Friday Morning Hot Links

So the Winter Zoom Meetings came to an end on Thursday. The Astros lost Jose Alberto Rivera to the Angels in the Rule 5 Draft, as well as outfielder Drew Ferguson to the Mets and catcher Chuckie Robinson to the Reds in the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 Draft.

Rivera will be 24 in 2021 and is coming off a 2019 season in which he threw 75.2IP, 61H/32ER, 95K:36BB, but is most notable for throwing 102mph. He has to stick on the Angels' active roster for the whole season or be returned to the Astros. Prior to 2020, I would not have thought it possible to make it on an MLB roster for the entire season after having never been above Low-A. But who knows. The Angels paid $100,000 for Rivera, and if he gets DFA'd or sent to the minors, the Astros have the opportunity to get him back for $50,000. James Click said the Rule 5 rules mean that there's a good chance they get him back, and they needed the 40-Man Roster flexibility:

If we've added Rivera, we'd obviously be down to one [roster spot], and we've got quite a few holes on the roster to be filled. So we anticipate additional roster changes over the course of the season and had to balance the need for those roster spots over the next couple months with the ability to protect a player like that. 

Ferguson was the Astros' 19th Round pick in the 2015 Draft and hit .281/.395/.440 at Round Rock in 2019. Chuckie Robinson was the Astros' 24th Round pick in the 2016 Draft and hit .217/.276/.324 at Corpus in 2019.

The Astros also picked up pitcher Joe Record in the Minor-League Phase of the draft, and pitcher Seth Martinez. Record was the Twins' 27th Round pick in 2017. He threw 55IP in 2019 - his professional debut - between Low-A and High-A, posting a 5.07 ERA/1.27 WHIP, with 68K:16BB. 

Martinez, 26, was Oakland's 17th Round pick in 2016. In 2019 Martinez threw 71.2IP, 50H/20ER, 74K:18BB, 2.51 ERA/0.95 WHIP.

*James Click told Chandler Rome that the word for this offseason is "Patience."

If immediately we have not addressed some of the areas that we have identified as needs, that doesn't mean we're not looking to do that later in the offseason. We're going to have that patience and make sure that we wait until we get to Spring Training - or maybe even a little bit into Spring Training based on previous winters - to assess this roster and how this offseason has gone.

He also said the Astros are still engaged in talks with representatives for both George Springer and Michael Brantley. Click here for McTaggart's un-paywalled version of the Click conversation.

*The Athletic's Eno Sarris predicts that the Astros sign catcher J.T. Realmuto to a 4yr/$85m deal this offseason.

Sarris:

Adding Realmuto to an infield that includes Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve could be a masterstroke, particularly if a lack of competing offers suppresses Realmuto's contract requirements.

He also predicts Springer to the Mets for 5yrs/$110m. 

*If you look at FanGraphs' Depth Charts for 2021, you see the Astros are projected for a .545 win% - 88-74 - or the 3rd-best record in MLB (and the top team in the AL). I don't know how FanGraphs is doing this, but I'm not going to question it. 

*Yahoo's Tim Brown wonders whether the 2021 season will start "on time."

*Great news: Gary Pettis and his world-famous windmill will return in 2021, following his bout with Multiple Myeloma.

*SI: The Hall of Fame must act with more urgency, before it's too late (RIP Dick Allen).

*I acknowledge that the Houston Texans exist and hooboy this SI article on chaplain-turned-GM(?) East Jackerby. 

*I am adding "This is Branchburg" to my very skimpy podcast queue.

*The incredibly-true story of Renting A Friend in Tokyo.

*An Italian man had an argument with his wife and then walked 280 miles to "clear his head."

*"Xmas or Bust:" The Untold Story of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

*Leeds United v West Ham at 2pm Central Friday.

*A pre-Musical Selection: I'm obsessed with Kent Nishimura's YouTube channel:

*The Musical Selection for today, which came from a movie my kid watch a few weeks ago, and hasn't been out of my head since. So you can have this happen to you:

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros...I just don't know anymore. Lance McCullers threw a magnificent outing for seemingly no real reason and the Astros rewarded him with exactly what they had done for the past few starts: 0 runs scored. The Gun Barrel City Rangers win 6-1. Houston is 29-30. If they do not win today, they will be the first team to make the playoffs with a record below .500. Making history is what it's all about. Sub-.500 flags fly forever. Morons. 

