Tuesday Morning Hot Links + Farm Report

*That's five straight for the Houston Base Ball Club, who had to overcome some defensive miscues  (three errors) to preserve a 3-0 win over Los Anaheim. Their 9-4 record matches the best start in franchise history. 

Bregman:

If you want to be a good team, you have to win the close ones. 

Chris Devenski had yet another stellar outing in relief, striking out approximately 103 batters last night, including Mike Trout on three pitches. 

*Carlos Correa was out of the lineup - letting Bregman play his natural position - with the bruised hand. Correa:

I didn't feel comfortable swinging the bat today. Give me another day. Hopefully I'll be back in there tomorrow. 

*The rainout in Oakland on Sunday allowed Hinch to tweak his rotation a little bit, giving Charlie Morton and Joe Musgrove an extra day of rest while Keuchel and McCullers will go on normal rest on Wednesday and Thursday, pushing Mike Fiers' next start to Friday against Tampa Bay. 

*The Astros are #1 in ESPN's Power Rankings.

*Jon Bernhardt looks at what a possible Correa extension would look like.

*Buies Creek's Franklin Perez, the 2nd-youngest pitcher in the Carolina League, was named Pitcher of the Week. 

*Corpus catcher Garrett Stubbs has been put on the 7-Day DL with a hamstring. 

*The Rangers put favorite closer ever Sam Dyson on the 10-Day DL with Suck.

*Rich Hill and Baseball's Biggest Little Injury

On The Farm

Fresno took that sweep at the hands of Salt Lake with a 6-2 loss. David Martinez threw 6IP, 10H/4ER, 3K:2BB. Jared Mortensen allowed three hits, a walk, and 2ER in the 8th. Jon Kemmer had two of Fresno's five hits. Preston Tucker hit a two-run homer, Max Stassi got a double and Teoscar Hernandez hit a triple and got an outfield assist.

Corpus rallied for three in the bottom of the 7th to tie it up against NW Arkansas...and then lost in the 13th inning, 9-7. Cy Sneed made his return to the rotation, throwing 5IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:2BB; Eric Peterson and Ryan Thompson each allowed 3ER. Alejandro Garcia was 3x6 with 2RBI; Antonio Nunez was 3x5 with a walk and an RBI; Drew Ferguson, J.D. Davis, and Jack Mayfield (HR, 2RBI) had two hits each.

Buies Creek improved to 9-3 with a 4-2 win over Myrtle Beach. Elieser Hernandez threw 4.1IP, 5H/2ER, 4K:2BB. Akeem Bostick got the decision with 3.2IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:1BB. Akeem Bostick this season: 14.2IP, 5H/0ER, 13K:4BB. Osvaldo Duarte was 3x4, Dexture McCall was 2x3 with a walk and an RBI; Kyle Tucker was 1x3 with a walk, RBI, and a stolen base. 

Quad Cities scored early and often in a 15-1 road win over Burlington. Jorge Alcala threw 5IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:5BB; Enoli Paredes threw 3IP, 2H/1ER, 4K:0BB. Everyone got on base at least twice. Alex De Goti had a big night, going 4x4 with 2HR and 2BB, Ronnie Dawson and Jake Rogers each had three hits. 

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*Will Harris pitched out of a bases-loaded no-out jam in the 9th to preserve an Astros 4-2 win at Anaheim last night. Angels manager Mike Scioscia:
Give Harris credit, he pitched out of a jam. Our guys are battling, we're playing hard. We're just not winning enough situations in games to keep them on our terms. We did a lot of good things tonight, and the Astros did a couple of things better.

*Carlos Correa hit a sac fly in the top of the 9th for the go-ahead run. Hinch on Correa:
He loves the big moment, and he's pretty calm under pressure. He knows how to get runs in from third base. Whether it be with a hit, the sac fly there...that's a mature approach and a way to win the game. 

*The Astros have won six straight against Anaheim and are 8-1 against them in 2016. The Astros are Rangering the Angels.

*And speaking of Ranger Devil Magic, they beat the Yankees at 1:45am Central after a 3.5-hour rain delay in front of 100 fans after scoring four runs in the top of the 9th. Joe Girardi was extremely not happy. The A's beat the Angels and the Mariners were off. So your division looks like this:

*Burleson: -
*Houston: -10
*Seattle: -11.5
*Oakland: -16.5
*Anaheim: -18

*The Red Sox and Blue Jays lost and the Royals won, so the Wild Card picture for Houston is as such:

WC1: -1.5
WC2: -1.0

*A blister on Lance McCullers' finger means that Scott Feldman gets the spot start tonight at Anaheim instead.

