The Launch Angle

Can you believe it? It’s June 26, and the Astros are tied for 2nd in the division, just 1.5 games back from the Mariners. Not only that, but if the season ended today, the Astros would be in playoff position as the third wild card. All this and the Astros are the best team in the American League for the month of June with a record of 13-9.

For Astros fans who have been thirsting all season, it’s never been more oasis than mirage than right now.

Nothing sparks more discussion (except possibly whether manager Joe Espada should be fired or not) amongst Astros fans than the release of each game’s starting lineup. Who’s playing? Who’s not?

Let’s take a look at how playing time has been distributed in this AL-best month of June.

At the top of the chart are the game numbers. An orange block denotes a start. Navy blue indicates they weren’t in the starting lineup. Periods where a player was on the IL (yellow) or optioned to AAA (light blue) are also marked. A white bar marks the first 2 games of the month where Lamonte Wade, Jr. was not with the organization yet. The games where the Astros faced a left-handed starting pitcher are highlighted and outlined in red.

Everyday Players

These guys are fixtures in the lineup. The entire month they’ve started every game, except for 1 or 2. Yordan Alvarez has started every game this month. Alvarez along with Jose Altuve, Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, and Christian Walker: the offense runs on this core.

Also included in this group is Cam Smith. Smith is in the lineup day in and day out as much as any of the aforementioned big five. He deserves to be too. He’ll probably win the Gold Glove for right field this season. He’s a great baserunner, leading the team in steals. And while fans lament his .221 batting average and .662 OPS, by launch angle and exit velocity, his xOPS is .746, which is a level more comparable a 110 OPS+ performance. That’s an everyday player.

The Outfield Rotation

With Cam Smith entrenched at right field, that just leaves 2 starting outfield spots for the remaining 4 outfielders: Jake Meyers, Brice Matthews, Taylor Trammell and Joey Loperfido. When the DH spot is needed for one of the infield veterans, Yordan Alvarez plays left fiedl, and that drops to 1 available outfield spot.

Jake Meyers, before going on the IL, used to receive playing time commensurate to an everyday player. Now he starts closer to 60% of games. He still gets in almost every game, but a lot of the time it’s as a late defensive replacement. His putrid month of June at the plate plays into that. He’s slashing .157/.218/.255 for an OPS of just .473 in June. As his OPS has dropped, so has his playing time. The last 3 games he’s been off the starting lineup.

Brice Matthews gets starts in a little less than half the games. Like Meyers, a dismal offensive June has dropped his start frequency. His slash line isn’t much better than Meyers’ this month: .186/.222/.349 for an OPS of .571. Matthew’s second base (and sometimes third base) flexibility helps him get playing time. He also gets penciled in for any start against left-handed pitchers, and still gets in most games as either a defensive replacement or a pinch hitter. Matthews leads the team in pinch hit plate appearances.

Joey Loperfido’s has been getting more starts lately, 6 of the last 8 games. While he never gets starts against lefty pitchers (none of the left-handed outfielders do), The Astros have been starting Loperfido against righties at a regular clip, and have been rewarded for it. Loperfido has the hero in the 2 wins against Toronto this past week. He should continue to see a good amount of starts if he keeps this up.

Taylor Trammell, the other lefty outfielder, hasn’t seen starts as frequently as Loperfido, but has started 2 of the last 3 games. He hit home runs in both, one of them an absolute monster shot into Rogers Centre’s upper deck, making the argument to return him to the bench more difficult.

The left-handed outfielder picture will get even more crowded in a week or two. Lamonte Wade, Jr. had been hitting the ball well in his few games with the team before he went on the IL. He is projected to possibly come off the IL before the end of the month.

Barring injury, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of room for either of the Zachs: Dezenzo or Cole.

Utility Infielder

This position is pretty straightforward. Most of the infield positions are accounted for by everyday players. Nick Allen and Braden Shewmake were the utility infielders until they went on the IL, creating a shortstop shortage. Shay Whitcomb was called up to take the spot, but was replaced by Raynel Delgado, who will man the role until Allen gets back.

Catchers

I wrote an entire preview on the distribution of catching work going forward. It’s pretty easy to see on the graphic, though. While Yainer Diaz was on the IL, Christian Vazquez got the bulk of starts with Collin Price spelling him periodically. Since Diaz has come back, he’s taken back the lead catching role, catching 6 games to Vazquez’s 3.

Astros @ Tigers Game Information and Gamethread Details

Spencer Arrighetti takes the mound for the Astros. After an AL Pitcher of Month May, he’s had a rough June, which regression plays are large part in. His last time out against the Guardians, he was roughed up for 6 earned runs. He did manage to make it through 6 innings though, and eating innings likely helped in games down the line for the Astros. He also struck out 8 and walked none, so there were some positives.

His ERA now stands at 3.13 with a WHIP of 1.20. For June though, it’s an unsightly 6.95 ERA over 4 starts, compared to his 0.93 May ERA.

Keider Montero starts for the Tigers. Normally a starter, he pitched in relief against the Astros in their last series, pitching 1.1 innings in relief of Framber Valdez, and giving up 2 singles, one each to Pena and Diaz. That’s been his only relief appearance of the season.

Montero has a 3-5 in 14 starts and that one relief appearance, with a 3.68 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He doesn’t walk batters much with a 1.9 BB/9, but also doesn’t strike out batters much with a 5.9 K/9. (Then again, I said that about Troy Melton yesterday, and he proceeded to mow down the Astros and throw 100. )

Montero does not throw 100 but averages 94.1 mph on his 4-seamer and 94.6 on his sinker, and has touched 97.8 mph with his sinker this season. He does most of his damage with those two pitches, but also has a slider, changeup and curveball in his arsenal. The 4-seamer is his workhorse pitch against lefties. Against righties, the sinker does most of the work.

This post will be updated with starting lineups as they are made available.

The game will be broadcast at 5:40 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.

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Feature photo from  @astros on X,  Source Link.