In a make or break season, the optics are growing grim for Astros GM Dana Brown

AL EastBlue JaysOriolesRaysRed SoxYankeesAL CentralGuardiansRoyalsTigersTwinsWhite SoxAL WestAngelsAstrosAthleticsMarinersRangersNL EastBravesMarlinsMetsNationalsPhilliesNL CentralBrewersCardinalsCubsPiratesRedsNL WestDiamondbacksDodgersGiantsPadresRockiesScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsThe Windup NewsletterFantasyMLB ProspectsMLB OddsMLB PicksPower RankingsFans Speak UpTop ProspectsAnalysisIn a make or break season, the optics are growing grim for Astros GM Dana BrownThe Astros tied things up late, but ultimately were swept by the Cardinals. Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images Share article1HOUSTON — This is everything for Brice Matthews, a Houston kid who learned baseball at the Astros Urban Youth Academy and later became their first-round pick in 2023. Matthews has since taken 998 minor-league plate appearances and still remains far from a finished product, problematic for a franchise that needs any sign that its next core is coming together. Four years ago, constructing the next core became Dana Brown’s foremost objective. Hiring him as a general manager came with the expectation of expert player evaluation. Under owner Jim Crane, the Astros are averse to free-agent bidding wars and won’t spend stupendous amounts of money, making it mandatory for a self-sustaining model of player development and procurement. That Brown spent his entire baseball life in scouting spurred hope that he could create it. Selecting Matthews 28th served as the first step. It made Matthews a face of Brown’s entire tenure, one hanging in the balance when spring training began. Brown does not have a contract for next season, and, during spring training, said he hadn’t asked for one. “I came up the old-school way, and the old-school way is get the job done and the extension will take care of itself,” Brown said then. On Sunday, Brown’s first draft pick made two mindless mistakes during a 7-5 loss against a team not constructed to contend. Both teams to visit during this six-day homestand are in various states of a rebuild. The Astros dropped four of the six games against the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals. They are now 8-15. Seven teams since 1914 have started 8-15 or worse and made the playoffs. The 2024 Astros are the last one to do it, perhaps the only solace anyone in this organization can take after a dismal stretch that should intensify scrutiny around Brown and manager Joe Espada, who also doesn’t have a contract for next season. “It’s really early in the season,” third baseman Carlos Correa said. “Every team that starts out bad is going to say that, but I truly believe in the talent that we have in this clubhouse, and I think there’s a lot more we can give, a lot better baseball we can play.” Correa is the clubhouse leader. He said he is not interested in “so many meetings” when things are going this awry. There are constant individual conversations, Correa said. “The pressure starts coming, especially when you’re a younger guy trying to make a name for yourself in the game,” Correa said. Matthews is among that group. He performed well enough to win a spot on the short-side of an outfield platoon. By doing so, Matthews realized his dream. Sunday turned it into a nightmare. That Matthews did not start against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore already accentuated how swift his stock has fallen. He had taken 13 plate appearances across the previous 14 days. Four of them arrived after he replaced injured center fielder Jake Meyers in the second inning of a 9-1 loss against the Colorado Rockies on April 8. The Astros have won two games since. A third seemed within reach on Sunday when Matthews emerged from the dugout in the eighth inning. Inserted as a pinch runner, and representing the winning run, Matthews got picked off of first base by Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien. “S– that can’t happen. Stuff that doesn’t normally happen, but we have to figure it out and we have to play better,” Matthews said. “Nobody likes playing like this. It’s frustrating, but we have a game tomorrow, so we have to get ready for that.” For no other reason than Houston had no other available bodies, Matthews remained in the game to play third base. Brown drafted him as a shortstop, team officials viewed his best infield position as second base, but, in spring training, Matthews converted to corner outfield. Matthews had 1 1/3 innings of major-league experience at third base before standing there in the 10th inning of a tie game Houston needed to win. With one out, Jordan Walker hit a routine ground ball that Matthews said he fields “100 times out of 100.” Few players inside Houston’s clubhouse want this more than a hometown kid working in the ballpark he attended as a boy. Few will take it harder when they fail to perform. “When you don’t see things happening right away, you kind of want to get out of yourself,” Matthews said. “I think I might be doing just a little bit of it, but I need to reel it back in, know who I am, know what I’m capable of doing and just keep trusting myself that I know I’m the player that I think I am. I think I’m really good. I have to fight to prove that each and every day.” Blaming Matthews alone for Sunday’s loss is insincere. Facing a Cardinals pitching staff that brought a 4.90 ERA to the ballpark, Houston’s lineup had two hits through the first seven innings. Reliever Bryan King hit two batters in two innings. One of them came around to score. No pitching staff in the sport has more hit by pitches than Houston’s. Starter Mike Burrows combusted after carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning. He now sports a 6.75 ERA after 26 2/3 innings. Brown parted with two prospects this winter to acquire Burrows, part of an offseason in which he imported six pitchers on major-league deals. The five who have appeared now have a 5.61 ERA across 77 innings. In a season where every one of Brown’s past and present actions will be scrutinized, that stat is an awful look. So is Matthews being a main character in Sunday’s misery. That he’s even on the roster is a result of Brown’s inability to fulfill a spring-training declaration of being “not done yet” in searching for outfield help. Brown was indeed done after salary-dumping Jesús Sánchez for Joey Loperfido. Matthews’ horrible start to the season is an indication — or perhaps indictment — that he is not ready to be on a major-league roster. Players can improve, but this is someone who just turned 24 and has already appeared in 226 minor-league games. That Matthews played at all on Sunday raises questions about roster construction, which is Brown’s responsibility. Nick Allen, who is on the roster solely for his sure-handed infield defense, was not available to play due to back spasms, Espada said. Perhaps the spasms aren’t severe enough to warrant a 10-day trip to the injured list, but by allowing Allen to remain active, it limited Espada’s power to maneuver his bench. The absence of any healthy infielders on the 40-man roster likely factored into his decision-making and can’t be overlooked in this discussion. Off-roster candidates exist, though. Acquiring former Yankees farmhand Braden Shewmake on Sunday built more depth — and perhaps could end Matthews’ time on the major-league roster. While serving as the Atlanta Braves director of amateur scouting, Brown selected Shewmake in the first round of the 2019 draft, fitting for an executive fighting for his job security. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Chandler Rome is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Houston Astros. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Astros for five years at the Houston Chronicle. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University. Follow Chandler on Twitter @Chandler_Rome