6 Astros players whose struggles in September have hurt the team's playoff chances

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Having gone 9-13 so far in the month of September, it is safe to say that the final month of the season has been very disappointing for the Houston Astros. After they finally wrestled the division lead away from the Rangers and Mariners, they allowed the Rangers to play their way back into the race and Houston now finds themselves 2.5 games back in the AL West going into the final week of the season.

So who is to blame for the Astros' struggles in September? Well, that isn't as easy a question to answer as one might think. The pitching staff has born the brunt of the blame and Dusty Baker hasn't exactly pushed the right buttons with his game management, but it isn't like there haven't been some hitters that have stunk things up as well. So, we must dig deeper to find the biggest offenders.

Here are 6 Astros players whose struggles in September have hurt the team's playoff chances

The focus here is mostly going to be on players that had actual expectations of playing well. At this point, no one should be surprised that Martin Maldonado can't hit, so he doesn't make the list even though he clearly hasn't been pulling his weight. Some of these players haven't been terrible, but generally have been expected to do more and have come up short over the 2023 season's final month. It will make sense as this goes along.

Let's take a look at some of the Astros players that have come up short in September when the team really needed them.

Jeremy Peña

Overall, Jeremy Peña's sophomore campaign has been decent enough. He remains an excellent defender and his 2023 slash line of .261/.321/.381 and 96 wRC+ isn't that far off from the numbers he put up during his rookie season. However, the month of September has seen some of the more troubling offensive trends for him magnified.

While Jeremy is hitting .277 this month, his power output has continued to drop off in a big way with zero homers this month (he only has 10 this season overall) and he is slugging just .337 in September. When you combine that with his pre-existing refusal to draw walks, you have a guy who has posted just an 80 wRC+ during the season's final month when Houston could have really used the offensive boost.

Hunter Brown

Young pitchers will very often break your heart and Hunter Brown has been no exception in 2023. After putting up some really promising numbers in the first half of the season, Brown has fallen off in the second half and September in particular has been a nightmarish month for him.

In five starts this month, Hunter has posted a 9.14 ERA in 21.2 innings of work. While he has kept striking out guys at a high rate in September, he has also has a walk rate of 4.57 BB/9 and when you combine all of those free base runners with a tendency to give up hard contact, bad things tend to happen.

Jose Urquidy

In fairness to Urquidy, he has been dealt a rough hand in 2023. After a shoulder injury cost him a chunk of time this season, Jose has not been the same pitcher he once was since returning. The results were so rough that the team has used him exclusively as a reliever in September, but that hasn't made the results much better.

In four appearances in September, Urquidy has put up a shockingly bad 8.71 ERA in 10.1 innings of work with an 8.39 FIP that points to these struggles not just the result of bad luck in a small sample. At this point, it is fair to wonder whether or not the Astros should include him on their playoff roster, although they may not have a choice given how much their pitching depth has been tested this season.

Michael Brantley

Michael Brantley is another guy that has certainly struggled, but whose struggles are understandable. Brantley's recovery from shoulder surgery took longer than anyone after experiencing a setback in May. Since returning from the injured list, he has certainly looked like a guy that has been on the shelf for a while and his future with the team is officially in doubt.

Before Brantley got effectively shut down with soreness in his shoulder yet again, he really struggled in September. Hitting .265 isn't the worst to be sure and he did manage to crank out a couple homers, but a 91 wRC+ in 36 plate appearances isn't going to excite anyone and then there is the problem that he hasn't been able to stay on the field.

JP France

The Astros desperately needed someone on their pitching staff to step up this month. Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier have mostly done their jobs, but they are only two guys and have been far from perfect. One pitcher who Houston really needed to get more out of and haven't has been JP France.

After being really good through the month of July, France has fallen off a cliff lately. Giving up too many walks and struggling to put guys away has resulted in a 5.75 ERA for JP in September with a FIP that seems to indicate that he has been somewhat fortunate to be that good. France is likely never going to be a guy that misses many bats, but he has been punished this month for having all of these extra baserunners.

Justin Verlander

When the Astros traded for Justin Verlander at the trade deadline, the hope was that he would put Houston over the top and finally provide some much needed stability in their rotation. However, the month of September hasn't exactly gone according to plan for Verlander and the Astros leaving one to wonder if the Astros could start feeling some buyer's remorse.

In four starts this month, Verlander has posted a 5.19 ERA in 26 innings of work with a nearly matching 5.49 FIP. The good news is that he is still not walking anybody, but the big dropoff in his strikeout rate this season has continued and Justin has been giving up homers at a pretty alarming rate. This is still Justin Verlander we are talking about, so don't be surprised if he turns back time a bit in the playoffs. However, Father Time seems to have finally caught up with him and the end result has been a disappointing final month of the season when the Astros needed him the most.

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