How Many Houston Astros Will Be All Stars?
^ Keep Houston Press Free Support Us Local  Community  Journalism  I Support Support the independent voice of Houston and help keep the future of Houston Press free. Support Us  Coming into the season, perhaps the two most pressing questions for the Houston Astros centered around the two players who've been the centerpieces of the offensive uprising in 2021. First, Astro fans wanted to know "Was Jose Altuve's abysmal 2020 an aberration, or is his $30 million per year contract about to be a boat anchor?" Second, Astro fans wanted to know " Were Carlos Correa's healthy 2020 and dominant postseason harbingers of a monster contract year in 2021?" Well, the answers to both question have been about as encouraging as they could possibly be for Astros fans (and Correa's unborn child). Altuve is back to his MVP Level numbers, and Correa is ascending into the actual MVP conversation, leading all shortstops in several categories, and among the top five in the game in Wins Above Replacement. So, with the All Star Game coming up on July 13, and with voting for starters still ongoing this week, the question we now ask is "How many Astros will participate in the All Star Game, either as a starter or as a reserve. VOTE:  Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) June 13, 2021  These results are not indicative of an optimistic fan base. Most of the fans who chose two or fewer cited some sort of conspiracy against the Astros wrapped in as a sign stealing punishment as reasons why they thought the Astros would only have one or two representatives at the All Star Game. #ForTheH    VOTE:  Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) June 27, 2021  A little more optimism, and rightfully so, when you consider, as of Sunday morning, this is what the 2021 Astros are doing compared to the 2019 teams which was an historically great offense:  Compare and contrast the Astros offense through the first 75 games of 2019 and 2021. EVERYDAY PLAYERS  The Astros have six players that are above the .900 OPS mark right now, and the scary thing is that, by and large, they are all ascending and getting hot right now. It could be a really long summer for Astros opponents, especially once Alex Bregman comes back healthy. Correa and Altuve are near locks to play in the All Star Game, and Yuli has been great, but plays a position deep in talent. Brantley's time missed due to injury hurts him, and Tucker and Alvarez are the future of this team, but probably a half step shy off where they need to be for inclusion. CARLOS CORREA (SS), 95 percent  JOSE ALTUVE (2B), 95 percent  YULI GURRIEL (1B), 50 percent  MICHAEL BRANTLEY (OF), 30 percent  YORDAN ALVAREZ (DH), 15 percent  KYLE TUCKER (OF), 10 percent  PITCHERS  The Astros have a several pitchers that are putting together fine seasons, but I'm not sure if there is one surefire hammer that is a lock for the All Star Game, like Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, or Dallas Keuchel in recent seasons. Of the four starters with double digit number of starts, Greinke has the most wins, but the highest ERA. He also has the most "street credit" among his peers around the league who are helping choose the pitching staff. Pressly is the one guy who I might bet on. Other than the outing against the Padres, where he gave up a game tying home run to Fernando Tatis, Jr., he's been lights out. ZACK GREINKE, 50 percent  RYAN PRESSLY, 45 percent  LANCE MCCULLERS, 40 percent  LUIS GARCIA, 30 percent  Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.