for the Astros to win 85 games...

would have to go 38-26 in the second half

So why didn't we see Pearson or Santa today? There were other options instead of King for 2 innings

So on a different note, went to SL and watched Meyer walk it off in the rain.

Son was giving the hitters a fist bump while i shouted out dad encouragement at the batters in the box.

And Charlie, I tried to get Liperfido's signature today because players were supposed to be signing. Just got Zach Cole's and even got a photo of him from his PG days signed (from the PR group of SL).





~egon

Cam Smith hopium might get me through the rest of 26. Is he the CF when the team reconvenes on Friday?

Cam Smith 2025 vs Cam Smith 2026. His numbers might not show it, but he's made real progress pic.twitter.com/MB0EFCcQhC

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) July 12, 2026

The Astros also took HS SS James Tronstein in the 15th. I find it highly doubtful we can afford to sign all the HS guys we drafted, especially given Tronstein is a Vandy commit

In regards to Jack Beck, he signed with Georgia Southern, but ahead of the draft told The Daily Herald, "getting drafted right now is the biggest (goal). Whatever it takes to play pro baseball." Sounds like a decent shot we can sign him.

to be fair...

for the Rangers to win 85 games...have to go 36-30 in the second half

for the Mariners to win 85 games...have to go 37-28

Yup but it's not just about winning the division. It's how likely are you to do damage in the playoffs? I'm not convinced this team can win a playoff series, moretheless make a serious run. It starts to feel like the Texans where hanging division "championship" banners is some sort of meaningful accomplishment.

To me this should be simple. If you can't make reasonable trades for both (not either or) an OF AND a #2 starter then you need to be a seller. Leave the hanging division championship banners to the mermen and pirates of the world. We are beyond that

Some changes to make for the second half

- Okert and Hader are your 8/9 guys. No using Okert early like you did tonight.
- Blubaugh should see more leverage spots with clean innings. That's your 6/7th inning guy.
- Walker needs to not hit 4th. Somebody smarter than me can do the lineup where he's not batting 4th and killing rallies.
- keep Diaz at the bottom of the lineup. He's been doing well there.
- keep Burrows in sugar land. Don't be tempted to bring him back up unless a serious injury happens

I've seen multiple people complain about Walker hitting 4th. Who would you rather see there? He has a better avg and OPS than anyone else we have to put there. You wouldn't bat Yordan there.

MaxPower said:

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Leave the hanging division championship banners to the mermen and pirates of the world. We are beyond that

---

I'm glad we've reached the elitist attitude part of the dynasty. Let's not become Yankees fans lol. It still means something doing it over 162 compared to the other sports. Now will the AL West winner make a splash this postseason? I feel doubtful of that, but I still say if we make it with our Sept. schedule we will have earned it. Have a happy ASB y'all

agdaddy04 said:

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I've seen multiple people complain about Walker hitting 4th. Who would you rather see there? He has a better avg and OPS than anyone else we have to put there. You wouldn't bat Yordan there.

---

Honestly I'd put Walker 5th

Pena
Altuve
Alvarez
Paredes
Walker
Smith
Wade
Diaz
Matthews

Or you could flip Alvarez and Altuve

Walker splits by batting order. 5th for some reason is his best spot

I actually think leadoff will serve Altuve better moving forward. He seems to be more patient and willing to take walks in front of Yordan. He needs to get back to being a chaos agent and hit to all fields as opposed to the loading up and whiffing too often in RBI situations.

I would go:
Altuve
Yordan
Peña
Paredes
Walker
Wade, Jr
Smith
Trammell
Diaz/Vazquez

Leadoff is where he's been best this year

Unlike guys like Biggio who wisely started cheating more on their swing to get to power in their twilight years, I think Altuve needs to go full circle. Eaely Altuve was an average/contact hitter who learned in time to sacrifice slightly to get to power.

As he ages, he will still have the uncanny ability to get bat to ball - it is an innate quality he has that I don't see slipping easily. But as he ages, he has to sacrifice too much to get to power.

I think he will be his beat getting back to being a bat to ball facilitator who frustrates pitchers and continues to have the ability to ambush fastballs early in the count before protecting in 2-strike counts.

His approach (not just results as anyone will look better in front of an MVP candidate) looks night and day different when hitting in front of Yordan.

linkdude said:

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Cam Smith hopium might get me through the rest of 26. Is he the CF when the team reconvenes on Friday?

Cam Smith 2025 vs Cam Smith 2026. His numbers might not show it, but he's made real progress pic.twitter.com/MB0EFCcQhC

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) July 12, 2026

---

so obviously the question...

why do the nice red bars on the right only add up to .669 OPS and OPS+ 87 ?

one note on Cam...

he has (or only has) 10 career home runs at Daikin

and it looks like just 2 were Crawford specials -- both last year

W said:

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linkdude said:

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Cam Smith hopium might get me through the rest of 26. Is he the CF when the team reconvenes on Friday?

Cam Smith 2025 vs Cam Smith 2026. His numbers might not show it, but he's made real progress pic.twitter.com/MB0EFCcQhC

— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) July 12, 2026

---

so obviously the question...

why do the nice red bars on the right only add up to .669 OPS and OPS+ 87 ?

