When I worked for the Astros - he was a very good guy to his teammates and employees and coaches. Never caused any problems when at MMP. However, he just struggled to do anything consistentl Espada needs to get it together. Using Hader and Pressly isn't that hard. They don't pitch when the Astros are behind. They don't pitch in a tie. They only pitch when the Astros are ahead and they pitch one inning each. They don't pitch back to back games unless they say they are available. My 11-year-old son can figure this out -
I miss having a team so good and healthy that there wasn't much reason to worry about the Astros making the playoffs. Oddly, the playoff odds at the beginning of this year looks very similar to 2022 (Astros still listed with 67% playoff odds), but that is mostly due to the projections thinking the other AL West teams are the biggest bunch of sucks.
This opening stretch thru today’s game was always gonna be risky, and once both Verlander and Framber went down then nobody should have even expected Houston to be over .500 after today. The Astros have been a few games unlucky and a few games bad. But it could have been worse had Blanco not saved the day a couple times. To me, the rest of this month will be more meaningful once they have JV and Framber back and have a little easier schedule. If they go under .500 in the next 4 series, then I will actually start to wonder if Espada ain’t the right guy.
Good and bad stuff happens. The Astros just haven't been clutch on top of the injuries. Pitching by high leverage guys has been horrible, but the Astros are also about a run down of their BaseRuns runs scored per game. If the Astros had a normal amount of luck in sequencing, they would be a little bit closer to 0.500. On Espada, I'm not happy with how he's handling 1B. Pitching is kind of tough. I probably would be using Javier a little less even though he's been very good. Granted, the pitching has sucked so maybe I would feel the need to stretch an inning more if I was on the field. Other times, sometimes a pitcher just needs to pitch better. Astros being only 3.5 games back while being this bad and this unlucky does not bode well for the rest of the division if the Astros can stay just a little bit healthier than have been.
Astros have two starters with an xwOBA >.350 in Brown and France with the next worst being Framber at .323. I expect Brown to play better and while France might not that shouldn't matter with Verlander returning. They need better luck and for their "good" relievers to play well.
Well the Phy numbers have the Astros at 7-12 and the Astros are 6-13. Those numbers don't mean too much to me because of sample size. Still - what stands out is the extremes for the Astros. For as questionable as the offense feels - they are second in the entire AL in runs, OPS - and lead the league in batting average. Their other offensive numbers are generally good too. They are 3rd in homers and walks. They are first in strikeouts though. So other than being inconsistent - the offense has been as advertised, and possibly better considering all the teams in the AL East that are in parks where runs are common. Still Abreu has been the worst starting offensive bat in baseball, and McCormick and Bregman have been replacement level. On the pitching side - the Astros are dead last in ERA at almost 5.5 runs a game. That is with the Astros having two dominant pitchers in the rotation with Javier and Blanco - and Valdez was looking good before the injury. If you are a strong believer in FIP - then France and Arrighetti have been solid but not spectacular. A lot of the runs have been given up by guys called up to eat innings or pitchers that would likely be out of the rotation with a healthy staff (Brown). The Astros are usually a FIP beating team.... but so far this year the Astros era is over a run worse than their FIP. How much of that is poor usage by Espada? How much is poor defense? ..... How much of it is bad luck? Hard to say. The one thing that I can say - is that I do not see this team doing the little things they did in the past. The Astros are terrible on the bases, they have picked some poor times for errors, and they haven't manufactured runs well like they did under Hinch and Baker. What Verlander does and the status of Valdez are massive for this team..... if the Astros can run out Verlander/Valdez/Javier/Blanco/France.... then they have a really good chance to go on a run winning series because they will have the advantage in 3-4 out of 5 match ups and with Verlander and
I have more confidence in France than Brown. Brown hasn't been good in the rotation since the all star break. At least France gets me innings and Brown can be a power arm in the pen.
His "numbers" may not scream off the page, but at least France gives you some innings and outs and keeps games competitive. Brown is a massive disappointment, since (like you said) the first half of last season.
He faced the Rangers twice in about a week...first time he bamboozled them with changeups, last start he was K'ing them with fastballs. At least he and the catchers and coaches know he's gotta mix things up. eta:
Exactly, and that is perfect for a #5 starter. He battles and doesn't fold like a deck of cards after an inning or two. He has earned that #5 spot in the rotation. Hunter Brown can go to the pen or AAA.
