Bad. Just bad in all aspects.
You can only blame injuries so much.
Hunter Brown pitched today; certainly considered one of the top five Astros pitchers when the season began, injuries or not. By giving up three runs in only four innings, he actually improved his season ERA to 9.68.
It’s not just injuries; it’s not just unexpected underperformance from key bullpen pieces.
I never thought I’d say this, but there seems to be a lack of motivation, a lack of leadership, a missing spark. It feels like this team has just grown tired of winning after all these years of competing. Easier to find excuses for losing and just rest.
The pitching today was as good as could be expected—at least for a team with a 5.03 ERA, the second-worst in baseball. But today, the 1-6 holes in the lineup batted just 1-19.
We might as well have had Blair Henley pitch.
Just as Justin Verlander arrives, the only other bona fide major league pitcher currently in the starting lineup, Cristian Javier (apologies to Ronel Blanco; we’re happy you came to budding stardom from nowhere), goes down.
Is it already time to rebuild?
Alex Bregman. Where is the leadership?
Is he gone at the trade deadline? How many third basemen would he even replace at his current level of production? His current wRC+ of 85 means he is hitting 15% below league average at a power position. That’s Mauricio Dubon, utility level skill.
Oh, wait. Dubon’s wRC+ is 114.
No, I won’t beat the dead horse on first base anymore.
The pitching is terrible on both ends of the staff, with the surprising exceptions of Blanco, Rafael Montero, and now departed Javier.
Quality offensive production from five regular players isn’t enough to pick up that slack: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Yainer Diaz, and Jeremy Pena. That’s not the deep lineup the Astros need, especially with the starters’ injuries and the total breakdown of the supposed dream team at the backend of the bullpen.
The rotten fruit of trading away the farm at the trade deadline for the last nine years is finally falling off the branches and withering away.
Can’t win a championship under these conditions, right?
Let’s just go through the motions.