2019 Houston Astros Season

[eagle eye]

I'm just a casual fan of the Astros and even I could see that Tyler White was going to be gone, by whatever method, MLB makes players gone. I'm curious, as to what will happen, when the injured guys, ( Correa and Diaz), return? How many infielders do you keep? Correa, Bergman, Gurriel, Altuve + Kemp, Diaz, plus whoever the Astro's bring in to backup, at 1st base. Myles Straw is not going anywhere. He would seem to be the backup and the relief SS plus he can play the OF plus he can motor. Straw has made himself a very valuable commodity.

 

I'm guessin' that the Astros will trade for another starting pitcher. I just wonder, which players, that they are willing to trade away?

 

I think that Drac may have forgotten about Yordan Alverez. Alvarez could have a secure roster spot. Alvarez has played some 1B and outfield but even if the Astros just use him as a DH there is no question about his having a roster spot. The move to the bigs hasn't been too big for Alvarez and he has pretty much continued his sick production from the minors. Just today he went 2-4 with an RBI. That said, Tony Kemp will have to go through the same process as Tyler White. If the Astros are to keep White he will have to clear waivers and teams have 10 days to sign him. If he clears waivers Houston could decide to sign him to a minor league deal. Kemp would have to go through that same 10-day waiver process and I would be afraid somebody would sign Kemp, moreso than White, and the fact is I believe Kemp is a popular guy in the Astros clubhouse. I think the Astros would hate to lose him. Even though Kemp's BA isn't great he's shown he's not afraid to hit with the game on the line. Kemp has definitely come through in the clutch for Houston on many occasions. Trouble is, Kemp's production isn't even in the ballpark as Alvarez and ceiling is pretty high for Alvarez going forward. The fact is, Myles Straw and Alvarez have been great since they came up but, they could be sent back to AAA without any problem and they would among the first to return to the big club when rosters expand in September. The big problem will be on the coaching staff in the offseason on who to keep and who to let go.

 

Week 2 following the ASG was pretty good. Houston went 2-4 against the Angels of Anaheim as the young pitchers Houston has been forced to turn to continued to do a lousy job. Even Hector Rondon, who has been pretty good out of the bullpen stunk it up as a starter. Once Houston got to the top 3 starters Garret Cole, Wade Miley and Justin Verlander the Astros fortunes changed. Cole, Miley and Verlander all pitched well and got their team wins in all three games they played. Cole apparently is a pretty fiery guy and his hyper competitive nature motivates his teammates. Cole set the tone for the rest of the Angels' series, Miley continued the Astros pitching domination in the Angels finale and Verlander dominated in the opener against the Rangers. The real surprise was how both Jose Urguidy and Rogelio Armenteros turning really good performances on Saturday and Sunday leading the Astros to the sweep of the Rangers. Urquidy and Armenteros has so-so results in limited big league appearances this year but both notched their first big league wins this weekend. Surprising results indeed especially since their recent appearances at AAA Round Rock haven't been anything to write home about. The sweep of the Rangers was sweet but it doesn't altar the fact that Houston needs starting pitching for the stretch run. The trade deadline is July 31 that's just 10 days away. Houston is still in the lead in the AL West but the Oakland A's are making a push. They got to within 4.5 games of the Astros but while Houston has won 5 in a row the Angel lost a single game, or so I thought, to the Minnesota Twins. The Astros started the day with a 5.5 game lead on the A's but late this afternoon it looked like the A's had come back in the game as they took a 6-5 lead in the 7th inning. Much to my surprise the Twins had a comeback of their own in their pocket as they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat the A's 7-6 to salvage a split of their 4-game series. Houston hosts Oakland beginning tomorrow night owning a 6.5 game lead with their 3 best starters slated to start all three games of the series. It's a chance for Houston to extend their lead by as much as 3 games.

 

Houston took the Silver Boot series against the Rangers clinching that title on Saturday. Houston has gone 7-0 at home against the Astros at the Juice Box this season and they lead the season series 11-6 with only 2 games remaining against the Rangers this season, those coming in mid September. Despite their success the last couple of years the Astros have been barely a .500 team against the their division opponents. This year has been a different story. Houston is 33-11 against division opponents. Let's hope that trend continues through the end of the year. Houston's last 11 games of the season are against division opponents. But, it's not the time to worry about September we should worry about the now. We can bask in the glow of the Astros going 5-2 this past week but starting pitching still remains a concern.

 

Aledmys Diaz could be back as soon as tomorrow depending how he's doing on his rehab assignment in the minors. Carlos Correa could be back as soon as Friday and the rosters moves mentioned by Drac will need to be decided. When Diaz returns I expect Myles Straw to be sent down to the minors simply because he's still got options for the Astros. When Correa comes back a big decision will need to be made by the team on who has to go. Either Kemp or Alvarez. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Dracula]

I can't see Yordan Alvarez going anywhere, otherwise, there would be a riot at Minute Maid park.

[Dracula]

i think correa, diaz up probably means straw and possibly kemp down.

https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2019/7/22/20703467/the-numbered-days-of-tony-kemp

I still think that Straw is just too valuable, at too many positions, to move or move down.

