ChipalattAwards for August 2026

The Astros were 14-13 in August even though they were outscored 122-114 on the month. They oozed up from a 0.5 game lead in the AL West to a 2 game lead.

How do the Astros’ stats look vs. the other teams in the American League in August?

• Offense
  • .231 BA (10^th) / .306 OBP (12^th) / .691 OPS (11^th) / 114 runs (10^th) /  29 HRs  (7^th) / 4 SBs (15^th)
• Pitching
  • 4.37ERA (11^th) / 14 Wins (7^th) / 1.30 WHIP (8^th) / 239 Ks (6^th) / 96 walks (6^th most) / 31 HR (7^th most)

It seems a bit like a Houdini act for a team that was 10th out of 15 in the AL in runs scored and 11^th in ERA still had a winning record in August. It has been a weird season.

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

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

Name	Gm	W	L	Svs	IP	ERA	WHIP	Ks/9 IP	BAA	OBPA	OPSA	BAbip	IR/ IS
Hunter Brown	5	1	2	0	28.1	3.18	1.306	9.8	.223	.316	.695	.279	N/A
Peter Lambert	6	0	2	0	29.2	5.76	1.584	9.4	.261	.363	.719	.337	N/A
Tatsuya Imai	3	0	0	0	9	2.00	1.000	11	.156	.250	.438	.238	0/0
Ronel Blanco	3	0	0	0	13.1	7.43	1.650	5.4	.308	.390	.948	.317	0/0
Hayden Wesneski	5	3	1	0	27	3.67	1.111	8.0	.206	.278	.618	.250	N/A
Cristian Javier	5	0	4	0	23.1	5.79	1.457	8,1	.306	.330	.830	.342	2/0
Kai-Wei Teng	3	0	0	0	3	6.00	1.333	12	.333	.385	.885	.500	2/0
Josh Hader	13	1	0	7	14.1	0.00	.349	9.4	.085	.104	.232	.125	1/0
Enyel De Los Santos	12	2	0	0	14	5.14	1.214	6.4	.222	.295	.740	.233	6/2
Bryan King	7	0	0	0	6.1	12.79	1.966	7.4	.323	.400	.948	.381	3/3
Steven Okert	15	2	1	0	14.1	1.88	0.977	8.8	.231	.268	.672	.270	7/1
Bryan Abreu	14	3	0	1	14.2	1.84	1.227	12.3	.143	.311	.536	.241	7/1
AJ Blubaugh	11	0	0	1	16	0.56	0.750	9	.182	.211	.483	.237	4/0
Bennett Sousa	14	1	3	0	12.2	8.53	2.211	10.7	.357	.438	1.009	.447	6/0
Ethan Pecko	3	1	0	0	13	6.23	1.538	6.2	.229	.362	.862	.200	N/A
Miguel Ullola	1	0	0	0	1	0.00	0.000	18	.000	.000	.000	.000	0/0

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

• Starting Pitcher of the Month  –  Hayden Wesneski – His ERA was a bit higher than Hunter Brown’s but he had better slash numbers, more wins and frankly his performance was critical for a team that was dying for one of their injured returnees to perform well.
• Runner-up – Hunter Brown – Hunter pitched solidly for the month, but was not blessed with run support, so he only had the one win. Still, he is an anchor for the rotation and gives them a shot in every start.

Last Month Starting Pitcher of the Month – Peter Lambert / Runner-up – Hunter Brown  

• Special Acknowledgment –Peter Lambert – His numbers for the month were skewed by one very bad outing of 9 runs in 3.2 innings. Subtract that and his ERA for the month was a good 3.46 ERA for the rest of his starts. So, he was quite valuable to the team in the month of August (but still did not earn a win).

• Relief Pitcher of the Month – Josh Hader – He has been very good all season, but he was almost perfect in August, allowing no runs and putting up an excellent WHIP of 0.349.
• Runner-up  –  A.J. Blubaugh – After a so-so July, Blubaugh hit another gear in August with an excellent ERA and not allowing any inherited runners to score.
• Last Month Relief Pitcher of the Month –(Tied) Steven Okert/Bryan Abreu / Runner-up – Josh Hader
• Special Acknowledgment – Steven Okert and Bryan Abreu both were very good in August while pitching in 15 and 14 games respectively as the bullpen led the team to most of their wins.

