https://forums.orangewhoopass.com

ASTROS (3-4, 37-24 overall)

Monday, May 28 – Astros 5, Yankees 1
Tuesday, May 29 – Yankees 6, Astros 5
Wednesday, May 30 – Yankees 5, Astros 3

Thursday, May 31 – Astros 4, Red Sox 2
Friday, June 1 – Astros 7, Red Sox 3
Saturday, June 2 – Red Sox 5, Astros 4
Sunday, June 3 – Red Sox 9, Astros 3

We knew the honeymoon with the team’s ERA would end at some point, and it took eleven straight games against some of baseball’s best offenses (Indians, Yankees, Red Sox) for it to happen.  The team’s ERA is up to 2.81, still best in the AL by a long shot but with a much lesser lead over the next seven NL teams. Morton turned in his worst start of the season against the Sox. The bullpen got pantsed a couple of times.  And yet, the Astros pretty much broke even against the AL’s two best teams, which means the AL’s two best teams broke even against the Astros. As painful as the bullpen gagging was, I’ll still take it.

THE WEEK AHEAD – JUNE 4-10

Mariners @ Astros – June 5-6

Season series: 3-1 Astros

Exactly how is it that the Astros will play 19 games against the Mariners this year, but only six of them will be before the All-Star break?  Thanks, Gerry.

Schedule and Probables

Tuesday, June 5, 7:10pm CDT
James Paxton (4-1, 3.13) vs. Dallas Keuchel (3-7, 3.65)

Wednesday, June 6, 7:10pm CDT
Wade LeBlanc (1-0, 2.60) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (7-3, 3.89)

In case you have concerns about the Mariners hanging with the Astros, consider this: the Astros are just now about to wrap up a tough string of games against good teams, while the Mariners have played precisely three games against teams over .500 since May 6.  Credit them for going 18-8 in that stretch. But the script is about to flip, as the Astros are due a bit of a reprieve while the Mariners have ten straight games against Boston and New York later this month.

Paxton had a good month of May with a 1.67 ERA, and took home a win against the Astros in April with a quality start.  LeBlanc was moved to the M’s rotation in May and has allowed a .577 OPS, but he’s also had the benefit of starting nearly all of his games against some less-than-good teams (Rangers, Twins x 2, Tigers, and Blue Jays).  The Astros also lit him up for four runs in two relief innings in April. Keuchel was on the losing end of that Paxton start despite eight great innings, and McCullers held the Mariners to just one hit over seven innings in the same series.

Astros @ Rangers – June 7-10

Season series: 6-4 Astros

Schedule and Probables

Thursday, June 7, 7:05pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (6-1, 2.20) vs. Cole Hamels (3-5, 3.63)

Friday, June 8, 7:05pm CDT
Justin Verlander (7-2, 1.24) vs. Doug Fister (1-6, 4.13)

Saturday, June 9, 6:15pm CDT
Charlie Morton (7-1, 2.84) vs. Mike Minor (4-4, 5.76)

Sunday, June 10, 2:05pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (3-7, 3.65) vs. Matt Moore (1-5, 7.85)

The Astros pitchers listed above have a 1.65 ERA against Arlington this season.

Fuck the Rangers.

WEEK IN REVIEW – MAY 21-27

ASTROS (4-2, 34-20 overall)

Tuesday, May 22 – Astros 11, Giants 2
Wednesday, May 23 – Astros 4, Giants 1

Thursday, May 24 – Astros 8, Indians 2
Friday, May 25 – Astros 11, Indians 2
Saturday, May 26 – Indians 8, Astros 6
Sunday, May 27 – Indians 10, Astros 9 (14 innings)

The Astros offense acquitted itself well, scoring 49 runs, stealing a game from the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and taking advantage of a weak Indians bullpen.  That they scored that many runs and only split the series in Cleveland stings a bit, but what are you gonna do. The team’s ERA ticked up to 2.61, but it’s still 0.72 runs better than the next best team.

Jose Altuve saw his average dip to .306 after Thursday’s 0x5 game against the Indians, then set – and later broke – his own team record with 10 hits in consecutive ABs.  He left town on Sunday with a .330 average. Badass. Gattis also raised his average 21 points this week.

THE WEEK AHEAD – MAY 28 – JUNE 3

The American League’s #3 team plays the #2 and #1 teams.

Astros @ Yankees – May 28-30

The Yankees (33-16) are coming off a 3-3 week against the Rangers (against whom they allowed 23 runs in three games) and Angels.

Schedule and Probables

Monday, May 28, 12pm CDT
Justin Verlander (6-2, 1.08) vs. Domingo German (0-2, 5.59)

Tuesday, May 29, 6:05pm CDT
Charlie Morton (7-0, 2.04) vs. CC Sabathia (2-1, 3.55)

Wednesday, May 30, 5:30pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (3-6, 3.39) vs. Luis Severino (7-1, 2.28)

Severino hasn’t really pitched a bad game since early April and tossed a complete game shutout against the Astros in early May.  German has only started three games this season, two of which were back-to-back 6 ER performances against the Rangers and A’s. He no-hit the Indians for six innings and pitched four shutout innings against the Astros last time around.  Sabathia entered May with a sub-2 ERA but has given up 13 earned runs in his last three starts, including seven earned runs to the Rangers in his last start.

Keuchel, Verlander, and Morton have all pitched well-to-excellent against the Yankees this season, but the offense got shut out in two of their three starts.

Red Sox @ Astros – May 31 – June 3

The Red Sox (36-17) picked up series victories against the Rays and Braves.

Schedule and Probables

Thursday, May 31, 7:10pm CDT
Drew Pomeranz (1-2, 6.75) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (6-3, 3.98)

Friday, June 1, 7:10pm CDT
Chris Sale (5-2, 2.76) vs. Gerrit Cole (5-1, 2.05)

Saturday, June 2, 6:15pm CDT
David Price (4-4, 4.08) vs. Justin Verlander (6-2, 1.08)

Sunday, June 3, 6:30pm CDT
Rick Porcello (6-2, 3.74) vs. Charlie Morton (7-0, 2.04)

Pomeranz has pitched enough innings to qualify in less than half of his starts and has never had an ERA below 5.23 this season.  Sale has been his typical excellent self, but the Braves tagged him for six earned runs this past weekend. Price has had ups and downs but has been solid lately.  Porcello sported a 6.00 ERA in the month of May. All except Porcello have done well against Houston in the past.

