"Shohexhaustion"

“We just watched a team win a game that they lost. The Los Angeles Dodgers won this game, but the Cardinals won it 5 to 3.” - Greg Amsinger#MLBTonight was impressed with Shohei Ohtani's nasty stuff during his best start on the mound this season (4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 8 K). https://t.co/5enGrVetgB pic.twitter.com/iNm1sj8VCZ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 7, 2025

It was expected that Spencer was going to be a bit rusty.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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Spencer was not good. Both teams behind us in the division are getting hot and have easier schedules the rest of the way. I think it's appropriate to be concerned.

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How good is any of us at our first day on the job after 4 months off?

When I came back from paternity leave years ago, I barely remembered how to turn my computer on, and that was only after one month.

Arighetti is talent. He'll be OK

texasaggie2015 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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This. It's baseball. Keep winning series and things will generally work out in your favor.

Pitching is still a big concern to me. I wanted an arm bad at the deadline but understand not overpaying.

Nobody should be surprised Spencer was rusty yesterday. Hope he bounces back but consistency has always been a concern with him.

But all that being said, they won a road series against a red hot team. Rest up and take the series in the Bronx.

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I know the Yankees are in a rut, but they're like a cornered animal. They know if they don't turn it around soon, their season is toast. They're going to come out swinging.

Do you remember last offseason when one of the rumors was a package built around Gil for Tucker. What a complete cluster F that would have been.

Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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The chicken little is based on the margins being razor thin right now and we've gone 4-9 in our last four series including three series against non-playoff teams. Couple that with the mariners closing the gap to 2 games with the white Sox, orioles and rays coming up

We pretty much need to win every series or split (4 game series) from here on out

Farmer1906 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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This. It's baseball. Keep winning series and things will generally work out in your favor.

Pitching is still a big concern to me. I wanted an arm bad at the deadline but understand not overpaying.

Nobody should be surprised Spencer was rusty yesterday. Hope he bounces back but consistency has always been a concern with him.

But all that being said, they won a road series against a red hot team. Rest up and take the series in the Bronx.

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I know the Yankees are in a rut, but they're like a cornered animal. They know if they don't turn it around soon, their season is toast. They're going to come out swinging.

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Yep. Not sure why we'd just assume we'll walk into Yankee Stadium and win the series with our overall level of play in the last month, the nature of this grudge match, and their backs against the wall. Not to mention the Mariners have pieced together a machine that doesn't seem like it's going to derail any time soon.

Like others have said, concern is warranted. Or did we not notice this division lead is down to 2 and likely 1.5 after today?

Drunken Overseas Bettor said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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Spencer was not good. Both teams behind us in the division are getting hot and have easier schedules the rest of the way. I think it's appropriate to be concerned.

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How good is any of us at our first day on the job after 4 months off?

When I came back from paternity leave years ago, I barely remembered how to turn my computer on, and that was only after one month.

Arighetti is talent. He'll be OK

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Spencer had nearly a month to practice turning on his computer.

I'm just going to sit back and let it all play out and enjoy the ride to finish line.

Yeah the margins are thin. Yeah the gap has closed. Yeah we need to win series. No one expected this to be easy. Even before the season started and we lost a full 25 man roster to injuries.

This team has been resilient and it's amazing we have a division lead at all right now.

Sense of urgency has been the same as it has been all season long. Keep grinding out wins with the patchwork staff and we'll be alright. Don't win games and we won't. That's true all the time. Nothing has changed as far as I'm concerned.

tjack16 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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The chicken little is based on the margins being razor thin right now and we've gone 4-9 in our last four series including three series against non-playoff teams. Couple that with the mariners closing the gap to 2 games with the white Sox, orioles and rays coming up

We pretty much need to win every series or split (4 game series) from here on out

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I don't think we have any more 4-game series. That would put us at 94 wins if we take 2/3 the rest of the way.

Yes he got hit around but 4 IF nubbers plus Dubon's boot.

If those are outs instead of hits it's a totally different day.

Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Man...Lot of chicken littles considering we just won a series and looked pretty good on offense while doing it.

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The chicken little is based on the margins being razor thin right now and we've gone 4-9 in our last four series including three series against non-playoff teams. Couple that with the mariners closing the gap to 2 games with the white Sox, orioles and rays coming up

We pretty much need to win every series or split (4 game series) from here on out

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I don't think we have any more 4-game series. That would put us at 94 wins if we take 2/3 the rest of the way.

