Series Thoughts: Astros in New York

The Houston Astros got what they wanted in the first game of the series, not so much in the final two games. The offense was able to give the Astros a chance in all three games, but the pitching was a bit off.  While there are some troubling things to talk about, it's just the first series of the year.

Below are three takeaways from the Astros road series loss to the Yankees:

Carlos Correa, pretty good

If you picked Carlos Correa for MVP in the preseason, my guess is your feeling pretty good about that prediction right now. Correa has picked up where he left off last season. In the three-game series with the Yankees, he was smacking the baseball all over the yard.

He finished the series, batting .385 (5-for-13) with three home runs, four RBIs, and two stolen bases. The second-year shortstop did not record a hit in game three, but he came within feet of hitting his fourth homer.

Correa was the main reason the Astros won game one. On a pretty easy roller near the mound in game one, Correa ran inside the line. The path gave Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances an awkward throwing lane. Rather then hit Correa, Betances overthrew Mark Teixeira at first base, the Astros went on to score three runs in that inning.

If you don't know who Tyler White is, now you know

Correa was a difference maker against the Yankees, but he wasn't alone in New York.

Tyler White lived up to expectations. Three games into the season White is batting a meager .667 (6 for 9). White never once looking over-matched at the plate. He took pitches, worked the count, and when he saw his pitch he drove the ball.

Defensively he didn't make any amazing plays, and he didn't really cost the Astros anything in the field. It was a positive debut for the former 33rd pick in the 2013 draft.

Side note, Preston Tucker and White were an excellent tandem in the batting order

Cold weather sucks

Baseball just shouldn't be played outdoors in 30-degree weather. It was cold and windy the whole series between the Astros and Yankees. Pitchers, at least on the Astros side, had a hard time gripping baseballs.

I really want to blame all of the Astros problems on cold weather shock. For the first time since 2011, the Astros didn't open the season at home. Players in the field and in the dugouts wore masks and gloves to stay warm.

Schedule makers, if you are going to have the Astros open on the road in a cold-weather market, at least make it a domed stadium.