a long run

Houston, prepare for an Astros season full of twists and turns

Now's not the time to give up on Carlos Correa.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

If you thought this was going to be a smooth ride this Astros season you couldn’t have been more wrong. What you thought you could count on has turned to mud and what you thought was an ugly duckling is really a beautiful swan.

And it’s not over yet, There’s still a month left to this season. Who knows how it’ll end up but this is why you can never speak in absolutes at any point in a 162-game season.

This season started with unbelievable starting pitching, well, everyone but Dallas Keuchel. He got off to a miserable start. The rest of the rotation was straight fire. Remember when Justin Verlander was a lock to win the Cy Young? Sixteen starts in he was 9-2 with a 1.60 ERA and 15 of those 16 were quality starts. He led the league with 130 strikeouts.

Since then he’s had 12 starts with a 4-6 record and given up 34 runs for a 4.46 ERA. Only half of those have been quality starts but the most alarming part is the 18 home runs he’s given up over those 12 starts. You don’t hear nearly as much about the Cy Young these days but with Chris Sale’s injuries, Verlander is definitely still in the hunt thanks to that fast start.

On the other end of that spectrum is Keuchel. At one point it looked like he was going to have a tough time making the postseason rotation. On June 10th he went 4 ⅓ and gave up 6 runs, 5 earned which ballooned his ERA to 4.45. He was 3-8 on the year on a team that was 17 games over .500. In a contract year it looked like this would be Dallas’ last season in Houston.

Something somewhere somehow changed after that start and he’s been the Astros best pitcher over the last two months. Since then he’s 7-2 with a 2.74 ERA. All but three of his 14 starts have been quality starts. He’s back to clearly being the Astros number two starter.

There was a time this season when J.D. Davis, Derek Fisher, and Tyler White were prominent in this lineup. Two of those three have gone by the wayside while Tyler White has not only played his way into an everyday role, he’s become one of their best hitters. That’s not an understatement.

Early on I’d get tweets about White in the lineup, how pitiful it was and how he should go back to Fresno. I don’t get those anymore. While he has a smaller sample size than most of the the guys in the lineup, he’s been so good that if the playoffs started today you could make the argument that he should be the team’s cleanup hitter.

White leads the team in OPS and slugging. He’s second in on-base, batting average and home runs per at-bat. Only Evan Gattis hits homers at a better rate but White destroys him in every other category which is why Gattis doesn’t see the field anymore. Remember when Gattis knocked in 30 runs in June in 98 at bats? He’s had about half that many at bats this month and at this rate probably even fewer in September.

Remember when Marwin Gonzalez was costing himself millions in a contract year? Not anymore. At the end of May he was floundering with a .612 OPS. This month it’s 1.049, second only to White who needed a ninth inning walk-off home run yesterday to pass him. Good stuff.

Remember when the bullpen was a mess and there was maybe one guy (Colin McHugh) you could count on? Not the case anymore. I know Osuna has his issues. He will blow some saves. You’ve got to live with that. But a 7th, 8th, 9th of Pressly, Rondon, Osuna or Pressly, Osuna, Rondon or McHugh, Pressly, Rondon or McCullers, Rondon, Osuna or Sipp, McHugh, Rondon or whatever combination A.J. chooses to use is actually not scary anymore.

There will be hiccups — always are — but at least you don’t think that you have to use a starter in relief to get anyone out this postseason.

I know Carlos Correa looks bad right now. His average is below .250. He looks lost at the plate. He shouldn’t be hitting clean-up for anyone let alone one of the best teams in the majors, but let’s not jump off the Correa boat just yet. If there’s anything we’ve learned from this season it’s that you never know, you just never know.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, SportsMap. John Granato hosts The Bench with John Granato & Lance Zierlein on ESPN 97.5.

houston-astros

in this corner

Premier Japanese women's wrestling league performs in Houston this weekend

Two Japanese women wrestlers compete in a ring. One is stomping in the other with both feet.

Photo courtesy of Tokyo Joshi

Hard-hitting women's wrestling for two nights in Houston

For the first time ever, one of Japan's premier women's wrestling promotions, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, will be touring Texas, with a two-night stay in Houston this week.

"Bringing TJPW to Texas reflects Tokyo Story’s broader strategy," a Tokyo Story representative writes in an email. "As a Japan-inspired toy and event company, we see major Southwest cities — especially in Texas — as prime for the growth of Asian pop culture. Houston, Dallas, and others are becoming more diverse, culturally curious, and open to new entertainment formats. This isn’t a one-off stop — it’s part of a long-term push to bring Japan’s creativity to cities with eager audiences. And we are making TJPW Live an annual event!"

The events happen on Thursday, July 10 and Friday, July 11 at POST Houston (401 Franklin). Tickets are available at TokyoStoryUSA.com.

TJPW split off from DDT Wrestling in 2012 as a sister promotion (or "league") that ran alongside its male counterpart before becoming its own entity in 2015. In that time, they've launched the career of international superstars like Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa (both currently signed to All Elite Wrestling in America), as well as hosting non-Japanese guest grapplers like Thunder Rosa.

The fighting is excellent and often brutal, but TJPW is also known for its playfulness. Matches embrace anime-like absurdity, such as having a wrestler work in a giant panda mascot costume. The promoters are hoping to one day partner with Texas truck stop icon Buc-ee's for a more mascot shenanigans. Many of the women also perform in J-pop girl groups on of their wrestling duties.

On Night 1, strike specialist Miyu Yamashita will take on Maki Itoh, known for her flamboyant style and high risk maneuvers. Night 2 will feature much of the local guest talent, such as Houston's own Kaylia Capri (Reality of Wrestling) vs Yuki Arai in a singles bout, and Austin's Vert Vixen teaming with reigning TJPW tag champ Hyper Misao. Other Texans slated to appear ar Maya World, Alejandra Quintanilla, and Billie Starkz.

The last decade has seen a marked rise in the quality and prestige of women's wrestling in America, with WWE hosting all-women Royal Rumbles and stars like Rhea Ripley and "Timeless" Toni Storm becoming household names. Most major promotions now feature robust line-ups of Japanese women wrestlers, with some like Asuka and Iyo Sky becoming world champions.

For Japan, women's wrestling has a more consistent history of legitimacy going back decades, and the talent pool there is vast. TJPW branching out into Texas tours gives them a chance to showcase their wrestlers in the land that spawned legends like The Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and the Von Erich Family.

"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," said the TJPW spokesperson. "Many who had never experienced joshi (women’s) wrestling before are discovering how entertaining, emotional, and uniquely captivating it is. Since announcing the Texas shows, we’ve received a flood of enthusiastic messages — not just from wrestling fans, but from people drawn to the theatricality, comedy, and creativity of TJPW. We've also heard from fans in other states asking us to bring the tour to their cities."