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I think we have one left (LAA) to end August into September.

My goal is 91 or 92 wins. I think that's a safe number to win the division or at the very least secure the 4 seed if Seattle passes us

Mathguy64 said:

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Yes he got hit around but 4 IF nubbers plus Dubon's boot.

If those are outs instead of hits it's a totally different day.

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Yesterday was one of those "its better to be lucky(timely?) than good" kind of games.

Astros: .335 xBA, 15 HH, 3 Barrels
Marlins: .270 xBA, 12 HH, 1 Barrel

The memes write themselves

Shohei Ohtani struck out 8 batters and hit a 2-run home run as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3. pic.twitter.com/F0YCGDSJvy

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 6, 2025

Astros Bingo Update 8-7-25
Spreadsheet is here

Been a minute for me, but glad to get back to the Bingo!

Spencer for Hire
Hey, look who got some strikeouts! 8 of them! Spencer now has 13 strikeouts on the year. Just 172 to go to get his Bingo Square!

This offense is dead
The only green squares left on the board are: Pena +20 steals; Paredes +25 HR which we know won't happen and Jake +.230, who hasn't played in 6 weeks.

Is this real life?
Christian Walker delivers again, now up to a 23 HR, 86 RBI pace gunning for 25 and 90.

Now sucking for a third team this year ...
Rafael Montero gets shelled in his Detroit debut. ERA up to 5.72.

Rockies Cratering
After getting outscored 87-4 this week by Toronto, the Rockies are now 30-84 and back on pace for 119 losses. The White Sox are only on pace for 102. That would be +19 in the win column for Chicago.


JOSE, JOSE JOSE JOSE!
I've added a new stat tracker right underneath "Behold the Might of Leadoff Pena" which is "Behold the Might of Third-Hitting Altuve". it's not just a hot stretch anymore, it's Jose totally redefined as a hitter.

Altuve has now batted third for 53 games, almost exactly one-third of a season. His OPS hitting third is .926 and his slash line is .303/.364/.562. He has 14 HR and 40 RBI in those 53 games, a full-season pace of 43 HR and 122 RBI. I can't even imagine the gorgeous tears of Altuve haters if he had a 40+ HR season at age 35.

Jose also moved up to a tie for #138 in career hits yesterday with #2,352. He surpassed Orlando Cepeda (2,351) and is tied with Joe Judge, who is not related to Big Boy over there, and was in fact, born in 1894.

Cepeda had a very Bagwellian-career: ROY , MVP, hit just under .300 for his career (.297), had some surprising speed, and got really good at 1B over the course of his career. He made the HOF in 1999 on the Veterans' Committee.
Cepeda was the lost story of the '69 post-season when the Mets won it all. Playing for Atlanta, he hit .455 with a 1.448 OPS vs. the Mets in the NLCS.
As a rookie with the Giants in 1958 at age 20, he hit .312, led the league in doubles, 25 HR and 96 (whoop) RBI. Four years later, he was MVP after hitting .311 with 46 HR and 142 RBI. That team also had Willie Mays hit .38 with 40 HR and 123 RBI. And somehow finished third.

Joe Judge is old enough that he played for the Washington Senators from 1916-1932, then wound up with the Dodgers his last few years. He had 159 triples in his career, good for 42nd all-time, but is way more known for his fielding. He set records for career games, putouts, assists and fielding percentage (.993) for his career. When the Senators won their one and only title in 1924, he hit .385.

Next up on the punch list for #27 is Carlton Fisk at 2,356.

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Yes he got hit around but 4 IF nubbers plus Dubon's boot.

If those are outs instead of hits it's a totally different day.

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Yesterday was one of those "its better to be lucky(timely?) than good" kind of games.

Astros: .335 xBA, 15 HH, 3 Barrels
Marlins: .270 xBA, 12 HH, 1 Barrel

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Yep. I changed the channel after the game thinking we lost one we should have won. Those 2 ABs to end each of the 6th, 7th and 8th with men on were rough.

Didn't mean for that to sounds like it would be easy - it definitely won't. Just saying that's next.

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Yes he got hit around but 4 IF nubbers plus Dubon's boot.

If those are outs instead of hits it's a totally different day.

---

Yesterday was one of those "its better to be lucky(timely?) than good" kind of games.

