I seriously hope you can see that the title is a facetious comment; the first person I told it to did not…
Houston sports fans are fickle, which is a nice way of saying they are &%#@#&$ crazy (myself included). Going in to the season the Astros were a favorite to contend for the AL Pennant, and the city was buzzing. An unexpected playoff run and a Sports Illustrated cover brought national attention to a team that was little more than a laughing stock just a couple of years ago. The bandwagon runneth over…then the actual season started.
I like to picture Astros fandom over the last month like a bar you would go to on a Friday night. The first weekend of April it was so packed the Fire Marshall was outside regulating who could come in and out. There was a line of guys like me wearing their new Astros Spring Training hats standing outside the velvet ropes, dreaming of what it was like inside. When you finally get in it takes 45 minutes to get your drink, and even though it’s not what you ordered, you are just excited to be there. A week later the crowd has thinned out thanks to a 2-4 record. You find yourself a little relieved because many of the boisterous people who aren’t usually there have left at this point. It’s not so crowded and wild, but you’re happy because you can finally get a table. After getting swept by the Rangers there are only three or four tables of occupancy left, and you begin to feel lonely. Your friends are texting you from this other bar (maybe in Arlington) that they say is hopping and the place to be. However, you know that those people aren’t real friends because if they were they never would have left your bar in the first place. Finally, after an 11-1 drubbing by the Mariners it is just you, a bartender that can’t go home yet, and a Huey Lewis and the News cover band who can’t even get the words to The Heart of Rock ‘N Roll right. Oh how things have changed in such a short amount of time.
I of course know that I am not the only Astros fan remaining out there, that there are thousands of die-hard fans that will love and support this team no matter what the outcome. However, Houston fans, we know you are famous for abandoning a team after a slow start. We all remember when the Texans had Super Bowl aspirations until Matt Schaub changed the offensive strategy to throwing it to the other team instead of his own in 2013. You went to his house and berated him and his family…not cool. However this Astros team is not the Texans of 2013. They have a great mix of young talent and veteran leadership (Jose Altuve qualifying as both) and still have a bright future ahead of them. Lest we forget that last season was a surprise in everyone’s eyes. Everyone expected them to continue their slow improvement from the abysmal 2011-2013 years when all of a sudden they lead the AL West for most of the season. Maybe this year is what last year was supposed to be, then they can win the World Series in 2017 like Sports Illustrated predicted. Despite the fact that my concern level on a scale of 1-10 for the immediate future is about a seven, it is a zero for the long-term future.
Going in to the season I was concerned about the lack of pitching depth and improvement at the corner infield positions that the Astros possessed. A hot start from Tyler White (despite the recent 4/40 stretch) and the possible promotions of A.J. Reed and/or Colin Moran have cooled my worries about the corners, but the pitching anxiety is very real. Lance McCullers has yet to pitch this year, and we all hope that his return will help solidify a rotation that has severely struggled. Also, the potential of Chris Devenski transitioning his success so far as a reliever into the rotation is exciting. All of this on top of the idea that the team could be a buyer once again at the All-Star break, hopefully looking for some help in the rotation. There are some very good things on the horizon that fans have to look forward to, that could help them forget that the team has averaged winning only one game each series through the month of April.
That being said, the Astros have endured a momentous slide down the MLB Power Rankings (which mean nothing) over the past few weeks. Despite having the AL Player of the Week (or Co-Player of the Week) for the first three weeks, the team has disappointed fans in almost every aspect; the win column being the most important. But that is no reason for fans to start calling for people’s jobs and demanding major changes. Rebuilding was a slow process, and cultivating a winner will be slow as well. I’m not saying that everyone should curtail their expectations though. This team can still win a World Series this year.
So don’t freak out, the Astros will improve. If they don’t do it this year, they will have an even better opportunity to do it next year. I’m not guaranteeing a World Series title, but perennial contention is coming soon. But what if they don’t? Well, I’m still going to wear my Astros hat every day like I have for most of my life. If I could live through the comments I received between 2011 and 2013 while living in Rangers Country, I can endure anything. I couldn’t choose where I was born, the Astros were forced upon me…and I love them. Because of that I will be patient and know in my heart that they will improve. My only hope is that my fellow Astros fans can be as patient as I am so we can all enjoy the fruits of their success together.
There are a few do’s and don’ts however that they need to be aware of.
Do
- Trust in the talent you have
- Correa, Altuve, Keuchel, Springer, and Rasmus could be All-Stars, trust that they will play that way every single day.
- Give some young guys a shot to make a real difference now, don’t give up on them too early
- Correa won ROY after coming up in June, and there are a couple of guys in Fresno that could do the same thing given the opportunity.
- Guys like Devenski, Michael Feliz, Joe Musgrove, and Ken Giles could all possibly play roles in a playoff run (It might be a little too early for Francis Martes). Even with some early struggles all of these guys are still developing and one or two of them could become key pieces to improve the pitching staff.
- Become a buyer at the trade deadline looking for some help in the rotation
- Don’t give away too much, but one good arm similar to the Kazmir pick up last year could make a huge difference
Do Not
- Overcorrect by selling off big time pieces for major league talent rentals
- The farm system is full of great prospects that could be a large part of the team’s future. Some prospects will be traded for upgrades, but it is important not to sell the farm for what could turn in to short-term success. I don’t think Jeff Luhnow is dumb enough to do this, but we’ve seen other teams do it before.
- Think that you can get through this season with only Jason Castro as an “effective” catcher
- I use quotes because he hasn’t been very effective in the field or at the plate thus far this year. I’m not saying trade for Jonathan Lucroy, but it may be giving Max Stassi (when healthy) a little more time to try to grow as a Major League catcher. I know a lot of the pitchers like Castro, but he has been a real sore spot on a bad team so far.
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