Leiter: Astros’ woes are mental — as is solution
MLB Network analyst says team must refine processes to fix plate problems
MLB Network analyst Al Leiter, who knows a few things about putting hitters into slumps, sees some familiar patterns at work among the struggling Astros lineup entering the final weekend of the American League Championship Series.
“Baseball is mental,” Leiter said. “And it becomes even more mental when you struggle. And when it’s a limited number of games being scrutinized at the über degree, and you have to answer more questions to more outlets, it snowballs.
“My take on watching the Astros is that they have the ultimate look of a team that is pressing, that ‘I’ve got to hit the five-run home run and we have to score early before the Yankees get to their bullpen.’ It’s ay-yai-yai.”
To a large degree, the Astros have reverted to their swing-and-miss tendencies of three years ago.
“Jose Altuve is a great hitter, and he’s swinging at pitches … maybe he did it years ago, but I don’t remember him swinging at pitches out of the zone the way he is now,” Leiter said. “And then you go up and down the lineup — ( Josh) Reddick, (Alex) Bregman, (Marwin) Gonzalez … where do you go to get relief ?”
If the problem is mental, then so is the solution.
“They have to break down their process to doing what they have done in the past,” Leiter said. “The numbers show they have quality hitters. Do what you are accustomed to doing. They are swinging at pitches that they shouldn’t, and that is what pitchers try to get you to do. And they’re all doing it at the same time.”
On the pitching front, Leiter said the fine tolerances that separate winning from losing were demonstrated Wednesday night when the Yankees laid off pitches against Dallas Keuchel that prompted swings in Game 1.
But as for Game 6, “Justin Verlander is a different animal. His velocity is up. Everything is crisper. His breaking ball is sharper. This is the best I’ve seen him going back to his Cy Young season (in 2011).”
As for whether another spotless outing from Verlander will be enough to keep the Astros in the series, that will be determined Friday night.
The first three games averaged 5.8 million viewers, and although that number will drop to the 5.4 million or so range, it’s still on track to be the mostwatched ALCS since 2013.
CP3 on ESPN
Much of the conversation about the Rockets in the wake of Chris Paul’s arrival has been whether he and James Harden can coexist as ballhandlers. However, the opening episode of ESPN Films’ “Chris Paul Chapter 3,” which aired Thursday on ESPN, revealed that Paul was eager to play off the ball with his new team.
In a conversation with music mogul Jay-Z filmed before Paul’s decision to seek a sign-and-trade agreement with Houston, Paul said, “I have the ball in my hands way too much. I’m so tired of dribbling and having to do so much. I would love to get on the wing and shoot the ball and stuff like that.
All three episodes of the series are now available via the ESPN app and on demand as of Thursday’s premiere of episode 1. All three will air beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The second episode details Paul’s move with his family to Houston shortly before Hurricane Harvey hit the city and includes his post-storm volunteer work. The third episode, which was not made available for preview, includes Paul’s workouts and conversations with Harden as the Rockets prepare for the new season.
More McHale-Harden
Hall of Famer and former Rockets coach Kevin McHale called a “clown” by James Harden after questioning Harden’s leadership style in an otherwise complimentary critique, stuck by his words last week on NBA TV.
“You calling me names is not going to change my opinion as to what I saw when I was there,” McHale said.
“It’s hard to have a lot of credibility if you don’t have good defense. It’s hard to say ‘Let’s get stops’ when people are saying to you, ‘Please stay in front of somebody.’ ”
McHale went on to compliment Harden’s skills and his efforts, for example, to organize team workouts during the summer. But at crunch time, when things are going bad and, as McHale said, it’s more about will than skill, Harden does not display old-school leadership skills.
“Chris Paul will get in your face and go nose to nose and say ‘Let’s go,’ and that’s what you need,” McHale said. Harden at such moments “gets a little bit introverted, a little bit quiet. You saw that against the Spurs (in the playoffs). You get to the point where he gets passive.”
Frugality hurts fans
You may recall that DirecTV and AT&T paid $1,000 to purchase the assets of bankrupt Comcast SportsNet Houston, and sometimes the network’s program choices reflect that bargain basement mentality.
While YES and SNY, the two New York regional sports networks, were carrying Astros-Yankees postgame highlights Wednesday, AT&T SportsNet Southwest was showing a rerun of the Fresno StateNew Mexico football game from Saturday. Astros fans are ill-served by such penny-pinching.