ASTROS (4-2, 30-18 overall)

Monday, May 14 – Angels 2, Astros 1
Tuesday, May 15 – Astros 5, Angels 3
Wednesday, May 16 – Astros 2, Angels 0

Friday, May 18 – Astros 4, Indians 1
Saturday, May 19 – Indians 5, Astros 4
Sunday, May 20 – Astros 3, Indians 1

The Astros held two of baseball’s best offenses to an average of two runs a game this week.  Neat.

I was also pleased to see some fight in the team during Saturday’s game.  Even though they ended up losing, the almost-comeback was very reminiscent of last year’s team.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Mariners (27-19) went 4-2 against the Rangers and Tigers, and have risen to second place in the division.

After dropping the series to the Astros, the Angels (26-21) dropped three of four to the Rays.

The A’s (25-22) went gangbusters on the AL East, winning two of three in Boston and then sweeping the Blue Jays in four games in Toronto.

In addition to splitting a two-game series with the M’s, the Rangers (18-30) dropped four games to the lowly White Sox.  Sad trombone.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

Since taking two out of three against the Astros, the D’Backs (25-21) have lost 11 of 13, including sweeps by the Nationals (four games) and Mets.  Suddenly, the Rockies have pulled into a first-place tie in the NL West.

Speaking of first place ties, the Yanks and Sawks are running away with the AL East and baseball’s offensive stats.

THE WEEK AHEAD – MAY 21-27

Giants @ Astros – May 22-23

Schedule and Probables

Tuesday, May 22, 7:10pm CDT
Andrew Suarez (1-3, 4.88) vs. Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.75)

Wednesday, May 23, 1:10pm CDT
Jeff Samardzija (1-2, 6.30) vs. Justin Verlander (5-2, 1.05)

The Giants (24-24) have been a streaky team.  After sinking to 8-12 on the season in late April, they won 11 of their next 14, then lost nine of their next 14 (including six straight losses).  The San Fran offense is pretty much average or slightly better in a number of categories, although their .261 team average is the fourth best in the sport.  The pitching is less average, with a 4.20 ERA placing them 20th. Only one starter (Johnny Cueto) has an ERA below 4.

Suarez made his major league debut with just one start in April before being sent down to AAA for the better part of the month.  He came back up in early May and allowed two earned runs over his next 12.1 innings, but now has allowed nine runs over his last ten innings.  Despite his struggles he has maintained a healthy 28:5 K:BB ratio. Samardzija is on pace for his worst big league season as a starter, sporting a 1.60 WHIP, nearly as many walks (18) as strikeouts (23), and having allowed five runs or more three times while just twice pitching past the 5th inning.

Cole has given Giants hitters fits, keeping them to just a .314 slugging percentage.  Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen are the only SF batters that Verlander has a decent sample size against, and they make up 55 of the 71 total ABs against him.  Overall, he’s held them to a .197 average.

Astros @ Indians – May 24-27

Schedule and Probables

Thursday, May 24, 5:10pm CDT
Charlie Morton (6-0, 1.94) vs. Mike Clevinger (3-1, 2.87)

Friday, May 25, 6:10pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (3-6, 3.43) vs. Corey Kluber (7-2, 2.36)

Saturday, May 26, 6:10pm CDT
Lance McCullers Jr. (6-2, 3.20) vs. Carlos Carrasco (5-3, 3.65)

Sunday, May 27, 12:10pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.75) vs. Tyler Bauer (3-3, 2.59)

We literally just saw three of these exact same matchups, so there’s not much sense in doing another deep dive.  But Sunday’s Cole/Bauer matchup is new, and it’s the matchup every baseball writer in North America has been hoping and praying for for the last few weeks.

Bauer is off to a good start, with only one clunker against the Royals.  One particularly depressing statistic about Bauer is that he has won all seven of his starts against the Astros in his career dating back to 2014.  That even included last season when he allowed seven runs (and four homers) to Houston in 11.2 innings.

Cole does not have significant experience against Indians hitters, but in 25 ABs they are hitting .320 against him despite just two extra-base hits and no walks or home runs.

ASTROS (5-1, 26-16 overall)

Monday, May 7 – Astros 16, A’s 2
Tuesday, May 8 – Astros 4, A’s 2
Wednesday, May 9 – Astros 4, A’s 1

Friday, May 11 – Rangers 1, Astros 0
Saturday, May 12 – Astros 6, Rangers 1
Sunday, May 13 – Astros 6, Rangers 1

The Astros largely took care of business against teams they would expect to beat, holding their bottom two division opponents to just eight runs the entire week.  With that 1.33 ERA for the week under their belt, the overall team ERA stands at 2.49, with the nearest challenger being from the Diamondbacks at 3.16. The rotation ERA is down to 2.24.  It may get repetitive reading about the pitching in this space from week to week, but I refuse to not continue to acknowledge the outstanding mound work this team is doing.

The offense had a very good week as well.  Of course, a 16-run game will skew the weekly stats but Friday’s shutout aside, 20 runs in five games is not bad either.  Springer was having a monster week (.643/.706/1.000) before taking that pitch off his elbow on Friday night. Gattis showed that he has a pulse, going 6×17 with two bombs.  Fisher contributed a couple of huge homers. In all, five players finished the week with a 1.000 OPS or higher, and Correa narrowly missed that by .003.

The next 20-game stretch will be a bit of a challenge, as 18 of those games will be played against teams that are either currently leading their division and/or are over .500.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Angels (24-16) split both a four-game series with the Twins and a two-game set with the Rockies, causing them to sag into second place in the division.

The Mariners (22-17) also went 3-3 last week against the Blue Jays and Tigers.  Robinson Cano stands to miss significant playing time after a pitch broke a bone in his hand on Sunday.

After the Astros beat dat ass in Oakland, the A’s (19-21) lost two of three to the Yankees in New York.

The Rangers (16-26) started their week with a series victory against the Tigers.  Adrian Beltre is likely going back to the DL with a hamstring injury, only a week after coming off the DL for the same injury.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

Some ins, some outs, some what have yous.  Sorry, pretty busy the last couple days.