This is interesting, https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/houston-astros

Diaz, In reflection of his multi-positional role with the big club, the Swiss army man has been working at first base, left field, and second base with AAA Round Rock and AA Corpus Christi.

 

I still think that kemp is the odd man out.

[eagle eye]

The Astros celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on Monday evening. The evening began with Neil Armstrong’s son throwing out the first pitch. The evening continued with Astros ace Gerrit Cole began the game by striking out the side in the top of the first. In the 4th inning Cole struck out Matt Olson to record his 200th K of the season reaching the milestone of being the 2nd fastest pitcher to reach 200 K’s in MLB history. He did it in 133-1/3 innings of work. Randy Johnson was the fastest to 200 doing it in 130-2/3 inning way back in 2001. Cole ended the night with 11 K’s (Ironic on Apollo 11 night) in 7 innings of work. Cole allowed just 1 run in those 7 innings allowing just 2 hits and one walk. Cole is 7-0 in (get this) 11 starts since May 27 with a 2.03 ERA during that stretch. Cole leads the bigs in K’s and K’s for 9 innings (13.5). The MLB record for K’s over 9 innings is 13.41 set by Houston’s own JR Richard in 1978-79. Cole also holds leads MLB in double digit strike out games with 12. (You thought it would be 11 – be honest!) Gerrit also notched his – wait for it – 11th win of the season. Add to all this, the Astros scored 11 runs in the game! Are you hearing the eerie music yet?????

 

Yordan Alverez got the scoring started in the 2nd inning, in the spirit of the night, by launching a rocket into the right field seats that gave the Astros a lead they never relinquished in the game. It was a towering home run that, if the launch angle was a little lower might have hurt someone in the right field seats. Guess what, it was Alvarez’ 11th home run on the season. Alvarez also got into the MLB record books by passing the great Albert Pujols for most RBI’s by a rookie in his first 30 games. Pujols record was 34 runs and Alvarez tied that with his 2nd inning HR. In the 3rd inning Houston sent 12 men to the plate in a 7-run inning. Alvarez led off the inning with walk and later in the inning he doubled scoring Jose Altuve which broke the record giving Alvarez 35 RBI’s in his first 30 games in the majors. A funny bit of irony is that Alvarez his HR off A’s starter HOMER Bailey!

 

I love a couple of the nicknames the Astros have as a result of the wit of Astros TV color man Geoff Blum. He has christened Jake Marisnick as “Jake from Rake Farm” and he’s dubbed Yordan Alvarez “Air Yordan”. Gotta love it, thank you Chris Berman for bringing all the funny nicknames to baseball with your SportsCenter highlights. Geoff Blum has done you proud!

 

Last night was just a really nice time. It’s never boring when the hometown team kicks ass. All night when batters came to the plate instead of their baseball card pictures on the scoreboard they were photoshopped into picture of space suits in honor of the night. Of course, Houston is the sight of NASA’s Mission Control and Space Center Houston and the Astros were named after their groundbreaking domed stadium, the Astrodome. It was just a cool night all around. Houston’s win meant they are the first AL team to 65 wins and their division lead increased to 7.5 games. I just can’t get the lyrics of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band out of my head today with a couple of slight alterations.

 

We're Houston Astro’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

We hope you will enjoyed the show

We’re Houston Astro’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sit back and let the evening go

Houston Astro’s Lonely

Houston Astro’s Lonely

Houston Astro’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

It's wonderful to be here,

It's certainly a thrill

You're such a lovely audience,

We'd like to take you home with us, we'd love to take you home…..

[Dracula]

Next game on Friday night and Correa will be back. The question is, what's the batting order?

1. Springer

2. Altuve

3. Bregman

4.Brantley?

5. Alvarez?

6. Correa?

7. Gurriel?

8. Reddick

9. Stassi or Chirinos

 

any guesses?

[eagle eye]

It was a good question and I'm sorry nobody took the challenge. Of course we know now that Alvarez didn't play other than to pinch hit late in Friday and Saturday's games. He got a start today and he hit a solo HR and walked 3 other times. His OBP got a real shot in the arm. Back to last week when the debate who would go down and it turned out we were wrong. When Aledmys Diaz was activated on Monday RHP Rogelio Armenteros was sent back to AAA. Turns out that Houston had a day off on Thursday so the Astros didn't need Armenteros. When Correa was activated Friday Tony Kemp became the odd man out. He'll go through waivers and after 10 days Houston will have to give him his outright release or trade him or sign him. I was shocked that Tyler White got a job so soon. This past week White was signed by the LA Dodgers. I guess the boys from La-La Land needed an easy out first baseman on their roster. Both Kemp and White were .225-ish hitters who got a hit once in a while but the Astros have better young players with way more upside in Alvarez and Myles Straw. As for Diaz and Correa? They both stepped right in, Diaz homered in his first game back on Monday and Correa homered today.