---

Can't square it up or elevate it often enough

It's not about elitism, it's about perspective. Winning a division is a small goal in the grand scheme of things. It definitely isn't worth selling out for at the expense of the future. I can understand why teams who haven't been in the playoffs in a decade might be more willing to do so but if the last decade has earned the org anything it should be that they aren't going to get flack from the fans for throwing in the towel by taking a big picture, long-term approach. Missing the playoffs a couple years in a row isn't the end of the world. Missing it 5 or 7 in a row because you started acting like the Angels will and should get you shredded.

Fair points. Between the CBA and potential new management, it'll be a long offseason, however the season ends. It seems like Dana had a pretty good draft if he can get everybody signed.

Astros Bingo Pre-All-Star Game Update
Spreadsheet link

There are 2 squares to be had in the next 2 days if you picked a NL/AL winner in the All-Star Game and/or the HR Derby. I'm going to post the complete updated standings on Wednesday.

For now, I've done some housecleaning on the cards. .



Squares that are no longer possible to achieve
Hunter Brown > 14 W
Justin Verlander > 8 W
Aaron Judge > 50 HR
Hunter Brown Top 3 Cy Young
Hunter Brown > 190 K

Squares that are officially green
Justin Verlander < 8 W
Hunter < 14 W
Judge < 50 HR
Hunter < 190 K

People who added a square today.
JoeAggie1010 - 1
RO519 - 1
Wabs - 1
wessimo - 1
wmitchell - 1
Teddy Perkins - 1
Ambres - 1
OPAG 1
CharleyKerfeld - 1
AggieJ2002 - 1
LoneStarAg09 - 1
HtownAg98 - 1
JohnnyTexAg19
agenjake - 1
AlwaysNextYear - 1
Big AL 1992 - 1
Chief Elko - 1
scrimp - 1

I will list the complete standings on Wednedsay and resume Better Know a Poster next Saturday.

tjack16 said:

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So why didn't we see Pearson or Santa today? There were other options instead of King for 2 innings

---

After King had given up 6 hits (2 HRs) and 2 walks in his prior two innings pitched against the Rangers this weekend Joe had a good feeling about trotting him out for one more inning with the game in the balance.

The Astros are promoting top prospect Xavier Neyens to High-A Asheville, source tells @TheAthletic.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 13, 2026

The Astros are promoting top prospect Xavier Neyens to High-A Asheville, source tells @TheAthletic.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 13, 2026

Still have this Pena medium jersey available. Let me know if you wanna make a deal.

Man after being good last year, I'm getting my ass kicked in bingo this year

wangus12 said:

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Man after being good last year, I'm getting my ass kicked in bingo this year

---

At least you've got the 12" wangus to fall back on.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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wangus12 said:

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Man after being good last year, I'm getting my ass kicked in bingo this year

---

At least you've got the 12" wangus to fall back on.

---

Falling back on a 12" wangus sounds like the kind of lie that ER nurses hear all the time.

Some additional moves in the minors.

Some Astros Minor League promotions, per source:

No. 2 prospect IF Xavier Neyens and No. 17 Anthony Huezo (OF) from Single-A Fayetteville to High-A Asheville.

OF Chase Call from High-A Asheville to Double-A Corpus Christi.@Chandler_Rome first with Neyens' move.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 13, 2026

Hi, I haven't checked the thread in a few hours. Has Espada been let go yet?

linkdude said:

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The Astros are promoting top prospect Xavier Neyens to High-A Asheville, source tells @TheAthletic.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 13, 2026

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That stadium is a hitters paradise. I don't think he will get a challenge until he's in AA.

Really wishing we had kept Dubon

His versatility would be so nice right now

agdaddy04 said:

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I've seen multiple people complain about Walker hitting 4th. Who would you rather see there? He has a better avg and OPS than anyone else we have to put there. You wouldn't bat Yordan there.

---

It really just reinforces that the real problem is this is just a roster that's exactly as mediocre as its record suggests, not a contender underperforming.

Altuve is too old.
Walker is too streaky.
Peña is too unreliable.
Smith isn't there yet.
Everyone else isn't a starter on a serious major league team.

Pitch around Yordan and all you've got is Paredes being asked to save them repeatedly when he can only do so much. There isn't any lineup magic to be made with these ingredients.

Beau Holder said:

---

agdaddy04 said:

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I've seen multiple people complain about Walker hitting 4th. Who would you rather see there? He has a better avg and OPS than anyone else we have to put there. You wouldn't bat Yordan there.

---

It really just reinforces that the real problem is this is just a roster that's exactly as mediocre as its record suggests, not a contender underperforming.

Altuve is too old.
Walker is too streaky.
Peña is too unreliable.
Smith isn't there yet.
Everyone else isn't a starter on a serious major league team.

Pitch around Yordan and all you've got is Paredes being asked to save them repeatedly when he can only do so much. There isn't any lineup magic to be made with these ingredients.

---

It is a small sample from last year, but I would try Cam 4th and let him see what he can do with Walker and Paredes hitting behind him. He had an .897 OPS in 62 PAs batting cleanup in 2025.

Maybe something like:

Pena
Altuve
Yordan
Cam
Paredes
Walker
Wade
Mathews
Vasquez

You could switch Altuve and Paredes in that lineup as well.

We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/xBYfMYuwi4

— Houston Astros (@astros) July 13, 2026

is this a plot to never let Burrows pitch again? Because I'm down.

Peña and Altuve back to back in the lineup is how you get five-pitch innings.