Even with COMPOUNDING setbacks, Astros destiny STILL lies in their hands!

Even with COMPOUNDING setbacks, Astros destiny STILL lies in their hands!

Hey, welcome into Stone Cold Stros. I’m Brandon Stranger, Charlie Pollo, and Josh Jordan. Go follow them on X at Pollo and Josh Jordan 975. On today’s episode, the tail spin continues as the Astros lose the Silver Boot Series in Arlington. But more importantly, it could be their division lead in peril if they can’t write the ship. But they’ll have to do it with one last reliever as Houston loses another arm for the season. Before all that, hit like on the video, mash the subscribe button if you want to see more Stros content on your timeline. Click that bell for notifications so you know as soon as new content drops. And we’re on all your favorite podcast apps. Just search Stone Cold Stros. Charlie Josh, welcome in. So, Houston finds themselves in quite the pickle here. Uh the pitching has been good enough, but uh the offense just outside of exploding in the middle game of this series, they just look lost. It really looks like they may never score again at times. Um and then when they do, you feel like it’s like that’s all you’re going to see. And many times, you’re right. Um you being the collective, the stead form here, the small elephant in the room is the future Hall of Famer. But uh let’s put him uh aside for just a second and give me your overall thoughts on what you both saw in this Rangers series. It’s who they are, right? You look very superficially, hey, they scored 16 runs in three games, over five runs per game. Yeah. Well, 11 in the LER and even there, most of those runs came against a tattered Rangers bullpen at at the very end. In the Friday game, three runs in 12 innings. I mean, three opportunities you’re giving a run given a runner at second base with nobody out. Could not score. And then Sunday, the worst Rangers starting pitcher of the three that they faced and Patrick Corbin’s throwing a no hitter into the fifth inning. It’s just not a good offense. It’s simple as that. They’ve been below average in runs scored the entire season. They’re below average in runs scored, runs per game. Now it’s who they are. What needs to change is the cut in the short run where all the actuarial tables and past performance can go out the window. Just as the Astros were world beaters for nearly a quarter worth of the schedule when they went 29 and 10 earlier this season. Well, out of nowhere, the offense can get going. You mentioned Altuve. We’ll dig a little deeper. Said last week he stinks right now. Well, he’s even stinkier. Carlos Koreah’s numbers are drifting down toward where they were with the Twins. The last 25 games he hasn’t been out too bad, but he’s been bad. And then you just go the back end of the lineup, right? Jake Myers returned and actually gave him a couple hits and a great catch. He was more or less Jake Meyers, but that’s not enough. When Yiner Diaz keeps Yiner Diazing, it’s just not a good lineup for enough of the season, as in well past three quarters of it. You waddle like a duck, you quack like a duck, you’re a duck, but they’re not a dead duck. Still in first place. It feels like the fingernails have to be digging in really hard to hold on to it. This will be a telling week ahead. The Astros on the road, a mediocre record as a road team. The Mariners applied a tourniquet, winning two games in Atlanta over the weekend. They’re at home, second best home team in the American League this year. They get three with the Cardinals, four with the Angels. Uh the Astros will be doing well to still be in first place at the end of this week because their offense is that of an also ran. It’s unfortunate that they haven’t been able to put some series wins together with the way Yordon’s been swinging the bat. I mean in September he’s hitting 500 with an OPS over 1300. He’s been unbelievable and you’re still you’re not able to to get any series wins here like it’s back to the Rocky series. It’s the last time you actually won a series. So guys, it’s been a minute and I think one of the other issues is as the injuries continue to pile up. We’ll get into that in a little more detail later. You’re really having to count on the guys that are here and are healthy. One of those guys being Fromber. You’ve lost six out of his last seven starts. I mean, that’s what’s really killing you here. You have Hunter Brown come out and be your stopper and and give you what you need in the Rangers series, but then Frober comes out. From wasn’t bad. You just didn’t capitalize. You had that that change up he kind of hung for the home run that that got him there and and that was it. The bats just didn’t give you enough. So they got to