How to Watch Dodgers vs. Astros: TV Channel & Live Stream
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros will send Ben Casparius and Lance McCullers, respectively, to the mound when the two squads square off on Friday at Dodger Stadium, at 9:10 p.m. ET.
Take a look at everything you need to watch the Dodgers vs. Astros competition.
Keep up with MLB on FOX Sports.
Freddie Freeman drove in Shohei Ohtani with RBI double that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers lead against the Chicago White Sox. Dodgers vs. Astros Game Information & How to Watch When: Friday, July 4, 2025 at 9:10 p.m. ET
Where: Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California
TV: Watch on SportsNet LA, SCHN
Box Score: Fox Sports Dodgers vs. Astros Prediction Score Prediction: Dodgers 5, Astros 4
Total Prediction: Over 9 runs
Win Probabilities: Dodgers 54%, Astros 46% Dodgers vs. Astros Head to Head Date Favorite Spread Total Favorite Moneyline Underdog Moneyline Result 7/28/2024 Astros -1.5 8.5 -134 +114 6-2 LAD 7/27/2024 Astros -1.5 8.5 -159 +134 7-6 HOU 7/26/2024 Astros -1.5 8 -139 +117 5-0 HOU 6/25/2023 Dodgers -1.5 8.5 -130 +109 6-5 HOU 6/24/2023 Dodgers -1.5 8.5 -184 +156 8-7 LAD 6/23/2023 Dodgers -1.5 8.5 -144 +123 3-2 LAD 5/25/2021 Dodgers -1.5 8.5 -111 -106 9-2 LAD Dodgers Last 10 Game Stats Stat Avg/Total Record 9-1 Runs Per Game 6.5 HR 18 ERA 3.64 K/9 9 Dodgers Player Insights Shohei Ohtani leads the Dodgers with 30 dingers on the year. He's also hitting .284 with 56 RBI.
Among all hitters in MLB, Ohtani ranks third in homers and 17th in RBI.
Mookie Betts is hitting .246 with 11 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 35 walks.
Betts ranks 96th in home runs and 64th in RBI on the season.
Andy Pages paces the Dodgers with 58 runs batted in.
Will Smith's .324 batting average is a team-high mark.
Smith is riding a three-game hitting streak into this one. During his last five outings he is hitting .250 with two home runs, four walks and two RBIs. Dodgers Recent & Upcoming Games Astros Last 10 Game Stats Stat Avg/Total Record 8-2 Runs Per Game 4.2 HR 12 ERA 3.94 K/9 9.3 Astros Player Insights Isaac Paredes leads the Astros in home runs (17) and runs batted in (47).
Among all batters in the majors, Paredes' home run total ranks 22nd and his RBI tally ranks 44th.
Jose Altuve is batting .262 with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and 29 walks.
Among all MLB hitters, Altuve ranks 47th in home runs and 82nd in RBI.
Jake Meyers is hitting .304 with 14 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 26 walks.
Cam Smith has 14 doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 23 walks while hitting .291. Astros Recent & Upcoming Games
FOX Sports created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Los Angeles Dodgers Houston Astros
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
The Sports Report: Dodgers are swept by the Astros
From Kevin Baxter: When the Dodgers left Los Angeles for their final road trip before the All-Star break last summer, they had a 55-36 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West. That team went on to win the World Series. When this year's Dodgers land in Milwaukee on Sunday night to begin the last road trip before the All-Star break, their record will be a game better and their division lead about the same, pending the results of San Diego's game Sunday night. But if you take a good look under the hood, there are obvious — and worrying — differences between this year and last year. In 2024, the Dodgers had one of the best records in baseball against teams with a winning record. After Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros, this year's team is just a game over .500 — 20-19 — against teams over .500. Those are the only kind of teams the Dodgers will face in the playoffs. And it's not just that they lose, it's how they lose that's troubling. Continue reading here Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto named to all-star game roster Dodgers box score MLB scores MLB standings Bo Bichette homered and scored the deciding run to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to their season-high eighth straight victory, 3-2 over the Angels on Sunday. The American League East-leading Blue Jays improved to 52-38, sweeping a homestand of seven of more games for the first time since 1994 and second in franchise history. Toronto drew even on with Bichette's leadoff homer in the fourth inning. His 12th homer came after his error in the top of the inning loaded the bases for the Angels. Davis Schneider drove in Bichette in the sixth inning with a single down the left-field line. Mike Trout homered for the Angels with two out in the first. Continue reading here Angels box score MLB scores MLB standings Edson Álvarez scored a tiebreaking goal in the 77th minute after a video review reversed an offside call, and Mexico beat the United States 2-1 on Sunday night for its record 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup title. Chris Richards put the U.S. ahead in the fourth minute, heading in a Sebastian Berhalter free kick for the second time in the tournament, but Raúl Jiménez tied the score in the 27th with his third goal of this Gold Cup. Mexico was awarded the free kick when Diego Luna fouled Alexis Vega on a flank. Johan Vásquez flicked the restart across the goal mouth and Álvarez burst past the defense, redirecting the ball from three yards just inside Matt Freese's far post. While the play was initially called offside, the goal was awarded by the VAR, and Mexico defended its title from 2023 while improving to 6-2 in Gold Cup finals against the U.S. Continue reading here U.S.