linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

If this guy comes up, you know how he needs to be introduced coming from the Mexican League.

45-33
1st Place AL West
3rd best in AL (3.5 games back of top seed)
7th best in baseball (3.5 games back)

The next series v Philly will mark the end of the first half of the season, for which they are guaranteed to find themselves with the division lead.

Overall, the club has overachieved to date, given the loss of their number 3 through 5 starting pitchers and Yordan's middling performance before being out for 49 games and counting.

Peña, Paredes, Smith, and Meyers have been pleasant surprises offensively while Walker and Diaz have been offensively unpleasant.

Framber and HB have held the course while the damn near heroic pitching performance of the motley group of McCullerd, AAA starters, and no name middle relievers are largely responsible for the team's record to date.

The return of Yordan, McCullerd, Arrighetti, Javier, Melton, Chas, and Garcia looms though exact timing remains hazy.

All in all, a great start to the season.

A little NBAxMLB posting

Great minds think alike! https://t.co/gLFef38fj5

— Yordaddy 🔫 (@Yordaddy2025mvp) June 23, 2025

linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

"27"

MaxPower said:

---

For those who think Jose's defense at 2B isn't awful.

---

Not great. But when the team is healthy, we have way more eligible outfielders I want playing then eligible infielders.

Big Jon and the Mexican outfield version of Yuli coming to an air conditioned park near you.

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

MaxPower said:

---

For those who think Jose's defense at 2B isn't awful.

---

Not great. But when the team is healthy, we have way more eligible outfielders I want playing then eligible infielders.

---

We are not healthy and do not have better OF options than IF options right now. As bad as the Dubon/Rodgers combo at 2B looks, they are better than what is in line behind Altuve to play LF right now.

where is Melton?

should be ready to come off the IL for the Phillies series

W said:

---

where is Melton?

should be ready to come off the IL for the Phillies series

---

Still a few weeks away.

Walker's part 14 games he's BA .271 and OPS .789.

Hate to tell you this, highly unlikely the Astros give up on a young catcher who has a hell of a season last year.

We'll see how things shake out.

the fact that Big Jon is back...means the front office realizes Walker may not return to form in 2025

he's batting .221 vs. fastballs...and slugging just .344...approaching the halfway point

if he can't hit the fastball...he won't see anything besides fastballs

txags92 said:

---

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

MaxPower said:

---

For those who think Jose's defense at 2B isn't awful.

---

Not great. But when the team is healthy, we have way more eligible outfielders I want playing then eligible infielders.

---

We are not healthy and do not have better OF options than IF options right now. As bad as the Dubon/Rodgers combo at 2B looks, they are better than what is in line behind Altuve to play LF right now.

---

Again, Altuve isn't really costing much defensively at 2B. And he provides FAR more value than Rogers, and its not close. He could commit an error every game and still be 3x as valuable at 2B as Rogers.

Show me how exactly how many runs Altuve has cost us at 2B. Not a fangraphs stat that projects a defensive metric and attempts to correlate it to runs.. but how many runs have actually crossed the plate because of Altuve's defense.

Dubon is on a heater. I'm perfectly fine with him manning 2B and Altuve in LF. Because Hummell is trash.

But when Yordan comes back, he needs to be in LF at least half the time, and for sure at all away games.

Add in Melton and Dezenzo at some point, and there's too many options more valuable than a non-hot Dubon and worst player on the team Rogers to have Altuve in LF.

I'm still very far from sold on Melton being a contributor if we're being honest. The swing and miss concerns me.

linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

I had no idea HEB was big in Mexico….

the one excuse for Yainer...

he's one of the players being hurt by all the right-handed pitching the Astros face each night

last year he posted .806 OPS vs. leftys in 170 plate appearances -- very good

so far this year...he only has 45 plate appearances vs. leftys (at .745 OPS)

W said:

---

the fact that Big Jon is back...means the front office realizes Walker may not return to form in 2025

he's batting .221 vs. fastballs...and slugging just .344...approaching the halfway point

if he can't hit the fastball...he won't see anything besides fastballs

---

The fact Big Jon is back means Dana knows he needs a lefty bat and Yordan and Melton are a while from returning. Big Jon is the cheapest instant lefty bat out there.

