On Deck: What to expect during Astros/Angels

Coming off a rough series against San Diego, the Astros return home to Minute Maid Park to take on their second series with the Los Angeles Angels, this time in a series spanning four games rather than three.

With the Astros looking to get back in the win column, here are three things I'm looking forward to seeing from the 'Stros against the Halos.

Taking on Trout

Houston moves from one home run leader to another -- after trying (and mostly failing) to contain rookie sensation Fernando Tatis Jr., who leads all of baseball with 12 dingers, the Astros will duel with power slugger and consensus best player in baseball Mike Trout. Prior to tonight, Trout was tied for the American League lead for home runs at ten, and has been having another sensational year at the plate.

Houston was lucky enough to avoid Trout due to the birth of his son during the last series in Anaheim, but there's no hiding from him now. In a lineup that already features strong hitters in David Fletcher, Anthony Rendon and Shohei Ohtani, Trout will be the biggest test for a rotation that got blasted in San Diego.

Trout has slightly regressed in his past seven games (he's only notched five hits in his last 31 at-bats), but he is known to get hot at any time. Keeping Trout cool will be the staff's biggest challenge in the series.

Can Altuve and Tucker keep it up?

This last week, José Altuve hit .300 in 31 plate appearances, striking out only twice during that stretch. Tucker has been hitting even better, hitting .391 during the past week's worth of games. Suffice it to say, they've been far and away the team's best hitters during and after the eight-game winning streak.

They'll get a chance to improve upon those marks against an Angels pitching staff that ranks 24th in team ERA at 5.08. Altuve is batting second in the lineup, while Tucker has the honor of batting cleanup. They're sure to get plenty of at-bats against the Angels, which could be beneficial for the team and their averages.

Can the Rookies Rebound?

In their last starts, both Cristian Javier and Brandon Bielak had less-than-effective outings in their respective starts. Against the Rockies, Javier only managed to go 3.2 innings while giving up three runs in his start at Coors field. Bielak had a far worse outing, not even managing to escape the second inning en route to giving up seven runs in his start against San Diego.

Rookies are bound to go through ups and downs in their inaugural seasons, and these starts might point to opposing teams finally beginning to pick up on trends and tactics that the two young righties like to employ. Baseball is a game of adaptations, however, and the rookies will need to respond to hitters seeming to get a better read on them by mixing up their tendencies.

Both Javier and Bielak have pitched plenty of innings this season, so the Los Angeles hitters already have more than a first impression to go off of. They'll have to overcome the power of analytics and scouting if the Astros are to experience any success pitching-wise during the series.