The Crawfish Boxes Sep 30, 2023
José Urquidy Thrives On Short Notice, Astros Best Diamondbacks 2-1
Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports Forgive me if my confidence in José Urquidy was shaken before Friday’s game against the Diamondbacks. I mean, a 5.84 ERA/5.52 FIP in 57 innings isn’t exactly inspiring for any pitcher. With J.P. France suddenly unavailable due to a family emergency, Urquidy was the choice to fill in. Sure, Hunter Brown was also available on regular rest, but his lackluster second half has made his remaining in the rotation in a tight postseason race a rather untenable situation. Even if the series opener in Arizona was a bullpen game for the Astros, it...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 29, 2023
Game 160 Thread. September 29, 2023, 8:40 CT. Astros @ Arizona
Photo by Carmen Mandato/ The Play-ins are underway. The Astros need to win two out the remaining three games to ensure a WC playoff berth. Just one win in this series leaves the Astros in a very tenuous position. See Clack’s article HERE. J.P. France of the Astros goes against D-Back ace Zac Gallen. The Diamondbacks also feel they must win to wrap up their own WC berth. Every hoped-for scenario for the AStros fell through yesterday unless you’re banking on an unlikely Rangers collapse and the Astros winning the AL West through the backdoor. Otherwise, the Mariners...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 23, 2023
So Much For The Activated Playoff Mode, Astros Drop Another To The Royals
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports Most. Frustrating. Season. Ever. Or pretty close to it. Either way, this situation is not great. Once again, the Astros couldn’t solve the Royals. The 102-loss Royals. Yes, you read that right. Former Astro Jordan Lyles lowered his ERA from 6.49 to 6.24 with five scoreless innings, limiting his former organization to two hits and two walks. J.P. France pitched relatively well, allowing two runs on seven hits and a lone walk. Bennett Sousa looks like a potential bullpen piece moving forward. Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker hitting...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 23, 2023
Game 155 Thread. September 23, 2023, 6:10 CT. Royals @ Astros
Chas McCormick #20 of the Houston Astros hits a three-run home run in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals | Photo by Bob Levey/ J.P. France against Jordan Lyle in another of eight remaining must-win games
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 16, 2023
Game 149 Thread. Sept. 16, 2023, 6:10 CT. Astros @ Royals
Photo by Jamie Squire/ Rookie J.P. France takes the mound in another game with big playoff implications. The Astros retain 1st place by one- half game despite losing three of their last four games to last place teams. The Astros face the Royals' next pitcher tonight. (see below)
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 12, 2023
The puzzle that is the Astros’ rotation
Astros starter J.P. France reacts as Padres’ hitter Matt Carpenter rounds the bases. | Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Figuring out the rotation and factors which might affect it The Astros willl need to use 3 - 4 rounds of the pitching rotation before the end of the season. And, given the playoff race, they all are important games. Assuming the Astros make the playoffs, there is also a question as to who will be the starters in those games. But some confounding issues make the starting pitcher puzzle harder than it has been in recent years. After the magnificent...
The Crawfish Boxes Sep 10, 2023
Game 144 Thread. September 10, 2023, 1:10 CT. Padres @ Astros
Photo by Carmen Mandato/ J.P. France goes for the series win and hopefully to extend the Astros’ lead in the AL West I don’t know about the batting order, but these are the players who should be in the lineup every day.
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 7, 2023
Bryan Abreu Continues To Shine
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports Considering the Astros’ profile in recent seasons, there isn’t much in terms of best-kept secrets on the roster. Chas McCormick and 147 wRC+ may qualify as one on the position player side. J.P. France stood out, well, prior to his recent starts. Could I include veteran Héctor Neris, even if his peripherals paint a somewhat different picture? Probably not, although he probably deserves more attention for the bullpen’s success. But there is one pitcher on this roster who I feel deserves more attention without a second thought: Bryan...