 

Houston began Week 3 of the stretch run at nearly full strength with Diaz back in the lineup. Houston kicked butt beating Oakland 11-1 giving Gerrit Cole his 11th win of the season on Apollo 11 night. Wade Miley wasn't so lucky on Tuesday. Houston was nursing a 2-0 lead into the 9th. Wiley was masterful the whole game until the 9th when he gave up a walk and a hit to lead off the inning. AJ Hinch pulled Miley and put in his closer Roberto Osuna who promptly gave up a 3-run homer to A's 1B Matt Olson, a guy who had gone 0-17 against Houston pitching in 2019. Justin Verlander started Wednesday's afternoon game and lead the Astros to a 4-2 win. It should have been 4-1 but Osuna gave up a run made my backside pucker in the process. Osuna is become too much like Brad Lidge or Ken Giles in that when he comes into a game you just hold your breath and hope he doesn't blow it.

 

Jose Urquidy started the opener Friday night and he did a good job allowing just one run in six innings. Never fear, Will Harris and Ryan Pressly blew the game allowing the Cardinals to come back and beat Houston 5-3. Houston rebounded over the weekend beating the Cards 8-2 Saturday behind Cole who got his 12th win of the season and today Miley came back and got the win as Houston beat the Cards 6-1. Miley wasn't nearly as good as he was on Tuesday but he battled through 5 innings and this time the bullpen didn't blow it. Miley got his 9th win of the season. The big news of the day was that Jose Altuve got hit number 1500 in his career and he got it in style by jacking a 3-run homer to give the Astros a comfortable 5-0 lead in the top of the 5th. Altuve also got hits 1501 and 1502 as he went 3-5 for the game. He also has become the fasted player in Astros history to get to 1500 hits. He did it in 1190 games which was 174 games better than the old leader, Jeff Bagwell. Altuve also finished the game with a .293 BA which is significant because when he came off the IL on June 20 he was batting .238. That means Altuve has improved his BA by 55 points and to do this in the middle of the season is nothing short of phenomenal. For the first time since last summer that's 2018, when he injured his knee, that he's completely healthy and it shows. Another guy who is hot as a pistol is Yuli Gurriel who is in the middle of a 16 game hitting streak. Another guy who is quietly putting up multi-hit games is Michael Brantley who may be the best free agent signing in all of the bigs.

 

Houston is currently, and still leading the AL West and they now sport the best record in the AL. They are just 1 game back of the Dodgers for the best record in all of MLB. Houston has won 9 of their last 11 and they just cooled off a hot St Louis club that is leading the NFL Central by winning 2 of 3. Not from nothing, it should have been 3 of 3 but who cares........Ugh!!! Houston has a day off tomorrow as they travel to Cleveland to play 3 with the Indians. They will return home for a series with Seattle over next weekend. The big date this week is Wednesday because July 31 is last day teams can make a deal but it has be by 3:00 PM. Houston needs a starter and Blue Jays pitcher Markus Strohman has been signed by the NY Mets. At least the Yankees didn't get him.

Edited July 29, 2019 by eagle eye

[Dracula]

Man, this lineup is scary. When they play in DH games, they can lineup 8 really good hitters and Stassi. If they can trade for another starting pitcher, look out. Edited July 29, 2019 by Dracula
stupidity

[eagle eye]

The Astros are driving me crazy. Today is the final day for making a deal to get a starting pitcher. The Non-Waiver Trade Deadline with be this afternoon at 3 PM CT. The trade deadline was instituted a long time ago as a means of allowing teams with high priced or high value players to trade them for prospects or a player or players that could help them in the future. There was also the ability to affect a trade up until August 31st. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred did away with this extended trade time period. It’s a good thing he didn’t do a couple of years ago or Houston would not have gotten Justin Verlander who was traded to Houston by Detroit on August 31 just minutes before midnight. I honestly don’t know the rules for trades in 2019 but, in the past, if a trade didn’t happen before midnight of August 31st that player could not participate in the postseason.

 

Speaking of Justin Verlander, he kicked ass last night in Cleveland pitching 7 innings of 2 hit ball allowing zero runs while recording a season high 13 K’s with no walks. Verlander’s success on Tuesday night, according to Verlander, came as a direct result of a sit-down conversation with his idol Nolan Ryan. Among the topics was Ryan’s take on how he developed a change up late in his career and how he used that and his break-your-back curve ball to great advantage on the way to throwing a no-hitter after the age of 40 and flirting with several other no-no’s along the way. In the game last night Verlander used his off speed pitches more than he had all season, maybe ever, on the way to the dominating performance he turned in. In the starts he’s made since the All Star Game he has turned around a disturbing tendency of giving up home runs and that has helped him keep the Astros in games. He is 4-0 since the ASG and he is racking up double digit strike out games like crazy. Verlander leads the Astros in wins (14) which is tied for first in MLB, he’s second in K’s (193) which is behind his teammate Gerrit Cole’s 212. He is also first in WHIP (0.81) and BAA (.169). If this keeps up there will be another Cy Young trophy on the Verlander’s mantle come November.

 

For the first time since he had a .319 BA way back on April 19th Jose Altuve is hitting .300 as of yesterday’s game in which he went 3-4 and scored one of the Astros 2 runs in the game. When he came off the IL list on June 19 he was finally 100% healthy. He was finally himself again. You know, the All Star, Silver Slugging, MVP self. He is all the way recovered from the broken kneecap he suffered last summer. He’s had multi-hit games in seven of his last nine.

 

Can you imagine a lineup so strong that Carlos Correa is hitting 6th? That was the case last night.

