abreu once again last man out of the pen? Or even on his way to the injured list?

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    • Great takes my friend. To me, Hunter will have a bigger impact in resetting this bullpen into more defined roles than Josh. Certainly, Hader defines that back end, and that has been a revolving door, but really the Astros rotation had been so bad for 6 weeks that no one was allowed to pitch in any kind of defined role. McCullers and Javier being out, and consistently getting at least 5 innings from every starter, is the best way to get the bullpen on a routine.

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  3. The two months have been a tale of two seasons. The first month you saw what happens when a good offense tries to carry a terrible pitching situation. In the second month they didn’t exactly switch places but the offense has fallen back to just below league average metrics but the pitching staff has responded. April was brutal, but a 8 game losing streak followed closely by a 4 game losing streak will ruin anyone’s month. With the pitching staff finding a foothold they basically played .500 ball in May.

    If they want to win this division they are going to have to pick a month, preferably on the front end of whats left, and go 19-7. Otherwise, they may still turn into “sellers.” I don’t expect them to sell, I’ve highlighted why its economic suicide for the ownership group, and they have control of every important piece out there for one more season be it 2027 or 2028, but what would an abbreviated season do to a franchise that looks like its become a June/July franchise? They won’t have rope on a bad start, and not sufficient time to see if they have something before becoming “sellers.”

    As for the months awards – I would give more love to Peter Lambert. On May 17th he had thrown 6 innings and gave up 2 runs in 85 pitches. When you have a guy in this place in his career, and you get that line, you point to the sky say thanks and the bullpen gets 9 outs. Instead, Espada sends him back out there for a 7th. He walks Pederson, gives up a double to Duran, hits Osuna with a pitch, and you send Cody F’n Bolton out there who then allows all 3 inherited runners across and some of his own to put the game out of reach. It was almost like Espada just threw up the white flag as he left Bolton out there absorb the punishment the rest of the way. Take out those 3 runs Lambert has a 3.00 ERA for the month and 3 QS in 5 trots out there, with the other 2 not being bad ones. Instead, its 2 QS, one unwinnable start, and a 3.90 ERA. We really have no idea what happens if Bolton is given a clean inning to work with and not thrown in to the fire. If I remember correctly, King was definitely unavailable, De Los Santos was eh if you have to, I think Abreu had gotten a 5 out save the day before so he is unavailable, but at least give Bolton a clean inning to try and get 1 or 2 out of him. Bolton ended up having to get the same number of outs either way. These are the spots I mean when I say I think he (Espada) is over matched with this pitching staff, but he is starting to manage it better overall.

    As for Abreu, I would lean towards Superman has lost his fastball. And that is taking his confidence away and he is biting the outside apple. Unless he starts throwing 97 tomorrow it’s going to be a long year. His agent has to be in panic mode, they are going from a possible 4/50 type deal to a 1 yr, 3M journeyman reliever deal. Generational wealth, poof. Can’t feel too bad for someone that will have made 28-29M in his career by the end of the season, but I guess his great grandkids will actually have to get jobs.

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  5. Thoughts

    • daveb – With the offense I’m hopeful that Pena continues to lead from the front of the lineup, that Yordan heats up like he is capable (no surprise he cooled off in May), , that Loperfido comes back and brings a bit more offense to the outfield, that Cam continues the better hitting of his last two weeks (.295 BA/ .367 OBP/.845 OPS), that Walker continues his 3 run homer binge, that Vazquez hits somewhere between April and May, etc. But yes – they really need to get that OBP up. One thing in May – the batting luck (BAbip) was down for the team. .287 is the mlb batting average for balls in play and almost every hitter was below that in May. That would help, but also being a bit more choosey would help like you say.
    • Steven – always love your takes. Getting main cogs like Hader and Hunter back should help Espada not make as many “stretch” decisions where he is trying to milk an extra inning out of almost everyone. You are so right that they need to have a big month – now. But can they combine the better pitching they had in May with hitting closer to April? I just don’t know. But at least it feels like they will have weathered the worst of the injuries when Hunter returns. And good explanation on Lambert, I forgot he had that “bad” outing based on being asked for too much and being backed by someone who wilted under the situation.
    • Starting off June – they have an opportunity against an easier stretch of the schedule. The Pirates are the toughest team at 32-28, followed by A’s 28-31, Angels, 23-38, Royals 23-37, and Tigers, 23-38. But they have to bow their backs and make it happen.

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  8. Good morning. When did they start calling a groin pull an adductor strain? I had to look it up.

    It’s actually good to see a Pittsburg team put a competitive group on the field. I’d like our Astros to be more like them. Third in MLB OPS, 10th in WHIP. The stat I like most is 61 stolen bases, just 8 caught stealing. How come these guys are so good at running the bases? It can’t just be all about speed. They’ve got an off the chart success rate.

