No team had issued more walks this season than the Astros entering Saturday’s game against the Yankees (147). The second-highest? The Angels have issued 125 free passes. With ten more walks issued today, I don’t think anyone is passing up Houston in this stat anytime soon.
Seriously, is there something in the water at Daikin Park?
At a certain point, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. While Mike Burrows wasn’t spectacular, he did hold the Yankees to two runs in five innings, striking out eight in the process. Yes, three of those ten walks originated with him, but he limited the damage to a pair of solo home runs. All things considered, it was a fairly decent start for him. The biggest issue is that he threw 92 pitches in those five innings, which meant the bullpen had to cover the last four innings. And that’s when this game went off the rails at Union Station.
To be fair, Steven Okert actually had a scoreless inning with no issues. But Kai-Wei Teng served up a solo home run to Austin Wells to break the tie in favor of New York, 3-2. Following José Caballero’s one-out single, Joe Espada went to Bennett Sousa, making his 2026 debut following a stint on the IL. It didn’t end well for the left-hander or the Astros, with Sousa getting one out (on a caught stealing) while issuing four walks and a hit. More importantly, he allowed two runs, and the game felt all but over at that point with the Astros facing a 5-2 deficit.
For good measure, AJ Blubaugh and Jayden Murray allowed three more runs in the next two innings, walking another three Yankee hitters in the process. Christian Walker would hit a solo home run of his own to make it 8-3, but it didn’t matter. The Astros, once again, were let down by their walk-prone pitching staff.
What happens next for the 10-18 Astros? Your guess is as good as mine. The Yankees will go for the sweep on Sunday. Honestly, with the off day on Monday, you can’t help but speculate a little bit if a sweep at the hands of New York will force Jim Crane’s hand. We did just see the 10-17 Red Sox fire Alex Cora and a large swath of their coaching staff. That development doesn’t mean Crane will immediately fire Espada, yet we can’t outright ignore the possibility. It feels like something has to give sooner rather than later.
Feature photo from @astros on X, Source Link
I wouldn’t look at the players for answers. I believe we have good players. A good blend of established players and high ceiling players who can develop in a few months into productive, under team control, players.
I understand the fantasy baseball bug. Solve the problem by trading, signing, and drafting. Rebuild. That’s the wrong solution.
The Astros problem is the organization. Bad decisions up and down the organization. The injuries and rehab troubles have been epidemic for at least two seasons and the FO has no answers. Only a few teams have the same problem. The Dodgers come to mind. Therefore, it’s not the MLB at large.
Letting go Luhnow was the beginning of the end. Hiring Dusty was another mistake. Holding on to Maldy for too long was another mistake. Bagwell, Biggio, and Jackson in the FO was a bad decision. Then, Click. Keeping Espada after his first managerial season, wrong.
Perezchica and Victor Rodriguez were good decisions, but the FO waited too long.
I made my point, again, for the “n” time.
Keep most of the players, hire a good GM and let him do his job, to build an organization, not just a team.
Absolutely spot on here
Something needs to happen at the highest levels.
Henry’s decapitation of the coaching staff in Boston is quite bold, but I would rather see a different tack by Crane.
I think he should make an aggressive hire for a POBO, hand him or her at least three years of room and the hard budget constraints, and let them deal with the staff issues.
With regard to the game, I’m not sure how to read it other than what we’ve been seeing out of the pitching corps for nearly all of the season heretofore. It looks like organizational failure.
It’s getting to an inflection point with the team. Currently as is, the A’s are starting to slip away slowly but surely and all we can do is go down with the boat. What concerns me a bit is the fact our hitting has finally reverted back to the mean. After the Boston series, we were seen as one of the top 2 teams in the league. Pitching made sure that wasnt going to hold, yet the hitting didn’t either. Last night we were again picked apart by what felt like another one of last years games for the bats. Cam has cooled off. Altuve has cooled off. We need those guys to contribute well combat the 6run curse we have been hexed with.
All this to say, there has to be a lot of things start to go right. If they continued, we will
Have our own fire sale very quickly. Me personally, you could take them all out. And that’s starting with Dana
It’s difficult for a team to play well when they are consistently out of the game in the first three innings (not the case last night). You go to the plate for the second time and you are 5 runs down, time and time again. That has to be a factor.