Note: Hot Links will return Tuesday morning, and go back to the morning posting schedule from that point forward until after the World Series.
*Justin Verlander threw 5IP today, with 3H/1ER, 7K:1BB - the lone run was a homer by Jack Mayfield. Cristian Javier announced his presence with authority: 4.1IP, 6H/1ER, 3K:1BB. Cristian Javier is going to be a freaking star.
*Pitching matchups for this weekend:
Friday: Verlander vs Marco Gonzales
Saturday: McCullers vs Taijuan Walker
Sunday: Greinke vs Yusei Kikuchi
Monday: Josh James vs Kendall Graveman
*Dusty Baker says that Roberto Osuna isn't hurt, he just came to Camp late ("through no fault of his own").
*Austin Pruitt is apparently ahead of Brad Peacock in terms of being ready for Opening Day, but neither will be ready for Opening Day.
*Former Astros Great Collin McHugh is opting out of the 2020 season. Reminder that Collin McHugh did every single thing the Astros asked of him, and he is not to be slandered in any way on this web site.
-His lowest OPS+ in a season was 105...in his 2nd year with the Padres.
-From 1984 to 2001 Tony Gwynn hit .340/.390/.463, a 134 OPS+.
-Tony Gwynn's highest single-season strikeout total was 82, in 1987.
-Tony Gwynn had more doubles than strikeouts in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.
-Tony Gwynn's career games with four strikeouts: 0
-Tony Gwynn's career games with three strikeouts: 1
-Tony Gwynn's career games with two strikeouts: 33
-Tony Gwynn's career games with one strikeout: 365
-Tony Gwynn's career games with zero strikeouts: 2,041
-I had the good fortune of working at the Hall of Fame in 2008 when Tony Gwynn was inducted, and I got to meet him (and Cal Ripken, Jr.). Tony Gwynn was hands-down one of the kindest, nicest people I met, and I was extremely sad when he passed away.
Piss off, Derby County. Last year, after an unlikely Leeds' home defeat in the playoffs to Derby County, the Frank Lampard-led team wrecked the visitors' locker room and took a dump on the floor. Today they had to form a guard of honor at their own park to welcome the f***ing champions.
What We Know So Far: *In McTaggart's 2020 Season FAQ, we find...
-Spring Summer Training will take place at Minute Maid Park, with players reporting by July 1. Fans won't be in the stands.
-The season will start on July 23 or July 24. The schedule has not yet been set.
-It's a 60-game schedule, with 40 divisional games and 20 games against the NL West in inter-league play.
-The Astros will open with a 30-Man Roster, and reduce it by two every two weeks for the first month of the season.
New Rules:
-Universal DH
-Extra innings begin with a runner on 2nd.
-If a player/manager comes out to shout at Joe West or Angel Hernandez or Ron Kulpa and gets within six feet, he's immediately ejected and could be fined/suspended.
-Pitchers can have a wet rag consisting only of water in their back pocket.
Is it weird? Yeah. Is it crazy? Sure. But let's just enjoy it for what it is, and let's hope that every player and coach and staff member stays healthy (and all of their families, as well) so they can entertain us in a crisis. Let's not get bogged down with the rule changes and the weirdness - we can complain about Crooked-Ass Manfred and umpires and greedy billionaires, for sure - but let's chill out.
*Dusty Baker is pumped, but worried: I've been staying in contact with the players. Most I've talked to seem excited. Some didn't want to be too excited, because they didn't want to be let down if there wasn't a season. The guys are ready. They've got a great attitude. We want to go back to where we belong.
*Two possibilities for the "Taxi Squad:" Sugar Land's Constellation Field and the University of Houston.
Keep in mind that George Springer, Josh Reddick, Michael Brantley, and Brad Peacock are free agents after this season. Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers, Joe Smith, Roberto Osuna, Martin Maldonado, and Chris Devenski are free agents after the 2021 season.
*Richard Justice: 20 reasons to be excited about the 2020 season.
*Chandler Rome: Meet Cody Orr, the Astros' "most fascinating free agent signing." Orr runs a 6.43 60, can play five positions, and pitches out of two different arm slots.
*Jake Kaplan: What if the Astros had re-signed Charlie Morton? I'll help: Houston doesn't have to trade a bunch of dudes for Zack Greinke. Before the pro-rated salary thing became A Thing, the Rays were on the hook for $15 million in 2020 with a vesting $15m option for 2021. The Astros are on the hook for $50m (again, pre-pro-rated salary stuff in 2020) for Greinke in 2020-2021.
*Beyond the Box Score's Sheryl Ring says the Yankees might be in sign-stealing trouble, noting that Mark Teixeira said the Yankees would use a replay monitor to signal signs to a runner on 2nd, who would then notify the hitter. Ring: The Astros' use of video rooms was considered to be an unacceptable rules violation, and the Yankees were doing something similar. The big difference here is the contemporaneous use of a trash can to signal pitches to hitters, and whilst that's a significant difference, both teams were using video monitors in order to learn and decode opposing signs. Assuming Teixeira is being entirely honest, this doesn't launch the Yankees into an upper echelon of cheaters, but it also doesn't absolve them from any wrongdoing.
