Sunday Morning Hot Links

Well. After dragging the Astros' home "offense" in this space on Saturday morning, The Saturday Night Astros decided to pour it on the Ari'ona Dia'on'bac's, 10-4. The Rays did the Good Thing and beat the Philadelphia Kansas City Oakland Athletics. Houston is 93-55, and have a 3.5-game lead with 14 regular season games remaining. The Yankees have a 1.5-game lead on Oakland to host the Wild Card game.

*The Astros need to go 10-4 to break the franchise single-season wins record. They need to go 8-6 to match 2017, and 7-7 to post the first consecutive 100-win seasons in franchise history.

1998-99 Astros: 199-125
2017-18 Astros: 194-116

*The Astros have scored 10+ runs 17 times in 2018. You may be surprised to find that nine of those times are at home.

*Six of the 12 Astros hits, and six of the Astros' ten runs, came from Springer and Altuve, 1-2 in the lineup.

-George Springer enjoyed his first 4-hit game since going 6x6 on May 7 against Oakland. Springer, since September 2: 20x49 (.408). 17 of those 20 hits are singles; he hasn't had an extra-base hit since Sept 5. His last 13 hits have been singles. Not that there's anything wrong with that. He has five home runs since the All-Star Break (15 before).

-Jose Altuve was 2x3 with a walk and 2RBI. He has a hit in seven of his last eight games, but needs 44 hits in the Astros' last 14 games. I don't think he's getting to 200 hits this regular season.

*Alex Bregman was 1x2 with 3BB, giving him 89BB this season. Only 16 players in Astros history have drawn 100+ walks. The last one to do it was Morgan Ensberg in 2006, with 101. Bregman needs 11 walks in 14 games to reach that milestone. He has eleven walks in his last eleven games.

Prior to the game he told the Arizona Republic that he remembers Arizona didn't pick him with the #1 overall pick:
I was super happy to come to a good organization like the Astros, an organization that was up-and-coming. But yeah, I was pissed. I wanted to be the Number 1 overall pick. Part of the reason I wear Number 2 is because of that. 

Later on he mentions that he wore 30 in college as a reminder of how many teams passed on him in the 1st Round of the 2012 draft coming out of high school.

*Josh Reddick hit his 14th home run of the season, his first since August 21. It's his second extra-base hit since that home run. The 14th home run passed last year's total of 13, and is now his 3rd-highest home run total in a season in his career. He needs 19 home runs in the next 14 games to break his career mark.

*Yuli Gurriel had a 3RBI game for the first time since August 19.

*Charlie Morton won his 15th game of the season, throwing 6IP, 3H/2ER, 7K:0BB. 20% of his career MLB wins are in 2018. It's his first start without a walk since May 12. Charlie Morton has a 3.15 ERA and the Astros are 16-11 in his starts.

Charlie Morton, 2008-2016: 46-71. 4.54 ERA / 1.44 WHIP. 6.3 K/9.
Charlie Morton, 2017-2018: 29-10.  3.37 ERA / 1.18 WHIP. 10.4 K/9.

In 2018, Morton has set a career-high in Wins, Games Started, and Strikeouts. He needs five more strikeouts to join Verlander and Cole in the 200K club.

*Charlie Morton threw a first-pitch strike to 20 of the 23 batters he faced. Astros pitchers threw a first-pitch strike to 28 of the 36 batters they faced.

*Jerome Solomon: Charlie Morton is a joy to watch.

*Chris Devenski has made three appearances since the end of July: 3IP, 5H/2ER, 3K:1BB, 2HR.

*Myles Straw made his MLB debut last night with a pinch-running appearance. Hinch:
Speed is the most obvious thing that he adds. When you get into the type of race we're in, playoff-caliber baseball, any small advantage would be a big advantage. He's an elite baserunner. His instincts are good, he's a good outfielder...Every time he goes into the game in the foreseeable future, it's going be either as a tying run, go-ahead run, or tack-on run.

Jandel Gustave was transferred to the 60-Day DL to make room for Straw on the roster. He'll wear #26 as though no one in the organization even cares about the legacy of Danny Worth.

*Sports Illustrated: What life is like for a September Call-up.

*Might Minor-Leaguers unionize, after all?

*Memphis scored three runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and rode it out to a PCL-clinching 5-0 win over Fresno. That'll do it for all Astros' affiliates. A run-down on how they did:

Fresno: 82-57, lost in PCL Championship
Corpus: 82-56, lost in 1st Round
Buies Creek: 80-57, won Carolina League
Quad Cities: 81-59, lost in 1st Round
Tri-City: 42-33, won New York-Penn League
GCL Astros: 27-28.

*With their 83rd win - a total the Astros reached on September 1 - Cleveland clinched their 3rd straight AL Central title.

*Leeds United scored in the 89th minute to tie Hated Millwall.

*A border patrol agent in Laredo is suspected of being a serial killer.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Gerrit Cole. I mean. I guess nothing more exemplifies the struggling Astros offense more than Gerrit Cole channeling Giancarlo Stanton and going 0x5 with 5Ks. This offense is pathe - wait, what? Oh, I see.

*Gerrit Cole threw 9IP, 1H/0ER, 16K:1BB. He gave up a double in the 5th to Chris Owings. He tied Nolan Ryan for the number of 14+ K starts as an Astro, with two. It was Cole's 7th start. His 77 strikeouts through seven starts are the most for an MLB pitcher with a new team.

You read that correctly. It was his second career complete game. Hinch:
We've had a ton of consecutive really good pitching performances this year, and none is going to top that to this point. Wow. It's hard to describe. It's an incredible display of pitching.

Correa:

I think it would have been the same outcome if any team in the league would have faced him today. He was just filthy. Hitting the spots, every pitch was working. There is no plan that could work against him today.

Cole:

I'm in such a good spot physically, like the best I've been in my career. My direction to the plate, my core, I'm just able to repeat at such a high level.

I don’t know if I’ve seen a more dominant performance in person. #GerritCole is a monster.

— Collin McHugh (@Collin_McHugh) May 5, 2018

Gerrit PunchMaster Cole 🥊 🤤

— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) May 5, 2018

*According to Friend of Astros County (FOAC) Justin Ray, Cole is the 4th pitcher in the last 110 years to throw a CGSHO with one hit and 16+ Ks.

*Cole got the Robe for pitching and hitting, after his 5K offensive outing:

This is the Pitcher of the game robe and this is the Hitter of the Game robe. Since I got the platinum sombrero, that's 21 total strikeouts on the evening. Tied Roger Clemens. It was a good night.

*Even the offense got going. But it was a road game, so it makes sense. Marisnick was the only position player without a hit, and he had a home run robbed by Jarrod Dyson in the 5th inning.

George Springer: 3x5

Jose Altuve: 2x4, BB, RBI

Carlos Correa: 2x5, 3RBI

Yuli Gurriel: 4x5, 3RBI

It was Gurriel's 5th multi-hit game of the season and the 2nd 4-hit game of his career (July 21, 2017 at Baltimore).

*The Astros were 6x17 w/RISP - Stassi was 0x3 w/RISP.

