Friday Morning Hot Links

Holy Hannah. What a day yesterday was. The Astros beat the Tigers 6-3 but there was so much going on that it felt a little bit like an after-thought. Houston is 82-47. There are 33 regular season games left.

Let's get some game stuff out of the way. The Astros have won four of their last five games. They're one game back of the Yankees for the best record in the American League.

*Houston is 46-16 at home. The 2013 Astros won 24 home games all season. The 2018 Astros went 46-35 at home.

*Best home record, franchise history:
1998: 55-26
1980: 55-26
2015: 53-28
2005: 53-28
1986: 52-29
1979: 52-29
1969: 52-29
1999: 50-32 (they played 82 home games, and 80 road games in 1999. I'm looking into it.)
1978: 50-31
2019: 46-16

Remaining home series in 2019 are against the Angels (6), Rays (3), Mariners (4), A's (4), and Rangers (2). The Astros are a combined 30-13 against these teams and would need to go 10-9 to break the franchise home single-season record.

*Gerrit Cole's hamstring is apparently okay, as he threw 7IP, 2H/0ER, 12K:1BB. His outing put him in 1st Place in the ERA Title, at this point. Verlander is 2nd, CFM is 3rd, and Wade Miley is 5th.

It's the 10th time Cole has struck out at least 12 batters while allowing no more than one walk. Nine of those have come with the Astros. It's worth noting again, because it's absolutely remarkable:

Cole, 10+ strikeout starts, by year:

2013: 1
2014: 2
2015: 1
2016: 0
2017: 2
2018: 8
2019: 14

So, six double-digit strikeouts in 127 starts for Pittsburgh (4.7%). 22 double-digit strikeouts in 58 starts for Houston (37.9%). Hinch, on Cole:
He was letting it go and pitching very effectively. I was very impressed with how he approached the game from the very beginning. He was going to set a great tone for us after a tough loss. Comes out and punches out a bunch of guys and commands the game.

The 14 double-digit strikeout starts tie J.R. Richard's 1978 and 1979 franchise record.

Cole's 13.09 K/9 rate is 4th in MLB history for a starter, behind:

1. Chris Sale, 2019 (13.32, and he's done for the regular season, so...)
2. Pedro Martinez, 1999 (13.22)
3. Randy Johnson, 2001 (13.20)
4. Gerrit Cole, 2019 (13.09)

*Michael Brantley has a 15-game hitting streak dating back to August 3, with ten of those being multi-hit games. He's hitting .476/.522/.762 in that span. Brantley is leading the AL with a .338 average, and Sarah Langs takes a look at how he's doing it.

*Bregman's 31st home run of the season ties a career-high.

*The Biggest News of the Day was from Baseball Writers who were Outraged over Justin Verlander's actions after last night's CG 2H loss. So let's try to recreate this:

The Astros blocked the Detroit Free-Press' Anthony Fenech from entering the Astros' clubhouse to ask Justin Verlander questions. Verlander was "adamant" about this. That was wrong. They should not have done that. It's a violation of the CBA, and the CBA is what keeps the gears of baseball moving. Don't like it? Negotiate a new one. The link outlines all the ways the Astros and Verlander decided to avoid the issue/violate the CBA.

Now, Anthony Fenech has been around for a while. He has reported on the Tigers for a good while, and doubtless has had a number of interactions with Verlander. There's no way of knowing what happened between those two in the past that would create the animosity that would lead Verlander to ask Astros' staff to not let One Guy in. Fenech released a statement (because that's apparently what happens now):
I'm extremely disappointed with the Astros' inexplicable decision to limit my [BBWAA]-credentialed clubhouse access on Wednesday night. In my time as the Tigers beat writer for the Free Press, my foremost goal has been fair and ethical coverage. I am confident that goal has been clearly and consistently achieved in my body of work and with the personal and professional way I build relationships across baseball. As I do with every player in the clubhouse each season and dozens whom I have covered over the past five years, I wish Justin Verlander good luck and good health for the remainder of the season.

This is the statement of someone who has had a lot of time to craft a response. It's well-written, but Anthony Fenech is a good writer. I have had no issue with any of his reporting across which I have come. The Free-Press editor said they'll protest. And of course the Baseball Media rallied around Fenech.

But we don't know why Verlander freakin hates Fenech. Our Dude McTaggart has been around for a while and has not embarrassed himself or his employer. Alyson Footer, Richard Justice, Chandler Rome, hell, Hunter Atkins. It had to have been egregious enough for Verlander to act this way.

Verlander tweeted:
I declined to speak with the [Free-Press reporter] last night because of his unethical behavior in the past. I reached out to the [Free-Press] multiplie times before the game to notify them why and to give them an opportunity to have someone else there. Ironically they didn't answer. 