Astros: .335 xBA, 15 HH, 3 Barrels
Marlins: .270 xBA, 12 HH, 1 Barrel

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Yep, you could tell it was "one of those games" with two early swinging bunt hits and Dubon's lazy try at stopping a ground ball. Multiple barrels from the Stros just didn't fall.

You didn't. I was just sharing my thoughts on the Yanks.

But wasn't this the case when he was on the Angels? O goes 2-4, 1 HR and 3 RBIs.

Angels fall to X 15-3.

~egon

A flashback game for your viewing pleasure on this off day.

August 7, 1998. Randy Johnson's home debut with the Astros. 9-0 laughter. Big Unit pitches a 5-hit shutout. Bagwell hits 2 homers. 52,071 at the Dome including yours truly.

Speaking of flashbacks:

I got bored and went to BaseballReference and I didn't realize that the Astros have, at one point, had 4 out of the top 10 strikeout leaders as pitchers (all time).


Nolan Ryan+
Randy Johnson+
Roger Clemens
Steve Carlton+
Bert Blyleven+
Tom Seaver+
Don Sutton+
Gaylord Perry+
Walter Johnson+
Justin Verlander

Would be a good off day to get an update on how Yordan "feels" post-BP.

5 of top 10

Ryan, Johnson, Clemens, Sutton, Verlander

Dr. Doctor said:

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Speaking of flashbacks:

I got bored and went to BaseballReference and I didn't realize that the Astros have, at one point, had 4 out of the top 10 strikeout leaders as pitchers (all time).


Nolan Ryan+
Randy Johnson+
Roger Clemens
Steve Carlton+
Bert Blyleven+
Tom Seaver+
Don Sutton+
Gaylord Perry+
Walter Johnson+
Justin Verlander

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Actually, I count 5 -- Nolan, Unit, Rocket, Sutton and JV.

I'm guessing this means Nick Hernandez is out, if the major league deal is accurate

According to my sources, Enyel de los Santos has signed a major league contract with the Astros. #Astros pic.twitter.com/i5Z0U9C8bK

— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) August 7, 2025

4.53 ERA, 1.31 WHIP. Guess we're gonna try and fix another one.

Mathguy64 said:

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5 of top 10

Ryan, Johnson, Clemens, Sutton, Verlander

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We're obviously 1st on the list, who is 2nd? The Mets?

agproducer said:

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Dr. Doctor said:

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Speaking of flashbacks:

I got bored and went to BaseballReference and I didn't realize that the Astros have, at one point, had 4 out of the top 10 strikeout leaders as pitchers (all time).


Nolan Ryan+
Randy Johnson+
Roger Clemens
Steve Carlton+
Bert Blyleven+
Tom Seaver+
Don Sutton+
Gaylord Perry+
Walter Johnson+
Justin Verlander

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Actually, I count 5 -- Nolan, Unit, Rocket, Sutton and JV.

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I did not know about Sutton

~egon

Mets:

1) Nolan
6) Seaver
10) Verlander
11) Scherzer
15) Pedro
26) Tanana
27) Cone
29) Glvine
34) Koosman


Astros:
1) Nolan
2) Randy
3) Clemens
7) Sutton
10) Verlander
17) Schilling
21) Greinke


I think the Astros are the only franchise to have 4 different guys have a 300+ K season while wearing the jersey.
1) JR Richard: '78 , 303 and '79 313
2) Mike Scott: '86, 306
3) Verlander: '19, 300
4) Cole: '19, 326

The Astros have signed reliever Enyel De Los Santos to a major-league deal. He'll join the team in New York tomorrow. Nick Hernandez was optioned and Luis Contreras was DFAd to clear spots on the 26 and 40-man rosters.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 7, 2025

Off days…

Pray to the tiny yordan hand gods that the white Sox can steal one in the pnw ****hole

Drunken Overseas Bettor said:

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A flashback game for your viewing pleasure on this off day.

August 7, 1998. Randy Johnson's home debut with the Astros. 9-0 laughter. Big Unit pitches a 5-hit shutout. Bagwell hits 2 homers. 52,071 at the Dome including yours truly.

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I was at that game, too. I was 100% positive we were going to win The World Series when the Big Unit came onboard. Stupid Padres. And man I love those 90s-era home whites.

Worth it to see Johnson bat.