*Fisher, Marisnick and Gattis are a combined 36x209 (.172). Altuve (45), Springer (37), and Correa (37) each have more hits than the Trio of Hopelessness.

*Kris Medlen had not made a Major League start in 725 days, and you could tell.

*Check Kris Medlen's return story in The Athletic.

*Apparently, Ken Giles' selflessness is a red flag to Hunter Atkins, who says the Astros want an Actual Closer.

*John Sickels, over at the esteemed MinorLeagueBall, has some thoughts on Yordan Alvarez. Sickels:
The basics here haven't changed: he's big and strong at 6-5 225, but not just a bruiser. The pure hitting ability has carried forward to Double-A; indeed, his strike zone management has been a bit sharper this year and he's added more isolated power without sacrificing contact. He can drive the ball effectively to all fields and Texas League observers report that he's handled both fastballs and breaking balls efficiently.

As of this morning, Alvarez is hitting .296/.377/.541 with 21K:14BB in 113 PAs. He's six months younger than Kyle Tucker. And lololololol the Astros got Alvarez on August 1, 2016 when they traded Josh Fields to the Dodgers, who would give up 3H/2ER (2HR) in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series. Genius Luhnow strikes again.

*Did you check out yesterday's Spot the Differences?

*Hinch, on Marwin's 2018 struggles:
He's frustrated with his production because he's been so good in that spot coming off of last season. It's what decision you make to swing at what pitches. They've pitched him very tough when guys have been on base, some chase breaking ball and chase changeups. He sees the least amount of fastballs of anybody on the team.

Is that right? Surely that can't be right. Let's look at the number of four-seam fastballs each player on the Astros has seen:

Fisher: 95 of 237 pitches (40.1%)
Gurriel: 101 of 271 pitches (37.3%)
Gattis: 143 of 393 pitches (36.4%)
Correa: 213 of 591 pitches (36.0%)
Altuve: 183 of 522 pitches (35.1%)
Reddick: 155 of 465 pitches (33.3%)
McCann: 108 of 325 pitches (33.2%)
Springer: 203 of 581 pitches were fastballs (34.9%)
Marisnick: 111 of 340 pitches (32.6%)
Marwin: 165 of 532 pitches (31.0%)

Wow, okay. Good job, Hinchie.

So in 2017 Marwin hit .338 with a .638 SLG on four-seam fastballs. This year, he's hitting .257 with a .429 SLG against the four-seamer.

*Jake Kaplan: Lance McCullers is still enjoying his World Series Game 7 RBI.

*Sunday is the 20th anniversary of the most dominant pitching performance in Astros history - Kerry Wood's 20K no- one-hitter. Alyson Footer gives us an oral history. And, because I love those Page Vyoos - which generates 100% of our $0/monthly revenue - I wrote one five years ago (without the access Footer has).

*The Cespedes BBQ guys have a prediction for when Altuve will get his 3000th hit.

*Frankie Tuesday was placed on Fresno's 7-Day DL.

*Speaking of Fresno, McTaggart notes that "it's believed that" the Astros will move their Triple-A franchise from Fresno to Round Rock after this season.

*How about an un-pay-walled story in The Athletic? Ken Rosenthal's great story on Cory Hahn, who suffered a spinal cord injury sliding into second base and is now a rising exec in Arizona's front office.

*Former Astros Great Preston Tucker, who hit .282/.313/.487 for Atlanta in 29 games, got sent to Triple-A to make room for Houston Legend (Bat-Flip Division) Jose Bautista.

*Interesting note on Baseball-Reference this morning: Every AL Central team is currently hosting a below-zero SRS (meaning every AL Central team is currently worse than an average team.)

*Noted domestically violent baseball player Danry Vasquez got a job.

*Brown University's Tucker Halpern was on the path to the NBA, got a severe strain of Epstein-Barr, and is now a Grammy-nominated DJ because sometimes life gives you lemons... The other half of Sofi Tukker (Sophie Hawley-Weld) has an equally weird story.

*You had no idea you needed John Sterling reading "Goodnight Moon" in your life:

John Sterling = 🐐#GoodnightMoon pic.twitter.com/7yiUYsrl5v

— Matthew Stucko (@MatthewStucko) May 4, 2018

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Another starting pitcher rolls, but the Astros actually come through with a few runs (though not as many as they should have), win the game, and we learn how to love again. Astros win 4-1. They're 11-7.

*McCullers' line: 7IP, 1H/1ER, 11K:1BB. 69 of his 102 pitches were for strikes. After allowing a 2-out home run to Cano, McCullers retired 19 of the next 20 batters he faced.

His career vs. Seattle: 55.2IP, 39H/17ER, 70K:21BB - a 2.75 ERA / 1.09 WHIP. McCullers:
Those guys can really bang. They've got a great hitting team and a great team in general. They have a lot veteran leadership over there, a lot of of guys who are the greats of our generation, especially Robby and obviously Ichiro. When you face those guys, you've got to be on top of your game. Maybe they bring the best out in me.

*Chandler Rome notes that McCullers threw 17 changeups in his first three starts of the season, and 16 changeups last night.

*Robinson Cano, on McCullers:
I don't think he changed anyone's approach because we all know how he goes to his pitch, his breaking ball. He's not a guy who's trying to beat you with his fastball. He's confident in what he's got and puts it where he wants. You have to give the guy credit. He knows how to pitch.

*Chris Peixoto notes that the Astros have seven double-digit strikeout games from their starters this year, the most in MLB history through 18 games.

*Lin-Ariel Miranda had not thrown a pitch in the Majors this season. The full and complete list of pitchers who allowed more home runs than Miranda in MLB in 2017: Rick Porcello. The Astros loaded the bases twice, and were 2x9 w/RISP. Josh Reddick was 0x3 w/RISP.

*Jake Marisnick: 0x4, 4 strikeouts. That's 24 strikeouts (and no walks) in 45 plate appearances. He got his 24th strikeout through 61 PAs last season, but also had a .914 OPS to go with it.

*Brian McCann was 1x1 with two walks and hit his first home run of the season last night, a 2-run blast that let the Astros breathe a little bit.

*Tony Sipp will be activated from the DL today, so James Hoyt is heading back to Fresno.

*Fresno got eight runs in the first inning and have won seven straight games. Fresno is also donating leftover food from home games to the homeless, and that's very cool.

*Shohei Ohtani left his start against Boston after 2IP, 3ER, and a blister on his finger.

*The Hardball Times: 10 interesting facts about Tommy John Surgery.

Where Did These Guys Come From: Fresno Grizzlies

The 2017 Fresno Grizzlies went 77-65 and finished in 2nd place in the Pacific - North Division. Who is on the 2018 roster, and how did they get there?

