*The Batguy wrote up what he sees wrong with the Astros.
*I took a look at the week of last Monday to the Sunday night Red Sox loss.
*Colby Rasmus became the 3rd consecutive Astro to win Player of the Week honors. Crazy for a team that is playing like hammered dog crap right now.
*The Astros went 2x9 w/RISP, left eight on base, made two baserunning blunders, and are now 2-8 on the road in 2016. Oh, and that's 28 strikeouts between the 12-inning loss and last night's series opening loss to the Mariners.
*Doug Fister walked seven (!) batters last night. That's the most walks in a game by a pitcher - any pitcher - since last May. He walked 24 batters in 103IP last season, and walked seven batters from July 23-season's end, a span of 34IP. His previous career-high for walks in a start was set on April 30, 2011, when he walked five Red Sox.
Entering today, Doug Fister's 1.77 walks per nine innings ratio was best among active pitchers with 1,000 or more innings.— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) April 26, 2016
*Because the rotation is playing like cotton-headed ninnymuggins, the Astros are forced to carry 13 pitchers in an effort to keep the bullpen from reaching their season limits by the All-Star Break, resulting in a 41-game losing streak because Jose Altuve has to come in and throw three innings a night. Hinch:
Obviously with our starters not getting as deep into games as we're accustomed to, it puts a lot of stress on the bullpen. To have that extra arm down there, for the sake of Devenski in the middle of the innings, for the sake of guys not having to go three or four days in a row, 13 pitchers sure makes it a lot easier.
*Tyler White admitted his hot start to the season has contributed to his cool-down period (.274 AVG, .919 OPS tho):
I think the five home runs might have gotten to my head a little bit. I'm like, 'Hey, I can hit a home run every time. Just trying to do too much.
*The Washington Post: The Astros were World Series favorites, now they're awful.
*Jim Crane was in Fayetteville, North Carolina yesterday to scout out the possibility of building a minor-league stadium there. The High-A Carolina League seems like a natural fit here. The Astros have maintained a PDC with the California League Lancaster JetHawks for eight seasons, and the current PDC runs out at the end of the season. A new ballpark in Fayetteville wouldn't be ready until 2018, so the Astros could feasibly sign a two-year PDC with Lancaster before moving to the Carolina League. If it even happens at all.
*Friend of AC Chris Kusiolek wrote up some scouting notes on Lancaster.
*A twist in the new MLB war on PEDs.
*40 years ago yesterday, Rick Monday saved the American flag from being burned on the field. Here's the story from Vice Sports.