*McCullers: 4IP, 2H/0ER, 9K:2BB.

His last three starts: 17.2IP, 7H/0ER, 24K:4BB. 

And the Astros' "offense" scored zero runs in those 17.2IP. McCullers:

[You] can't take away games or innings, but you want to look at the large sample size. Subtract a 30-minute hump in early August, I'm rocking a sub-3.00 [ERA] in my last seven or eight starts, I think [it] indicates the pitcher I am. I'm really proud of myself this season.

The lineup did not feature Springer, Brantley, or Correa. 

*It was a little bit of a head-scratcher as to why Lance McCullers pitched last night, but it does set up Greinke in Game 1, Urquidy in Game 2, and McCullers for a potential Game 3 (or Game 1 of the 2nd Round - I don't know how many rounds of playoffs there are yet - in an ideal situation.) Today will apparently be a bullpen game. Framber will likely be deployed out of the bullpen, since he has experience doing that sort of thing.

*Brandon Bielak: 2IP, 5H/4ER, 3K:1BB.

*Rangers SP Kyle Gibson vs. Houston, 2020: 15IP, 10H/0ER, 13K:4BB. 0.00 ERA / 0.93 WHIP

SP Kyle Gibson vs Everybody Else, 2020: 52.1IP, 63H/40ER, 45K:26BB. 6.88 ERA / 1.70 WHIP

I hate Kyle Gibson.

*Chandler Rome: The lack of power and clutch hits have defined the Houston Astros. Hitting coach Troy Snitker, on the lack of in-game video:

That was one of the biggest strengths I felt we had as an offense. We had a bunch of guys who were willing to make adjustments in the game, they wanted to be coached in the game. They didn't want to go 0-for-4 or 0-for-3 before they changed something.

*Last night in playoff seedings!

The Mariners won both ends of a double-header. The Twins beat the Reds, the White Sox beat the Cubs, the Pirates beat the Cleveland Spiders. 

2. Minnesota: x

3. Oakland: -1

4. Chicago: -1

If all of these results hold, it would appear that the Astros would play Oakland in a three-game series. Nothing bad has ever happened when playing an important series in Oakland. 

*Thoughts and prayers with Gary Pettis, who has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and will miss the rest of the season. Multiple myeloma is a form of cancer that develops in the plasma cell. Pettis is expected to make a full recovery. 

*Carlos Correa is happy with his defensive effort in 2020.

Going into last night's game, Correa was hitting .256/.320/.362 with 13 extra-base hits out of 51 total hits (25.5%) in 2020. For example, Adam Everett hit .248/.299/.357 for the Astros in his career with an XBH% of 28.4%.

Correa, 2015-2017: 1573 PAs, .288/.366/.498, 83 2B / 66 HR, 137 OPS+

Correa, 2018-2020: 1008 PAs, .255/.333/.447, 45 2B / 40 HR, 109 OPS+

*With Ryan Pressly's blown save appearance on Friday night, it gave him the requisite number of appearances for his $10m 2021 contract to vest.

*Former Astros Great Hunter Pence retired from baseball. The former 2nd Round pick by the Astros in 2004 went on to finish 3rd in the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year vote (behind Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki), and had two All-Star appearances for the Astros before getting traded to Philadelphia. This is fun:

Pence was traded for Jarred Cosart. Cosart was traded - in part - for Jake Marisnick (who was traded for Blake Taylor and Kenedy Corona), Frances Martes, Colin Moran (who was traded, in part, for Gerrit Cole), and a 2015 Draft compensation pick that turned out to be Daz Cameron (who was traded, in part, for Justin Verlander).

Pence was traded for Jon Singleton, who did nothing much except hit no fewer than 14 of the most magnificent home runs you've ever seen.

Pence was traded for Josh Zeid, who was released after the 2014 season. 

Pence was traded for Domingo Santana, who in turn was traded to Milwaukee for Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez. Gomez was released in August 2016. Fiers won a World Series with the Astros before getting signing as a free agent with Detroit and then burning down the Astros. 

Good trade all around!

*Jake Kaplan notes that with one additional walk, or one fewer PA, in 2018 or 2019, Kyle Tucker would have qualified for the Rookie of the Year race in 2020. How would he fare in voting?

*Brain-eating amoeba may be in Houston-area tap water, just in case you haven't 2020'd hard enough yet.

*I've been a vegetarian since the middle of May (a mixture of personal health, environmental, and moral concerns). So I love seeing that major restaurants are offering vegetarian options! Oh, wait. 

