I truly hope that every single person who reads this is doing okay. This week has proven to us that the Biblical imagery of Hell being hot may not be entirely accurate. My family and I are lucky - we live around the corner from a National Guard...outpost or whatever, and they're not going to shut off power to, like, The Army:
Anyway, this has been a hell of a week. I know that my wife and kid and I are extremely blessed/fortunate (depending on your view of Christianity/Deism/Atheism), and there are millions of people around Texas who are not doing okay. Here is a link to a Google Doc organizing direct relief, if you're in a position to help. If you/your family have a specific need, email me at astroscounty at gmail and I'll will do my absolute best to help you/your family.
-Alex and Reagan Bregman are distributing bottled water from 9am-2pm Saturday at the Astros Youth Academy (2801 S. Victory Drive).
-The Bregmans, the Brantleys, the Presslys, the Smith/LaForces, the Astros Foundation, Brothers Produce, Mayor Turner's office, and the City of Houston are handing out 5-gallon jugs of water at Butler Stadium (13755 S. Main Street) until they run out.
-Lance and Kara McCullers have pledged $150,000 and 400,000 water bottles for the Houston Food Bank, who will distribute the water. The Lance McCullers Jr. Foundation will also partner with several local organizations to help with water and veterinary services. Click here to donate to the LMJ Foundation, as they want to donate a literal million bottles of water to the Houston area.
-Carlos and Daniella Correa will donate 1,000 meals to law enforcement and public employees, as well as support in recovery and reconstruction efforts. To donate the Correa Family Foundation, click here.
*Brian McTaggart has notes! Zack Greinke won't report until the deadline, as is his custom, and is also not a big deal at all, Bryan Abreu came to camp slimmed down and looking good, Josh James likely won't get a 60-Day IL spot since he's projected to come back from hip labrum surgery before then, and Joe Smith knows he's old (and there's a certain amount of coolness that comes with that).
*Chandler Rome: The signing of Former/Current Astros Great Jason Castro is all about helping Martin Maldonado get through the season. Machete, on talking with Jiminy Clicket about the Castro signing:
We had a really good conversation about it. I think Castro is going to give us another form of leadership behind the plate - a guy that's been here, been in the big leagues for so long. We are going to work together, get the best out of our pitching staff and be a unit.
There's mutual respect between the two catchers, and that can't be a bad thing.
*Somehow Josh James threw some of the best baseball of his career...after tearing the labrum in his hip. He underwent surgery, the Astros announced, and the recovery time is 6-8 months. The linked article says that James initially suffered the injury on August 20.
James, "Opening Day" through August 20: 10.2IP, 12H/13ER, 13K:14BB. 10.97 ERA / 2.44 WHIP.
James, September 9 - ALCS Game 7: 10.2IP, 8H/5ER, 11K:4BB. 4.22 ERA / 1.13 WHIP*
*Includes the ALDS Game 3, in which he threw 1IP, 3H/3ER, 0K:1BB and blew the save opportunity.
This makes no sense to me, and I've been staring at this for entirely too long. He'll be back at the end of June at the minimum, or end of August. Not exactly what the Astros were looking for.
Speechless. The Astros took Game 6 by a 7-4 score to force a Game Seven after being down 0-3 in the Series. First Pitch is at 7:37pm Central. Lance F. McCullers is on the mound against Charlie Morton.
at 8-4 the houston astros are now guaranteed to finish the postseason with a winning record so y’all are quite welcome to suck it
*Teams that were up 3-0 in an LCS or World Series (full disclosure: Thanks to this SB Nation post for doing most of the heavy lifting. Also, counting this 2020 ALCS, there are 37 series represented here. Apparently there are 39, so I'm missing two, but I'm way too tired to try to find them...)
Won 4-0: 1914 Boston (WS), 1927 New York Yankees (WS), 1928 New York Yankees (WS), 1932 New York Yankees (WS), 1938 New York Yankees (WS), 1939 New York Yankees (WS), 1950 New York Yankees (WS), 1954 New York Giants (WS), 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers (WS), 1966 Baltimore (WS), 1976 Cincinnati (WS), 1988 Oakland (ALCS), 1989 Oakland (WS), 1990 Oakland (ALCS), 1995 Atlanta (NLCS), 1998 New York Yankees (WS), 1999 New York Yankees (WS), 2004 Boston (WS), 2005 Chicago White Sox (WS), 2006 Detroit (ALCS), 2007 Colorado (NLCS), 2007 Boston (WS), 2012 Detroit (ALCS), 2012 San Francisco (WS), 2014 Kansas City (ALCS), 2015 New York Mets (NLCS), 2019 Washington (NLCS),
That's 27 series in which a team went up 3-0 in a Best-of-Seven series that wrapped up in four games.
Won 4-0-1: 1907 Chicago Cubs (WS), 1922 New York Giants (WS)
Super-weird.
Won 4-1: 1910 Philadelphia (WS), 1937 New York Yankees (WS), 2016 Cleveland (ALCS), 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers (NLCS)
Four series were wrapped up after the opponent got a Thank You Win before falling.
Won 4-2: 1998 San Diego (NLCS), 1999 Atlanta (NLCS),
Prior the 2020 Tampa Bay Rays, only two late '90s NL teams got pushed to a Game 6 in MLB History after being up 3-0.
Won 4-3: N/A
Hmmm.
Lost 4-3: 1 - 2004 New York Yankees (ALCS).
So...basically Maths are saying that a team up 3-0 and then got pushed to a Game 7 lose that Game 7 more often than they win Game 7. Bill Mueller, a member of the 2004 Red Sox that came back to beat the Yankees:
I would say that when you keep winning and there are no letups and no cracks, you have an understanding that their side wasn't as high as when they were up 3-0. We had a relentless pursuit. I hope the Astros do it because it's a wonderful feeling. You want other people to feel such an accomplishment. That's something that will never go away in your legacy. It's pretty special.
