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 (10th) / .306 OBP (12th) / .691 OPS (11th) / 114 runs (10th) / 29 HRs (7th) / 4 SBs (15th)
- Pitching
- 4.37ERA (11th) / 14 Wins (7th) / 1.30 WHIP (8th) / 239 Ks (6th) / 96 walks (6th most) / 31 HR (7th 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 11th 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 4th most runs scored in July to 10th 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?
25 responses to “ChipalattAwards for August 2026”
Not much to say about last night. You win some, you lose some.
I will highlight one thing that caught me ear. Bagwell, when talking about Yordan (biggest mancrush I’ve ever seen) – I don’t know about all these run creation stats. I just know, the job was, my was, to drive in runs and score runs. If you are doing that, that’s it.
This is why players make bad GMs. The art of hitting a baseball really well or winning a GG or a Cy Young isn’t the same as roster construction. Seeing a guy today and saying, yea, he can swing it, isn’t the same thing as trying to project what he might do 4 years into a 7 year deal. They are see ball hit ball. This Posey experiment in San Fran is due to crash land soon. Bagwell isn’t the GM, but I think its naive to think he isn’t at the very least a thumb on the scale.
As for Cam – I think the late August sit was more about the week before that not the month as a whole. Varsho is probably seeing time despite being as bad because he is a veteran, and while the stats don’t care about that, Espada does (as does most managers). Varsho hasn’t hit much; but he has had a few big hits. But so has Cam.
JP is all gas no brakes. He is here to swing. He is so much better when he doesn’t chase, but the last few weeks, maybe he is pressing, trying to make things happen. It’s not like guys are getting him out because they are throwing him a ton of strikes. It’s hard to tell, is it Yordan limiting Jeremy’s walks or is it Jeremy? Probably a little Yordan, a lot of Jeremy.
I also like Hayden for pitcher of the month. He seems to be the only Houston pitcher not afraid to let contact happen. It’s not unusual for him to see 6 innings at only 80-85 pitches.
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Pena needs to get on first base. He should be thinking walk. That 5-35 stat tells you how much he impacts Yordan’s power stats. Alvarez is just not getting anything to hit when there is nobody on first.
So flip flop Pena and Paredes. Can it hurt?
Varsho will play for now, it’s simply his experience. But in two weeks, anything can happen. Is Cam a good student?
King got his tank emptied.
Our boys are 1-1 in September. Tonight will tell us what direction they are going in. Until tomorrow.
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I guess I decided to count that August 31 game as a September contest.
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Wesneski gives one a bit of hope for the future. And I’m thinking 2027 and 2028. Even with Cam Smith being the weakest link, the Tucker deal was Dana Brown’s shining moment.
You think Bregman and Framber could have gotten us an outfield? And a couple of quality arms?
But I was not very impressed with our Astros last night. That second inning was the sloppiest I’ve seen in a while. And Pena should have gotten that initial error. His was a lackadaisical, lazy toss over to first. Lamont could have, should have caught it, but Pena made the crappy throw. And then only Altuve could turn another potential painful error into a double play.
But the other first place team did not seem to want the game all that much. Just a little bit of base running would have changed Blubaugh’s night.
By the way, paid attendance figures for the first three games of a pivotal September series against two first place teams:
21,236
26,838 (cheap hotdogs)
24,025
The Astros are now 14th in MLB attendance. Yeah, bad weather on Monday. Kids back in school. But there should be enough baseball fans in Houston to go out and watch meaningful stretch run ball. Point is, Jim Crane, as much as he insists his teams will always be relevant, is losing his fan base with the recent product he’s been putting on the field. Houston is no longer impressed. An average of 37,683 came through the gates in 2023. We might be under 30,000 when the 2026 season ends. And all this might be good news. The owner can’t want this decline to continue.
If the Astros go 11 and 11 the rest of the way, the Rangers have to go 13-9 to tie our guys and we’ve got the tie breaker. Certainly doable though.
The M’s would need a 16 and 6 finish but they’ve got the tie breaker. Tough road ahead for the Vikings, but they play the easiest schedule in MLB the rest of the way. That has not meant a whole lot to date though.
With Hunter on the mound, we’re supposed to win this game today.
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I forgot one thing. If Joe keeps pinch running for Yordan, besides pissing off Yordan, it’s going to come back and haunt him one of these days. Bagwell was not pleased either. Thank goodness the new chubby guy got that huge hit in the 8th and Hader was Hader in the 9th.
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I agree. Has pinch running for YA made a difference in any of the games thus far? If we don’t score and we go to extra innings we would lose that bat. Oh and here’s something that bothers me. Blum and TK keep referring to Yordan as “The Big Man”. I’m so tired of hearing that. Yes he’s a big guy but I think it’s a little overused. I just think that they are trying to hype the situation but he’s not hitting dingers as consistently as before. Yes, I’d love for him to do that but it’s sometimes anti-climatic when he comes up and K’s or grounds out. Don’t get me wrong. That triple crown is an amazing feat but we need him to perform and help to win games. No I’m not disappointed in him but keep the expectations manageable.
And how many times did we have scoring opportunities last night and all we got was a big nothing burger. Pitching is a real thing but our situational hitting sucks big time. Wesneski should have gotten a win as great as he was last night. Blubaugh was just plain lucky to get out of the 8th with no runs scored but the White Sox were contributors towards the zero put up in the inning. We should win today with Brown on the mound but we need to put some crooked numbers on the board.
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Thoughts
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The Astros STILL live rent-free in some people’s heads.
Houston Astros’ sign-stealing punishment just got even more embarrassing
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Our parents were wrong!
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Pretty amazing that our starting outfield today have OPS of .652, .653, and .656.