Predictably, Verlander - and the Astros - got savaged by The Media, one of which Fenech is obviously one. Gene Dias, the Astros' VP of communication, decided to side with Verlander, and why wouldn't he (this is not a position I'm endorsing). Verlander is The Man in this team, and if The Man decides to bust up the CBA, then what team executive is going to stand in the way?

But still, the Collective Bargaining Agreement trumps all of this. If Verlander had just stood before Fenech and maintained awkward eye contact while not saying a word, that would have been baller acceptable, I guess. Ultimately, Verlander won this round, because the organization rallied around their guy at the expense of the CBA. Not sure if/how this is a long-term win.

I bet it gave Gerrit Cole the Cy Young Award. I don't approve of the way the Astros handled this situation. And in response, the BBWAA will collective blast Springsteen's "Born To Run" as they remove Verlander from their consideration.

*MEANWHILE: Ryan Pressly is going to have arthroscopic knee surgery today. Hinch:
You lose an All-Star reliever, it's a tough blow for the bullpen and for our team. Quite honestly, I'm glad we have answers. We've been battling something similar for a few weeks - sometimes getting the good version of Pressly and sometimes getting the sore version of Pressly. It got to the point we were seeking answers.

Pressly will be out 4-6 weeks. Four weeks would bring him back on September 20. Six weeks would be October 4. The regular season ends on September 29, so there is the possibility that Pressly is not on the ALDS roster. Luhnow:
Worst-case scenario, he's not available for the division series. But I think he will be. And I think we need him because whoever we face is going to be a strong opponent. And, late in games, Pressly knows how to get those guys out.

Luhnow deferred comment on what the "small issue" is in Pressly's knee to Pressly himself, who was not made available to reporters.

*Chandler Rome went on 790 and said that Correa will be out until early September. No surprise there. There is no structural damage to Correa's back. I'm glad he didn't structurally damage his back swinging in the 1st inning. Correa told reporters that it's not as bad as it was last year. He plans to play rehab games during the first week of September.

*Abraham Toro made his major-league debut and Hinch says he'll primarily play 3B. Bregman played SS last night. And that's probably how we'll see the lineup shake out. Jake Kaplan wrote that Toro, with the help of hitting coach Troy Snitker, made a mechanical adjustment last fall which led to his breakout season. Toro went 0x4 last night, but absolutely smashed a ball that went foul. To make room for Toro on the 40-Man Roster, Brady Rodgers was DFA'd.

*FanGraphs: The best bullpens in baseball.

*SI's Stephanie Apstein: MLB's punishment under the domestic violence policy needs to change. (Inject boner sauce into your veins? No playoffs! Violent towards your spouse/significant other? Playoffs!)

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*Josh Reddick did a good thing to overcome a sluggish return from two months off from Dallas Keuchel, Brad Peacock pitched well in what was essentially a 4th-inning start, and the Astros beat the Tigers 6-5. The Astros are 68-34. Seattle lost so the Astros are 18 games up. There are 60 games remaining.

*The Astros have come from behind to win 29 times this season.

*Reddick hit a three-run homer in the 8th inning to put the Astros up 6-5. It was his 10th home run of the season, making him the 11th Astro with 10+ home runs, tying the 2015 team. Reddick had 5RBI on the night, a season-high, and his first 5RBI game since September 24, 2016. Hinch:
He had the two sac flies and I told him, 'Go get another RBI,' and he said, 'How about three?'

Reddick also said that the Astros weren't real impressed with Nick Castellanos' reaction to his own 3-run home run off Keuchel earlier:
You're pumped up, your teammates are pumped up. The way [Castellanos'] three-run homer was kind of pimped...wasn't really sitting with us too well. I felt like we had all the right to do it right back.

Here's the video of Castellanos' homer. See for yourself if he pimped it.

*Reddick thinks maybe his concussion on June 12 "knocked something right."

*Dallas Keuchel threw 79 pitches in 3IP, allowing 6H/3ER, 3K:3BB. Keuchel:
I felt really good, so that's a positive. But just gotta commend them for laying off some pitches early. That was probably their game plan all along. 

*Brad Peacock threw 4IP, 3H/2ER, 4K:1BB. He gave up just his 2nd home run of the season in 75.2IP. 129 pitchers in MLB have thrown at least 70IP and Brad Peacock's 0.24 HR/9 rate is the best among those pitchers.

*Jose Altuve hit a 1st inning triple and ended up with yet another 3-hit game to extend his hitting streak to 19 games. He now has more 3+ hit games (19) than he does games without a hit (18).

*1-3 in the lineup (Fisher, Altuve, Reddick): 6x10. 7-9 in the lineup (McCann, Bregman, Aoki): 0x11.

