Breathin' Orange Fire

Here’s an understatement: it went poorly for the Astros this weekend. Houston’s nine lost all 3 games in Arlington, an outcome which is frustrating for two reasons: 1) the Rangers are not a very good baseball team, and 2) No self-respecting Astros fan wants to lose to the team up north once, much less three times in a row. To my eyes, the blame for the poor showing this weekend falls primarily on the offense. The team slashed .228/.299/.281, with only 4 extra base hits across the 3-game slate. The team was even worse at key moments. The team was 5 for 33 (.152) with runners in scoring position. Bregman and Correa couldn't deliver in the 10th on Sunday. Notably poor was the offense’s performance on Sunday. Mike Foltynewicz entered the game with a 5.18 ERA, but the Astros managed only 3 singles and 2 bases on balls in seven scoreless innings. The offensive woes were also present in the 10 th inning. With runners on first and third and no outs, Carlos Correa popped out, Alex Breg...

 We all know the maxims that tell us the importance of throwing strikes for pitchers--"What's the best pitch for a pitcher to throw? Strike one." "Leadoff walks always seem to score," and the ever-popular "Throw strikes." Last night in Oakland, Zach Greinke threw strikes. Of the 89 pitches that he threw in his 8 innings of work, 63 were strikes. That's a 71% strike rate, the highest of the season for Greinke. Greinke allowed only 1 walk and 4 hits in an efficient performance.  Greinke was intense on the mound last night.  Greinke has had an up-and-down season, with great inconsistency between starts. Greinke has had 4 blow-up starts, where he has pitched fewer than 5 winnings. In those starts, he has given up 17 earned runs in 16 2/3 IP for a 9.18 ERA. He has allowed 26 hits, 9 walks, and 6 homers. This contrasts with the six very good starts that we have seen from Greinke. In these starts, Greinke has thrown 43 innings (7.2 innings per start). and...

I'm going to #StateYourUnpopularOpinion:  Brooks Raley is an average major league relief pitcher. The first point to make here is that the idea the Brooks Raley is a competent at his job is the opinion of a minority of Astros fans, and small minority at that.  A quick twitter search for Brooks Raley finds opinions from Astros fans that range from anger  Brooks Raley doesn’t need to be used in games that are close. This isn’t difficult. — Michael Connor (@MC790) May 9, 2021 to despair  Brooks Raley in with the game on the line pic.twitter.com/OciThNkbuz — Roosh (@RooshWilliams) May 6, 2021 to acceptance  Two things will survive a nuclear blast: cockroaches and Brooks Raley https://t.co/EGo57ggeww — Thickie Don (@AstrosCounty) May 16, 2021 to fatalism.   Watching Brooks Raley and Joe Smith with the game on the line is more cruel than any punishment Manfred could have dreamed of — Tyler Stafford (@tylercstafford) May 6, 2021 And there is a g...

"Tucker!  High and Deep to Right Field! Forget About it!" Todd Kalas's call of Kyle Tucker's 6th inning bomb off of Andrew Heaney captured the moment. Tucker hit it into the 2nd deck in right field and Kalas's call made it clear it was a no-doubter. Tucker Got All of That One Last Night On Wednesday, Tucker homered and singled, marking his 4th straight game with a base hit. Over those 4 games, Tucker is 7 for 13 with 3 homers, 2 other extra base hits, 3 walks and only 2 strikeouts.  This mini-hot streak has lifted Tucker's OPS from .584 to .741--that is from below the MLB average (.701) to above it.  Why was Tucker slumping through the season's first 33 games?  Why did he have a slash line of .175/.242/.342 before Sunday's game against the Blue Jays?  I took a deep dive into Tucker's numbers this season, particularly in comparison to his numbers from 2020, when he established himself not only as an everyday player, but an above average contributo...

 It is one of the classic rants from a coach or manager. Dennis Green entered a press conference steamed that Arizona Cardinals had allowed the Chicago Bears to come from behind to win a Monday Night Football game. Green took the mike and started yelling, getting off a number of gif-worthy quotes. The one that sticks out in my head this morning--we let 'em off the hook. Such is my attitude about the Astros 5-4 loss on Monday night. The Astros had the Angels on the ropes early, and they let 'em off the hook. The first three Astros reached in the bottom of the first. A run was in, runners were at 2nd and 3rd, and Yordan Alvarez, Yuli Gurriel, and Carlos Correa were due. They were set up for a big inning. But didn't get it. Alvarez struck out. Gurriel popped up the catcher. And Correa struck out.  In the bottom of the 2nd, the first 3 batters reached as Angels bulk guy Jose Suarez was wild, having walked Jason Castro on 3 pitches.  But Jose Altuve hit into a double play, pro...

Back in the winter, a friend mentioned going to the Astros-Yankees series in the Bronx casually, and I met that thought with trepidation.  Go to an Astros-Yankees game?  This year?  Did I really want to go see my team get booed and jeered?  To watch a game where the focus was not on the game, but on events of four years ago?  To deal with Yankee fans?  The decision was made for me. In late April, my wife said "You will receive your birthday present in a calendar invite I'm about to send you."  And there is was, seconds later:  May 6. 1:05 pm EDT.  HOU vs. NYY. Yankee Stadium.   "You got me tickets to the Astros-Yankees series! Oh, wow.  What a present."  I was going.  And my friend couldn't go, so my wife would go with me. Her mother would come down to babysit.  It was a date. And it left a question in my mind: how would an Astros fan be treated in Yankee Stadium in 2021? * * * I'm not a novice to the intensity o...

With the throw from Jose Altuve to Yuli Gurriel in the 9th last night, the Astros not only won their 3rd straight game, but also completed their 27th game of the season.  Why does the 27th game matter?  Because it is exactly one-sixth of a major league baseball season. Many prefer to use the end of the month to designate the markers of a baseball season. I prefer 27 game increments because it makes the math easier.  So after 27 games, you just take a stat--say the face that the Astros have won 15 games--multiply it by 6, and you get the rate for the season. So 15 wins times 6 is 90 wins. The Astros are on a 90 win pace so far.  Good, but not great. But you can also take Yuli Gurriel's team leading 18 RBI. Multiply 18 times 6 and you get 108 RBI on the season for Yuli.  Excellent.  After the second 27 game increment, we'll be at 1/3 of the season, and you can multiply by 3.  After the third 27 game increment, we'll be halfway through the season--multip...

Lance McCullers was effective but wild last night against Tampa Bay, giving up no runs, 3 hits and 3 walks in seven innings on the mound.  Lance struck out  batters and held the Rays to an expected batting average (including strikeouts) of .185.  The offense had a good night too, and for one of the few times at Tropicana Field, the Astros won a laugher 9-2 . But notable to me in Lance's line from last night are the 3 walks.  McCullers has started 5 games this season, and has walked 3 batters in 4 of those starts; he walked 2 in his previous start against the Angels.  Lance's K Strut Last Night Lance is walking 12.7% of all of the batters he is facing this season, at a rate of 4.73 walks per 9 innings pitched. These numbers are an increase from the  last season (8.8% BB%, 3.27 BB/9) and from the rates we saw before McCullers had Tommy John surgery after the 2018 season (2018 9.5% BB%, 3.51 BB/9; 2017 7.8% BB%, 3.03 BB/9).   Further evidence of McCu...