THE WEEK AHEAD – MAY 14-20

Astros @ Angels – May 14-16
Season series: Angels 2-1

Schedule and Probables

Monday, May 14, 9:07pm CDT
Lance McCullers Jr. (5-1, 3.72) vs. Andrew Heaney (1-2, 4.78)

Tuesday, May 15, 9:07pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.43) vs. Jaime Barria (3-1, 2.45)

Wednesday, May 16, 8:40pm CDT
Justin Verlander (4-2, 1.21) vs. Garrett Richards (4-1, 4.08)

The Angels remain one of baseball’s best offenses with 202 runs scored (tied with the Astros for 4th in MLB).  Trout, Simmons, and Ohtani are all hitting over .300 and getting on base a lot (Trout’s OBP is .450!). Anaheim’s overall pitching has also improved since the last Angels-Astros meeting, with their 3.88 ERA getting them up to 11th in MLB.

Thanks to the Angels’ freaky-deaky rotation, none of these three have pitched against the Astros yet this season.  Heaney is getting his first extended big league work since 2015, having spent much of 2016 and 2017 dealing with an elbow injury and the subsequent Tommy John surgery.  In five games he has been mostly solid (his ERA is mostly skewed by a 7-run outing against the Giants in April), although he has only pitched more than five innings twice.  Barria is a 21-year-old newcomer to the big club and has started four games for the Angels. Of particular note, he threw 77 pitches in only two innings against the Giants, yet only allowed two runs.  He most recently held the Rockies scoreless for 5.1 innings. Richards will be making his first start against Houston this year, and he has pitched well for the most part this season despite a couple of clunkers.  In 2017 Richards was 0-1 with a 0.82 ERA against the Astros.

Verlander and Cole both went seven innings against the Angels in April; both allowed two runs; Verlander got the W while Cole got an L.  Last year McCullers was 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts (17 innings) against LAA.

Indians @ Astros – May 18-20

Schedule and Probables

Friday, May 18, 7:10pm CDT
Mike Clevinger (3-0, 2.70) vs. Charlie Morton (5-0, 2.03)

Saturday, May 19, 3:10pm CDT
Corey Kluber (6-2, 2.34) vs. Dallas Keuchel (3-5, 3.10)

Sunday, May 20, 1:10pm CDT
Carlos Corrasco (5-1, 3.61) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (5-1, 3.72)

What a difference a year makes.  Whereas the Indians’ starting pitching is keeping about the same top 5 pace that they did last season (their 3.44 ERA is 4th in MLB), 2017’s best bullpen has been one of 2018’s biggest bullpen disasters.  Cleveland relievers have a whopping 5.26 ERA, third worst in MLB, and that jumps up to 5.71 just by removing Andrew Miller from the equation. The Indians have a top 10 offense so they’ll once again be a force if they can get their relief pitching worked out.

Clevinger has been very good this year and should have more wins to his name if not for lack of run support or bullpenanigans after he leaves the game.  He has thrown seven or more innings four times, including a complete game two-hit shutout of the Orioles. Kluber looks every bit the defending Cy Young winner: seven of his nine starts are of seven innings or more, and his next non-quality start will be his first of the year.  Corrasco has been prone to some bad outings (6 runs vs. Blue Jays, 5 runs vs. Mariners) but has also already pitched two complete games. Last year Clevinger shut out the Astros while Kluber picked up a win after seven innings of work. Corrasco hasn’t faced the Astros since 2016.

Keuchel pitched a complete game against the Indians last year, while McCullers took the loss on five runs over five innings.  The Indians did a number on Verlander last year: in four starts, his 8.14 ERA against them was his worst against any other team by a full three runs.  In April and July he allowed 16 earned runs in just 7.1 innings against them; his other two starts were quality starts.

ASTROS (2-5, 21-15 overall)

Monday, April 30 – Astros 2, Yankees 1
Tuesday, May 1 – Yankees 4, Astros 0
Wednesday, May 2 – Yankees 4, Astros 0
Thursday, May 3 – Yankees 6, Astros 5

Friday, May 4 – Astros 8, D’Backs 0
Saturday, May 5 – D’Backs 4, Astros 3
Sunday, May 6 – D’Backs 3, Astros 1

More solid-to-brilliant starting pitching, solid-to-bad relief work, and the same old hot-and-cold-but-mostly-cold shit from the offense.  Not gonna bore you with much more than that.

Nods approvingly at… the starters, once again.  Houston’s rotation averaged 7+ innings and almost 9 K’s per game, posted a 1.99 ERA, and left each game with the team in a more than winnable position.  (Honorable mention: Yuli Gurriel, whose .393/.393/.464 line for the week was the best of precious few individual offensive contributions that weren’t total shitburgers.)

Looks down nose at… the offense.  It’s not often that your pitchers’ ABs don’t significantly drag down your team’s batting average, especially on an AL team… and yet!  Astros pitchers combined for a batting average (.222) that was almost identical to the rest of the team (.2227) for the week. In fact, Charlie Morton and career American League pitcher/non-hitter Justin Verlander tallied the same number of hits (two) in four plate appearances that Gattis, Stassi, and Fisher did in 24 plate appearances.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Angels (21-13) now have a one-game lead in the division after sweeping the Orioles and winning a three-game series against Mariners (19-14).  The M’s opened the week by winning two out of three against Oakland (18-16), who also swept the Orioles this week. The Rangers (13-23) were mostly outclassed by first place teams this week, going 2-5 against the Indians and Red Sox.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

The Dodgers (15-19) may have thrown a no-no this week, but they’re as good as done with Corey Seager out for the year and Kershaw now headed for the DL.  Kershaw’s stint isn’t expected to be disastrous, but it’s still yet another injury piled onto an already banged up Dojer squad. Also, fuck the Dodgers.

The fucking Yankees stayed hot after going to Houston, sweeping the Indians and pulling to within a game of Boston.  The Indians have sunk to .500, yet still maintain first place in a sorry AL Central that has a total run differential of -141.

Three divisions (AL West, NL Central/East) have four teams above .500.

Fuck the Cubs, who have lost five straight.  And while we’re at it, fuck the NL Central-leading Turds.

THE WEEK AHEAD – MAY 7-13

The Astros get a chance to lick their wounds against teams currently looking up at them in the standings, before beginning a very challenging stretch of games that lasts well into June.