-Mexico summary From Jad El Reda: The Los Angeles sports world mourned the loss of one of its most beloved voices, Rolando 'El Veloz' González, the longtime Galaxy broadcaster and a pioneer of Spanish-language sports radio, who died June 25. His legacy transcends generations on the microphone. González's career began almost accidentally. Although his dream was to play soccer, life had other plans for him and turned him into a storyteller. 'One day on March 6, 1962, I was playing soccer in the local league and the radio play-by-play broadcaster who was assigned that game of my team Escuintla against Universidad, Dr. Otorrino Ríos Paredes, had a car accident,' González recalled in 2017. 'The owner of the station ran to tell me, '[get dressed, get dressed]' and I replied, 'Who are you to tell me to get dressed? Let the trainer tell me.' He said, 'I need you because they told me that you narrate soccer.' I replied that I do that there among the guys.' He later moved to Los Angeles, where former Dodgers announcer Jaime Jarrín gave him his big break during the 1984 Olympics. Continue reading here From Micheel Alharazy: Bronny James made his 2025 summer league debut, scoring 10 points in 10 minutes during the Lakers' win over the Miami Heat in the California Classic at the Chase Center on Sunday. The Lakers led for most of the game, rolling to a 103-83 victory. The Heat went on a 10-0 run to start the third quarter, but the Lakers responded with strong perimeter shooting to maintain a double-digit lead. Cole Swider was the Lakers' leading scorer for the second consecutive game, finishing with 20 points against the Heat. Swider shot seven of 10 from the field, including two of five from three-point range. Continue reading here 1911 — Dorothea Lambert Chambers sets the record for the shortest championship match at Wimbledon — 25 minutes — by disposing of Dora Boothby 6-0, 6-0 in the women's finals. 1912 — American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics, medal stripped 1913 (played pro baseball), reinstated 1982. 1934 — Elizabeth Ryan teams with Simone Mathiau and wins her record 12th women's doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating Dorothy Andrus and Sylvia Henrotin 6-3, 6-3. 1953 — Walter Burkemo beats Felice Torza to win the PGA Championship at Birmingham (Mich.) Country Club. 1973 — In the first all-U.S. women's Wimbledon final, Billie Jean King beats Chris Evert, 6-0, 7-5. 1974 — In Munich, West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win soccer's World Cup. 1978 — NBA approves franchise swap; Buffalo Braves owner John Y. Brown and Harry Mangurian acquire Boston Celtics, while the Celtics owner Irv Levin gets Braves, later moved to San Diego to become the Clippers. 1980 — Larry Holmes retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round TKO of Scott LeDoux in Bloomington, Minn. 1982 — Steve Scott of the Sub 4 Club sets a United States record in the mile with a time of 3:47.69 in a track meet at Oslo, Norway. 1985 — West Germany's Boris Becker, 17, becomes the youngest champion and first unseeded player in the history of the men's singles at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Kevin Curren. 1986 — American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets world heptathlon record of 7,148 points in the inaugural Goodwill Games at Moscow. 1990 — Martina Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon women's singles championship, beating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1, to break the record she shared with Helen Wills Moody. 1991 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to capture her third Wimbledon women's title. 1992 — South Africa beats Cameroon 1-0 in Durban in first FIFA sanctioned match after nearly 20 years of international isolation because of apartheid. 1993 — Tom Burgess tosses three touchdown passes, and Wayne Walker scores twice as Ottawa spoils the debut of the CFL's first American-based team by beating Sacramento 32-23. 2002 — Juli Inkster matches the lowest final-round score by an Open champion with a 4-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Annika Sorenstam in the U.S. Women's Open. It's her seventh major. 2007 — Venus Williams claims her fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli. 2007 — Wladimir Klitschko beats Raymond Brewster with a technical knockout after six rounds, to successfully defend his IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in Cologne, Germany. 2012 — Serena Williams dominates from start to finish, beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to win a fifth championship at the All England Club and 14th major title overall. 2013 — Andy Murray becomes the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final. The last British man to win the Wimbledon title before was Fred Perry in 1936. 