Pitchers

Rogelio Armenteros: Signed as free agent out of Cuba prior to 2015 season
Buddy Boshers: Waiver claim - January 2018
Jacob Dorris: Signed as undrafted free agent prior to 2015 season
Kent Emanuel: Drafted - 3rd Round, 2013
Reymin Guduan: Signed as amateur free agent - September 2009
Mike Hauschild: Drafted - 33rd Round, 2012
Francis Martes: Acquired via trade from Miami with Jake Marisnick and Colin Moran for Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez, and Austin Wates - July 2014
Brendan McCurry: Acquired via trade with Oakland for Jed Lowrie - November 2015
Chris Nunn: Selected in Triple-A phase of Rule 5 Draft - December 2017
David Paulino: Acquired as PTBNL from Detroit with Danry Vasquez for Jose Veras - September 2013
Matt Ramsey: Signed minor-league contract - December 2017
Cy Sneed: Acquired via trade with Milwaukee for Jonathan Villar - November 2015
Andrew Thome: Signed as free agent - June 2015
Trent Thornton: Drafted - 5th Round, 2015

Catchers

Tim Federowicz: Signed as free agent - December 2017
Garrett Stubbs: Drafted - 8th Round, 2015

Infielders

Tony Kemp: Drafted - 5th Round, 2013
Jack Mayfield: Signed as undrafted free agent prior to 2013 season
Antonio Nunez: Drafted - 18th Round, 2014
A.J. Reed: Drafted - 2nd Round, 2014
Tyler White: Drafted - 33rd Round, 2013

Outfielders

Drew Ferguson: Drafted - 19th Round, 2015
Alejandro Garcia: Signed as free agent, July 2015
Jon Kemmer: Drafted - 21st Round, 2013
Kyle Tucker: Drafted - 1st Round, 2015

Summary:

Drafted: 11
Free Agent Signing: 8
Acquired Via Trade: 4
Waiver Claim: 1
Rule 5 Pick: 1

Year Acquired:

2009: 1
2012: 1
2013: 6
2014: 3
2015: 10
2017: 3
2018: 1

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Folk Hero Anthony Gose walked all three batters he faced yesterday in an 8-1 loss to Washington. Tony Kemp, Kyle Tucker, and Derek Fisher had the only three hits. Justin Verlander threw 3IP, 2H/0ER, 5K:0BB. Martes struck out four in 2.2IP.

There have been 38IP thrown this Spring by pitchers who are unlikely to make the Opening Day roster:
Trent Thornton: 6.1IP, 5H/1ER, 6K:2BB
Rogelio Armenteros: 5IP, 3H/1ER, 8K:1BB
Cionel Perez: 4IP, 2H/1R (0ER), 1K:1BB
Framber Valdez: 4IP, 5H/0ER, 3K:3BB
Brendan McCurry: 3.2IP, 2H/0ER, 6K:1BB
Mike Hauschild: 3.1IP, 4H/3ER, 5K:1BB
Riley Ferrell: 3IP, 3H/2ER, 2K:1BB
Matt Ramsey: 3IP, 8H/6ER, 6K:3BB
Jacob Dorris: 2.1IP, 4H/3ER, 4K:0BB
Cy Sneed: 2IP, 2H/1ER, 1K:1BB
Yoanis Quiala: 1.2IP, 2H/1ER, 0K:1BB

So that's a combined 38IP, 40H/18ER, 42K:15BB. Another reason why Spring Training results don't tell you the whole story.

*Hunter Atkins writes that the LOOGY position is Tony Sipp's to lose. Hinch:
There's a ton of focus on his split because it was a wipeout pitch in '15. It was erratic in '16 and '17. But in reality those that are around pitchers will tell you, it's hand speed on all of his pitches. If he's got good hand speed on his split, that means he's finishing his fastballs, his slider is pretty good. 

Sipp really has dropped off significantly in 2016-17. In 2014 and 2015 he posted an equal 2.93 FIP, having never posted a FIP below 4.20 in any of his five prior major-league seasons. In 2016 it was 6.19 and 5.22 in 2017. xFIP tells a similar story: never below 4.08 in his five seasons prior to joining the Astros in 2014, where he posted a 2.94 xFIP, and a 3.38 xFIP in 2015. Then a 4.98 xFIP in 2016, and a 4.34 xFIP in 2017. According to FanGraphs the only two seasons in which Tony Sipp's split fastball was above average was 2014 and 2015. Sipp has one year remaining on his 3yr/$18m contract. The Astros won the World Series without - or, maybe, in spite of - Sipp, but it would be nice for him to bounce back on take some of those innings off the horses.

*Jake Kaplan has an in-depth piece in The Athletic (paywalled) about Kyle Tucker's development. Tucker:
I feel like I've done a lot better with plate discipline. That's what I was wanting to do this year. Last year, I was just swinging all over the place. But I think that's the biggest thing that's been helping me so far. 

*Brian T. Smith writes in the Chronicle that Josh Reddick is ready to actually contribute in another World Series. Reddick:
I'm getting a ring because of my teammates. I didn't really help a whole lot in the World Series. I'm not saying I didn't help, I just didn't help at that time.

*Though Justin Verlander threw to Brian McCann in every one of his Astros starts last year, Hinch is using Spring Training to get the pitchers used to throwing to all catchers. Hinch:
I'm really interested in catchers having familiarity with the pitchers, but I'm also interested in the pitchers having comfortability with the catchers, so when they walk on the field that day, no matter who's catching, they know the guy's going to be prepared to handle their stuff and they trust them.

*27-year old undrafted free agent Jack Mayfield is in his first big-league camp and is soaking up all he can.

*Some season tickets went up 14% from last year.

*The new owners of the Fresno Grizzlies slashed beer prices and affirmed that they're staying in Fresno, which is great for the good people of Fresno. Gonna be a shame when the Astros flip back to Round Rock this fall.

Friday Morning Hot Links

Happy birthday to my wonderful wife. It's incredible that she's let me do this bolg for going on ten years. She's amazing, and The Absolute Best.

*The Chronicle has five things to watch for at Spring Training.

I'm unveiling my own Spring Training slogan for the Astros:

Spring Training 2018: Don't get hurt.

*The training camp for unsigned players will be led by Former Astros Great Bo Porter.

*Carlos Correa used Jose Altuve as a weight.

*Jon Heyman's latest Inside Baseball column wonders what statement Carlos Beltran is making if not going to the White House isn't about the president.

*Those zany Fresno Grizzlies are at it again, playing a game this season as the Zamunda Lions in a tribute to Coming to America.

*So there was a thing called the Houston Sports Awards last night, and the Astros - as you can imagine - did pretty well.

*Check out the new food options available at Minute Maid this season.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Dallas Keuchel pitched into the 8th inning and the Astros enjoyed a 4-run 8th inning on their way to a 6-2 series-opening win over Seattle yesterday evening in a merciful 5:40pm Central start time. The Astros are 4-0 in September and have their first five-game winning streak since getting that 11W from May 25-June 5. They are 84-53 with a 13.5-game lead on Anaheim and a 3.0-game lead on Cleveland, who won for the 12th time in a row. There are 25 games remaining.

*Keuchel: 7.2IP, 7H/2ER, 5K:2BB. He got 15 groundball outs. Keuchel:
The last starts, I kind of lost my cool a little bit, and that's what led to a lot of runs. And I told myself not to do that ever again and let the guys rely on me to get it going. Everything is a lot more fun and more loose, like we were playing earlier this year. 