Astros @ A’s – May 7-9

Season series: Astros 2-1

Schedule and Probables

Monday, May 7, 9:05pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (1-5, 3.98) vs. Brett Anderson (0-0, 2.84)

Tuesday, May 8, 9:05pm CDT
Lance McCullers Jr. (4-1, 3.73) vs. Sean Manaea (4-3, 1.63)

Wednesday, May 9, 1:35pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (3-1, 1.42) vs. Daniel Mengden (2-3, 4.30)

Anderson is a new face this time around, having been called up from the minors within the past week after Kendall Graveman was demoted.  His first major league action of the season went well, lasting into the 7th inning and giving up two runs on just 80 pitches. The Astros have very limited work (only 19 AB) against Anderson, but the small sample size is good: .368/.400/.947.  Manaea kept the Astros in check for seven innings en route to an 8-1 victory, and since then he gave up four runs to the Mariners over six innings. The Astros gave Mengden a moustache ride teed off against Mengden, not allowing him to escape the third inning.  He held the Orioles to one run in five innings last week.

Keuchel was the losing pitcher against Manaea, allowing six runs in seven innings.  McCullers blanked the A’s for seven innings while the bats broke out the lumber, and Cole took a no-decision after three runs and 12 K’s in 6.2 innings.

Rangers @ Astros – May 11-13

Season series: Astros 4-3

Schedule and Probables

Friday, May 11, 7:10pm CDT
Cole Hamels (1-4, 3.94) vs. Charlie Morton (4-0, 2.16)

Saturday, May 12, 6:10pm CDT
Doug Fister (1-3, 4.02) vs. Justin Verlander (4-1, 1.17)

Sunday, May 13, 1:10pm CDT
Matt Moore (1-4, 7.67) vs. Dallas Keuchel (1-5, 3.98)

Hamels has faced the Astros twice now and both starts were decent, at or near quality-start level.  His lone win is the only game of his that the Rangers have won. Fister went only five innings against the Astros in the second game of the season but got the win anyway.  He spent two weeks on the DL in mid-April, and since coming back he had two decent/good starts before getting lit up by the Red Sox this past weekend. Moore allowed four runs to the Astros over four innings to start the season.  In six starts he has pitched past the fifth inning just once and allowed fewer than three earned runs just once (same game). The Indians blasted off against Moore last week, notching ten earned runs on eleven hits in just four innings.

Morton has not seen the Rangers yet this season, but in 2017 he was 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in two starts against them.  Verlander has fucking owned everyone Arlington this year, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks in 14 innings.  Keuchel lost a quality start in his only appearance against the Rangers this year.

Starting Rotation: A+

I have little doubt in my mind that after games like last night – when #5 starter Charlie Morton blanks the red-hot offensive juggernaut Yankees for almost eight innings – Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch retreat into their offices, close their doors, and vigorously take one for the team.  Hell, maybe they do it in the same office. I’m not one to judge.

We knew the starting pitching would be a strength in 2018: a full year of Verlander; harnessing Cole; a newly confident Morton; a matured McCullers.  But the results we’ve seen so far have exceeded all but the most outlandish expectations one could have imagined. The word “epic” isn’t used very judiciously these days (“those tacos were epic, brah”) but even that word fails to capture the success we saw to start the season.

Let’s try on some stats.  Here are the categories in which Houston starters lead all of baseball:

• ERA: 2.44 (2nd: Boston, 3.26)
• Innings: 188 (2nd: Washington, 174.2)
• Strikeouts: 226 (2nd: Washington/Arizona, 187)
• Opponent AVG: .196 (2nd: Cleveland, .216)
• Opponent OBP: .263 (2nd: Cleveland, .275)
• Opponent SLG: .329 (2nd: St. Louis, .343)
• K/9: 10.8 (2nd: Arizona, 10.7)
• K/BB: 4.3 (2nd: NY Mets, 4.0)
• WHIP: 0.99 (2nd: Cleveland, 1.06)
• LOB%: 83.1% (2nd: Cleveland, 80.6%)

Ridiculous.  A few of those aren’t even close.  And as a further testament to how good the rotation is, the Astros bullpen has pitched the second fewest innings (81.2) in MLB – less than three innings per game.

On an individual level, three Astros pitchers are in the top 10 in MLB in ERA (Verlander #4, Morton #8, Cole #9).  Cole leads baseball in strikeouts (61) and Verlander is 5th; Morton and McCullers missed the top 10 by one and two strikeouts, respectively.  Cole and Verlander also land in the top 10 in innings pitched. McCullers has been very good more often than not. Keuchel has had his ups and downs but has also suffered from lack of run support (he is 1-3 in starts where he has allowed three or fewer earned runs).

One area that needs improvement is the long ball.  Astros starters have allowed 20 home runs, which ties them for 19th in MLB.  They’re in good company, though: other top starting staffs like the Diamondbacks, Nationals, Braves, and Indians have allowed at least that many.

Overall, it’s really been just a hell of a lot of fun to watch these guy go out and dominate opposing lineups night after night.  It’s not sustainable at this level – for example, we’re bound to lose one or two to injury at some point – but what they’ve done has put the team in a really good position.

Bullpen: A

Contrary to popular belief, the 2018 Astros do have a bullpen.  They have indeed pitched a non-zero number of innings. For the most part, they’ve quietly done a pretty good job: their 2.76 ERA is 5th best in MLB and 2nd in the AL.  They’re very good at keeping people off base, with a .267 opposing OBP that is 2nd best in MLB and tops in the AL by a comfortable margin (#2 Cleveland is .292). They have converted six of their ten save opportunities, for a roughly average 60% save percentage.

One thing of particular note: they’ve been especially excellent at stranding runners on base.  Although they’ve only inherited 22 runners (second lowest in MLB) only three of those runners have scored, resulting in a baseball-best 14%.

Five relievers (Giles, Devenski, Harris, Rondon, McHugh) have sub-2 ERAs, with Peacock (2.84) not far behind.  Giles, McHugh, Devenski, and Peacock all boast sub-1 WHIPs. Hinch has had the luxury of spreading work around fairly evenly, with each reliever except Tony Sipp sitting at about 10 innings or a little more.  Joe Smith has the worst ERA of the bunch thanks to a couple of bad outings.

By this point in each season from 2015-2017 we already had concerns about the load the bullpen was shouldering, and in each of those seasons we saw the bullpen run out of gas late in the season and/or in the postseason.  Things are looking considerably improved in that respect so far.

