Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros were off last night, so I hope you got to hug your family and read for pleasure. Welcome to Astros Countb.

*Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the Six-Pitcher No-Hitter at Yankee Stadium. Read Sweeny Murti's oral history of the game in The Athletic. Stay for this exchange:

Jeff Kent: Wow you guys get excited about beating the Yankees.
Billy Wagner: You dumbass, we just threw a no-hitter.

*Jake Kaplan writes that Hector Rondon has earned the opportunity to be the Astros' closer. And because I'm stupid, and was stupid busy yesterday (out of town for the week again), I didn't see this article and sent a statistical look at how Rondon has recaptured his form over to The Athletic late last night. You might read it. If they're all Rondon-ed out, I'll put it here.

*The Mariners beat the Angels.

*Joe Musgrove had thrown 6IP, 4H/0ER, 6K:0BB. The Pirates had a 5-0 lead over Arizona. Then Musgrove opened the 7th by hitting Micah Chris Owings (to me, the Diamondbacks will always have Micah Owings on the team, like Bobby Bonilla for the Mets) in retaliation for Josh Harrison getting plunked a half-inning earlier. A wild pitch and throwing error later and Musgrove was out. Then the wheels fell off.

*With a double in the 4th inning, Randy Cesar extended his hitting streak to 33 games in a 6-4 Corpus win over San Antonio. Alex de Goti hit two more home runs (his 2nd 2HR game in his last four) while Taylor Jones and Myles Straw also went deep. Riley Ferrell threw 2.1IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:0BB for the save.

*Ronnie Dawson, Abraham Toro, Brandon Bielak, and Brett Adcock were selected to the Carolina League All-Star Team.

*Cool story in the Corpus paper about the Cuban contingent in Corpus.

*3rd Round pick Jeremy Pena flew to Houston yesterday for his physical to take place today.

*Jim Crane is taking over the Houston Open.

*Holy crap Leeds United might actually get Marco Bielsa. This is the baseball equivalent of the 2013 Astros landing Joe Maddon.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros put up a 5-spot on Sonny Gray in the 1st inning last night and rode it out to an 8-4 win over Oakland. Gray needed 38 pitches to get through the 1st as the Astros sent 10 men to the plate, including George Springer and his 8th leadoff homer of the season. The MLB record for leadoff homers in a season is 13, by Alfonso Soriano. Reddick, on Springer:
It's special to hit behind that guy. Eight leadoff homers, 21 homers out of the leadoff spot, you just don't see that a whole lot. It makes you wonder what he would do out maybe in the three-, four-hole in this lineup. But you really can't move him. 

The average leadoff hitter in baseball (including Springer) is hitting .261/.330/.419. Springer is hitting .284/.356/.567.

*Hinch:
Our at-bats were exceptional. Springer sets the tone with the big home run, and then we continued to do some positive things against [Gray] and put up positive at-bats. 

For all the damage the Astros did against Sonny Gray in the 1st, they didn't get a whole lot more until he left the game. Consider:
Gray, 1st inning: 38 pitches, 5H/5ER, 0K:2BB
Gray, 2nd-5th: 70 pitches, 2H/0ER, 5K:2BB, HBP

*Gray, on his start:
It has been one inning for numerous starts now where things kind of escalate. I'm gonna have to figure this thing out. Whether it's getting off the mound and slowing myself down, I've gotta figure out a way to shut the inning down when I get two outs. 

*Frankie Tuesday threw 5.2IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:3BB for his second ML win in two starts, holding the A's to an 0x6 w/RISP with him on the mound. Within that link we find that Martes could be optioned back to Fresno when McCullers comes off the DL on Saturday, or the Astros could place Brad Peacock on paternity leave and let Martes throw in his spot on Sunday.

*Luke Gregerson faced three batters and struck them all out.

*Astros are 6-1 against Oakland in 2017, and haven't lost in Oakland since July 19, 2016.

*Houston is 24-10 against the AL West.

