Astros News: Houston bounces back, Kyle Tucker update, Yainer Diaz hot streak

The Houston Astros came into the weekend needing a strong series against the Diamondbacks. They had just gotten swept by a Reds team of very questionable quality, and really needed to make some progress towards shutting the door in the AL West race. Playing well against one of the tougher opponents on their docket for the rest of the season would go a long way towards making the end of the 2024 campaign much less "interesting".

While it was "mostly" mission accomplished over the weekend and Houston did get Kyle Tucker back, the actual returns from their series against the Arizona were a bit more mixed.

Astros rebound from sweep to take series from Diamondbacks, but not all the news was good

Most Astros fans would agree that anytime you can take two out of three against a playoff contender, you take that 10 times out of 10. That is exactly what Houston accomplished last weekend, which is great news with decidedly less intimidating series against the Athletics and Angels coming up.

However, the Astros probably should have swept the Diamondbacks, except for the fact that the aging Justin Verlander absolutely imploded on Sunday in the Astros' 12-6 loss. Still, Houston now has a 4.5-game lead in the AL West and remain the betting favorites to win the division, especially since the Mariners don't seem to have much interest in making a late season push.

Kyle Tucker is back, but he is most certainly not at 100%

When the Astros revealed that Kyle Tucker was returning to the lineup last week, it came on the heels of the reveal that he had actually fractured his shin, which explained why he was out for so long. There was also some understandable concern that he would be limited for a while as he continued to recover from what was a pretty serious injury.

Those concerns proved to be accurate, as not only did the Astros sit him for a game over the weekend, but Houston continues to appraise Tucker's playing time on a day-to-day basis, due to the fact that he is not at 100% yet. On the plus side, he did reach base twice on Sunday and drove in a run, so hopefully he continues to trend in the right direction.

Yainer Diaz's hot streak continues to fly under the radar

Astros fans were understandably excited when Houston finally shed themselves of Martin Maldonado and handed primary catching duties over to Yainer Diaz after his strong rookie season. After a slow start to the season, Diaz got back on track and started contributing at the plate the way everyone thought he would.

However, his production lately has been even better than the Astros could have hoped. After being among the Astros' best hitters in June and July, it looks like Diaz is heating up yet again. Over his last 21 games, Diaz is slashing .318/.344/.494 with four homers. Only drawing four walks over the span certainly has held him back, but fans have to love what they are seeing out of Diaz beyond that.

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