MIA: Astros Miss Playoffs for FIRST Time in EIGHT Years | Will Joe Espada Survive?

MIA: Astros Miss Playoffs for FIRST Time in EIGHT Years | Will Joe Espada Survive?

Well, the Astros end on a high note. They win. They hit five home runs. Yiner Diaz looked good at the plate, but this is a season lost by injuries. What should have, could have, would have, but didn’t happen. We’re going to break down this game and talk about the shows we will be having going forward. Let’s get started right now. Yel Diaz, this is Log on Astros. [Music] Hello and welcome to Locked on Astros, your daily Astros podcast. Here are your hosts, Eric the Man Heisman, and Brett Htown Wheelhouse, Chansancy. We are Lockdown Houston Astros and we hope that you join us for a daily locked on Astros podcast. My name is Eric Heisman. He is Brett Anthony. And we are the Lockown Astros podcast. Thank you for making Locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Whether it’s on YouTube, go ahead, subscribe to us. Go and make us your first listen. Apple, Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you’re listening to podcasts, go and check us out. Yes, we will be still having shows year round throughout the off season. Between Brett and I, we have over 18 years of podcasting experience and we will be here with whatever changes are in store for the Houston Astros because while it they only had one less win than they did last year, that one less win kept them out of playoffs this year. So, this is one of the topics that we’ll be addressing throughout the offseason. So, go and make us your first listen wherever you listen. Go subscribe to us on Apple I mean go and subscribe to us on YouTube. This episode is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Enough with the boring flavorless caffeine. It’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5Hour Energy Shots. Go to www.5hourenergy.com or Amazon today. So Brett, I know that you did kind of the post-mortem on the um Astros yesterday, but we’re going to go and do a um kind of look at some of the things that happened with the Houston Astros and what kept them out of the playoffs for the first time in eight years this year. One win, one more win would have got them in. What changes? We we’re going to be talk about this all off seasonason, but what changes? We’ll go ahead and kind of looking at it at a broad um broad um view I guess all week. And is Job Spatada on the hot seat? Are the Astros really really gonna blame this all on Joe Spatada or there other underlying issues? These are some of the topics that we’ll be talking about tonight. So Brett, they got two wins, but they should have got that third win in Anaheim. Yep. And the one win that you can go to that’s the most painful or the one loss that’s the most painful of all these with the Tigers and the Astros ending with the same record. The Tigers most important win this season against the Astros a one to nothing win over the Astros in a walk-off walk in the 10th inning on August 19th where TK Scooble duled and faced off with Hunter Brown. that one to nothing game. Had the Astros scored two runs, the Astros are in the playoffs. So, yes, this was a year where the Astros lost more runs than any team due to run value um due to injury than any team out there. Um like 17 runs um 17 17.0 run value. And basically, I think this team, let’s just say that you’ve got not just let’s just take two of the pitchers off the IIL and not do the carousel out in the outfield. Keep Yordon healthy, keep Parades healthy, keep Pena healthy. You’re talking about a team that’s easily winning 95, 97 games, possibly 100 games. Now, they didn’t score a ton of runs and the offense was exposed in the second half when the pitching started failing, but you had that one more win and you could hear it in José Altuve’s voice after the game. He hates that they didn’t make it. Carlos Korea apologized to the fans. The players are not used to not being here. You know, there is a former Astro that’s going on for his ninth straight season into the playoffs and that’s Alex Bregman and he’s no longer with the team. But that one more win, we could have been in the playoffs. This team could have been fighting for a wild card into the DS in into the second round. But should have, would have, could have. They didn’t. They couldn’t overcome the injuries. It was just too much. And when your offense is not getting RBI’s, I I mean, that’s one thing we’ll talk about here in a second. I want to show you some numbers from the season. Yeah. And uh I’m not I’m gonna give a couple. I’m not gonna give them um all of what you have, but blown leads. The Astros had 26 blown leads over the season. Uh they basically um if you’re looking at what they did in extra innings, they’re eight and seven. At least they had that um winning record LA in the past. They definitely had did not have that. But 154 different batting orders. The Astros just didn’t have that consistency. And one thing I don’t think that you have on your list is when the Astros did not hit a home run, the Astros were 13 and 40. So for a team that has lived by the long ball, missing guys like Alvarez, and then you had a lot of players like Bregman, Tucker