find a way to to to get some wins when Frober’s taking the hill cuz outside of Hunter Brown, everything else is just so you know what what are you going to get from Luis Garcia? What are you going to get from Javier? Who knows? So that’s something I’d like to see. And then just looking at the other guys, Christian Walker so far starting off September struggling batting average under 200. At least Cam Smith starting to show a little bit. He’s hitting 250 this month. Had that big triple the other night. So, uh, at least he’s not like some of these other guys I could read on the list that are hitting under 200. So, maybe some signs of life there. Try and try and look to the positives right now. They’re still in first place. Not much time left in the season. I think they can get it done. You mentioned Shberra Valdez, Josh, and and that is an illustration how the worm can turn. Things can change. Stop on a dime. For no particular reason or necessary logic to attach to it before this spate of frome starts, they lose. They won 13 consecutive from starts. His erra was about 184 over that stretch. He’s been mediocre. The Astros have been worse. And it’s now fully 13 of the season played. 54 games since the Astros high water mark of 55 and 35 after they rolled the Dodgers three straight July 4th weekend. 23 and 31 since you triple that you’re 69 and 93. That’s a lousy baseball team. For the most recent one-third of the season, the Astros have been a lousy baseball team. But it’s about the full 162 the Mariners have had their lousy stretches. The Texas Rangers were catatonic for a couple of months. So, it’s not really uh inspiring to say, well, they they still are in first place and maybe they can hold on as opposed to surging through the wire, but it’s where they are. They’re still four games to the good to at least get in the playoffs right ahead of the Texas Rangers if they’re going to freef fall or the Mariners are going to shoot past them and it has to be the wild card. uh that second best record in avoiding the two out of three that seems about toast unless the Astros can rouse themselves into taking two out of three minimum in Toronto this week. Yeah, Charlie, I as I think about what you said, we start really looking at the story of the season. Um, and players would have to produce at a level that they just haven’t been producing for this team to really take a notable turn in the because even when they were winning and doing all the things, it was like the unlikely heroes that were st stepping up. It was the Taylor Trel’s, it was the Cooper Hummels, it was these guys where you weren’t really expecting productivity out of them and they were coming in in the clutch. And that’s just a house of cards because you what you really need is the core of your lineup. Now I trust that if Yordon’s healthy, he’s going to contribute. But I don’t at this point who could trust Altuve or Kareah or Diaz and granted Koreah’s been better. He’s he’s he’s been way more productive than most in that lineup, but that’s not saying much because the bar is just so low. So, uh, you know, I and that brings us well and before we get to all too big, I just want to say on Froer, what’s really alarming about him as we’re looking at the state of this team is he’s been able to be somewhat effective without being able to control his curveball. How long has it been since he’s been able to throw that thing for a strike or throw that thing to for swing and miss? That’s his pitch. And it’s a testament to how good he is that he’s been able to be this good and this effective without his main out pitch. But that’s what’s going to get him in trouble is you and you saw it on Sunday when he hung a hung a change up and it gets smashed because that’s not his real out pitch. His real out pitch is at the curveball. And if he doesn’t have it, man, he how can you even count on him being the the the used to seeing really from this series what I saw was that Houston has one bonafide ace right now and it is Hunter Brown. Um, now we now we have to get to Jose Aliv because it’s just been it’s been a struggle to watch. It’s been a struggle for him at the plate. Um, just an epidemic right now. He is grounded into the third most double plays in all of baseball this season. And Grant, if you told me he was number one, I’d believe you. Um, I at this point I I just wonder I mean I we we all know on this panel, we know why he’s still hitting where he’s hitting. is because his name’s Jose Altuve and he’s the greatest Astro that’s ever played. But at what point, guys, does showing respect for the future Hall of Famer start imposing on the success of the current team? Well, if it’s about respect, then Joe Espada is a toad for the players. You’re