2018 — Kristi Toliver scores 18 points to help the Washington Mystics beat the Sparks 83-74 for coach Mike Thibault's 300th career regular-season win. Thibault becomes the first WNBA coach to reach that milestone. 2019 — U.S. Women's National Team win their record 4th FIFA Women's World Cup title with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands. 2021 — The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup and third overall. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is named Finals MVP. 1923 — Lefty O'Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, allowed 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 27-3. In 1928, he was to return to the majors as a great hitting outfielder. 1936 — The NL won its first All-Star game 4-3 at Braves Field in Boston. 1937 — Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 8-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game at Washington's Griffith Stadium. In attendance was President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1959 — At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two All-Star games played that season went to the NL, 5-4. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays. 1964 — The NL beat the AL 7-4 in the All-Star game on Johnny Callison's two-out, three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York's Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17-17-1) for the first time since the series began. 1998 — Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter's haven as the American League beat the Nationals 13-8 at Coors Field in the highest-scoring All-Star game in major league history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL's 11-9 win in 1954. 2006 — Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break when he connected in the second inning of a 9-0 win over Baltimore. He finished the season with six. 2009 — Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado's 5-4 victory over Washington without throwing a pitch. He entered with two out in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. It was the first time a major leaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003. 2011 — Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run shot and Boston added three consecutive home runs in the seventh in a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Six Boston players homered, including three straight by David Ortiz, Josh Reddick and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. 2011 — A Texas Rangers fan died after falling about 20 feet onto concrete reaching out for a baseball tossed his way by All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton during a game. Shannon Stone, 39, was at the game with his young son, who watched as his dad tumbled over the outfield railing after catching the ball. The accident happened in the second inning after Oakland's Conor Jackson hit a foul ball. Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands as players routinely do. 2016 — Colorado's Trevor Story tied an NL rookie record for most home runs before the All-Star break, homering twice and boosting his total to 21 as the Rockies beat Philadelphia 11-2. 2018 — Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 18-4. Reynolds (5 for 5) tied his career high for hits and equaled the Nationals' RBI record. Compiled by the Associated Press That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
What we've learned in the first half of the MLB season: 10 midsummer takeaways
Wait. The All-Star break is coming up next week? How'd that happen? Didn't Shohei Ohtani make that home run trot in Tokyo like 20 minutes ago? Well, if we're halfway through another stupendous baseball season, it's again time to let you know exactly What We've Learned in the First Half, with perspective from four MLB executives, who were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly. You know this season is roaring right along if the 2025 deadline is now only 24 days away. But the only thing that seems clear about this deadline is that it's not going to be one of those tradefests in which the floodgates open early. (What about that Rafael Devers blockbuster, you ask? That one was 'personal,' said one exec. So it's in its own separate category, as we'll get to shortly.) Advertisement Over at Baseball Reference, they're still listing (gulp) 26 teams as being within striking distance of some kind of playoff spot. That's everybody but the Rockies, Nationals, Athletics and White Sox. Even if the more realistic number is 23 or 24, that's still a seller-buyer ratio that's officially not helpful. 'I think it's going to be a scramble,' said a National League exec, 'because so many teams are still in it that I don't know if you're going to see a lot of activity until the last couple of days.' So who are the pivotal buy/sell tightrope walkers to watch? There are so many teams in that Maybe Zone, we could name a dozen options. But our panel pointed toward these four teams: Diamondbacks — They're built to win and still trying to win. But if the next three weeks don't go well, they could shake up this deadline — by dangling the likes of impending free agents Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly (among others). 