October 11: 64.8 - 35.2 Tampa (not really sure why things changed so much from the Day Before Game 1 to the Day Of Game 1. Maybe they announced Snell as the G1 starter? I don't know)
*Michael Brantley: 2x4, BB, RBI. He has a hit in ten straight postseason games, and 11 of 12 postseason games in 2020. 85 MLB players have at least a 10-game postseason hit streak. 55 have an 11-game postseason hit streak. 34 have a 12-game postseason hit streak. 22 have a 13-game postseason hit streak. 12 have a 14-game postseason hit streak, seven have a 15-gamer, four have a 16-game streak. The all-time record is a hit in 17 straight postseason games, by 2003-2004 Manny Ramirez, 1998-1999 Derek Jeter, and 1956-1958 Hank Bauer.
HOWEVER only 21 players have a 10-game postseason hitting streak *in the same postseason*: 1971 Roberto Clemente, 1978 Bill Russell, 1978 Roy White, 1979 Former Astros Great Phil Garner, 1981 Former Astros Great Bob Watson, 1981 Gary Carter, 1995 Kenny Lofton, 1996 Mark Lemke, 2000 Mike Piazza, 2002 Garret Anderson, 2002 Darin Erstad, 2003 Former Astros Great Ivan Rodriguez, 2006 Scott Rolen, 2010 Cody Ross, 2010 Elvis Andrus, 2010 Nelson Cruz, 2011 David Freese, 2012 Marco Scutaro, 2015 Alcides Escobar, 2015 Daniel Murphy, and 2020 Michael Brantley.
*Carlos Correa: 3x5, RBI. It's the 48th postseason RBI of his career, tied with Reggie Jackson for the 7th-most in MLB history, and the 7th 3-hit postseason game of his career. Correa:
This is what we live for. This is what we dreamed of since we were kids, game seven...So we got to go out there and take care of business tomorrow.
We're relentless. When we said we didn't want to go home, we really meant that. We want to keep playing baseball and we don't want this to be the end of our season. We took care of these three games and now we've got to take care of one more. If we don't win that game, it all means nothing. We have to go out there tomorrow and get that win. It would be great.
*Jose Altuve: 2x3, 2BB, RBI. It's the 24th multi-hit postseason game of his career. Jose Altuve, on January 18:
We're going to be in the World Series again. People don't believe it. We will.
*Yuli Gurriel: 0x2, 3BB. He's the 13th Astro in franchise history with 3BB in a single postseason game.
*Kyle Tucker hit his first postseason home run for his first postseason extra-base hit. Crazy to think that Tucker is hitting .311 in this postseason and that was his first extra-base hit.
Framber's 2020 postseason: 24IP, 14H/5ER, 26K:10BB. 1.88 ERA / 1.00 WHIP. He's the 91st starter in postseason history with four straight starts of two or fewer ERs, and only the third Astros starter to hit that mark (Zack Greinke, Dallas Keuchel). He's the only one to do it four times in the same postseason.
Framber also had hisself a little dust-up with Yandy Diaz. Correa - who is obviously now the Tie Domi of the Houston Astros - de-escalated the situation. Correa:
Your job is not to go out there and be the bigger man, your job is to help us win this ballgame.
I've thought about this for a few hours, and I honestly think that Yandy Diaz was trying to light a fire under his teammates. If it takes a faked slight or a faked disrespect, then so be it. It almost worked. Let's see if the Rays can rise up tonight.
*Tampa has lost four games in a row in 2020 before: July 29-August 2 they lost five games in a row to Atlanta and Baltimore. Houston has won four games in a row in 2020 before: they won eight straight from August 12-20 against the Giants, Mariners, and Rockies. Houston's longest win
*Astros pitcher strikeouts, by game:
Game 1: 13
Game 2: 13
Game 3: 9
Game 4: 11
Game 5: 11
Game 6: 13
I'm not factoring in that Braves/Dodgers Game 5 in this, but there are 301 instances of teams striking out 11+ times in postseason history. Five of those were the Rays. They're 2-3 in those games.
Only one other team in postseason history had five 11+ strikeout games in a single series: 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers (NLCS against Milwaukee). They won that series so wait what am I doing.
*Ryan Pressly has now pitched in three straight games, something he has not done since May 26-28, 2018 when he was still with Minnesota. He has only thrown 39 pitches in those three games, but still, worth keeping an eye on for Game 7.
*2018 Cy Young Winner Blake Snell has never gotten 18 outs in a postseason game.
*Tampa's Diego Castillo had pitched in 10 postseason games prior to Game 6. His line:
13IP, 8H/0ER, 18K:6BB.
Castillo's line in Game 6: 1IP, 3H/2R (1ER), 0K:1BB.
We have the right guy. He's been there before, pitching Game 7 of the World Series. I just feel we're going to take this game like we have been taking every game, one pitch at a time. As long as we keep executing pitches, keep playing defense like we are, we're going to be in good shape.
*Pre-Game 6 Notes from McTaggart: The Astros might take Josh James off the roster due to his back, which would remove him from the World Series, and Lance McCullers says that Machete is the ALCS MVP.
*ESPN's Bradford Doolittle (posted at 6am Central on Thursday): Why these Astros could finish the job.
*The Athletic: Meet the guy behind Petco Park's genius player facts.
Well that was less than ideal. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Houston had a 7-4 going into the 7th, which translates into a 91.1% win expectancy via FanGraphs. And now the A's have hope, which is the worst possible thing a Team Like That can have. Game 4 is at 2:35pm Central on TBS.
*It was the 22nd time in franchise history that the Astros have scored 7+ runs in a postseason game. They're now 19-3, the last such loss coming in Game 1 of the 2004 NLCS.
