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5 Astros players that have stunk it up so far in the ALDS against the Twins
The Astros have some players that need to pick up the pace and contribute in the ALDS and soon.
The Houston Astros had a prime opportunity in Game Two against the Twins to seize control of the ALDS and put themselves in position to quickly advance. Unfortunately, that did not happen as the Astros dropped Game Two and find themselves having to essentially play a three game series for their playoff lives with two of the games on the road.
So far, production has been a mixed bag when it comes to the Astros in the ALDS. Some guys like Yordan Alvarez, Justin Verlander, and Jose Altuve have absolutely showed out. There are others, though, that have been decidedly lackluster through the series' first two games. Here is a look at the Astros players that have not looked great to start the ALDS.
Kyle Tucker
Kyle Tucker has been one of the Astros' best players over the last few seasons. Since 2019, Tucker has averaged 20 homers and 16 steals a season with a .277/.349/.517 average slash line and nearly posted a 30/30 season in 2023. It is no wonder that the Astros would very much like to extend Tucker if at all possible.
Unfortunately, Kyle has not carried all of that production over to the postseason so far in 2023. Through the series first two games, Tucker is 1-7 with a walk and three strikeouts. At the end of the day, it is just two games and dumb things can happen in such a small sample. However, the playoffs are a small sample scenario and guys have to come up in these situations and unfortunately, Kyle has yet to do so.
Hector Neris
Game One of the ALDS was looking like the Astros were going to cruise to an easy victory. They were up 5-0 in the seventh inning and were bringing in one of their best relievers from 2023 to begin to close things out. However, that reliever was Hector Neris and things did not go to plan.
After recording just two outs in the seventh inning of that game, Neris had given up a pair of homers and ended up with four earned runs on three hits as his final line from his only appearance in the series so far. Whether it was the Twins having a great game plan, the distraction of the near Mariners brawl, or good ol' fashioned "baseball is dumb sometimes", Neris' disastrous outing very nearly cost Houston that game.
Martin Maldonado
It is hardly a surprise that Martin Maldonado has failed to contribute at the plate in the postseason. in 407 plate appearances in 2023, Maldonado hit .191 with a .606 OPS making him one of the worst offensive players in all of MLB with at least 400 plate appearances by fWAR ahead of just Jurickson Profar and Enrique Hernández.
However, it was also a mortal lock that Maldonado was going to get the bulk of the playing time behind the plate in the ALDS and the results were predictable as he has failed to record a hit in the series thus far. Maldonado did at least draw a walk in the first game, but one cannot help but wonder if Game Two would have gone differently if Yainer Diaz had gotten Maldonado's at-bats considering what Altuve and Yordan have been doing at the top of the lineup.
Framber Valdez
Coming off a stellar outing from Justin Verlander in Game One, Houston had to be feeling really good about throwing Framber Valdez on the mound against a Twins' offense that has been decidedly suspect this season. Valdez didn't quite match his production from 2022 this season, but he still posted a 3.45 ERA in almost 200 innings in 2023 while posting one of the best strikeout and walk rates of his career.
Unfortunately, Framber had little answer for Carlos Correa whose return to Houston this postseason has been a reminder of how good he can be under the bright lights of the playoffs. Instead of keeping the Astros in the game with Pablo Lopez dealing for the Twins, Houston found themselves down by five runs before Valdez was finally pulled from the game and they were not able to forge a comeback.
Alex Bregman
Production from the top of the lineup is absolutely critical in these must-win sorts of games and Jose Altuve have done their jobs in this series for sure. However, sandwiched between them in the lineup is Alex Bregman who has been decidedly less good.
The plus side here is that Bregman did score a pair of runs in Game One which is not nothing. Unfortunately, Bregman also only has one hit in the series so far, so the amount of table-setting he has done in the two-hole of the lineup has been limited to say the least. Bregman has to be an anchor for this Astros lineup and he has loads of playoff experience and success to draw from. If Houston is going to pull this series out, he is going to have to give the team more than he has through the first two games.
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