Again, the last 14 days is pretty solid for Walker and he's going to get every chance this year to improve.

Not really a need to make a ton of excuses for him - he hasn't been good. But you saying he's almost not going to be an everyday player - the org isn't going to give up on him this season since they saw his ceiling last year.

htxag09 said:

---

linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

I had no idea HEB was big in Mexico….

---

Found out yesterday (from a relative and not independently verified) that Costco is in Mexico as well

heavens11 said:

---

htxag09 said:

---

linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

I had no idea HEB was big in Mexico….

---

Found out yesterday (from a relative and not independently verified) that Costco is in Mexico as well

---

There's a Costco in Cabo that much I know.

Astros Bingo Update 6-23-25
Spreadsheet link

BINGO SQUARES: FORM VOLTRON!
A stunning standings update! The return of Big Jon Singleton provides 07ag and wmitchell with a shiny new square each, shaking up the leaderboard as 07ag ties Marvin and JB12 for the lead with 5 squares. The leaderboard for everyone with at least 3 squares is at the very bottom of this post.

PENA. JUNE. EN FUEGO.
I have no idea what other players on other teams are doing except for guys on my fantasy baseball team, but we're 23 days into June and it seems like JP has a great shot at AL Player of the Month. He's hitting .381 with a .951 OPS in 20 games this month 32-for-84 with 7 doubles, 2 homers, 10 RBI, 17 runs scored, and 6 steals.

PENA. UN POCO MAS
He's at 11 HR and 15 steals. His squares are 17 and 20. He might get 1 or both of those before August. On pace for 23 and 31. What a breakout!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SAYING THIS
Christian Walker is approaching respectability, on pace for 21 HR and 77 RBI.

NOT EVEN AC SLATER'S SICK BALLET MOVES CAN STOP THIS PREPPY

Jake Meyers has become the player we were all hoping he could be after his strong rookie showing. Great on defense and a quality contact hitter. He reached .310 yesterday. His average has not dropped under .286 since his big 4 for 4,7 RBI game on May 3. That was 45 games ago. This is sustained consistent production. His OPS is up to .776. He hit .327 in May and is at .357 in June.

O-KKKKKKKKKKKKK PITCHING
Despite a couple of homers on the roadie, Hader is on a 39-save pace and a 110-strikeout pace. He's up to 13.9 K / 9 innings at this point. And Abreu is back on his 100-K pace after being below it for several weeks.

THE NORTHWEST STEROID REPORT
Cal Raleigh is at 31 HR with another yesterday, now on pace for 66. The all-time record by a catcher is 48, held by Johnny Bench in the 70s and Salvador Perez in 2021. The Mariners' home run record for a season is Griffey Jr. with 56 in 97 and 98 . Raleigh's career high is 34, which was last year in 153 games. His OPS is up almost 300 points from last year.

New Standings for Astros Bingo
5
Marvin 5
JB12 5
wmitchell 5


4
Chief Elko 4
wangus12 4
JB12 4
KAF 4
AggieJ2002 4
GigemMortis 4
07ag 4
texasaggie2015

3
J TxAg95 3
Marvin 3
JB12 3
Booma94 3
Padhz 3
MosesHall 3
Red Five 3
Mr. Bond 3
Original 1836 3
RED AG 98 3
KTAG 05 3
iBrad 3
astroaggie13 3
aftershock 3
ntouch 3
Dr Doctor 3

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

MaxPower said:

---

For those who think Jose's defense at 2B isn't awful.

---

Not great. But when the team is healthy, we have way more eligible outfielders I want playing then eligible infielders.

---

We are not healthy and do not have better OF options than IF options right now. As bad as the Dubon/Rodgers combo at 2B looks, they are better than what is in line behind Altuve to play LF right now.

---

Again, Altuve isn't really costing much defensively at 2B. And he provides FAR more value than Rogers, and its not close. He could commit an error every game and still be 3x as valuable at 2B as Rogers.

Show me how exactly how many runs Altuve has cost us at 2B. Not a fangraphs stat that projects a defensive metric and attempts to correlate it to runs.. but how many runs have actually crossed the plate because of Altuve's defense.

