HOUSTON — Morale is higher within the Houston Astros’ clubhouse, and merchandise may be more popular inside the team store with Carlos Correa back in the fold. His mere presence became a prominent storyline across this six-game homestand, one intended to be a Correa-centered celebration of this club’s revitalized pursuit of a pennant.
It concluded with a clunker, exposing the truth that trading for Correa can’t hide. The immaculate vibes initiated by his arrival aren’t apparent on the field, where the Astros are 7-8 since stunning the baseball world and shifting their outlook for the next three seasons with a trade deadline blockbuster.
Correa is far from the problem — if anything, he’s been one of the few bright spots of this mediocre stretch — but for better or worse, he is the face of Houston’s trade deadline activity, and his arrival is an inflection point for this peculiar season.
Correa’s return to Houston concluded with a 12-0 bludgeoning by the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, finishing a six-game homestand in which the Astros were outscored 44-17 and, on Friday, came within four outs of having a perfect game thrown against them.
Somehow, Houston won three games to salvage a split and stay at least tied atop the American League West. Solace can be taken in that, but concerns about the club’s extended period of pedestrian play are valid.
Since finishing a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 6 and surging to 20 games above .500, the Astros are 14-20. Only five teams entered Sunday with 20 losses across that same stretch: the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals.
Two of those teams orchestrated trade deadline fire sales. Another may be the worst major-league team ever assembled. This is company no contending club should want to keep, but here stand the Astros, a team that pushed all-in at the trade deadline and must start playing like it.
Cristian Javier left Sunday’s game after three innings due to an illness. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Shawn Dubin’s dreadful return from the injured list continued on Sunday, a game in which Houston needed length in relief of starter Cristian Javier, who fell ill and finished just three innings.
Dubin instead faced four batters. All of them scored. In three appearances since the Astros activated him on Tuesday, Dubin has surrendered 11 runs and secured five outs. Jordan Westburg’s three-run home run on Sunday is the third Dubin has allowed since returning from a 44-game absence caused by a forearm strain.
Dubin is the closest thing to a long man Houston has in its bullpen. Rarely do those relievers generate much attention, but the role is more pronounced for an Astros team full of starting pitchers in various states of recovery from substantial injuries.
Even if Javier didn’t get sick on Sunday, it stood to reason he would have a shorter leash than a traditional starter. If or when Luis Garcia returns from a 27-month Tommy John surgery absence, he will be in a similar predicament. Spencer Arrighetti, who is scheduled to start Monday’s series opener in Detroit, has failed to throw more than five innings in either of his first two starts back from a fractured thumb.
The Astros must find someone able to piggyback a planned short start or step in during a situation like Sunday’s and deliver length. Garcia, J.P. France or Lance McCullers Jr. could become a factor when they’re ready to return to a major-league mound.
Javier’s illness forced the Astros into an impossible situation. Dubin recording even four or five outs would’ve been welcomed. Procuring just one put the pitching staff in a putrid position and almost ensured roster changes are looming. How Houston will engineer them is another matter.
Optioned pitchers must remain in Triple A for 15 days before being summoned back to the major leagues — unless they’re replacing a player going on the injured list. None of John Rooney, AJ Blubaugh, Colton Gordon or Nick Hernandez have been demoted long enough to be called up on Monday. Logan VanWey is the only pitcher on the 40-man roster who could be called up before Monday’s game without putting a pitcher on the injured list.
Jordan Weems, already designated for assignment once this season, threw 37 pitches and procured one out on Sunday in a seven-run game. His hold on a roster spot is, at best, tenuous. Swapping those two names would make sense.
Rooney was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on Aug. 4, meaning he could return as early as Tuesday without the Astros putting anyone on the injured list. Blubaugh got optioned on Aug. 5.
Bringing back Blubaugh when he’s eligible may become a foregone conclusion. He aced an audition in Miami last week, throwing five innings of two-run ball out of the bullpen while bumping 98 mph with his fastball. He threw 56 pitches on Friday in Triple A, meaning he could be well-rested when the Astros arrive in Baltimore this weekend for a four-game set.
Dubin’s struggles are so pronounced that Blubaugh’s potential arrival may prompt discussion about the viability of his spot on the active roster — or at least his presence in any sort of leverage situation. That Dubin does not have minor-league options remaining may be his saving grace.
The only members of Houston’s bullpen that do have minor-league options are Bryan King and Bennett Sousa, two southpaws who have all but secured leverage roles in the wake of Josh Hader’s shoulder injury. Neither is in danger of a demotion, even for a team desperate for fresh arms.
Jesús Sánchez is batting .173 since joining the Astros. (Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
Jesús Sánchez feels “weird.” Asked on Sunday to elaborate, the effervescent outfielder said through an interpreter that “it’s difficult to explain, it just feels weird.”
Sánchez swears it is not his new surroundings, where he’s fallen into an ill-timed slump. The deadline acquisition went hitless during his Daikin Park debut, finishing 0-for-16 during a six-game homestand in which the Astros were starved for offense.
“I’m trying to find myself,” Sánchez said after finishing 0-for-4 in Sunday’s loss. “You have to keep your head high and try to get some good at-bats.”
Sánchez is 2-for-27 since the Astros’ three-game series at loanDepot Park, where the longtime Marlin was able to catch up with old teammates and thrive in a familiar setting. Logic suggests the whirlwind of changing teams and clubhouses may have set in for the 27-year-old outfielder.
“I think it’s just a slump, and that can happen to anyone,” Sánchez said. “I don’t think it’s the team because the team has helped me a lot and given me a lot of confidence.”
Sánchez has struck out seven times during this slump. His 42.5 percent groundball rate in August is lower than his career average, but the Astros are trying to implement some changes in hopes Sánchez can elevate the baseball with more authority.
“Trying to make him stay shorter and through the ball, kind of elevate some of those,” Espada said. “Right now, he’s just around and beating the ball into the ground. He’s getting good pitches to hit, just have to make that tiny adjustment.”
Sánchez’s energy is infectious and he continues to sport one of the widest smiles in Houston’s clubhouse. Within a span of seven innings on Sunday, Sánchez robbed both a grand slam and a three-run home run with leaping catches at the right field wall. After both, he watched the replay on the scoreboard and applauded himself.
(Top photo of Carlos Correa: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)