What we learned from Astros/Dodgers

Image courtesy of David J. Philip

Unfortunately for the Astros, their second series of the season didn't go nearly as planned. Their sweep at the hands of the Dodgers featured everything they wished to avoid -- poor situational hitting, foolhardy mistakes, and increased national scorn.

Still, even in as dreary a series as this one, there were some positives to pick out from the slew of negatives, positives that the team hopes to develop going forward. Here are some of the biggest things to take away from the Astros' two-game set against the Dodgers.

1. Dusty Baker trusts his team

This might sound obvious -- considering that it's a managers job to have faith in his players -- but Baker demonstrated these past two games that no matter how dire a situation gets, he will always trust his players.

In terms of batting, that means that he's going to let his all-star hitters (Altuve, Bregman, Springer), take their cuts, even if they're struggling. That surfaced in light of yesterday's extra inning showdown, in which Baker elected against playing small-ball and bunting with a man on second with no outs. A concept which might have otherwise won them the game.

Pitching-wise, it's giving the ball to younger pitchers that played almost exclusively in the minor leagues the previous year, and trusting them to get outs in tough spots. Granted, Baker doesn't have much of a choice with his selection of arms, but he seems to have gotten a feel for who he can turn to in tough situations.

Baker knows that the team will eventually start hitting consistently again. He also knows that the pitching core will round out and develop. Demonstrating this level of belief in his team will only prove useful later in the season, as the games progressively get more important.

2. The younger arms grew up a bit

I mentioned a few days ago that in order for the Astros to experience consistent success in the abbreviated season, they would need their pitching -- consisting of mostly young players -- to step up in a big way. Suffice it to say they did, barring a few mishaps.

On Tuesday, it was Framber Valdez who showed growth in his first start of the year, demonstrating better command and a better pitch selection throughout his evening. He got a little unlucky with infield hits that stymied his night, but generally speaking, his stuff was fantastic, especially against as potent a lineup as the Dodgers'.

Wednesday showcased even more electric pitching. Christian Javier showed exactly why he was the Astros' sixth overall prospect coming into the year, showcasing an elite fastball with an excellent spin rate to go with some nasty breaking stuff. It was good enough to earn him eight strikeouts against the Dodgers, through almost six innings. Not bad for a guy who didn't even know he would be starting on Wednesday the previous day.

The bullpen flashed potential too. Blake Taylor was sensational in his relief outing on Wednesday, going 2.1 innings with three strikeouts and only one hit allowed. His performance was huge, given that it was only a tie game throughout his appearance. Cy Sneed also impressed, and excluding an unfortunate home run that eventually lost the Astros the game in the thirteenth inning, Sneed was more than decent in holding the Dodgers down in extras.

The bullpen is young, and still has a ton of room to grow given their age, but its encouraging to see them shine against as good a team as this, on as big a stage as the one they played on the last two games. Things can only get better once the older guys (Pressly, Devenski, etc.) rejoin the roster. There's a lot to like with this group going forward.

3. The Showrrea is back

While the rest of the bats were generally awful, Carlos Correa looked in his element against the Dodgers. He went 5-9 during the brief two-game set, driving in three runs and striking out only once. He also had a home run during that stretch. He is currently second on the team in average as well as OPS.

Correa was known to be struggling a bit in seasons prior. After struggling through an awful 2018 campaign, in which he hit only .239 with an OPS of .728, he returned a bit to his 2017 self the next season with a respectable .279 average and an OPS of .926. He has still suffered through injury issues throughout his career (he only played 75 games last year), but the upward trend is visible.

Correa's biggest commodity is his cannon of an arm and his elite range defensively. In 2017, he was in consideration for consensus best shortstop in baseball. Currently, his defense is still elite, which makes him valuable even without considering his offense. If Correa finds his swing, it only makes him that much more valuable to the Astros.

For now, he's raking through six games. In a normal season, that would have equated to about sixteen games. Regardless, Correa is off to a hot start, and with this next series against the Angels offering an opportunity to hit against a less-than-stellar pitching staff, Correa will have even more of a chance to show just how much he's improved from last year.