Alright, there's life in this off-season yet. Again: I'm perfectly fine with a boring off-season.
*The Astros, unsurprisingly, tendered contracts to Carlos MF Correa, Lance McCullers, and Aledmys Diaz, and agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with Austin Pruitt. Correa and McCullers will be free agents after 2021 if they don't sign an extension. Fun, huh?
*Chandler Rome: Five non-tendered players the Astros could consider this off-season.
*Here's one of the dumbest things you'll read today: if the Yankees can't sign DJ LeMahieu (French for "DJ The Mahieu") then their Plan B is...Michael Brantley.
*Former Astros Great Thomas Eshelman has cleared waivers and is now a free agent.
*Another Michael Bourn Identity episode records today and drops on Monday. Subscribe to Lima Time Time on iTunes/Spotify/Wherever so you don't miss interviews with my friends.
Welcome to the 2019 World Series. The Astros got nine hits, four walks, two hits with runners in scoring position that somehow didn't score any runs, lined their way into outs while the Rays hit shots off the end of their bat that found a hole, left ten men on base, struck out 13 Rays, and lost 2-1. Baseball is a faithless whore. It's Charlie Morton vs. Lance McCullers at 3:07pm today and I'm sure the announcers will focus on Charlie Morton's presence on the 2017 World Series team and all the [waves hands] you know.
Ultimately the Astros had Snell on the ropes (105 pitches in 5IP?) and couldn't get more than Altuve's home run. Tampa has enough Actual Wizards in their bullpen - all flowing hair and weird beards and capes - that they can't let those opportunities go to waste like that. Not that anyone needed this type of #analysis.
George Springer's lineout in the 1st had an expected batting average (xBA) of .700. Kyle Tucker's liner that resulted in a double play in the 4th Inning had an expected batting average of .790. Michael Brantley's groundout in the 5th had an xBA of .540. George Springer's groundout in the 7th had an xBA of .510. Those are the four highest xBAs of the night that didn't actually result in a hit. Extremely 2019 World Series vibes. Chandler Rome noted that, of the 12 balls the Astros hit harder than 93mph off the bat, only five fell for hits. Dusty:
It's disappointing. We hit some balls good. Opportunity's the name of the game. If you keep getting opportunities, sooner or later you're going to come through. If you don't get an opportunity, you don't have a chance. We had a heck of a chance tonight, and they just got away.
Bregman:
We were hitting the ball hard, hitting line drives. We didn't punch out a lot. I thought the at-bats were awesome. We just didn't get that big hit tonight. That's baseball. If we keep putting up those good at-bats, I like our chances.
The Astros allowed two runs and struck out 13 batters, and lost. The only time that's happened in a Houston postseason game prior to last night was Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS ew no stop typing now. Houston is 6-2 in the postseason under that extremely specific criteria.
*Richard Justice, on the key plays that all somehow went the Rays way.
*Framber was great: 6IP, 4H/2ER, 8K:4BB. He joins Gerrit Cole, Randy Johnson, Dallas Keuchel, Nolan Ryan, and Justin Verlander as the only Astros pitchers in franchise postseason history to throw 6IP, 4H/2ER, with 8K. And, true to Astros fashion, Houston is 6-4 when they get starts like that. Framber:
I feel like this year I've had a chance to really demonstrate the pitcher that I am and that I always have been. I had, in the past, where things could get away from me a little bit in the middle of the game, but I've made adjustments to my game this year...For me, I just feel blessed to have the success that I've had this year.
*Jose Altuve put the Astros on the board in the 1st Inning with a solo shot off Blake Snell that proved to be the only Astros run of the game. It's his 16th postseason home run (four behind Yeah Jeets for the most in MLB postseason history by a middle infielder and six more than Chase Utley for the all-time postseason home run mark by a 2B), and he has now hit a home run in three straight postseason games. Petco Park is the 22nd park in which Altuve has hit a home run. All-time multi-hit postseason games:
*In the regular season, the Astros hit .212/.447/.338 with a full count. With a full count in Game 1:
Springer: 0x2
Altuve: 0x1
Brantley: 0x1
Bregman: 2x2
Correa: 0x0, 2BB
Gurriel, 0x0, BB
*Gurriel: When Yuli Gurriel came up with the bases loaded in the 8th and one out, Tampa's win expectancy was just 51.9%. One pitch later it was 86.7%. From when he started with the Astros through the 2020 Wild Card Series, Gurriel had GIDPd once in 194 postseason PAs. He's done it twice in his last 18 postseason PAs now.
*Mike Zunino had swung the bat five times on the first pitch in the 2020 regular season. He had hit .125/.250/.375 with two outs in the regular season. He had hit .158 with runners in scoring position all year. He had two hits with runners in scoring position and two outs all year long. I hate this game. Game 1, yes. But also, baseball.
*Aledmys Diaz's AB in the 5th was Extremely Stupid. John Curtiss had thrown 17 pitches before facing Diaz with runners on 1st and 3rd. Ten of them - including six of the previous seven pitches - were balls. Yet Diaz shot the ball into the ground on the 1st pitch Curtiss threw to ground out and end the inning.
*FanGraphs: With super-subs and unlikely stars, the Rays take Game 1. Jon Tayler:
With this bullpen and modular lineup - and having to face Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton - there are many ways to lose to the Rays and few to beat them. Score early and they'll scratch you to death, bit by bit, as their hitters grind away and seemingly always have the platoon advantage. Fail to score early and you'll be facing the best bullpen in baseball and a team that hasn't lost a single game this year in which it's held a lead after the seventh inning. And even if it all goes right, watch as the likes of Mike Zunino and his 65 wRC+ this season drives in the go-ahead run with a single off your best starter.
*Pedro Gomez: Where did Randy Arozarena come from? Dude takes a knee every AB (from swinging out of his shoes) and nobody gets mad at him.
*CC Sabathia, on the Yankees' ALDS decisions: "What the f--k?"
*Wired: How to block bad websites - or just get things done.
*Check out this bullcrap: The English Football League (everything below the Premier League) have a plan to overhaul English soccer by placing control in the hands of the top Premier League teams. Of course Manchester United (owned by the Glazer family) and Liverpool (owned by the Bastard John Henry) love it.
*The Economist: The Secret Life of a Private Tutor to the Wealthy...which immediately led me to this.
Well that was less than ideal. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Houston had a 7-4 going into the 7th, which translates into a 91.1% win expectancy via FanGraphs. And now the A's have hope, which is the worst possible thing a Team Like That can have. Game 4 is at 2:35pm Central on TBS.
*It was the 22nd time in franchise history that the Astros have scored 7+ runs in a postseason game. They're now 19-3, the last such loss coming in Game 1 of the 2004 NLCS.