*Speaking of, Brian McTaggart has the Astros' Top Five international signings.
*Chandler Rome: How James Click is using this [waves hands] break to get to know the organization.
Willie Mays is 89 today. On his 37th birthday in 1968, Judge Roy Hofheinz gave him a 569-pound cake at the Astrodome -- one pound for each of Mays' home runs. pic.twitter.com/qLbVZYO1TX
The Astros won 3-2 on a walkoff homer by Chas McCormick, despite outhitting the Mets 9-4, and drawing four walks.
-Lance McCullers threw 2IP, 2H/2ER, 2K:0BB.
-The Astros went 1x13 w/RISP.
-Carlos Correa was 2x3 with a double
-Alex Bregman was 1x3 with a walk
-George Springer was 1x3 with a walk and a stolen base
*17 of McCullers' 29 pitches went for strikes as he worked on his four-seam fastball location. LMJ: The one thing I was working on today wasn't great, but all the other stuff I typically throw was excellent today. I've just got to keep on.
*The Astros made their first round of cuts today, sending seven pitchers to minor-league camp:
Cristian Javier, Kent Emanuel, Cionel Perez, Dean Deetz, Riley Ferrell, Brendan McCurry, and Ryan Hartman.
Dusty, on Cristian Javier: Javier is a big-time talent. All the years I've been managing, this is probably the worst time of year for me because you're bursting bubbles out of people that are close to achieving their lifetime goal....You can't really tell them, 'You'd be the first call-up.' You don't want to lie to them or give them false hope. You want them to go down and work and don't get the big league-itis when you go down because you don't know how close you are to coming back.
James Click, on Yordan Alvarez, who has been out since Tuesday: This is something that he has dealt with before, and we're going to get a plan in place and we have every expectation he's going to be out there and going to be fine.
Also, Brandon Bailey (selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft last December) was returned to the Astros.
*Myles Straw is planning on being an integral part of the Astros' season. Dusty, on Straw: He's like three players in one. He can run, he can play different positions, and he's becoming better as a hitter. He's very valuable.
*Taylor Jones is making a big impression (get it, because he's 6'7") with the Astros. Jones: Being on the 40-Man Roster, you know that you're getting close and you know they've got a plan for you and all that, so it's reassuring coming into camp. Once we got here and got rolling here, it's a good environment with Dusty being around. He provides a good players' environment where you feel comfortable.
*SI released their Fantasy SP Rankings. Click the link for the write-ups.
2. Justin Verlander
19. Zack Greinke
47. Lance McCullers
55. Jose Urquidy
64. Josh James
118. Brad Peacock
*Former Astros Great Collin McHugh was introduced in Boston yesterday. On the Sign-Stealing Scandal: You've got to be willing to stick up for what you believe in and what you believe is right and what you believe is wrong. And I think a lot of the guys on that team, including myself, are looking back and wishing we had been as brave in the moment as we thought we were beforehand.
*Jayson Stark: Managers are starting to put together strategy for the three-batter minimum rule.
*MLB's rule changes are only creating confusion for players. Click this link for more info regarding the former Angels' visiting clubhouse attendant who gave his signature pine-tar/rosin mix to pitchers.
*In a wide-ranging Get Off My Lawn interview, Goose Gossage hates baseball and said Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were the best at stealing signs.
*Kris Bryant knows that, even as a rookie, he would have stepped up and stopped one of the elder statesmen of the game and his bench coach from stealing signs like the Astros did. What a hero.
Spring Break Eve lllllleeettttttssss ggggggooooo. The Astros got a dominant pitching performance and a dominant Kyle Tucker outbreak to beat the Red Sox, who - any day now, I'm sure, will receive their own cheating punishment which will undoubtedy lead to a level of reactionary vitriol inly surpassed by the 2017 Houston Astros, 5-0.
-Josh James threw 3IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB. Faced the minimum and hit 98mph.
-Framber Valdez threw 2IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB
-Bryan Abreu threw 2IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:0BB
-Kyle Tucker was 3x3 with 2RBI on a double and a home run.
Springer, Altuve, Correa, and Bregman did not make the trip to Fort Myers. Was that part of Dusty's plan? Hell no. That was the furthest thing from my mind.
Dusty, on Josh Big Flames James: I'm telling you, he's focused. He wants to take a job. We're giving him every opportunity. He's looking good, he's looking real good.
In that link, we also find that:
-2019 2nd Round pick Grae Kessinger is ready to go for his first full year.
-Yordan's knees are officially a Dusty Concern
-Brad Peacock threw 15 pitches off a mound
-The Astros are thinking about Coronavirus.
*McTaggart has a Q&A with GM James Click. Click: The focus has been, obviously, on some stuff off the field, but it's the crack of the bat, it's the pop of the glove. It's spring. It's baseball. I hope that once we get to Opening Day or even before that, [we] start focusing on the field and remember the rebirth that comes every year with baseball and get excited about this team that is going to compete for a championship.