*It will be Frankie Montas vs. TBA today. We'll find out who takes the mound later this morning. Is it Cristian Javier, and that's why Javier didn't pitch in Game 3? Or will it be Zack Greinke? The pressure mounts! Montas is coming off a 2020 regular season in which he posted a 5.60 ERA/1.51 WHIP with 10HR in 53IP. He has thrown 2IP (Wild Card Series Game 3) since September 27. In 15.1IP against Houston in 2020 he allowed 14H/7ER, 14K:3BB, a 4.11 ERA / 1.11 WHIP.
*Chandler Rome: We still don't know what's up with Zack Greinke.
I look at it like we're still in the lead. This team's been there before. These guys don't seem really worried about it. We got beat today. We made some mistakes. Hopefully, we don't make those mistakes tomorrow.
*Houston's opponents have scored first in four of the five 2020 playoff games. Houston is now 3-1 in those games.
*The Astros were 3x8 w/RISP, Oakland was 1x6. Oakland's one hit was just a back-breaking 3-run home run from Some White Guy Who Looks Like He Sells Insurance. Josh James hadn't pitched since September 22. It's debatable on whether or not this was the time to do it, but it was a three-run lead, and I don't know that there was a better option than Raley to clean it up. Just one of those games. And a guy named Chad hit it. That's ridiculous. As to leaving Raley in, I know you try to win every game, but I'm okay with letting him work through it because it saved some arms you'll need today and (hopefully not) tomorrow. It wasn't my favorite move to leave James in, but I can justify it to myself. Josh James:
It's tough, but everybody wants to get put in that situation. You always feel like you're the right guy for the job. You go out there no matter how long it's been, and you compete. Today, I got beat. It's part of the game.
You know who didn't pitch in Game 3? Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor, Cristian Javier, Ryan Pressly.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: The bad Astros bullpen has been good, and the good Oakland bullpen has been bad.
*Jose Urquidy: 4.1IP, 5H/4ER, 3K:1BB, 4HR. He had given up 4HR total in 29.2IP in the 2020 regular season. He had given up 2HR in a single game three times in his entire professional career, the only MLB start in which he gave up two or more home runs was July 31, 2019, and twice in 2016 when he was with Lancaster.
*Brooks Raley walked the leadoff batter, who later became Oakland's go-ahead run. It dawned on me recently that I have absolutely no idea how Brooks Raley ended up on the 2020 Houston Astros, so I looked it up: he was acquired on August 9 from the Reds for a PTBNL. Putting Osuna on the 45-Day IL was the corresponding move.
*George Springer was 0x4 with 3Ks, the 5th 3K game of his postseason career. In each of the last three times he's had a 3K day, the game following was a 2+ hit game, so that's good news for today.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. His seven 3+ hit postseason games are the most in franchise history, and tied for the 5th most in AL postseason history.
*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with an RBI. The Astros are now 8-3 in the postseason when Bregman gets 2+ hits.
*Aledmys Diaz hit a massive game-tying two-run home run, and it was the first postseason home run of his career.
*How do you justify pinch-hitting Reddick for Maldonado? With Correa on 3rd, Tucker on 2nd, and two outs, and Maldonado's spot up, Dusty put in Reddick against Liam Hendriks. Also, Liam Hendriks looks like this. Ol' Shrek lookin headass.
Righties (Maldonado) vs. Hendriks (a righty) in 2020: .135/.148/.154, 18K:1BB
Lefties (Reddick) vs. Hendriks in 2020: .200/.243/.314, 19K:2BB.
First off, shoutout to Liam Hendshreks. That's a really good slash line, no matter from what side of the plate you prefer. Now:
Maldonado vs. Righties, 2020: .185/.324/.337, 4HR, 12RBI
Reddick vs. Righties, 2020: .236/.307/.358, 3HR, 13RBI
Neither is a *great* option. You needed a 2-out hit. In his career pinch-hitting:
Reddick: 80 PAs, .176/.225/.189, 1XBH, 22K:5BB
All this is to say...whatever. I don't get it. But what other options were there. Reddick could have been a hero. He wasn't. So it goes. Could Maldonado have done it? Maybe! It was a choice between this, Which Smells Worse: Your Butt, or Your Feet? The world will never know which choice actually smelled worse.
Now: Well the Astros didn't lose last night, so that's a good thing. Houston begins a best-of-three series at Minnesota in the 1st Round. My official preview of the series: It doesn't matter what the pitching staff does if the offense can't string together hits, and occasionally for power. In a September in which the Astros went 10-17, the pitching staff as a whole posted a 4.45 ERA / 1.26 WHIP and struck out 2.975 batters for every one they walked (and if you take out those idiotic last two games - which I know you're not supposed to do - against the Trinity River Rangers, it's a 4.19 ERA). Pitching wasn't the liability. Hitting was and is. If the 2020 Astros want to see Friday as a team, Jose Altuve has to find something, as does Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, and Yuli Gurriel. September numbers for those cats:
Altuve: .237/.308/.461, six extra-base hits, 11K:6BB
Correa: .235/.267/.341, five extra-base hits, 23K:2BB
Bregman: .197/.315/.377, six extra-base hits, 11K:10BB
Gurriel: .154/.168/.209, three extra-base hits, 9K:2BB
If these four dudes, specifically, keep this up, they'll have plenty of time to start preparing for 2021 on, say, Wednesday or Thursday. Astros in Three.
*FanGraphs' Jake Mailhot: AL Wild Card Series Preview - Houston @ Minnesota. The Twins have the edge in pretty much every major metric...so far [puts on sunglasses...but pokes self in eye in doing so].
*We will find out if the Twins have Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton in the lineup today.
*FanGraphs: Presenting the low-seed dark horses. Eric Longenhagen:
Every single hitter in the starting lineup has an in-zone contact rate above league average but only George Springer and Kyle Tucker have barrel rates above the league average. Can they do enough damage to give the bullpen cushion? I'm doubtful.
*ESPN: Everything you need to know about the postseason.