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

Name	ABs	Runs	Dbls	HRs	RBIs	BBs	Ks	BA	OBP	OPS	BAbip
Isaac Paredes	95	10	5	2	13	16	8	.253	.368	.737	.256
Jose Altuve	91	12	4	2	11	9	16	.308	.372	.812	.351
Jeremy Pena	103	16	5	5	12	5	35	.204	.255	.674	.254
Christian Walker	94	10	5	2	13	8	21	.202	.276	.595	.236
Cam Smith	81	13	2	4	12	3	21	.250	.272	.785	.283
Yordan Alvarez	94	17	8	2	12	19	20	.287	.415	.873	.338
Yainer Diaz	61	6	2	2	7	3	11	.262	.308	.701	.292
Jake Meyers	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	.400	.400	1.000	.500
Christian Vazquez	31	4	0	2	2	3	9	.194	.265	.652	.200
Taylor Trammell	64	6	0	2	6	7	20	.125	.222	.472	.143
Nick Allen	33	6	1	1	2	3	7	.303	.351	.776	.346
Ray Delgado	4	1	0	0	0	1	2	.000	.200	.200	.000
LaMonte Wade Jr.	37	4	2	1	5	4	11	.270	.341	.747	.360
Zach Dezenzo	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.000	.000	.000
Daulton Varsho	99	7	3	3	10	9	26	.172	.241	.534	.200
Nelson Velasquez	14	1	0	1	3	0	8	.071	.067	.352	.125

• Positional Player of the Month – Yordan Alvarez – This was a lesser month for Yordan, but on this team, it still was the best statistical month among position players.
• Runner-up – Jose Altuve – This was by far Jose’s best month of the season with the second highest OPS among the starters.
• Special Acknowledgement – Lamonte Wade Jr. in limited at bats had a solid month as he continued his patience and on base percentage.
• Last Positional Player of the Month – (Tie) Yordan Alvarez / Jeremy Pena Runner-up – (Tie) Isaac Paredes/ Yainer Diaz
• Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Wesneski – In general, the Astros coming off the IL (Lance McCullers Jr., Ronel Blanco, Cristian Javier) have performed badly. Wesneski on the other hand has been a bulldog who has given the Astros all they could ask for someone recovering from surgery.
• Runner-up  – (Tied) – Wade Jr. and Nick Allen – The duo gave the team solid performance off the bench, which has often been missing along the way.
• Last Biggest Surprise (Positive) – Bryan Abreu / Runner-up – Bennett Sousa
• Biggest Disappointment –  Jeremy Pena – After being so good in previous months, Pena was not good in August and that seemed to effect Yordan and an offense that went from 4^th most runs scored in July to 10^th most in August.
• Runner-up –  Bennett Sousa – Hard to understand why they utilized Sousa so much, when he was so bad in August. And yes, he is left handed, but lefties have pounded him this season (.429 BA/ 1.115 OPS). Would they have been better off giving some innings to Miguel Ullola or Alimber Santa?
• Last Biggest Disappointment – Burrows/Imai/Blanco/ etc. / Runner-up – Cam Smith

Some Comments on August

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

• My goodness, Jeremy Pena – 5 walks vs. 35 Ks is shameful.
• On the other hand, the 16 walks vs. 8 Ks for Isaac Paredes was absolutely excellent.
• Why was Cam Smith and his .250 BA/ .785 OPS given less at bats than Daulton Varsho .172 BA/ .534 OPS? Yeah we know why.
• You have to wonder if Bryan King has something physically wrong with him. His tremendous fall-off seems like too much for just over-use.
• Can the Astros survive if they continue to get a Dr. Jekyl/ Mr. Hyde performance out of their starters and portions of their bullpen? Somehow, they struggled through August that way, but September will be tougher.

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