'Josh Naylor,' one American League exec said, 'could be the best bat traded this month.' Twins — The Twins went 9-17 in June. That doesn't feel real contender-like. But they're still only five games out of a wild-card spot. So who knows? If they sell, or even go into simultaneous buy/sell mode, they could do brisk business. 'Minnesota has a glut of corner-outfield players who could, in theory, all be in play: (Trevor) Larnach, (Matt) Wallner, Willi Castro, maybe even Royce Lewis,' another AL exec said. 'They also have an unbelievably top-heavy, good bullpen (where Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax would be very buzzy commodities who each have two-plus years of team control remaining).' Guardians — See previous two paragraphs! The Guardians have gone 9-22 since the start of June — yet still haven't quite tumbled out of that wild-card race (seven games back). But even if the next few weeks are just as rough, the league is dubious that a full sell-off is coming from one of the youngest teams in the sport. Advertisement 'I think Cleveland always just plays the Tampa Bay-type long game,' an NL exec said. 'So they could flip some pieces. Steven Kwan would be a potential piece, even though there's a couple years of control there. But I don't see a big sell coming.' Red Sox — They've already unloaded Devers, but they're one more team still in a race that's seemingly impossible to fall out of. So 'they're going to be fascinating,' an NL exec said. Who could they sell? Aroldis Chapman is the most logical name. But when other clubs look at the Red Sox, they see a team that just needs to reconfigure the roster more than it needs to dump money or big names. 'I think they're going to continue to do things that solve their long-term issues,' an AL exec said. 'So I think (Jarren) Duran is probably in play for a lot of teams. … I think he's the most likely of those players in their outfield to change teams.' We're going to tackle this stunning blockbuster in two parts. First, let's talk about the Giants. The Devers press conference might turn out to be their highlight of the year! The weekend before Devers showed up, they were tied with the Dodgers for first place. In the three weeks since they made arguably their gutsiest trade of the 21st century, they've lost 11 of 19, skidded to seven games out of first … and scored the fewest runs in the National League. Because … baseball! But here's our Giants takeaway, and we're sticking to it: Ignore that record (for now) — because the most important thing we've learned is that Buster Posey is just as fearless, as a president of baseball operations, as he was when he was winning MVP trophies and World Series rings. 'When you make moves like that, you always get lauded for doing them in the moment,' an AL exec said. 'I know they haven't played well since that trade. But when you make those decisions, it can never be about how it's going to make you feel in the moment. And when it's eight and a half years of contract that you're taking on, it can't be about what it does for you in the next two months. Advertisement 'They clearly have had trouble attracting marquee, middle-of-the-order, name-brand bats. And they were able to acquire a 28-year-old guy whose track record is as long and as good as anybody's. So I hope it works for them. I didn't have any problem with anything they did. And I don't think they'll really miss anything they gave up if Rafael Devers is a good player for them.' Boy, is it hard to find anyone in baseball who likes the Boston side of this trade … from any angle. The first big Red Sox issue: When you trade a star, the conventional wisdom is that you at least have to get somebody back with a chance to be a star … and that didn't happen here, just as the Red Sox didn't make it happen in the Mookie Betts deal. 'Who's (their) headliner?' one AL exec said of this package. 'That's my big thought. Even if you just accept the decision to trade him in the first place and say we're not going to debate that, I still think they could have and should have done better than they did.' But beyond the Who Won the Trade conversation, the Red Sox should know how shocked the industry is by the painful organizational dysfunction that led to this trade. 'What stands out the most is just how brutal the communication (with Devers) was on their side,' an NL exec said. 'It's made me think about how we treat players (in his team's organization) — how players are treated and respected, and the value of good communication, and how that affects and creates culture. 'You know, it's easy to throw stones at other teams. I get that. I just know that in our organization, we function on communication and culture and support, on positivity and curiosity. And these things are just what's built into our organization, from top to bottom. So I can't even fathom that happening.' Advertisement I asked that question of all four execs surveyed. The consensus answer? 