{"id":379178,"date":"2026-07-20T01:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379178\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T01:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T01:25:10","slug":"houston-astros-two-weighty-weeks-loom-before-mlb-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/379178\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros: Two weighty weeks loom before MLB trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manager<\/p>\n

Manager Joe Espada and the Astros are still within striking distance of the AL West lead but four straight losses have heightened the sense of urgency before the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

The runway that has lingered for the Houston Astros<\/a> is dwindling, a reality that spurred notes of urgency around a listless loss Sunday from a team unable for months to seize it.<\/p>\n

A sweep at home by the Baltimore Orioles<\/a> to start the nominal second half left the Astros at 47-54. They are seven games under .500, after climbing as close as two under before the All-Star break. Panic may be pointless, but so is pretending a club that still harbors playoff hopes can continue at this pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re at a point in the season where we need to start getting results now,\u201d shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a said Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are showing up every single day. We\u2019re working hard, we\u2019re trying to get it done. There\u2019s no quit in this team. Our division is still pretty tight. Obviously, we want to come out of the break swinging. But this is the position we\u2019re in right now and we\u2019ve just got to bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixty-one games remain in the Astros\u2019 season. Eleven remain before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, a looming date at which their activity could hinge on results over the next two weeks, making this a critical stretch.<\/p>\n

General manager Dana Brown has declared Houston will be buyers<\/a> at the deadline. An abysmal AL West and muddled American League allow for that possibility. Yet it may be incumbent on the Astros to avoid falling further in the next two weeks to preserve in that approach a measure of logic.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re really thinking about that as players,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what everyone else is saying. But I know inside the clubhouse, we are focused on the game at hand, we\u2019re trying to win ballgames. And that\u2019s all that\u2019s in our control. We\u2019re going to keep showing up and go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even their current record might call the deadline stance into question. Since 1900, just two MLB teams have started 47-54 or worse and made the playoffs: the 2006 Dodgers and the 1973 Mets. Of 23 other teams in Astros history to start a season 47-54 or worse, two finished with a winning record.<\/p>\n

Yet there is also, somehow, no guarantee a winning record will be required to claim this year\u2019s AL West. The Rangers lead the division at 50-49. The Astros are four games out of first place and 4 \u00bd out of an AL wild-card spot. Entering Sunday, they had a 16.2% chance to reach the playoffs, per FanGraphs.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of whatever anybody\u2019s eyeing about the (trade) deadline right now, in this clubhouse we\u2019re focused on us and trying to put the best product and play the best that we can,\u201d ace Hunter Brown said.<\/p>\n

BATTERS
\nAVG
\nOBA
\nAB
\nR
\nH
\n2B
\n3B
\nHR
\nRBI
\nBB
\nSO
\nSB
\nCS
\nE<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n.241
\n.315
\n3395
\n455
\n818
\n155
\n7
\n134
\n434
\n334
\n823
\n34
\n12
\n43<\/p>\n

Alvarez
\n.319
\n.429
\n360
\n65
\n115
\n20
\n0
\n31
\n73
\n66
\n74
\n1
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a
\n.295
\n.359
\n200
\n37
\n59
\n9
\n0
\n6
\n22
\n17
\n36
\n8
\n1
\n5<\/p>\n

Correa
\n.279
\n.369
\n122
\n22
\n34
\n8
\n0
\n3
\n16
\n18
\n26
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Delgado
\n.273
\n.314
\n33
\n3
\n9
\n1
\n0
\n1
\n4
\n2
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Spence
\n.273
\n.333
\n11
\n1
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n4
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Paredes
\n.257
\n.349
\n343
\n39
\n88
\n18
\n0
\n12
\n50
\n38
\n62
\n0
\n0
\n6<\/p>\n

Shewmake
\n.256
\n.272
\n78
\n10
\n20
\n4
\n0
\n3
\n9
\n2
\n13
\n0
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Diaz
\n.241
\n.268
\n174
\n18
\n42
\n9
\n0
\n6
\n23
\n6
\n29
\n0
\n1
\n2<\/p>\n

Allen
\n.239
\n.287
\n92
\n14
\n22
\n3
\n0
\n1
\n10
\n6
\n23
\n2
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Dezenzo
\n.238
\n.304
\n63
\n10
\n15
\n4
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n6
\n26
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Altuve
\n.235
\n.304
\n298
\n47
\n70
\n14
\n1
\n12
\n28
\n29
\n72
\n2
\n2
\n3<\/p>\n