in a tough race here. You need to optimize your lineup. But as we discussed last week, as badly as Altuve has sucked for nearing a month now, 25 games, batting average 162, how low can you go? OPS about 550. Saturday and Sunday, 0 for four, two strikeouts in each of the games. He’s just awful, awful at the plate. It’s It’s really jarring to see him this incompetent. But who are you going to promote? Who you going to move up in the lineup? Maybe a week ago you said, “Hey, Christian Walker, get him up behind Yordon.” Uh, we did see it. Maybe it was the 10th inning of the Friday game. They Barry Bonds Yordon cuz hey, bring up Altuve. What does he do the first pitch? He chases a ball 6 in to a foot above the strike zone and hits a lazy fly ball. So, uh, the hope is, can he tap into Joseé Altuve of Christmas’s past? There’s no reason to believe it. You can hope it. I mean, he looks like a 35year-old guy who’s just tumbled way over the hill, having played in all but about 10 of the games this season, even with the DH time allotted. But funks can end for players, for teams, without having that Eureka moment of here’s where he found it. But Altuve, he chases as badly now out of the strike zone as he ever has. He’s in the worst 5 percentile in all major league baseball and swinging and pitches out of the strike zone. Problem is, he doesn’t do near the damage anymore as a batting average guy with pitches in the strike zone, right? He’s now down to 266 on base percentage because he’s not walking very much. Just awful in the 240s. And this is the guy who’s in the three hole every night. Yeah, I mean you do get the uptick in power with him at 24 home runs already this year, but to Charlie’s point, you’re getting some tradeoff there with batting average and on base percentage. And it just worries me. I know he’s always been aggressive early in the count, but I almost think does he not trust himself to be able to work deeper counts that he thinks he he has to ambush a fast ball early in the count to give himself a good chance? And then I also think of all the the bunt hits he’s had this year where what would his average look like if he didn’t still have some of the speed that he he possesses in his 30s. So it’s it’s a hard watch. The the positive is is he’s super streaky. You know, he he’ll be awful like this and then he’ll flip a switch and he’ll win a whole series for you. It’s just we haven’t seen that guy in a while. And Charlie’s right. It’s it’s not just a a recently thing. He has three hits this month in September. He’s hitting 107 and then he hasn’t done much. Charlie’s right. In about a month, he’s been hitting right around 200. It’s concerning, but it is the end of the year. He’s an older guy, but Charlie makes a good point. He’s he’s rusted quite a bit with being in the DH so much this year. It’s disappointing to see, but if you’re an Astros fan, you’re right. You can’t do anything about it. He has to play. You don’t have any better options. I I just don’t like him hitting in the three spot. just all the double plays that Brandon brought up and it it washes away Yordon so quickly. But the problem is, you know, do we put Koreah there? Kareah is slower than Altuve and at least Kareah can slap the ball to right field and get on base from time to time. So, I’m not really sure what the solution is there, but I I don’t like this this batting order. I’d like to see a spot shake it up here. Yeah, I don’t have a definitive who I would hit second with Altuve’s coma ongoing. You mentioned Koreah, very slow player. Jake Myers back for just a couple of games. You’re going to put him in the two-hole. I want Yordon in the three spot. I want two opportunities for someone to get on base as opposed to only Pñena having that opportunity before Alvarez comes to bat in the first inning. Yeah, look Josh, I I agree with you. Aluve has always been a streaky hitter. We’ve talked about it on this show before. Uh, and he’s always been capable of these really bad extended funks. Um, another guy was Kyle Tucker. Kyle Tucker was very capable of falling into like, you know, a month and a half long funk and just looking like he hadn’t played the game before and then finding it out of nowhere. But that’s the problem is that, you know, while I’m not saying that Altuveet is washed, I do think the obvious signs of aging are evident as the gaps in which he has these hot streaks becomes larger and larger and the hot streaks themselves do seem to be contracting in size. Um, yeah. So, I I don’t know what the answer is, but I I know it’s not Alt. I I I I get what you’re saying, but at least with Walker, there’s a little bit of a threat of power. there’s a threat of some extra base hits. Uh same thing with