*It will be Frankie Montas vs. TBA today. We'll find out who takes the mound later this morning. Is it Cristian Javier, and that's why Javier didn't pitch in Game 3? Or will it be Zack Greinke? The pressure mounts! Montas is coming off a 2020 regular season in which he posted a 5.60 ERA/1.51 WHIP with 10HR in 53IP. He has thrown 2IP (Wild Card Series Game 3) since September 27. In 15.1IP against Houston in 2020 he allowed 14H/7ER, 14K:3BB, a 4.11 ERA / 1.11 WHIP.
*Chandler Rome: We still don't know what's up with Zack Greinke.
I look at it like we're still in the lead. This team's been there before. These guys don't seem really worried about it. We got beat today. We made some mistakes. Hopefully, we don't make those mistakes tomorrow.
*Houston's opponents have scored first in four of the five 2020 playoff games. Houston is now 3-1 in those games.
*The Astros were 3x8 w/RISP, Oakland was 1x6. Oakland's one hit was just a back-breaking 3-run home run from Some White Guy Who Looks Like He Sells Insurance. Josh James hadn't pitched since September 22. It's debatable on whether or not this was the time to do it, but it was a three-run lead, and I don't know that there was a better option than Raley to clean it up. Just one of those games. And a guy named Chad hit it. That's ridiculous. As to leaving Raley in, I know you try to win every game, but I'm okay with letting him work through it because it saved some arms you'll need today and (hopefully not) tomorrow. It wasn't my favorite move to leave James in, but I can justify it to myself. Josh James:
It's tough, but everybody wants to get put in that situation. You always feel like you're the right guy for the job. You go out there no matter how long it's been, and you compete. Today, I got beat. It's part of the game.
You know who didn't pitch in Game 3? Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor, Cristian Javier, Ryan Pressly.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: The bad Astros bullpen has been good, and the good Oakland bullpen has been bad.
*Jose Urquidy: 4.1IP, 5H/4ER, 3K:1BB, 4HR. He had given up 4HR total in 29.2IP in the 2020 regular season. He had given up 2HR in a single game three times in his entire professional career, the only MLB start in which he gave up two or more home runs was July 31, 2019, and twice in 2016 when he was with Lancaster.
*Brooks Raley walked the leadoff batter, who later became Oakland's go-ahead run. It dawned on me recently that I have absolutely no idea how Brooks Raley ended up on the 2020 Houston Astros, so I looked it up: he was acquired on August 9 from the Reds for a PTBNL. Putting Osuna on the 45-Day IL was the corresponding move.
*George Springer was 0x4 with 3Ks, the 5th 3K game of his postseason career. In each of the last three times he's had a 3K day, the game following was a 2+ hit game, so that's good news for today.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. His seven 3+ hit postseason games are the most in franchise history, and tied for the 5th most in AL postseason history.
*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with an RBI. The Astros are now 8-3 in the postseason when Bregman gets 2+ hits.
*Aledmys Diaz hit a massive game-tying two-run home run, and it was the first postseason home run of his career.
*How do you justify pinch-hitting Reddick for Maldonado? With Correa on 3rd, Tucker on 2nd, and two outs, and Maldonado's spot up, Dusty put in Reddick against Liam Hendriks. Also, Liam Hendriks looks like this. Ol' Shrek lookin headass.
Righties (Maldonado) vs. Hendriks (a righty) in 2020: .135/.148/.154, 18K:1BB
Lefties (Reddick) vs. Hendriks in 2020: .200/.243/.314, 19K:2BB.
First off, shoutout to Liam Hendshreks. That's a really good slash line, no matter from what side of the plate you prefer. Now:
Maldonado vs. Righties, 2020: .185/.324/.337, 4HR, 12RBI
Reddick vs. Righties, 2020: .236/.307/.358, 3HR, 13RBI
Neither is a *great* option. You needed a 2-out hit. In his career pinch-hitting:
Reddick: 80 PAs, .176/.225/.189, 1XBH, 22K:5BB
All this is to say...whatever. I don't get it. But what other options were there. Reddick could have been a hero. He wasn't. So it goes. Could Maldonado have done it? Maybe! It was a choice between this, Which Smells Worse: Your Butt, or Your Feet? The world will never know which choice actually smelled worse.
The Astros won both sides of a double-header and the Roggits won by 34. It was, as Ice Cube once expressed, a good day. Houston is 19-14, 2.5 games behind Oakland and 6.5 games up on Arlington for 2nd place.
Game 1
4-2 win. Kyle Tucker was 2x3 with a 3-run home run. Lance McCullers threw 6IP, 6H/2R (1ER), 7K:1BB. Ryan Pressly needed eight pitches to shut down the 7th. The Astros got five extra-base hits. Jose Altuve was 0x3 with a strikeout. Springer cracked a double. Jack Mayfield was 2x3. Dusty Baker, on Kyle Tucker:
He's actually carrying us right now. I'm glad he is. He's coming into a zone. He's playing with a lot of confidence. He's driving in some big runs.
McCullers, since allowing 8ER in 3.2IP against Arizona on August 5 (four starts):
23.2IP, 17H/7ER, 21K:6BB, 0HR. 2.66 ERA / 0.97 WHIP.
McCullers:
I was really happy with the changeup today. And my breaking ball and really most of my stuff. I made a little adjustment midweek. I threw two bullpens this week with the hurricane days, and I made a little adjustment with my front side. It felt like it was coming out more consistent on that two-seam line.
Game 2
After a solo home run in the 1st inning, the Astros scored the next five runs and finished with a 6-3 win. Springer, Altuve, Brantley, and Maldonado had two hits each. Springer hit his first home run since August 19, and his first at Minute Maid Park since July 25. Number of games played when Springer hit his 5th home run of the season:
2020: 26
2019: 17
2018: 28
2017: 9
2016: 26
2015: 28
Kyle F. Tucker was 1x4 with a bases-clearing triple. In his last ten games, Kyle Tucker is hitting .484/.579/1.226, a 1.805 OPS. Tucker:
I've been seeing the ball real well. I haven't chased a lot of pitches...If you're not chasing pitches, and you're getting pitches over the plate to hit, you'd be more productive that way.
Zack Greinke threw 5IP, 6H/3ER, 6K:0BB, 2HR. Yesterday was the first time Greinke had allowed four extra-base hits as an Astro. Greinke:
I thought a lot of guys played good today. For me it was nice seeing pretty much the whole team playing good...It hasn't quite come together that good, I didn't think. It has started to more recently, but today was just a really good day.
Ryan Pressly is the first MLB player to record saves in both games of a double-header since Todd Jones in 1995.