*How George Springer is leading the Astros' revival.

*Five reasons the Astros have turned their season around.

*Luke Gregerson helped Brady Rodgers with a slider in Spring Training, and now Rodgers is knocking on Houston's door.

*2015 37th Overall pick Daz Cameron hit his 1st professional homer last night in a Tri-City win.

*Watch the benches clear in the New Orleans/Memphis game last night.

*The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. show has begun in Virginia.

*Phillies prospect Matt Imhof has a career-threatening eye injury after getting hit by a malfunctioning  arm band.

*How Iceland got good at soccer.

Thursday Morning Link Dump

*At 21-13, FanGraphs has the Astros at 29.4% to win the division (+2.8%) and 44.8% to make the postseason.

*Brett Oberholtzer's return lasted all of three innings as his blister re-opened, and he's back on the DL (This opened right up for me, but a subscription may be required) A.J. Hinch:
His skin had built up a little toughness, almost like a callus on his finger where the blister was before, and had no problems leading up to his last inning and then it just popped off almost like clean.

Jake Buchanan is rumored to be on his way up to replace Oberholtzer.

*Richard Justice writes about game-changer George Springer.

*Ken Rosenthal does some light swearing in wondering why the Astros haven't called up Carlos Correa.
This is, or should be, a baseball decision, a decision between Correa and the Astros' current shortstops, Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Villar, a decision that could influence whether Houston steals the surprisingly mediocre AL West.

*Sports on Earth's Tim Healey says the Astros should trade Mark Appel, Domingo Santana, and Vincent Velasquez or Michael Feliz for Cole Hamels.

*Hank Conger now has a first baseman's mitt, just in case.

*Preston Tucker is looking forward to getting comfortable.

*The Fresno Bee has an article on Jon Singleton's big night.

*Here's an interesting piece on post-baseball Aubrey Huff

*Luke Scott has signed a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros are as close to the Rangers in the standings (3.5 GB) as the Rangers are to the 2nd place Angels. Here's what else you need to know:

*7th Round pick Derick Velazquez plans to sign with the Astros this week. (Remember to check the 2014 Draft page for all signing updates)

*Hitting coach John Mallee talked to Evan Drellich about how Chris Carter's approach is changing.

*Collin McHugh is dealing with a blister on his middle finger, and Jesse Crain made the trip with the team to Minnesota.

*CSN Houston has 41 facts about the Astros' 41 draft picks.

*What the Heck, Bobby has the Twitter handles of the 2014 Astros' draft picks. 

Afternoon notes

Some notes for you this afternoon from the WORLD OF INTERNETZ:


*Bo Porter hasn't announced the final two rotation spots because the Astros have priority on a possible waiver claim.
*Someone would have to get optioned off the 40-man roster in order to place the claim. As Evan Drellich notes, Asher Wojciechowski likely won't be ready until mid-May (lat strain), so they could possibly put him on the 60-Day DL.
*The top of the order will read Fowler, Grossman, Castro. Altuve likely to bat no higher than 6th. Although it comes with the high-BABIP caveat (.413), Grossman hit .322/.351/.466 in his second stint with the Astros in 2013.
*Jarred Cosart is dealing with "loose skin" on his finger (different from a blister, I suppose), but should be fine to go next Wednesday vs. New York. 
*Jesse Crain will throw his first bullpen session tomorrow (Thursday)

Rasmussen to start Sunday

The Hooks tweeted this morning that Rob Rasmussen will get the start against Tulsa on Sunday, making his Astros org debut, and Jarred Cosart has been placed on the DL with a blister on his throwing hand.

Bud ain't worried about that blister

Bud Norris isn't worried about the blister that worked itself all into a frenzy during last night's start:

"I'm going to be all right. I've dealt with it my entire career, whether it be in high school to Double-A to the big leagues. It's something I'm going to have to deal with."

Let me tell you something. I decided to go running yesterday morning for the first time since, um, March. I have blisters on my toes the size of silver dollars, and there's no way I will be 100% in five days.

Good Lord, Jordan Comadena has a nasty blister

And you can see it!