The Crawfish Boxes 22 hours ago
September Woes Continue, Astros Drop Another Game To The Royals
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Hear me out: No more personal catchers. Revolutionary, right? There wasn’t much to like about this game, at least from an Astros’ point of view. Framber Valdez couldn’t replicate his success against the Royals from his last start on September 17, when he held the opposing lineup to one run across seven innings. Instead, a passed ball from Martín Maldonado against the first hitter of the game (Maikel Garcia) set an ominous tone for his encore performance. Kansas City sure enough pounced and scored four first-inning runs in quick...
Royals Review Sep 22, 2023
Royals take advantage of Astros miscues for 7-5 win
Photo by Bob Levey/ The Royals score seven runs on just five hits. The Royals scored seven runs on just five hits and defeated the Houston Astros for the third time in four tries with a 7-5 win on Friday night. The Royals jumped on Framber Valdez with four runs in the first inning. Maikel Garcia struck out to start the game, but reached first on a passed ball. Bobby Witt Jr. would make it pay with an RBI triple to put the Royals on the board. After a Nelson Velázquez walk, MJ Melendez singled home another run. Edward Olivares jumped on the first pitch for a double down...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 17, 2023
Astros Avoid Sweep, Best Royals 7-1
Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports Framber Valdez shoved and did something unexpected in the meantime. Framber Valdez is traditionally known for utilizing the following mix of pitches, in order of highest to lowest usage: Sinker, curveball, changeup, and cutter. He mixes it up depending on the exact situation, but you can generally see the pattern here. In fact, there is only one start this season when Valdez threw another pitch more than his sinker in a start, back on August 1 when he threw his no-hitter against the Guardians. In that start, the left-hander threw his...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 12, 2023
Astros Crawfish Boil: September 12, 2023
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports Welcome to the Tuesday Boil! Welcome to the Tuesday Boil! Houston Astros News Powerful Astros uncharacteristically quiet in shutout loss (MLB) “This team is absolutely maddening” - MLB Twitter reacts as Houston Astros suffer DISAPPOINTING 4-0 loss against (FirstSportz) Astros insider: Framber Valdez finding a balance with his cutter (Houston Chronicle) Houston Astros star Jose Altuve earns AL Player of the Week off of 6 home runs vs. Texas, San Diego (ABC 13) Here’s how Astros red-hot offense now measures up to league’s best...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 11, 2023
Game 145 Thread. September 10, 2023, 7:10 CT. A’s @ Astros
Photo by Carmen Mandato/ The Astros send their best, Framber Valdez against the worst, the Oakland Athletics The Astros need to make hay. They play nine of their next 12 games against the two worst teams in baseball, the A’s and Royals, starting with the A’s tonight. The Astros are 2.5 games ahead of the Mariners, with one less game remaining to play than the Mariners. The Astros and Mariners will face off in Seattle in the second to last series of the year in what could decide the AL West. But probably not if the Astros take care of business in the next 12-game...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 10, 2023
Astros Best Padres 7-5, A Home Win...Finally
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports Honestly, I am not sure what to make of the Astros’ rotation moving forward, other than Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. The trio of Cristian Javier, Hunter Brown, and J.P. France have all had their issues in recent weeks, with Javier and Brown, in particular, having a difficult time pitching more than five innings in a given start, if that. José Urquidy remains an option, but how confident do you feel about him right now? Saturday’s start against the Padres demonstrated again how quickly it may fall apart for the Astros whenever...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 5, 2023
Game 140 Thread. Sept. 5, 2023, 7:05 CT. Astros @ Rangers
Yainer Diaz (R) #21 of the Houston Astros receives a hand from Michael Brantley #23 after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park. Neither player is in tonight’s lineup. | Photo by Bob Levey/ Two aces. Framber Valdez against Nathan Eovaldi The Astros enter this critical game with two bats tied behind their back. Yes, I beat the dead horse yet again. No Brantley for the second day in a row. And no Yainer. For context, at a time when many everyday starters have over 600 PAs, Diaz has 373. His wRC+ is 125, 45th in...
The Crawfish Boxes Aug 31, 2023
Astros Crawfish Boil: August 31, 2023
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports Welcome to the Thursday Boil! Welcome to the Astros Thursday Crawfish Boil. Houston Astros News MLB roundup: Astros complete first sweep in Boston (sportsnaut.com) Astros act of kindness: Alex Bregman delivers team gear to 5-year-old cancer-fighting fan Braxton Castillo (abc13.com) Astros: Ryan Pressly drops savage reminder to rest of MLB after sweeping Red Sox (clutchpoints.com) Framber Valdez helps Astros to 7-4 win over Red Sox and first sweep at Fenway Park (idahopress.com) Astros Earning Sweep At Fenway Park ‘Kick In Gut’ To...
Minneapolis Star-Tribune Aug 30, 2023
Framber Valdez helps Astros to 7-4 win over Red Sox and first sweep at Fenway Park
The defending World Series champions are heading into September in position to make another long postseason run.
Bless You Boys Aug 25, 2023
Tigers 4, Astros 1: Oh no. Oh no-no. Oh no-no, no no no.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/ Then some ninth-inning heroics from Parker Meadows. Happy Friday, Tigers fans, where the only thing that could stand in the way of the Tigers besting the Astros was that they couldn’t get a hit to save their lives. No hits. Like zero. Perhaps it was even... a no-hitter? Not quite, thanks it a certain pinch-hitter, and a thrilling final act, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at how that all shaped up. The pitching match-up was Matt Manning vs. Framber Valdez. Both of the pitchers were in excellent form tonight. So much so there...