*Wired: The cheating scandal that ripped the poker world apart. Freakin Luhnow at it again...

*Leeds United plays Sheffield United at 6am today. GET UP.

*A Musical Selection:

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

Well well well. It's going to be a really dumb time to be online. The Dodgers beat the Astros 5-2, getting all their runs in the 5th while the Astros got all their runs from Carlos Correa. Meanwhile, Joe Kelly - who was with the Red Sox in 2017 and 2018 - threw behind Alex Bregman and over Carlos Correa in the 6th, which led to the benches clearing. The Astros are 3-2. There are 55 games remaining, assuming the season is completed.

Joe Kelly, to Carlos Correa after a strikeout:
Nice swing, bitch.

Dave Roberts, on Kelly's intent:
I really don't know, to be quite honest. I know he got behind Bregman 3-0 and lost a fastball. I really don't think there was intent behind that. I think those guys took a little bit of offense. Even the one to Correa, that was a breaking ball that just backed up.

Dusty:
I didn't anticipate that. I didn't anticipate throwing over somebody's head three balls and no strikes. One of our more important guys. If you're going to throw at somebody, you don't throw at the head...That's playing dirty baseball.

It's fair to wonder about Joe Kelly's intent. We are talking about a guy with a 4.46 ERA in 2018 and 2019 who walked 54 batters. It could just be that Joe Kelly kind of sucks. Kelly said it wasn't intentional:
No. When I was with the Red Sox we beat them in '18. It's one of those things that I pitch competitively. With no fans here, it's easy to hear some stuff (from the opposing dugout)...there's something they apparently didn't take too kind to.

Joe Kelly's 96.4 MPH pitch to Alex Bregman for ball 4 pic.twitter.com/QHm8JX3ATA

— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 29, 2020

Anyway, should be a fun one tonight. On to the game:

Carlos Correa was (wink) a triple shy of the cycle, had three of the Astros' four hits, and both of the extra-base hits. It's the 26th time in Correa's career that he had three hits with a home run. It's the 18th time he got two extra-base hits in a game. Everyone else went 1x27 with 8Ks.

Framber Valdez threw 4.1IP, 4H/3R (2ER), 2K:1BB.
Enoli Paredes faced four batters and didn't record an out.
Andre Scrubb and Nivaldo Rodriguez made their MLB debuts, throwing 4.2 scoreless - though not uneventful (four hits, two strikeouts, three walks) - innings.

George Springer's slow start continued with an 0x4 to bring his five-game total to 1x20.

7-9 in the lineup (Reddick-Tucker/Toro-Maldonado) went a combined 0x11 with 7K:0BB.

Alex Bregman walked twice but committed two errors.

*The Astros went ahead and picked up Dusty Baker's option for 2021, as well as Brent Strom's and Gary Pettis' options for 2021.

I know everyone had the pipe dream that the Astros would go back to Hinch the day after the 2020 World Series, but this is really fair to Dusty, and it gives him what would appear to be a normal shot to win a World Series after a 162-game season. It's fair, and I have zero problem with it. It also guarantees that Dusty has a chance at 2000 wins - he's at 1,866.

Dusty:
I've been a lame-duck manager four or five times. I was one of the lamest ducks walking around. It feels pretty good not to be a lame duck. This is the best that I've been treated in quite a while.

*With the news that Devenski and Pressly have sore elbows, and that Joe Biagini was placed on the 10-Day IL, the Astros got some insurance in the form of 43-year old Fernando Rodney, pending a physical. Mark Berman says the Astros had scouts in Sugar Land to watch Bud Norris pitch. The injuries are stacking up.

*James Click said that Verlander will be shut down for "a few weeks" and that it's too soon to say whether or not he'll pitch again this season. He's also hopeful that Devenski and Pressly will be able to avoid the IL. Yordan is close to taking BP in Corpus, but there's not a timeline for him rejoining the Astros.

*Cristian Javier will start tonight's game. Javier reminds Brent Strom of Butch Metzger, because of course.

*Jake Kaplan: Five takeaways from the Astros-Mariners series.

*Boob Nightengale: Will the Dodgers try to avenge the 2017 World Series?

*The Nationals voted against going to Miami this weekend for a three-game series after four more Marlins tested positive. Miami's next game is next Tuesday. A normal thing, I suppose.

