I was raised to think that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then I should say nothing at all. The Astros’ lineup put that teaching to the test on Friday night.
In all seriousness, if you were to tell me Houston hitters would finish the game with nine of the top ten hardest hit balls of the game, then I would’ve felt pretty good about their chances of scoring some runs.
Lo and behold, my feelings were completely wrong. Seth Lugo pitched eight scoreless innings for the Royals, striking out eight batters and walking one. He also allowed three hits, but those didn’t ultimately matter. Wasting Isaac Paredes’ two-out double in the fourth inning was discouraging. However, arguably the most frustrating aspect of the lineup’s performance, or the lack thereof, was wasting a leadoff man reaching base for three consecutive innings in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, and coming away with nothing. Cam Smith’s double play in the eighth, for example, felt like a dagger.
Overall, it was a fairly poor game for the lineup, even if the batted ball data provides the faintest silver lining. However, the pitching staff did enough to secure a win, though anything short of perfection wouldn’t have sufficed tonight. Hayden Wesneski wasn’t particularly overpowering, registering only one strikeout (six whiffs on 38 swings). He ultimately pitched five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. Against a stronger lineup, his performance might have had a different narrative, but that’s a what-if we can set aside for now. In this game, he didn’t deserve the loss; the lineup did. On the positive side, the trio of Steven Okert, Tayler Scott, and Bennett Sousa — the relief darlings of recent seasons — all pitched well, throwing a combined three shutout innings.
Fresh off an impressive 5-1 homestand against the Padres and Blue Jays, I was cautiously optimistic about the lineup. However, realistically, this offense is likely to struggle more than I care to admit as long as Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker continue their difficulties. Both sluggers have a sub-.632 OPS this season to date. No matter how you slice it, the Astros will continue to have inconsistent offensive performances until one or both of those hitters starts producing. Let’s see if they can turn it around on Saturday, with Framber Valdez and Michael Wacha starting for their respective teams.