ASTRO*NOTES
Relax! ~ We’re not giving up as easy as this cartoon suggests, but we also are not stupid! Nor is this our first Astro Fans rodeo with the strong p0ssibility of late season disappointment! And anybody who cannot express the belief that the 2017 club is taking on a little water these days is either a Houston or baseball fan newbie – or someone who still gets their paycheck signed by the Astros.
Here at The Pecan Park Eagle, we strongly believe that Manager A.J. Hinch is doing everything possible to get the energy and flow of this club righted again and back in the “W” column on a pretty much everyday basis, but he’s also battling some forces that are way beyond his control. To the Eagle mind, we see the current season-record losing streak and ugly general malaise that has been slowly building since Dallas Keuchel’s injury through him off the track of that brilliant nine win (9-0) start.
Like flotsam in the atmosphere building and evolving around the Astros since the start of the Keuchel loss, ever since, these are the negatives that shown up to slowdown and stall the potential for a juggernaut winning season by the 2017 Astros:
(1) Injuries that both caused and worsened the club’s ability to get long-inning wins from starters that finally expanded to include injuries to relievers;
(2) Injuries that have deprived the club from the energy and run production of stars Carlos Correa and George Springer, and a few other position players, since the All Star break;
(3) The morale deflation that landed on all of us like a stink bomb when Jeff Luhnow wasn’t able to pull off anything but the trade for wounded bird Liriano as the runaway NL Dodgers were adding another “ace” to their pennant wheels. Talk about something that let the air out of hope, it was the deal for Liriano that did it. Now we have to revisit our disappointment in that trade every time, like last night, that the poor ex-Blue Jay has to go to the mound and demonstrate how lost and ineffective he is as a pitcher. It has to be sending something like that same reminder to the players as well.
(4) The hitting magic also has slowed. Other than that remarkable 4-run walk-off win the Astros had over the Blue Jays in the 9th inning of their last home stand, the chemistry that once produced the idea that these guys can rally from any adversity is no longer playing so well on the road either.
I have no idea how this club pulls together with the current hurting roster and gives us the kind of pitching that will be needed for the Astros to go all the way. I just know that what we saw last night won’t do it – and that we have to have again – to get back to that spirited next level of play – what we saw through the month of July. If the boys can do that – we should be able to harvest what once looked like their unfolding legacy – and that is the prize that is never guaranteed – unless it blossoms into a victory in the 2017 World Series.
C’mon, Astros. Starting today. Stop the sinking. Let’s get this boat moving again.
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST STANDINGS
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2017
| RANK | AL WEST | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| 1 | ASTROS | 71 | 45 | .612 | |
| 2 | ANGELS | 60 | 58 | .508 | 12.0 |
| 3 | MARINERS | 59 | 59 | .500 | 13.0 |
| 4 | RANGERS | 56 | 59 | .487 | 14.5 |
| 5 | ATHLETICS | 51 | 66 | .436 | 20.5 |
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST GAME SCORES
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2017
RANGERS 8 – ASTROS 3.
ANGELS 6 – MARINERS 3.
ORIOLES 12 – ATHLETICS 5.
********************
AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING AVERAGE LEADERS
THRU GAMES OF SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2017
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BA |
| 1 | JOSE ALTUVE | HOU | 443 | 160 | 34 | 3 | 17 | .361 |
| 2 | CARLOS CORREA | HOU | 325 | 104 | 18 | 1 | 20 | .320 |
| 3 | JEAN SEGURA | SEA | 364 | 116 | 21 | 1 | 7 | .319 |
| 4 | MARWIN GONZALEZ | HOU | 319 | 101 | 21 | 0 | 20 | .317 |
| 5 | DIDI GREGORIUS | NYY | 362 | 113 | 18 | 0 | 18 | .312 |
| 6 | ERIC HOSMER | KC | 446 | 139 | 22 | 1 | 19 | .312 |
| 7 | JOSE RAMERIZ | CLE | 438 | 136 | 36 | 5 | 18 | .311 |
| 8 | AVISAIL GARCIA | CWS | 355 | 110 | 20 | 3 | 13 | .310 |
| 9 | GEORGE SPRINGER | HOU | 384 | 117 | 22 | 0 | 28 | .305 |
| 10 | ANDRELTON SIMMONS | LAA | 432 | 131 | 28 | 2 | 12 | .303 |
| 15 | JOSH REDDICK | HOU | 356 | 106 | 25 | 3 | 11 | .298 |
| 22 | YULI GURRIEL | HOU | 396 | 116 | 30 | 0 | 15 | .293 |
| 35 | ALEX BREGMAN | HOU | 381 | 105 | 29 | 4 | 13 | .276 |
********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 13, 2017 at 3:06 pm |
I don’t blame Liriano for that one. He made six or seven good pitches before yielding a bloop single on a decent pitch. What I do wonder is if he is really comfortable in the pen. If so, I like the trade. If not, the chemistry you cannot reduce to numbers may come into play.
August 13, 2017 at 8:17 pm |
Dierk – I don’t blame Liriano either. He didn’t make the trade that now puts him in a possibly uncomfortable spot, working out of the pen as the only reminder of the deals that didn’t happen. – And you know the rest of this riddle better than of us could. – Isn’t his situation ripe for bad chemistry with his new teammates? What I mean is – Liriano is now a reminder to all of everything else that wasn’t done at the trade dead line – and – anytime he has a bad outing, he’s also a reminder to some of his own pitching teammates – especially those whose mound problems created the need for his help in the first place – that better pitching was needed – and it’s still not here.
Maybe I should check in with a “shrink”. 🙂
August 15, 2017 at 9:10 pm |
No reason to panic. The loss of Springer-Correa and McCann was unfortunate. The Fresno Grizzle call ups(Fisher-White-Centano) did well during the home stand. Losing on the road is to be expected.
The Astro’s play in a division of mediocrity..The best offense in baseball will compensate for some dog day losses on the road