*SI: What's happening to the home run balls?

*Former Astros Great James Hoyt was DFAd by Cleveland.

*That time in 1984 when the Soviets pretended to be Klan members in an effort to ruin the Los Angeles Olympics.

*The Legend of Jacinto's Gold.

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

There is nothing good in what follows. Houston lost to the got dang Reds 3-2 in what, I feel, is the dumbest loss of the season. Houston is 48-25, the first back-to-back losses since May 22-23. It's the first series-opening loss by the Astros since April 29. The Astros have scored two runs and had two extra-base hits in their last 20 innings.

*Hinch:
A one-run loss, you always look back at the opportunities missed and we had a lot of them, including at the end with our best guys up. We just didn't do enough. It's frustrating, obviously, to lose any game, but this was a winnable game.

Myles Straw was on 1B in the top of the 9th with Bregman and Brantley up. Myles Straw is the fastest guy on the team. Bregman saw one pitch. Brantley saw one pitch.

*I thought that drawing nine walks in a loss would be a fairly rare occurrence and I guess it sort of is, last night was the 32nd time in franchise history that it happened. But you don't even have to go back a week to find the last time it happened - last Wednesday (June 12) the Astros drew nine walks in a 6-3 loss to Milwaukee. The last time the Astros drew nine walks in a 9-inning loss was May 4, 2017.

*5-8 in the lineup (Reddick-Chirinos-White-Kemp) went a combined 0x7 with 3K:6BB. Kemp was 0x2 w/RISP, including one AB that ended with a groundout with runners on 2nd and 3rd.

*Michael Brantley had the lone hit w/RISP - his 20th double and 40th RBI of the season.

*Tyler White was 0x1 with three walks. It's the 2nd time in his career that he's drawn three walks in a game.

 *Anyway, Hinch thinks Gary Pettis did the right thing in holding up Bregman in the 7th on what could have been the tying run.

*Chandler Rome: The Reds beat the shift, and beat Wade Miley.

*Jose Altuve is getting closer to returning...or is he:

🚨 José Altuve triple 🚨 pic.twitter.com/kXzlrcUmeu

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 18, 2019

That's a limp there at the end.

Other Meat Wagon updates:
-Collin McHugh pitched again for Corpus last night, throwing 33 pitches (1.1IP) and allowed 2H/1ER, 2K:1BB.
-George Springer took live BP off of Joe Smith and is getting closer to a rehab assignment.
-Max Stassi is going to Corpus. Why Corpus? Round Rock is in Iowa. Iowa sucks.
-Aledmys Diaz is apparently dead.
-Carlos Correa's dumbass broke as hell rib is still broke as hell.

*Alex Bregman is dominating the AL 3B All-Star vote.

*Check out a rerun of the friendship between Johnny Bench and Garrett Stubbs. Also check out Jake Kaplan's Mailbag, which features the possibility of trading Kyle Tucker, an idea of which I am decidedly not a fan.

*Listen to the Astros Radio's Sunday Roundtable with Jeff Luhnow.

*The Current Astros have purchased the contract of Former Astros Great Felipe Paulino from Sugar Land. Paulino last pitched in the Majors with the White Sox in 2014. The last three seasons have seen Paulino in Sugar Land, where in 116.2IP he has struck out 154 batters. He'll head to Round Rock.

*FanGraphs' Sheryl Ring: Angel Hernandez's lawsuit against MLB just got real interesting.

*A window into six women's efforts to make it in broadcasting minor league games.

*Dallas Keuchel will apparently make his Braves debut on Friday night.

*I had the pleasure of interviewing Curtis Granderson in a former career, and he is legitimately one of the nicest people I ever met while working in the village of Cooperstown, New York (ever heard of it?). SI's Jon Tayler writes on the end of Granderson's career, which will likely end without a ring.

*The Mysterious Murder Case that has Captivated Iceland for Nearly 200 Years.

*A glorified beer league soccer team in England spent £4000 on a championship parade, and loved every minute of it. And HOLD FOR BREAKING NEWS: UEFA is corrupt! Being president of UEFA is basically the on-deck circle of going to white-collar jail.

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Wow what a dumb game! Dallas Keuchel was perfect until he very decidedly was not perfect and the Astros' bats took an extra day off. The Astros are 1-3 on their ten-game homestand.