*The Astros only struck out three times in the game, the 8th time this season they've had three or fewer strikeouts. They're 8-0 in those games.

*George Springer was placed on the 10-Day DL with Quad Discomfort after catching it in the ground in Philadelphia. Springer:
If I can't play at 100 percent, I'm only going to hurt the team...At this point in the year, it's a lot smarter to miss six games, instead of six weeks.

*Michael Feliz was sent to Corpus, not Fresno, mainly because of the distance from Houston. Hinch:
We're going to send him to AA and let him exhale. It's an easy transaction for to try to get him a little bit of work. He's very much a part of what we're doing and we expect him back.

*The Dodgers consider Yu Darvish but won't trade any of their "top prospects" for him, and consider Sonny Gray their backup plan.

*For whatever reason the Orioles traded for the Phillies' Jeremy Hellickson, but are still open to trading Zach Britton for rotation help.

*Jon Heyman thinks the Astros will bolster their pitching staff in some way. Maybe Brad Hand?

*The new CBA is trying to limit teams from spending too much with new draft pick penalties.

*Bagwell's army arrived in Cooperstown.

*So many Astros fans flew into Albany, NY that it made the paper.

*Bagwell, Yastrzemski, and a HOF connection.

*Do you remember reading "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark?" I do. It scared the hell out of me as a kid. Now they've re-released it with the original drawings restored.

Long December: Friday Morning Hot Links

*Jon Heyman says that, without Chris Sale, the Astros may do no better than their 2016 record. Heyman says that the inclusion of Alex Bregman would likely get them to a deal, but a rival exec said "The Astros are not trading Alex Bregman, no way."

*What would it take to land Chris Sale? Jim Callis says it would look something like:
Francis Martes/Derek Fisher/two lower-level high-ceiling prospects; or Martes/Kyle Tucker/Joe Musgrove/one LLHCP. Would you pull that trigger?

*Brian McTaggart, on the possibility of adding a bat, noted only Carlos Beltran as a player they liked.  This piece has a good rundown on a number of Astros.

*Joel Sherman proposes a trade between the Astros and Mets: Evan Gattis and Luke Gregerson to the Mets for Zack Wheeler and Jay Bruce.

*Nori Aoki signed a one-year, $5.5m contract with the Astros on Wednesday.

*People are still working out what the new CBA means for teams. One thing we know, though, is that penalties for exceeding the international bonus pool will remain. The Astros can't sign international free agent for more than $300,000 next year.

*Every clubhouse will have its own chef and every player in Spring Training will get two seats.

*MLBTR has all the reported details of the new CBA neatly organized right here.

*Bob Nightengale has the winners and losers of the new CBA.

*Ken Rosenthal says the new CBA could ultimately hurt the players.

*Jeff Passan: New CBA foretells a labor war and the hijacking of the international draft.

*Coming to Minute Maid Park in 2017: Torchy's Tacos and Shake Shack.

*52 years ago yesterday the Colt .45s became the Houston Astros. Craig Hlavaty has the story of how that came to be, as well as the origins of the Rockets and Texans.

*Jim Crane is going into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

*The lawyer/pianist who is changing baseball analytics.

*The rise and fall of former USC athlete Owen Hanson.

Monday Morning Hot Links

*I talked about the Astros last night with Sammy, my friend Joe's 10-year old son, for about half an hour last night.

*You may not have heard of Sammy before, but our guest on Lima Time Time tonight may sound familiar: Lance McCullers, Jr.

*Buster Olney writes that it would be a good idea for A.J. Hinch to tuck Josh Reddick in the #2-hole, and put as much distance between him and Brian McCann in the lineup as possible.

*Ken Rosenthal says that Alex Bregman would have to highlight a trade for Chris Sale.

*Richard Justice gives an overview of the major players and pimps in free agency...dependent on the new CBA being ratified soon.

*Speaking of the CBA, which expires at 11:59pm Wednesday, there are "high hopes" for a deal getting done but the possibility of an off-season lockout remains. Allegedly on the table is MLB cutting the compensation clause of signing big-name free agent.

*Former Astros minor-leaguer, and minor-league manager Josh Bonifay became the Rangers' major-league field coordinator last week. Bonifay was announced as the Astros minor-league player development coordinator in September.

*FanGraphs' David Laurilia wrote in his Sunday links column (scroll down about halfway) that Chris Devenski was 2016's most valuable rookie pitcher.

*This article is missing a pretty major part (fear, violence, terror) of Fidel Castro's reign in Cuba, but here's an article describing the importance of sports - particularly baseball - and culture under Castro.

*SABR: A bomb threat in 1970 gave fans the opportunity to mingle on the field with Twins players.