A quarter of the way into the season, the Astros are basically where they were the last two years. After 49 games in 2021, the Astros were 27-22; in 2022, they were 31-18. This year? 28-21, nestled right in between. And that’s after dropping two straight shutouts in Milwaukee.
Baseball is inherently a game of patience. It’s so incredibly long and filled with so many ups and downs, it makes sense that players try to keep an even keel even if fans struggle to do the same.
But, this year is unique in that the Astros have this record despite dealing with numerous injuries and changes to the lineup. Our point is, don’t rush to the nearest bridge to throw yourself off over Jose Abreu’s slash line just yet — though no way he should still be batting cleanup, but that’s for another time. There’s lots of good news to be had…and bad…but that’s baseball.
Jose Altuve returns then leaves then probably returns?
The biggest news of the last week is the return of the star second baseman, who missed the first 43 games of the season with a broken thumb suffered during the World Baseball Classic. He arrived ahead of schedule and was a much welcome addition to a lineup that had struggled significantly at times this season. Then, in Tuesday’s game, Altuve left in the middle of the fifth inning and everyone held their breath. Did he come back too soon? Was he trying to do too much?
Turns out, he was sick. During the TV broadcast on Wednesday, Jeff Bagwell said he was a little dizzy and keeping him out was a precaution. We think it was something he ate. He’ll have the off day Thursday to recover.
The Astros pitching staff has been incredible.
If we told you this offseason that the Astros would lose three of their starters (four if you count Justin Verlander), but would still lead all of baseball in team ERA, you’d either think we were joking or out of our minds. Yet, that’s where we are. With an ERA of 3.23 as a team (3.25 for starters, which is third in MLB and 3.19 for relievers, which is fourth), they are putting up stunning numbers for a team starting a 28-year-old rookie in J.P. France and occasional starter Brandon Bielak.
It’s one thing to lose Justin Verlander and hope the depth that includes rookie Hunter Brown can handle it. Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier are still dealing. Valdez looks every bit the ace the team hoped he would be and Javier hasn’t let that big contract extension go to his head. Brown has been excellent in his first full season as well. With Luis Garcia gone for the year and both Jose Urquidy and Lance McCullers, Jr. a ways off from returning, the patchwork lineup with an absolutely shut down bullpen has kept the Astros as a pitching juggernaut.
Everyone needs to appreciate Yordan Alvarez.
We have said it over and over. Alvarez is must see baseball. On Monday, he crushed a pair of home runs including a grand slam. Through Monday, Alvarez had 12 home runs and 46 RBIs in 41 games. His OPS is 1.008. Think about those RBI numbers for a moment. Just incredible. So, don’t miss out on a chance to see him hit. The guy is like a superhero in an Astros uni.
Don’t be shocked if Drew Gilbert is in Sugar Land this summer.
When rookie A-baller Drew Gilbert (a first round pick of the Astros last year) literally ran through a wall trying to catch a ball in 2022, it cost him his entire season. He is very, very quickly making up for that this year. He raced through High A Asheville and is now in Corpus Christi with the AA Hooks. And he continues to do everything you want him too. At around 5-foot-9-inches, he doesn’t exactly cut an imposing figure, but you wouldn’t know it from how he its. Altuve, who had a rehab start in Corpus said recently he thought Gilbert was already ready for the bigs.
His combined slash line for A+ and AA is .357/.439/.620/.1059 with 7 homers, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs in 34 games, all from the left side of the plate. He has also shown a canon of an arm from the outfield and tremendous speed on the base paths. It wouldn’t be a stretch if he were in AAA Sugar Land by July. Would a September call up be crazy? Not if he keeps this up.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
