*Jeff Blogwell Zapruder'd that God-awful Minute Maid commercial.
*The Batguy went down an Astros Twitter Tuesday rabbit hole.
*Lima Time Time: Episode 15 is available.
*The Astros beat the Angels 7-1 last night/early this morning. The Rangers obviously beat the Yankees because they are a machine built to run on the sins of humanity. The Mariners beat the Pirates, the A's beat the Giants. The division stays the same (Astros -10) with only the Angels dropping to 19.5 GB.
*In Wild Card news, the Blue Jays and Red Sox won but the Royals lost. So the Astros are tied with the Royals at a half-game out of the Blue Jays' 2nd Wild Card spot, and 1.5 back of the Red Sox for the 1st Wild Card.
*FanGraphs postseason odds: 15.4% to win the division, 52.3% to make the playoffs
FiveThirtyEight's playoff odds: 12% to win the division, 44% to make the playoffs
Astros County's playoff odds: 100% to win the division, 100% to make the playoffs.
*Scott Feldman threw a very efficient 5IP (65 pitches) in his spot start. Feldman:
That was something me and A.J. talked about when he took me out, was at the beginning of the day if you would have told us that we'd go five and we'd have the lead it was probably a pretty good day...Really just can't say enough about the job (Castro) does behind the dish every night. He makes it a lot easier on us pitchers.
*Hinch likes the vibe around the Astros right now:
We've got to go out and produce and do some things and prepare, but we do have a nice little vibe about us, a little swagger. We've got our confidence back and the way we show up and (are) performing right now, it's a fun atmosphere.
*McCullers (blister) is on track to make his next start on Monday.
*A.J. Hinch gave A.J. Reed the night off after seeing how frustrated he was.
*Jose Altuve was 2x4 with his 19th and 20th stolen bases of the season. His 4.1 fWAR is tied for 2nd in all of baseball, behind Mike Trout and tied with Josh Donaldson. Since May 1 Altuve is hitting .370/.439/.536, 18K:27BB with an 85% SB rate.
*Carlos Correa hit a 3-run homer in the first inning and went 3x4 with a walk and 4RBI. Since the beginning of the Baltimore series (May 24), Correa is hitting .283/.383/.558
*Alex Bregman and Joe Musgrove will represent the Astros in the Futures Game. Bregman, meanwhile, was 2x3 with a 2-run homer in the Texas League All-Star Game last night, and is set to join Fresno later this week.
*From a couple of days ago, FanGraphs projected A.J. Reed.
*2014 17th Round pick Ben Smith has overcome A LOT to be pitching in Tri-City right now.
*2016 17th Round pick Brian Howard will return to TCU for his senior season.
*Ramgers GM Jon Daniels, on their ten-game lead:
We're aware of where we are, but I try not to look at things that way. We're very cognizant of what can happen quickly.
*Jeff Passan on the Angels and irrelevance.
*The Ringer: Tim Lincecum's second act.
*Jeff Zimmerman offers a new way to look at college baseball stats.
*Hey Paul Clemens was claimed off waivers by the Padres.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label Ben Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Smith. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Tuesday Morning Hot Links
#win your #watercooler #and #rovell your #rovell
*The Astros enlarged the classic Craig Bjornson Spring Training photo and brought it to Arizona.
*Dallas Keuchel has thought about being an All-Star, does not think about WAR.
*Meat Wagon Update: George Springer tweaked his knee, while the Astros hope to get Matt Albers and Anthony Bass back before the All-Star Break.
*Keith Law has an (Insider-only) recap up of all AL drafts. Law refers to Brady Aiken as "the Clayton Kershaw starter kit."
*BP says 5th Round pick Jacob Nix "showed positive indicators of future growth last summer and followed it up with tangible steps this spring that showed progress towards his high upside projection."
*37th overall pick Derek Fisher and the Virginia Cavaliers are headed to Omaha.
*6th Round pick Brock Dykxhoorn only started playing baseball to stay in shape for hockey.
