A Quick Astros 10….

It is one of those weeks at work for Dan P, where, as much as I would love to whip out 3 pages of prose for my friends to peruse, my job is kicking my butt and leaving me little energy and time.

So, this one’s on you. Here are 10 questions of various shapes and sizes about the Astros as we sit here today.

  1. On a scale of 1 – 10, with one being totally unsurprised and 10 being totally shocked, how would you rate your reaction to the announcement that Carlos Correa will not return for the rest of the 2026 season (including potential playoffs)?
  2. In your opinion, did the Astros dodge a bullet in not having to fit Correa into their lineup, considering how often injured players take some time to get rolling after a long stint on the IL? (Spoiler alert – there is practically no time left in the season at this point).
  3. Of the following players, who is the most critical to their success between now and the end of the season?

4. Of the following “parts” of the ball club – which is the most important to their success down the stretch?

  • The starting pitching
  • The bullpen
  • The offense
  • The defense

5. If you were a betting man (or woman) do you think the Astros will….

  • Announce they are letting manager Joe Espada go immediately after the season ends?
  • Extend him?
  • Make him an offer he can refuse (like James Click)?
  • Let him go and then rehire him after the inevitable lockout/strike ends – therefore not having to pay for a manager for an extended period of time?

6. And what do you think the Astros will do with their open General Manager’s spot?

  • Fill it before the end of the season
  • Fill it between the end of the season and the beginning of the lockout in December
  • Fill it after the lockout/ strike ends
  • Never fill it and continue to run the club with some unholy troika of Jim Crane, Jeff Bagwell and multiple assistant GMs

7. If the Astros make the playoffs – do you think they will….

  • Lose in the Wild Card round?
  • Lose in the ALDS?
  • Lose in the ALCS?
  • Lose in the World Series?
  • Have a big time parade in early November?

8. Yordan Alvarez will…

  • Win the MVP and earn the triple crown
  • Win the MVP but fall short of the triple crown
  • Win the triple crown but fall short of the MVP
  • Miss out on both the MVP and triple crown

9. The Astros will…

  • Win the AL West and pass the White Sox for the 2nd AL seed
  • Win the AL West but end up in the WC round
  • Lose the AL West but end up in the WC round
  • Miss the playoffs

10. The Astros’ final record will end up with…

  • 82 or more wins
  • 81 wins
  • 80 or less wins

OK – you get to do my work for me today.

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19 responses to “A Quick Astros 10….”

  1. I’ll have a stab, but as a small aside, went to the KC game last night, decent seats in the RF foul area. Enjoyed ourselves, but a very odd game. Hitters 3 through 9 were 0-for-ever. KC even worse!

    1. Carlos. Scoring 1, totally unsurprised. 
    2. Carlos. Yes dodged a bullet.
    3. Critical players. Yordan. Then Pena. 
    4. Baseball parts down the stretch. Offense. Starting pitching comes in the playoffs. 
    5. Manager. Let go about five minutes after the last game of the season. Even if (laugh, unlikely) it’s game 7 of the WS. 
    6. GM. After the lockouts. 
    7. If, if, they make the playoffs, will lose to the first decent team they meet. Which is probably in the ALDS. One of the East WC teams. Unless it’s the (spit) Yankees in which case we beat them as usual and lose to the Rays in the ALCS.
    8. Yordan will not win either. His slump has cost him. 
    9. Astros will be in the WC round. Who has the CWS tiebreaker, mind? Not sure. We might end up tied with them. The CWS are doing a great Rangers impression. 
    10. Final record will be 80-82. 

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    1. Zero. Obviously, rushing Correa, or Correa rushing himself did not help.
    2. No. Altuve has a .696 OPS this morning. His second base defense is indefensible. Correa would have helped if the Astros had the cojones to sit Jose some nights down the stretch.
    3. As evidenced last night, Pena.
    4. Starting pitching.
    5. It would cost Crane a few bucks, but the final judgement on Joe might not come until a new GM is hired.
    6. If the Astros are serious about where this club is going/not going, they’ll sign a GM before the New Year, regardless of where the lockout issue stands. But if they decide to add a guy like Asmus, then the current mix, led by Bagwell, might continue on until there is clarity regarding the 2027 season.
    7. ALDS, but I say this with no confidence. I think the last six games on the West Coast could be ugly.
    8. Last night was encouraging re the Triple Crown. But he’s got to go on a tear over the last 11 games. Not sure if enough of the “experts” will give Yordan, primarily a DH, on a .500 club, a vote for MVP.
    9. miss the playoffs.
    10. 80 wins or less. And if the Astros do in fact get beat up by the M’s and A’s, then forget what I said about Joe. He’ll get sent home on Monday morning.

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  3. In the previous article, Devin wrote, at the bottom of the blog, “I’ve been surprised teams have been so willing to pitch to Caminero, who hit another walk off HR last night, but so careful with our guy.” Interestingly enough, the wife and I discussed that just recently. We stated how teams have been willing to pitch to Judge, Raleigh, and others similar to them but then they pitch around Yordan. Alas, we are only who we are, and we have no saying in the matter. We can only shake our heads.

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  4. By the way Dan, your efforts are always appreciated, and I happen to like these question and answer sessions. I do find myself in a rather cynical frame of mind right now though. I’m thinking the Astros finish 4 and 7.

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    1. 1 – expected.
    2. Yes, because he was not likely to hit that well.
    3. They all are. Pena might be most.
    4. Need all 4 facets.
    5. Espada is gone. They are going to let the new GM hire the manager he wants.
    6. Probably after the season, maybe after this lockout if it happens.
    7. It’s baseball, anything can happen, but they won’t be favored even in the first 3 game series.
    8. Neither. He has been pedestrian for a month now. I think the league has a better understanding of how to pitch him, and he hasn’t yet adjusted. If he does, he could still pull it off, but it has to be now.
    9. All of them are possible. Depends on who gets hot, who gets cold, from a few teams.
    10. See above.

    Sorry if that obtuse. But this team makes predicting anything difficult. They have so many good parts. And they have so many bad parts. Good one day. Bad the next. And once college football season starts, there are days I don’t watch or even know if they won or lost until the next day.

    Let me add one thing about Yordan – since its been a topic – I wouldn’t walk him if I were an opposing manager. I would just tell my pitcher to pound the lower inside part of the plate with a combination of fastballs and sliders. If you walk him, you walk him, but you might get him to chase. Just don’t make a mistake and catch the zone, because he will put it on Mars.

    Espada’s decision to pitch to Caminero cost him the game. He needs to be better. Every game counts.

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    • Steven, yes, pound him down and in. And then he’ll also wave at stuff off the plate at times. But at the same time, an OPS over 1.000 is rare these days. And he’s done it without much help around him.

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  6. Thoughts

    • That was a minimalist game yesterday – 4 hits from the first two guys – but good for 3 HRs and 4 runs. Hunter struck out 10 but could only go 5 innings (need more innings and less K’s?) The bullpen held it together including the top two back there Abreu and Hader.
    • 0 for 22 for the balance of the lineup – yuck
    • Simon Davey – nice response – can’t haggle too much on that
    • Daveb – you are saying they finish 4-7 – even with the 3 game sweep by the Rays they are 5-6 in their last 11. But in many ways I understand
    • Sarge – maybe the “other” guys have more protection behind them – Paredes is good, but if you get him out you are facing Walker or someone else not that good
    • Steven – yes, this is the toughest Astros team to predict in a long time. If you told me they had a 4 game lead but lost the last 6 games in a row it would not surprise me. If you told me they lost the lead in the division but won the last 6 it would not surprise me.

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    • Dan, yeah, that 4-7 could easily be a 7-4. And we can’t look at who’s starting and have any idea what the outcome will be.

      The A’s and the M’s though, I feel queasy.

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    • If you had told me in March this team would win the division with a pretty significant negative run differential I would have called you crazy. Here we are. Totally unpredictable.

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  7. Oh and daveb – thank you for the appreciation of my efforts. Always good to hear. I like the Q&A ones because it is usually minimal research – just off the top of my head and very quick. Sometimes I think I will never get to 10 (or whatever number) but before I know it I am done.

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  8. Another loss and the ship is foundering. These guys (save a few) couldn’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag. The fat lady is already warming up to start her singing of this tragedy. And should we have a season next year I don’t look for any significant improvement. No use in pointing fingers since we know who the guilty parties are. Please prove me wrong guys!

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  9. Last night Yordan had a 344 foot fly to right field. It made it to the track. Normally, when Yordan hits a fly ball to right, it goes out. I don’t think he’s the same healthy guy he was a couple of months ago.

    Seth Lugo is showing his age. But we’re facing him with a bullpen game tonight. Not ideal.

    Sony Gray is going for the Sox against the Rangers, so maybe we’ll get a break there.

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  10. Answers to Dan’s questions.

    1. Is number 1
    2. Yes
    3. Alvarez
    4. Starting pitching
    5. Announce they are letting manager Espada go immediately after the season ends.
    6. Fill it after the lockout ends.
    7. Lose in the championship series
    8. Alvarez is the MVP
    9. Win the AL West but end up in the WC round
    10. 82 wins as I recently predicted 82-80

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  11. Those homers were nice to see from various different contributors last night.

    Ethan Pecko is my hero today though. I don’t know why they give the win to the guy that got 4 outs and happened to be throwing early when the Astros got an initial lead. Pecko gave the Astros 17 outs on three hits and a run with no walks. As long as baseball is changing so much, that’s a rule that can be made more equitable.

    Yordan is suddenly back in the Triple Crown hunt. Pena has awakened from his nap. Where had he run off to?

    Yainer is hitting .362 with a .932 OPS in September. He’s quietly put together a quality year at the plate. But I sure wish someone could figure out why some guys have bad years hitting at home. This year, Yainer is such better on the road.

    Rangers took a dagger last night.

    We’ll find out tonight if the Astros mean business.

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  12. Thoughts

    • The Astros are the equivalent of the 21st Century Schizoid Man (for any King Crimson progressive rockers out there). One night almost nobody hits – the next…
    • So, Christian Walker sits and Lamonte Wade Jr. acts like he likes being in the starting lineup (and I like him better at first base than floundering in LF.
    • Wake up the whole team and have them out there taking early batting practice – after what it has supposedly done for Pena and Alvarez
    • daveb – Yordan looked a lot healthier on that upper deck job yesterday (I had also been wondering if he had bum hands again) but he killed that one.
    • Pecko was terrific last night – much better than he was pitching at AAA since he came up. Maybe he was working on “something” in the minors or maybe he has been rooming with Brent Strom since Brent returned.
    • Normally I might question using Hader in a non-save situation – but they needed that series win and didn’t need to screw around with a 4 run lead.
    • Even new daddy Taylor Trammell got in the home run mood last night.
    • And the Rangers urped up a 3 run lead to the Red Sox.
    • But….we play the very good Braves while the mediocre Rangers (ok we are mediocre too) play the equally mediocre Blue Jays.
    • The pitching matchups look fairly close all weekend for us – the key is does Dr. Jekyl or Mr. Hyde offense show up for us.

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    • The good news is that the Rangers and Blue Jays are both in contention for that last WC spot. The bad news is the Braves only have a 4 game lead on Philly and will be motivated to win as well.

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  13. Walker is hitting .191 with a .569 OPS since the break. Varsho is worse. They should both sit.

    Very happy to see that Yordan type homer by Yordan.

    The Astros so needed that outing by Pecko.

    The Braves still have a lot to play for.

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  14. The pen is shot. Unfortunately, Joe has no other options than trotting the same guys out there. Sousa is not an Okert replacement, but that’s his job now. De Los Santos has a negative WAR, King too. Blubaugh is at 92 innings. I just hope he finishes next week healthy.

    At the same time, we keep a guy on the roster who is obviously is being kept from reaching his financial goals for throwing 80 plus innings.

    And it’s a sad reality, but at this point, Nick Allen is a better baseball player than our clean up hitter.

    As Z noted above, I also don’t see the experts building a significantly better team for 2027.

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