*FanGraphs gives the A's a 69.6% chance of winning the division, and the Astros a 30.3% chance, but the Astros are at 98.7% to make the playoffs. At 7.6% the Astros have the highest odds in the AL of winning the World Series.
*Aledmys Diaz made his return to the lineup for the first time since the 5th Inning of Game 1 after injuring his groin. In that link, we find that Luis Garcia was called up, another young guy who hasn't pitched above Low-A. That said, Garcia has struck out 284 batters in 205IP in his career. And you can click it to read what Dusty had to say about tomorrow's Trade Deadline.
*Vice: The broken algorithm that poisoned American transportation.
*Wired: Are your kids learning virtually? This gear may help.
*Many of you who have been around These Parts for a while know I love to run. I haven't run in almost two months thanks to a jacked up foot that won't heal (I'm in a boot) because I am A Ninny. I have a Google Map created where every time I go for a run, I put a placemark on a map in an effort to run from the Texas/Louisiana border to El Paso. Outside Magazine says that's not a good idea: Stop counting your running mileage.
The Astros beat the Diamondbacks 8-2, an almost-complete offensive performance and a solid start from Cristian Javier. Houston is 6-4. The season is 1/6 of the way complete.
*The Astros got home runs from Altuve and Correa. Correa was 3x3 with 0K:2BB. It's the third time in his career he has reached base five times in the same game - the previous two both came in 2017. Check this Chandler Rome story on Correa. Correa: I'm looking for pitches down the middle. It doesn't matter if it's a fastball or an offspeed pitch. Pitches I can drive, I'm going to pull the trigger.
More Correa: These three weeks of summer camp were not enough. We have a lot of pitchers that, you can tell when you face them, that they're not ready.
*George Springer had 3RBI for the 34th time in his career.
*Kyle Tucker was 2x5 with an RBI. In four games in 2020 batting 8th, Tucker is hitting .286/.333/.429.
*Cristian Javier was straight solid in his first career MLB win: 6IP, 4H/1ER, 2K:1BB. 49 of his 79 pitches were for strikes, 19 of those strikes were non-contact strikes. Javier's two starts this "season:" 11.2IP, 6H/2ER, 10K:2BB. Correa, on Javier: I think Javier is gonna be in our rotation for a long time. He's nasty. He's got great stuff. I like his composure on the mound. The kid's got it all. I like the way he attacks hitters. I like the way he handles everything.
*Bryan Abreu threw 0.2IP, 1H/1ER, 1K:3BB. Eight of his 24 pitches were strikes.
Abreu's BB/9, Minor Leagues: 5.5
Abreu's BB/9, Major Leagues: 5.6
*Congratulations to Humberto Quintero Castellanos on making his MLB debut and throwing an extremely uneventful 9th inning.
*There's a new Top 100 Prospects midseason update from MLB.com, and Forrest Whitley still is listed as having one of the best curveballs on the list. And speaking of Whitley, he is seeing a doctor. Probably for medical reasons, but don't rule "romance" out just yet!
For the 15th time in a row, the Astros beat the Mariners. Houston has not lost to Seattle since June 5, 2019, and the Astros are 20-1 against Seattle since the beginning of the 2019 season. Houston won 7-2. The Astros are 2-0, 13 AL teams are 1-1, Seattle is 0-2.
Lance McCullers made his first start since August 4, 2018, throwing 6IP, 5H/2ER, 6K:3BB. McCullers: There's been a lot of ups and downs in that period of time. It's been a long road. Two years is a long time and it was great to get back and compete and it's changed my outlook on a lot.
McCullers walked three of the first six batters he faced. Click that link to see what adjustment he made to his breaking ball to settle in.
More McCullers: All in all, it's not the best game I've ever pitched, but it was solid, and I showed flashes of what I've been working on & what I hope to continue to do this year.
Cy Sneed struck out the side in the 8th. Jose Altuve stole the Astros' first base of the season, and also walked twice, something he only did six times in 2019. Gurriel and Springer had home runs and Kyle Tucker contributed an RBI double. Martin Maldonado had his second straight two-hit game.
*The Astros have hit a home run in 27 consecutive regular season games.
*McTaggart's Notes has items on Blake Taylor getting emotional, and Hank Aaron reaching out to Dusty Baker, *Aledmys Diaz was placed on the IL with a groin strain (between a Grade 1 and Grade 2), paving the way for Taylor Jones' call-up. Jones had just gotten into Corpus when the Astros told him to drive back, in the middle of a hurricane. Kyle Tucker will get "most" of the DH ABs while Diaz is out.
Today is the beginning of Month Three of being a vegetarian (except for last Monday when I randomly ate a Popeye's Spicy Chicken Sandwich and immediately fell asleep and felt like crap for the rest of the day). I'm down 14 pounds and I feel really good. I've mentioned my struggle with depression and anxiety #onhere before, and I appreciate those of you who have reached out. Lately I've been thinking a lot about the 1992 NLCS, and how the fortunes changed after Sid Bream's slide for both the Braves and the Pirates. I don't know why. Anyway, if you would read a deep dive into that series and the years preceding and following, comment down below. Just kidding, you can't do that, and my life is happier for it.
Catching up on a few Hot Links as I get back in the habit of thinking about this blog...
*Pitchers weren't part of today's workout at Minute Maid Park, and that included Brent Strom, as they await (yet again) the results of their COVID test. Dusty: You don't like it, but you have to adjust and make the best of a potentially bad situation. I'm proud of how the guys responded. I haven't heard any complaining.
Like anyone would complain within earshot of Dusty Baker. Click that link and stay for some thoughts on the back-end of the rotation, as well as Aledmys Diaz. Also, we don't know when Strom - or the pitchers - can return.
Twelve days from their season-opener, the Astros:
- Have canceled two workouts
- Had Alex Bregman miss another because of delays
- Don't have their major league pitching staff or pitching coach in camp and are awaiting COVID-19 results on all after a "potential exposure"
*Aledmys Diaz plans on wearing a mask during games, as he has kids at home. Diaz: I have kids, I have my wife at home. I just try to do everything I can to protect them. The same thing with my teammates. If it's something that's not uncomfortable and it lets me do my job when I'm taking ground balls or hitting, I'm going to use it.
Anyone who has an issue with Diaz, or anyone opting out of the 2020 season, is kindly invited to consume all of my genitals and never visit this site again.
*Chandler Rome: Astros lose more ground as pitchers miss time.
*Check out McTaggart's 2020 Milestone watch - there's some gems in there. Add Carlos Correa's quest for four straight years of playing less than 110 games. SMH.