Overall: A+

The Astros own baseball’s best team ERA (2.54) by nearly half a run.  They have pitched four shutouts and eight other times have allowed just one run.  They are the first and only (so far) team to have hit the 300 strikeout plateau. By any objective measure they have done outstanding work in the first month of the season.  More, please.

OFFENSE: B+

Watching your team get perfect-gamed by 173-year-old Bartolo Colon is enough to make anyone batty.  It’s also enough to cloud your judgment on assessing the offense as a whole, but a closer look shows that they’re doing pretty well overall.

We all got spoiled by a historically good Astros lineup in 2017.  The 2018 lineup may not be that, but it doesn’t have to be, and in fact this year’s team is pretty comparable in terms of run production.  Through 30 games they’ve scored 149 runs, tied for 4th in MLB; last year through 30 games they scored 147 and slotted in 5th.

What holds this year’s iteration back vs. 2017 is a number of things:

• Considerably lower batting average (.255 vs. .278)
• Considerably more strikeouts (262 vs. 213)
• Fewer home runs (32 vs. 40)
• Less power overall (.408 sluggings vs. .443)
• Worse hitting with RISP (.254, 106 RBI vs. .300, 97 RBI – the RBI difference may be largely attributable to Reddick’s two grand slams)
• Considerably worse production from 7-8-9 in the order (.210/.286/.364 vs. .314/.371/.511)

Next month I will try to stop the comparisons to 2017.

The DH spot remains a big problem: the .578 OPS Astros DHs have tallied is dead last (only the Phillies are worse, but that doesn’t really count).  However, some of that slack has been picked up by Houston’s catchers (.833 OPS, #3 in MLB) and at short (.947 OPS, #4 in MLB).

The good news about Reddick, Gurriel, Gattis, and Marwin all hitting under .250 is that they don’t have anywhere to go but up, and despite that the team can still score runs when it wants to.  And with Altuve and Correa already on fire, and with Springer and Bregman heating up lately, the offense should be more than capable.

Marisnick and Fisher… yeesh.

DEFENSE: B+

As was the case last year, we’ve seen both the good and the bad but more of the former.  The Astros are tied with the Red Sox for fewest errors committed (8). McCann and Stassi have only thrown out two runners on 13 total tries, a 15.38% caught stealing rate that is near the bottom of the majors.

OVERALL: A

At 20-10 the Astros have a 2.5 game lead in the AL West, and although they face stiffer competition from within the division they have positioned themselves well for defending their division title.  They also stack up well against other contending teams. They also compare favorably to their 2017 counterparts, which had an identical record through 30 games.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MAY

May will be a big month, with six games against the Yankees, three with the Diamondbacks, seven against the AL Central-leading Indians, and three games against the division foe Angels.  They’ll close out the month – and start June – with four games against the Red Sox.

ASTROS (3-3, 19-10 overall)

Monday, April 23 – Angels 2, Astros 0
Tuesday, April 24 – Angels 8, Astros 7
Wednesday, April 25 – Astros 5, Angels 2

Friday, April 27 – A’s 8, Astros 1
Saturday, April 28 – Astros 11, A’s 0
Sunday, April 29 – Astros 8, A’s 4

Keuchel had another bad outing, Morton finally looked human, and Joe Smith coughed up a four-spot.  Other than that, the pitching was pretty good this week, holding opponents to eight runs in the other four games.  Verlander, McCullers, and Cole all pitched very well, although Cole took a tough-luck loss and tough-luck no-decision.

Offensively, the frustrating Jekyll-and-Hyde routine continues.  Getting shut down by Sean Manaea is understandable, but their game against Tyler Skaggs was reminiscent of a similar shutout performance he tossed against Houston last September.  At the same time, though, they handed Shohei Ohtani his worst start of the season, teed off against two A’s starters that have been off to decent starts. Altuve hit his first two home runs of the season, and Marwin and Springer showed signs of pulling out of their funks.

Nods approvingly at…  Marwin Gonzalez, who drove in five runs this week and raised his average 39 points.  (Honorable mention: Derek Fisher, who went yard twice in just ten ABs this week. Also George Springer, who hit .375 and raised his average 28 points.)

Looks down nose at… Smith, who was responsible for seven earned runs on eight baserunners in just 2.2 innings.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Mariners (16-11) charged into second place in the division after going 5-2 against the White Sox and Indians.  This included winning three out of four in Cleveland, and outscoring them 22-8 on Saturday and Sunday.

After leaving Houston, the Angels (16-12) got swept in the Bronx, including a 11-1 shelling on Saturday.

The Rangers (11-18) dropped their early week series to the A’s (11-11), then won two out of three in Toronto.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

The Yankees (18-9) are winners of nine straight, running the table in seven games against the Twins and Angels this week.  Guess who’s coming to dinner (see below). Meanwhile, the Red Sox are looking a little more beatable, going 3-3 on the week against the Blue Jays and Rays.

Every team in the AL Central has a negative run differential.  The Indians have allowed the third-fewest runs in the AL, yet have scored the third-fewest; at the time of this writing they don’t have a single qualified hitter hitting above .260.

The Diamondbacks (19-8) have the biggest division lead – five games – so far this season.

Checking in on a couple of anticipated NL contenders: the Dodgers (12-15) are seven games back of Arizona and have a +12 run differential despite being three games under .500.  Similarly, the Nationals (12-16) are six games back of the Mets (17-9) and have a +3 run differential. Poor bastards, all.

The famously tanking Miami Jeters aren’t even the best at that: four teams (Reds, Orioles, Royals, White Sox) are worse than their .333 winning percentage.

THE WEEK AHEAD – APRIL 30 – MAY 6

It’s a big week, with seven games against playoff contenders that are playing very good baseball as the season’s first month draws to a close.

Yankees @ Astros – April 30 – May 3
or, “The Rematch”

Reminiscent of the 2017 ALCS, the defending American League Not-Champions come back to Houston for four games.  The Yankees’ last trips to Minute Maid were chock full of highlights, and this four game set between early powerhouses shouldn’t disappoint.

