LMJ is a professional pitcher. With a 5 run lead you throw every pitch on a 3 ball count down the middle and hope.
Is Espada the manager/final say of his team? Could've, should've, would've. Yeah, Espada doesn't have 2 all star pitchers because of the way he used them.
Disagree, there should be a soft rebuild. Trade Pena/Parades/Meyers/some of the bullpen guys etc... Keep Alvarez/Altuve and build around them. Make sure when you make trades you get pitching, pitching and more pitching.
The next 2 1/2 weeks are going to break the season or throw a band aid on it. 16 games in 17 days. 3 at Boston - should win 2 3 home vs Dodgers - hope to win 1 day off 3 at Cincinnati- likely 1 win 4 home vs Seattle - must win 3 3 home vs Texas - must win 2 Must go at least 9-7 but even that looks daunting. I see a world where they go 4-12. They already blew the easy part of their schedule.
I agree with most of this, but there is no reason to think that we “should” take 2 of 3 on the road against anyone. The Astros are one of the worst teams in baseball right now and winning an away series is a hope not an expectation.
Underrated aspect of Houston's bad start. Also not a good look for Espada. Defense and baserunning are the 2 things I tend to attribute most to the manager.
The current Astros administration, front office to coaching staff, seems to emphasize making perfect pitches just off the corners, every pitch is trying to get guys to chase outside the zone. Leads to high pitch counts and starters often not making it through 5. Doesn't seem to be a winning strategy in 2026.
The last time the Astros won 2 in a row was April 14th and 15th at MMP vs. Colorado. Two and a half weeks ago.
Astros have the worst team ERA at 6.00. Next closest is 5.04. Only the Braves and Dodgers have a higher batting average but they have pitching. The 3 games they’ve lost on this road trip they’ve scored 7 runs.
Categorizing players production so far based on fWAR at 20% thru the season: 1. MVP: Yordan 2. All-Star: Walker, Correa 3. Solid everyday player/MoR SP/leverage RP: Smith, Vazquez, Paredes, Brown, Lambert, King 4. Fringe regular: Altuve, Trammell, Loperfido, McCullers, Arrighetti 5. Bench player/MR: Meyers, Imai, Teng, De Los Santos, Burrows 6. AAAA: Shewmake, Matthews, Pena, Harris, Allen, Okert, Murray, Bolton, Sousa 7. Net negative: Johnson, Whitcomb, Diaz, Alexander, France, Blubaugh, Roa, Javier, Munoz, Weiss, Gordon, Abreu
I guess it depends on your view of Espada when the season began I thought of him as a baseball guy with very few leadership qualities I’ve seen enough this year to have no faith he is the guy to turn this ship in the right direction So to me, it definitely isn’t too early to send him packing
is the season not already shattered? Got a tonne on the injury list. Do we ever get some of our injured pitchers back or too little too late if and when they return? Ronel Blanco. Wisneswki. JP France. Joaquin Andujar?
