Stock Up, Stock Down: Astros, Rangers, Yankees, Giants

The MLB season is closing in on just three-plus weeks remaining before the postseason begins in October. Pennant races are heating up and some teams are certainly improving their playoff chances while some are making it more difficult for themselves.

It has been a good last seven days for some teams and some teams have had a bad week. It’s time to fire up the latest Stock Up, Stock Down.

Stock Up: Jose Altuve’s impressive performance

The Houston Astros were sliding and on the verge of falling out of an American League Wild Card playoff spot, but up stepped their leader, Jose Altuve, against the Texas Rangers..

Talk about setting the table at the top of the order. Tuesday night, the Astros second baseman led off the game with a solo home run off of Nathan Eovaldi. He was just beginning. In the second inning, he hit a two-run home run off of Eovaldi. He wasn’t done.

In the third inning, he hit his third consecutive home run, in the third consecutive inning when he hit a solo shot off of Dane Dunning. Three at-bats, three home runs, and four RBI. That is a good week for a lot of players, never mind three straight innings in the same game.

Houston came into the series after being swept at home by the New York Yankees and was on the verge of falling out of playoff position. Instead, Altuve stepped up and played a big part in a much-needed sweep of their in-state rival.

Stock Down: Texas Rangers

On the flip side of things from this week’s series, the Rangers are sliding fast in the standings and are currently not in a postseason position, falling behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

This week against Houston was about as bad as it has been all season for the Rangers. They were outscored 39-10 in the three games, allowing 13, 14, and 12 runs. Giving up that many runs on a series is not a recipe to reach the playoffs.

At the trade deadline, Texas acquired Max Scherzer from the New York Mets to be the ace of the staff, and trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Astros, they sent their new pitcher to the mound to try and stop the bleeding. It didn’t happen.

Scherzer allowed seven hits, six runs, two walks, and three home runs in just three innings to cap off the worst three-game series the Rangers have played this season. On the flip side, his former teammate with the Mets, Justin Verlander, went seven innings, giving up four hits, two runs and striking out six.

Texas has the perfect opportunity to turn things around this weekend when they host the Oakland Athletics, but with the way things are going, there’s no guarantee that it will happen.

Stock Up: New York Yankees and Jasson Dominguez

It’s safe to say that 2023 is rock bottom for the first time in a long time for the New York Yankees. They cut ties with Harrison Bader and he was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds and they have decided to go to a youth movement.

Part of that youth movement was seeing what prospect Jasson Dominguez can do in the majors and the returns so far have been promising. In fact, since he was inserted into the starting lineup, New York has won six straight, which included sweeping the Astros on the road.

In his very first at-bat last Friday night against Verlander, he hit a home run. He homered in Sunday night’s series finale to complete the New York sweep. So far, the prospect had played well in center field, while smacking three home runs and driving in five runs.

He hit his first Yankee Stadium home run against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday night. He is quickly becoming a fan favorite and future center fielder in the Bronx. The Yankees could have a power-hitting combination in center field with Dominguez and Aaron Judge in right field for a long time.