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Astros Manager Joe Espada Leads By Example With Boring Ejection During Fifth Straight Loss
A bad season for Houston reached a new low point on Thursday.
The Houston Astros have finally come back down to Earth. After spending the last decade as one of MLB's premiere franchises, they're off to a 7-19 start and tied with the Colorado Rockies for the third-worst record in baseball. On Thursday they dropped their fifth consecutive game and got swept by the Chicago Cubs.
The season somehow managed to reach a new low point as manager Joe Espada got tossed by home plate umpire Jansen Visconti. Espada, like the team he manages, barely went through the motions as he earned his first career ejection.
Espada calmly walked out to talk to Visconti, appeared to speak softly and mostly kept his hands in his pockets before Visconti tossed him. At that point Espada basically just turned around and strolled back to the dugout. After the game he said that he didn't agree with the strike zone and that the team needs to show more urgency and fire. Do you think he knows he was describing himself?
When they teach the class on motivational tactics, Espada's leisurley stroll at Wrigley will not be part of the lesson plan. As FOX 26 Houston's Will Kunkel pointed out, this is a situation that requires screaming, hat-throwing and dirt-kicking.
It's still April and Espada is already on the hot seat. That's what happens when you take over a franchise that has been to the World Series four times in the last seven seasons and won two championships. Houston won 90 games and the AL West last season.
At this rate Houston won't get to 90 wins under Espada until the Texans kick off the 2025 season. They aren't the Chicago White Sox, but they are on pace for the worst season in franchise history.
Coming off the incredibly successful run they just had under Dusty Baker and AJ Hinch, it must be a jarring experience for everyone involved. Including the fans. There are toddlers in Houston who hadn't even been born the last time the Astros won a World Series. How fitting that the only thing they can learn from watching Espada manage the Astros this season is how to walk.
