Houston Astros: 16 Astros Resolutions for 2016

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#4: Make better decisions

Aug 4, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor (12) attempts to pick off Houston Astros center fielder Carlos Gomez (30) at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

No more boneheaded base running mistakes.

By: Eric Huysman

I’m not going to beat this one to death, but there were some times last year that Carlos Gomez and Jose Altuve made some mental mistakes on the bases. I remember games where the pitcher threw to first base and Altuve made no attempt to go back to first base. The Astros were near the bottom of the league in caught stealing with 48 of them in 2015.

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

Several factors could be taken into consideration, that they are aggressive on the bases, or they were just unlucky. Those are not the plays that I am referring to. Instead, we are looking for the lapses in his game awareness that hurt the Astros on several occasions. While it wasn’t really a boneheaded play, Gomez got picked off in Game 2 of the ALDS that prevented the Astros from scoring. It was one of many bad luck plays that caused the Astros to blow that 4-1 lead to lose the game.

The Astros need to find a way to become more alert on the bases in 2016.

Next: #3: Bring your A game to work.