 

Houston has made a deal today. Calm down, they traded Tony Kemp to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Martin Maldinado. Houston acquired Maldinado at last year’s trade deadline but he departed for Kansas City after the season was over signing a free agent deal. Earlier this year KC traded Maldinado to the Cubs and now Houston has him back. Maldinado is a terrific defensive catcher and at the plate he’s about on a par with Robinson Chirinos. Max Stassi had been backing up Chirinos but he was struggling at the plate. Chirinos and Maldinado will likely see regular action which will be good to have two healthy catchers down the stretch. It’s 1:24 and still no deal for a starting pitcher.

 

Obviously written before the Greinke deal. Also added Martin Maldinado today. This team just got better and they were already scary good.

[eagle eye]

What an afternoon for the Astros. For weeks it has been common knowledge that Houston needed a starting pitcher. As the time ticked down to the 3:00 deadline it didn't look like Houston was going to get anything as the trade deadline wound down to a close. Then stuff started happening. First, Houston made a deal for C Martin Maldinado with the Chicago Cubs and all they had to give up was Tony Kemp. Now Houston has two really good defensive catchers and Houston solidified the position. A definite upgrade at catcher, no offense to Max Stassi who has been a good soldier for the Astros but he was a definite step down from Roberto Chirinos. Since Houston now has a 1 and 1A catcher the Astros there wasn't any more room at the Inn for Stassi but Jeff Luhnow and his staff had another deal in the works and they traded Stassi to the Angels for minor league prospects OF Ranier Rivas and OF/DH Raider Uceta. Both players are 18 years old and both are in the lower levels of the Angels minor league system.

 

Next up was a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Houston got starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini plus a minor league outfield prospect Cal Stevenson. All Houston had to give up was Derek Fisher. Fisher was a very high prospect in the Astros organization but he never could play up to the expectations Fisher fostered by his high level play in the minors. Luhnow said that the Astros have been watching Sanchez and Biagini for a long time and when this deal presented itself they jumped at the opportunity. Sanchez is only 27 and he made his MLB debut in 2014. He's had some injury issues and this season he's struggled. So far he's 3-14 with an ERA over 6. The main advantage to this deal for Houston is the wizard known as Brent Strohm, the Astros pitching coach. He's helped guys like Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Gerrit Cole and even Justin Verlander become better pitchers. There is no reason to believe he can't help Sanchez. Houston now has a 5th starter. Nice but not the pizazz move Astros fans were hoping for.

 

Then, just like 2017 when the Astros pulled the trigger on the deal that allowed them to acquire Verlander just before the trade deadline expired, the Astros pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire 2009 Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke. Now THAT is deal with pizazz! Greinke will be under contract for the rest of this season and 2020 and 2021. Greinke was the MLB ERA leader in 2009 and 2015 among his many awards and his resume is very impressive. So far in 2019 he's got a record of 10-4 in 22 starts with a 2.87 ERA. Brent Strohm can also help Greinke be better. The Astros had to pay a steep price to get Greinke. The Astros gave up 3 of their top 5 minor league prospects, 1B Seth Beer (#3), P JB Bukauskas (#4) and P Corbin Martin (#5) and the deal also included IF Josh Rojas (#22) and cash to Arizona. The deal got done with about 2 minutes to spare before the 3:00 deadline which is also reminiscent of the Verlander deal. The Astros just got a lot better today and the MLB Network is saying the Astros have to a, if not THE, favorite to win the World Series this year.

 

The importance of the acquisition of Greinke and Sanchez was made even more evident this evening as Astros starter Jose Urquidy gave up 6 runs in just four innings of work. Two of the 8 hits he allowed were 3-run home runs that allowed the Indians to take the lead in the game on the way to a 10-4 win. The Astros have a killer starting rotation now. Tonight's loss was necessary to remind everyone that this might be the last time the Astros get in a big hole because a rookie pitcher can't hold his water against big league hitters.

[Dracula]

Seriously, C'mon, the Astros did what? They trade for Greinke, some bum named Aaron Sanchez, Martin Maldonado, and others. They send back nowhere near what they got. It's past the point that it's not fair, too freakin bad.

Other reactions to the trades.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx5OBSjMsbOXisEbxnE8t5w

Edited August 4, 2019 by Dracula

[eagle eye]

Seriously, C'mon, the Astros did what? They trade for Greinke, some bum named Aaron Sanchez, Martin Maldonado, and others. They send back nowhere near what they got. It's past the point that it's not fair, too freakin bad.

Other reactions to the trades.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx5OBSjMsbOXisEbxnE8t5w

 

So, the bum named Aaron Sanchez comes in and makes his first start as an Astro and goes 6 innings of NO HIT baseball. What was different in Sanchez' game was the fact that he threw the 4-seam fastball in lieu of his usual two-seamer which means he went the same route as when Verlander and Cole came to Houston. Going with the fastball up in the zone and depending on his curve and change up to go down in the strike zone and it was like Sanchez drank a magic potion and shed the bad Aaron Sanchez and allowed the new Jedi Sanchez to shine. If nobody saw this coming shame on you. Brent Strohm is the pitcher's answer to Yoda teaching his Padawan's the ways of the pitching force. Strohm has many Jedi pupils that have either gotten much better like Verlander and Cole to Padawans that had their careers saved from the dumpster. Guys like Collin McHugh, Dallas Keuchel, Will Harris, Chris Devenski, Lance McCullers and now, maybe, Aaron Sanchez. I don't want to make more of last night's start than it is -- just one start-- but, the guy had not won a game since April 27th! That's 3 months ago! May, June and July without a win. In his first start as an Astro he no-hits the Mariners and is part of the Astros 2nd ever combined no-hitter in their history! Will Harris and Chris Devenski, both Brent Strohm reclamation projects, bookended around Joe Biagini who the Astros also acquired in the deal to get Sanchez. Jeff Luhnow should get GM of the year for the moves he's made for Houston this season and at the trade deadline in particular.

