Some Astros related ramblings on a Wednesday morning...
It's going to be interesting to see what happens when/if Jose Abreu comes back. I was told he's been battling this issue since Spring Training. It's one of those ailments that comes and goes.. and I think we sort of saw that with his performance. There were a handful of times this year it looked like he was heating up and then he would just go ice cold again. I think that was when his back would flare up.
Honestly it makes sense. He's a very good player and he's been one of the best hitters in baseball for a while. Father time is undefeated, but I always found it hard to believe that it just happened overnight for him.
I don't know if he was hiding it or if the Astros were aware and he just wanted to push through it. But that makes me feel somewhat better about next year if he can get fully healthy.
If he can get healthy before the end of the year and just be 75% of what he's been in previous years, that would be a tremendous boost to the lineup. You just never know with those back injuries.
It was a quick but encouraging outing for Rafael Montero. If he can continue to be good, it will feel like a deadline acquisition in itself. He's still having some control issues but he's been much better than he was in May and June. I almost wonder if he was tipping pitches. I may see if I can get some intel on that because I'm curious. Maybe Farmer or someone more savvy than me can find a chart showing his location and pitch mix over the last two months.
It was also good to see Hunter Brown come out of the pen and do well. A couple of those young starters will probably pitch big innings out of the bullpen in October, and if they can do well in those spots that's going to be so big for the Astros.
I don't have an update on Altuve, but last I heard he just has a massive bruise that was just too painful to play on last night. I can't blame him after seeing it live. I expect him to have a day off today and be back in the lineup on Friday... but he hasn't been ruled out today yet so we'll see. I have tickets for Saturday and selfishly want to see hit #2,000 in person, but I want to see a winning streak even more.
I don't want to beat the dead horse, but after seeing Yainer Diaz go deep again yesterday there just isn't a reason to not have him in the lineup every day. It doesn't always have to be behind the plate - stick him at DH if you have to. They aren't high on his defense at first base but honestly the lineup needs his pop so badly I don't really care at this point. I love the Jon Singleton story and I hope he gets opportunities but I don't think he's the answer.
I absolutely loved seeing Uncle Mike homer last night. I know I've said all season that I'm hearing from multiple people that he wouldn't be back. I reached out to one last night and he said everyone is just as surprised as we are. He's made a lot of progress over the last couple weeks and he wanted to give it a shot. I'll still be very pleasantly surprised to see him contribute but believe me when I say I hope to be wrong.
And last thing for now... it's starting to look like Jeremy Pena is getting a little more comfortable at the plate. He's got some base hits and he's laid off some pitches he would normally chase. Hopefully the personal issues he was dealing with have resolved and he's able to buckle down and focus. And hopefully these base hits start finding the gaps soon. That would also do wonders for this lineup.
I am such a dork for thinking about all this during my whole commute.. and then getting to the office and typing it out. Go 'Stros.