    We had a pretty good chance to break that game open early, but our middle of the order went 0-10. And Burrows handed them 5 baserunners via walk and then tossed a couple more dingers. He sure remains erratic, but we can usually count on a homer or two. Dan, his ERA is 5.66 at this point, the WHIP is 1.54. You were asking about a candidate to move out of the rotation. He might qualify. I think there is hope for the guy, but he might be another Astro pitcher requiring a mental adjustment. I really hope he’s a listener. I’m wondering at this point if he’s a stubborn underachiever.

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  9. What can I say about Mike Burrows that hasn’t already been said? In March-April he made 6 starts. It’s safe to say 3 of them were going to be losses when he walked off the mound. One was a tweener game that was winnable/losable, and we lost it. He made only 2 good starts, both were 5 IP, 2 runs.

    He made 5 May starts. Two were fully winnable, good starts, and we won both. Two were tweeners, he needed help. He didn’t get it and we lost both of them. One he got blowed up and the game was over before he was out of the game. And now in June, I guess you can call it a tweener start because the Astros were still very much in the game when he left, but it sure felt like a loss was coming watching it.

    The Astros are now 3-9 in his 12 starts. He is not doing enough to put his team in a position to win. Sometimes the pitcher puts his team there, and it still doesn’t happen – you can argue that has happened to him once this year on 1 May against Boston – but most of that 3-9 is squarely on his shoulders. You just can’t have a guy trotting out there that has a 60-70% chance of ending a possible

    He was signed by the Pirates at 18 out of high school. He made 22 starts and 94 innings in 2022. I can’t find any evidence that he has ever surpassed the 1537 pitches he threw last year, but maybe slightly in 2022? He is already over 1000 and we are just at the 1/3rd mark. I would have circled 2200 pitches by his name at the beginning of the year and wouldn’t have thought about 3000 until 2028. But I’m not Brown.

    Maybe a demotion to the pen when Hunter is ready is best for everyone, the team and Burrows. Make him your 2-3 inning guy, and hope that your rotation performs in a way that you only need 1 or 2 of those 2-3 inning guys. The Astros need to get to a place where King, Okert, De Los Santos, Abreu and Hader are all 1 inning, 25 pitch guys. I would add Blubaugh to that list but Espada doesn’t see it my way.

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    • That’s pretty damning. When you win just 3 of 12, you’re almost forced to do something. At least you should do something.

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  10. Thoughts

    • I have less thoughts most Wednesdays because I am at Tuesday night choir practice and miss most of the game. And I have to admit that I will not watch much of a replay when the team loses.
    • Should Espada have not sent Burrows out for the 6th inning? Really no reason to pull him then – I think he was at 73 pitches headed into the inning. But after walking the leadoff man in the 5th and getting away with it – he did it again in the 6th and after a single and a home run, the game was flipped.
    • I hate that we ate up 4 relievers last night including three of the best ones lately – Okert, De Los Santos and Blubaugh.
    • I hate that Abreu gave up 3 runs in his inning of work to seal the deal. I hate that he challenged a pitch that had to be at least a foot low and used up the last pitch appeal. His 4 seam fastball (if the stat track is accurate) swung between about 91 and 96 mph – very inconsistent. The pitch that was launched for a homer was a slider that was way inside and low. However, lefties tend to love to drop the head of the bat on those types of pitches and that is what Lowe did.
    • The Astros are now 6 back of the still streaking Mariners – and 3.5 back in the wild card. They need to get rolling – NOW!

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      • Or admit to the injury he probably has.

        If I’m not mis-remembering at this point – I do remember being upset when Abreu had a guy on first and Vazquez called for a first pitch – pitchout. I was thinking that Abreu is the last guy I want pitching in a 1-0 ditch of our own making. He ended up walking that guy and the guy on first stole second any way.

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    • I generally like Vasquez, but don’t absolve him from the blame here. On that Abreu challenge his pitch framing pulled the glove from well below the zone where he caught it up to the top of the zone. That’s little league nonsense. An umpire makes his determination the same way the batter does. The influence a catcher has is that the quieter the glove is on the catch the more likely an umpire will not turn a strike in his mind into a ball. Abreu got fooled.

      Additionally, the Burrows sixth inning went: 5 pitch walk, single (0-0), homer (2-2), 10 pitch walk. I don’t know when they got De Los Santos up in the pen. Following up on Steven’s comment from the other week, Burrows now has given up 15 HR in 12 starts. 5 of those were of the 3-run variety. The innings looked like this:
      3/27 v LAA, top 2nd: BB, single, HR

      5/10 @ BOS, bot 3rd: BB, single, HR

      5/14 v SEA, top 1st: double, F7, K, BB, HR

      5/20 @ MIN, bot 4th: K, 6-3, single, BB, HR

      6/02 v PIT, top 6th: BB, single, HR

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