*I'm pretty obsessed with Alex Honnold's "Free Solo" documentary. You can find it on Hulu and Disney+ and it will 100% make your palms sweat and elevate your heart rate. This is the one where he attempts to climb Yosemite's El Capitan without ropes. Just...start at the bottom with no support or back-up plan, and hope you make it to the top. I've seen it 50-60 times. I'll probably watch it again tonight. My wife can't figure out why I watch it...so many times. I just like to watch people try to do cool s*** that I won't ever try to do. Anyway, here's a 2017 profile on Alex Honnold: Less and Less Alone.
*FanGraphs posted their 2020 standings projection on the Depth Charts page. They're slated for a .567 win% - 3rd-highest in MLB - though at 92 wins. Using this, here's how the AL West shakes out:
*Dusty Baker wants the Astros to be more aggressive on the basepaths. Baker: I'm an aggressive person. Baserunning is probably one of the things that I think is really missing in baseball. Aggressive baserunning (and) smart baserunning. You can't just be aggressive. You have to be smart about it. Baserunning can create a lot of mistakes on the opposition. You're going to get thrown out every once in a while. But if you don't try anything, then that's very boring baseball, and you don't put pressure on the opposition.
The 2019 Astros stole 67 bases in 2019, 17th in MLB and 8th in the AL. They were thrown out 27 times for a success rate of (71.3%).
*ZiPS Projections are live at FanGraphs! Some notable projections:
-Altuve: .305 BA, Yordan: .288 BA, Bregman: .287 BA.
-Bregman: 7.1 fWAR. Springer: 4.6 fWAR; Altuve: 4.5 fWAR; Kyle Tucker: 3.3 fWAR
-Correa projected at 109 games played.
-Verlander: 4.7 fWAR, Greinke: 2.8 fWAR...and that's pretty much it. ZiPS isn't so high on the Astros' rotation.
*Blake Taylor, the return from the Mets for Jake Marisnick, was blown away by the information the Astros gave him. Taylor: They show you everything. They say, 'This is how much hop your fastball has, this is how much your slider has.' The information is there and they're hands-on and work with you. Everything is specialized to you. It's not cookie-cutter....I hope to make an impact on this team and if I break with the team that's awesome, and if I don't, I'm going to work my ass off to get up there.
*Check out What The Heck Bobby's interview with Former Astros Farmhand Daniel Minor. It's super-insightful information about playing in a crowded system (even if the team had lost 100 games forever), playing in Mexico and Venezuela, and what it was like to play in the Atlantic League when they were doing a dry-run on the crazy new rules.
*Josh Reddick told reporters: At some point, you have to move on and not give a s**t. We're going to go out there and win and shut everybody up.
*Mike Fiers talked to The Athletic. When asked if he was worried about his safety in coming to Houston, Fiers: No. Everyone's crazy - everyone can get crazy at a certain point if they don't like something that you do. Listen...everyone's mad at (the Astros). There are teams that are mad. It doesn't matter what it is, extra protection, I mean, what are you going to do? There's not much you can do.
The Astros beat the Fightin' Ausmuses 5-4. Anaheim was 1x12 w/RISP, so it's nice to see them Astros that game up. Houston is 83-47 with a 7.5-game lead. There are 32 regular season games left. Nine of their remaining 32 games are against teams over .500.
*The Astros have won five of their last six games. They're 14-7 in August. Remember that six of those losses came in an eight-day stretch.
*Zack Greinke stayed perfect as an Astro, though he worked in and out of trouble. Greinke's line: 6.2IP, 10H/3R (2ER), 1K:0BB. It's the first time since May 25, 2017 that a pitcher has thrown at least 6IP, allowed 10+ hits, and had 0-1 strikeouts, and still got the Win. It's the 8th time in franchise history that's happened, and the first since Mike Hampton did it on July 28, 1999.
Hinch: He can just really pitch. I know nowadays we're fixated on power and stuff and the strikeouts and wipeout this and spin that, and that's all fine and good. But when you see the artistic side of Zack Greinke and how he pitches, how he moves the ball around the strike zone, how he challenges one of the best hitters in baseball in Mike Trout and beats him, there's just an art that he has the It Factor.
Greinke is the 3rd Astros pitcher to win his first four regular season starts, joining Roger Clemens and Justin Verlander.
*The bullpen of Harris-Rondon-Osuna threw 2.1IP, with only a solo home run from Rondon allowed. Rondon has pitched in 50 games this season, and has had a clean outing in 16 of them. Harris struck out Shohei Ohtani to end the 7th with runners on. Hinch: Zack did a great job and then handed the ball to Will in one of the biggest outs of the game. Rondon comes in, and luckily for us, we tacked on a run...I don't care how we get our 27 outs, and it might go in a different order.
"Luckily for us we tacked on a run" is Rondon's new Player's Weekend Nickname. Kole Calhoun is hitting .239/.330/.484 in 2019. He's hitting .361/.452/.611 against Houston in 2019.
*Yuli Gurriel hit a 2-run home run off The Coward Noe Ramirez (he's the one who plunked Marisnick that set the Astros on fire in July). It was his 26th home run of the season. Gurriel hit 31 home runs in 2017 and 2018 combined.
*Roberto Osuna hasn't allowed a run in six straight appearances. Gerrit Cole gave him some tips on his four-seam fastball that paid dividends.
*Abraham Toro was 2x4 for his first major-league hits - both singles.
*Chandler Rome has a new mailbag in which he addresses how much playing time Kyle Tucker gets in September, the Cy Young race, and Aaron Sanchez's tiddy.
*Richard Justice noticed how Altuve and Gurriel have been two of the hottest hitters in the 2nd half.
*Josh James threw his first rehab outing for Round Rock on Thursday night. Now, Round Rock verifiably got the crap kicked out of them by Memphis, 14-2. But Josh Big Flames James threw 0.1IP, 2H/3ER, 1K:1BB with two wild pitches. But his fastball sat 95-99mph.
FanGraphs says the Astros will go 20-12 over the course of the rest of the season, and the Yankees will go 18-14. The rest of the Yankees' regular season: @ Los Angeles Dodgers, @ Seattle, v Oakland, v Texas, @ Boston, @ Detroit, @ Toronto, v Anaheim, v Toronto, @ Tampa, @ Arlington.
*Been a rough 36 hours for the Astros, PR-wise. The Athletic's Britt Ghiroli writes about how the Astros could have handled the Verlander v. Fenech issue differently.
*I have a history blog, where I can dork out doing deep dives on American history stuff that I find interesting. Earlier this week I wrote about Isabella Stewart Gardner and the most famous art heist in history, if that's your kind of thing. If you're looking for a new podcast, might I suggest "Last Seen," a collaboration between WBUR and the Boston Globe, about the robbery.
