Jose Altuve did not play like a superstar
It’s difficult to criticize a batter too harshly for their performance in a minuscule sample size. This series only lasted for two games and Jose Altuve had just a handful of opportunities to impact the game. Unless a player hits a home run or has multiple extra-base hits, it’s difficult to really leave your mark in a series that consists of so few at-bats.
Yet, Altuve didn’t even come close to doing that. He had just one hit across the two games and didn’t slug whatsoever. Simply put, the team needed more from their superstar veteran and his wealth of playoff experience, but Altuve did not even come close to delivering.
Altuve is a guy who historically has never shied away from the big moment, and he’s always been a player his team could rely on when needing a big hit or an impact play in the field or on the base paths. That’s why it was so detrimental to the team when Altuve didn’t step up during the biggest moments.
None of this necessarily means that Altuve is washed or that the team won’t be able to depend on him in the future. Tarik Skubal is one of the top three or five pitchers in all of baseball, and it’s certainly possible that Altuve’s struggles were due to small sample sizes, and nothing more than that.
Even if this was just a case of bad luck and pitching talent holding the upper hand over hitting talent, Altuve is one of the Astros players who must shoulder the brunt of the blame for their tough loss at the hands of the Tigers.
Framber Valdez lost the battle of the aces
Framber Valdez didn’t pitch terribly in his lone start of the series, but as the team’s ace, Houston needed more from him than what Valdez provided.
Under most circumstances, giving up three runs as a starting pitcher is a successful day at the office, but not when you are your team’s ace pitcher in the postseason against the likely American League Cy Young winner in Skubal. The Astros needed Valdez to shut down the Tigers so that any amount of offense would be sufficient to win.
Typically, postseason success is all about pitching. The best hitters in the world will only get a few precious chances to swing the bat and impact the game. However, a dominant starting pitcher can hold down the opposing team’s lineup throughout nine innings, keeping them off the scoreboard and putting their team in an excellent position to win.
If Valdez had shut down the Tigers in Game 1, it’s entirely possible that the Astros would find themselves splitting the first two games and going into a winner-takes-all Game 3. Obviously, the outcome of that hypothetical game can never be determined, but we do know how reality played out, and it didn’t end well for the Astros.
At the end of the day, Valdez didn’t do enough to get his team the victory in Game 1, and he must shoulder some blame for the team’s loss. That’s a high bar, but it comes with the territory of being an ace.
Jeremy Pena couldn’t recapture the magic of 2022
Jeremy Pena was held to just one hit and one walk in this brief series. He struggled to even put the ball in play, collecting three strikeouts in Game 1.
Pena’s struggles hurt the Astros because of the role that he plays hitting lower in the batting order and bringing length to the lineup. However, it doesn’t feel fair to saddle him with the same level of blame as established superstars such as Altuve and Valdez.
Pena has established himself as a capable postseason player, even winning the World Series MVP award in 2022. It’s unfortunate for the Astros that he struggled in this series, and he deserves some blame for that.