%20%20--%3E%0A%3Csvg%20version%3D%221.1%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20xmlns%3Axlink%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F1999%2Fxlink%22%20x%3D%220px%22%20y%3D%220px%22%0A%09%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201055.1%20200%22%20style%3D%22enable-background%3Anew%200%200%201055.1%20200%3B%22%20xml%3Aspace%3D%22preserve%22%3E%0A%3Cstyle%20type%3D%22text%2Fcss%22%3E%0A%09.st0%7Bfill%3A%23231F20%3B%7D%0A%09.st1%7Bfill%3A%230E203C%3B%7D%0A%09.st2%7Bfill%3A%23EC4324%3B%7D%0A%09.st3%7Bfill%3A%23FFFFFF%3B%7D%0A%3C%2Fstyle%3E%0A%3Cg%20id%3D%22Template%22%3E%0A%3C%2Fg%3E%0A%3Cg%20id%3D%22Layer_2%22%3E%0A%09%3Cpath%20class%3D%22st3%22%20d%3D%22M58.3%2C200.3h82.4c12.4%2C0%2C21.7-1.5%2C28-4.5c20.2-9.6%2C30.2-26.1%2C30.2-49.3c0-3.2-0.2-9.3-0.6-18.3h-65.1v14.9%0A%09%09c-0.9%2C3.9-3.4%2C5.8-7.5%2C5.8H73.2c-5%2C0-7.5-2.5-7.5-7.5V59.2c0-5%2C2.5-7.5%2C7.5-7.5h52.5c5%2C0%2C7.5%2C2.1%2C7.5%2C6.4v10.8h65.7V55.7%0A%09%09c0-16.3-3.8-28.3-11.4-36.1c-8.8-12.9-24.7-19.3-47.4-19.3H58.9C47%2C0.3%2C38%2C1.7%2C32%2C4.3c-21.3%2C9-32%2C26.1-32%2C51.4v88%0A%09%09c0%2C16.5%2C3.6%2C28.7%2C10.9%2C36.6C20.1%2C193.7%2C35.9%2C200.3%2C58.3%2C200.3z%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st3%22%20points%3D%22596.6%2C64%20596.6%2C0.8%20400.1%2C0.8%20400.1%2C64%20442.7%2C64%20442.7%2C51.3%20466.1%2C51.3%20466.1%2C148.1%20442.1%2C148.1%20%0A%09%09442.1%2C199.9%20554.8%2C199.9%20554.8%2C148.1%20531.5%2C148.1%20531.5%2C51.4%20554.8%2C51.4%20554.8%2C64%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st3%22%20points%3D%22942.4%2C148.5%20942.4%2C200.2%201055.1%2C200.2%201055.1%2C148.5%201031.8%2C148.5%201031.8%2C51.2%201055.1%2C51.2%201055.1%2C0.8%20%0A%09%09943.1%2C0.8%20943.1%2C51.3%20966.3%2C51.3%20966.3%2C80%20888.9%2C80%20888.9%2C51.3%20912.6%2C51.3%20912.6%2C0.5%20800.1%2C0.8%20800.1%2C51.4%20823.5%2C51.4%20823.5%2C148.6%20%0A%09%09800.1%2C148.6%20800.1%2C200.1%20912.6%2C200.1%20912.6%2C148.6%20888.9%2C148.6%20888.9%2C116.4%20966.3%2C116.4%20966.3%2C148.5%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st2%22%20points%3D%22315.5%2C83.9%20299.6%2C34.9%20283.7%2C83.9%20232.2%2C83.9%20273.9%2C114.1%20258%2C163.1%20299.6%2C132.8%20341.3%2C163.1%20%0A%09%09325.4%2C114.1%20367%2C83.9%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%09%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22st2%22%20points%3D%22715.6%2C83.9%20699.7%2C34.9%20683.8%2C83.9%20632.3%2C83.9%20674%2C114.1%20658%2C163.1%20699.7%2C132.8%20741.3%2C163.1%20%0A%09%09725.4%2C114.1%20767.1%2C83.9%20%09%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fg%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E%0A)
Astros Launch: Struggles continue and Lourdes Gurriel officially a free agent.
The Astros struggles continue as they are 3-11 in their last 14 games and Lourdes Gurriel is officially available.
At CTH, we have considered an Astros daily morning article summarizing the events of yesterday including the news we didn’t get to yesterday. This will not be an in-depth article, but instead, it will focus on summarizing the previous day. We would like this to be part of your morning routine as you drink your coffee or orange juice. We love our Astros even when they don’t play so good. Rise and shine and realize that today is a new day for the Astros.
