Sunday, May 1, 2016

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Read the Masked Marvel's recap of another loss in which the Astros didn't get any hits when they needed them. The Astros end April with a 7-17 record and without having won consecutive games.

*ESPN breaks down all the problems with the 2016 Astros. There are many. Only the 1914 "Miracle" Braves have made it to the World Series with a worse record to start the season.

*Now that this miserable month is over, the Astros are ready to turn the page on the season.

*Carlos Correa hasn't hit a home run since the opening series at New York, but he feels like his swing is coming back.

*Scott Feldman threw three perfect innings in his first relief appearance since 2012, and he chalked it up to being aggressive.
Something that has been a challenge for me the first few times out there was being aggressive like that. Maybe coming out of the 'pen like that kind of just helped jumpstart my aggressiveness a little bit and can carry it over.

*Ken Giles doesn't even know who he is anymore:
I'm out of whack. I'm not me right now...I'm not the guy I was the past two seasons. I'm somebody completely different on the mound, and I don't feel comfortable up there. It's just mechanical work. I don't feel comfortable up there. I don't feel right. I'm just trying to push through where I need to fix those things right now.

This is terrifying. A.J. Hinch also said that he was going to maybe let Giles skip the 8th inning, or high-leverage situations for a while.

*Today in "Okay (wink) buddy" Carlos Gomez is out for a couple of games with a sore ribcage.

*From Steve Grande: George Springer has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games, and 52 of his last 56.

*Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless (*shoots self*) accused Jake Arrieta of using or not using PEDs because they're idiots and I hate myself for even drawing attention to them.

*Ken Davidoff writes that the Yankees' hitting problems are "just getting embarrassing." Same!

*Arizona called up a guy from the Cal League.

*From the Hardball Times: An oral history of the Doug Mirabelli trade. Note: As I mentioned on the Lima Time Time interview with Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor, my wife and I were actually at this game - the only time I've ever been to Fenway.

*Before you go: The Fresno Grizzlies handed out replica 2015 Triple-A Championship rings last night, but 15 lucky fans got actual rings: