So, does anyone have Lucas Giolito’s phone number? Is Charlie Morton still open to pitching? Just asking for no particular reason.
Oh, wait, I remember why I was asking. Shield your eyes if you need to.
Another game, another starting pitcher goes down with an injury. Such is life for the Astros in 2026. This time, Cody Bolton could only generate three outs before being removed in the second inning after walking the bases loaded with no outs. Remember that comebacker he took off his back in Colorado? Well, he’s still feeling the repercussions of it, with the injury flaring up in the second inning. At least it wasn’t his throwing arm.
The rest of the pitching staff didn’t do much better. Jayden Murray wasn’t put in the best situation to start his appearance, with bases loaded and no outs in the second inning. Frankly, only allowing a run in that situation is impressive work, which included striking out Brendan Donovan and Cal Raleigh in high-leverage spots. Only trailing 2-0 after that mess of the first two innings, it could be much worse. That third inning, though, left something to be desired, with the Mariners tacking on another two runs to make it a 4-0 deficit. Christian Roa did provide 2 2/3 innings, but allowed two more runs. Enyel De Los Santos had a scoreless inning, which counts for something positive. Even Bryan Abreu finally got that elusive first scoreless appearance of his season. But, sorry, I don’t have any congratulations to offer him today.
We could honestly stop there with the recap since the lineup didn’t really do anything substantial all game. Other than a solo home run from Yainer Diaz in the fifth inning to make it 4-1 at the time, Houston’s bats weren’t productive. Before that home run, I honestly thought Logan Gilbert could be in line to pitch a “Maddux”, which is a complete game shutout of nine or more innings in less than 100 pitches. He finished seven innings of one-run ball on 85 pitches. On the plus side, Jose Altuve got three hits. Unfortunately, aside from him and Diaz, the only other hit was by Isaac Paredes. As I mentioned, the lineup was relatively quiet in this game with little traffic on the basepaths.
That losing streak now reaches seven games, the first time that the Astros have lost that many in a row since 2019. But, call me crazy, I don’t think this team is making the World Series. Or winning 100 or more games. And, unless this pitching staff miraculously improves in the coming weeks, it likely won’t compete for a postseason berth, either as the division winner or as a Wild Card. Even a winning record isn’t promised if the early returns from the pitching staff prove to be a season-long problem.
Feature photo from @astros on X, Source Link
This team will have a hard time cracking 70 wins. Espada continues to give up runs as he milks everything out of each reliever he can, only turning it over to the next pitcher once the bases are loaded or two runs have scored. He’s literally playing chess with only the next move on his mind, never 3-4 moves ahead. Yeah, he’s trying to preserve arms, but he shows his incompetence more.
And build the statue for Altuve’s already.