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Posts by The Crawfish Boxes

Astros Four-Seam Pitch Movement by Induced Vertical Break and Horizontal Break, 2021 to 2025

Astros Four-Seam Pitch Movement by Induced Vertical Break and Horizontal Break, 2021 to 2025

Pitching staffs are never the same year-to-year, much less even similar across multiple seasons, but it's fun to see what has changed in terms of pitch movement.

Also, the 2022 staff was just incredible.

6 months ago 3 1 0 0

Well, that was one heck of a run. A fun one, too, with a good bit of drama and controversy along the way. Better than most television nowadays.

Now, onward to better health and hopefully better fortunes in 2026.

6 months ago 10 0 0 0

All I can do is laugh now.

6 months ago 8 0 2 0

Brice Matthews at home: .212/.350/.248, 0 HR, 4 doubles, .598 OPS

On the road: .333/.436/.641, 10 HR, 8 doubles, 5 triples, 1.077 OPS

66.6% contact rate on the season; only one qualified Major League hitter (Michael Toglia, 64.5%) has a lower rate.

9 months ago 7 2 1 2

The Astros are calling up top prospect Brice Matthews and he will join the team for tomorrow's game against the Rangers, source tells @theathletic.bsky.social. MLB dot com was first to report.

9 months ago 29 2 3 7
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Brice Matthews Still Has Progress To Make One of the Astros’ top prospects fits a position of need, but Brice Matthews still has room to improve before he can help the active roster.

Brice Matthews Still Has Progress To Make

9 months ago 6 1 1 1
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I can watch Luis Guillorme play defense all day.

10 months ago 15 1 3 0
Pitches per plate appearance by team and first pitch swing rate by team in 2025

Pitches per plate appearance by team and first pitch swing rate by team in 2025

The Astros are drawing more pitches than they did last season (3.65 Pit/PA), but not significantly more.
Still swinging at a high rate of first pitches, too, but a decline from 2024 (37.7%).

11 months ago 3 1 0 0
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Three Astros Things Alvarez, Brown, and Hitters On Upswing

Three #Astros Things

11 months ago 2 0 0 0
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Astros and the AL West An early look at the AL West standings

Astros and the AL West

11 months ago 3 0 1 0
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Trajectory of Astros’ Pitching Staff A forward looking view of the current Astros’ pitching

Trajectory of Astros’ Pitching Staff

11 months ago 2 0 0 0
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Jeremy Peña, An Above Average Hitter? It Could Happen. There are seemingly a few times each season when I write about Jeremy Peña, typically focusing on his offensive production or the lack thereof. Perhaps there's another adjustment at the plate to...

Jeremy Peña, An Above Average Hitter? It Could Happen.

1 year ago 2 1 1 0
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Today in Astros history - April 15 What happened today in team history?

Today in Astros history - April 15

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Astros Prospect Report: April 13th See how the prospects performed last night.

Astros Prospect Report: April 13th

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Today in Astros history - April 14 What happened today in team history?

Today in Astros history - April 14

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Early view of the Astros’ defense Astros may be reversing the diminished defensive metrics of 2024

Early view of the Astros’ defense

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
FIP and wRC+ graph by team through April 9, 2025

FIP and wRC+ graph by team through April 9, 2025

Yeah, that's looks about right so far...

1 year ago 3 2 1 0
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A Quick Look at Strikeout Rates And Swinging Strike Rates Among Pitching Staffs We’re only ten games into the season for the Astros, so it makes little sense to stress too much about what has happened thus far. Yes, not every game has gone according to plan, like Monday...

A Quick Look at Strikeout Rates And Swinging Strike Rates Among Pitching Staffs

1 year ago 2 1 0 0
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Today in Astros history - April 8 What happened today in team history?

Today in Astros history - April 8

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Astros Crawfish Boil: April 8, 2025 Welcome to the Tuesday Crawfish Boil!

Astros Crawfish Boil: April 8, 2025

1 year ago 0 0 0 0
Strikeout Rate and Swinging Strike Rate by team in 2025 through April 6, 2025

Strikeout Rate and Swinging Strike Rate by team in 2025 through April 6, 2025

Although the last two series against the Giants and Twins have seen the Astros' pitching staff give up runs in bunches, I am encouraged by the swing-and-miss capability of this staff so far.

1 year ago 5 1 1 0
Pitch chart of Jeremy Peña's home run off of Joe Ryan on April 3, 2025

Pitch chart of Jeremy Peña's home run off of Joe Ryan on April 3, 2025

Jeremy Peña slugged .517 against 4-seam fastballs in his rookie season (2022). Dropped to .486 in 2023 and .394 in 2024.

If he can start hammering four seams again like he just did against Joe Ryan, I'd feel pretty good about his offensive prospects his season.

1 year ago 6 3 0 0
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Framber Valdez Struggles In 6-3 Loss, Astros Swept By The Giants Historically, Framber Valdez has been an extremely valuable pitcher for the Astros, accumulating 16.4 fWAR since his breakout in 2020. At his best, Valdez performs as an ace-level pitcher. However,...

Framber Valdez Struggles In 6-3 Loss, Astros Swept By The Giants

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Thoughts about Astros’ first turn through the rotation It’s very early, but a few thoughts over the first five days of 2025 season....pertaining to both Astros’ starting pitchers and opposing starting pitchers

Thoughts about Astros’ first turn through the rotation

1 year ago 0 0 0 0
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Astros Crawfish Boil: April 2, 2025 Welcome to the midweek Astros Crawfish Boil!

Astros Crawfish Boil: April 2, 2025

1 year ago 0 0 0 0
First Pitch Swing Rate by Season for the Astros, 2021 to 2025

First Pitch Swing Rate by Season for the Astros, 2021 to 2025

Pitches per Plate Appearance by Season for the Astros, 2021 to 2025

Pitches per Plate Appearance by Season for the Astros, 2021 to 2025

Yes, only four games for the Astros thus far, but I am curious to see these trends from the lineup continue.

1 year ago 4 1 0 0
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Astros Crawfish Boil: April 1, 2025 Welcome to the Tuesday Crawfish Boil.

Astros Crawfish Boil: April 1, 2025

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Today in Astros history - April 1 What happened today in team history?

Today in Astros history - April 1

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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The Bats Are Cold, But The Approach Has Changed The adjusted process hasn’t led to better results quite yet. But it is only a matter of time, hopefully.

The Bats Are Cold, But The Approach Has Changed

1 year ago 1 0 0 0

Happy Opening Day!!!

1 year ago 5 0 0 0