At the time of this writing, the Houston Astros sit alone at the top of the list of most players on the IL in the Majors with 17. Lance McCullers Jr. was the latest addition, going on the 15-day IL yesterday (retro to 7/20) with a right finger blister, because of course he did. With his addition, that makes it 8 pitchers and 9 skill position players on the list, including names like Yordan Alvarez (still), Isaac Paredes, Jeremy Peña, Spencer Arrighetti, and Christian Javier.
To their credit however,
Joe Espada and the skeleton crew remaining have performed as admirably as they can muster, currently sitting at 58-42 on the season with a 5.0 division lead over the Mariners and 61 games left before the playoffs begin. They’ve done so with a starting pitching ERA of 3.60 (T-5th best) and a team batting avg. of .259 (2nd best). At times, they have shocked the world by sweeping 1st place NL teams like the Phillies and Dodgers. Then again, they’ve also come thudding to the ground by being swept by swept by the Guardians, and losing back to back division series sets against both the Rangers (last before All-Star break) and the Mariners. (1st series after All-Star break)
The fact that it’s July 22nd and this team is in the condition that it’s in should be highly commended by anyone following this story, but we also should note that this type of consistent performance is not sustainable in the long run, it simply won’t last at this rate. We’ve already seen glimpses of how the wheels can fall off of this team, with a recent stretch of futility where they lost 7 of their last 10 games (5 L’s at home) while losing another Infielder(Paredes) and Starting Pitcher to injury.(McCullers)
In addition, players like Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz have struggled mightily at the dish this season, batting .233 (-0.5 WAR) and .239 (0.8 WAR) respectively. Young Ace Hunter Brown has even started to struggle as of late, giving up 6, 4, and 3 runs in his 3 most recent starts against Cleveland, Texas, and Seattle, increasing his league leading 1.82 ERA to 2.57.(11th)
At this point, all the Astros can do is survive until the cavalry arrives. Even then, the team still has a lot of work to do in order to truly compete with the upper echelon teams of the league this year. Teams like the Blue Jays, Tigers, Cubs, and Brewers will take no pity on this group of men, nor should they. Injuries are part of the game, as unfortunate as they are. However, it’s not just the injury advantage that these clubs have, it’s that they’re loaded with depth, explosiveness, and MVP-caliber players (PCA-Cubs).
The team will definitely benefit from a soon to be returning Spencer Arrighetti and Christian Javier, as well as Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña eventually. However, fans and media should temper expectations just a bit and understand that there is still a very delicate balance happening, as well as facing the fact that some players just haven’t been good enough regardless of the circumstance.
What happens with guys like Zack Dezenzo when he comes off of IL? Does Brice Matthews now play every day? What if Hunter Brown continues to decline? Do you move Lance McCullers to the pen?(I recently wrote on why LMJ should possibly be moved) Will Jake Meyers or Luis Garcia return? Do you trade for a bat or two or wait for guys to return? How about relief pitching trades? These are questions that they are most likely asking and answering every day in that building, but there’s still a season that must be played and a postseason that must be qualified for.
Attrition is truly one of the greatest equalizers in sports, and the Astros are being given a crash course in that all at once. As much as we all just want to see these guys gather the infinity stones of health and ride off into the sunset to the tune of another World Series, there are far too many variables at work to be certain of much of anything right now.
Enjoy the ride, I guess. The season will be what it will be, but hopefully these guys are given more of a fighting chance as the year draws to a close.
(All stats & references provided by: MLB.com, ESPN.com, crawfishboxes.com, x.com, and mlbtraderumors.com)
Clayton Anderson / Houston Sports Fan since 08’
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