Schedule and Probables

Monday, April 30, 7:10pm CDT
Sonny Gray (1-1, 7.71) vs. Charlie Morton (3-0, 1.86)

Tuesday, May 1, 7:10pm CDT
Jordan Montgomery (2-0, 3.76) vs. Justin Verlander (4-0, 1.36)

Wednesday, May 2, 7pm CDT
Luis Severino (4-1, 2.61) vs. Dallas Keuchel (1-4, 4.00)

Thursday, May 3, 1:10pm CDT
Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.37) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (4-1, 3.71)

The Bronx Bombers are bombing alright, leading MLB in runs scored (163), home runs (41), OBP (.346), extra-base hits (107), and are near the top in a number of other categories.  This becomes a little scary when you factor in the fact that Giancarlo Stanton is hitting .239 with only five homers, and Brett Gardner and Gary Sanchez, who combined for 54 home runs in 2017, have collectively left the yard just once this year.

So where is the production coming from?  Aaron Judge should be obvious, hitting .317 with seven home runs, although he is already on pace for 234 strikeouts.  The real monster at the plate has been Didi Gregorius, who is hitting .340/.436/.766, tied for the MLB lead in homers with 10, and on pace to obliterate just about every career mark he’s got.  Of course, the law of averages states that Stanton and friends will heat up while Gregorius comes back down to earth, but Gregorius has also steadily improved with each season he’s spent in New York.  A .300/.350/.500 (or better) season for him isn’t too far fetched, and if he gets anywhere close to that and the others start to contribute up to expectations, fans in the outfield may need to start wearing protective gear.

Gray is not off to a great start – he’s only completed the fifth inning once in five starts, sports a bloated 2.14 WHIP, and has just 19 punchouts to go against 16 walks.  Montgomery is following up a good rookie campaign with a solid April, usually good for 5-6 innings and a couple of runs. Severino has been their early workhorse, pitching into the seventh or later three times and only once allowing more than three runs.  Tanaka has been a mixed bag: in four starts he allowed six runs in 25 innings, but in two other starts he allowed 11 earned runs in just 10 innings. All four pitchers are known quantities to the Astros and last season was not especially good to them (2017 regular season ERAs vs. Houston: Gray 9.00, Montgomery 5.56, Severino 10.57, Tanaka 43.20).

Astros @ Diamondbacks – May 4-6
or, “If you love good pitching, this is your jam”

Schedule and Probables

Friday, May 4, 8:40pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (2-1, 1.73) vs. TBD

Saturday, May 5, 7:10pm CDT
Charlie Morton (3-0, 1.86) vs. Zack Grienke (2-2, 4.80)

Sunday, May 6, 3:10pm CDT
Justin Verlander (4-0, 1.36) vs. Matt Koch (1-0, 1.93)

After hosting a midweek series against the Dodgers, the D’Backs invite the Astros to town.  Last year’s NL Wild Card winners split a pair of two-game series with Houston in 2017. This year’s Arizona team has been largely buoyed by excellent pitching, as evidenced by their 2.89 ERA (leads the NL and second only to the Astros).  In particular, their 1.70 bullpen ERA comfortably leads MLB; the nearest team is a half-run higher.

Offensively, the Snakes are pretty average at best, firmly middle of the road in runs and home runs, while being #25 in MLB with a .230 team batting average.  While they do have three players with an OPS north of .900 (A.J. Pollock, David Peralta, Paul Goldschmidt), the dropoff after that is fairly precipitous, with only two other regulars above .700.  (By comparison, the Astros have one over .900 and five others over .800.)

Friday’s game would have normally seen Robbie Ray slotted against Cole, but at the time of this writing Ray “likely” appears headed to the DL with an oblique strain suffered in the second inning of his start this past Sunday.  Stay tuned on that as the situation develops throughout the week. Greinke has had his ups and downs in 2018; while he’s only allowed three walks on 32 strikeouts, he has allowed at least one home run in each of his starts, and he’s given up four runs or more three times.  Greinke pitched 6.2 scoreless innings against Houston in 2017. Rookie Koch has taken the place of Taijuan Walker (shelved for Tommy John surgery) and has performed admirably, going six innings and allowing two runs or less in each of his two starts.

WEEK IN REVIEW – APRIL 16-22

ASTROS (6-1, 16-7 overall)

Monday, April 16 – Mariners 2, Astros 1
Tuesday, April 17 – Astros 4, Mariners 1
Wednesday, April 18 – Astros 7, Mariners 1
Thursday, April 19 – Astros 9, Mariners 2

Friday, April 20 – Astros 10, White Sox 0
Saturday, April 21 – Astros 10, White Sox 1
Sunday, April 22 – Astros 7, White Sox 1

Monday looked like more of the same shit we saw last week, including a great eight-inning Keuchel effort spoiled, but it’s refreshing to see the bats come alive even if it wasn’t against the best pitching baseball has to offer.

The team’s scoring outburst propelled Houston to third in MLB in runs scored (115), behind only Boston and Toronto.  Six players (Correa, Altuve, McCann, Springer, Bregman, Stassi) batted over .300 this week; Correa in particular had a monster week, going 13×24 with a 1.439 OPS, leading the team in hits, walks, and total bases.  Reddick only had four hits but three of them left the yard, including a grand slam on Saturday. Fisher looks lost at the plate, but at least he robbed a home run.

As far as the pitching goes… what more could you ask for?  The rotation turned in seven quality starts in as many games, and leads the majors with a 2.10 ERA, 11.12 K/9 innings, and the best percentage of runners left on base (86.3%).  They are positively filthy and it’s borderline unfair.

Nods approvingly at… well, just about everyone.  When you go 6-1 and outscore your opponents 48-8, a lot of things are going right.

Looks down nose at… Evan Gattis, whose smooth 0.0 wFTG (Weighted Fucks to Give) on the triple play in Seattle has no excuse.  We all thought he just forgot the number of outs, but it turns out that the only worse explanation was also the correct one.  Maybe this principle can be referred to as Gattis’s Razor; if his beard is any indication, he could use one.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Angels (14-8) finally came back down to Earth a bit, getting swept by the Red Sox and dropping two of three to a Giants team that entered the weekend with a 7-11 record.  They were outscored 41-10 while going 1-5 on the week.

Seattle (11-9), after dropping a four-game set to the Astros early in the week, won two out of three in Arlington against the Rangers (8-15), who also lost two of three against the Rays.

The A’s (11-11) scraped and clawed their way to .500 by sweeping the White Sox and then punking the Red Sox twice, including Sunday’s no-hitter by Sean Manaea.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar, who passed out in the dugout after his appearance in Friday’s game against the Astros, apparently suffered a brain aneurysm and underwent brain surgeries on Saturday and Sunday.  Holy shit. Prayers for a full recovery.

