Carlos Gomez Needs To Put Up Or Shut Up

The Houston Astros are playing extremely poor baseball. After Sunday’s win they are just 12-20. They’ve occupied the AL West cellar for a majority of the season. If this team wants to be a playoff contender, then a whole lot needs to change.

That change needs to start with beleaguered center fielder, Carlos Gomez. In Saturday night’s extra-inning loss, Gomez had what’s become a typical night for him as of late, as he went 0-4 with 2 K’s, leaving 3 runners on base. The real story of the night was when he completely lost it on first base umpire Laz Diaz while running out to his position to kick off the top of the 10th inning. He was tossed from the game and replaced by Jake Marisnick.

The tossing ultimately made no difference in the final score, as Robinson Cano happily parked a belt-high Tony Sipp heater into the Crawford Boxes to give the Mariners the lead and win.

Gomez’s antics are completely unacceptable, and he needs to either start producing or fade into the background. Some people agree with me, while some keep making excuses for him. The excuses need to stop now.

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I’m tired of hearing about how blame rests on Jason Castro, Preston Tucker, Luis Valbuena and other guys’ shoulders too. We know, and there’s plenty of words to go around for them as well. However, Castro still impacts the game with his defense and his bat has been a little better as of late. Tucker had a woeful performance Saturday night, but he’s not an everyday player and shouldn’t be the whipping boy. Valbuena’s been atrocious all year long, but he kept battling and made an impact with a game-tying homer in the bottom of the 9th. Gomez instead let his poor play get to his head, snapped, and quit on the game and the team.

I’m tired of hearing about how we just need to adjust to his antics because that’s how baseball is played in latin countries. Really? I don’t see Carlos Correa or Jose Altuve snapping bats over their knees or getting in arguments with umpires that have had no impact on their night when they are struggling.

Correa was extremely unhappy with how he played in April, but looking at him on the field you wouldn’t have been able to tell if he was hitting .500 or .050. That’s a guy that is nine years younger than Gomez. Your 30 year-old former all-star starting center fielder should be setting the example for the 21 year-old up-and-coming shortstop, not the other way around.