 

If you look at the Astros rotation going forward, assuming Sanchez' start last night was as the 5th starter, you have Verlander, Greinke, Cole, Miley and Sanchez. OMG, if Sanchez' start wasn't just an aberration, the Astros may not lose again this year!

 

On Friday night, when Houston smoked Seattle they became the first AL team to win 70 games. Their record of 70-40 tied for the best record in franchise history after 110 games, the tie is with the 2017 team that won the World Series. The Astros also acquired a former Cy Young award winner in Justin Verlander in 2017 at the last second before the end of the trade deadline just as they did last Wednesday acquiring Greinke as time was running out before the trade deadline. The Astros are getting healthy maybe for the first time all season and there doesn't seem to be a weakness in the Astros game. They have added a power bat in Yordan Alvarez, an uber rookie that is not slowing down from his fast start, which was just a carry over from the white hot streak he had going in AAA Round Rock. Even Alex Bregman is showing signs of breaking out of his season long funk. Bregman leads the team in HR's but it's been feast or famine with him all season. He is starting to put together better AB's and starting to string together multi-hit games to go with the power and walks that have kept his OBP deceptively high despite his .260-ish BA. The only downside to talk about is the temporary loss of C Robinson Chirinos. He was slated to start on Friday night but, even though he was fine on Thursday, he reported left shoulder soreness Friday morning and the Astros have ordered an MRI to be done as a strictly precautionary measure. The team called up Garrett Stubbs to fill in for Chirinos while he is out. Max Stassi was unavailable as the Astros traded him away last week.

 

Going into today's game Houston leads the AL West by 8 games over the Oakland A's. The Astros just can't get any help from St Louis Cardinals who have now lost both games this weekend to the A's. It would be sweet if Houston can beat Seattle for the sweep and get the A's to lose and end the week 9 games in the division lead. In the AL Houston is second to the Yankees by percentage points after the Bombers beat the Bosox in both ends of a double header yesterday. Houston is just 1/2 game behind the Dodgers for the best record in baseball. The Yankees didn't address glaring weakness in the starting rotation so they are beating the Red Sox with a combination of their hitting and lousy play by the Red Sox themselves who seem to be playing themselves right out of contention. As for today's game, the Mariners have been trotting out starting pitchers who far from being known as power pitchers. They rely on deception and location to get outs. Today's starter, Sam Tuivailala, it another one from the same vein. He's 1-0 in 4 four starts this year with 4.15 ERA and a WHIP of 1.62. Justin Verlander is going for Houston today and he's shooting to become the first pitcher in MLB to 15 wins. The Astros will be looking to complete the series sweep of the M's today. What we need to do today is root for the Astros to win, of course, and also root for the A's, Yankees and Dodgers to all lose. Got it? Good!!

Edited August 4, 2019 by eagle eye

[Dracula]

The season pitching rotation is ridiculous. Before Greinke, the top 3 were 37-13 with 524 SO / 115 BB. The apparent Playoff rotation will be Verlander, Cole, Greinke, and Miley, if they go to a 4 man rotation. Somebody open the bank vault for Luhnow cause you know that New York and Boston aren't happy right now. Ask Steven A.

[eagle eye]

The dog days of summer haven’t put a damper on the Astros. They have continued to win games and they have only cranked up the offensive intensity since the signing of the four players they acquired at the trade deadline. All four players have played a big role in the Astros success since July 31st. Almost immediately after his signing C Martin Maldinado had to step into the lineup because Robinson Chirinos had a sore shoulder and was scratched from the lineup for a couple of games. Maldinado was signed not for his bat but for his ability as a catcher. He is a terrific backstop and he has a cannon for an arm meaning base runners have to think twice about testing his arm. Next up on Saturday was Aaron Sanchez who came to Houston with a 3-14 record and he hadn’t had a win since April 27th. All Sanchez did was pitch 6 scoreless no-hit innings setting the table for Houston’s second ever multi-pitcher no-hitter. In the 8th inning the third player Houston acquired got to show his stuff. Joe Biagini who came with Sanchez to Houston in the deal with Toronto pitched a scoreless hitless inning to keep the no-no alive. Will Harris and Chris Devenski also did their part to get the combined no-hitter. Last but not least, the prize of the trade deadline Zack Greinke got his turn on Tuesday night. He actually did the worst of the 4 newcomers giving up 5 runs in 6 innings of work. He gave up a 3-run homer in the top of the 6th that allowed the Colorado Rockies to tie the game at 5. I wonder if Greinke understands that it’s not normal to give up a lead and have your team come right back in the bottom of the inning and score 2 more runs to retake the lead and give the starting pitcher another chance at notching a win. That’s exactly what the Astros did and they added 4 more runs over the course of the last 3 innings to give Greinke an 11-6 win.

