Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

So the Astros lost because Chris Sale was Chris Sale and the Astros offense was the Astros offense, of late. Jonathan Villar has ping-pong paddles for hands and Avisail Garcia banged an oppo two-run homer. What can you do? Still, the Astros' postseason odds (according to FanGraphs) actually went up. In addition, the Astros' 6.1% chance of winning the World Series is the 2nd-highest in the AL and 5th-highest in baseball.

*Chris Sale became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 12+ batters in three consecutive starts since Pedro did it in 2001.

*Matty D to Matty DFA: Matt Dominguez was DFA'd to make room on the 40-Man for Correa.

Let's get to the hot links...

*Mike Elias reflected on the 2012 draft.

*Beyond the Box Score looks at the additions of Correa and Velasquez.

*Alex Bregman just wants to help the team win, in this New Orleans Advocate profile.

*Kyle Tucker, seven years younger than Preston, would really like to play on the same team as his brother.

*By picking Bregman, Tucker, Cameron and Eshelman, Yahoo declares the Astros the winners of the first day of the draft:
If things pencil out in the best way, this should be enough for Houston to forget its 2014 draft debacle...what the Astros pulled off on Day 1 of the draft was quite impressive and it could leave them in a good place for years to come.

*Jon Heyman:
Cameron might be the coup here, and it was made possible by the Astros' $17.29 million draft allotment. It isn't certain what Cameron will receive, but the Astros figure to have the financial firepower to get it done.

*Phil Rogers: Monday night was just the start of something big for the Astros

*Altuve didn't know who was more excited about Correa's debut: Altuve or Correa.

*Cleveland's director of scouting, Brad Grant, did not talk to the Astros in advance of selecting Brady Aiken with the 17th overall pick.

*Roy Oswalt is now an agent, and still has the tractor.