exit stage left. And so you have a situation where you have a team trying to reinvent themselves. Christian and Christian Walker. He led the team in home runs and RBI’s, but at the same time he struggled for most of the part of the year and really got really hot towards in the year. But if he would have been a little bit more consistent throughout the year, played better at home, maybe you would got the same amount of wins, maybe if he would have played better against the Tigers, got that one more victory. But, uh, the Astros finished with the same record as the Tigers, 87 and 75. They, the Tigers went on to win because of that tiebreaker. And Brett, I know we’ve all watched Scooby-Doo and the Astros would have made it into the playoffs if it wasn’t for uh, those kids and that freaking Guardians going on this historic comeback where on what was it? July 6th. Yeah, they were they were 15 Yeah, 15 and a half games out. Um and yeah, just just to show a a a a broader picture of what the Astros did and didn’t do um this season, you know, we talked about four runs or more, 64 and 15 when scoring four or more runs, 22 and 50 when scoring three or less. Look at that. 27 and 17 in one-run games. When they did hit a home run, 73 and 35 when scoring first, 56 and 22, they had 34 come from behind wins. They were seven and six in sweeps, eight and seven in extra innings. I mean, imagine winning two more games. Imagine winning one more game. And like I put at the end, I guess a lot was left to the imagination of the Astros and Astros fans. So again, should have, would have, could have. We didn’t. Um, it doesn’t matter now. It’s all a wash. We are here and um I’m I’m actually excited about the off seasonason because I’m excited to see Well, I don’t know if I’m excited. I’m wondering what Jim Crane is going to do because this is a position he hasn’t been in since 2016. Yeah. And how he responds. I know Dana Brown, we’re going to talk about this a little bit later. He’s gonna look at all baseball operations, whether it’s the personnel on the field, uh whether it’s the coaches and also the managerial position. Joe Spata is under contract. He did say that uh he is under contract and they’re going to look at everything, but does that mean that he’s going to be uh the manager next year? I know a lot of people are asking about AJ Hinch. AJ Hinch did just take the Tigers back to the playoffs. So, people are saying they’re no longer the paper tigers. Uh, but AJ Hinch, I don’t know if um a he would want to leave Detroit to come back to Houston. Yeah, I Yeah, I don’t know, Eric. I don’t I don’t I don’t I don’t see AJ Hinch returning. I I mean, know I know everybody remembers 2017, but I mean AJ Hinch also didn’t put Garrett Cole in in 2019 and Will Harris gave up that home run. So, that’s that’s another World Series we could have won. So, um, but you know what was tough and you were talking about the one more win is both Walker and Altuve had their lowest OPS. Actually, Aluve’s lowest OPS since like 2013 or like like around his rookie year and Christian Walker his lowest OPS, his first OPS under 800 since 2021. So when those two guys in your lineup that are supposed to produce, yeah, they both hit 27 and 26 home home runs respectively. But overall, Christian Walker may need to learn to hit more opposite field stuff. You know, dink and dunk the baseball in the park rather than trying to swing for the fences every time as he gets older next year as he is. Yeah, we’re going to talk a little bit more about uh today’s game, but Job Spot did say after today’s game, I’m just glad that the games came out, the guys came out today and we played well. The off season begins now. We’ve got work to do. We got to roll up our sleeves and we’ve got to go to work. So, next we’ll go and talk about what do the Astros have to do in the off season to get back to they were a winning ball club, but what can they do to get back to the playoffs in 2026? Guys, thank you for making Lockdown Astros podcast your first listen every day. Hey guys, caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. 5hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine in 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 ounce cup of coffee, plus B vitamins and nutrients with zero sugar and zero crashes. Why I love 5Hour Energy? 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So, on the surface, they had a winning record with all the injuries that they dealt with throughout the whole off season. means the regular season, missing Isach Parades, the only guy that is not chasing, swinging out of his shoes the entire time and then missing the big slugger Yordon Alvarez. Then you’ve had times without Jake Meyers and also Jeremy Pena. You’ve had a lot of of the big hitters out of the lineup, but the offense consistency is something that they’ve uh been lacking except for the last two games where basically it didn’t really matter at that point because if the Astros would have won that game on Friday where they had a three nothing lead, but then the bullpin kind of blew it. I know it’s Mike Trout. He had two home runs in that game. Ryan King gave up that home run, but you should have maintained that lead or got some more runs at that point, but then the Astros responded. They got two more wins to finish up the season. But, uh, it’s just frustrating to see what they did. But the good thing is you saw Lance McCullers come back in after the injury and pitch three innings today. Yeah. Um, I I just, you know, we’ve got one more year of Lance. Um, you know, I hope he stays healthy. I mean, is he going to be able to not go on the IIL? That’s to me, that’s a big question. Um, I I don’t I don’t really have a lot of faith in in his durability on the mound, Eric. Um, I mean, I mean, seriously, like my thing is going into next year, you got one guy, Hunter Brown, that’s going to be a sure thing. You don’t know. Really? A sure thing. Say of the guys that came back from injury, he’s the one that you can probably count on, okay, five innings or so. So, let me Okay, let me say this. You have one guy next year that hasn’t dealt with injury, that isn’t trying to recover, that does not look like his former self. You have one guy that is who he is and is an ace and is the ace of this ball club, and that’s Hunter Brown. Outside of that, you don’t have anything for sure. Everybody’s coming off of injury. Everybody’s still working to get back. And then you got this thing called the World Baseball Classic that re is ridiculous that it’s in the beginning of the season and I hope does not cause issues for the Astros next year because it caused issues for all of Major League Baseball the first time around. This time around isn’t going to do it. Why? Because you’re in spring training and you’re ramping up to World Series mode right away. The guys in Japan aren’t doing that because they’re already midseason when they get when they get to the WBC. So, there are a lot of things that need to happen, like, you know, the changes that need to be made. And Dana Brown did say that they’re looking at everybody from the scouts to the manager about things that need to be changed. But he did say he does notice that Joe is he did say Joe is under contract. We’ll talk about him um towards the end here. But um I liked how they went out fighting today. I like the five home runs. I wish you would have seen more of that. Um, but you’re basically playing a bunch of guys who haven’t really gotten to play on both sides. So, you’re going to have several guys get one over on the other. And, you know, the Astros got got the better of the Angels today. Um, yeah, good job by Lance, but I I just I I don’t like another year of paying him $17 million unless he goes out and actually contributes and doesn’t get go on the IIL because that’s the last thing we need is another injured pitcher to start the year or have a setback or just whatever. I just I’m a little tired of all the stuff that we’ve had to deal with with Lance. And that’s nothing to take away from what he’s meant to this city and what he’s done for this team. But as of right now, he’s just got to prove me he can stay on the field. And that’s kind of what he’s been dealing with. He addressed that. He said that this was one of his first healthy seasons. I know he’s felt he’s hasn’t been healthy all season, but he he at least has pitched a little bit since 2020. So this is, like you said, his final year of that big contract he five-year deal he signed. So, next year, is he going to be a starter? Is he going to be a reliever? I think that Astros are going to be uh discussing this. Um that’s kind of going to alter what they do at the over the off season, but um it was good to see the power surge come up because the Astros finished 17th with home runs. Uh that’s pretty low for them. They normally rank up in the top 10, but this year they finished in the bottom 10 15 bottom half of the league, I guess. So, but Diaz had a home run. Uri had a home run. Matthews who came up and Keratini had a home run as well. So, the Astros showed some power the past two two days. And it makes you wonder where has this been all year? But uh to address some of the the changes that we’re going to be talking about over the next week and pretty much the whole offseason, we are a year round podcast. So just because the Astros season is over doesn’t mean that the Lock on Astros podcast is going to go ahead and fold up and just go and pack up. Oh, no. We Yeah, we we’ve got plenty to talk about. Um you know, we’ll we’ll get to talk about all the different things that can happen. And look, I mean, we’re also gonna comment on on teams and I I was actually asked today, Brett, are you going to root for anybody in the playoffs? And I said, the only way that I’ll root for anybody is is if I have a connection with the team. And I guess the only real connection I have with the team that I consider is my my grandmother growing up, who I called her Mimi. She was from Canada. She was a big Blue Jays fan. So, I think I’m just going to turn my allegiance to the Blue Jays. Not allegiance, but I’m going to root for the Blue Jays in the playoffs, and I’m not going to root for any other team. So, that’s just me. I’m an Astros fan. I don’t I don’t jump my jump from my team to another team and root. But, if anybody wins this year, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t be upset if it was the