'The healthy Dodgers.' Good answer — except for one thing. In real life, that team doesn't exist. Did you know that this not-so-healthy version of the Dodgers has already used 34 pitchers, 16 starters and five openers? Or that Kiké Hernández has pitched more times (five) than Blake Snell (two)? Or that they have 13 pitchers on the injured list? Or that they're spending more payroll dollars on players who aren't playing for them ($132 million) than the Brewers or Rays are paying their active players to make up teams that would be in the playoffs if the postseason started today? But that's just another year in the life of the ridiculously deep — and deep-pocketed — Dodgers. They barely have enough healthy elbow ligaments to scrape together a pitching staff — and they're still seven games ahead of the rest of their respectable division. But does that make them 'great' as currently constituted? Nobody I surveyed would go there. 'When I look at teams and try to break down 'a great team' in the simplest form,' an NL exec said, 'I say: Who has a great offensive club, with great starting pitching and a great bullpen? I don't think there's any team in baseball that says, right now: We're great at all three of those things — or even: We're really good at all three of those things. 'I obviously have a lot of respect for the healthy Dodgers. I just think it's probably more irresponsible than responsible to assume that they're going to be healthy.' Whatever they are, FanGraphs 'only' projects the Dodgers at 23 percent odds to win the World Series — but no other team in either league is even above 12 percent. So is that further proof that this is a season with no great teams — unless the Dodgers spring back to health by October? 'I don't know,' another NL exec said. 'I just know that when you look at that (Dodgers) roster, the ceiling of those players, I think, is completely unmatched in baseball right now.' Advertisement I'm just going to say it: The Orioles are the most disappointing team I can remember since I've been following baseball. I'm not alone. When this season began, FanGraphs gave this Orioles team 45 percent odds of making the playoffs. That was higher than the Rays, Brewers or Padres — and basically in the same neighborhood as the Tigers (46 percent), Cubs (48 percent) and Astros (52 percent). And why not? We're talking about a team that was coming off two straight trips to the postseason. It seemed to be leading the league in young superstars, future superstars and top-100 prospects. And even with the loss of Corbin Burnes in free agency, this group had the vibe of a team following the Astros' 2015-23 playbook — built both to be good and stay good. Oops. Instead, injuries, regression and shaky pitching have, shockingly, led the Orioles to nearly a worse run differential (minus-82) than the White Sox (minus-84) — and the fifth-worst in the sport, ahead of only the Rockies, Nationals, A's and those White Sox. So the playoff odds in Baltimore are down to just 3.9 percent. And it's hard to say that's a fluke, given this team's bottom-10 offense and bottom-five pitching staff in the first half. Still, I know what you're thinking: What about the Braves, Rangers and Diamondbacks, three other teams that have played way below expectations this year? Or what about all the other teams from the last 10 … 20 … 30 … 40 years that underperformed, got managers fired and belong in this argument for biggest disappointment? Here's the difference: Those teams weren't built like this team was built. 'I think the difference with them,' an NL exec said of the Orioles, 'is that most of the teams that we would qualify as disappointing were teams that added big-time free agents and spent a bunch of money and then it just didn't work. Where this one probably is even more disappointing is, I think we all just felt like it's a lot of young positional players that are just going to continue to get better.' Advertisement So talk about teams that could fire up this trade deadline. Suppose the Orioles were bold enough to dangle a young, centerpiece bat for a young, controllable top-of-the-rotation arm? That doesn't seem likely. But check those trade rumors this month! In October 2024, we were asking: How'd this team make the playoffs? But nine months later, in July 2025, we're asking a whole different question about the Tigers: How many teams in this sport are better than they are? Did you see this magical Tigers season coming? Not many people did. Before the season, FanGraphs gave them only a 27 percent shot of winning their division — worse than the Twins and Mariners, and barely higher than the Royals. So the Tigers have been baseball's most pleasant surprise. But are we over the surprise yet? Their 11 1/2-game lead entering July wasn't just the biggest in MLB. It was the largest in the 125-season history of their franchise. They're in a tight race with the Yankees for the most runs scored in their league. They're the best base-running team in their league. They're tied for second in the sport in starting pitching ERA. And they're a top-10 defensive team in the sport. So … what about this feels like just another midseason illusion? That would be nothing, said a rival AL executive. 'Best pitcher in baseball (in Tarik Skubal),' the exec said. 'Impact manager (in A.J. Hinch). Lots of guys exceeding expectations, like Gleyber (Torres) and (Casey) Mize.' So are the Tigers — yes, the Tigers — good enough to win the World Series? 