*ESPN: Expert picks for the 2020 Postseason. 21 out of 30 experts picked Minnesota. Not a single one picked the Astros to win their 3rd Pennant in four years. Not a single MLB.com expert picked Houston over Minnesota.
*The Athletic: Beat-writer Breakdown of the Twins/Astros series.
*Josh James is back with the team. This - presumably - is good news, if it means September Josh James is back with the team and not August Josh James. Also, Martin Maldonado is good to go.
*Chandler Rome: Is this the last hurrah for the Core Four?
Huh. Well the Astros crapped the bed late, but the Angels out-crapped the Astros, and Houston is headed to the postseason for a franchise-record fourth straight year. Houston is 29-29. There are two games remaining, and the Astros need to win one to extend a season .500 streak to six seasons, tying a record set from 2001-2006. One more win also means the Astros won't be the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record. Dusty Baker is the first manager in MLB history to take five different franchises to the postseason (Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Washington).
*Houston was down 2-1, took a 3-2 lead, and then allowed the Euless Rangers to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, before scoring in the top of the 10th and allowing two in the bottom half of the inning. Alex PresleyJosh Pressly Ryan Pressly and Enoli Paredes were the culprits, though the Astros "hitting" 1x10 with runners in scoring position was as big of a culprit. Ronald Guzman hit a two-out two-strike home run to ensure Pressly's 4th Blown Save of the season in 16 chances. Pressly was asked in the post-game if he was going to stay up and watch the end of the Dodgers/Angels game:
Who cares? We've got to take care of business first.
The playoff berth gifted by the [squints] Dodgers means the Astros don't have to start Lance McCullers tonight or tomorrow, instead being able to save him for the 1st Round. All of Greinke, Framber, and McCullers will be on full rest, however the matchups happen. Today is likely a bullpen game.
*Game 4 Hero Jose Urquidy: 7IP, 7H/2ER, 5K:0BB. Urquidy has walked two batters in his last 20IP.
*Something from the Rangers called a "Sam Huff" hit two home runs.
*Alex Bregman hit homers in back-to-back games for the first time since September 24-25, 2019 - one year to the day.
*Jose Altuve was 0x2 w/RISP last night. In 47 ABs with runners in scoring position in 2020, Altuve is hitting .149/.216/.255. He hit .255/.360/.638 w/RISP in 2019.
*The Astros made the playoffs despite getting 6IP all season from Justin Verlander, nine total PAs from Yordan Alvarez (that's the reigning Cy Young and Rookie of the Year), 4.1IP from Roberto Osuna, and a .220 year from Jose Altuve, and injuries up and down the roster that led to 201 Innings from pitchers who had never pitched in the Majors before. Given that the Astros have thrown 508 Innings all season, that's 39.6% of their innings pitched by rookies. Houston is also 10-14 in 1-run games, and 2-7 in extra-innings.
*As of now, the Astros would play the Twins in the 1st Round, with Games 1-3 taking place from Tuesday-Thursday. As the 6-seed, the Astros will play the 3rd seed, likely whoever wins the AL Central. Here's 2-5 in the AL:
Oakland: 35-22
Minnesota: 35-23
Cleveland: 34-24
Chicago: 34-24
*With three games left in the regular season, Josh James was placed on the IL - likely with COVID, since they won't actually talk about it. It's decidedly not ideal, something we would have laughed at not a month ago.
Josh James, July 27-Sept 9: 11.1IP, 13H/14ER, 14K:16BB, 11.12 ERA / 2.56 WHIP.
I am growing tired of Base Ball, and am very ready for it all to end. But! The Astros beat the Mariners 6-1 thanks to stellar pitching from Framber and a massive moonshot from Machete. Houston is 28-27, up 3.5 on the Angels, and 4.0 on the Mariners, with five games to play. An Astros win tonight and an Anaheim loss means the Astros are going to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. I am running late, so let's get this done.
*The Astros scored five runs in the 6th inning, meaning they scored more in the 6th Inning last night than they have in any game since September 12.
*Maldonado's three-run homer sealed the game for the Astros, finally getting the big swing they've been missing since...September 2019. It's Maldonado's 2nd 3-run HR of the season, and the 9th of his MLB career. Machete:
I would say probably the best [swing] I took all year, especially in the situation and the way I have been lately.
Chandler Rome: Framber has embraced an "attitude before everything" mantra this season, and it's showing. Maldonado, on Framber:
He's always had good stuff. Last year, even the year before, when I caught him, he was still the same guy. It seems like he cares more now. It seems like he's developing better. He's not letting stuff get into his head, I would say.
And the stat that I know everyone is tracking and celebrated on Twitter when it happened: Framber had a 5th-straight game with a Wild Pitch! He joins Joe Niekro (7), Darryl Kile (6), and Mike Fiers, Mike Hampton, Don Wilson, and Dave Giusti as the only Astros pitchers with a wild pitch in five straight games.
*Since allowing 3H/4ER against the Giants on August 10, Josh James: 9.1IP, 6H/2ER, 10K:5BB. James has walked just one of the last 20 batters he has faced, after walking 16 of the 63 batters he had faced prior in 2020.
*Kyle Tucker was 4x5 - the 2nd 4-hit game of his career.
*McTaggart's Notes column features info on Ryan Pressly's resurgence, and Enoli Paredes' transition from the rotation to the bullpen in 2020.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: "Slogging through 2020, the Astros reach for a postseason spot no one wants them to have." These are great to read - for the heart and for the soul.
-The postseason in Arlington will have fans, pending approval from Texas officials (which will, obviously, approve it). Expanded playoffs are here to stay, but not this season's format. And who knows what rule changes, be they 7-inning doubleheaders or runners on 2nd to start extra-innings, will stick around in 2021?
