San Diego Padres News
Padres Fans Are Filling Petco Park to Capacity; Padres Aren’t Returning the Love (Sports Illustrated)
Padres Daily: Joe Musgrove follows through; Manny Machado’s payback; Jurickson Profar tops at the top (San Diego Union-Tribune)
On Friar Podcast: Playing the “Level of Concern” game with the San Diego Padres (NBC 7 San Diego)
Mike Shildt made genius managerial decision with unexpected Padres’ FA Signing (Friars on Base)
MLB News
Lindor goes from out sick to off-the-bench walk-off hero (MLB.com)
Mattingly hears your ‘shave those sideburns’ bits (MLB.com)
After visit with grandfather, Yaz fuels Giants with Fenway HR (MLB.com)
Eovaldi sharp before exiting with groin tightness (MLB.com)
Mets to call up No. 5 prospect Scott to debut Saturday (MLB.com)
Every organization’s hottest hitting prospect (MLB.com)
Bradish flashes stellar 2023 form in ‘24 debut (MLB.com)
MLB attendance before May hits 7-year high (MLB.com)
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These are the best Minor League promotions happening in May (MLB.com)
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Houston Astros Struggle During First Month Of MLB Season
Life’s been good for the Houston Astros for an awful long time. Arguably American major pro sports’ first truly successful “tank” job, the club has been a dynasty by virtually any standard. They won a pair of World Series in 2017 and 2022, but that is only a secondary measure of their greatness. The piece de resistance – seven, count ‘em seven consecutive ALCS appearances. To do that you have to be good enough to withstand the 162-game grind for even straight seasons and then possess the lineup strength, pitching depth and all-around moxie to win multiple rounds of playoffs. These guys, even after potentially taking some “shortcuts” along the way, have got the goods.
Given their awful start – they lost 20 of their first 30 games to stand dead last in the AL West, behind even the moribund Oakland Athletics – they’re going to need to turn things around in a big way to keep their ALCS streak going.
Before we dig a little deeper into where they stand presently, let’s briefly discuss where they’ve come from. They averaged a mere 54 wins per season from 2011-13, and after the first of those three seasons Jeff Luhnow replaced Ed Wade as General Manager. The tank was on, as the club tore things down to the studs, gamed the amateur draft, and to their credit hit on a high percentage of the premium draft picks generated. Hello, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, George Springer, Kyle Tucker and others. By 2015, their sub-.500 days were over, save for a fluke 29-31 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when they still managed to reach the ALCS.