The Diamondbacks (15-6) are the best team in the National League and have also allowed the NL’s fewest runs (64).  As good as that is, three AL teams (Indians, Astros, Red Sox) have allowed fewer.

Brandon Belt had a 21-pitch AB, breaking Ricky Gutierrez’s record of 20.  I looked up the game to see if Gutierrez ended the AB by grounding into a double play.  He didn’t. I had a sad.

THE WEEK AHEAD – APRIL 23-29

The Astros play two of the top offenses in baseball this week.  Let’s see how the ERA looks afterward.

Angels @ Astros – April 23-25
or, “Ohtani-Mania comes to Houston”

Schedule and Probables

Monday, April 23, 7:10pm CDT
Tyler Skaggs (2-1, 3.98) vs. Gerrit Cole (2-0, 0.96)

Tuesday, April 24, 7:10pm CDT
Shohei Ohtani (2-1, 3.60) vs. Charlie Morton (3-0, 0.72)

Wednesday, April 25, 1:10pm CDT
Nick Tropeano (1-1, 3.75) vs. Justin Verlander (3-0, 1.10)

Look at dem ERAs.  God, that makes me so hot.

Angel pitching got dinged pretty badly last week, and their 4.16 ERA is all the way down at 18th in baseball.  Their rotation bears most of that shame, with a 5.12 ERA that is 24th in MLB. But their rotation also owns a 10-7 record, which tells me that they’ve been living dangerously thanks to their offense.  The Fightin’ Anaheims have baseball’s fifth-best run-scoring offense and fourth-best batting average, and they currently lead the majors with 32 home runs. They are also perfect in ten stolen base attempts.

Skaggs has been largely effective for the Angels this season.  Before the Red Sox bashed him last week, he had only given up three earned runs in his first three starts.  He’s only pitched more than five innings once, though. Ohtani got roughed up for the first time, allowing three runs in two innings before leaving the game with a blister.  Tropeano is making only his third start of the season; he shut out the Royals before also getting the Boston treatment. The Astros have had success against Tropeano (combined .419/.471/.581) but less against Skaggs (just a .266 average, Springer is 0x13).

Houston’s starters for this series match up well (something I expect to say a lot this season): Angels players who have faced Cole, Morton, and Verlander are a combined .173 in 398 ABs.

A’s @ Astros – April 27-29
or, “Still can’t believe these fucks swept the Astros last September”

Schedule and Probables

Friday, April 27, 7:10pm CDT
Sean Manaea (3-2, 1.23) vs. Dallas Keuchel (1-3, 3.10)

Saturday, April 28, 6:10pm CDT
Daniel Mengden (2-2, 3.86) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 4.67)

Sunday, April 29, 1:10pm CDT
Trevor Cahill (1-0, 0.00) vs. Gerrit Cole (2-0, 0.96)

The A’s will play three games in Arlington and get Thursday off before heading down to Houston.  The A’s are just as much of an offensive threat as the Angels, and in fact even outpace the Angels (and Astros) in a few categories.  They don’t run the bases much, though, with five steals in only seven tries. The pitching has been pretty average, with a 4.37 staff ERA that slots them just in the bottom third.  If this team can figure out the pitching then they may be a dark horse wild card team.

We’ve already read about Manaea no-hitting the juggernaut Red Sox lineup.  He’s had an excellent start to the season, only once not lasting until the 7th and three times pitching into the 8th or later.  Mengden started off roughly against the Angels and Rangers, but has pitched back-to-back quality starts and has issued only three walks all year.  Cahill was a last-minute signing in March after Jharel Cotton got shelved for Tommy John surgery, and spent the first couple of weeks tuning up in AAA.  His only start of the year was a seven-inning, five-hit shutout of the White Sox. He’s due to pitch against the Rangers before this series.

The Astros have hit well against Cahill (in limited work) and Mengden historically, but Manaea has done well against Houston.  McCullers and Cole both have small sample sizes against the A’s hitters, while Keuchel has allowed a decent .257 average against Oakland.

ASTROS (2-4, 10-6 overall)

Monday, April 9 – Astros 2, Twins 0
Tuesday, April 10 – Twins 4, Astros 1
Wednesday, April 11 – Twins 9, Astros 8

Friday, April 13 – Astros 3, Rangers 2
Saturday, April 14 – Rangers 6, Astros 5 (10 innings)
Sunday, April 15 – Rangers 3, Astros 1 (10 innings)

The Astros got four great (or better) starting pitching performances this week – Justin Verlander times two, Gerrit Cole, and Charlie Morton combined for a 1.61 ERA in 28 innings – but were only able to convert two wins and one winning decision for Verlander.  Good pitching efforts getting wasted is going to happen, but it sucks that it happened all in one week behind some really strong outings.

If there’s one purpose this week served, it’s to keep expectations in check.  This lineup will score runs when it gets in gear, and it took a little while for things to click last year, but several guys are really struggling right now.  There is perhaps none so painful as Gattis, who has an average below the Mendoza line and an OPS less than .600 – absolute murder in the DH slot.

Houston still owns MLB’s second-best ERA at 2.74, one of only three sub-3 team ERAs left.  But the Astros have seen themselves fall to the middle of the pack in many offensive categories.  Hopefully the upcoming week against some high-ERA teams will give them a shot in the arm.

Nods approvingly at…  the punchouts.  Astros starters notched 58 strikeouts in six starts this week.  (Honorable mention: the comeback in Minneapolis. Even if it was a losing effort this time, coming all the way back from an 8-1 deficit is noteworthy.)

Looks down nose at… the bullpen, which took home three losses in the 9th inning or later this week.  (Dishonorable mention: letting all 623 wobbly, gooey pounds of Bartolo Fucking Colon take a perfect game against you into the 8th inning.  That’s what happens when you go into your ABs with a shitty approach and find yourself down in the count early.)

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL WEST…

The Angels (13-3) ran the table against the Rangers (6-11) and Royals, falling one win shy of a 7-0 week only because of a freeze-out in Kansas City on Sunday.  They’re also the MLB leaders in runs scored (103). Although the Angels have a three game division lead, they’ve played 13 of their 16 games against the Rangers, A’s, and Royals (combined record of 14-31).  They have series against the Red Sox, Astros, and Yankees before the month is out, so we’ll see how they fare against better competition. Also, they have already used nine starters this season and Matt Shoemaker will be on the shelf until at least May.