'If you are good enough to get to the playoffs and skip the wild-card round,' the same exec said, 'you are good enough to win anything.' They're baseball's pluckiest homeless team — booted out of their home sweet dome by a hurricane, spending their summer playing in somebody else's stadium. So for those always-underestimated Tampa Bay Rays, this looked like a year for survival, not reprisal. Nope. It's turning into another year of the Rays doing Rays things, just when (and where) you least expected it. Advertisement Halfway through this amazing season, they've won the same number of games as the Yankees. They could wind up hosting all three games of the wild-card round (just don't ask where). And they have the second-best record in baseball (24-17) against teams that are .500 or better. 'I don't know if I'd call this a magic trick,' said a rival AL exec. 'They have a really good team. Their pitching is really good. I just think that the unique part of this one is that they have all these (typical) Rays things happening, and they're doing it while playing in somebody else's spring training park. And they seemingly don't miss a beat.' Based on Retrosheet data, no team has ever made the postseason while playing more than three 'home' games someplace other than its normal home ballpark. Now the Rays could demolish that record — if they can just weather playing 47 of their last 75 games on the road. That walk-year slog toward the free-agent auction stand can be an adventure. But that sound you hear, off in the distance, is the cash register ringing for three guys who are definitely going to be able to afford that new coffee table after they sign their next free-agent deals this winter. Alex Bregman — He's already making $40 million a year in the first year of his free-agent deal with the Red Sox … so nobody has to worry about Bregman's earning power. But he can (and almost certainly will) opt out. And when you combine his 158 OPS+, his in-it-to-win-it intensity and the ripple effects of the Devers trade, he's in prime position to cash in. 'I've been laughing about this for two weeks,' one AL exec said, 'just thinking about (his agent) Scott Boras' reaction to the Devers trade with Bregman, because you know he's sitting there thinking: 'Just give me a blank check, because whatever I want, you guys are going to have to pay me.'' Gleyber Torres — Sometimes, the smartest thing a player can do is market himself outside of the New York glare. For living proof, check out Torres. Advertisement Took a one-year, $15-million deal with Detroit after his trip through free agency last winter failed to lead him to Ca-Ching Land. Now he's starting in the All-Star Game for baseball's most pleasant surprise, the Tigers. He's rocking a 130 OPS+. And free agency 2.0 looks like it might be his kind of place. 'Gleyber has made himself the most money, right?' said another AL exec. 'Gleyber bet on himself with the one-year deal. And if he does this again in the second half, he's going to get paid.' Ranger Suárez — There were obviously other names I could have dropped into the third spot in this lineup: Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, Framber Valdez. But the seasons they're having are in line with their track records. With Suárez, the often-brilliant but often-injured 29-year-old left-hander for the Phillies, the rest of the sport looked at his incredible first half in 2024 and said: Let's see him do that again. OK then. He's sitting on a 1.99 ERA with one start left before the All-Star break. So they've seen it! The question is how attractive is a 30-year-old left-hander with a history of streaks of brilliance but iffy volume. 'It's perfect,' said one rival exec, with a laugh. 'He'll sign with the Dodgers.' I'm a big fan of bagels. Just not when we're hanging nine of them on the scoreboard every night. Well, it's the Year of the Shutout. So we'd better get used to it. As recently as 2019, there were 268 team (not individual) shutouts thrown across baseball over a full season. And it wasn't just some random season, either. It was a season that featured the highest strikeout total in history. But this year, this sport is on pace for about 100 more shutouts than we saw in that season. At this pace, we'll see 366 of those shutouts, the most in a full season in the history of baseball. Advertisement The current record of 359 was set in the dead-ball era, in 1915, when there were only 16 teams. But in the live-ball era (1920-present), the full-season record is 357, in 1972. And even if we adjust for expansion by looking at the rate of shutouts per game, the only two seasons in the live-ball era with a higher shutout percentage were 1972 and 1968, two of the most famous Year of the Pitcher seasons in modern history. The question is why zero is turning into baseball's magic number. The strikeout rate has actually declined two seasons in a row. And the league-wide batting average, walk rate and OPS are all up compared to last year. But shutouts are still heading for historic territory. And they've actually become a daily staple, with at least one shutout on each of the last 14 days in a row, 24 of the last 26, 32 of the last 35, 44 of the last 48 and 56 of the last 61. What a fascinating trend. 'I know we talk about this all the time, but I can't say this enough: It's just really hard to hit now,' said one of our AL execs. 