Hinch:
His ability to get the ball on the ground was incredible, and even a couple of the hits early he gave up the first run on were ground balls. That's vintage Dallas when he's good - he's throwing strikes, he's down in the zone, he challenges them with balls having to be put in play on the ground.

*The last time an Astros starting pitcher pitched into the 8th? Mike Fiers, June 10.

*Alex Bregman hit a bases-loaded 2-run double down the line after the Mariners intentionally walked George Springer to get to him. Bregman:
They decided to walk Springer. He's been driving the ball...I was just fortunate enough to put a good swing on the ball and thankful to come through for my teammates.

After intentionally walking Altuve to reload the bases, Reddick went ahead and hit a 2-run single.

*Altuve has been held hitless in consecutive games for the fourth time this season, third since August 1.

Keuchel when asked if team is smelling division title: "Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to lie. We think about it probably every day."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 5, 2017

So when might the Astros clinch the division? With 16 of their remaining 25 games on the road, you need some luck to catch the Astros celebrate their first division title since 2001. But let's try to figure it out. Magic number is 12 (Ed. Note: I'm not responsible for faulty math here. Well, I am, but don't hold it against me, this stuff is hard):

-If the Astros and Angels match records from here on out, the Astros would clinch the division when there are 12 games remaining, which would be September 20 - a home game against Chicago.
-Ah! but there are three games at Anaheim between now and then. Let's say the Angels take two of three but match records from that point forward. That would still put the clinch date on September 21 against the White Sox.
-If the Astros sweep the Angels on the road, pushing their lead to a proposed 16.5 games, there's a chance they could clinch in the 3rd and final game of the Angels series on September 14.
-In fact, barring some sort of weirdness (good or bad) games 147-155, Sept 15-24, are home games and represent the most likely time frame for the division championship.
-While it would likely mean that the Astros lost home field advantage throughout the AL side of the playoffs, it would be nice if the Astros clinched the division Sept 25-27 at Southeast Denton in the series that the Rangers didn't want to switch. But I'd rather go ahead and just win the best overall record in the American League.

*Dallas Keuchel made his 4th error of the season last night, having committed four errors in his career before this season.

*Mike Fiers was removed from the rotation to make way for Verlander/McCullers. It was inevitable, really. In his last eight starts (dating back to July 26) Fiers threw 41IP, 48H/36ER, 34K:22BB for a 7.90 ERA/1.56 WHIP. He got 18 outs in just three of his last eight starts. Hinch:
Every starting pitcher is built to want to start games, and I told him, you know, we wouldn't be in the position we're in now if he hadn't taken over and really stepped forward when we needed it the most. He had an incredible stretch in the middle of the season that solidified a lot of what we're doing and kept us going in the right direction with the injuries. I thanked him for that. 

Hinch is exactly right. In the ten starts between his first demotion-just-kidding-welcome-back (May 30-July 21), Fiers threw 61IP, 43H/16ER, 69K:21BB, 2.36 ERA/1.05 WHIP. The Astros were 7-3 in those starts. But then it sort of fell apart from July 26-present. Here's how the rest of the rotation compares dating back to July 26:

Morton: 41IP, 34H/18ER, 47K:14BB, 3.95 ERA/1.17 WHIP
McHugh: 39.2IP, 37H/12ER, 38K:12BB, 2.72 ERA/1.24 WHIP
Keuchel: 38.2IP, 41H/23ER, 28K:17BB, 5.35 ERA/1.50 WHIP
Peacock: 37.2IP, 39H/17ER, 44K:11BB, 4.06 ERA/1.33 WHIP

Keuchel is looking a little more like Keuchel as of late, and Peacock is likely back to the bullpen. Why?

1st time hitters face Peacock, 2017: .130/.216/.159, 52K:14BB
2nd time hitters face Peacock, 2017: .276/.357/.386, 45K:15BB
3rd time hitters face Peacock, 2017: .358/.449/.627, 17K:11BB

So it makes sense for Peacock to be super-effective for 3IP and then out rather than Peacock to be super-effective for 3IP and then pray he can get to the 6th inning.

*Michael Feliz threw a scoreless inning yesterday for Quad Cities in his first rehab outing since August 22.

*Max Stassi was activated from the DL.

*The remaining call-ups will be the rehabbing Evan Gattis and Michael Feliz, and James Hoyt.

*Francisco Liriano gave up his #35 to Verlander for nothing.

*Dayan Diaz was claimed off waivers by the Angels, but it makes more sense for you to think that he was a PTBNL for Cameron Maybin

*George Springer is partnering with his hometown New Britain Bees for a Pack the Truck event on Friday night for supplies to help Southeast Texas recover.

*The Mariners will collect donations to help Harvey victims on Wednesday.

*If this doesn't perfectly summarize Collin McHugh, I don't know what does: When the Astros players started texting each other that they had acquired Verlander, Carlos Correa broke his PS4, George Springer was watching a movie with his fiancee, Jose Altuve was eating dinner, and Collin McHugh...was asleep. Verlander will only have his fiancee in the crowd for tonight's Astros debut:
You know how hard it was for people to try to get here. [Seattle] is the farthest I could have been. It's just as well. It's going to be so nerve-wracking. I know I'll be so nervous. It'll be like Opening Day. It really doesn't matter if you win on Opening Day, but that game's so nerve-wracking because it's new.

*Fresno finished their season with a 9-7 win over Salt Lake yesterday afternoon. A.J. Reed was 3x5 with his 34th home run of the season - breaking Fresno's single-season home run record and giving Reed his second Minor-League Home Run title. At 77-65, it's Fresno's third winning season in a row (all as an Astros affiliate). It's the Astros' Triple-A affiliate's (between Fresno and OKC) 6th winning season in a row. The 2017 Grizzlies set franchise records for runs (853), RBIs (805), and home runs (200). Tony Kemp led all of Triple-A baseball with 166 hits.

*Derek Fisher was named to the All-PCL Team.

*Corpus needed a win and a Midland loss to make the Texas League playoffs, and held up their end of the deal with a 2-0 win over San Antonio. But Midland beat Frisco - seriously the Rangers as an organization is good for nothing - to take the final spot.

Can't say enough about this team @cchooks to be out 6 G w10 left & end up tie record but loose on technicality #HuricaneHarvey #winnersinmy📕

— Rodney Linares (@RondeyLinares) September 5, 2017

So how did the Hooks finish the 2nd half with a 33-35 record, but lose a playoff spot to 32-36 Midland? Corpus lost the season series against Midland.

*Needing a win against the Rangers' High-A affiliate to make the playoffs, Buies Creek lost 10-3.

*Say what you want about ESPN's fellating of Aaron Judge, but 100 walks - especially as a rookie - is pretty impressive. Going into last night's game George Springer had a team-high 50 walks. No Astro has drawn 100+ walks in a season since Morgan Ensberg in 2006. There have been 16 100+ walk seasons in franchise history:
Jeff Bagwell: 7
Jimmy Wynn: 3
Lance Berkman: 3
Joe Morgan: 2
Morgan Ensberg: 1

*J.D. Martinez accomplished something more rare than a perfect game last night.