The Astros crapped the bed. Literally, just fecal matter all over the sheets with the Astros rolling around in it, asking for help but also not really asking for help. That's the dumbest loss I've seen in a long time. A Verlander gem combined with inning-ending outs on TOOTBLANs at third base in the 8th AND 9th Innings? FOH. Something something Daniella. The Astros are 81-47. There are mercifully 34 regular season games left. Idiots.
*The last time any MLB team lost a game when they allowed two hits and zero walks? March 30, 2018. While an Astros pitcher has accomplished that feat four times prior to last night, the last time it actually happened to the Astros was to Pete Harnisch on May 11, 1994. The Astros have never lost a game in which they scored at least one run and had an SP throw a complete game with two hits and no walks. Shame them. Demand better. Let's be clear here: this was a historically stupid loss. And the Astros should wake up this morning feeling shame. The Detroit win kept them from being 50 games under .500. It is not even September.
*Justin Verlander did everything he could. He made two not-great pitches. JV has allowed two or fewer earned runs in a start for the 17th time this season. The Astros are 14-3 in those games. Morons.
*Justin Verlander now has seven straight games with 10+ Ks. Here are the leaders with a streak of 10+ Ks:
Chris Sale: 8 games (twice)
Pedro Martinez: 8 once, 7 once
Randy Johnson: 7
Nolan Ryan: 7 Justin Verlander: 7
*The Astros have now lost three straight Verlander starts for the first time since June 19-30, 2018. He has allowed eight total runs in his last three starts. Hinch: Just an incredible performance. Just not one that we could help him with. We wasted a really good start by our starting pitcher.
Verlander: The two times I gave in and gave them a fastball, they hit a homer on it. Baseball in 2019. I didn't go out of the stretch at all the entire game, and we lost. I don't know what else to say.
More Verlander: It's a tough pill to swallow. Obviously, you want to come away with a win. You want the team to win. One bad pitch in the ninth inning. We battled back, and I gave it back in the ninth. It's kind of one of those games. I don't blame anybody but myself. I could have done a better job executing a pitch there in the ninth inning. *Chirinos, on getting thrown out at 3B trying to hit for the cycle: I feel like I have a great game and throw it away like that. I feel like it's all my fault. When you make a mistake like that, you don't deserve to win a game.
Shoutout to the County Mountie for giving me the weekend off of Hot Links. Baseball was stupid and tomorrow's the first day of school, so it was very much appreciated. The Astros finally won a game for once in their wretched lives, besting the vaunted Oakland Athletics 4-1 behind an Alex Bregman jack and a solid start from Zack Greinke. Houston is 79-46 with a 7.5-game lead on Oakland. There are 37 regular season games left.
Houston is 22-13 since the All-Star Break, and 10-6 in August. Five of those losses came last week. The Astros have scored four or fewer runs in three straight games for the first time since July 23-26. Houston went 4-6 on the ten-game road trip.
*Zack Greinke threw 7IP, marking the second time since August 2 that an Astros SP has recorded 21 outs (Verlander did it on August 16). Greinke gave up 4H/1ER, 6K:3BB. The walks tied a season-high for Greinke. He has walked seven batters in his three starts (19IP), after having walked seven batters in his previous nine starts for Arizona (58.1IP).
Congratulations to Zack Greinke on picking up his 200th win. Add another Astros cap in the Hall of Fame here in about eight years. He's one of three active pitchers with 200 wins (Verlander, Sabathia). Greinke: Wins are good. You look back at the end of the year and the team wins a lot and you win a lot, you can't ask for much more than that. I wouldn't say there's many pitchers that would say that that's the Number One most important stat for them, but if you and the team are winning, it's the most important. It doesn't necessarily say you're pitching the best, but it's the most important.
Bregman: I think Zack did a great job of coming out and stopping the bleeding tonight. We finished a long road trip with a win. We got a lot of work to do to accomplish what we want to, but today was a step in the right direction.
*Pressly and Osuna needed 23 pitches combined to get through the 8th and 9th innings.
*The Astros "offense" was 2x14 w/RISP, because it was just one of those series. They went 5x30 with runners in scoring position over the four-game series.
*But not Alex Bregman! Bregman went 4x4 with a walk, double, and a three-run home run. It's the second time in his career that he's been on base five times in a game, and you have to go all the way back to August 1 to find the first one.
In 14 August games, Bregman is hitting .442/.540/.904 with 10 doubles, 4 home runs, two strikeouts and ten walks. He has raised his OPS from .909 on July 31 to .974 right now. There are only three instances of an Astros' 3B posting a 5.0+ fWAR season. Bregman has two of them (7.6 in 2018, currently 5.5 in 2019). Morgan Ensberg (6.1) had the other one, in 2005.
Bregman's home run was his 30th of the year. He's the first Astros 3B to have back-to-back 30HR seasons, and the first Astro since Lance Berkman (2006-2007) to hit 30HR in back-to-back seasons.
Just a reminder that Justin Maxwell led the 2012 Astros in home runs, with 18. Seven of the 2019 Astros currently have 18+ home runs, and it's the middle of August.
*Yuli Gurriel's RBI double gave him 86 RBIs on the year, a career-high.
*Josh Reddick got a hit! For a second straight game! Reddick's last extra-base hit came on August 6. His last home run was on June 28, a span of 136 PAs. Reddick is 6x40 (.150/.167/.200) in 12 August games. For no reason, Jack Mayfield hit .143/.163/.310 in 16 games. His OPS is almost 100 points higher than Reddick's is in August. Rough stretch.
*Aledmys Diaz was placed on the 10-Day IL after experiencing dizziness on the team bus on Saturday. Maybe he's pregnant. Hinch: We're going to take every precaution imaginable to make sure he's OK. He should travel back with us and be back in Houston with our doctors. With the roster the way it was, we needed to make a decision.
Cy Sneed, who had already been optioned to Round Rock but hadn't left Oakland yet, was recalled to give the Astros an extra arm. So the freshest arms in the bullpen are now Cy Sneed and Brad Peacock.
Within that link we also find that Gerrit Cole is expected to start Thursday.
*Here's Jake Kaplan with a look at Kyle Tucker and his chances of getting to Houston, or maybe a postseason roster spot, in 2019.
*This offseason we'll take a look at just how many numbers have been retired by the Astros, and why, but Jose Altuve's 27 is Will Leitch's pick for the next Astros number to never get used again.
*Joe Biagini threw for the first time since the Bullpen Game against Chicago and, well: 0.2IP, 3H/5ER, 2K:2BB. Round Rock lost to OKC 14-11.
*The Age of Envy: How to be Happy When Everybody Else's Life Looks Perfect.
The Astros put it on Oaklandt, 11-1. This is way more fun, now. Houston is 65-37 with a 7.5-game lead on the A's. They're 37-14 at Minute Maid Park. The Astros are 6-0 since Marisnick got beaned.