Houston had two days off this week, Monday and Thursday, so they should be well rested heading into a weekend series in Baltimore against the poor Orioles who just got pummeled by the Yankees. Now, the O’s are heading into a series against a red hot Astros team. The Astros have a series against the White Sox next week then they have a pretty big series against the Oakland A’s next weekend in Oakland. But, the Astros need to stay in the moment and take care of business in Baltimore to get off to a good start to this 10-game road trip.

So, the Astros got some awards in July. Gerrit Cole won AL Pitcher of the Month going 4-0 with an ERA of 1.85 in July. The fact is, Cole won AL Pitcher of the Month in June going 3-0 in 6 starts with a 1.89 ERA. Newcomer Yordan Alvarez won AL Rookie of the Month in July by hitting .333 with 5 HR’s and 15 RBI’s. Also in July, Alvarez also went into the MLB record book by setting the record for most RBI’s by a player in his first 30 games with 35 eclipsing none other than Albert Pujols who had 34. Alvarez also won ROTM for June. Cole and Alvarez going back to back on these awards is pretty cool. Then comes Yuli Gurriel. He won AL Player of the Month of July hitting .398 for the month with 12 HR’s and 31 RBI’s for the month with only 12 K’s in 98 AB’s. Gurriel is continuing the hot streak into this 2nd week of August. In the recent 2-game series with Colorado he went 4-7 with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s. The 8 RBI’s came in Wednesday’s game tying a franchise record for RBI’s in a single game. The Astros are said to have been energized by the acquisition of Zack Greinke but they are also getting production from a sleeping giant of an offense. Jose Altuve is fully recovered from his knee injury and his production is living proof. Carlos Correa has come back better than he was prior to his broken rib and Alex Bregman is showing signs of coming out of his season long funk. Michael Brantley is best free agent signed in baseball given what he’s meant to the Astros. This week he notched his 44th multi-hit game this season. He’s also among the league leaders in batting average. I’ve said it before but, how strong is a lineup that has Carlos Correa batting 6th? Are you kidding me? And Yuli Gurriel batting 7th? OMG! And now Houston has arguably the starting rotation in baseball? There is about 7 weeks left in the season and it will be a fun ride.

[Dracula]

The Osuna experiment is OVER. Sit his ASS down. You can't trust him.

[eagle eye]

The Osuna experiment is OVER. Sit his ASS down. You can't trust him.

 

Just about the time you think the Astros are invincible they give Osuna a save opportunity. I wonder if it's partially because he has to sit so often. The Astros give him one or two save opportunities lately but that's only part of the issue. Way back in May Osuna was 24-0 in save opportunities when he finally blew his first save as an Astro. It almost seems as though he sort of lost his mojo with that loss. Anyway Roberto Lidge, I mean Roberto Giles, I mean Roberto Osuna is the least trustworthy pitcher on the staff unless you count Chris Devenski. With Lidge, uh Giles, I mean Osuna coming in sort of makes your butt pucker some doesn't it. Houston had its usual crap offensive output behind Justin Verlander who had issues of his own today. He was shooting to be the first pitcher to 16 wins this season but at least he didn't have to add to his list of losses. A no-decision is better than a loss except when the closer sucks ass. This is Osuna's 3rd blown save in less than 30 days. If you're keeping count he's had 8 save opportunities since his first blown save on July 13th and he's blown 3 of them. Not what you want from your closer.

 

The thing is, Houston has won 8 games in a row beginning with the series finale against Cleveland a couple of weeks ago that ran thru sweeps of Seattle and Colorado and it looked like it was going to include a hapless Oriole team. Especially after the record setting ass whuppin' Houston put on them on Saturday night. In the Astros 23-2 win they tied a franchise record for hits and set a franchise record for runs scored in a game. Carlos Correa hit the longest home run at Camden Yards (474 feet) since the Stat Cast era began in 2015. It can be argued that it's the longest homer ever at Camden Yards. Rookie Yordan Alvarez had his first 3-homer game and he was responsible for 7 of the Astros 23 runs. His grand slam in the top of the 7th extended the Astros lead for team grand slams to 11 in 2019. Houston recorded 13 extra base hits including six home runs. Saturday night's game was more like batting practice than a real game. Jose Altuve had a 3 for 6 night that extended his BA to .306. Everyone who played in the game for Houston got at least one hit except Martin Maldinado who went 0-5.

 

You just kind of knew after such a monstrous, record setting night, today was going to be rough. You have to know, if you follow the Astros much, that Verlander rarely gets a lot of run support and today was no exception. Trouble was today wasn't Verlander's best game, in fact, he gave the most runs he's given up as an Astro (4) in just 5 innings of work. And work he did, throwing 109 pitches in the game which averages out to be almost 22 pitches per inning on average. The Orioles carried a 5-4 lead into the ninth when Houston engineered a 3-run rally. George Springer started the 9th with a base hit to left and Altuve followed with a bunt single. Michael Brantley came up and laced a ball down the right field line. The hit easily scored Springer and Altuve and, thanks to Brantley's hustle and a throwing error by O's right fielder Anthony Santander, he was able to score as well giving the Astros a 7-5 lead. The rest you know, Osuna blew the save as he gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th including a walkoff 2-run homer by the 9-hole hitter Rio Ruiz to end the game.

