Whenever Brice Matthews does make contact, watch out. Odds are that the ball will travel a long distance.
It is just the rate of contact, or lack thereof, that is the issue for Matthews. As currently situated, with his athleticism and defensive versatility, you can do far worse than Matthews as a utility player. I mean, he does have some pop in his bat, and his throws lately have been pretty good. But that 34.4% strikeout rate needs to decline for him to assume a more regular role. But, for the second game in a row, Matthews has come through when it mattered at the plate with a home run.
Frankly, it wasn’t a shock that the Astros needed their lineup to have a strong day at the plate to win. Mike Burrows doesn’t inspire too much confidence right now. And, with a bullpen used heavily on Friday night, there was a lack of options if Burrows’s night concluded early.
Saturday was a mixed bag for Burrows. On the one hand, he did manage to pitch at least one inning, so that was a step in the right direction. He ultimately got you 15 outs, allowing four runs. Only walked two Royals while striking out five. Not the best start you will ever see, but it beats the alternative that we watched last night.
Alas, Burrows’s four-seam fastball still isn’t good, allowing yet another home run, this time a solo shot from Lane Thomas. Another meatball.
The Royals took 12 swings against Burrows’s four-seam and didn’t miss once. I know the pitch isn’t meant to be a whiff generator for him, but that typically isn’t a great sign.
In any case, the Astros and Royals were stuck in a back-and-forth struggle, with one team scoring some runs and the other answering back shortly after.
Kansas City struck first, leading 3-0 before Christian Walker’s 18th home run of the season scored the first two runs for Houston. The Royals added a fourth run before Matthews’s two-run dinger doubled the Astros’ run total to tie the game (4-4). A brief lead in the sixth would quickly evaporate in the bottom half, with Burrows and Enyel De Los Santos letting three runs score (7-5). The seventh would come and go, but two batters before the weather delay, Jose Altuve would tie it up again with his own two-run home run.
Following a 91-minute delay, the game would resume with a 7-7 tie. The remainder of the eighth inning was uneventful, but the Astros would take advantage of a throwing error to avoid an inning-ending double play to score the deciding run (8-7). Bryan Abreu closed the game out with a scoreless ninth to secure the win for Houston.
Now 33-39, the Astros are still on the outside looking in, but they remain on the fringes of the race. It is all about stacking those series wins, and they did that this weekend. Whether that’ll continue is another matter.
Feature photo from Astros on X
You hire a number of talented musicians to put together an orchestra. You hire good musicians, not the best for each instrument, but from good to extraordinary musicians. Opening day, first concert, they sound horrible. Then, they don’t get better. You audition each one again, they perform from good to extraordinary. Next concert, they sound like a middle school ensemble. What do you do?
Fire whomever did the hiring of the musicians. Just because you know scales and music theory doesn’t mean you can play, at even the least.
The conductor first
They are good musicians. They auditioned well.
I’ll start with the caveat that clutch stats might just be small sample size theatre. But Brice Matthews has shown some late game heroics this season. In “Late and Close” situations, Matthews is hitting a OPS+ of 126 with .474 SLG. In high leverage situations his OPS+ is 194 with .727 SLG. Take that for what it’s worth, but you can see why Espada might want to put him in the lineup either as a starter or replacement. Also, Matthews has a huge gap between his OPS+ splits for L and R. He is an above average hitter vs. LHP but struggles vs. RHP. So, you’ve got to target his usage against lefties.