In last weeks article, we discussed the hot streak the Astros were on with winning 7 of their last 10 games. Recently, however, the Astros have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games, which includes a series loss to the current first place in the AL West Mariners. In this series, the Astros went 1-3, with all three of their losses coming on 2 or less runs. In fact, in the second and third games of the series, the Astros lost in late game situations. In the second game, the Astros lost due to set up man Ryan Pressly giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, in the 8th inning. Before this inning, the Astros were up 2-1, one can argue that a one run lead isn’t substantial enough to win a MLB game, but Pressly’s performance still had a negative affect on the ending of the game. In the third game, the Astros lost in extra innings as they weren’t able to score the runner on second in the 10th. This led to a walk-off sac fly by J.P. Crawford in the bottom of the inning following 2 walks given up by Taylor Scott, who has been stellar to start the season. I am mainly talking about this Mariners series to start this article because of the significance each series has. The Mariners and Rangers are the most important series for the Astros to win because they are the only two contenders in the division and they are currently challenging the Astros for the first spot in the AL West. But, we cannot stay hooked to the past, as the next series for the coming week await, and we get to see the Astros face off against the Twins, Cardinals, and Angels.
Jose Abreu Called Up
Before we discuss the upcoming series for the Astros, I want talk about the call up of Jose Abreu in the start of the Mariners series. Abreu ended the series 2-10 with an RBI and 5 strikeouts. To be honest, it’s hard to say what the Astros should to with Abreu. On one hand, you can send him to AAA until July to hopefully regain his confidence as it seems that little stint in the minors didn’t really help, or you battle through the grain and hope he can start getting back to his former MVP level of play. The hard part with Abreu is that he is making $39 million for the next two seasons, so it seems that if he doesn’t play we are wasting a bunch of money for no reason. In either case, there is a tough decision to be made, but I feel that the best case would be to sent him back down to the minors and let Jon Singleton start the next few games because Singleton has been putting up quality at-bats since Abreu’s departure to the minors.
Astros-Twins Series
With the beginning of the Twins series, the main things I will keep my eye on are the play of Jose Abreu and how management decides to play out the first base spot. In the first game, Jon Singleton looks to be starting unless there is a last minute switch-up. This shows a potential for an alternation of Abreu and Singleton at that first base spot, which would be interesting for both the fans and the organization. On top of this, I will also be looking at the continuation of Chas McCormick’s return to the lineup due to the quiet start he has had. Overall, this series should be fun to watch because of the return of former star Astro Carlos Correa. Hopefully, the Astros can win this series to try and close the gap they currently endure.
Cardinals and Angels Series
Since these series are decently far away from the present, I will talk about them in the same section. The Astros play the Cardinals and Angels three times each over the next week and a half. Due to the Angels losing Mike Trout to a knee injury, I expect this series to hopefully be at least an Astros series victory. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are a pretty well matched team coming into Houston. As it stands today, they are 27-27 and placed second in the NL Central and 0.5 games behind of a wild card spot. This places the Cardinals in dire need to win games to have a chance at making the post season, so the three game series between the Astros and Cardinals should contain some back and forth battles like we saw in the Mariners series. Overall, though, as an optimistic Astros fan, I see them winning the series because they are matched up better and will hopefully will be coming off of momentum from beating the Twins a couple of times.
The Return of Injured Pitchers
As I am currently writing this, news has broke out that Luis Garcia has thrown a live bullpen today, a very positive sign for the return of the veteran starter. On top of this, Garcia is continuing his rehab in West Palm Beach to continue his overall rehab, as reported by Astros insider Chandler Rome.
Something to keep in mind, however, is that Joe Espada still has not given an update on Jose Uqruidy or Cristian Javier yet. In fact, when Espada was asked by reporters if their UCL’s were intact, he didn’t give a response, something that gives a sense of worry to Astros fans. Looking on the bright side of pitching, Spencer Arrighetti pitched 6 innings of 2 hit baseball yesterday, which could be a sign that he is warming up to MLB hitting.
In addition, Hunter Brown pitched the second game of the Astros series against the Mariners in which he went 6 innings of 4 hit baseball, allowing only one run. With the return of Urquidy, Javier, and Garcia in question, we fans can at least be optimistic about Brown and Arrighetti.
Conclusions
Over the next week or more, the main story for the Astros will be the management of Jose Abreu and the injuries to the Astros’ starting pitchers. These factors will have a substatial role on the Astros potentially going on another hot streak and closing the gap between them and the Mariners for the top spot in the AL West.
Houston Sports in the Know 
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