“You gotta have heart!
Miles and miles and miles of heart!
When the odds are saying,
“You’ll never win,
That’s when the grin should start.”
~ “HEART”, FROM “DAMN YANKEES”
On the Sunday morning prior to the All Star Game break, we must wait until this afternoon’s games are played, Houston @ Tampa Bay and LA Angels @ Seattle, to know for certain which club goes into the big summer recess as the technical leader of the AL West. Today, thanks only to the Angels’ stubbed toe defeat Saturday at Seattle, the Astros (49-41, .544) hold a half game lead over the Angels (47-40, .540). For several hours Saturday afternoon, the Astros had relinquished their division lead for the first time since the early in the season by percentage points after a 3-1 loss to the Rays before the Angels gave it back later in the evening with a 5-0 loss to the Mariners out on the west coast.
The good news is – only winners have slumps. The bad news Astros of 2011 through 2014 lost games at the same rate as their 2015 brethren, but those weren’t slumps, or departures from the norm of a good club. Those recently bad year losing streaks by the Astros happened because they each were bad clubs. Losing was their norm.
Losing is not the norm for the “good club” evaluation that most people who know baseball place upon the 2015 Astros, but that advantage could change over the course of the long season. Those who remember the 1979 NL West season will get that point immediately. The Astros led the Reds in the NL West in 1979 by something like 10 games on the Fourth of July, but ended up losing the division title to Cincinnati by 1.5 games. They were still a “good” team. They simply weren’t good enough – or lucky enough – to win out at season’s end.
We are among those who appreciate what Astros GM Jeff Luhnow has done in rebuilding the farm system into something that has made this “good team” progress to contender status for the Astros in 2015. We also like the intelligent and even-handed way Astros manager A.J. Hinch has guided the 2015 Astros, even through – make that “especially” through the current slump. Hinch could not help the bad luck of losing George Springer to injury immediately prior to this current nightmarish road trip – and the earlier long-time loss of Jeff Lowrie – nor could he have done anything about the lesser time injury losses of Rasmus, Marisnick, Altuve, and Qualls, plus a few others. He’s simply had to adjust, but he could only have done so had the Astros not had some stock at the higher minor league levels to call up into service.
There are some specific things about this good club that make dealing with this slump more difficult. Prior to this road trip, the Astros were winning on offense with the long ball from several guys who still couldn’t hit .200 They have needed, but have not had, enough guys with high OBPs to win without the long ball. The club has also continued to need, at least, one more superior starter, and the current, still-improved bullpen has not been as lights-out reliable as they need to be.
We also have that psychological factor going that always seems to come with no certain handles for change. The glum depressed faces in the Astros dugout are discouraging. Astros batters appear listless and lacking in confidence when they come to the plate. Like most everyone else, we keep hoping that someone will breakthrough with a crisp and strategic hit that will light the fire for others. How about a game-winning hit from someone like Jon Singleton. “Come on, John, get a big hit and kill two birds with one stone. – Convince others on the club that, if you an do do it, they can too. – And convince yourself that you really can do what others seems to think you can do – and be a good MLB hitter.
We are not micro managers here, but we hope that Manager Hinch finds a way to get Jeff Lowrie back in the lineup, asap, upon his return. If Singleton and Carter cannot show as hitters, first base seems to be a good spot for Lowrie, unless Valbuena could shift to first and allow Lowrie to take over at third.
A little shift in luck to the good side too would help. Hard smashes by struggling hitters that elude glove capture, and line drives that kick up chalk down the lines, rather than landing an inch foul, with the bases loaded while the outfielders are shifted the other way would also goose the dugout endorphins and adrenaline as well.
Who knows? Maybe the Astros will get it kick-started today! Even if they don’t, it’s still a long season. And this is the first year in a long while that hope in Houston and the All Star Break arrived in our town at the same time.
_____________________________
THE PECAN PARK EAGLE
Tags: only wiiners have slumps
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 12, 2015 at 3:52 pm |
“Damn Yankees”, a great movie. Bryce Harper is the new Joe Hardy, but the team is in the wrong league. (As are the Astros.)
July 12, 2015 at 4:09 pm |
Dr Bill, send your blogs to our son Steve, he will love them! Karoake56@comcast.net
July 12, 2015 at 8:24 pm |
After this afternoon’s loss I keep hearing former Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green ranting, “They are who we thought they were. ” The Astros had a nice two-month run, but they are an all-or-nothing offensive team with only two decent starting pitchers (McCullers having replaced McHugh as #2). Their recent slide makes me think that they are who we thought they were when this season began, though the future looks as though it will arrive sooner than we thought. I’d like to see Jim Crane’s ownership start to pony up some cash for another starting pitcher – Johnny Cueto, anyone? – then I might have some hope left for this season.