Korea. Kareah will he see see pitches like he can actually work a count. Uh which is not something also includes seeing too many strike threes or strikes three. Yeah. Six walks in the last 25 games. So his pitch per at bat, they’re not ending with enough good results. Certainly to be their cleanup here. Yeah. Well, at least he gets to strike three because Altuve is likely to pop up on one or pitch one or two. Um, you know, and and I look, I don’t know what’s worse, you know, working a count full to watch strike three or to swing over the top of three straight pitches, which Christian Walker is one to do. So, it is a really hard thing to say like what the answer is. I think we’re going to have to get into this a little bit more later because I think um there’s a real question about the lineup construct, the roster construction as it stands right now. And I think we’re going to be talking about this long into the off season here, especially, you know, if if things uh work out for the worse here, but I think they have a lot of questions to answer considering the contracts that are on the books and the way this lineup is currently performing as it’s currently constructed. Um, now one of the things that obviously this team can point to has just been the deluge of injuries that have set them back for the season. And no one’s arguing that uh that is a real thing. I I just wonder, you know, because we got news this week that Caleb Wart’s basically done for the season. Uh Bennett Susa also uh they confirmed is done for the season. Perhaps one or both of them might be available in the postseason. But I mean, I feel like there’s almost as many players that you can say that about. I know it’s not real, but like I feel like there’s almost many players that you can say that about on this team right now than that as there are active players on this team that you count on because there’s just so many who it’s, you know, Hater and Pedes and now Susa and Ort just guys that are like, well, they’re definitely done for the season, but maybe in the postseason. Well, you got to get there, so that’s a concern. But taking a step back um and and we can get you know obviously Ort’s not the biggest loss but uh I do wonder you know you’re at you’re at a point where you’re really depleting the resources that you have in in in your bullpen and he was one of them. Um, but outside of the the tangibles aspect of it, I just got to take a step back and just ask this is an epidemic of elbow inflammation that’s happening right now, Josh. Is this do you think this is just a perfect storm of coincidences or is this a sign that this medical staff who has been much maligned for their inability to be transparent at times and for the uh amount of setbacks that have happened to guys coming back from the IIL. Do you think that they’re you know this may be indicative that they need to re-evaluate u specifically how they use pitchers? I mean, I think the results are so alarming. I think you have to at least look at and I don’t know if it’s anything the Astros are doing now. We have seen them rush guys back before. I think I think Dana Brown talked about with JP France, they rushed him back a little too soon and we we’ve seen that stuff happen for sure. it. I just think the pitch clock is a big part of this and how many innings these pitchers throw coming up and you know travel league baseball and through college and the pros and it’s just I know it’s not like it was years ago that guys they’re not throwing at 150 pitches per outing or anything like that but they’re throwing harder. They’re throwing with more spin. We talk about it. I I don’t know with the Astros because it’s kind of like when we talk about the the hitting coaches. It’s you could point to some guys on the Astros. I don’t want to say anybody’s name. I don’t want to jinx anybody, but they have some guys that have been perfectly healthy on the Astros that are pitchers. And so you you’re like, well, is the are they not treating them the same? These guys are fine. These guys are hurt. I think it’s just kind of it’s baseball, man. Your elbow. It’s you’re not really supposed to throw a ball overhand. That motion is not natural for a human being. So unfortunately for the Astros, they’re just going to have to they’re just going to have to hold hold on tight. Hope they have enough arms and then and look to the young guys in Sugarland. We’ve seen AJ Blue Ball do some good things. You just next man up. That’s where they are. There are reasons physiology being number one that you watch the women’s college world. So pitchers can come back every day because that is a much more natural motion. And if you just do it with a ball yourself, you’ll Hey, the stress on the