*Hope you're ready for 9:10pm Central tonight as Justin Verlander makes his Astros debut.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros were off last night, and are about to start a three-city, eight-game road trip, going to Chicago, East Fort Worth, and Arizona (for the first two of a four-game home-and-home series). The Angels were the only AL West team to play last night, and they lost. The Astros still have a 15-game lead with 51 games remaining.

*The White Sox are the only AL team whom the Astros have not yet played this season.

*Jake Kaplan says October questions are already materializing.

*The Astros did indeed call about Verlander, but "nothing materialized."

*Deadspin asks if the Astros need Justin Verlander.

*Sam Miller says we should all root for an Astros/Dodgers World Series. Fun read. Miller:
The Astros' offense against the Dodgers' defense is basically just an All-Star game. It's an All-Star game that counts, really counts, and that goes for seven games and that will not let up no matter how out of adrenaline you are by Game 4. You don't have to like either of these teams to see the value in that.

*The Astros will show The Sandlot on the JumboBigMegatron after the August 17 game against the Di'mon'ba'ks. The game starts at 1:10pm, so you should be home by 6:30-7:00pm. Here's some VIP ticket information.

*Fresno had five runs before they even recorded a hit. Seriously. Let's see how that happens, here's the bottom of the 1st:
-Tony Kemp: HBP
-Reid Brignac: BB
-Preston Tucker: (Passed ball) Walk
-A.J. Reed: BB (1-0 Fresno)
-Jack Mayfield: BB (2-0 Fresno)
-Jon Kemmer: BB (3-0 Fresno)
-Drew Ferguson: Pop-up
-Garrett Stubbs: Groundout (4-0 Fresno), error (5-0 Fresno)

Fresno managed to piss away that game, though, with a 14-9 loss.

*Quad Cities extended their win streak to seven games with an 8-5 win over Beloit. Carson LaRue won his league-leading 12th game of the year.

*Helluva catch from last night's Tri-City/Aberdeen game:

Highlight reel catch by @IronBirds left fielder @TJNichting, as he flies into the stands!! @SportsCenter #SCtop10 @espn @MiLB pic.twitter.com/ZVXGN7YWkE

— Tri-City ValleyCats (@ValleyCats) August 8, 2017

*Jon Ryan, punter for the Seahawks, is running a summer league baseball team.

*This guy - once paralyzed - will run a half-marathon with the guy who hit him with his truck.

*Read this 1946 article about six survivors from Hiroshima.

*Have Smartphones destroyed a generation?

*RIP Don Baylor.

Friday Morning Hot Links

*Off-day yesterday (of course) so it was all about Teh Rumorz!

*Brian McTaggart's Mailbag suggests the Astros go after Zach Britton and maybe not so much after a starter. He also says Verlander would cost too much (in terms of actual dollars).

*The Astros are interested in Verlander, but involvement in talks is apparently "minimal."

*Buster Olney tweeted that the Astros "may well be" the most motivated to trade for Britton. Britton has been dealing with a forearm strain for most of the season, leading him to throw just 16IP this season. He has walked seven batters in those 16IP. But he won't be a free agent until 2019.

*Britton gave up 2H/2ER, 0K:1BB in Baltimore's win over North Corsicana last night.

*Jon Heyman tweeted that he's not hearing anything serious going on between Oakland and Houston on Sonny Gray, despite Jon Morosi's report to the contrary.

*Heyman also tweeted that the Astros don't love Justin Verlander's contract.

*The Rangers have started gathering intel on what they could get in return for Yu Darvish, according to Jeff Passan. Passan:
[The Astros'] market is almost assuredly Darvish, Gray, or bust.

The Rangers are not playing well. They just got swept by Baltimore (whom the Astros play this weekend) and have lost five straight. They're 18 games back of Houston and 4.5 back of the 2nd Wild Card spot with five teams between them and getting to be the road team in the Wild Card game. FanGraphs gives them an 11.2% change of making the postseason. It would make sense to get something for Darvish before he hits free agency this offseason (and potentially re-sign him in five months, though Jon Heyman says that's unlikely given Darvish will shoot for Strasburg's $175m contract). Would it be delicious to win the race for the World Series with the Rangers' best pitcher? YES. Would it suck to watch the package of prospects it would require to get him help prop the Rangers back up? ALSO YES.

*Six years ago yesterday Jose Altuve made his MLB debut. In those six years, Altuve has the most hits in baseball. Top Five:
Altuve: 1173
Robinson Cano: 1121
Miguel Cabrera: 1096
Andrew McCutchen: 1018
Adam Jones: 1015

*Fresno beat Las Vegas 18-5, hitting five home runs. Jon Kemmer (2HR), Derek Fisher, and Preston Tucker (5RBI) each had three hits. A.J. Reed added two home runs and 5RBI. Fresno scored 61 runs in the four-game series at Las Vegas. Their 149 home runs leads all of minor-league baseball by 18 HR.

*Dexture McCall and Jason Martin went back-to-back in a 5-3 Corpus win at Midland. McCall has homered in four straight games for Corpus.

*Buies Creek scored the last eight runs of the game in an 8-3 win over Carolina. Anibal Sierra was a double shy of the cycle, finishing 3x4 with 5RBI. Myles Straw, Jake Rogers, and Tyler Wolfe had two hits each. Kevin Hill threw the final 3.2IP, allowing 1H/0ER, 5K:0BB.

*In this podcast Forrest Whitley talks about his first full pro season.

*How do you not know how to spell Keuchel by now? Matijevic? I get that. Bukauskas? Sure. They're minor-leaguers, just drafted. But Keuchel? Come on...

*Jeff Passan: The loudest voices for change in a collapsing Venezuela are coming from MLB.

*Here's a story from Minnesota on autograph culture (this is a hobby that I simply do not understand, but whatever, to each their own.)

*

.@EVR551 for the #AstrosTwitter win today. pic.twitter.com/3G80uGFdPj

— Brain ⚾️ (@CranesBrain) July 20, 2017

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*Brian McTaggart brings up a pretty good point about the change-of-scenery factor for potential trade candidates Sonny Gray and Jose Quintana. The Cubs, Blue Jays, Mariners, Braves, and Red Sox had scouts at Gray's start on Sunday.

*Jake Kaplan wrote about Marisnick's swing adjustments this season.

*The Fresno Grizzlies are in the process of being sold.

*Seven Corpus players have made the Texas League All-Star Game: J.D. Davis, Jon Singleton, Drew Ferguson, and Garrett Stubbs will start while Rogelio Armenteros, Josh James, and Jack Mayfield are reserves.

*When Elvis Andrus homered in the 4th to give the Rangers a 9-2 lead over the Indians, Cleveland had a 3.5% chance of winning that game.

*The Dodgers' Julio Urias may never be the same.

*Beyond the Box Score: How to discourage rebuilding.

*Oh thank God. A federal judge has ruled that minor-league players can't be paid more and that MLB is perfectly within its rights under their anti-trust exemption to pay them less than a living wage.