*The last two days have featured songs from Semisonic, the Most American Band of the Last Twenty-Five Years. Neither of these songs were "Closing Time," which many consider to be the hallmark of a One-Hit Wonder's musical career. I scoff at your insolence. That said, I apologize. Also, the following is the Hot Links Playlist's 400th song, which now features over 25 hours of basically my favorite songs of all-time. Yeah, I sort of get it if you don't listen to all 25 hours...
I get Dodgers fans' frustration. It's hard to lose a World Series Game 7 at home. The Astros...actually showed some fight last night! Houston was up 1-0, then down 3-1, 4-1, 5-1 before scoring the last six runs of the game, including a 5-run 9th inning that led to a 7-5 win. Houston is 23-23 overall, and 7-17 on the road. Oakland split a double-header with Arlington. Seattle won.
That was the win of the year. Hopefully, we look back on this as the turning point of our season.
*Framber Valdez: 5IP, 5H/5ER, 7K:1BB, 2HR. Jake Kaplan: What's different about Framber Valdez?
Bullpen: 4IP, 5H/0ER, 6K:0BB.
Astros pitchers struck out 13 Dodgers and walked just one for the first time in 2020. They had 13+ Ks and 0-1 walks 16 times in 2019.
Josh James: 1.1IP, 0H/0ER, 0K:0BB, and he needed just 11 pitches to do it.
*Kenley Jansen: 0.0IP, 5H/5R (4ER), 0K:0BB.
*Springer, Gurriel (3RBI), and Aledmys Diaz had two hits each. Springer:
We've obviously had a tough trip. This is the best team in baseball. It can be huge, but we're going to have to find out. I think we did a heck of a job of staying in the game. Even though we got down early, we stayed in the game and scratched and clawed and was able to pull it out.
*Ryan Pressly allowed two hits but no runs. He has made 18 appearances in 2020 and has allowed at least one baserunner in 12 of them.
*Martin Maldonado drew his 20th walk of the season, in just his 37th game. In 74 games in 2019, Maldonado drew 17 walks. This is the 4th-highest season walk total for Maldonado since his MLB career started in 2011, and he needs three more walks to tie his 2015 total.
*Chandler Rome: The comeback win provides hope for a turnaround.
*12 years ago last night Hurricane Ike made landfall over the eastern end of Galveston Island. I wrote a retrospective about how it impacted Houston, and the last chance for the Astros to contend until 2015.
(Ed. Note: You're just going to have to get used to me ranting and raving about Leeds United. Scroll on past and go on about your day, if you're not into it.)
Leeds United played in the Premier League for the first time since May 15, 2004. Just to reinforce how long that's been: On May 15, 2004 the Astros enjoyed a 7-4 win over the Mets with Andy Pettitte getting the win and Octavio Dotel recording his 7th save of the season. Craig Biggio, Adam Everett, Jeff Kent, and Morgan Ensberg had two hits each. Andy Pettitte had an RBI. THAT'S how long it's been since Leeds played in the Premier League.
Liverpool allowed 16 Premier League goals in 19 games at Anfield. Leeds got three yesterday, scoring all goals in open play while Liverpool needed two penalty kicks and two goals off of corners to get the win. Leeds are back. You can read about why I'm a Leeds fan in this post I wrote back in April when the world was going to hell, and is still firmly #OnPace to reach it sooner rather than later. Leeds plays Hull in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, then it's Fulham (home of Former USMNT/Nacogdoches Great Clint Dempsey) next Saturday morning.
*Looking forward to watching, at some distant point in time when I am actually able to do things for pleasure, Borgen.
WOW this is really stupid. The Astros had a 2-0 lead against Oakland and the three guys who had MLB experience prior to 2020 managed to completely blow it. Houston is 22-22, 6-16 on the road, and are now 5.5 games back of Oakland with 16 games to play.
*I know that 2020 is adjacent to the very pit of hell itself, but let's take a look at recent road winning percentages:
2020: 6-16 (.273)
2019: 47-34 (.580)
2018: 57-24 (.704)
2017: 53-28 (.654)
2016: 41-40 (.506)
2015: 33-48 (.407)
2014: 32-49 (.395)
2013: 27-54 (.333)
2012: 20-61 (.247)
2011: 25-56 (.309)
2010: 34-47 (.420)
*Let's look at the pitching lines from last night's "game:"
Garcia/Scrubb/Paredes: 6.2IP, 3H/0ER, 6K:2BB. None of these pitchers had pitched in the Majors before this year.
Perez/James/Pressly: 2IP, 2H/3ER, 1K:5BB. All of these pitchers had pitched in the Majors prior to 2020.
The Astros walked the 8-hole catcher, .222-hitting Sean Murphy, three mf times. Dusty:
It's totally debilitating because they live off walks. The last few innings we had walks. We're pitching Murphy like it's Johnny Bench or something...We just gave that game away to them.
Murphy had never walked three times in a game before.
*Houston is 3-8 in September, 1-7 in their last eight games.
*Houston vs. AL West: 15-13. They're 8-2 against Seattle/Arlington, and 7-11 against Oakland and Anaheim. Morons.
*Last night was the third time this season the Astros have been held to four or fewer hits. It's the 7th time in 44 games the Astros have hit 2+ HR and lost the game. It happened 15 times in the 2019 regular season.
*Luis Garcia who, prior to 2020 had not pitched above High-A Fayetteville, was excellent: 5IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Everyone except George Springer owes him a got dang apology. Chandler Rome: Luis Garcia's ascent to the Majors started on top of a parking garage.
*George Springer hit his 38th career lead-off home run, 4th-best all-time in the AL. Springer has a 9-game hitting streak, raising his OPS from .718 to .826 in the process.
*Oakland tied the game on a two-run double that glanced off of Kyle Tucker's glove. Dusty:
It looked like Tucker had caught the ball, and the next thing I know, the ball is rolling around in the bullpen. That was the first downer. Like I said, we just gave that game away to them.
Shorter one today. You may have noticed that my friend IRL Jeff Blogwell is taking the Hot Links on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I very much appreciate it, and him. The Astros...wow. Houston lost to San Diego 13-2.