joints, elbow, shoulder. Um, so it is a baseball issue, but the Astros are at the front of the line. I mean, there’s an element, I think, of sometimes when it rains, it pours. They need to build an arc uh for just the incredible number of season ending injuries. But we go look at the Dodgers injury scroll, the Tampa Bay Rays injury scroll with their pitchers uh among other teams. It’s not just an Astros thing, but boy, they are at the head of the class. They are um they are currently ahead of the class at the uh the AL West, but we will see how long that lasts. Uh it’s not it’s not the advanced class, I can tell you that. Uh final thoughts before we’re out the door here. Hunter Brown is the man just grinding through his innings going one more in out pitching Jacob Deg Grom in the Astros lone win in Arlington season high in pitches 107 not 135 but the Astros face an interesting call with Hunter Brown he’s not pitched much on four days rest you want to saddle up the horse and say the rest of the way to maximize his starting opportunities It’s going to be four days rest, right? They pushed Luis Garcia back because of his arm history. He’s starting Tuesday. They have an off day, not now until a week from Thursday, right off Monday. But then they play nine days in a row. Are they going to use six starting pitchers in that stretch? The way they currently have it lined up, Hunter Brown having pitched the Saturday game, four days rest, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That would be in Toronto against an elite lineup. But then you space it out. Hunter Brown cannot pitch in both series then against the Rangers when they come here and when the Mariners follow the Rangers into Dyken Park. So I’ll be curious to see how the Astros map out specifically Hunter Brown start usage where they try to volley back and forth between 4 days rest, 5 days rest and then Frober who’s anything but a sure thing behind him and then it’s a whole lot of hope. Garcia Alexander’s been showing some some fraying at the edges and Christian Javier. Good day, bad day. So, they’re going to try to keep on hanging on. Uh I think there’s going to be very very decisive and meaningful baseball the last weekend of this regular season. I’m just going to be curious to see what happens with Lance McCullers. I mean, if there was ever an opportunity to to to to do something, your team is down so many pitchers. They desperately need somebody to step up right now. Can Lance McCullers be that guy? What a great story that would be. Even if it’s out of the bullpin, however, they need they need help right now. Can Lance be one of those guys to help pull them through? Well, first shot at it in a meaningful outing, a fail, right? Last man available basically in the 12th inning. He comes in, walks a guy, and then gives up the game-winning hit. Necessity is the mother of invention sometimes. I mean, they’re asking Craig Kimell and maybe Lance McCullers to get a few important outs over these final three weeks. There’s the necessity. I suppose it is. And I I think it probably is also worth stating to that, you know, it’s not time for panic yet. They still they still are in first place. Stranger Things have happened. And if this lineup were to explode, uh have an offensive explosion. There are enough names on it in this lineup up and down that it would not surprise anyone. However, the Hall of Fame is also full of a bunch of great names, too, and you wouldn’t want them necessarily playing on this team. Although, give me a chance to pick and I may choose some. Charlie, I just want to get in a mention as the Astros play the three with the Blue Jays. Speaking of guys have exploded for about four months now, do the cap to George Springer who over the last two seasons was in stark decline. In 2024, he was straight up terrible. 2025, George Springer’s one of the 10 best players in the American League. OPS over 900, batting near 300. He is getting an ample aotment of designated hitter time. George Springer is about to turn 36 years old. So, Jose Altuve could use a bit of that renaissance that George Springer has been having most of this season. and you know he’d like to turn it on the Astros in his series this week. And and short of that, you’d like to at least see Koreah maybe explode for something similar uh and and be the clutch guy that we’ve known him to be throughout his career. Uh one last reminder, if you’re watching on YouTube, be sure to click like on the video and if you listen on podcast apps like Apple or Spotify, please give us a fivestar rating while you’re here. For Charlie and Josh, I’m Brandon saying so long. Thanks for listening and as always, go. [Music]

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