*Former Astros Great Collin McHugh signed a 1yr/$600K deal that could reach $3.625m with incentives with the Red Sox. He's recovering from a flexor strain and hasn't started throwing yet. McHugh is expected to be ready to go around June. That would have been such a low-risk move by the Astros, but I guess you have to keep an eye on what tier over the CBA you'll be. That said, if you can't find $600,000 for a guy that has done literally whatever you asked for the last three seasons
*2017 4th Round pick Peter Solomon just missed the Astros' Top 30 Prospects list. Solomon threw 7.2IP in 2019 before blowing out his elbow and needing Tommy John. He's probably done until the end of 2020, but has struck out 128 (and walked 36) batters in 109.1IP.
*Joe Torre doesn't think opposing pitchers will intentionally target Astros hitters. Torre: I have more trust in baseball than that...Getting angry or trying to get even, to me, it doesn't get you anywhere. You're on the field to try to win ballgames and get to the postseason, and I certainly expect that teams will be more concerned about winning games than trying to get a pound of flesh.
I think that's true. But what if the game is well out of reach (for either team)? Bregman is up to bat with the Astros ahead/behind by nine runs?
Sorry for the no Hot Links yesterday, sort of. I did a Simulated Hot Links instead. It went well, felt good. The Astros lost 2-1 to the Fightin' Tebows. Framber threw 2.2IP, 2H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Both Mets runs came in the 9th off of Ralph Garza. Taylor Jones was 2x2 with a triple. Springer had a hit. Myles Straw was 0x3 but with two walks. Kyle Tucker has started Spring Training 2020 with an 0x12, 1K:1BB line.
*Lance McCullers makes his 2020 debut today. It has been 502 days since he last appeared in an Astros game. Dusty: The main thing is we've got to calm him down. He'll probably be begging or lobby for more than one [inning].
Dusty knows. Also in that link, we find that Dusty told Framber to channel Fernando Valenzuela when he gets into a jam. It's crazy to think that Dusty Baker and Fernando Valenzuela were teammates. I love A.J. Hinch, but I love Dusty Baker, too.
*Substitute Teacher Cy Sneed is a key for the Astros. Sneed, on Houston: I tell everybody it's a heck of a lot better than sitting in Triple-A all year. We got to know the road between Houston and Round Rock pretty well.
*Brian McTaggart has an inbox. Tags has no chill. Peep his opener: The Astros aren't sad. They're not getting hit by pitches on purpose in Spring Training. And I have no idea when, or if, they are going to extend George Springer.
Read it to find out about Bryan Abreu's role, Myles Straw, Garrett Stubbs, Josh James, and Lance McCullers.
*Collin McHugh has been cleared to throw, and the Astros need to sign him ASAP. There is no reason not to, and the Astros are stupid if they don't. There are plenty of teams with pitching questions, and the Astros are one of them, and it makes zero sense to let one of the smartest pitchers in baseball answer those questions for a different team.
Sign-Stealing Stuff *The NY Post quoted Karl Ravech, regarding a meeting between Former Yankees Managerial Great Joe Torre and the 2018 Astros and Red Sox, prior to the ALCS: Torre basically said to the teams, both of them and those people and anyone else in the room, look, if you're inclined or have gotten away with or are doing anything that would violate the rules that you all are aware of of, you're gonna have to understand at some point, there's going to be a player, or players or a front office person that's going to leave your team, go to another team and basically rat you guys out. Basically tell the dirty secrets.
*Chandler Rome: Dusty Baker's mission is to guide the Astros through this freaking mess. Dusty: Hopefully one time through, maybe it will be over. How long can people talk about the same things? Behind this whole thing, you kind of see a mean spirit a little bit. I'm hoping we all change our spirit. GUESS WHAT. THEY WON'T.
This society feeds off of hate now. Don't get me wrong, the Astros deserve some to a lot of whatever is coming, but the self-righteous indignation is going to get old. I actually kind of can't wait for it.
Dusty: I was booed in (LA) every day my first year there. I was booed in Chicago my last couple months there. That was tough. But, hey, I survived it. I'm still here. There's some people in Chicago, when I go back there and talk to people, now they're all like, 'Oh, we love you,' and I'm like, 'Wait, not all of you.'
*Tom Verducci: Baseball's fight to regain its soul.
Scout in spring: “I can’t imagine the 1st game Astros play in NY. You r literally going to have to bring in Riot Teams, SWAT, etc. It is bad w/2K fans and 3/4 are 90+ years. Continuous booing, cheaters, every pitch something. No idea how these guys can block it out during season”
This is porn, to Jon Heyman. Also, the "1st game Astros play in NY" in 2020 is September 21. Yankees fans can't keep up the bodega cocaine habit until September 21.
Other Stuff *No, MLB players can'tinject have pot. *19-year old goalkeeper Illan Messier led Leeds United to a 4-0 win over Hull City after the regular GK Kiko Casilla was banned for eight games for being a racist piece of crap. Leeds have a 5-point lead on Fulham for the 2nd automatic promotion spot, and FiveThirtyEight has Leeds at a 64% chance of winning the Championship and a 96% chance of getting promoted to the Premier League.