*17th Round pick Ben Smith was one of Baseball America's Top 51 college players - he had Tommy John surgery this spring.
*The Astros enlarged the classic Craig Bjornson Spring Training photo and brought it to Arizona.
*Dallas Keuchel has thought about being an All-Star, does not think about WAR.
*Meat Wagon Update: George Springer tweaked his knee, while the Astros hope to get Matt Albers and Anthony Bass back before the All-Star Break.
*Keith Law has an (Insider-only) recap up of all AL drafts. Law refers to Brady Aiken as "the Clayton Kershaw starter kit."
*BP says 5th Round pick Jacob Nix "showed positive indicators of future growth last summer and followed it up with tangible steps this spring that showed progress towards his high upside projection."
*37th overall pick Derek Fisher and the Virginia Cavaliers are headed to Omaha.
*6th Round pick Brock Dykxhoorn only started playing baseball to stay in shape for hockey.
*17th Round pick Ben Smith was one of Baseball America's Top 51 college players - he had Tommy John surgery this spring.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
17-496: Ben Smith
With the first pick of the 17th Round of the 2014 MLB Draft (496th overall) the Astros select LHP Ben Smith out of Coastal Carolina University.
Smith is a 6'2" 185lb junior, and was ranked #175 in MLB.com's Top 200 draft prospects, and #351 in Baseball America's Top 500. He slipped in the draft because he just had Tommy John surgery in April. Before the 2014 season, he was ranked #48 by Baseball America and #51 by CollegeBaseballDaily.com on their respective Top 100 college players lists.
He was named First Team All-Big South in 2013 after a 5-4, 2.23 ERA season, spanning 16 starts and 92.2 IP with 83:53 K:BB. This year, he was 1-3 with a 2.51 ERA, 38:23 K:BB in 6 starts (28.2 IP) before he got hurt.
MLB.com:
With a strong sophomore year and a standout summer in the Cape Cod League, Smith pitched himself into consideration for the top three rounds of the 2014 Draft. He struck out 11 in his season-opening start against Pittsburgh, but he blew out his elbow in late March and had Tommy John surgery a month later. When healthy, Smith had an 88-91 mph fastball that touched 93 but got fairly straight at times. His best pitch is his changeup, which he sells with deceptive arm speed. His three-quarters breaking ball gave him a third average-or-better offering, and he wasn't afraid to throw it against right-handed hitters. Once he recovers from his elbow reconstruction, Smith will have to do a better job of throwing strikes. He made strides with his control and command on the Cape, but he has averaged 5.0 walks per nine innings in three seasons at Coastal Carolina.
Smith is a 6'2" 185lb junior, and was ranked #175 in MLB.com's Top 200 draft prospects, and #351 in Baseball America's Top 500. He slipped in the draft because he just had Tommy John surgery in April. Before the 2014 season, he was ranked #48 by Baseball America and #51 by CollegeBaseballDaily.com on their respective Top 100 college players lists.
He was named First Team All-Big South in 2013 after a 5-4, 2.23 ERA season, spanning 16 starts and 92.2 IP with 83:53 K:BB. This year, he was 1-3 with a 2.51 ERA, 38:23 K:BB in 6 starts (28.2 IP) before he got hurt.
MLB.com:
With a strong sophomore year and a standout summer in the Cape Cod League, Smith pitched himself into consideration for the top three rounds of the 2014 Draft. He struck out 11 in his season-opening start against Pittsburgh, but he blew out his elbow in late March and had Tommy John surgery a month later. When healthy, Smith had an 88-91 mph fastball that touched 93 but got fairly straight at times. His best pitch is his changeup, which he sells with deceptive arm speed. His three-quarters breaking ball gave him a third average-or-better offering, and he wasn't afraid to throw it against right-handed hitters. Once he recovers from his elbow reconstruction, Smith will have to do a better job of throwing strikes. He made strides with his control and command on the Cape, but he has averaged 5.0 walks per nine innings in three seasons at Coastal Carolina.
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