The Launch Angle

It is kind of astounding that the Astros are 48-54 and Yordan Alvarez is a Triple Crown contender. Speaks to the roster construction around him, huh?

But enough negativity for now, as this evening’s game may prove enough on that front. You never know about these Astros. Alvarez, however, is worth the price of admission by himself, as you never know what he might do at the plate. Monday’s game, for example, featured his fifth two-home-run game of the season. There have been instances when he has single-handedly propelled Houston to victory, and it doesn’t matter what the count is.

Alvarez is truly having a season for the ages and might even surpass Jeff Bagwell’s 1994 MVP season in terms of offensive production. That season, in 479 plate appearances before a hit-by-pitch broke his left hand, Bagwell had a franchise record among qualified Houston hitters with a 205 wRC+. Alvarez, in 439 plate appearances, has a 192 wRC+. Another hot streak here or there might do enough to propel Alvarez to the top of the list, not to mention he’s only 14 home runs behind Bagwell’s 47 in 2000 for the single-season home run record in franchise history.

Honestly, Alvarez by himself is worth tuning into the games. Whether the Astros make us regret it is another conversation.

Marlins @ Astros Game Information and Gamethread Details

With the rest of this lineup, they just might do that. And Tatsuya Imai is starting, so who knows what we can expect.

We hope you will join us and the rest of the Launch Angle community for the game! The turnout has been amazing on the TLA Discord Server for the game threads.

Join us again for today’s game. Just join the Discord server using this link: https://launch-angle.com/discord.

For more detailed instructions, please see the Guide to the Launch Angle.

If you’ve participated in game threads on other Astros sites in the past, you will probably see a lot of familiar names. Chat, lurk, do whatever! (But please say “hi”, so we know you’re not a bot.)

Feature photo from Astros on X