I have a theory about Gerrit Cole and the reaction to Gerrit Cole's post-game [waves hands] thing. Gerrit Cole has known this offseason was coming from the moment he was called up. Cole was drafted by the Yankees - his favorite team growing up - with the 28th overall pick in the 2008 draft and elected instead to go to UCLA. Cole: We did a ton of thinking - just an absurd amount of thinking about this. My dad has a Ph.D., and he's a real visual kind of guy, so he made charts, and we went over financial figures, comparing people who are drafted in the first round and have somewhat of a baseball career with others who graduated college and the average gross of what they make in baseball and afterward.
So when the Pirates drafted Cole with the 1st Overall pick of the 2011 draft, it paid off to the tune of an $8 million signing bonus. He has known he would be a free agent this offseason since he debuted on June 11, 2013. One playoff appearance with the Pirates and a trade to Houston later, Cole knew he had two chances to win the World Series: 2018 and 2019, because he doesn't know which team he'll play for next year (or, probably, the 6-7 years after). These were his two shots on a team built to win the World Series. He was loose in Game 7 and the call never came.
20 minutes after that loss Cole, who knew that perhaps his best shot had just come and gone and whose entire career was building to this offseason, didn't want to talk. He just watched the Astros lose Game 7 with him, the best pitcher in the game, sitting and watching. How do you talk about that? He didn't want to, so he popped off. Gerrit Cole is a thoughtful, articulate person and made some comments he admittedly later regretted.
The fans, though, pounced. Horse Guy weighed in and made us all look bad - as if we (Astros fans) needed help being embarrassed over the years. Which leads me to my theory:
Fans who were frustrated with losing the World Series, however it shook out, saw Gerrit Cole as an easy target: Boras guy whom pretty much everyone thinks is leaving, wearing a Boras hat (non-issue for me), not wanting to talk and being Obstinate. Flippant, even.
It's way easier to lash out at Cole and not, say:
Alex Bregman: .207/.258/.517 in the World Series, .191/.333/.404 after the ALDS.
Jose Altuve: Three extra-base hits in the World Series
Carlos Correa: .222/.300/.407 in the World Series, .191/.257/.382 with 27K:6BB in the 2019 postseason.
Or the team completely failing to get the Big Hit in Games 1-2 and 6-7.
The Astros were 2-4 this postseason when Justin Verlander started.
Going after Gerrit Cole and taking frustration out on him is way easier than saying that Alex Bregman had a pretty terrible couple of weeks, because that's not something that is easy to say.
*Craig Edwards: Why Gerrit Cole never came into Game 7.
Jake Kaplan had a really good one-on-one with A.J. Hinch about Game 7, asking a lot of tough questions. Hinch: I don't regret our process. I don't regret our plan. I don't regret trusting the guys that we trusted. I regret the results. And that's hard to explain.
*FanGraphs: The 2019 Astros joined a list of great failures. Well this is not a fun list, a full and complete list of MLB teams who won 107+ games in the regular season and did not win the World Series:
The article doesn't get better after that. Don't read it if you don't want to.
*Jeff Luhnow: When you reach 107 wins during the regular season and go to 117 cumulative, you can't look back and be dissatisfied with that result. We'll take that result but obviously it fell short of what we ultimately wanted and what we said we wanted from the beginning, which is multiple championships. We're not quite there.
Collin McHugh has pitched 800.2IP in the Majors. It breaks down as such:
Colorado: 19IP, 33H/21ER, 8K:2BB, 9.95 ERA / 1.84 WHIP
New York: 28.1IP, 39H/26ER, 20K:11BB, 8.26 ERA / 1.77 WHIP
Houston: 753.1IP, 699H/304ER, 743K:219BB, 3.63 ERA / 1.22 WHIP
Collin McHugh has been a starter and a reliever for the Astros. He has done whatever they asked. McHugh won 19 games in 2015, 20 if you count the 2015 postseason, is a World Series Champion, he started in the postseason, he relieved in the postseason. In the 2018 postseason, McHugh: 4IP, 1H/0ER, 5K:0BB. Collin McHugh did whatever the Astros wanted him to do. I don't know what's in store for Collin McHugh, but I'd be 100% okay with re-signing him. I wish him and his family the best if they don't.
The Astros won again, and are one win away from hitting 100 for the third year in a row. That'll do.
Justin Verlander finally got some OK run support in the 4-1 win over Texas, thanks to three big home runs. JV is now one win away from hitting 20. Oh, and this happened.
Other notes from tonight:
Correa may have gone 0-4 in his return, but he "feels healthy"
Alex Bregman talked about wanting wins more than any personal accolades:
"The reason we all live to play the game of baseball is to win...We don't show up to Spring Training to try to put up numbers, we show up to try and win a World Series."
Verlander claimed "Correa has one of the best arms he's ever seen"
The injury updates for, Pressly, Peacock, and McHugh have released as October approaches. 2/3 isn't bad.
Gerrit Cole is making the Astros look scary good for the postseason.
The Astros got Framboozled and then couldn't take advantage of numerous opportunities, which adds up to a 6-4 loss at Toronto. Houston is 88-49 with a nine-game lead on Oakland, who lost to New York in 11 innings. The Dodgers lost again to Arizona. There are 25 regular season games remaining.