Not unlike the Angels, the Mariners benefited from playing the Royals and A’s, turning in a 4-1 week.  Very unlike the Angels, they have only used four starters so far, although three of them – including Felix Hernandez – have ERAs of 5.74 or higher.

I’ve already shat on the A’s a couple of times in this space, but it’s worth noting that they split a two-game series against the Dodgers, including a 16-6 win.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB…

Weather wreaked havoc on the schedule as ten weekend series games (and six on Sunday alone) throughout the midwest, north, and northeast were postponed.

The Red Sox (13-2) and Mets (12-2) both finally lost a game, but are still the best teams in their respective leagues.  The Mets have the least runs allowed in the NL and the second-least in MLB, second to (surprisingly) the Twins.

The Diamondbacks (11-4) are looking pretty damn salty too, with MLB’s third-best staff ERA (2.90) and 6th-best run scoring offense.

The Pirates (11-4) lead the NL Central.  Former Astro Colin Moran is hitting .310/.383/.429.

Yu Darvish faced some early jams against the Braves in his first Wrigley start, then later came unglued in the 5th inning after a balk call.  Former Astro Preston Tucker finished him off with a three-run homer.

THE WEEK AHEAD – APRIL 16-22

Astros @ Mariners – April 16-19
or, “Admit it, you really missed the west coast start times”

The Mariners just got Nelson Cruz back from the DL after he Moises Alou-ed his ankle on the dugout steps after a home run during opening weekend.  I couldn’t find video of it, but I did find video of the celebratory butt slap immediately following the homer and immediately preceding the dugout steps.  Robbie Cano flew a little too close to the sun, if you know what I mean:

Outside of the cheek, dude.

Schedule and Probables

Monday, April 16, 9:10pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (0-2, 4.20) vs. James Paxton (0-1, 5.74)

Tuesday, April 17, 9:10pm CDT
Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1, 7.71) vs. Ariel Miranda (2017: 8-7, 5.12)

Wednesday, April 18, 9:10pm CDT
Gerrit Cole (1-0, 1.29) vs. Mike Leake (2-0, 3.50)

Thursday, April 19, 2:40pm CDT
Charlie Morton (2-0, 1.00) vs. Marco Gonzales (1-1, 8.25)

Seattle’s 5.14 ERA is dead last in the AL, and they are kept out of last in MLB only by an awful Cincy staff that is nearly a full run worse.  It ticks upward quite a bit for just the starters, whose 5-3 record belies their 5.79 ERA, less than 2:1 K:BB ratio, and 1.467 combined WHIP.

Paxton had decent outings against the Royals (quality start including 10 Ks in 6 IP) and Twins after blowing up against the Indians in his first start of the season.  Leake is the owner of the other two quality starts, and the team has won every game in which he has pitched despite his having more walks (9) than strikeouts (8). Gonzales started the season well enough against the Giants, but his more recent starts against the Royals and A’s have seen him bounced in the 3rd and 4th innings, respectively.  Miranda started the year in the minors, where he logged a combined 4.00 ERA in two starts split between AAA and A-Advanced, and will be making his first big league start of the year.

Of the M’s pitchers we’ll see in this series, only Paxton and Miranda faced the Astros in 2017.  Paxton was Seattle’s best starter in that regard, carrying a 1.69 ERA in four starts. Miranda was…. not as good, with an 0-2 record and 4.70 ERA.  Conversely, Keuchel, McCullers, and Morton all posted a sub-4 ERA against the Mariners in 2017, with Keuchel (1.31) leading the pack. Cole, being in the NL, didn’t face Seattle last season, but M’s hitters have a combined career .636 OPS against him, largely due to the fact that in 63 plate appearances they have only three extra-base hits and no homers.

Astros @ White Sox – April 20-22
or, “Do they actually play baseball in Chicago?”

The Sox had damn near all of their four-game series in Minneapolis snowed out this past weekend.  The city of Chicago didn’t fare much better while they were away, and they’re still expected to get rain and snow while the Pale Hose are in Oakland during the early part of this week.  But the weather gets better just in time for this series, with positively balmy high temps in the 40s by Friday. Thanks, Obama.

Schedule and Probables

Friday, April 20, 7:10pm CDT
Justin Verlander (2-0, 1.35) vs. James Shields (1-0, 4.15)

Saturday, April 21, 6:10pm CDT
Dallas Keuchel (0-2, 4.20) vs. Lucas Giolito (0-2, 5.50)

Sunday, April 22, 1:10pm CDT
Lance McCullers Jr. (1-1, 7.71) vs. Reynaldo Lopez (0-1, 0.69)

The White Sox (4-8) are your third place team in the AL Central.  Nice division, brah. If you’re looking for something that they’re good at, it’s not pitching; their 4.92 ERA is 4th worst in MLB.  Shields is their second-best starter in ERA, and 3-5 have ERAs of 5.50 (Giolito), 5.59 (Carson Fulmer), and 8.68 (Miguel Gonzalez). Of course, these are all still small sample sizes, but it stands in stark contrast to the Astros, who have three starters with an ERA of 1.35 or less.  Things look a little better on the offensive side; although the White Sox have only scored 48 runs (7th worst in MLB), they have a team OPS of .743 which sits just outside the top ten.

Shields was Chicago’s Opening Day starter and has had a decent start to the season.  Despite just one strikeout in his first two starts, he put up six Ks against the Rays in his most recent start.  He would’ve been slated to pitch against the A’s on Monday, but with Sunday’s postponement it looks like they’re going to skip his slot in the rotation and throw Lopez (Sunday’s scheduled starter) on Monday.  If that holds up, Shields will face the Astros on eight days rest. Lopez has been their best starter so far: in two starts he has allowed only four hits and one earned run. In three starts, Giolito has been good for about six innings and about 3-5 runs each time.  Walks are a big problem right now for him, as his 8:12 K:BB ratio is tilted to the wrong side of the scale.

Shields and Giolito both took losses against the Astros in 2017 despite a combined 3.65 ERA against the team.  Keuchel’s worst start of 2017 came in August against the ChiSox, allowing eight earned runs in just four innings.  He rebounded against them in September, but still took two losses for the season. Verlander, still with the Tigers, did pretty well against Chicago, with a 3.52 ERA in three starts.  McCullers has not pitched against the White Sox since 2015.