*Alex Bregman's last seven PAs (most recent to previous): Out, double, walk, HBP, single, double, double.

*Hinch told 790 that Charlie Morton is throwing mid-90s. He'll start for Fresno on Thursday and throw 2-3IP.

*If the Astros have "any opening whatsoever," they're bringing back Derek Fisher

*Wall Street Journal: The Astros don't like strikeouts anymore

*Tom Verducci has a good piece on the Astros' trade needs and a couple of good stories about how the Astros landed David Paulino and Francis Martes. Verducci:
Yes, it will hurt Houston to shoot high. But the time for bargain shopping is over. The Astros already know the question they face next month, and it is the same question the Cubs faced last July: If not now, when?

*What's it like to be Latino in MLB? This is a must-read.

*Hardball Times: Examining what Cuban League stats actually mean

*Patrick Hruby in Vice: The plot to disrupt the NCAA with a pay-for-play HBCU basketball league

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.

Monday Morning Hot Links

I had Xavier beating Seton Hall to get in my national championship game. Jeremy Hellickson held the Astros hitless through five innings while Ken Giles had yet another rough outing - allowing two runs - as the Phillies beat the Astros 5-4. 

*But Ken Giles thinks it was his best outing of the Spring.

*Your "Battle For Closer" right now is Ken Giles' 10.80 ERA vs. Luke Gregerson's lack of Spring Training. Giles: 5IP, 8H/6ER, 4K:3BB.

*There are too many questions about Gattis' health for him to be a reliable backup catcher, writes Evan Drellich.

*The Astros will get one more look at Wandy before he can opt out, and a decision on Neal Cotts is needed soon. Wandy, Spring: 8IP, 5H/2ER, 6K:0BB. Cotts: 5.1IP, 3H/2ER, 3K:2BB.

*The Astros optioned Asher Wojciechowski, Nolan Fontana and Andrew Aplin, and reassigned Tony Kemp to minor-league camp.

*The Astros are using minor-league Spring Training games as a way to experiment, like working on different pitches and making sure relievers are getting used to throwing on back-to-back days.

*From TCB a couple of days ago...Enrique Hernandez, or "the one that hurts the most."

*Luis Tiant is returning to Cuba for just the second time since 1961.

*Hardball Times: 10 Things To Look Forward To In 2016.

*The Pirates are re-thinking everything!

*Sports Illustrated's MLB Media Roundtable: The challenges of reporting, interviews, etc.

*Brewers outfielder Rymer Liriano was hospitalized with multiple facial fractures after taking a pitch under the brim of his helmet.

*Re: A&M's comeback: Bill James' 2008 formula for determining when a college basketball lead is safe.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

Certain Astros will play baseball today, beginning a journey that ideally ends sometime around the beginning of November.

*The Astros/Phillies Spring Training game will be on MLB Network today at 12:05pm Central. George Springer, Jon Singleton, Tyler White, A.J. Reed, Preston Tucker, and Alex Bregman will all be playing.

*Altuve and Correa will make their Spring debut either Friday or Saturday.

*Luke Gregerson threw off a mound yesterday.

*Evan Gattis - three weeks removed from hernia surgery - is hitting off a tee.

*Jose Altuve and the Astros apparently haven't discussed an extension beyond his current deal that has him signed through 2019, pending team options.

*Altuve is the Astros' "spark plug."

*Joe Musgrove knows we're all talking about his walks.

*Tyler White has been working on hitting the high fastball.

*FanGraphs on the similarities between Domingo Santana and George Springer.

*Aroldis Chapman's 30-game suspension was not random.

*The sheetrock accident that turned Craig Kimbrel into a dominant closer.

*Brett Phillips' laugh - and his five tools - have turned him into baseball's darling prospect. (Side note: trading Brett Phillips has haunted me since July, and I don't think that's going away any time soon)

*MLB has filed a proposal with the Treasury Department to allow Cuban players to sign directly with teams.

*There were only 15 known Ty Cobb T-206s, then a family decided to flip through a paper bag and found seven more.