New York: 89-48
Houston: -1
Los Angeles: -1.5
*Framber Valdez threw 5.2IP, 9H/6ER, 5K:3BB, five days after a 6IP, 2H/1ER, 8K:5BB effort. It just wasn't good enough, but consistency out of the SP5 spot has been an issue this season (probably for everybody, I just pay more attention to the Astros). Hinch: There was a little bit of everything. There were parts where he was really good and then parts where there was an ill-advised walk to Biggio that set up an inning. There were homers to Teoscar Hernandez and Biggio, so we saw a little bit of everything from him...We extended him, just because of the way the 'pen was going into today, and just when you think he's out of it, he gives up a hit at the end and they tack on a run after that. So all in all, a mixed outing for him, but he did his piece, showed us flashes of some really good pitching and then some mistakes here or there.
Eight of the nine hits he allowed were with two outs. All six runs scored with two outs.
*Joe Smith allowed yet another inherited runner to score, and Cy Sneed needed just 10 pitches to retire the side in the 8th.
*The offense was...not clicking. Houston went 1x8 w/RISP, including a weird AB where Yordan just watched a fastball that was piped down the middle to strike out with the bases loaded. Houston left eight men on base, GIDP'ing to end the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. Hinch: We drew a lot of walks - more walks than hits - and if you include the hit by pitch, it's a lot of free baserunners to not be able to hit a ball in the gap or just find a hole or do something to put the pressure on them after they had a hard time with the strike zone.
*Houston was held to six hits total, only one of those for extra bases - Yuli Gurriel's 38th double of the season. It was their first game without a home run since August 19, and their first game with just one XBH since the 2nd game of the doubleheader with the White Sox on August 13.
*The Astros drew nine walks and lost. On August 29 the Astros drew ten walks and lost. Here's a weird stat I'm not even going to pretend to understand: The Astros are 2-5 in games in which they draw 9+ walks.
*Toronto pitcher Clay Buchholz threw 5.2IP, 3H/2ER, 5K:3BB and got his first win of the season, and his first since August 22, 2018. It was that kind of day. Bregman: It's just one game. It's not a big deal. We'll be back at it tomorrow. Back at it, swinging well.
*Alex Bregman was 0x1 with a sac fly and three walks, one of those with the bases loaded. It's the third time this season - and 4th in his career - that Bregman has walked three times in a game. The Astros are 0-3 in 2019 when Bregman does that. Bregman did strike out once, giving him one strikeout in three straight games for the first time since June 16-21.
*Ken Giles struck out the side on 12 pitches in the top of the 9th.
*Bad news for a bullpen, which is getting Bad Newsier as the days go by: Collin McHugh was placed on the 10-Day IL with elbow soreness. McHugh: It's been bothering me for the last little while, and I was able to pitch through it. It's August. Every year, it's tough for all the pitchers. Everybody's going to get little nicks and knacks...It's frustrating, but at the same time, we've got a lot of road ahead of us and I want to be a part of it.
So that's McHugh, Pressly, Peacock, Sanchez, and Josh James on the IL, though Josh James is expected to be activated today. Pressly played catch yesterday.
*MINOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS START WEDNESDAY:
Round Rock will play Iowa, Fayetteville will play Down East (the Ramgers' affiliate) and Quad Cities will take on Cedar Rapids.
It's the 2nd anniversary of the Verlander trade. The Astros overcame Thorntonitis and beat their former farmhand and the Blue Jays, 7-4. Houston is 88-48. Houston is 31-15 since the All-Star Break, with their .674 win% in the second half beating their 1st Half win% of .633. There are 26 regular season games left. Since the Astros' five-game losing streak (August 13-17), they're 10-2. Houston is 19-8 in August.
Oakland beat New York, and Los Angeles lost to Arizona again, which means that the Astros have moved into a share of the overall best record in MLB:
Houston (88-48): -
New York (88-48): -
Los Angeles (88-49): -0.5
Oakland (78-56): -9
The Astros have the 14th-hardest remaining schedule according to opponent win%, with an opponent win% of .474. The Yankees have the 13th-hardest, at .484. The Dodgers come in at 15th, with a .478 opponent win%. The Yankees are 12-10 vs the AL West in 2019.
*Jayson Stark notes that the Astros could be the first team to lead the league in pitching strikeouts and have the fewest batting strikeouts.
*Former Astros Great and inaugural member of the Astros Butthurt Hall of Fame Trent Thornton held the Astros to two hits and five strikeouts through the first four innings, and then took the loss after allowing a Springer 3-run home run.
Trent Thornton vs Houston, 2019: 11.2IP, 12H/3ER, 13K:3BB. 2.31 ERA / 1.29 WHIP
Thornton vs Everybody Else, '19: 118IP, 131H/74R, 110K:49BB. 5.64 ERA / 1.53 WHIP
*First four in the lineup (Springer-Altuve-Brantley-Bregman): 8x19, 4K:1BB, 4RBI. It's the 14th 4RBI game of Springer's career, and he last did it on May 12 against the Ramgers. Springer's home run was hit 112.6mph, 463 feet, and he didn't feel a thing. Springer, on his 3-run homer: It's kind of one of the purest things, I think, in this game. I just kind of heard it and I saw the flight of the ball and just put my head down.