*The Astros are 0-7 against the Dodgers, A's, and Padres. Those are the only teams the Astros have played who are over .500. The Astros are 0-7 against good teams, and 15-5 against everybody else. Houston and Arlington are the only two teams without a win against a team over .500.
*The Padres hit six home runs. The Astros have allowed 6+ home runs in a single game just 12 times in franchise history. Trent Grisham is just the 10th player to hit three home runs in a game against the Astros.
*Brandon Bielak "started" the game: 1.1IP, 5H/7ER, 2K:1BB, 4HR. Bielak:
They were just hitting the pitches they were supposed to. I didn't have my best stuff.
Dusty, on Bielak:
It was just a bad night for a young man that's been doing so well. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later. We're just hoping he learns from it.
*The organization shut down the alternate training site in Corpus after a (1) positive COVID test. After contact tracing, there was apparently no contact with the Main Roster or the Taxi Squad. Imagine seeing this paragraph in a Hot Links seven months ago. Related: Cionel Perez's return to the Astros was delayed after a positive COVID test.
I just think sometimes my stuff throughout the games or throughout batters is doing different stuff than I'm accustomed to. I think that's just part of coming back from the surgery and getting the feel.
Click (get it?) that link for some good numbers from McTaggart on his curve/slider usage, and the damage opposing hitters are doing against each pitch.
The Astros' eight-game win streak is over, following a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Padres. Houston is 15-11, 3.5 games back of Oakland, who won, because, of course they did.
*Lance McCullers: 5IP, 7H/4ER, 2K:2BB.
The Bullpen: 3IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:3BB.
Houston pitchers have walked 115 batters through the first 26 games - that number, and I know that there are teams who are basically a barnstorming leper colony and haven't played in days, is the highest number of walks in baseball. The 2019 Astros walked their 115th batter of the season in the 45th game.
*Jose Altuve was 2x4 with a walk, giving him three straight two-hit games, and raising his batting average to .202 for the first time since July 28. He also hasn't struck out in three straight games.
*Kyle Tucker: 1x2, RBI, 2BB. Tucker has a four-game RBI streak going, and has gotten on base in nine of his last 13 PAs.
*Houston was 4x16 w/RISP and left 11 men on base. They struck out 13 times, tying a season-high, with 9Ks coming with runners in scoring position. Houston also left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. It's almost as though not having Bregman, Yordan, and Yuli is a net negative.
*In the 4-5 spot last night were Reddick and Toro, who combined for an 0x8 night, including 0x5 with runners in scoring position.
*Chandler Rome: Why didn't Yuli Gurriel play last night? Dusty:
Did you see Yuli run [Thursday]? That's why we gave him [last night] off. He was looking sore...
*James Click talked to Chandler Rome about Forrest Whitley, and whether or not he's still "untouchable:"
It's difficult to say right now just based on what he's going through. I think we've seen some flashes of the promise of Forrest Whitley in Spring Training 2.0, in particular. I don't think we'd be doing our job if we just took assets off the table and just said that they are untouchable, but obviously there are going to be some players that are just going to be much more difficult to move than other ones.
*Heads-up, Houston and the Texas coast... If you live in or near Houston and don't read Space City Weather, you're doing it wrong. I don't live on the coast and I read it, so what are you even doing with your life?
The Astros beat the Rockies 2-1. Houston is 12-10, 3.5 back of the A's (who lost) and 1.5 ahead of the Ramgers (who lost). Houston has won five games in a row, and three of those wins were 1-run games. Imagine if the Astros weren't 1-4 in extra-inning games.
A lot of times, rookies are inconsistent in their performance, but he's been very, very, very consistent. He's gone deep in every game that he's started, and it takes a lot of pressure off our bullpen.
The confidence, the composure, it's like he's been in the league for eight years. The guy is throwing the ball well, he's putting in the work. What happens backstage, what I see...everything he does in the gym, he's out there working. That guy is dedicated. He wants to be great. He wants to help us win ballgames. I love that attitude.
*Blake Taylor got the first save of his MLB career.
*Yuli Gurriel and Carlos Correa both had two-hit games. Correa:
The offense is slowly starting to click. This homestand has been great for us. The confidence is going up.
*Jose Altuve was 0x4. He's gone hitless in nine of his 21 games in 2020. Since Altuve's 3-hit game on August 6, he's hitting .154/.175/.154. For the record, Cody Bellinger, 2020: .181/.252/.330.
I'm going to use them all, because I have higher hopes for next year. I still want to try to be a starter again, so I want to keep the feel for all four pitches.
If Josh James could find the strike zone, he'd do some damage. As a starter in 2020 (a handful of innings, to be fair) he's holding hitters to a .190 batting average, but the walks are giving him a .485 OBP and .476 SLG against.
Josh James, as a starter: 6IP, 4H/7ER, 9K:11BB
Josh James, as a reliever: 3IP, 6H/5ER, 3K:1BB.
Small Sample Sizes and whatnot. It's just not great, all around. Josh James turned 27 in March.
In that link we also see that Yordan had an MRI on his right knee, and the results were negative. Dusty, on Yordan's knee:
I asked him when did he start having these problems, and he said back in Double-A. Most of the time when you have knee problems, they don't subside very quickly. And when they do, they have a history of coming back.
It was more of a relief for me. I put a good swing on a ball for the first time in a while, it seems. You know, hitting the ball hard to first base 10 times in a row, that's not good, even though you're hitting it hard.
*UNWRITTEN RULES UPDATE: The Rangers are mad that Fernando Tatis, Jr. hit a grand slam rather than being mad at the pitcher who gave up a grand slam. Nothing says "Grow The Game" like getting super mad at a 21-year old phenom for doing something cool.
I had 18 hours of professional development this weekend. I just wasn't feeling it yesterday morning.
