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The Houston Astros need a reset. The hitting has been attrocious to begin the season, and the stats bear that out. Houston ranks among the worst in the American League in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. Only the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox have been worse since the season got underway three weeks ago.
While Thursday's off-day could be a shot in the arm for a lineup looking to come unglued, the Astros' upcoming matchup against the San Diego Padres will not be pleasant. As luck would have it, Houston will be going up against two of the Friars' best hurlers during the three-game series—both of whom could be Cy Young candidates this season.
The Astros better get on track on Friday night against Padres' left-hander Kyle Hart because Houston's lineup will face an absolute gauntlet over the weekend with both Michael King and Dylan Cease scheduled to take the hill for San Diego.
The Astros picked the absolute worst time to hit the rest button with Padres' starters Dylan Cease and Michael King coming to Houston
Hart, a 32-year-old journeyman who has just seven major league games under his belt, will be on the mound Friday. With Yu Darvish and Matt Waldron on the IL, San Diego is struggling to fill out the rotation right now and Hart is one of their placeholders. In other words, Houston's bats will have nine innings to figure things out before the Padres' dynamic duo toes the rubber.
Saturday's game at Daikin Park will feature King versus Hayden Wesneski. The former New York Yankees reliever has become a frontline starter since joining San Diego last season and owns a sparkling 2.42 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 22 ⅓ innings. King went the full nine against the Colorado Rockies his last time out and punched out eight while allowing just two hits.
Michael King completes the shutout! pic.twitter.com/SuMXdYvlYw
— MLB (@MLB) April 13, 2025
Cease will face off against Framber Valdez during Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. Cease has gotten off to a slow start in 2025, but after finishing as top-5 vote-getter in the race for the Cy Young Award in two of the past three seasons, Astros hitters know all too well how overpowering the Padres right-hander can be when his slider is working.
But while the schedule makers did the Astros no favors this weekend, Houston has choice but to put their best foot forward against the Padres pair of aces. The Astros were able to scratch out a win in St. Louis earlier this week despite scoring just six tuns in three games. Houston needs the struggling bats of Yordan Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, and Christian Walker to snap out of it. Otherwise, Joe Espada's got a long weekend ahead of him.