Walker
\n.234
\n.310
\n364
\n50
\n85
\n19
\n1
\n20
\n58
\n33
\n94
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Trammell
\n.228
\n.290
\n114
\n14
\n26
\n5
\n1
\n3
\n11
\n9
\n42
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Harris
\n.226
\n.286
\n31
\n4
\n7
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n4
\n2
\n6
\n2
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

V\u00e1zquez
\n.217
\n.274
\n175
\n18
\n38
\n6
\n0
\n5
\n22
\n14
\n33
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Loperfido
\n.216
\n.314
\n102
\n13
\n22
\n7
\n1
\n1
\n12
\n14
\n31
\n1
\n1
\n1<\/p>\n

Smith
\n.210
\n.282
\n334
\n39
\n70
\n13
\n1
\n12
\n34
\n31
\n90
\n9
\n1
\n4<\/p>\n

Meyers
\n.206
\n.264
\n136
\n14
\n28
\n6
\n0
\n3
\n11
\n10
\n30
\n1
\n2
\n0<\/p>\n

Wade
\n.205
\n.326
\n39
\n6
\n8
\n2
\n0
\n2
\n8
\n7
\n12
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Matthews
\n.197
\n.250
\n208
\n23
\n41
\n5
\n1
\n7
\n22
\n15
\n71
\n4
\n4
\n1<\/p>\n

Price
\n.167
\n.231
\n12
\n1
\n2
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n6
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Cole
\n.157
\n.189
\n51
\n4
\n8
\n1
\n0
\n3
\n8
\n1
\n21
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Johnson
\n.143
\n.294
\n14
\n1
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n2
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Whitcomb
\n.130
\n.167
\n23
\n2
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n2
\n5
\n1
\n11
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n.056
\n.227
\n18
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

PITCHERS
\nW
\nL
\nERA
\nG
\nGS
\nSV
\nIP
\nH
\nR
\nER
\nHR
\nBB
\nSO<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n47
\n54
\n4.75
\n101
\n101
\n28
\n894.1
\n805
\n508
\n472
\n139
\n444
\n882<\/p>\n

Ullola
\n0
\n0
\n0.00
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n7<\/p>\n

Meyers
\n0
\n0
\n0.00
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Hader
\n3
\n1
\n1.10
\n18
\n0
\n10
\n16.1
\n6
\n2
\n2
\n1
\n8
\n28<\/p>\n

Santa
\n0
\n1
\n1.17
\n10
\n0
\n0
\n15.1
\n8
\n6
\n2
\n1
\n6
\n9<\/p>\n

VanWey
\n1
\n0
\n1.50
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n6
\n5
\n2
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n5<\/p>\n

Okert
\n2
\n1
\n2.22
\n48
\n1
\n0
\n48.2
\n28
\n13
\n12
\n5
\n12
\n50<\/p>\n

Lambert
\n8
\n5
\n3.03
\n16
\n16
\n0
\n92
\n66
\n31
\n31
\n11
\n36
\n91<\/p>\n

King
\n2
\n3
\n3.40
\n42
\n0
\n6
\n45
\n43
\n19
\n17
\n6
\n16
\n35<\/p>\n

Pearson
\n1
\n0
\n3.60
\n16
\n0
\n1
\n20
\n16
\n10
\n8
\n1
\n12
\n16<\/p>\n

Blubaugh
\n4
\n2
\n3.63
\n37
\n0
\n0
\n62
\n47
\n26
\n25
\n7
\n31
\n63<\/p>\n

Brown
\n1
\n1
\n4.05
\n8
\n8
\n0
\n40
\n30
\n20
\n18
\n5
\n28
\n43<\/p>\n

Teng
\n4
\n6
\n4.21
\n24
\n10
\n0
\n66.1
\n60
\n35
\n31
\n10
\n29
\n66<\/p>\n

De Los Santos
\n0
\n3
\n4.34
\n43
\n0
\n5
\n45.2
\n42
\n25
\n22
\n5
\n12
\n42<\/p>\n

Arrighetti
\n7
\n5
\n4.34
\n16
\n16
\n0
\n87
\n66
\n44
\n42
\n12
\n48
\n87<\/p>\n

Roa
\n0
\n1
\n5.19
\n7
\n0
\n0
\n8.2
\n10
\n5
\n5
\n1
\n7
\n6<\/p>\n

Bolton
\n0
\n1
\n5.40
\n8
\n3
\n1
\n20
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n3
\n14
\n22<\/p>\n

