The All-Star break is officially over, which means it's time for the Houston Astros to turn the page from one of their craziest first halves in recent memory.
Saying they started slowly is an understatement.
Decimated by injuries to their pitching staff before Opening Day, they dropped their first four games, putting themselves in an immediate hole. That hole only got deeper as April progressed, as they lost 19 of its first 26 games and 24 of its first 36.
Then, in early May, something flipped.
The Astros went from ice-cold to red-hot overnight, winning eight of nine to stop the bleeding.
Houston entered June still eight games below .500, but that's when things really got interesting. The Astros went 17-8 in June and 8-5 to start July, entering the All-Star Break with a 50-46 record.
In the span of less than a month, they sliced their deficit in the AL West from 10 games on the morning of June 19 to one game coming out of the All-Star Break.
⚾️The Astros had an emotional 1st half of the season:
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) July 17, 2024
March: 0-4 (.000)
April: 10-15 (.400)
May: 15-14 (.517)
June: 17-8 (.680)
July: 8-5 (.615)
3 turnarounds:
Alex Bregman
⛽️Hunter Brown
1st base
Take the wild ride with me!
pic.twitter.com/EgGQZiBtpD
With a three-game road series against the Seattle Mariners this weekend, Houston has a chance to take control of the division for the first time all season. Since June 1, the Astros are tied with the New York Mets for the best record in baseball (25-13).
The question now is this: can they keep it up?
There's no reason to think they can't. The main reasons for Houston's struggles early on were injuries and underperformance from star players.
For the most part, those issues have been solved.
On the injury front, the Astros have a fully functioning rotation again. Justin Verlander and Kyle Tucker are still sidelined but should be back relatively soon. In the meantime, new staff ace Ronel Blanco has shown no signs of slowing down and should be able to keep up his Verlander impression for at least a little longer.
As for the early struggles of several star players, those are now a distant memory.
Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez have returned to form at the plate, picking up the slack in Tucker's absence. Jon Singleton is providing quality at-bats at first base (which is more than Jose Abreu could say), while Josh Hader is pitching like an All-Star again.
Getting Tucker and Verlander back will be huge for Houston, and the front office is now positioned to add at the trade deadline. With the Astros firing on all cylinders and poised to get reinforcements soon, they appear poised to overtake the Mariners in the second half and win a relatively weak AL West.
Based on Houston's recent track record, history says the first month of the season was the fluke, not the last two and a half.
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Lucas Giolito is tired of hearing from angry sports bettors, and the Boston Red Sox pitcher says he recently spoke with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred about his concerns. During an episode of Rob Bradford's "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast that was released on Monday, Giolito spoke about what he described as a growing problem with angry gamblers issuing threats to players. The right-hander said he has received countless messages from fans who placed wagers on him and lost, even when he pitches well. "I'm getting messages after every game," Giolito said, via Jon Paul Hoornstra of Newsweek. "Even games where I pitched well, where they're mad at me because I hit the strikeout over instead of being under; prop bets, all these crazy things. People put hundreds of dollars on it. They don't have a lot of money but they're gambling it anyway because it's a disease. They freak out." Giolito added that there is only so much players can do in terms of blocking and reporting people on social media. He said his girlfriend has even received "nasty" messages from fans and that he asked Manfred what would need to happen for MLB to take serious action. "You can go private on social media. You can block accounts. It only goes so far. One thing I said to Rob was, 'Is it gonna take a player getting assaulted in front of their apartment building by some disgruntled that lost a bet for real action to be taken?'" Giolito said. As sports betting has been legalized across more states, the number of fans wagering has rapidly grown. Giolito alluded to prop bets such as over/unders on strikeouts, which are popular among casual gamblers. Giolito certainly is not the first professional athlete to raise concerns about disgruntled bettors. Scottie Scheffler recently revealed a change he had to make because of the actions of those who placed bets on him. As for what Manfred, MLB or any other sports organization can do about it, that remains to be seen.
