Two realities can exist at once. In Mike Burrows’ case, he was generally unlucky across his first eight starts. Not necessarily good, but the numbers provided some hope. It is also true that he wasn’t unlucky in his ninth start, this time against the Mariners. on Thursday. He was simply bad. Pretty bad, in fact. Tatsuya Imai-level bad? Eh, it was depressingly close.
And just when I was starting to feel somewhat confident about the trio of Burrows, Spencer Arrighetti, and Peter Lambert at the top of the rotation. When I say confident, I mean that I don’t expect this staff to get ambushed for five to seven runs in every single start. Merely competent would’ve been fine for me with this current cast.
Poor pitching? Check. Bad hitting? Unless your name is Yordan Alvarez or Braden Shewmake, well, yes. Those two combined for all five of the Astros’ hits and drove in all three runs. Otherwise, it was another pitiful performance from a lineup that has continued to regress in a major way this month. The outfield, in particular, is rough to watch, with Zach Cole, Cam Smith, and Brice Matthews going a combined 0-for-13 with four strikeouts. Injuries have essentially reduced Houston’s depth to virtually nothing, so you’re going to see these guys out there, for better or worse. But, mercy, even a competent fourth outfielder on a different team would start ahead of this trio at the moment.
It feels like something has to give with this team fairly soon. Joe Espada didn’t put together this roster, but he’ll likely be the first to be let go as this team starts assigning blame. I don’t think Dana Brown will be too far behind him, especially if this current rate of losing doesn’t let up soon. But, hey, what do I know?
Well, it goes without saying that this series finale between the Astros and Mariners was decidedly not a fun one if you root for the former. 24 runs allowed in this four-game set, compared to just 10 runs scored. Now 1-7 against a division rival. 17-28 overall on the season, trailing the division-leading A’s by 6.5 games. That deficit isn’t insurmountable, and I am not trying to be too fatalistic, but Houston’s season is inching closer to life support. In the middle of May. All we need now is a tombstone cover on the front of the Houston Chronicle. For now, though, enjoy this AI-generated tombstone cover courtesy of The Launch Angle.
It’s an impressive imsge to see the finality of our season. Because it felt like we had to split with Seattle, and yet we came up short. “We’re not done yet.” It has become some what of a meme now and it could be the last words Dana says as he is fired from his job here.
August…. Maybe? (Probably not)
More like August 2028
Burrows’ line today is very close to McCullers’ yesterday.
Depressing set of 4 games
A few thoughts. Many people suggest to get rid of Espada, but very few say why. From a different perspective, nobody explains what we are looking for in a new manager. Regarding a GM, it’s more complicated, and we hear the same silence. We all want to win again, but don’t know how. I haven’t heard of a plan moving forward. Fantasy baseball is a game not a plan.
I know of one thing the Astros shouldn’t do, hire a GM and tell him how to do his job.