 

After Saturday night's game Houston owned the best record in baseball with a 77-40 record. The Yankees had lost twice to Toronto and Oakland was beaten by the White Sox and even he Dodger lost and their 77-41 record put the Astros atop of the MLB heap by 1/2 game. That lasted less than 24 hours. The Dodgers won late and again today and they have a one game lead for best record in the bigs. The Yankees won tying them with Houston for the best record in the AL. Kids, tell Mr Osuna thank you for sucking major ass. "Thanks Mr Osuna."

 

Yordan Alvarez keeps on setting records. On Friday he got his 44th RBI in his 44th game and make that even more eerie he wears No. 44 on his jersey. In Saturday's game he was responsible for 7 RBI's giving him 51 in his first 45 games. Like when he bested Albert Pujols record of 34 RBI's in his first 30 games as a big leaguer with 35 RBI's of his own he blasted into the MLB record book beating out none other than the great Boston slugger Ted Williams. The old record was 46 with the key word being WAS. Alvarez went 2-5 today and ended the week with a .355 BA. If he had enough AB's to qualify he would be leading all of baseball in BA. Almost every game he plays he does something to solidify his claim on the Rookie of the Year trophy at the end of the year.

 

Poor sport of the week goes to Orioles closer Mychal Givens. After giving up the 3-run hit to Michael Brantley in the top of the 9th which gave the Astros a 7-5 lead that seemed to have snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat Givens hit the next batter, Alex Bregman, right in the back on his left scapula on a 2-2 pitch. The O's took him out of the game immediately.

[eagle eye]

The last time through the Astros starting rotation has been a disaster. Only Zack Greinke won in the first half of Tuesday's double header. Verlander, Miley and Sanchez were not good and it was just luck that none of them had to eat a loss as Houston lost all three games. The offense scored enough to get the starter off the hook but not good enough to overcome a lousy job by the bullpen. In the 2nd game of Tuesday's double header Gerrit Cole notified AJ Hinch just before game time that his hamstring felt uncomfortable and he was scratched. Again, the bullpen failed to step up as Chris Devenski helped put the Astros in a 3-0 hole after one inning. After Houston lost to Oakland last night they saw their division lead shrink to 8.5 games and they continue to lose ground to the Yankees and Dodgers for the best record in their league and in MLB overall standing.

 

The Astros have now lost 4 of their last 5 games with the lone win coming with Greinke on the mound. This is only the third losing streak of the season of 3 games or more. Their first 3-game losing streak was way back in April, their next losing streak came in mid June when the Astros lost seven straight and 9 of 11 games before breaking the streak with a sweep of Seattle. Tonight will be the next trip through the rotation. Verlander can get back on track and notch his league tying 16th win and hopefully be that bad streak stopper. It's a bad time of year to suck and hopefully the Astros can right the ship beginning tonight.

[Dracula]

Game 2 vs the A's and Verlander's pitching. The Astro bats, as usual with Verlander pitching, are mailing it in with 2 hits through 5. Verlander is pitching a 2 hit and 1 run game and the Nostro's bats are looking like they are allergic to the ball. Lately, the best news about the Astro's is that football season is right around the corner. %^&$ all of them. (*&))% @&^ ^%)$(#@......

[Dracula]

it's 1:24am and the Astros just lost , in the bottom of the 13th. I hate those %^&)#$@. Football can't get here soon enough.

[eagle eye]

This past week sucked if you're an Astros fan. Beginning with last Sunday's loss to Baltimore Houston lost 7 of 8 games played and looked bad doing it. The only game this week they won was the front end of a double header on Tuesday in Chicago vs the White Sox which garnered Zack Greinke his 199th career win. That was significant because yesterday Greinke got career win number 200. Greinke is only the 3rd active player to reach 200 wins. CC Sabathia has 251 wins, Justin Verlander 219 and now Greinke with 2-double naught. Sabathia is 38 and his health is shaky at best. Verlander is 35 and he's doing things he's never done before in his career. Multi double digit strikeout games, among the league leaders in every meaningful pitching category. Verlander is clearly the best pitcher in the American League with his teammate Gerrit Cole is right there with him leading all of baseball in K's and one win behind Verlander in 2019. Greinke is 3-0 since becoming an Astro and he only trails Verlander by two wins and Cole by one.

 

Houston still leads the AL West by 7.5 games and they are coming home after a brutal 10-game road trip in which Houston began in the Eastern Time Zone and ended up in the Western Time Zone with a stop in the CTZ while in Chicago. Houston is back home beginning tonight when they play 4 games with Detroit. Wade Miley gets it all started tonight followed by Sanchez, Verlander, Cole and then Greinke again in the opener on Friday against the Angels. Hopefully, the win yesterday and some home cooking rights the ship for the Astros as we are past the halfway mark of August and heading headlong into September. The recent losing streak has Houston 3.5 games behind the Yankees who keep winning despite a spate of starting pitching. They are just bullying everyone with their bats. It hasn't hurt one bit that they have played the last dozen games against chumps including 6 against the hapless Orioles. The Yanks play 3 in Oakland and I hope the A's put their big ole size 14 foot up their ass the way they placed it in Houston's backside this past weekend.