Saturday Morning Hot Links + Farm Report

*The Astros rallied from 3-1 down against Tampa Bay - all of the Rays' runs came on solo homers off Mike Fiers - to win 6-3 and win for the 8th time in their last nine games.

*The Astros are 10-1 when they score 3+ runs, and already have seven comeback wins through 17 games.

*Fiers, who has allowed six homers in 15IP this season:
I think I kind of tipped my pitches a little bit early so in the fourth and fifth I started throwing everything pretty much as hard as I could and being really aggressive with every pitch. It made a big difference. 

Through three starts, 33.3% of fly balls off Fiers have left the yard - far higher than the 15.2% HR/FB rate he posted last season.

*Carlos Beltran, who will turn 40 on Monday, went 2x4 with a homer and two runs scored, is just happy to be part of the (really good) team:
I'm just happy to help the younger guys. I love to study the game. I like to come early and look at the pitchers and see tendencies, and if I see something they're doing, I want to use that to my advantage and at the same time pass it on to the younger guys.

Sign Beltran to a lifetime contract now.

*After starting the season 2x21 in his first six games (.095/.095/.095), Yulieski Gurriel is 13x26 (.500/.536/.769) in his last eight games.

*The bullpen threw four shutout innings last night to preserve the Astros win. Hinch:
These guys are really good, and we've got a lot of them, which is a good feeling.

*Joe Musgrove has been working on a mechanical adjustment in his delivery.

*Washington Post: The bullpen revolution is underway in Houston.

*Fresno busted out Kris Kross-themed unis.

*The Rangers DFA'd Mike Hauschild, a Rule 5 pick from the Astros last December. If Hauschild passes through waivers, the Rangers must offer him back to the Astros.

*Imagine feeling low-balled when someone offers you approximately $100m. (Note: Correa will do the same thing).

PreStros Report for games of April 21

I swear it feels like Fresno has only played Las Vegas this season. Anyhow, Fresno (8-8) were down 5-0 heading into the bottom of the 6th and a couple of big innings, including a 5-run 8th, gave the Grizzles an 8-5 win. Brian Holmes' early struggles continued with 4IP, 6H/5ER, 4K:1BB but the bullpen of Aaron West, Sean Stutzman, Reymin Guduan, and Jordan Jankowski threw a combined 5IP, 2H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Tony Kemp and Colin Moran had two hits each; A.J. Reed hit a three-run homer in the 6th and Teoscar Hernandez knocked a grand slam in the 8th.

Corpus Christi (10-4) scored the final six runs of the game to defeat Frisco 8-3. Joshua James threw 5IP, 4H/3ER, 3K:2BB while Rogelio Armenteros - who is a freaking stud - threw 4IP, 3H/0ER, 4K:2BB. Jon Singleton was 2x4 with a stolen base, a walk, and 3RBI, J.D. Davis was 2x5 and homered in his 3rd straight game, Alejandro Garcia was 2x4 with two doubles, and Drew Ferguson was 2x4 with two stolen bases, a walk, and three runs scored.

Buies Creek (12-4) is really good, y'all. The BCA put up a six-spot in the 1st and rode it out for a 9-4 win over Carolina. Yoanis Quiala allowed 8H/3ER, 4K:0BB in 3.2IP and Framber Valdez threw 3.2IP, 4H/1ER, 3K:2BB. Catcher Eduardo de Oleo was 3x4 with three home runs and 5RBI. Ryne Birk was 2x4 with a walk and an RBI; Myles Straw was 2x5 with an RBI and an outfield assist at home plate; Kyle Tucker was 1x3 with a walk, two stolen bases, and an RBI.

Quad Cities (9-6) won their fifth straight game, holding Clinton to two hits in a 3-1 win. Brett Adcock threw 4.2IP, 2H/1ER, 6K:1BB while Edgardo Sandoval closed it out with 4.1IP, 0H/0ER, 4K:0BB. All three runs came via the home run, with Spencer Johnson hitting a solo bomb in the 2nd and Marcos Almonte hitting a two-run shot in the 5th. Alex De Goti lowered his batting average to .340 after "only" getting a double in four ABs.

As Jayne at WTHB notes, this is the third straight day all four affiliates won.

Hall of Fame Day Hot Links

IT'S HALL OF FAME DAY. Today at 5pm Central, Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson will announce the results on MLB Network.

*With almost 55% of the BBWAA's ballots known, Bagwell is sitting at 88.7%.

*Nathaniel Rakich's projections have Bagwell finishing at 84.6%, joining Tim Raines and Trevor Hoffman in the Class of 2017.

*Jeff Bagwell has waited seven long years for this day (and hopefully no more).

*Bagwell says he won't relax until he gets that heads-up phone call:
I'm not a slam dunk like [Griffey] was. You never know what can happen. Unfortunately, I had to watch Craig not get in for a couple of years, and I was shocked by that. You just never know in that situation what people are going to vote for. 

*Bob Nightengale reports that the Astros have maintained interest in Jose Quintana, Chris Archer AND Sonny Gray. Peter Gammons immediately took a New England Dump on the Gray-to-Houston rumor.

*Jose Altuve, Yulieski Gurriel, and A.J. Reed played games with kids at the Shriners Hospital in Galveston yesterday.

*Jose Altuve wrote a letter to himself yesterday. I ran through a brick wall.

*Former Astros prospect Danry Vasquez did not appear in court yesterday stemming from his domestic violence episode this summer because his visa expired.

*The Crawfish Boxes jumped on this, and we're a few days late, but Tri-City pitcher Makay Nelson (20th Round pick, 2015) was suspended 50 games for an amphetamine.

*The Fresno Grizzlies have claimed the taco emoji.

*Michael Kopech, acquired by the White Sox in the Chris Sale trade, apparently hit 110mph on the radar gun.

*Edinson Volquez, whose father passed away hours before he pitched in Game 1 of the World Series, is mourning the death of his brother, who was stabbed in the Dominican Republic.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Note: A weird bout of insomnia has this up super-early. It's possible I'll update these as new relevant stories get posted later today.

*James Hoyt gave up a go-ahead three-run homer in the 6th, and the Astros lost 4-2. They're trash again and we're dumb for believing in them. Sad!

Hoyt, on the pitch to Russell Martin:
I felt like that was the right pitch to throw, and I was confident in the pitch. It was maybe a little up, but the slider is what I wanted to go to there and he gets me. I'd like to think next time I get him there, or it goes my way.

Hinch, on Hoyt:
He made one bad pitch today and it cost us three runs.

*McHugh, to Hoyt:
You could throw that pitch to Martin another 10 times and he might hit it like that once. You can't really beat yourself up about it. You can't go away from the game plan. You make your pitch and you've got to live with the results. 

*The Tigers beat the Rangers, the Mariners beat the A's. The Astros remain 7.5 GB of Oak Cliff (1.0 GB of Seattle). The Astros are 4.5 GB of Baltimore for WC1 and 3.0 GB of Boston for WC2, with Detroit and Seattle between them.

*A.J. Reed ran into a Toronto cop.

*Teoscar Hernandez talked about how he turned his swing around this past off-season.