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That’s a pretty good series win against anyone, anytime. I turned on the game in the top of the third and Hunter had the first two guys on base, nobody out. I thought he was in trouble. He got the outs he needed but was at 70 pitches when he walked off after three innings. He labored. Not many pitchers can throw three more innings using 31 pitches and giving up nothing. And it sure helps when guys get big hits along the way.
Rangers need to keep pace tonight against an excellent team.
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Hunter Brown needs to get under control early. Quit trying to strike everyone out. Get in the zone, trust your stuff, trust your defense.
Now, that’s easier said from the couch than done. He had a lot of soft contact, particularly in the 2nd, that led to runners. And if Pena makes that throw and turns two, that’s a zero inning.
But look at his 4th. I don’t remember the exact pitch count but it was less than 10. Right after guys. I don’t think it’s coincidence that happened after the Astros scored 4 in the 3rd. He got comfortable with that lead and started forcing the action by attacking the zone.
I don’t know what to think about it. Is he trying to avoid contact early because he is scared of giving up a lead with this offense? I tell you one thing, his idol never pitched that way. He would attack guys in the zone and wasn’t scared of a homerun – heck JV won a Cy while giving up 36 dingers in 2019. He would attack. I feel like Hunter wasted at least 20 pitches in that outing just throwing non-competitive pitches, which happens when you are trying to just nibble and get guys to chase.
Somebody needs to tell him he is Hunter F’n Brown. The diesel. He should approach every at bat like I’m going to run you over. When he figures that out, the world is his. Got to let the last at bat go, regardless if it went your way or not. This frustration he has at himself, it’s good when it’s channeled. I just feel like he lets it affect him, and then the command issues start compiling.
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He threw 6 in the 4th. I think he goes into games looking to throw a shutout based on our offensive issues. That’s not ideal. Collectively though, once the second inning was out of the way, a good team win.
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Thoughts
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Dan, I had the same thought and was really expecting Espada to trot Hader out with the four run lead. I’m not crazy about adding another inning to Blubaugh’s total instead, but at least we gave Hader the night off and held the lead.
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A message from our old friend Old Pro…
“Still here! Astros remain a .500 team as I thought in March. Only a winning streak will allow them to move up in the eyes of the league and the fans. This team is over-producing based on run differential.
I am caregiver for the Mrs., as she had major surgery and will have an extended recovery. This is hard work! Much love to all the Chipalattians.”
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So good to hear from you 1oldpro. And prayers for Mrs. 1oldpro.
Thanks for checking in. Stay well.
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Okert to the 15 day IL for a right hamstring strain.
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Thoughts
Good night for the good guys as they squeezed out another win while the Rangers rallied twice but fell short.
3 game lead feels better but they need to extend it if possible.
Sure I’d like more than 5 innings from Javier but I’ll take that kind of five inning outing every time out
With Okert out – the bullpen makes me nervous – Sousa having to rescue De Los Santos and Abreu having to rescue Sousa.
Hader is just nails out there – if he never returned from injury – this team would be below the Mariners
Diaz is hitting the best he has in a couple years and that is really helping the lineup.
Yordan is kind of taking what they are giving him and the team is playing well even without his power component.
Do we want Correa back taking at bats from Paredes? That guy needs to be in the lineup every day.
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Dan, he might take more at bats from Altuve.
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What is going on with the Astros tonight? 11 pitches seen in the first inning, 8 in the second.
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Not to mention Varsho’s lazy path to Carroll’s hit, in the second, which Carroll was able to take an extra base on Varsho.
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Gosh, we had some bad at bats in that ballgame, especially in the 9th and 10th. We saw some good pitching too. After a leadoff single by Yanier to start the 9th, we went 0 for 6 including 4 K’s to finish the game. I wish Joe had not asked Trammell to do something he can’t do, which is drop a bunt down. On the flip side, Perdomo routinely moved his guy to third in the tenth with a sacrifice. It turned out to be one of the simple little plays that made the difference in the game. The other thing that sticks out in my head is that Cam had that big triple in the 5th and then promptly had a brain fart, getting caught off the bag. Cam wears on me sometimes. If you believe Baseball Reference, he’s regressed from last year. Considerably.
Walker has been hopeless for a month, Pena continue to press and Yordan has lost his patience and maybe some of his intuition. Altuve is back at a .700 OPS. Arizona can be a pretty good team. We’ve got to play clean games in September. And we’ve got to give a compromised pitching staff some breathing room.
On the flip side, the Rangers also lost in the 10th. If we go a mediocre (theme of the season) 9 and 10 the rest of the month, the Arlington guys have to go 13 and 6 to beat us. It’s nice to have that tie breaker.
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Dan, back to your thoughts on a Correa return. Can we rule out Correa or Paredes at first on occasion? We are willing to put LaMont Wade Junior over there.
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Good morning on a Labor Day Monday.
Sure was a silent crowd yesterday, along with a bunch of silent bats. The pitching hung in there as best they could though. We had chances. But heck, what a lethargic group. Joe just does not have a turn up the intensity button.
We got another outfielder last night. Jorge Barrosa. Career stats would put him in the minors, with a .180 BA and a .543 OPS lifetime. But apparently he’s hit righties in 2026 at a .244 clip and plays good defense. That’s solid enough for our roster. But the Dbacks did not hold on to him after 11 years with the organization. Our man Jake went back down. For the last time? I keep wondering if we’re still going to be rotating through every cast off outfielder the league offers again in 2027.
This is the kind of Monday where I feel like the Astros are going to hit the wall in Philadelphia and the road trip takes them to the brink, but then they go win 4 of 6 and the Ranger’s sputter again.
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