More from Climbing Tal's Hill
- Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
- Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
- Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
- Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
- Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer
The Astros have lost 11 of the last 14 games and have seen their AL West deficit fall back to 8.5 games behind the Texas Rangers. To make matters worse, Seattle has roared passed the Astros into second place in the AL West on a three-game winning streak. While you could be having your sights on the Wild Card, so do the Mariners and Red Sox who trail the current WC teams Tigers and Blue Jays.
Today marks a major step for the Astros as Yulieski Gurriel will play for the Corpus Christi Hooks. Game time will be 7:05 PM at Whataburger Field in Corpus, so keep an eye on the box score. The Astros signed Gurriel to be a veteran type hitter that the Astros could have acquired at the trade deadline. Speaking of the trade deadline, the Astros are 2-6 since the trade deadline.
On Talking Stros this week we talked about how the Rangers improved their team for 2016 while the Astros continue to look for the future. Was it wrong for the Astros to stand pat? Too soon to tell, but things are not looking so hot at the moment for the third place Astros. I will not focus on Carlos Gomez here. He deserves a separate post.
Let’s look at the three big news items from August 8th, 2016.
Next: Notes from yesterday
Notes from yesterday
Lourdes Gurriel is Officially a Free Agent
With Gurriel’s playing in his last stop in Corpus tonight, we are a week away from him playing in an Astros uniform next Tuesday versus the St. Louis Cardinals. If you don’t already have tickets, you might want to go to Astros.com to get them. It will be a hot ticket when Gurriel makes his debut even if the Astros are still losing. The Astros don’t usually sign this type of player, but could they do it twice within six months?
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is expected to have a large showcase & private workouts for teams in near future. He's now training in Panama. #Cuba
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) August 8, 2016
Astros writers could soon have the Preston Tucker and Kyle Tucker issue again. When writing an article talking about both Tucker’s, you have to use the first names. The signs point to a similar issue for the Gurriels’ soon as well. Gurriel’s younger brother Lourdes is now officially a free agent. His agent seemed optimistic that the Astros could sign both of the brothers, but Lourdes would have to wait a little longer.
October 19 will be Lourdes’ 23rd birthday and the first chance that all 30 MLB teams would be able to sign the Cuban free agent. Most of the teams have already overspent on their international budget. By waiting, he could earn more money because he will not classify as the typical international free agent because he will be 23. Two Gurriels’ are better than one.
The Power Outage Continues
The Astros earned a nickname last season, Crush City. However, there has not been that much crushing recently. The Astros have a .210 batting average in August with only one home run. That home run was by Jose Altuve off of Marcus Stroman on August 1st. For a team that relies on the long ball, you can easily see why the Astros have trouble scoring. Strikeouts are up, and the batting averages are dropping.
The Astros are hitting .201 in last 14 games (3-11) and have one homer in their past 10 games.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 9, 2016
The Astros are slugging .282 with a pathetic .536 OPS in August. They continue to score one run way too often during the past 14 games. The pitching staff has had a few hiccups, but they have pitched extraordinarily well in August. In 78 innings, the Astros pitchers have a 2.42 ERA while striking out 93 hitters.
This team is build to hit the long balls along the low batting average. At this point, neither is happening for the Astros offense. We are missing the power bat of Luis Valbuena and now Colby Rasmus, but the big three have had a little power drought as well.
More from Climbing Tal's Hill
- Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
- Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
- Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
- Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
- Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer
Jose Altuve’s Streak of Consecutive Games Played is Over
Altuve probably was stacking cups in the dugout as he missed his first game in a while. In fact, according to Brian McTaggart, Altuve has played in 202 consecutive games played. By not appearing in last night’s game, Mike Trout now has the longest current streak going. Because Altuve is the Astros best hitter and hitting above .400 on the road, you have to ask yourself why was he on the bench?
We have to keep in mind that Altuve is probably getting frustrated with how the season is going just like Astros fans are. He was thrown out of Sunday’s game for arguing a strikeout where he let his frustrations boil over. This was a perfect time for him to get a FULL day off to get his mind back focussed.
Next: Astros Plan For Yulieski Gurriel, What’s His ETA?
The offense missed him last night as they only scored one run on four hits. While the Astros playoff hopes have not sailed yet, the boat is starting to pull away a little. This team needs to perform better offensively, or they will be a spectator in the postseason.
***Stats from Fangraphs***