Hinch, on Springer's bomb: It broke the game open. We really were still fortunate to still be within one run and being able to build that inning...George can hit some pretty long homers, he can hit some timely homers, and that was a perfect one....When we arrive in a ballpark and you're sending George Springer up as the first hitter, it's pretty intimidating. He knows what he's doing, he knows how to jump-start a team, he knows how to provide a lot of energy, a little bit of life in the dugout. He's the perfect table setter.
*Michael Brantley got his 53rd multi-hit game of the season, one behind [shuffles papers] DJ LeMahieu for the league lead. "DJ LeMahieu" is French for "DJ The Mahieu."
*Wade Miley couldn't find the strike zone, allowing 5BB in 3.2IP. It was his 2nd-shortest outing of the season, one out better than his August 14 start. It's the second time this season he has walked five batters in a start (August 2). He had walked four batters total in the four starts since that game. Hinch: Very rare for him to have (those) kind of command issues. When they rolled the lineup over a third time, it was time to take him out.
*Joe Biagini did the good work, throwing 2IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:0BB against his former team. Biagini, on Toronto and Houston: I'm excited about it because I know the system they have here is really good. But I was pretty happy with the system in Toronto as well. It's a different philosophy, and I see the merits of this and I see the success they've had with it. There's no denying that. I'm buying in and I'm making these adjustments and I'm trying to kind of assimilate into that way of throwing.
*Rondon, Devenski, and Harris each allowed a solo home run. McHugh was taken out after just 0.1IP and 14 pitches, because Hinch said it didn't look like he had much life on his pitches. In that link, Chandler Rome noted a dip in velocity for McHugh. Not ideal.
*As Hurricane Dorian bears down on Florida, the Astros will clear out their Spring Training facility in West Palm Beach. The Rays could be looking at moving their games against Baltimore, and Houston is a logical fit. Time to repay the favor from Harvey. Charlie Morton pitches for Tampa tomorrow, so it would be a good crowd on hand.
*In honor of the 2nd Anniversary of Verlander Day, let's check the receipts:
Verlander: 37-14, 2.48 ERA / 0.84 WHIP, 576K:76BB, Cy Young Runner-Up in 2018, World Series Champion.
Daz Cameron: .217/.332/.385 at Triple-A in 2019.
Franklin Perez: Injuries have held him to 30.2IP since the trade.
Jake Rogers: .118/.230/.289 in 23 games for Detroit in 2019.
*The Atlantic: Meritocracy is killing American high school sports.
This was a cursed game. The Astros lead 2-0, were down 4-2, tied 4-4, down 6-4, down 7-4, down 7-5, down 8-5, down 8-7, down 9-7, tied 9-9, and finally lost 13-9 on a James McCann grand slam off Ryan Pressly with two strikes and two outs. Freaking stupid. The Astros are 78-43. The lead is 9.5 games on Oakland, who is one game worse than the Astros in their last ten games.
*The Astros lost back-to-back games for the first time since July 15/16 at Anaheim. They've lost three of their last four games, but are 19-6 since that July 16 game.
*The Astros needed Miley after abruptly throwing a bullpen game last night, and he responded with 3.1IP, 9H/7R (3ER), 1K:1BB. But Wade Miley only allowed 3ER! you may say. And that's true. But he committed an error that led to three of the four earned runs. It was a bad day to have a bad day. The bullpen has thrown 15.2 of the last 25 innings.
Miley has been good all year, do not think I'm slandering him. It was his shortest outing in a start since September 29, 2018. Miley's seven runs allowed last night equal the number of runs he had allowed in his previous five starts combined (30IP). The nine hits allowed are a season-high, eclipsing the 8H he allowed in his season debut on March 31. Miley on his Scoop-And-Let-The-Other-Team-Score: That was stupid. It was the second inning of a baseball game. With our offense, just take the out and move on, tie the game up.
*Collin McHugh threw 2.1IP, 1H/1ER, 3K:1BB, pitching on back-to-back days for the first time since July 14/15. This season, in the second game of a back-to-back: 8.0IP, 7H/4R (3ER), 6K:2BB.
*Will Harris gave up his first run since July 26. The Astros are 4-3 when Harris gives up a run.
*Ryan Pressly gave up the dagger grand slam to James McCann. It's the 6th home run Pressly has allowed this season. It's the first grand slam he has given up in his career. It's the 7th home run he has allowed as an Astro, and the first five were solo home runs. The last two he has allowed have brought in seven runs. Pressly: I left the pitch in the middle of the plate and he capitalized on a mistake. Tip your hat to him.
Hinch: We were pretty sloppy today early in the game and made some bad decisions on defense. We just couldn't keep them from scoring. They scored [in?] six of their eight at-bats. They put runs on the board. They did a really good job of continuing to attack us offensively, but the big swing with the bases loaded...
It's McCann's first home run with a runner on base since June 28.
Former Astros County Great Not Hank Aaron:
James McCann on an 0-2 count this season prior to that at bat.
Again, a bad day to have a bad day. McCann: We very easily could have folded and given into them with the talent they have over there, we kept fighting and kept pushing and never gave in. I was just trying to get something up and elevated. I hit it pretty good and was thankful that it went.