*The Astros are 8-1 against Oakland in 2019, 32-15 since the beginning of the 2017 season.
*It's the 5th time in 2019 that the Astros have won by a double-digit margin, the first time since a 15-2 win over the Blue Jays on June 14. Hinch, on dominating the appropriately-named Homer Bailey: We never really let him breathe. We have a really long lineup...and when we put that kind of lineup together and that kind of approach we can really, really make it difficult on the pitcher. He had really nowhere to go when we were putting up quality at-bat after quality at-bat. And it was a good sight to see.
*Let's start with Gerrit Cole. Cole threw 7IP, 2H/1ER, 11K:1BB. He got 41 non-contact strikes. It's the 12th time this season that Gerrit Cole has gotten double-digit strikeouts. I feel like we do this all the time, but it's worth doing again. Gerrit Cole, 10+ K games, by season:
In other words, Cole with Pittsburgh: Six double-digit strikeout games in 127 starts.
Cole with Houston: 20 double-digit strikeout games in 54 starts.
Cole got his 200th strikeout of the season in 133.1IP. He now has a League-leading 205 strikeouts in 136.2IP. Randy Johnson (2001) is the only pitcher to record 200 strikeouts faster than Cole, when he did it in 130.2IP. Ron Kulpa probably cost Cole the record. I don't know how, but I'm going to just roll with it. Cole: It's a nice accomplishment. Any time you're mentioned with the 'Unit,' that's pretty special. He kind of goes down in folklore as one of the best pitchers of all time. Really cool statistic. Might have a glass of wine about it tonight. Outside of that, we got at least 13 more starts to go, so just keep the head down and keep going.
"Might have a glass of wine about it" is the 2019 Astros slogan now.
Tags notes in that link that Cole edges Johnson in K/9 (13.5 to 13.41 - the MLB record) and needs three more 10+ K games to break J.R. Richard's single-season franchise record.
Cole has already posted the 21st-best strikeout total by an Astros pitcher for a season. Today is July 23. 27 more strikeouts would put him in the top ten in franchise history. Give him however much money he wants.
*Gerrit Cole's last L came on May 22.
*As a team the Astros are hitting .272 (1st) / .348 (1st) / .478 (2nd) for an .825 OPS (2nd). Their 121 wRC+ is the best in the Majors.
*Yordan Alvarez hit his 11th home run of the season in the 2nd Inning. He now has 35 RBIs in his first 30 games, breaking Albert Pujols' record. Alvarez: I'm very happy and very grateful. It's something I just found out when I got here to the clubhouse, and just hearing that news is something that's really great for the start of my career.
Cole, on Alvarez: Just (a) really special approach. I haven't really seen anything like it. The discipline, the advancement of his pitch selection, just never seems to get too big. He got tested a little bit with some breaking balls the last few days and seems to have responded well to that.
*The Cuban Contingent, Yordan, Yuli, and Aledmys, all hit home runs - Diaz's came in his first AB back from the IL. Diaz: It's great. To contribute to the team is amazing. I had the chance to have three RBIs today, which is great. Just win the game is the most important thing.
*5-9 in the lineup (Yordan, Yuli, Reddick, Chirinos, Diaz) went a combined 10x18 with 1K:2BB, 3HR/8RBI. Gurriel's home run - his 19th - is a new career-high.
*Robinson Chirinos went 3x4 with a walk. It's his first three-hit game since September 12, 2018. He's 7x20 in his last six games. Chirinos had seven hits in his previous 63 PAs dating back to June 17.
*Rogelio Armenteros was optioned to Round Rock in order to make room for Aledmys Diaz, who batted 9th last night. Diaz: It's great to be back with the boys. It's been almost two months since the last time I played, so I'm really excited.
*Luhnow: We can win a seven-game series against any playoff team right now. That doesn't mean there's not going to be an opportunity that presents itself to bring in another starter who could be a playoff rotation starter. We're looking at them.
*The Trade Deadline is just over a week away, and Luhnow says the Astros could target catching: We are also looking at the market and seeing if there's an upgrade available. It would mean one of the two guys we have now would not be on this team. We obviously have to consider that very carefully.
Max Stassi might be a great story teller or he might lose just enough at poker to stay on everyone's good side. He could be good at roasting dudes. He might be a fine calligrapher. But if the Astros can get a catcher who is at least league-average and not Historically Bad, I'd be okay with that.
*Tags has your pre-game roundup. Luhnow: It's good (Urquidy and Armenteros) are showing they can contribute. We're going to continue to look at opportunities to improve the club like we do every year, and there is a long way to go. It feels like not much has happened yet, but I have a feeling things will pick up here as we get close to the Deadline.
*Carlos Correa will play today and tomorrow for Round Rock before traveling to St. Louis with the team. He can be activated prior to Friday's game.
*Forrest Whitley's next start will come in the next nine days and will be in Fayetteville. Luhnow, on Whitley: All these guys when they're struggling, it's a combination of mental and physical. It's a tough game and we've seen it before, (being) a top prospect is tough physically and mentally. It's a combination, but he's got a good mindset and a good attitude. He certainly has the talent.
*This is not a comprehensive list by any means, but here are some Minor League standouts of which teams are undoubtedly aware as we get closer to July 31. Minor League Names On Which To Keep An Eye (organized alphabetically. Stats valid prior to the games of July 22):
RHP Bryan Abreu. 2019: 65.1IP, 49H/36ER, 86K:37BB, 4.96 ERA / 1.32 WHIP between Fayetteville and Corpus.
Seth Beer (2018 - 1st Round). 2019: .314/.410/.562, 22HR, 84K:35BB between Fayetteville and Corpus.
RHP Brett Conine (2018 - 11th Round). 2019: 84.1IP, 60H/21ER, 107K:18BB. 2.24 ERA / 0.92 WHIP between Quad Cities and Fayetteville.
RHP Austin Hansen (2018 - 8th Round). 2019: 72IP, 41H/18ER, 92K:35BB. 2.25 ERA / 1.06 WHIP between Quad Cities and Fayetteville.
RHP Tyler Ivey (2017 - 3rd Round). 2019: 31IP, 12H/2ER, 44K:13BB. 0.58 ERA / 0.81 WHIP between Fayetteville and Corpus.
RHP Cristian Javier. 2019: 82.2IP, 40H/18ER, 114K:44BB. 1.96 ERA / 1.02 WHIP between Fayetteville and Corpus.
Taylor Jones (2016 - 19th Round). 2019: .284/.384/.509,17HR, 88K:51BB in Round Rock.
RHP Collin McKee. (2016 - 18th Round). 2019: 48.2IP, 25H/13ER, 63K:29BB. 2.40 ERA / 1.11 WHIP between Corpus and Round Rock.