'Pitchers can just do things now with a baseball that people couldn't do 20 years ago. 'So while we're not missing as many bats, the stuff coming out of people's hands is better than it's ever been. It's not like the stuff got worse, and that's why strikeouts are going down. The stuff is outrageous right now across the board, and it's harder to be on the barrel than it's ever been.' It's never safe to ask, 'Who's going to win the Cy Young Award?' in July. But when has that ever stopped anyone? So who's going to win the National League Cy Young? It's possible the correct answer is Zack Wheeler – or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Logan Webb or (fill in the name of your favorite ace here). But it's also extremely possible the answer is … Paul Skenes. Advertisement Not that there's anything shocking about that — except that, thanks to the Pirates' dead-ball offense, he's rolling into mid-July with a won-lost record of … 4-7. OK, think about that. Should we care that it's possible we're about to live in a world where a starting pitcher could win a Cy Young with a record in the neighborhood of 8-13? Before you answer, you should know that even in these newfangled times, we've never lived in that world. For the first 40 full seasons that the Cy Young existed, the starting pitchers who collected that trophy had an average won-lost record of 21-8. And no starter won the award, in a full season, without winning at least 18 games until 1997, when Pedro Martinez took home his first Cy Young by going 17-8 with the Expos. But we didn't really know that the universe had changed until 2010, when Félix Hernández (deservedly) won the AL award in a season in which he went 13-12. Still, imagine a Cy Young with a losing record — and fewer than 10 wins — in a full season. We've never seen that, until … well, it might not be long. So let's ask again: Should anyone still care — if Skenes hangs onto his lead in more relevant 2025-ish metrics such as WAR, ERA+ and opponent OPS? You should know I got some measured, deep-thought responses to that question from our panel. But I also got this one from a longtime Kill The Win exec: 'Come on, it's such a dumb, antiquated statistic,' he said of The Win. 'Look, I think Paul Skenes cares immensely about wins, and I'm glad he does. He should. But he's not voting for the Cy Young. … I want Paul Skenes to care because it makes him a better pitcher. But if you're filling out a ballot and you care, you are an idiot.' So what have we learned about baseball in 2025? The deadline might be a bust. The Tigers are for real. The cash register is ringing for Alex Bregman. And us lowly sportswriters? We still have to prove we're not idiots. (Top photo of Tarik Skubal: Grace Hoppel / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
The five key statistics that have kept the Houston Astros' offense afloat in 2025
HOUSTON — On Opening Day, Astros manager Joe Espada wrote a lineup with leadoff hitter Jose Altuve and cleanup man Christian Walker. Yordan Alvarez hit second and Yainer Diaz slotted fifth. It was the sort of setup that should've portended prolific offense. Alvarez has appeared in 29 of the Astros' first 90 games. Walker and Diaz entered Sunday's series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers sporting a sub-90 OPS+. In late April, Altuve asked out of the leadoff spot in favor of flourishing shortstop Jeremy Peña. Advertisement Houston has weathered that injury and ineffectiveness to still possess baseball's eighth-highest OPS. Slugging remains an issue — again, Alvarez hasn't played in a game since May 2 — but the Astros have otherwise put together a top-flight offense. No other team in the sport has a higher batting average and only six boast a higher on-base percentage. Alvarez's eventual return can cure some of what ails the Astros. So can adding balance during the upcoming trade deadline. But, after 90 games, here are the five numbers that have kept Houston's offense afloat. The Astros awoke on Sunday sporting the platoon advantage in 28.4 percent of their plate appearances. Every other lineup in the sport had it at least 37.5 percent of the time. The major-league average is 54.2 percent, a number the Astros won't reach even if they acquire a left-handed bat at the trade deadline and welcome Alvarez back to their lineup. Including the Astros, only five offenses have taken fewer than 50 percent of their plate appearances with a platoon advantage. Three of them — the Giants, Royals and Angels — all awoke on Sunday with an OPS+ at least four points below league average. Houston entered its series finale against the Dodgers with a 106 OPS+, neutralizing what is supposed to be a drastic disadvantage. Thirty-two right-handed batters entered Sunday with at least a .770 OPS against right-handed pitching. The Astros employ four of them. No other team has more than three. Altuve and Isaac Paredes' success against right-handed pitching is part of their career-long trends. Meyers, meanwhile, had a .621 OPS and a 24.5 percent strikeout rate against righties across the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Peña posted a .659 OPS against right-handers during that same timeframe. Advertisement Just seven right-handed hitters entered Sunday with a higher OPS