*Fresno lost to Iowa 9-5, but Jon Kemmer hit a 2-run homer and a 2-run triple. He's hitting .360 in his last 25 games.

*Fresno and the Astros have extended their PDC through the 2018 season.

*After two months of arm soreness and a team-implemented suspension, David Paulino is set to rejoin Corpus Christi.

*The official scorer changed a 3rd-inning error into a double to extend Francisco Mejia's hitting streak to 50 games.

*Louisiana is in trouble, y'all.

Before you go: This person got a Chris Devenski tattoo:

This is the biggest Chris Devenski fan in the world! pic.twitter.com/pLcqEERzKk

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 13, 2016

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

LOLOLOLOLOLOL *head falls off* The Astros only managed four hits against the Twins' Tyler Duffey. The Twins. Tyler Duffey. Tyyyyylllllerrrrrrrr. Duuuuuuuffffffffeeeeeeyyyyyyy. He lowered his ERA from 6.21 to 5.93 and this is shameful.

Hinch:
We didn't play well enough to win. That's been troublesome for a couple weeks now. You've got to play better to win. For Collin McHugh, I thought the line's going to not represent how he pitched. There were a few balls hit hard, and a few balls that could've been played behind him. They got a lot of hits...all in all just a bad game.

*The main remote-throwing play was Carlos Gomez lollygaggin around center field in the 5th, causing Collin McHugh to question everything he knows. Gomez was his totem. The Twins thought it was hilarious.

That play made it 2-0 Twins and, to be honest, allowing two runs is just too much to ask of the offense right now, which is quite offensive. Gomez, who made another mistake in center, doesn't feel sexy right now:
The first one was hit really hard and I missed (it) in my glove, and the second one, I (didn't) know where the ball was. We lost the game because of that. I feel worse than anyone in this clubhouse. 

Nay, says McHugh, who is likely doing some damage control after Root Sports showed him reacting like pretty much everyone else watching the game:
We didn't lose because of defensive blunders. We lost because I gave up 11 hits, 10 hits, something like that. They strung some hits together, put guys on base and scored more runs than we did. One or two plays isn't deciding the game tonight, that's for sure. 

*A.J. Hinch said Gomez won't be in the lineup for tonight's game, and any time beyond that is yet to be determined. Preston Tucker is the only other option on the 25-Man roster. Hinch:
We've been pretty beat up in a lot of ways and you keep trying to hang in there with guys. You want to encourage more than anything. Clearly it's been a rough patch for him for a while. I'll take a look and see how it comes out tomorrow.

*Bregman, Springer and Correa went a combined 3x12. Marwin had your other hit.

*The Rangers scored three runs in the 9th to beat the Rockies because everything is just awful right now. The Mariners won, the A's won. Here's your division:

Southwest Paris: -
Seattle: -7
Houston: -8.5

WC1: -
WC2: -2.5
HOU: -4

*FanGraphs has the Astros at 3.9% to win the division, 12.9% to make the postseason.
*FiveThirtyEight has the Astros at 5% to win the division, 15% to make the postseason.
*Baseball Prospectus has the Astros at 3.3% to win the division, 12.8% to make the postseason.

*Luke Gregerson is progressing through his oblique strain. He threw off the mound yesterday and is expected to throw again on Thursday. Valbuena (hamstring) is running on a treadmill, but not on the field.

*Yulieski Gurriel aka The Train That Came Too Late is heading to Corpus, and is on track to join the Astros on August 16.

*And speaking of Yulieski Gurriel, his much younger brother Lourdes has just been declared a free agent but he likely isn't going to sign until after his October 19 birthday, when teams can sign him without being subject to international spending limits. Back in July we talked about the Yulieski signing as a gateway drug to signing Lourdes.

*Jonathan Arauz (acquired in the Ken Giles deal) and Kyle Tucker made MLBPipeline's Prospect Team of the Week.

*Fresno was named by Sports Illustrated as having two of the top 10 theme nights.

*You should definitely read Jon Heyman's piece on A-Rod. Buster Olney listed the Astros as a possibility to take a flier on A-Rod.

*Tim Tebow will pursue a career as a baseball player, if you care, which you shouldn't and probably don't.

*Vice Sports: Why Enes Kanter has a new name.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros beat the Diamondbacks 8-3 yesterday. But the A's beat the Twins, the Mariners beat the Padres, the Rangers beat the Indians, and the Angels beat the Tigers. So the Astros didn't actually make up any ground and remain 7.5 GB of ARL, 7.0 back of Seattle, 0.5 back of Anaheim, and are tied with the A's.

*The Astros scored all eight runs without hitting a home run - the first time the Astros scored 8+ runs with no homers since August 2014. Hinch:
We scored eight runs early and got out of the gates hot, and it was nice to do it without the benefit of the home run. We got a couple of good hits and when we needed it, we got a couple of timely, well-located hits, and we continued to tack on and chase their starter out of the game early.

*Collin McHugh threw the Astros' first complete game since Mike F. Fiers' no-hitter last August. McHugh:
My whole goal was to keep the bullpen out of it. Keep guys from warming up. Keep guys from coming in. We were able to accomplish that today.

You can't just ignore his 2016 debut, in which the Yankees chased him after getting just one out. But that's exactly what I'm about to do. In his last ten starts (starting with the April 11 start): McHugh has thrown 61.1IP, 73H/28ER, 56K:12BB. In six May starts McHugh threw 40IP, 40H/17ER, 39K:9BB.

*Carlos Gomez has been activated and will join the team in Arizona today. Colin Moran has been optioned back to Fresno. Hinch had nice things to say about Moran and especially liked how Moran just shut the hell up:
He's ready to be a big leaguer. He's going to be an effective hitter for us. He played a pretty good third base while he was here. He doesn't say a word. He's as quiet as they come. There's a lot to like about Colin Moran, and when he comes back, he'll contribute quite a bit. 

*Altuve's triple yesterday was the 2000th triple in franchise history.

*George Springer is 12x29 since being moved to the leadoff spot.

*Lance McCullers' 150 Ks through his first 25 MLB starts is 2nd-highest in franchise history, eight behind Tom Griffin in 1969.

*Memorial Day means a lot for Hinch, whose Team USA roommate was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

*A.J. Reed went 3x5 with a double and an RBI but Fresno and Colorado Springs ended their Memorial Day with a 6-6 tie in the 10th inning, thanks to a travel curfew where both teams needed to catch flights. Since it's the last time the teams will play each other, they just Selig'd it and called it off at 2:30pm. Josh Fields is having a tough time in Fresno. In 7IP, he has allowed 4H/3ER, 6K:5BB.

*Here's what keeps the Royals' front office awake at night (a notable read).

*Here's Lindsay Berra with 12 major league players who died serving their country.

*On Matt Harvey and the Media.

*Vice Sports: Sieg Heil, Refugees Welcome - A Night Spent Partying with Real Madrid Fans.

*Before You Go: Steven Wright's knuckleball is stupid.

This knuckleball is filthy https://t.co/Thg0tcI8eG

— Kent (@RealKentMurphy) May 30, 2016

Which Grizzlies can help the Astros?

