The New Abnormal

 

Year two of the Joe Espada era in Houston and it seems that the lightning just keeps getting out of the bottle.

There are still several key players left from the Championship/competitive teams. Framber Valdez is still a terrific ace, nailing both of his 2025 starts so far. Jose Altuve, platinum sombrero game aside, is hitting well and continuing his high power numbers. Bryan Abreu is still a key relief piece. Yordan Alvarez is still a winning DH choice. But it's shockingly few, honestly. With Tucker, Verlander, Bregman, Pressly, Urquidy and now Singleton all gone, even if this is very much in the same vein as previous Astros teams, the thrill seems to be diminished. Still having Javier, McCullers, Garcia and France out also dilutes the appeal.

To give you an idea, Yordan Alvarez, for the first time basically ever, has gotten off to a poor start. In 24 at-bats he has 3 hits, 4 RBIs...and no home runs. Obviously these things take time, he could be power-hitting again in no time, but it's unusual. The man doesn't go cold. Same with Jeremy Pena, he's only hitting .130, despite 2 home runs. Not only are both corner infield additions, Paredes and Walker, struggling at the plate, but even Cam Smith, the can't-miss 2024 draft pick they got for Tucker, has struggled since his big debut. 

And this is a team that has always found a way to hit...but when you let your best contact hitters, like Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, George Springer, Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel all leave, you're left with...mediocre contact hitters. Jake Meyers can only do so much. He's not Kyle Tucker. Not having a Kyle Tucker obviously hurts this team, because unlike with Pena taking over for Correa, they didn't have anybody close. Their idea of a contact hitting outfielder now is...Jose Altuve. And defensively that could be going a TON better, as literally ANYBODY could have told you. 

The pitching well is also letting up a little, with Blanco, Arrighetti and Wesneski struggling through early starts, and even Josh Hader still not being as perfect as he used to be during this Houston stretch. There are cracks in the armor. Finally. The Astros had a tremendous run, won 2 rings, and were always good. And now they're...fine. They're probably going to compete this year, and may still make the playoffs. But I don't see this as a team who can waltz to the end again like they did in 2022. We already have the Dodgers for that right now. 

The Astros have gotten over rough starts before. But a lot of these Astros haven't. So we'll see if they can figure out what the last 7 or so teams have.

Coming Tomorrow- A terrific young player who got a ton richer this week.