After a miserable April where the Astros went 8-18 to undo a nice 4-2 March start, the team has since been above .500 the next 3 months. They went 15-14 in May, 16-11 in June and 13-10 in July.
The Astros battled back in the standings to the point that they entered the month of August first place in the AL West by 0.5 games. It was the first time they had been in first place since April 5.
August has not been successful for the Astros. The rotation is non-existent. The offense has disappeared. They are below .500 for the month at 8-9. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games, and lost 4 of the last 5 series.
Despite that, the Astros have not once relinquished first place in the division or even given up a share of it during the month. In fact, as of this morning, they’re up in the division by 1 game, so they’ve gained a half game on their lead since the start of the month. That’s because as bad as the Astros have been in August, the Rangers (8-10) and the Mariners (7-10) have been worse.
It’s to the point where I actually wondered if there would be more yield in previewing the Rangers-Angels game tonight, rather than the Astros-A’s game, because a Rangers loss is as good as an Astros win, and given the way the teams are playing, the former seems more likely than the latter.
The Astros play a 3-game series against the Athletics in Houston this weekend. The A’s are the worst team in MLB by record, but when you play against the Astros that doesn’t mean a whole lot. After all, the Angels were the worst team in MLB by record, until they played the Astros, took 2 out of 3 and now they’re not the worst anymore.
Hayden Wesneski takes on right handed pitcher J.T. Ginn of the A’s. Wesneski is one of the 3 pitchers actually in the Houston rotation. #4 and #5 of the pitching rotation are just “TBA”, which is the case for Sunday’s game of the series. Given Wesneski’s last outing of 5 ER in 4 innings in a loss against Seattle, another bad outing or two, and the #3 spot in the rotation may also turn into “TBA”.
Ginn has pitched twice against Houston this year, both times in relief in early April, before he was moved into the starting rotation. He didn’t do particularly well either of those times, allowing 2 runs in a 2 inning appearance, and another 2 runs in a 1.1 inning appearance. However, since he’s become a starter, he’s been quite effective. In 22 starts, he is 8-7 with a 3.44 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 110 K and 51 BB in 120.1 IP.
The game will be broadcast at 7:10 p.m. CT on SCHN with radio coverage on KBME 790 AM.
This post will be updated with starting lineup as they are made available.
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Not that it would have made a difference… but 1-12 with RISP last night. It’s a regular occurrence lately. The offense is definitely in a funk. It would have been tricky to make everything work, and the money and prospects simply might not have worked, but this team would look so different if they had traded for someone like Arraez instead of Varsho. Or just some other bad-defense thumper.
Now, let’s be honest. Are we better off with Varsho?
No, no, no. Don’t give me the hindsight BS.
So Espada still has his job today ? Most illogical 🤔 Free Omar !