 

Yordan Alvarez had a bad week too going 1 for 11 in Chicago and not having so-so luck in Oakland. He went oh-fer in Thursday and Sunday's game but he went 4 for 5 including a two homer game in Saturday's loss. Almost every game he plays he seems to solidify his hold on the AL Rookie of the Year. His amazing output thus far makes him MLB's answer to The Starship Enterprise, he's going where no man has gone before, quite literally.

 

In the minors, Kyle Tucker is killing it this summer. It's likely he will be a 30-30 player (30 HR's and 30 stolen bases) and if I was Josh Reddick I would be worried about my job in 2020. There is no doubt he will be called up in September when rosters expand and he will definitely be taking playing time from Reddick and Jake Marisnick.

 

Aledmys Diaz is on the 10 day IL again. Before a game this past Saturday he experienced dizziness and light headedness on the way to the ballpark. He was hospitalized and kept in observation overnight. He returned to Houston with team after Sunday's game. The Astros are taking every precaution with Diaz to make sure he is 100% healthy.

[Dracula]

This past week sucked if you're an Astros fan. Yes, I agree, and, in my previous posts, I believe I conveyed that opinion very succinctly. Bunch of *&%^$ no good and overpriced )&(*%#&+=_!!!!!!. Thank You. Edited August 20, 2019 by Dracula

[eagle eye]

This past week sucked if you're an Astros fan. Yes, I agree, and, in my previous posts, I believe I conveyed that opinion very succinctly. Bunch of *&%^$ no good and overpriced )&(*%#&+=_!!!!!!. Thank You.

 

One of only 3 teams in MLB with 80 or more wins? No good? Over priced? Agree to disagree. One guy who is costing himself money is Carlos Correa. It looks like he's headed to the IL again with his back. The guy seems to spend big chunks of time out injured for his career. Hard to make top money as a free agent when you can't stay on the field. The Astros recalled Jack Mayfield to fill Correa's spot. Hopefully he can do a good job on defense and in the batters box.

 

Sanchez makes his 4th start as an Astro tonight. Let's hope it's better than his last start. He was lucky to get a no-decision out of it.

[Dracula]

One of only 3 teams in MLB with 80 or more wins? No good? Over priced? Agree to disagree. One guy who is costing himself money is Carlos Correa. It looks like he's headed to the IL again with his back. The guy seems to spend big chunks of time out injured for his career. Hard to make top money as a free agent when you can't stay on the field. The Astros recalled Jack Mayfield to fill Correa's spot. Hopefully he can do a good job on defense and in the batters box.

 

Sanchez makes his 4th start as an Astro tonight. Let's hope it's better than his last start. He was lucky to get a no-decision out of it.

 

 

No Good and over priced %^$&(*)##!!!!!. By the way, I found this online game stream,http://www.720pstream.me/houston-astros-stream, I don't know if it is a good idea to watch it but so far no problems.

[Dracula]

One of only 3 teams in MLB with 80 or more wins? No good? Over priced? Agree to disagree.

 

Where have we seen this scenario before? A Houston pitcher, who is throwing a one hit and one run game, with 8 SO's through 6 innings and what kind of support is he getting from the Nostros bats, 0 runs with 4 hits and nobody has even seen 3rd base. Hell, they can barely get it out of the infield. There must be a lot of Cy Young pitchers, on that Detroit staff. Who is this Houston pitcher? Anyone, anyone, Bueler? Why, it's freakin Verlander, again. It seems that the Nostro's bats must be one of the Postal Service's better customer. They mail it in every time Verlander pitches. Lousy, no good, &^%*(&^%!!!!!!

 

Make that 9 SO's, thru seven. They should send Verlander to bat 1-9. He can't do any worse than the Nostro's are doing. Thank the Lord for Chirinos. He came to play.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Dracula

[Dracula]

Top of the ninth and Verlander just threw his second gopher ball. Still throwing a 2 hit and 2 run game. Thru 8 the Nostros have 1 run and 5 hits. Eagle?

[Dracula]

If I was Verlander, I would be pissed. There's a special place , in heaven, reserved for him.

 

Eagle, the floor is yours.

On second thought, hang on. It is now 12:47 am and just a few hours after the Nostro's embarrassing mail in.

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-leave-Justin-Verlander-out-to-dry-in-loss-14369362.php?cmpid=trend

https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/27435865/astros-stunned-historic-upset-sportsbooks

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2850615-tigers-beat-astros-as-biggest-underdogs-to-win-mlb-game-in-15-years

and how about this idiot:

B/R Betting

✔

@br_betting

Someone just bet $55K on the Astros at -550 to beat the Tigers tonight 😳

and secondly, please turn off the dugout camera. Maybe, if Bregman, would have paid more attention , to the absolute jewel, of a game, that Verlander was throwing, instead of the camera, He might not have gone 0-3 with a BB's.

 

now defend those Sorry$%#*(&) and overpaid &%$#&^%(.

Edited August 22, 2019 by Dracula