Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Thursday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Well, that’s that…. Recap Varsho underwent wrist surgery (HC) The Astros didn’t love getting booed in their own stadium…

Talk about a boo-worthy performance. Everything that could go wrong for the Astros basically did. Hunter Brown lasted only 0.2 innings, allowing four earned runs before loading the bases with two outs. Why? A combination of ineffectiveness and poor defense. Remember when the fundamentals was a thing in Spring Training? That said, AJ Blubaugh and Peter Lambert somehow kept the game within reach through five innings.

If the Astros don't win today, their season ends in September just like everyone else who didn't make the postseason, and Joe Espada will end his Astros tenure with 0 postseason wins.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Wednesday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves That was not a good start….. Recap But what are some of the actual reasons that happened?

The Houston Astros lose Game One of the American League Wild Card series with the Chicago White Sox, 6-3.

The Launch Angle Staff weighs in on how they anticipate the AL Wild Card Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros will unfold.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Monday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves We. Are. In…… Recap Astros won the West on the last day of the season (NYT) Schedule for Astros/White Sox series…

Someone had to win the AL West in 2026. Why not the 81-81 Astros? Honestly, Sunday's game against the A's turned out to be a moot point. The Rangers' loss to the Twins earlier in the afternoon clinched the AL West title for the Astros. Still, it was nice to win 9-0 on the last day of the season. The pitching staff, with Peter Lambert starting on short rest, threw the ball well in a minor league ballpark that makes me nervous every single time.

It comes down to the final day of the season, Game 162. The Astros won last night, but so did the Rangers, tied at 80-81, with the Astros having the tiebreaker. The Astros will win the division if one of two things happen: The Astros win their series finale against the Athletics or The Rangers lose their series finale against the Twins…

The stage is set with Saturday’s win and Sunday will determine which team wins the AL West division title. There isn’t much to complain about in this game, a welcomed departure from plenty of other instances this season. Hayden Wesneski threw seven innings of one-run ball. Ronel Blanco also tossed two scoreless innings, giving the rest of the bullpen a day off.

Well, someone has to win the AL West. The Astros enter Saturday at 79-81, tied with the Rangers atop an AL West that has seemingly spent the entire season attempting to avoid producing a winner. Of course, if the season was already finished, Houston would win the division thanks to the tiebreaker. But either team hasn't played well in 2026; the Astros have been outscored by 52 runs this season and own a 75-85 expected record based on run differential.

With the Rangers’ loss to the Twins earlier Friday evening, the Astros found themselves in position to create some separation atop the AL West as the season draws to a close this weekend. Unfortunately, even best-laid plans have often gone awry for this team. This game was largely aggravating. Hunter Brown worked through poor command, control, whatever, walking four but allowing just one run in 5.1 innings.

Yordan Alvarez ranks 1st, 1st and 2nd in AL batting average, home runs and RBI respectively, but he may not be able to catch Pete Alonso's RBI total for the Triple Crown. His MVP case remains strong though.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Friday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Lucas Spence had a pretty decent game….Recap Astros playoff scenario (HC) Varsho hurt now because why wouldn’t he be…

Three home runs from unheralded rookie Lucas Spence propel Astros to a 7-5 win over the Athletics, maintaining a tie for first place in the AL West with three games remaining.

The fate of the 2026 Astros will be decided against the A's at Sutter Health Park, a ballpark more hitter-friendly than even Coors Field. It's not because of elevation or dimension. It's the wind and heat that turn warning track fly balls into home runs.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Thursday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Recap Javier is done for the year (HC) Astros call up Josh Hendrickson (NBC) Brice Matthews is gone too…

Well, this one stings. It’s late, so I’ll keep the recap relatively short. But this game was one of the most brutal losses I’ve watched in a while. Josh Hader finally looked human for a change, walking four and picking up the loss in the process. On 44 pitches, too. I wouldn’t expect to see him again for a couple of days.

The dramatic decrease in Pecko's hard hit ball and walk rate has resulted in reduction of his xStats across the board. He's gone from a pitcher against whom everyone hits like Shohei Ohtani to a pitcher where everyone hits like Marcus Semien. That will play at a major league level.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Wednesday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Recap Burrows is back (CBS) Barrosa is down (FP) And Varsho is hurt… because of course (CBS)

The Astros retake first place in the AL West with a 7-0 win over the Mariners led by three RBI from Yordan Alvarez

Another weekend where the Astros just needed to avoid being swept, and another weekend where they couldn't do that, and now the Astros enter the final 6 games of the season out of playoff position. Can they still make it to October? Sure, but however many wins the Rangers get in their last 6 games, the Astros will need to get one more.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Monday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Bryce Mayer elected to the Texas League All-Star team A look at the Houston Astros playoff chances…

One of my favorite features in both Hall of Fame Index books are what I would lovingly call the “what about” series. I determined that Gene Tenace was the most qualified candidate at catcher amongst the Veterans Committee crowds which immediately would inspire people to ask, “What about Thurman Munson?” That happens to be a very good question at catcher. Unfortunately, some of those questions at other positions have caused problems.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Monday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves This team is crumbling. Recap Astros make multiple roster moves (YS) Yordan speaks on the team’s downward spiral…

Mercifully, this season is almost finished. Whether it stops in September or October is another question. But, after this weekend, I am leaning toward September. Negatives abound in this sweep. Seven runs in three games. A couple of bullpen implosions. A losing record at home. At least the starting pitchers (Peter Lambert, Hayden Wesneski, and Hunter Brown) did relatively well, but that's about the extent of any positives from this weekend.

In the spirit of Astros Fan Appreciation Day, I would like to make this game preview "The Launch Angle Reader Appreciation Piece." This inaugural season of The Launch Angle has been nothing short of a massive success.