RHP Enoli Paredes. 2019: 78.2IP, 42H/23ER, 107K:35BB, 2.63 ERA / 0.98 WHIP between Fayetteville and Corpus.
Jeremy Pena (2018 - 3rd Round). 2019: .298/.383/.435, 5HR, 73K:38BB between Quad Cities and Fayetteville.
RHP Yohan Ramirez. 2019: 73.1IP, 45H/31ER, 111K:49BB, 3.80 ERA / 1.28 WHIP between Fayetteville and Corpus.
RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez. 2019: 86IP, 57H/21ER, 86K:29BB, 2.20 ERA / 1.00 WHIP between Quad Cities and Fayetteville
Josh Rojas (2017 - 26th Round). 2019: .319/.407/.590, 19HR, 58K:48BB between Corpus and Round Rock.
Abraham Toro (2016 - 5th Round). 2019: .289/.379/.483, 14HR, 77K:44BB in Corpus.
*NY Mag's Intelligencer: Even locals who believe climate change is real have a hard time grasping that their city will almost certainly be flooded beyond recognition.
*NY Times: Why so many of us don't lose weight when we exercise.
*A while ago there was a poll in which 12% of men said they could win a point against Serena Williams. Those men are narcissists and chauvinists and This is for them.
The Astros swept the Trinity River Rangers and everything is right with the world. Rogelio Armenteros did Good Things and Michael Brantley did Better Things. Houston is 64-37 with a 6.5-game lead on Oakland (thanks to a Twins walkoff) and a 13-game lead on I-30.
Houston has won five straight games. Every starter currently in the rotation has won their latest start. The Astros are 24-6 in their last 30 games against AL West opponents. Houston is 9-2 in their last 11 games against Love Field.
*Jose Altuve, who went 2x4 with his 14th home run of the season: I like where we're at right now.
*The Rangers struck out 41 times in the three-game sweep. Houston pitchers have struck out 13+ batters in four of their last five games. It's the pitching staff's third straight game with 13+ strikeouts, which ties a franchise record, set twice in 2018 and twice in 2016.
*Rogelio Armenteros became the second straight pitcher to record their first MLB win. Armenteros threw 5IP, 2H/1ER, 6K:1BB. Bregman: Huge back-to-back performances (by Urquidy and Armenteros). It was a great sweep. They came up huge for us this week and now it's about time to start getting on a roll.
*Will Harris, on Urquidy and Armenteros: Any time we're running starters out there that are throwing the ball well, it has a way of stabilizing the pitching staff. The two guys that threw the last two days - being young rookies to come into division games like that to throw the way they did, it's the reason we swept them.
*Collin McHugh threw 1.1IP, allowing 0H/0ER, 2K:1BB. Here are McHugh's appearances since the All-Star Break: July 14, July 15, July 18, July 21. His last three appearances have been exactly three days apart. Are the Astros starting to transition McHugh back to the rotation, now that we know Brad Peacock will be out until at least the middle of August?
*Josh James might be hurt, departing after 15 pitches where he allowed a home run and struck out a batter. Hinch: It just looked a little bit off. We went out there to make sure he was OK, he was making some mannerisms that made him look uncomfortable. He said it was just general soreness, that he didn't feel good. It didn't look like he had quite the velocity it normally does. It's July. You get into July and August, especially with the bullpen...I used Josh a lot in Anaheim so we'll see how he is. It seems to be just a day to day thing. James threw a total of 32 pitches on back-to-back days on July 15/16. He threw 38 pitches on July 13, and 100 pitches since July 13. James had not allowed a home run since May 28, and he had not allowed a run since July 7. He averages 97mph on his fastball, but his last two before getting pulled averaged 90mph.
*The Gun Barrel City Rangers' Savior Joey Gallo was 0x4 with 4K:0BB. In 2019 Gallo is 0x23 with 17K:1BB at Minute Maid Park.
*Lance Lynn is the only pitcher to strike out 11+ Astros in a game in 2019. He's done it twice in 11 days. And North Corsicana is 1-1 when that happens so suck it.
*Michael Brantley went 3x3 with 2HR/3RBI, 0K:1BB. It's his 2nd straight 3-hit game. It's the 6th time in his career he has hit two home runs in a game, first since May 8, 2019. Brantley: We're playing good baseball...It felt good to sweep against somebody in the division. We're doing it as a team, doing it so one guy doesn't have to carry this team. It's fun to come to this field every day and compete. Michael Brantley's walk-up song is now The Circle of Life from the Lion King, and he's gonna roll with it for a while.
*6-9 in the lineup (Reddick-Marisnick-Stassi-Straw) went a combined 0x14 with 9K:0BB.
Luis Pujols (1983): 23
Skip Jutze (1976): 23
Andy Mota (1991): 22
Luis Pujols (1978): 20
Raul Chavez (2005): 19
Ronn Reynolds (1987): 9
Tim Bogar (1998): 9
Mike Fischlin (1978): -17
In 44 games (95 PAs) in 1978, Mike Fischlin hit .116/.165/.128 for a -1.2 fWAR. Impressive, really.
*Hinch, on the importance of this week: Everybody is anticipating Aledmys and Carlos coming back at some point. Guys that are huge members of the team, you look forward to it. I try not to look too far ahead. I owe it to the guys inside to just play the roster that we have and keep those guys motivated. It will be nice to get some of our players back.
A hard decision is coming once Diaz and Correa come back. Myles Straw seems most likely to return to the Hill Country, as he has options left, but Tony Kemp needs to be concerned, as well. Of course, if Josh James is actually injured, then it might spare one of them.
*Buster Olney says that movement on the trade front across MLB could come this Wednesday/Thursday.
*Former Astros Great Asher Wojciechowski threw 7.1IP, 1H/0ER, 10K:2BB as Baltimore shut out the Red Sox. Look for the hot new Fox buddy cop dramedy "Elias & Sig" this fall!
*A line drive foul ball from Francisco Lindor hit a 3-year old kid in Cleveland, and Lindor says "It stinks, man." Would be nice to make sure people don't get hurt when they frequent your business. Instead, Rob Manfred or any of the owners are probably wondering how they can charge $20 for a tallboy. Lindor: I encourage every MLB team to put the nets all the way down. I know it's all about the fans' experience of interacting with players and I completely get that. You want to have that interaction with the fans, getting autographs and stuff, but at the end of the day, we want to make sure everybody comes out of this game healthy, and we (have) got to do something about it.
In response, Manfred reportedly agreed to change the pitch clock to 35 seconds and also to not hold umpires accountable for their actions. He appreciates your cooperation.
*You just hate to read this story about the bind the Cardinals are in.
