Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*I actually can't believe the Astros are back at .500. Last night's walk-off win put the Astros at 36-36, the first time they've been at .500 since 1-1. The Masked Marvel has your recap.

*The Rangers lost to the Reds, the Mariners lost to the Tigers, and the A's beat the Brewers. The division looks as such:

*North Oak Cliff: -
*Seattle: -9.5
*Houston: -10
*Anaheim: -14.5
*Oakland: -16

1st WC: -4
2nd WC: -3

*FanGraphs puts the Astros' division odds at 15.3% and 24.8% to win the Wild Card.

*Carlos Correa just recorded his league-leading third walk-off hit. The Astros scored three runs and Correa drove them all in. Correa:
I want to be in that situation every day. To feel that pressure, that drives me. I feel comfortable in that situation.

Since the beginning of the Arizona series on May 30, Correa is hitting .313/.439/.567. Correa has 6RBI in his last two games, having recorded 6RBI total from June 1-June 19.

*George Springer's top speed on his 9th inning stolen base was 20.2mph.

*The Astros did it to Huston Street again. Alden Gonzalez wrote about Street and "the process."

*Now that the Astros are back to .500, Richard Justice has decided to put down the shiny new Rangers and write about the Astros. Hinch:
If you had told me we'd be .500 on this date, I would have said we should be better. I want to keep it in proper perspective...I wasn't encouraging a couple of times.

McHugh:
I think all of us are excited. We have expectations of ourselves. It's plain and simple. We're starting to finally put complete games together and maybe live up to those expectations a little bit.

*Danny Worth fixed his swing by obsessively watching video and replicating other dudes' swings.

*Luis Valbuena's turnaround started with a homer off lefty Dana Eveland in Tampa.

*Surprise! More people are going to Astros games this season.

*A.J. Reed was 2x4 with a double and an RBI in Fresno's win last night. In his last six games he's 11x26 with two homers and 6RBI.

*Edison Frias and Evan Grills have been named Texas League All-Star replacements, and they will join Alex Bregman, Derek Fisher, Teoscar Hernandez, J.D. Davis, David Paulino, and Keegan Yuhl on the South Squad roster. 

*Bregman was hit in the head by a pitch two nights ago but walked off under his own power. Luhnow addressed Bregman's development, and it's worth noting that with Correa going nowhere and Valbuena heating up, he's going to spend more time in the minors.

*Quad Cities' Jose Hernandez was named the Midwest League's Pitcher of the Week.

*2nd Round pick Ronnie Dawson hit his first pro homer last night, but Brooklyn scored eight unanswered runs in a Tri-City loss.

*Roy Oswalt is among a number of pro athletes who were defrauded out of millions of dollars.