Blue Jays, if I’m being honest. Um, you know how the a lot of people in the NBA they discount when the Houston Rockets won the championships? Well, Jordan retired or went down to play baseball with the Chicago White Socks and that’s why the Houston Rockets won those two championships. Well, maybe I kind of want the Mariners to just go out while the Astros are not in it. go out, get your first World Series, get out of your system because the Astros maybe will figure things out during off season and get back into the playoffs next year. Maybe uh I’m overthinking things or maybe I’m just over whatever, but uh it could happen. So, let’s I’m tired of hearing, well, the Mariners have never won a World Series. The Astros are not in it. I don’t know who to root for. So, root for the underdog, the team that’s never won it. I still hate the Mariners, but let’s give them their chance to win. Hold on. Are you rooting for the Mariners? No, I still hate the team. I don’t But just get it out of their system. So, no. No. No. That’s You cannot root. No, I don’t care. I don’t care if the Mariners have the world coming against them. I will never cheer for them. Okay. No, that’s that’s just that’s just not it, dude. Um, no. That’s Come on, man. Never. Never. The continuous discussion next. Thank you for making Locked on Mariners. Just kidding. The Locked on Astros podcast your first listen. Wow. Well, this next advertisement is apppropo after that dare election of duty by Eric Heisman. Neutrifull. 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So if you want to see thicker, stronger, fuller, fast growing hair and less shedding in within three to six months with Neutrifull, you can for a limited time. Get what they are offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you go to neutrfold.com and enter the promo code locked on MLB. Find out why Neutrifold is the bestselling hair growth supplement brand at neutrfold.com. That’s nut t a fo l.com code locked on mob. That’s neutral.com promo code locked on MLB. Hey guys, go and make us your first listen. Apple, Odyssey, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, go and make the Locked on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Uh whether it’s on your way to work, on your way home from work, at work, uh go ahead and subscribe to us, go make this first listen. And uh Brett, there is a difference between rooting for a team and just hoping they get it out of their system. So I’m not going to root out of their system. Them them winning a World Series. No, I’m just tired of hearing about them. Well, the Mariners have never won World Series. No, Eric, we can’t want the Mariners to to win a Why would you want that? Well, I’m not rooting for them. I just want if if the Astros have no shot of winning World Series this year, why not root? Not root, but why don’t why don’t we just let them get out of the system? So, when the Astros get their crap together this off season, maybe they can beat the world champions. No, because then we got to listen to to that side of of the country that come No, Eric, that’s the Blue Jays. They’re in Canada. It’s America’s hats. I mean, they’re in another country. I mean, and my grandmother rooted for them. What’s wrong with that? Right. Um, but geez louise, like Eric, the Mariners. I’m about to jump through this screen, dude. Well, one team I’ll never root for is the Yankees. I’ll never root for the Dodgers. Uh, definitely. Red Sox are pretty high up on the list. See, here’s the thing. I rooted for the Red Sox. Like I liked the Red Sox growing up because remember American League and National League never played each other. The Astros were National League my entire life growing up and so until they were extorted by Bud Celig’s daughter who said I don’t want the Brewers to go back to the AL and then and then um Bud Cely told told uh told um Crane he wasn’t going to allow him to buy the team if he didn’t agree to the Astros being part of the American League. So that’s that. But yeah, the Red Sox were always one of those teams that that I always, you know, rooted for. I mean, look, I’m not lying. You know, the Cubs with Kyle Tucker, the Red Sox with Alex Bregman. I’ve got a little bit more interest in those series. I mean, I would love the I would love the Red Sox to beat the Yankees. I mean, that would be great. Um, but yeah, I just I just can’t, man. And I’m not trying to press in too hard, Eric, but I don’t mind if Seattle continues their World Series less streak. But I will say this, this is the best team they’ve had since the iPod came out by Apple. I mean, this is this is the first this is the first title they’ve won since there was an iPod shuffle, I think. Well, let’s not discount the Brewers either and the Phillies. The Brewers have the best record throughout National League is stacked. Yeah. So, uh, they have home field advantage throughout, uh, the World Series. So, if the Brewers make it to the World Series, they’ll have homefield advantage. Uh, they have a lot of young players on that team. The Phillies, you can’t discount, um, that they’ve been to the World Series and won the World Series. Uh, the Dodgers, they always have a chance. Um, but it seems like a lot of teams in in the National League won 90 games. Uh, you have even the Padres’s, a wild card team, they won 90 games. But if you look in the um American League, it’s kind of you have the Blue Jays with 94, the Mariners with 90, the Guardians with 88, the Yankees with 94, the Red Sox with 89, then you have the Tigers and the Astros with 87. So, um it looks like a lot of more of the power teams are in the National League. So, it’s hard to pick against a team in the the National League for this year. Um, if so, if you don’t have to, if you can’t root for the Astros because they’re not in there, you got to really uh look for a team in the National League. So, I’ll probably just for the sake of it because um I kind of want to see Kyle Tucker in back in the World Series. I’ll go and root for the Cubs. Well, or you don’t have to root for anybody. I mean, that’s also an option. I’m just saying that for me to make it a little bit more interesting, I’m I’m going to pick a team to, you know, to pull for and um you know, George Springer is on the Blue Jays. So, all the teams I have interest in have former Astros on them. Um but make no bones about it, I would I would rather the Houston Astros be in it and have a fighting chance. It’s just, you know, a and one of the things we got to get to this Joe Spot thing, is he on the hot seat? Because Dana Brown said he’s under contract for 26. Everybody’s going to get looked at in the operations in baseball operations. And he did get he did give a tip of the hat to Joe saying all the things he had to deal with, we were still a winning ball club. We just missed the playoffs by one game. So, believe it or not, all the guys out there and all the girls that want Joah spotted fired, I don’t know that you’re going to get your wish. And my question is, if you want Joa fired, who you going to replace him with? Yeah. And so, he kind of what you said, I haven’t sat down and gone through it yet, but from my initial thought process, Joe did a good job. He battled through all the injuries, pressed a lot of the right buttons, but I’ll definitely sit down and we’re going to talk about all the staff, all the staff in baseball operations, whether it’s the coaching staff, whether it’s my staff, player development, scouting, and everything. And uh he said the biggest injuries uh the biggest issues were injuries to Alvarez and Pena in the weeks, the final weeks. it’s uh he felt like that really hurt them, especially during that fivegame losing streak and definitely uh in that Friday’s game, but uh the this is the first time in eight years that the Astros haven’t made the playoffs. And he says as far as he’s concerned, Joe’s under contract. We’re going to take a complete look at our operations, we had to battle, but the main thing, another thing he’s going to look at is the return to play procedures. This was something that James Click said, “Hey, we need to address this.” All the way back in 20 uh what 2022 I think before he got fired or let go or asked to not come back, whatever it was. And I think back then it was Jake Myers that got hurt and came back too soon and um then he wasn’t the same player. So, there’s a lot of issues with this team. Uh just because you fire the hitting coaches does it’s not going to change the swing and miss or the aggressiveness aggressiveness of Jose Altuve and a lot of the other players. You’ve got to bring something. You got to just bring in some new talent. Bring in some new coaches possibly and just have a change of uh just thinking with this whole team. Yeah. I don’t know what you’re going to do because I think a lot of these guys are going to be back offensively. Um I don’t know that that’s going to change much. I think I think the pitching staff will look vastly different. Um again, I mean, if you look at their numbers over the last few years, and if you’re just looking at things like OPS and stuff, they did decline this year, but they’ve been top three in the league, they’ve been top 10 in a lot of offensive categories. So, I guess what what you what you got to look at is what is what is the philosophy? What is the mindset? Um because you can still hang your hat on most teams and I think Dana Brown said this, most teams would have crumbled under this would have not even they would have been like where the Rangers are like under 500 or right at 500. They wouldn’t even be anywhere close to 85 wins. So, so you know, you do have that. You’ve got you’ve got a lot of question marks. Um, Isach Paredes, if if he’s fully healthy, where do you have him? Um, Yordon Alvarez is probably going to be playing left field a lot next year. Um, he plays better when he’s in the field. And, um, you’re not going to DH him because you’re going to have to DH Jose Altuve because Jose Altuve is the worst infielder they have. Um, you know, what are you going to do with Christian Walker? I mean, you you you still owe him 40 million. No one I mean, are you going to try to trade him and take 20 of that and, you know, and someone else pay 20? I don’t think they’re going to do that because of the dead money. But you also have arbitration guys coming up, Eric, that are going to be Jeremy Pñena, Brian Breu, Hunter Brown, and they’re all