Jose Urquidy did the Good Things and the Astros beat Balch Springs 6-1. Houston is 63-37. Oakland doesn't lose anymore (more on them in a minute) but the Astros still have a 5.5-game lead on them, and a 12-game lead on the Rangers and Angels.
The Astros won their third straight Silver Boot, if that's the kind of thing that matters to you. I guess it's better than losing the Silver Boot.
Euless went 53-23 against Houston from 2013-2016. Houston is 34-20 against Irving since.
*Houston has won four straight games, outscoring opponents 27-8 since Noe Ramirez went up and in on Jake Marisnick. They're 6-4 since the All-Star Break.
*It's the 5th time this season the Astros have held their opponent to two or fewer hits. The Rangers are the 8th team to strike out 13+ times and get two or fewer hits in a game in 2019.
*Houston has held their opponent to two or fewer hits and struck out 13+ batters 15 times in franchise history. It has happened three times in 2019.
*Jose Urquidy's first two starts: 6IP, 14H/7ER, 8K:1BB
Jose Urquidy, last night: 7IP, 2H/1ER, 9K:0BB
Urquidy got 17 swinging strikes last night. He had 17 swinging strikes in his first two starts combined. Congratulations to him on his first career MLB win. Urquidy: I knew that I had to focus on this start, and I'm really happy that I was able to execute what I envisioned.
Hinch: No walks, one homer - just an incredible, incredible performance. We absolutely needed it. We needed him to go as long as he could, and for him to be effective in that, it's a great day.
More Hinch: There's a creative side he showcased today on why the organization has been high on him. They're not going to sour on him after a couple of bad outings, but it was nice to see him pitch the way we were told he pitches.
*Michael Brantley was 3x4 with an RBI - his 9th 3+ hit game and his 39th multi-hit game of the season. The Astros are 25-14 when Brantley gets 2+ hits.
*Yuli Gurriel hit another home run, his 18th. Ho hum. It's the 11th time in his career he has hit a 3+ run home run. He has 10 home runs in July. He has homered in five straight games at Minute Maid Park, tying Morgan Ensberg's record set in 2006. Gurriel's next home run (which should come here in about seven hours) will set a career-high. Hinch: When (Gurriel) first got here, he smothered the ball on the ground quite a bit and was one of the lower-trajectory guys off the bat, which is a little bit of a conscious decision but a little bit of pitch selection and what you're trying to hit...Give credit to Alex Cintron and Troy Snitker for unlocking a few keys that have allowed to open up his power.
*Yordan Alvarez was 1x3 with a walk and an RBI. He has played in 28 games and has gotten on base in 24 of them, reaching 2+ times in 16 of them. He is everything I had thought Brett Wallace and Jon Singleton were going to be...combined.
*Tony Kemp had seven career home runs in 470 PAs coming into 2019. He has seven home runs in 183 PAs in 2019. Six of his home runs have come at Minute Maid Park.
*After going through a brutal 18-game stretch from June 17-July 13 in which he "hit" .132/.254/.151, Robinson Chirinos has a hit in three straight games, and four of his last five. Chirinos doubled and walked last night.
*Aledmys Diaz could return to the Astros tomorrow (Monday). Hinch: For him, it's more of a day-to-day assessment of where he's at and how he's doing...If he needs more time in the Minor Leagues, he can play next week. If he's ready to come back, we'll bring him back.
Hinch, on Correa: He and I text every day, and we've talked to the coaching staff (in Round Rock). By video, he looks incredible. Sometimes you come off of these injuries and you either catch your rhythm quickly or you need a little bit more time. It looks like Carlos came out looking really, really good. His movements are good. He's playing with freedom. There's no issue whatsoever. It's a good sign for him.
Round Rock beat New Orleans 13-0 last night. Correa was 1x5 with a double and three strikeouts. He's hitting .400/.438/.600 in four rehab appearances.
Chas McCormick hit two home runs and collected 6RBI. Kyle Tucker was 2x5 with his 25th home run of the season and 3RBI. Brandon Bielak threw 7IP, 1H/0ER, 7K:2BB.
*A.J. Hinch described his and Luhnow's conversation with Tyler White "brutal:" From a 33rd-Round pick to the big leagues to a big splash when he first made the team to outperforming the Minor Leagues to coming back and literally carrying us as a DH last season to being out of a job and off our team, it's a brutal conversation.
I feel badly for Tyler White. White hit .545/.577/1.091 in his first week in the Majors back in 2016, earning AL Player of the Week honors, after climbing up from the Minors beginning in 2013. In 51 games after getting called up for a second time in 2018 White hit .287/.350/.551 from the end of July to the end of the regular season. He went 3x6 with two walks in the 2018 ALDS, which the Astros swept.
2019 was probably the first time in his career that there were any Expectations placed on him, and he had a hard time. It doesn't make him a bad person. He had an opportunity in 2019 to solidify his place on the team, and it didn't work out. I hope he gets another opportunity, whether it be with a different club, or with the Astros again.
Click that link to hear about the time when Hinch was Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen's best man when he married Neil Armstrong's step-daughter.
*Ken Rosenthal reports that the Astros may need to add two starters and a reliever in the next ten days, what with Peacock meeting with team doctors on Monday after "experiencing a setback."
*Richard Justice has your Trade Deadline Urgency Meter. Justice: ...Jeff Luhnow has been steadfast in holding on to his top prospects in previous trades, but that may change as he attempts to acquire at least one starter, and possibly two.
*Jon Heyman: The Tigers want an "established young MLB star" in a return for pitcher Matthew Boyd. Boyd's last six starts: 35.1IP, 39H/26ER, 55K:9BB. 6.62 ERA / 1.36 WHIP.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: Five under-the-radar relievers that contenders could target.
*Jose Altuve made his MLB debut eight years ago yesterday. Hits leaders since July 20, 2011:
1. Altuve: 1488
2. Robinson Cano: 1355
3. Adam Jones: 1344
4. Nick Markakis: 1334
5. Eric Hosmer: 1328
6. Freddie Freeman: 1294
7. Mike Trout: 1281
8. Andrew McCutchen: 1280
9. Elvis Andrus: 1278
9. Starlin Castro: 1278
10. Paul Goldschmidt: 1272
*On Sunday, June 16 Oakland lost to Seattle, 6-3. They were 36-36, 12 games behind Houston. Since then, the AL West:
Oakland: 21-6
Anaheim: 16-12
Houston: 15-13
Euless: 12-15
Seattle: 9-17
Over the last 27 games the A's are tied with the Yankees for the best record in baseball. They have gone 16-4 in their last 20 games against the Cardinals, Angels, Twins, Mariners, White Sox, Mariners, and Twins. I do not understand how the A's keep doing this.
