Too many non hitting bumbs on this team. Stros have around 5 hitters but everyone else is so so or really bad. Abreu and singleton are pure garbage then you have the likes of Jake and even Chas that are .200 hitters. Now the pitching staff is even more depleted. Just doesn’t look good !!!!
There was some degree of bad luck - but mostly it was just poor execution by the offense. Im not impressed by Espada so far, but I’m not pinning the loss on him. His pitching moves worked until extras and Hader wasn’t going out for a second inning in a tie. I’m not sure what’s going on with Abreu for sure. Players “cooked” don’t usually look this bad. Very rare to find a player decline like he has, especially after a solid spring. There is either something physical wrong or mental. The last player I saw just “lose it” like this was Dale Murphy who didn’t get out of ST one year and that was 25 years ago. At this point they should give him a week or two off and see what’s going on. Right now he is a black hole. I’ve said it a dozen times - but Brandon Belt would look really nice on this team. This is a game (another one) that the Astros were the superior talented team and lost. The pitching is still really good. Let’s see what happens with Valdez and Verlander. Arrighetti was being called up in May - but they moved that up with injuries. If he pitches well, we could have the bullpen depth solved if they move him or France to the pen. Hitting- when you have a first baseman hitting under .100, you have a HUGE disadvantage.
Abreu and Meyers are just not legit hitters in this league. I always wondered if Meyers has nudes of someone in the organization because I just can’t figure out how he gets so much playing time.
Type of loss that can come back to haunt you in late September. Needed to take advantage of this series with Texas and altlanta coming up. We could be 7-8 games under this time next week. Yikes
The good news is that they don’t look overmatched- even with inconsistencies, they are just shooting themselves in the foot. One thing I have noticed and am mildly concerned about and annoyed over is the lack of focus by the team and the lack of awareness. The Royals were moving runners over, stealing bases- the Astros have looked average or disinterested when they should be sharp. Espada has tried a couple of times and they just didn’t execute. Let’s see how he tightens his choices as the season progresses.
Cooked players don’t usually get big contracts either… nor do they get this much playing time/leash (including last year). PH’ing for him this early in the season, with that sort of situation, is a fairly ominous sign about what they feel internally. He’s missing fastballs right down the middle. His bat speed is noticeably declined just from 5 months ago. Does it really matter if it’s age or mental? And it could certainly be both… with one exacerbating the other. If it was physical, they’d know better than to just play him wishing it will heal… They’re good enough to withstand him… just like they could withstand Maldy… but an upgrade offensively would be much easier in this situation.
Jose Abreu was the target before Brown was ever hired - James Click wanted him, as did the manager and owner. Only criticism of Brown I have is he lets Cooper and Cron sign elsewhere and he stuck with Singleton.
