Star Performer of the Week: Aug. 19 – 24

The Astros finished the week by dropping two games in Cleveland but still managed a 3-3 record for the week. The club finished a challenging 10-game road trip to Boston, New York, and Cleveland with a 5-5 mark.

A few players had performances that are worth mentioning, but no one stood out from the crowd. Scott Feldman picked up a win. Tony Sipp and Josh Fields came through with some quality relief work. Jake Marisnick continued his steady defensive work and was actually the most consistent hitter on an offense that went through some struggles.

So, in an unprecedented move, I’m giving this week’s Star Performer Award to Bo Porter. The Astros second year manager kept his young team focused on playing hard through a difficult road trip. Despite their offensive slump, the Astros were able to stay competitive in almost every game. In recent years, long trips to the east coast have been pretty brutal for the Astros. A 5-5 trip has to be considered a success.

Porter even did a good job managing his bullpen during the week. And, if you are a regular reader of this site, you know I’ve been critical of the skippers bullpen decisions on more than one occasion. But Bo’s most interesting move was when he marched everyone out of the dugout and back towards the clubhouse during Sunday’s game. I’m not exactly sure what Porter told his players at that time, but it seemed to work. The Astros mounted a late rally, scoring a run in the eighth and loading the bases in the ninth before ultimately coming up short.

"To come out of this here road trip 5-5, with an opportunity we could have very well been 6-4, then you look at the way they battle the last half-inning there, those are some impressive, impressive at-bats in the ninth inning. h/t KSAT.com"

Porter has the Astros playing hard. It will be interesting to see how they do at home against an Oakland team that is battling for the division title. Congratulations to Bo Porter on winning the Star Performer of the Week Award for August 18th through 24th.