The Crawfish Boxes

Jeremy Pena congratulates Mauricio Dubon on his walk off single against he Orioles. | Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports The up and down nature of Pena’s season....and an update on Fangraphs playoff odds “There is no heavier burden than great potential”—Charlie Brown When I was 20-something years old, someone pinned that cartoon to the bulletin board above my desk. And it may be my favorite Charlie Brown quote. (See cartoon here.) Maybe it portrays fans’ depiction of shortstop Jeremy Pena. Did Pena’s World Series MVP award set the bar too high for fans’...

He is an Astro immortal. These will go fast. On September 26th, 1981, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan threw his 5th career no-hitter and the lone one he recorded with the Houston Astros. To honor this legendary achievement, FOCO will be releasing a Nolan Ryan Houston Astros No-Hitter Bobblehead at 10:00 am CT, on the anniversary of the day he threw hit. (If you’re reading this, it’s on sale if still available.) The bobblehead features Nolan in a pitching pose out of the stretch, wearing the same classic Astros uniform he wore in the actual game. He stands atop a thematic...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Welcome to the Tuesday Boil! Welcome to the Tuesday Crawfish Boil. Houston Astros News Injuries & Moves: Brantley available off the bench Vintage Verlander leads Astros past Mariners Astros 2023: Is it time for the white flag? (chipalatta) 6 Astros players whose struggles in September have hurt the team’s playoff chances (CTH) Astros insider: An early swing ‘huge’ in critical win over Mariners (Houston Chronicle) The Astros finally gave a starter some breathing room. Justin Verlander did the rest (The Athletic) Toronto Blue Jays...

Photo by Steph Chambers/ Alvarez and Tucker provide the dynamite in 5-1 win It’s a good thing the Astros have the road-field advantage for the rest of the season. They just might have a chance for the playoffs after all. Was this the same team tonight that sleep-walked its way to a recent 3-9 tailspin? After getting swept by the last-place Royals at home this weekend, tonight two solo homers and perhaps the best pitching we’ve seen from Justin Verlander since his 2019 no-hitter put the Mariners a game and a half behind the Astros for the third Wild Card...

Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via This series IS the playoffs At this point, with six games remaining, the Astros have only the narrowest chance of winning the AL West. They are 2.5 games behind the Rangers. If they win four of their remaining six games and the Rangers lose five of their remaining seven, the two teams tie and the Astros hold the tiebreaker. Of course, it would be better if the Astros won out from here on. And it starts tonight against the Astros’ main competitor for the third Wild Card slot, the Mariners. The Astros are a half-game ahead of the...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports In yesterday’s start against the Royals, Hunter Brown allowed four home runs across three innings, essentially putting the onus on the lineup to mount another comeback. Spoiler alert: The Astros ultimately fell a run short. Brown’s performance also enabled an embarrassing sweep, arguably one of the worst in recent franchise history. Decidedly not great. In other words, it was a bad weekend for the Astros. It has also been a subpar four months for Brown. Around this time a year ago Brown had the appearance of someone who had a bright...

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 18, 2023: Rylan Bannon #38 of the Houston Astros throws toward first base during the fourth inning of a spring training game against the New York Mets at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 18, 2023 in West Palm Beach, Florida. | Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via See how the prospects performed last night. Another day of minor league action is in the book. See the results below. AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (61-89) lost 10-3 (BOX SCORE) Endersby started for Sugar Land and allowed 3 runs over 2 innings of work. The...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports Welcome to the Monday Boil! Welcome to the Monday Boil! The sky isn’t falling. The Houston Astros will be ok, and so will you. Go outside and look at some trees. There’s 13 dead teams, and the Astros are still among the living. Houston Astros News The Astros are playing for their postseason lives. Do they ‘have the stomach’ for this? (The Athletic) Astros head to Seattle reeling from 1-5 homestand (MLB) Astros enter crunch time in tight AL West division race (Houston Chronicle) Houston Astros postseason odds take a major dip after...

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports The Astros are looking to literally save their season in this three-game set against the Seattle Mariners. The Astros are visiting the Mariners for three games to start this week. The Houston Astros just finished their final homestand of the season, going 1-5 versus the visiting Baltimore Orioles (1-2) and the Kansas City Royals (0-3). Now, with their season on the line, they’re visiting the similarly desperate Seattle Mariners in what is essentially a postseason series for the third and final wildcard spot. The last time the Astros...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports I don’t even know where to begin. First, this series against the Royals was an absolute embarrassment. Even more so than the first one, which I didn’t even think was possible. The Astros, for lack of a better term, have completely soiled the bed in September. An all-around faceplant. I think I am being nice, too, with that description. There are multiple angles to approach the struggles of this season. I mean, the whole Yainer Díaz and Martín Maldonado situation is truly bizarre. Lineup construction is another issue. With that said,...

Photo by Bob Levey/ Hunter Brown needs to get right fast today to keep the Astros in the the playoff picture Two weeks ago the Astros looked like a shoo-in for the Playoffs. Ahead in the AL West and looking to close out the season with nine games against the two worst teams in baseball. Well, they’ve lost all three series with those teams and are praying they don’t get swept today by the Royals at home in the ninth of those games. The Stros have lost seven of their last ten games and a loss today and a Mariners win puts the Astros on the outside looking in for the...

DETROIT, MI - AUGUST 26: Ronel Blanco #56 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 26, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. | Photo by Duane Burleson/ See how the prospects performed last night. Another day of minor league action is in the book. See the results below. AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (61-88) won 5-2 (BOX SCORE) Blanco started for Sugar Land and was great tossing 6 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts. The offense got on the board in the 2nd inning on a Julks 3 run HR. El Paso got 2 runs in the 8th but the offense got both...

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...

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

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...