Abreu
\n2
\n3
\n5.62
\n35
\n0
\n5
\n32
\n26
\n22
\n20
\n7
\n26
\n40<\/p>\n

Burrows
\n4
\n9
\n5.99
\n18
\n17
\n0
\n94.2
\n112
\n69
\n63
\n21
\n35
\n75<\/p>\n

Imai
\n5
\n4
\n6.06
\n13
\n13
\n0
\n52
\n45
\n35
\n35
\n9
\n33
\n63<\/p>\n

McCullers
\n2
\n3
\n6.86
\n8
\n8
\n0
\n39.1
\n38
\n32
\n30
\n7
\n22
\n43<\/p>\n

Murray
\n0
\n0
\n7.43
\n8
\n0
\n0
\n13.1
\n19
\n11
\n11
\n1
\n7
\n8<\/p>\n

Weiss
\n0
\n3
\n7.62
\n9
\n2
\n0
\n26
\n35
\n24
\n22
\n8
\n20
\n30<\/p>\n

France
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n6.2
\n6
\n6
\n6
\n1
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Sousa
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n3.1
\n3
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n0
\n0
\n9.00
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Alexander
\n1
\n1
\n9.33
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n18.1
\n21
\n19
\n19
\n4
\n8
\n14<\/p>\n

Javier
\n0
\n1
\n9.37
\n7
\n4
\n0
\n16.1
\n21
\n17
\n17
\n3
\n15
\n14<\/p>\n

Gordon
\n0
\n0
\n11.57
\n4
\n1
\n0
\n9.1
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n6
\n3
\n11<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz
\n0
\n0
\n15.75
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n4
\n7
\n7
\n7
\n3
\n6
\n6<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s trade of Lance McCullers Jr. to the Brewers<\/a> this week was made in part to free up finances for potential deadline additions. Making them has been the club\u2019s modus operandi under owner Jim Crane, who has stated that the Astros\u2019 contending window will not close during his tenure.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

That both Brown and manager Joe Espada are in their final years under contract<\/a> leaves little question of their desires to add at the deadline and try to jolt a foundering club. Not since 2014, when they finished with 92 losses, have the Astros had this low a winning percentage through 101 games.<\/p>\n

Less clear is where the Astros might prioritize their trade pursuits, simply due to deficiencies across the roster. Its starting rotation has the third-highest ERA (5.20) in the majors. Its outfield has produced the third-lowest OPS (.669). Its leverage relief options shrank Sunday with Bryan King\u2019s option to Triple-A<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before Sunday\u2019s 5-2 loss to the Orioles, Dana Brown told the Astros\u2019 pregame radio show the front office has \u201chad some nice, heated debates as to what we\u2019re going to do going forward in terms of making this team better.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got 60 games to go. It\u2019s a full sprint right now. And there\u2019s no room to give. There\u2019s no runway for anyone right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The abrupt postgame move with King, after a rough four-outing stretch, illustrated the latter point. Yet it followed a full-squad performance that hardly upheld that portrait of urgency.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Over three games against Baltimore, the Astros\u2019 offense totaled six runs, went 4-for-27 with men in scoring position and left 28 runners on base. Sunday, their pitchers allowed just six hits but issued seven walks, hit four batters and saw the Orioles steal four bases.<\/p>\n

The latter included a double steal in the third inning, on which catcher Yainer Diaz threw to second base with Pete Alonso running and Gunnar Henderson scored from third. Espada said postgame Diaz was not supposed to throw through and \u201cwe talked to him about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henderson had scored the decisive run Saturday from second base on a grounder that did not leave the infield, shortly after the Astros failed to score a run with the bases loaded and no outs<\/a> in the 10th inning. Nor could they protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we could have won easily two of three, just things didn\u2019t go our way,\u201d Espada said. \u201cBut we need to flush it. We need to start playing better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Regaining Pe\u00f1a and first baseman Christian Walker, who both left Saturday\u2019s game due to injury<\/a> and did not play Sunday, could help. Pe\u00f1a said postgame Sunday he saw \u201cno reason why I shouldn\u2019t\u201d be back in the lineup for Monday\u2019s series opener against the Marlins but \u201cwe\u2019ll see.\u201d Espada said he hoped at least one of Pe\u00f1a and Walker would be able to play Monday.<\/p>\n

Monday will mark two weeks until the trade deadline, a span that could dictate whether deviating from years of precedent is a possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur division is up for grabs,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said. \u201cWe hope to come out swinging here in the second half. I think we have the guys necessary to get that done. We have the guys to make a push.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manager Joe Espada and the Astros are still within striking distance of the AL West lead but four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-379178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}