Dubon is on a heater. I'm perfectly fine with him manning 2B and Altuve in LF. Because Hummell is trash.

But when Yordan comes back, he needs to be in LF at least half the time, and for sure at all away games.

Add in Melton and Dezenzo at some point, and there's too many options more valuable than a non-hot Dubon and worst player on the team Rogers to have Altuve in LF.

---

The statistics completely disagree with you. It isn't just errors, it is his lack of range to get to balls headed for the gap and how often he fails to turn two when the play was there to be made. How many Framber meltdowns last year got kicked off by a perfect DP ground ball that either wasn't reached by Altuve, got booted, or just didn't get turned because he has lost more than a step? You and BadAggie keep wanting to pretend I am advocating for somebody else to completely take Altuve's place in the lineup, but that isn't the case at all. I want to put him at a position where his lack of defense can be best overcome by the players replacing him at the other position. I would rather see him DH honestly, but we don't have another serviceable LF right now if Dubon is going to play 2B.

You can say when this happens or that happens, then we should have so and so play LF. Well those things aren't happening yet, so all this talk of sending Altuve back to 2B or DH just ignores that we have no better option available right now.

Any desire to make excuses for him disappears after watching his ABs.

Swinging at the first pitch 100% of the time and, if you don't turn that into a quick out, ultimately striking out throwing your arms mindlessly at the most shanked frisbee a pitcher can whip is agnostic to most other factors. You are easy to get out. Nothing would stop a lefty at this point from just burying changeups and curves in the dirt outside because you know he's already decided to swing before the ball leaves your hand.

Yainer has some fun splits to consider. First of all, his overall statline is dragged down by his terrible start.

Mar/Apr - .515 OPS
May - .795 OPS
June - .614 OPS, He's been pretty bad lately, 6-37 since the Minnesota series on June 13 (8 games).

His OPS is almost 200 points higher at home than on the road - .743 vs .548
He's been the DH in 13 games, for 54 plate appearances and has a .364 OPS. As the catcher it .726.

Beau likes to complain about him 1st pitch swinging, but his OPS is .742 when he does and .555 when he takes the 1st pitch.

htxag09 said:

---

linkdude said:

---

Sources: Cuban OF Orlando Martínez (27) has signed a Minor League deal with the Houston Astros.

Martínez is represented by Gladys Alonso of A&F Sports Agency and will report to Double-A Corpus Christi.

He was dominating the Mexican League with 371 AVG, 16 HR and 48 RBI. pic.twitter.com/gWWnWG4myB

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) June 22, 2025

SIAP

---

I had no idea HEB was big in Mexico….

---

Not sure how many they have there now, but back in the early 2000s, the company I worked for won a sanitation contract with HEB. I was responsible for swapping out the chemical dispensing systems in all the stores, including the ones in Mexico. At that time, they had about 20 stores just in the immediate Monterrey area, and one down in Saltillo. I was in every single one of those stores.

I would not be shocked if Yordan is traded in the offseason so they can DH Jose

redline248 said:

---

Yainer has some fun splits to consider. First of all, his overall statline is dragged down by his terrible start.

Mar/Apr - .515 OPS
May - .795 OPS
June - .614 OPS, He's been pretty bad lately, 6-37 since the Minnesota series on June 13 (8 games).

His OPS is almost 200 points higher at home than on the road - .743 vs .548
He's been the DH in 13 games, for 54 plate appearances and has a .364 OPS. As the catcher it .726.

Beau likes to complain about him 1st pitch swinging, but his OPS is .742 when he does and .555 when he takes the 1st pitch.

---

So, as described, bad either way. Let's be accurate here, I complained about everything about his "approach," not just the first pitch. And as also mentioned, he continues to swing as the subsequent pitches get further from the zone, so the drop off makes sense.

Off days ...

The Original Houston 1836 said:

---

Off days ...

---

This is an excellent one.

MaxPower said:

---

I would not be shocked if Yordan is traded in the offseason so they can DH Jose

---

I would be stunned.

.743 OPS is bad or just average?

I admit that even last year when I watched Diaz I often thought "how does he ever get a hit." He looks like he's just hacking and praying to make contact, but obviously he's better than that. It's something about his swing that just looks weird. IDK

txags92 said:

---

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

txags92 said:

---

Heineken-Ashi said:

---

MaxPower said:

---

For those who think Jose's defense at 2B isn't awful.