*The Astros committed three errors. Eat at Arby's. Hinch: At the end of the day, we got outplayed on both sides of the ball. They were swinging the bats pretty well. They didn't miss a mistake. All in all, not a great day.
*It's a shame, because the offense did everything they could do to win the game. It's the 29th time this season Houston has scored 9+ runs. They're now 27-2 in those games.
It's the 8th time they've collected 15+ hits. They're now 7-1 in those games. The last time the Astros got 15 hits in a game and lost was July 19, 2013 in a 10-7 loss to Seattle.
The Astros hit three home runs. They're now 26-4 in those games.
It's the 19th time the Astros have gotten 7+ extra-base hits. They're now 17-2 in those games.
*Michael Brantley was 4x5 with two doubles. It's his 3rd 4-hit game of the season, the 15th 4-hit game of his career.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with a two-run homer and three runs scored. Altuve is hitting .354/.397/.626 since returning from the IL.
*Yuli Gurriel hit two more home runs, so that's:
June 11, 2019 - August 14, 2019: 21 home runs
September 23, 2017 - June 10, 2019: 21 home runs (postseasons included)
It's the 4th 2HR game of his career. You have to go all the way back to August 6 to find the last one.
*Yordan Alvarez was intentionally walked for the 3rd time this season, tying Michael Brantley for the team lead. Springer/Altuve/Correa/Bregman intentional walks, 2019 combined: 2.
*8-9-1 in the lineup (Chirinos/Diaz/Maldonado - Marisnick - Springer) went a combined 3x16 with 6K:0BB.
*The one good piece of news of the day: Gerrit Cole and the Astros seem to have dodged a bullet. Cole: It's not super-serious, so we'll just take it day by day right now and kind of see how it responds to some treatment and some rest and get back out there as soon as we can.
*It's a common refrain among baseball writers whenever the ineptitude of a particular team is on display as they commit fully into rebuilding their organization: let's just do Relegation, like in soccer!
*Remember the Taco Truck Throwdown in Fresno? Well...a guy died doing the taco eating challenge on Tuesday night.
The Astros shook the baseball world yesterday with their acquisitions of Zack Greinke, Joe Biagini, Aaron Sanchez, and Martin Maldonado. More so with the first name, less so with the last three. Still, the Astros apparently played a baseball game. Like, the Indians didn't just forfeit. I don't get it, either. We'll see if they come out to play today. Houston is 69-40, eight games up on Oakland with 53 regular season games to play.
Houston vs. Cleveland Yeah, so the Astros lost. They had a 1-run lead twice (1-0, 4-3) and just couldn't hold on. Cleveland scored seven unanswered runs and hit three three-run home runs off of Jose Urquidy and Collin McHugh. Hinch: Our whole team just struggled with the three-run homer. They hit three of them, and then they added a fourth. Urquidy lived and ultimately caved on the edge a little bit. They won the big swings. It looked at times like he was working around the strike zone, and then it looked like he got in the strike zone and they hit a couple of pitches.
*Urquidy: 4IP, 8H/6ER, 1K:1BB, 2HR. Urquidy only got the Indians to swing and miss five times in 86 pitches thrown. Zack Greinke also pitched yesterday and held the Yankees to 2H/2ER, 7K:3BB in 5IP. I bet Greinke makes the start Urquidy would make next week.
*McHugh: 1IP, 3H/4ER, 2K:1BB, 2HR. Baseball-Reference now has McHugh at a -0.3 bWAR (they may have had him under 0.0 before, I just didn't notice it).
McHugh is simply getting hammered with home runs. He has allowed 12 HR in 60IP in 2019, after allowing 13 HR total in 135.2IP in 2017-2018.
*Francona: There aren't a whole lot of nights you get three three-run homers, especially against Houston...When we beat Houston, we've played a really good game because they're a really good team.
*Devenski-Sneed-Abreu: 3IP, 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB. Bryan Abreu made his major league debut and retired the side on 17 pitches. Shoutout to Bryan Abreu.
*Carlos Correa was 2x4 with a double and a solo home run that opened the scoring for the Astros. Three of his four hits since returning from the IL have been for extra-bases. It's his second two-hit game since coming back
*Jose Altuve was 1x3 with 2BB. In his last 16 games (74 PAs), he has gotten on base 37 times, hitting .448/.500/.761.
*Yuli Gurriel extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a three-run double. In those 18 games he's hitting .411/.434/.740.
On June 8 Gurriel was hitting .252/.283/.382.
In the 41 games since: .365/.402/.725.
*Alex Bregman was 1x3 with a walk. Bregman, July: .233/.402/.452 on a .232 BABIP, 15K:21BB. Unlucky.
Other Astros News *Ryan Pressly was placed on the 10-Day IL nearly two weeks after getting smoked on the knee by a line drive and obviously not looking right his last couple of times out. Hinch: I didn't want him showing up to the ballpark every day not knowing [if he could play]. Throwing in the afternoon and waiting to see if he was feeling good for the game wasn't fair to him or to the team. I talked to him after his throwing session and he just didn't feel right. We all decided it was the best for him.