going to garner higher arbitration numbers. So, I know it the starting figure is around 30 million cap space. It may be a little less with the arbitration stuff. So, a lot of questions need to be answered. Um, people keep throwing around the name Mark D. Rosa to manage possibly. I don’t think Dro is leaving the couch of MLB Network. He’s probably got it way too cushy there. He probably gets paid a lot more than he would to be a manager in Major League Baseball. Yeah. So, these are some of the topics that we’ll be definitely talking about over the next week. Um, what possible changes that they’re going to make and during this whole offseason, just remember, we’re not going anywhere. But just to give you some of the numbers, Alvarez only played 48 games this year. Pina missed 27 games uh due to the fractured rib. Parades missed 55 games. Meyers missed 49 games. and they’ve been without their high price closer since August 12th due to a shoulder issue. And so what um something that was missed before today’s game was they put Pena on the IIL. He could have played in the playoffs, but they brought up Jacob Melton uh to be an extra bat um for today’s game if they need him. But um Bryce Matthews came up in and for who was it? Somebody else got put on IIL and so but Bryce Matthews had another bath before the end of the season. Well, they put well they well they brought Melton up because they had put um Pena on there, right? That’s what I just said. Yeah. And then and then so so there was someone else because Bryce Matthews or they just had a spot? Well, they brought up Bryce Matthews yesterday. I just can’t remember who went on. Maybe it was Alvarez or somebody else, but uh it doesn’t matter. But the Astros, they’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, but not to make excuses, but when you have a historically high injury rate and you miss this many games, and yes, maybe look at what the Astros could have done if they had these players healthy for a full season. But they probably would have got an extra two or two, three wins with maybe a healthy lineup. But could have, would have, should have. No, Eric, two or three wins. No, this this team would have won with a healthy lineup. This team would have won easily 95 to 100 games. They would have won 10 or I I mean I don’t I don’t think it’s fix Valdez’s messes when he just Well, that’s that’s like three or four games, but if everybody’s healthy, there’s a whole seven games you’re talking about where Farmer just totally lost his cool. Okay. Or he’s one. Okay. So there’s Okay. So, there’s seven games, but I’m saying everybody healthy. I’m talking about all those starts that one to nothing lost to the to to the Tigers. Um, you know, the thing is we don’t know what this team at full strength could have done. We can say that the evidence is in what they produced, but also we can also say the counter to that is, well, they produced this because they didn’t they weren’t at full strength. They didn’t have the most feared hitter in baseball. I think their best offensive player. But here’s the question for 2026, Eric. Here’s I think the question that I think we need to ask. Can Yordon Alvarez play 140 games? I don’t even care about 162. Can Yordon play 140 games? If he can play 140 games, what kind of heights could he reach as a slugger and as one of the most feared hitters in baseball? I think the answer is he’s got to play DH. You can’t have him in outfield. You’re going to have to have Jose Altuve in left field or you’re going to have to make some I just I just made that case earlier. Jose Altuve is a declining infielder. You’re not going to put him in the outfield. They played Yordon Alvarez 40% of the time in the outfield this year. He didn’t get hurt because of the outfield. He got hurt because he tried to step on home plate and he and he it was a freak accident. Jordan Alvarez will be the left fielder primary next year. Jose Altuve will be DH next year for for a lot of it. And I I just think that’s that’s where they’re going to go with it. But who knows, man. There’s still a lot to talk about. Yeah. Uh definitely some of the topics we’ll be talking about is Zack Cole for real. Does he deserve a starting role um next season? Uh where does he play? Because that’s going to be interesting um decision. And who gets traded? Uh what type of changes are going to be made? There’s so much that we have to talk about. The season may be over for the Houston Astros, but the season is not over for Lockdown Astros podcast. That’s right. Uh we will uh we hope that you make us your daily listen throughout the off season. There will be a time where we’ll we will go down to three shows, but at least through November, I believe in December, we will be uh sorry, October through November, we’ll be uh five days a week. I think in December is when we go down three shows. But um guys, thank you for making Lock on Astros podcast your first listen every day. Whether it’s on YouTube, go subscribe to us, go and make this first listen, Apple, I see Spotify, wherever you listen to podcast, go and check us out. And we’ll be here uh to talk you through this off seasonason because it’s going to be interesting. That’s right. Go Stros.

