Cody Bellinger | Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images Although the season is still relatively young, every day it gets a little bit older. Tonight at 6:40 PM CT, the Cubs will open a three-game set in Wrigley Field against the Houston Astros. As with nearly all yearly interleague series, these two clubs will only meet for one series this season (unless they meet in the World Series). The last time The Astros and Cubs faced off was from May 15 through May 17 last season, when Houston swept the Northsiders at Minute Maid Park. In the series finale, on May 17, J.P. France and the Astros spotted th ..read more

Ryan Pressly during the Rangers series. | Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images All components of the team have contributed to a bad start to the season....but the bullpen is the most perplexing “The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen.” —Bob Lemon “Baseball hasn’t forgotten me. I go to a lot of old-timers games and I haven’t lost a thing. I sit in the bullpen and let people throw things at me. Just like old times.” —Bob Uecker We expected the middle relief to be a problem for the Astros. On the other hand, coming into this season, we thought the three high lever ..read more

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 17, 2024: Kenedy Corona #51 of the Houston Astros bats during the third inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 17, 2024 in Jupiter, Florida. | Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images See how the prospects performed yesterday. Another day of Astros minor league action is in the books. See the results below! AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (14-7) lost 5-3 (BOX SCORE) Tamarez started for Sugar Land but struggled allowing 5 runs and walking 5 over 3.1 innings. The offense got on ..read more

Cristian Javier | Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images The Astros take a day to reset and reflect on how they can recover from a 7-16 start. Houston Astros News With ugly start, the Houston Astros’ AL dynasty is in danger. But they know ‘how to fight back’ (USA Today) Astros not going to wait on struggling veteran forever (MSN) Cristian Javier to IL with Neck Discomfort (Last Word on Sports) Former Astros prospect Ronny Garcia dead in traffic accident (UPI) Astros GM gets brutally honest on Jose Abreu’s disastrous slump (ClutchPoints) Astros’ horrible start continues with ugly series loss to Natio ..read more

Mauricio Dubón #14 of the Houston Astros catches a fly ball in front of Chas McCormick #20 in the fourth inning hit by Riley Adams  | Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images Hunter Brown pitches for the injured Cristian Javier. R U kidding me? The Astros are geniuses at inventing new ways to lose. Last night, a catcher’s interference led to a blown save by Ryan Pressly, and the Astros ended up losing in extra innings when Jose Altuve was thrown out easily attempting to score on a would-be game-tying sacrifice fly ball. With Cristian Javier suffering from neck “discomfort,” the Astros must rely o ..read more

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 17, 2024: Will Wagner #35 of the Houston Astros bats during the first inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 17, 2024 in Jupiter, Florida. | Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images See how the prospects performed last night. Another day of Astros minor league action is in the books. See the results below! AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (14-6) won 11-4 (BOX SCORE) Note: Salazar is hitting .362 this season. David Hensley, 3B: 1-for-5, RBI, BB Jesus Bastidas, 2B: 2-for-5, 2 2B ..read more

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images Here are some stats to start this bummer of a recap: Outscored 35-6 this season after the seventh inning Six blown saves in only eight save opportunities 0-3 in extra-inning games Bryan Abreu (4.91 ERA), Ryan Pressly (8.31 ERA), and Josh Hader (8.38 ERA) José Abreu (.223 OPS) and Chas McCormick (.631 OPS) .105 ISO with runners in scoring position entering Saturday, 24th in baseball A least a few of these numbers will start to look better, sooner or later. I mean, I don’t think we’ll see both Pressly and Hader running an eight-plus ERA all season long. If they ..read more

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images Can Ronel keep it going ..read more

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 17, 2024: Cam Fisher #12 of the Houston Astros bats during the sixth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 17, 2024 in Jupiter, Florida. | Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images See how the prospects performed last night. Another day of Astros minor league action is in the books. See the results below! AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (13-6) lost 7-3 (BOX SCORE) Sugar Land got on the board in the first inning on a Julks sac fly. They got another in the 3rd inning on a Leon R ..read more

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images He wasn’t vintage Justin Verlander, but it didn’t matter. The Astros have been in sore need of a boost to its already thin starting rotation, especially in light of a lackluster 6-14 start on the season. Entering Friday’s game, only the Rockies (6.33), Twins (5.32), and Nationals (5.25) — Houston’s current opponent — had a higher ERA from its starters than the Astros (5.05). Even with Verlander on a roughly 80-85 pitch count, it wouldn’t take much to bolster one of the worst starting staffs in baseball thus far. Justin Verlander drops a nasty deuce. pic ..read more