The Astros beat the Angels 6-5 in extra innings. Blake Taylor recorded the first win of his MLB career. Josh James struggled, again. Framber straight Frambushed the Angels. The Astros couldn't do crap with runners in scoring position, scoring six runs on eleven hits and eight walks. Houston is 5-4. They're off today (Monday) before going to Arizona to face the 3-7 D'amon'b'ck'. Tuesday will probably be Cristian Javier vs. Madison Bumgarner. I completely forgot that Bumgarner went to Arizona.
-This three-game series took 766 minutes, or 12.77 hours. If you watched all three games from first pitch to last pitch, literally 1/6 of your weekend was watching the Astros and Angels. Manfred is KILLING IT with his pace-of-play initiatives. Just kidding, he's a threat to the game and needs to be removed in a coup d'etat. Just let Selig be commissioner again in a zany Weekend at Bernie's type of deal.
-Josh James: 3IP, 1H/4ER, 4K:6BB. Just 33 of his 72 pitches were for strikes. Josh James' two starts: 6IP, 4H/8ER, 9K:11BB, 72 of 147 pitches have been strikes. He's had 17 swings and misses over two starts in 2020.
-Framber Valdez: 6.1IP, 5H/1R (0ER), 8K:1BB. The eight strikeouts were one shy of his career-high of nine, on September 23, 2018, against the Angels. Framber has struck out 8+ batters four times in his career. Three of those games are against the Angels. Showingmywork. Here's Dusty, on the game: We needed this game very badly. [There is] a lot of difference between 5-4 and 4-5. We certainly didn't want to go below .500. It was a great game for us. We got some key hits out there. Boy, we're all tired. We need a day off [Monday].
Astros pitchers walked 25 Angels batters in the three-game series. I'm not good enough at the new Baseball-Ref Stathead thing yet, but that's probably a lot of walks in three games, especially if you win two of them. The Astros have won six games in franchise history in which they walked 11+ batters. Two of those came in this Angels series. The Angels have lost 13 games in their franchise history in which they walked 11+ times and lost. Two of those came in this Astros series.
-The Astros were literally 2x17 with runners in scoring position. Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker came to the plate four times with a runner in scoring position, Josh Reddick three times. There were no hits in there.
2019 Astros w/RISP: .268/.353/.503
2019 Astros Postseason w/RISP: .000/.000/.000*
2020 Astros w/RISP: .246/.360/.368
2020 AL w/RISP: .250/.344/.437 *Going off memory, here
-Alex Bregman had the game-winning RBI four innings after hitting a home run. It's his first 2-hit game of the 2020 season, and he has a three-game hitting streak. Bregman, on how he feels at the plate: Horrible, but we're just getting started. I've just got to get better mechanically. I took BP before the game and got to get some good swings off there.
-For just the third time in his career, Jose Altuve came to the plate six times and didn't get on base. (April 5, 2017 vs Seattle, September 18, 2014 vs Cleveland). Coming into yesterday's game, Altuve had faced the Angels more than any other team in MLB (132 games) and was hitting .333/.389/.501 against them.
-Michael Brantley was 3x4 with a walk. He's hitting .438/.514/.656.
-George Springer raised his 2020 OPS from .390 to .697 in three games against the Anaheim Guy Fieris.
-Albert Pujols has hit 658 home runs with 2080 RsBI. 60 of those homers, and 181 of those RsBI, have been against the Astros. His Grand Slam yesterday was his first against the Astros since April 11, 2009, when he did it against Roy Oswalt.
*To clean up some old news: Forrest Whitley has a sore arm, Roberto Osuna had an MRI and is on the IL. Less than 10 games into the season, the Astros had already let Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley, Will Harris, Collin McHugh, and Hector Rondon walk. Currently Justin Verlander, Brad Peacock, Roberto Osuna, Chris Devenski, and Joe Biagini are on the IL. That's a total of 879IP, probably more since I likely screwed up the addition, that are either gone or unavailable. Considering the 2019 Astros threw 1462.1IP in the regular season, it's not a good ratio.
*The Cardinals had four more positive tests within the team. Let's see how long before the season gets canceled, but I'm gonna bet on the "Well it's not happening to ME" mindset winning out.
*SI: Manfred's bluff to end season further exposes MLB's issues.
The Astros beat the Mariners 8-5 thanks to Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. Houston is 3-1.
Josh James threw 3IP, 3H/3ER, 5K:5BB, HBP, WP. 39 of his 75 pitches were thrown for strikes. Brandon Bielak came in and threw 3.1IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 4K:0BB in his MLB debut in relief, getting his first MLB win. Dusty, on Bielak: It was a great debut for him. He saved our tail. He came in today and threw a lot of strikes, competed, attacked, executed.
*Alex Bregman hit his 100th career home run in his 521st career game, one pitch after Jose Altuve hit his 300th career double. He's the 18th Astro to hit 100 home runs.
Altuve's 300th double came in his 1247th game. Craig Biggio - who is 5th all-time in MLB in doubles - hit his 300th double in his 1432nd game.
*For just the 3rd time in his career, George Springer was 0x5 with 3K:0BB. He's 1x16 to start the season.
*Michael Brantley was 2x3 with a double and is hitting .467/.529/.800 so far.
*Dustin Garneau hit his first career triple. Astros catchers hit .429/.467/.521 in four games against the Mariners.
*Taylor Jones, who made his MLB debut on Sunday, was optioned to Satellite Camp on Monday. With Verlander on the IL, the Astros brought up Brandon Bielak and Nivaldo Rodriguez. The 40 Man Roster is now full. More arms to work with, though eight of them are rookies. Framber will start today's game against the Dodgers and Wednesday's start - which was to be Verlander's - just might be a bullpen game.
*Now that there's been a day of separation between the Verlander News and some time to let it sink in...Dusty, on Verlander: He's in a good frame of mind...I've always called him a medical marvel. This guy works and he believes that he's close to Superman and he really is and I'm just hoping he's Superman this time, too, but without hurting himself.