The Fresno Bee has a really good article on how the Grizzlies are watching the Astros. Plotting. Planning. For what?

Fresno manager Tony DeFrancesco:
They're going to take whomever they need at the time when they feel they need it. Right now, whoever's the hot man is probably going to get the opportunity...They're looking for guys that can give them a chance to win. This is a big year for us up there. They're not going to have a lot of patience when they lose.

The Fresno Bee points out that James Hoyt is killing it: 12.1IP, 20K, six saves. And Grizzlies pitching coach Dyar Miller said, "With Hoyt, it's not a matter of if, but when" he gets promoted.

Some other names get bandied about, so it's a good read.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Read the Masked Marvel's recap of another loss in which the Astros didn't get any hits when they needed them. The Astros end April with a 7-17 record and without having won consecutive games.

*ESPN breaks down all the problems with the 2016 Astros. There are many. Only the 1914 "Miracle" Braves have made it to the World Series with a worse record to start the season.

*Now that this miserable month is over, the Astros are ready to turn the page on the season.

*Carlos Correa hasn't hit a home run since the opening series at New York, but he feels like his swing is coming back.

*Scott Feldman threw three perfect innings in his first relief appearance since 2012, and he chalked it up to being aggressive.
Something that has been a challenge for me the first few times out there was being aggressive like that. Maybe coming out of the 'pen like that kind of just helped jumpstart my aggressiveness a little bit and can carry it over.

*Ken Giles doesn't even know who he is anymore:
I'm out of whack. I'm not me right now...I'm not the guy I was the past two seasons. I'm somebody completely different on the mound, and I don't feel comfortable up there. It's just mechanical work. I don't feel comfortable up there. I don't feel right. I'm just trying to push through where I need to fix those things right now.

This is terrifying. A.J. Hinch also said that he was going to maybe let Giles skip the 8th inning, or high-leverage situations for a while.

*Today in "Okay (wink) buddy" Carlos Gomez is out for a couple of games with a sore ribcage.

*From Steve Grande: George Springer has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games, and 52 of his last 56.

*Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless (*shoots self*) accused Jake Arrieta of using or not using PEDs because they're idiots and I hate myself for even drawing attention to them.

*Ken Davidoff writes that the Yankees' hitting problems are "just getting embarrassing." Same!

*Arizona called up a guy from the Cal League.

*From the Hardball Times: An oral history of the Doug Mirabelli trade. Note: As I mentioned on the Lima Time Time interview with Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor, my wife and I were actually at this game - the only time I've ever been to Fenway.

*Before you go: The Fresno Grizzlies handed out replica 2015 Triple-A Championship rings last night, but 15 lucky fans got actual rings:

Tonight 15 lucky fans will get one of these in their box! Redeem at Courtesy Booth for AUTHENTIC CHAMPIONSHIP RING! pic.twitter.com/FUDUkyw2kx

— Fresno Grizzlies (@FresnoGrizzlies) April 30, 2016

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Scott Feldman struck out three in a 5-3 loss to the Nationals. 

*The biggest news of the day was that Evan Drellich is headed back to Boston to cover the Red Sox for the Boston Herald. So with Jose de Jesus Ortiz's impending departure to St. Louis, Drellich to Boston, and the mysterious parting of ways between the Astros and Amanda Rykoff, there are a lot fewer people covering the Astros now.

*Scott Feldman's changeup is starting to take shape, and A.J. Hinch noticed that his velocity is back.

*Richard Justice basically wrote a love letter to George Springer.

*A.J. Hinch hinted (hinchted?) that the Astros could carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players to open the season. That would mean that the final bullpen spot is between Wandy, Neal Cotts, and Dan Straily and allow the Astros to bring along a lefty like Preston Tucker plus whomever comes out as 1B.  (Try this route if you have trouble)

*Here's McTaggart on the race for the last bullpen spot.

*Dan Straily, out of options, is throwing 94mph and has a fingerboard.

*J.D. Alleva - who was a national amateur scouting supervisor - is no longer with the team.

*The Astros' outfield was ranked 7th in baseball by MLB.com.

*Carlos Correa took a picture with Lebron James.

*Scott Miller has the heart-breaking story of Tommy Hanson.

*Before you go, the 2015 Grizzlies got their rings:

Great to celebrate winning the National Championship again. This time with our rings! #growlifornia pic.twitter.com/NyibgoLLp9

— Tyler Heineman (@theineman13) March 21, 2016

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*It rained yesterday, so the Astros did things differently (yawn).

*Fresno, in addition to playing as the Tacos, will play in 3 Amigos-inspired jerseys.

*The Chronicle says the Phillies had concerns about Vince Velasquez's medicals and not Derek Fisher's in the Ken Giles trade. Derek Fisher wasn't worried either way.

*David Paulino thought the Tigers gave up on him, and then came the Astros...

*I'm not the showcase camp kind of guy. I didn't have, like, a great arm, couldn't run fast, didn't put on a show in BP or anything. I just always put up good numbers hitting.
-Tyler White, .311/.422/.489 hitter in 1249 PAs.

*Joe Musgrove - who in 2015 struck out 99 batters and walked eight - is likely to open 2016 in Fresno, and wait for an opportunity.

*Here's NPR's Morning Edition on the political crisis in Venezuela causing MLB teams to shut down their academies.

*Hey here comes Scott Boras with some idears about the Amateur Draft.

*Red Sox owner John Henry thinks maybe the Red Sox were overly-reliant on numbers.

*Jason Heyward is buying David Ross a suite on the road all season long.

*In yesterday's links we had one about the agent for a Cuban prospect quitting due to death threats. Today Lazarito speaks...

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Jim Crane is going to stick to the plan of making steady increases in payroll (or "frugality" as it is referenced in the link).

*This is our fifth year in camp, and when I took over we had the worst team in baseball and the worst minor league system. We had a plan and we've stuck with the plan. I'd like to tell you we're smarter than everybody else, but we haven't won anything yet.
-Jim Crane.

*The goal is real simple. The goal is to win. To win the whole thing.
-Jeff Luhnow

*Add Roger Clemens to the seating chart on the Astros' bandwagon. Keuchel likes it when Big Rog (as I call him) comes by.

*Luis Valbuena's foot hurt so bad last year the Astros asked him to go on the DL. He said no.

*Jeff Luhnow just lets Hinch do his thing.

*The Fresno Grizzlies will be playing as the Tacos ten times in 2016.

*The baseball program at Chase High School (Forest City, NC) got robbed. Tyler White got all their stuff replaced.

*Jose Altuve: voice actor.

*LOL o' the day: Colbert Hamels has filed a lawsuit against a Philadelphia promoter for stiffing him on $70,000 VIP tickets to the Victoria's Secret show.

*Yu Darvish is scheduled to rejoin the Rangers in mid- to late-May.

*How Seattle got reliever Tony Zych for $1.

*The agent for 16-year old Cuban phenom Lazarito Armenteros will not represent him anymore thanks to death threats.

*ICYMI: The Batguy posted his projections for the 2016 Astros.