---

Not great. But when the team is healthy, we have way more eligible outfielders I want playing then eligible infielders.

---

We are not healthy and do not have better OF options than IF options right now. As bad as the Dubon/Rodgers combo at 2B looks, they are better than what is in line behind Altuve to play LF right now.

---

Again, Altuve isn't really costing much defensively at 2B. And he provides FAR more value than Rogers, and its not close. He could commit an error every game and still be 3x as valuable at 2B as Rogers.

Show me how exactly how many runs Altuve has cost us at 2B. Not a fangraphs stat that projects a defensive metric and attempts to correlate it to runs.. but how many runs have actually crossed the plate because of Altuve's defense.

Dubon is on a heater. I'm perfectly fine with him manning 2B and Altuve in LF. Because Hummell is trash.

But when Yordan comes back, he needs to be in LF at least half the time, and for sure at all away games.

Add in Melton and Dezenzo at some point, and there's too many options more valuable than a non-hot Dubon and worst player on the team Rogers to have Altuve in LF.

---

The statistics completely disagree with you. It isn't just errors, it is his lack of range to get to balls headed for the gap and how often he fails to turn two when the play was there to be made. How many Framber meltdowns last year got kicked off by a perfect DP ground ball that either wasn't reached by Altuve, got booted, or just didn't get turned because he has lost more than a step? You and BadAggie keep wanting to pretend I am advocating for somebody else to completely take Altuve's place in the lineup, but that isn't the case at all. I want to put him at a position where his lack of defense can be best overcome by the players replacing him at the other position. I would rather see him DH honestly, but we don't have another serviceable LF right now if Dubon is going to play 2B.

You can say when this happens or that happens, then we should have so and so play LF. Well those things aren't happening yet, so all this talk of sending Altuve back to 2B or DH just ignores that we have no better option available right now.

---

You're the one claiming the data supports your argument. You tell me. How many runs did Altuve actually cost? And how many offensive runs that he produced could have been replaced with him in LF and Dubon or Rogers at 2B?

As has been mentioned, you are focused entirely too much on defense. We have a GREAT defense. 1 soft spot isn't a huge deal when the player performs better than any potential replacement at the plate.

2005 Astros 20-Year Flashback
6-22-05

The Astros won their third straight game, sweeping Colorado with a 6-2 victory to get to 31-39. It was the closest the team had been to .500 since 15-23, and gained them a game on St. Louis, but were still down 13.5 in the standings.

Roger Clemens, totally not on steroids, improved to 6-3 and lowered his season ERA to 1.51 by pitching 7 innings of 5 hit ball and allowing just 1 run. Just a ho-hum performance for your average 43-year-old. Down 2-0 early ,the Astros took a 3-2 lead on a 3-run bomb by Morgan Ensberg in the third. They added 3 more in the 7th when Chris Burke and Brad Ausmus both scored on the same wild pitch and Craig Biggio doubled in forgotten Astro legend Orlando Palmeiro.

Jason Jennings took the loss for Colorado. He allowed 6 earned runs, his ERA went up to 5.64 and his record down to 4-8.
"Jesus Christ, that guy sucks," said Astros manager Phil Garner when asked to evaluate Jennings as a pitcher. "If we end up signing him in 2007, I'm going to ask Drayton to go ahead and fire me that season."

The win left the Astros 7 games behind wild card leader Philadelphia.

I don't know how anyone can watch Altuve play second and come away thinking he's still okay there.

MaxPower said:

---

I would not be shocked if Yordan is traded in the offseason so they can DH Jose

---

I absolutely would be shocked.

texasaggie2015 said:

---

I don't know how anyone can watch Altuve play second and come away thinking he's still okay there.

---

I think it's a cost and trade off: when all are healthy, what makes the overall Astros better? Altuve in LF or at 2B so Yordan can get some LF time? Both need to be in the lineup, and quite frankly, I want both Yanier and Caratini in the lineup too. So, if Altuve at 2B means we get all 4 of those bats in the lineup on a consistent basis, is that worth giving up the few more hits at 2B if Altuve is there?