Brett and Eric discuss a season in which the Houston Astros fell short of reaching the playoffs; now they have a lot of questions to answer. What is the status for the coaching staff, players in-house, and who they may pursue in the offseason?

Houston Astros miss playoffs for first time in 8 years. What went wrong in 2025, and how can they bounce back?

Eric Huysman and Brett Chancey dissect the Astros’ disappointing season, analyzing the impact of injuries, close game performance, and roster inconsistencies. They explore potential changes for 2026, including Joe Espada’s managerial future and Dana Brown’s role in reshaping the team. The hosts debate crucial lineup decisions, like Yordan Alvarez’s outfield playing time and Jose Altuve’s defensive role.

Tune in for expert insights on the Astros’ path back to contention and key players to watch in 2026.

Locked On Astros is a daily podcast about the Houston Astros, hosted by Eric Huysman and Brett Chancey. It is part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
Be sure to subscribe to Locked On Astros on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come back every weekday to spend your commute listening to the latest Astros news and notes. Thanks for listening, and tell your friends!

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0:00 Intro: Astros end season on high note

5:55 Analyzing Astros’ missed playoff opportunity

16:52 Lance McCullers Jr.’s future with Astros

22:25 Debating which playoff teams to root for

27:36 Dana Brown evaluates Joe Espada’s performance

32:39 Injuries plagued Astros throughout 2023 season
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