Matthew Stafford's latest injury raises concerns about the depth of the Los Angeles Rams' quarterback room. Stafford suffered a back injury last season, and it's bothering him again at training camp. Rams head coach Sean McVay said the medical concern will force the QB to miss five practices, but it's not season-ending. "He's been throwing, feeling good. It's not necessarily anything that's new. Something that he's dealt with before," the coach told the media. "Going into year 17, we were going to take a modified approach with him, kind of similar to what we did in the offseason program. And so we'll allow him to kind of just work off to the side, on his own, getting himself feeling as good as possible." Stafford's durability has already been waning. The 37-year-old QB missed eight games because of a spine injury and concussion during the 2022 season. The following season, he missed one game because of a right thumb injury. The Rams have a capable backup QB, Jimmy Garoppolo. He has a 43-21 starting record in the regular season in 11 years with the San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and Rams. Garoppolo, however, is injury-prone. He has battled foot, ankle, knee and shoulder issues over the course of his career. Rams QB Stetson Bennett — a fourth-rounder in the 2023 NFL Draft — has yet to throw a pass in a regular-season game. Plenty of solid free-agent QBs are still available, including one-time Pro Bowler Carson Wentz. He would be a more trustworthy option than Bennett and already knows the Rams' system. The 2016 first-rounder played for the team during the 2023 season. The Rams hope to win their third Super Bowl after consecutive playoff appearances. Injuries at the most important position could derail their aspirations. McVay doesn't seem too concerned about Stafford's health, but L.A. should still consider adding another QB as a precaution.
A report last week indicated that 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings wanted either a new contract or a trade. The veteran is still expected to report to training camp on Wednesday, and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that his wideout hasn’t formally requested out of San Francisco, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. Jennings signed a two-year deal last spring that replaced his second-round RFA tender. He proceeded to have a career season as the 49ers navigated a number of injuries. Jennings finished the 2024 campaign with 77 catches for 975 yards and six touchdowns. Set to earn $3.28M in salary guarantees in 2025 (plus an option bonus of $1.12M on Sept. 1), the impending free agent is now seeking some long-term security. With Deebo Samuel no longer on the team and Brandon Aiyuk recovering from a torn ACL, the 49ers are set to be even more dependent on Jennings in 2025. The 49ers front office has dealt with plenty of contract drama at the position in recent years, but Jennings’ lack of track record makes this situation a bit more unique. It remains to be seen if Jennings will carry through with his trade-request threat, and for the time being, it appears both sides will proceed as planned. If Jennings does suddenly pivot to a holdout or trade request, the 49ers will have to dig even deeper into their depth chart. 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall would likely lead the group, but he’s currently nursing a hamstring issue that landed him on PUP. The team brought in some reinforcement at the position this offseason, signing veterans Demarcus Robinson and Isaiah Hodgins while drafting Jordan Watkins (fourth round) and Junior Bergen (seventh round). The team is also rostering 2024 fourth-round pick Jacob Cowing. The 49ers could also count on an eventual return for Aiyuk, but it sounds like the star receiver’s comeback is still a ways off. GM John Lynch told reporters that Aiyuk is still “not anywhere close to having a concrete timeline,” per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Aiyuk suffered his knee injury in late October, and it seems like he’s destined to miss at least the first four games of the upcoming campaign.
The New York Giants were routinely linked with quarterback Shedeur Sanders leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Giants ultimately traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart at pick No. 25. For a piece published on Monday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News revisited how Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll ended up with Dart instead of Sanders earlier this year. "Members of the Giants’ staff had fawned over Shedeur Sanders," Leonard wrote. "Giants brass had spent a lot more time with Sanders during the fall. Then, Daboll’s increased participation after the NFL season steered the process in a different direction." Sanders allegedly had a rough visit with Daboll ahead of the draft, and a report from early May revealed that "Sanders openly acknowledged during the predraft process that he didn't hit it off with Giants coaches." A different story claimed that Schoen "shifted his preference to Dart this spring as head coach Brian Daboll warmed to Dart as a player and person and Schoen rounded out his own evaluation" before the draft got underway. That said, Schoen raised some eyebrows when he said during a May interview that he knew the club would select Dart over Sanders as of "the week of the draft." Schoen also said the decision was the result of a "collaborative process." According to Leonard, those comments were seen by some as "not exactly a firm endorsement of a player standing out above the rest" as it pertains to the quarterbacks. "...Schoen’s lukewarm rhetoric and reluctance to stick his neck out about Dart caught the attention of some people around the league," Leonard added. "And it has put the rookie in a strange position: trying to validate support that almost sounds conditional." Meanwhile, Sanders fell to the draft's fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to grab him at selection No. 144. As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook had Sanders (+870 odds) and Dart (+1060 odds) as significant betting underdogs to serve as Week 1 starters in September. Cleveland is expected to go with Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett for its regular-season opener, while Russell Wilson is on track to start for the Giants against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 7. In short, fans may have to wait a long time to learn if Schoen has any buyer's remorse about possibly being talked into drafting Dart when Sanders was on the board.