I think the Astros really miss Steven Okert. You can’t really assess the Astros’ bullpen without addressing the elephant in the room: the real lack of depth in the bullpen at this moment. Tatsuya Imai continues to occupy a roster spot despite being essentially relegated to mop-up duty. For a team already stretched thin for pitching depth in both the rotation and bullpen, carrying a pitcher it doesn't seemingly trust in meaningful situations is a damning indictment of how this roster has been constructed.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys (AAA) Wait, Ryan Weiss did what?!

"If you don't come in on Friday, don't bother coming in on Monday." Well, if the Astros don't show up in September, they're not invited to October. It's been put up or shut up, and in the month of September, the Astros have been silent, leaving Astros fans speechless themselves.

Another day, another game lamenting the bottom half of the Astros lineup. Or, in this case, most of it. There are only so many ways to say that this isn't a postseason-caliber lineup, even with a potential AL MVP in it. The outfield is a mess. The infield isn't much better as of late. Well, except for Isaac Paredes. I will not tolerate slander about him.

Yordan Alvarez is obviously the best player on the Astros. No questions about that. I mean, he's a favorite for the AL MVP. But for as good as the slugger has been this season, he can't do it all by himself in every single game. For the Astros to succeed, qualify for the postseason, and possibly advance deep into October, it'll take more than Alvarez.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Friday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Yordan remembers how to hit home runs! Recap Comparing the remaining schedules between Houston and the Rangers…

The Astros parlay five solo homers into a 6-2 win over the Royals. The win gives the Astros a series win, puts them over .500, and keeps them in the driver's seat for the AL West pennant.

For as much complaining as I've done this season about the pitching staff, particularly the rotation, it may not be their fault if the Astros don't qualify for the postseason. Or, more accurately, not entirely their fault. Instead, the lineup is my main focus at this moment as the last ten games occur. To state the obvious, the Astros have an incredibly top-heavy lineup.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Thursday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Recap Crane dealing with backlash from plane incident (HC) Hunter Brown has a new pitch thanks to Strom…

In 14 September games, including Wednesday's loss to the Royals, the Astros have scored 45 runs, or roughly 3.2 runs per game. No other team in baseball has scored fewer runs this month. Only the Royals have fewer hits this month. That overall lack of hitting and run scoring is far from ideal for a team with postseason aspirations. To be fair, the top half of the Astros lineup wasn't entirely quiet against Kansas City.

As the 2022 season ended, starting pitcher Cristian Javier appeared headed toward a promising future as one of the top tier MLB starting pitchers. He pitched to a dazzling 2.54 ERA in 2022, and two of his starts were no hitters--against the Yankees in the regular season and versus the Phillies in the World Series. He earned a lucrative contract extension based on his promise.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys (AAA) Fayetteville Woodpeckers (A) Congrats to the 2026 Carolina League champions!

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Wednesday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Recap Correa comeback is not happening (HC) Trammell and Loperfido swap on roster thanks to paternity leave…

Oh, how we missed thee, Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez. Since August, the Astros have been one of baseball's worst-hitting teams. That, in large part, is due to the disappearance of the #1 and #2 hitters in the lineup, Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez. Although four runs is not exactly a breakout for the struggling offense, tonight these two not only accounted for all the Astros' runs, but all the hits too.

What a disastrous weekend. Are we nearing the end of an 11 year era of dominance? After 2 championships, several more championship appearances, playoffs in all but 2 seasons, is it possible that bad drafting and roster management has doomed this dynasty to end? I mean Ja’marr Chase had just twelve yards. Twelve yards! And is Kyren Williams a committee back now?

Welcome to the stretch run, when baseball starts to separate the contenders and pretenders. Somehow, someway, the Houston Astros find themselves in the thick of the playoff picture, with the chance to clinch a division and host games (pay no attention to the current 7-game home playoff game losing streak). High drama in the regular season awaits, with everything this side of the NL West up for grabs, to say nothing of the lottery crucible that is the postseason.

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Tuesday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves Astros lose long time executive to the NHL (Chron) What in the world will Houston do with Altuve?

Welcome to the Launch Briefing, a daily feature, where you will find a roundup of news and interesting stories from the Astros clubhouse and from around the league. Discuss and share in the comments! It’s the Monday Launch! Houston Astros News Injuries/Roster Moves That was really bad. Recap Next step for Carlos…..rehab starts (HC) Astros still control their own destiny in the West…

Another stinker of a game. At least the first two losses in this series were competitive, though. The third game? It wasn't even close. Hayden Wesneski obviously struggled, with his velocity down and his pitches not looking sharp. He only generated four whiffs on 31 swings. Of the 14 batted balls that the Rays put into play against Wesneski in his three innings, seven were classified as hard hits.

Today is a shorter preview than usual, but I did want to highlight one point. Since August 1, only two teams have scored fewer runs than the Astros (149): the Pirates (142) and Angels (133). That doesn't seem great, does it? For as fun as it's been to see this team somehow take the lead in the AL West, I'd be lying if I stated that this lineup doesn't concern me.

Daulton Varsho, Christian Walker, Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell, and Christian Vázquez were a combined 0-for-18 with ten strikeouts against the Rays on Saturday. It isn't the only reason that the Astros lost, but it is certainly a key reason. This lineup sans Yordan Alvarez isn't a good watch at the moment. There are games even with him present that I don't actively try to remember this season.

If, and that’s the key word, Carlos Correa can come back this season, then it raises the uncomfortable question of what to do with this infield. Christian Walker is going to play first base. Jeremy Peña isn't being moved off of shortstop. For Isaac Paredes, he has done his best hitting this season when entrenched at a position, ideally third base.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys (AAA) Corpus Christi Hooks (AA)