SI's Emma Baccellieri: Where do the Astros go without Justin Verlander? FanGraphs: Verlander's impact on the already-thin rotation.
*George Springer had his first Zoom press conference on Monday, and was asked about his upcoming free agency. He didn't really say anything, which is pretty much exactly what you would expect him to say, given that he's trying to secure what is likely his only/last big contract. Also, Springer has made over $31m plus whatever the pro-rated pay is for 2020, so it's not like he's trying to set himself up...this is more like setting your 3rd and 4th generations up. Still, George Springer should get paid all the money. I just don't know that the Astros will do it.
So let's look at the years that Astros will hit free agency:
After 2020: George Springer, Michael Brantley, Josh Reddick, Brad Peacock
After 2021: Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers, Roberto Osuna, Joe Smith, Martin Maldonado, Chris Devenski
*David Barron: The Dodgers are way more worried about COVID than 2017 as they come to Houston.
*Astros.com: Inside the UH facility hosting the Astros' taxi squad.
Like other MLB owners, I was firm and sincere in my belief that Not Really Trying At All was the best option when it came to managing the challenges of playing baseball during an out-of-control pandemic. I still think it's our best and most principled course of action.
The Astros put the beat down on the Royals, clinching the 2015 ALDS, 15-6. Some notes:
George Springer was 1x1 with a home run, two walks, and an HBP. He was 1x1 with two walks in Monday's game. This will be a fun 60-game season if George Springer literally does not get out at the plate.
Kyle Tucker, Jack Mayfield, and Abraham Toro had doubles. Springer, Aledmys Diaz, Nick Tanielu, Alex De Goti, and Taylor Jones all hit home runs.
Andre Scrubb struck out five batters in 1.2IP, navigating a hit and two walks.
Jojanse Torres threw 1.1IP, 3H/2ER, 0K:5BB.
Astros pitchers walked 11 batters. I know this game doesn't count, I'm trying to get back into mid-season form, but the last time the Astros that many batters in a single game was September 9, 2017, when Houston pitchers walked 13 in an 11-1 loss to Oakland. The last time the Astros walked that many batters and still won was on June 11, 1994 in a 7-6 win over Atlanta. There are only 16 instances in franchise history of 10+ walks and a team win. It's still 16 instances, because this game doesn't count.
Altuve and Bregman were hit by meaningless, unintentional pitches. Sorry to break it to the morons who are using the Astros to take out their frustration about absolutely everything.
*Jose Altuve left the game with a left leg contusion (bruise). Dusty Baker: We're hopeful he'll be ready on Friday. We'll analyze him tomorrow and see where he is in the morning. Usually the day after that, you're pretty sore.
This is incredibly stupid.
*Josh James was scheduled to start yesterday's game, but the threat of inclement weather in Kansas City kept him in Houston, where he'll throw a simulated game today.
*I guess there are some predictions: Yahoo says Gerrit Cole will win the AL Cy Young (Verlander 2nd), and Lance McCullers may just have his "breakout year."
*Marcelo Bielsa: Being successful deforms us as human beings, it relaxes us, it plays tricks on us, it makes us worse individuals, it helps us fall in love with ourselves. Failure is the complete opposite, it forms us, it makes us more solid, it brings us closer to our convictions, it makes us more coherent.
*If you want to follow something super-fun today (Wednesday), check the Championship:
Leeds United has already clinched the League and promotion, but the 2nd-place team also gets automatic promotion. Here's how it stands with the last game of the season starting at 1:30pm Central Wednesday (reminder that the playoffs are 3v6, 4v5 over two legs, where the winners meet in a one-off 90-minute brawl for promotion to the Premier League):
2. West Brom (82 points) vs. Queens Park Rangers (14th place)
3. Brentford (81 points) vs. Barnsley (23rd place)
4. Fulham (80 points) at Wigan (13th place)
5. Nottingham Forest (70 points) vs Stoke City (17th place)
6. Cardiff City (70 points) vs Hull City (24th place)
7. Swansea City (67 points) at Reading (15th place)
*I don't really want to lead off with this but Jim Crane says MLB "explicitly exonerated" him in their investigation, for the expressed purpose of leaving him out of any lawsuits that proceed against the team he owns in the event that the Astros, do in fact, continued to get sued.
*So did 2014 2nd Round pick A.J. Reed. Chandler Rome: The Astros did not summon Reed for a September call-up in 2017 or 2018. His weight and conditioning were often problems. Frustration grew visible. Houston designated him for assignment last July to clear a spot for pitcher Jose Urquidy on the 40-Man roster.
As a junior at Kentucky, Reed hit .462/.588/.962 (read that again) and had a 2.83 ERA in the same season. That's insane. That 2014 Draft was...hoo-boy. Picks through the 1st 10 Rounds:
Brady Aiken, Game 5 Hero and Current Toronto Great Derek Fisher, A.J. Reed, Current Mets Great J.D. Davis, Current Oakland Gret Daniel Mengden, Jacob Nix, Brock Dykxhoorn, Derick Velasquez, Bobby Boyd, Bryan Radziewski, Jay Gause.
It turns out that the prize of the Astros' 2014 draft was either Josh Big Flames James, the 1006th selection of the draft, who has put up a 0.8 fWAR, or Ramon Laureano, who has posted 5.9 fWAR...for Oakland, because the Astros traded him to Oakland for Brandon Bailey, who will likely be in Triple-A this year.
*I have attended precisely one Leeds United game in person. It was this one, a Champions League game against Lazio, with my dad. You can see how I'd be hooked. There's a "What Happened To Leeds United" Astros County post coming in the next few days.
*I highly recommend you to watch Icarus, which is available on Netflix. It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
*Check out this three-part series from ProPublica called "Blood Will Tell." It will take you all afternoon. Then, when you're done with that, read this follow-up, which broke Tuesday.