Trade Reaction
*Notable: the Greinke trade was submitted to the League Office "a couple of seconds" before the deadline. *Gerrit Cole, on the acquisition of Zack Greinke: There was some hooting and hollering. It was like 4:08, I think, is when it broke and AJ came in with a big-ass grin. We were very excited. Hinch: Incredible day for the organization and our team. The energy in our room after a thing like that happens is palpable. You know that what you have in front of you is one of the greatest opportunities to keep the winning ways alive.
Luhnow: Zack Greinke was at the very top of our list in terms of players that we thought could impact our chances to win the World Series this year and could really fit in well on this club for the next couple of years while we still have our entire offensive unit together. McTaggart notes that the Astros now have four starting pitchers with an ERA+ of 140 or higher for the first time since the 1907 Cubs.
More Luhnow, on the return package for Greinke: We gave up four legitimate prospects that we were very excited about. To get a future Hall of Famer like Zack Greinke on our team for the next 2 1/2 years, we had to give up a lot of value, and it was painful. That's why it took so long. We were really resisting giving up all four of those guys and tried different permutations and different replacements, but at the end of the day, that's the deal they insisted on and that's the only deal that was going to get done. We ended up conceding at the last moment. Cole, on Greinke: As a pitcher, I've watched him and tried to learn from him every opportunity I can. I think he's a Hall of Famer and I think he's one of the best pitchers of our generation. Just really a true craftsman in the sense of always evolving, always being forward-thinking. His preparation is off the charts. Durability. Competitiveness. What a pickup. They nailed it.
With Zack Greinke, the @astros now have 3 of the top 5 MLB leaders in WHIP (Verlander 1st, Greinke 2nd, Cole 5th).
The last time a team finished with 3 of the top 5 leaders in WHIP in a season was the 1925 Reds (Dolf Luque, Pete Donohue, Eppa Rixey).#TakeItBack
*Luhnow, on the acquisition of Biagini and Sanchez: We've been interested in Sanchez for a long time and interested in Biagini for a long time. Well that's not a great quote. On Sanchez: Ideally, he's a starter for us next year. Whether or not he's more impactful this year in the rotation or in the bullpen remains to be seen. I'm going to get [Strom] and A.J. to figure that out. His last outing was dominant, and if he does that, it's going to be hard to keep him out of the rotation.
On July 28 against Tampa, Sanchez threw 5.2IP, 6H/4ER, 10K:0BB, putting together a two-start stretch in which he totaled 10.2IP, 11H/5ER, 16K:0BB.
The ugliness of Sanchez's season totals really stems from a few bad starts in June. Let's check the splits, by calendar month (because that makes sense):
Mar/Apr: 31IP, 21H/8ER, 27K:20BB, 2.32 ERA / 1.32 WHIP
May: 29IP, 37H/17ER, 29K:13BB, 5.28 ERA / 1.72 WHIP
June: 27IP, 44H/36ER, 16K:19BB, 12.00 ERA / 2.33 WHIP
July: 25.2IP, 29H/15ER, 27K:7BB, 5.26 ERA / 1.40 WHIP
Luhnow, on Biagini: Quite frankly, we love Biagini. We think he's got a chance to get some important outs for us the rest of the season. Stassi, on getting traded: It's been a whirlwind of emotions. I've spent...some time to reflect on being a part of this organization for so long. These guys, they've been brothers to me since day one. I've been with George since 2013, Bregman ever since he got drafted, Altuve since 2013. I've known these guys for years, and...I'll never forget my time here. Kemp, on getting traded to the Cubs: Leaving that group behind was emotional because of how genuine everyone in that clubhouse was day in and day out. From the parking garage staff, clubhouse staff, to the community relations team, and to the coaches and teammates, each person brought their best attitude each day, and that's why the Astros are one of the best organizations in baseball.
*ESPN's David Schoenfield: When so many front offices are afraid of making a mistake and dealing a prospect who then becomes a star, Jeff Luhnow continues to outmaneuver his peers...The Yankees are good, but the Astros won the day. And just as Verlander beat them twice in the 2017 ALCS, you wonder if Greinke will haunt the Yankees this October.
*FanGraphs' Dan Szymborski does a deep dive into how Greinke has adjusted as he moves into the later stages of his career. Szymborski: Houston doesn't get Greinke cheaply, but this is exactly the sort of trade the Astros needed to make, and the kind of take-no-prisoners aggressiveness the organization has shown when they really want a player. The cost isn't prohibitive; the Astros brought in a star pitcher without giving up a single player who was obviously a top 100 prospect...In a league in which money and prospects are meekly handed out when a team has an opportunity to strike a critical blow, Houston keeps demonstrating why they're one of the best, most focused organizations in baseball today.
*Chandler Rome: The Greinke trade feels like the Verlander trade.
*Jake Kaplan: Ten thoughts on the Astros' Trade Deadline.
*Brian T. Smith: The Astros now feel like World Series favorites.
*Tom Verducci: The Astros just lapped the Dodgers and Yankees. Verducci: By getting pitcher Zack Greinke - the best among more than 70 players who changed teams - Houston declared itself the most nimble, fearless team in baseball...Houston emphatically made itself the favorites to win the World Series, and it did so by acting boldly. In a game gone mad over prospects and relief pitchers, the Astros just traded for one of the best starting pitchers in the game for a third consecutive year.
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.