against right-handed pitching than Peña's .854 mark. Meyers' .782 OPS against righties is another marked improvement amid his breakout season, one that is helping Houston's unbalanced lineup to thrive. The number itself inspires little confidence, but consider that Houston finished last season with a minus-10 baserunning run value. Only the Angels, Blue Jays and Yankees were worse. Last year, the Yankees and Astros took an extra base on hits less than any team in the sport. The Yankees are authoring a repeat performance this season. Houston, however, entered Sunday advancing an extra base 43 percent of the time: a seven percent increase from last year. Peña and Meyers' breakthroughs can't be overstated — they're the two fastest players on the team — but the Astros have made a concerted effort to run the bases with more aggression. Espada preached it in spring training, perhaps cognizant of the power he lost after the team traded Kyle Tucker and allowed Alex Bregman to sign with the Red Sox. Espada added third-base coach Tony Perezchica to his staff, in part, to improve the team's baserunning. Last season, Perezchica oversaw an Arizona Diamondbacks team that finished with a 17 baserunning run value. Houston does not have the personnel to replicate that performance, but progress with Perezchica is palpable. That the Astros have only made 19 outs on the bases — the third fewest in the sport — demonstrates their aggression isn't always reckless, either. Lineups that are either shorthanded or short on talent can still succeed by following one of baseball's most accurate axioms: good things can happen when you put the ball in play. The Astros adopted it as a hallmark after the 2016 season and continue to prioritize contact even as their rosters evolve. Advertisement No team in baseball has a higher contact rate on pitches inside the strike zone than Houston's. The Astros swing at 68 percent of the pitches they see in the strike zone — the fifth highest in the sport — accentuating how sound their decision-making can be. A 29.6 percent chase rate can contradict that statement. Only three teams have a higher one. View both numbers and it becomes clear how crucial it is for Houston to stay inside the strike zone. The problem? The Astros are seeing the third-fewest in-zone pitches in baseball, an ode from opponents that are aware of Houston's ability to put them in play. Houston's lineup hammers fastballs, a fact opponents are beginning to respect. No offense in baseball has a higher batting average against all fastballs — four-seamers, two-seamers and cutters — than the Astros' .291 mark. As a result, Houston's lineup is seeing just 53.6 percent fastballs. Only five teams are seeing fewer. Fewer fastballs means a higher percentage of secondary pitches and spin, patterns that can become easy to predict, but still difficult to hit. The Astros entered Sunday seeing breaking balls 34.1 percent of the time. Just three teams see spin more often — the Angels, Phillies and Diamondbacks — but none of them have been as successful handling the secondary stuff. The Angels, for example, are hitting .191 against the major-league high 34.4 percent of breaking balls they see. The Astros' .232 batting average against breaking balls is the eighth highest in baseball, but only one team ahead of them — the Dodgers — is seeing spin at higher than a 31.9 percent clip. Remember, Houston is seeing it 34.1 percent of the time. Unsurprisingly, teams are attacking the Astros' free-swingers and fledgling players with spin. Meyers, Yainer Diaz and Cam Smith all entered Sunday seeing at least 35 percent breaking balls. Meyers, who hit .163 against spin last season, has increased his average to .223. Smith has the same batting average, which is more than adequate for a rookie. Diaz's has dropped from .293 last season to .207 through the first 89 games of this one, but his backup is helping to pick up the slack. Victor Caratini crushed a sweeper for a grand slam during Friday's 18-1 destruction of the Dodgers, continuing a renaissance Houston needed. Victor Caratini hit .234 against breaking balls last season. His recent grand slam upped his average to .302 in this season. Solving all spin is crucial for any lineup, but for one as right-handed as Houston's, holding its own against sliders is crucial. Sliders are a right-handed pitcher's preferred putaway pitch against a right-handed hitter. Advertisement Houston leads the major leagues in right-handed plate appearances, so it is no surprise that its lineup is seeing the second-most sliders of any offense in baseball. Only the Los Angeles Angels are seeing more — and are slashing a meager .192/.243/.369 against them. The Astros, meanwhile, entered Sunday with baseball's fourth-highest slugging percentage against sliders. No team has more hits off of sliders — then again, few get as many opportunities — but Houston's performance against the pitch can't be overstated. Peña's improvement at recognizing sliders has been chronicled. He's one of six Astros who entered Sunday hitting at least .247 while seeing at least 700 sliders — success that must be maintained for however long the lineup remains so right-handed. (Photo of Christian Walker and Yanier Diaz celebrating: Harry How / Getty Images)
