The Astros are rolling into Philadelphia with their batting order set and Hayden Wesneski lined up to open the three-game series against the Phillies on Tuesday.
Wesneski gets the nod after giving Houston its steadiest run over the last two months. Since the start of August, he has posted a 2.91 ERA, and he comes in with a 4-1 record. He also took a no-decision last Wednesday after seven scoreless innings.
Across the diamond, rookie Andrew Painter will start for Philadelphia. His season ERA sits at 5.55, but that number doesn’t match his recent work. Since the beginning of August, Painter has put up a 3.15 ERA with a 3.04 FIP, and he has struck out 91 batters in 105.1 innings.
Houston’s lineup for the opener is set with Jeremy Pena leading off, followed by Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes, Jose Altuve, Daulton Varsho, Yainer Diaz, Christian Walker, Taylor Trammell and Cam Smith.
Pena is at the top despite a rough stretch that has dragged on for more than a month. Since Aug. 4, he is hitting .158 with a .505 OPS and a .207 on-base percentage over 28 games. Before that slump began, he was at .320 with a .901 OPS.
Alvarez stays in his usual second spot, even though his recent production has been a little quieter than fans are used to seeing. Since the start of August, he has an .873 OPS and three home runs. Even so, he still leads or is tied for the league lead in all the Triple Crown categories, plus on-base percentage, slugging and OPS.
Paredes is locked into the three-hole and brings a 14-game on-base streak into the series opener. That streak was extended Sunday on a hit-by-pitch, and over that span he has reached at a .393 clip with a .798 OPS.
Altuve hits cleanup and is one hit away from 2,500 for his career, which would make him the second Astro to hit that mark, joining Craig Biggio. He has had an average September so far, batting .227 with a .735 OPS, but he did pick up three hits against the Diamondbacks in his last game.
Varsho bats fifth after a rough start to his Astros tenure. He is hitting .173 with a .542 OPS and went 1-for-10 in the Arizona series.
Diaz has been one of the brighter spots in the order lately. Since the Yankee series, he is batting .355 over the 10 games he has played, and his OPS in that stretch is 1.104.
Walker, batting seventh, is still trying to shake out of a prolonged skid. Since his 11-game hitting streak ended on Aug. 9, he has hit .159 with a .441 OPS over 25 games, with only four walks and two homers in that span.
Trammell is again in the lineup against a right-hander, hitting eighth. His OPS is 250 points higher against righties than lefties, though he has also struggled since August began, posting a .150 average and a .532 OPS.
Smith rounds out the order at ninth. He is hitting .213 for the season, but since the White Sox series he has put up a .740 OPS, a step up from his .666 season mark.
The series continues Wednesday with Hunter Brown scheduled for Houston against Cristopher Sanchez. Brown is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA, while Sanchez enters at 16-5 with a 2.58 ERA.
In Other News...
Astros Face A Tough Daulton Varsho Decision At The Worst Time
With a two-game cushion in the AL West and an eye on locking up an automatic bye to the ALDS, the Astros are in the kind of stretch where every roster choice gets magnified. Daulton Varsho arrived from Toronto at the Aug. 1 trade deadline as a move meant to strengthen the outfield mix, but his bat has not given Houston the kind of lift it wanted, and that has turned a straightforward deadline addition into a more complicated September evaluation.
Varsho's defensive value still matters, and his postseason track record gives the Astros a reason to stay patient, but the offensive line is hard to ignore. If the production does not come around soon, Houston may have to decide whether to keep leaning on his glove or trim his role at exactly the time when it would rather have its lineup sorting itself out on the way to October. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies All-Star Made One Costly Mistake Astros Fans Loved
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Marsh took full responsibility afterward for the baserunning mistake, a candid acknowledgment in a game Philadelphia dropped 6-5. For Houston, it was another small but meaningful win in a season where every break matters, while for the Phillies it added to a frustrating night that left them even further back in the NL East race. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Rotation Suddenly Has A New Reason For Confidence Down The Stretch
Hayden Wesneski has given Houston a timely lift at exactly the right point in the season, putting together back-to-back quality starts and showing he can handle meaningful innings every fifth day. His latest outing came against the Phillies, when he worked six innings and allowed three earned runs, another sign that the Astros are getting steadier production from a rotation spot that needed it.
Since coming back from Tommy John surgery, Wesneski has settled in as more than just a fill-in. He is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in eight starts and has looked like a dependable No. 3 starter, thanks to sharp control and effective pitch mix. For an Astros team looking to keep winning down the stretch, that kind of stability can change the tone of the whole staff. [Read more 🡒]