*Keuchel: 7IP, 7H/6ER, 3K:0BB. Keuchel:
I've already taken a look at [the pitches] before I got too down on myself or blamed myself. Sometimes when you throw pitches in guys' cold zones, they're going to hit them out. That's just what happened to be the deciding factor, the last three runs in the seventh.

More Keuchel:
That's probably going to go down as one of the more frustrating outings of my career.

Keuchel gave up 3HR for the 8th time in his career and the first time since September 16, 2015 against East Fort Worth.

Sean Manaea didn't allow a hit until the 4th inning, setting an Oakland record of 14 consecutive no-hit innings. Hinch:
We just couldn't bunch anything together to where we could get something going and get on a roll a little bit. We had a couple of opportunities, but if you expect to capitalize on every single opportunity, especially against a quality pitcher like Manaea...you're not going to. Given a couple more shots, you're going to break through. But not tonight. 

*There were only three hitters in the lineup last night with an OPS over .800:
-Correa (.954)
-Reddick (.860)
-McCann (.849)

*Oh hey look Joe Smith gave up 3H/2ER in 0.2IP. His ERA is 9.72. His FIP is 4.01 Joe Smith is not very good right now and I'd rather only see him in games where it's 14-0, or at HEB. Smith's last two outings: 1.2IP, 6H/6ER, 0K:1BB.

*Collin McHugh threw a perfect 9th. His last six outings: 8.1IP, 3H/0ER, 16K:2BB.

*There are four AL West teams over .500. There are four teams over .500 in the AL East and AL Central combined.

*In this Alyson Footer Notes piece, we find that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and George Springer are buddies, Josh Reddick donated a bunch of jerseys to Kingwood High School, and Jeff Bagwell will make his broadcasting debut tonight.

*3B Coach Gary Pettis' son, Dante, was drafted by the 49ers in the 44th pick last night. Jake Kaplan has background and details in The Athletic.

*Tyler Stafford has a good piece in The Athletic on Ken Giles and his slider.

*Everyone who attends the June 24 game in Corpus against Frisco will get a replica World Series ring.

*Speaking of Corpus, the 12-8 Hooks took on the 5-15 Frisco RoughRiders (the Double-A club for Arlington) last night. Frisco had a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, Corpus tied it up. Then Frisco scored two in the top of the 10th, and Corpus answered with three for the 4-3 walk-off win on Myles Straw's single/Frisco's throwing error.

*Corbin Martin and Brett Adcock combined for a 14-strikeout one-hitter against Frederick last night. Martin this season: 19IP, 4H/1R (0ER), 26K:7BB. Yes, a 0.00 ERA / 0.58 WHIP. "Hitters" are "hitting" .065 against him this season.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Don't let football distract you from the fact that the Astros won the World Series. It is now 150 days until Opening Day.

Important dates this month (all times Central)
November 6, 4pm: Free agency opens
November 9: Silver Slugger awards announced
November 13-16: GM Meetings
November 16: MVP winners announced
November 20, 7pm: 40-Man roster set (for Rule 5 draft purposes)
December 1, 7pm: Deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players
December 10-14: Winter Meetings
December 14, 8am: Rule 5 Draft

*Watch Altuve, Springer, and Bregman on Weekend Update.

*David Barron says the Astros stuck to Plan A:
It was an overnight success six years in the making. Derided for what some saw as penny-pinching ways during three straight 100-loss seasons with the smallest payroll in Major League Baseball, Crane always said he would spend real money on the Astros when the time was right.

*FanGraphs: What if more teams follow the Astros' rebuilding plan?

*Twins GM Thad Levine said the Astros' "formula" may be too complicated to follow:
I think the way the Houston Astros built that team is so unique that I'm not sure you can really do that effectively anymore, with the changes in the draft and such that you're a little bit less invented to lose to try to win. We picked towards the top of the draft once - they did it for multiple years in a row. And they did a great job with that.

*Kevin Sherrington: How Alex Bregman's grandfather helped bring the Rangers to Arlington.

*In the first and, likely, last appearance E! News will ever make on the Hot Links, here are the dreamy details of Verlander's wedding to Kate Upton. Yeah, the location isn't bad.

*Oooooh look at the New York Daily News' John Harper throwing shade, saying the Yankees rebuild is working like the Astros' - but without all the losing:
While the GM Jeff Luhnow and the Astros are being celebrated for winning the first-ever franchise, let's not forget they tanked to completely that they were practically non-competitive for a few years. 

You can take out that "practically," idiot.

*Hunter Atkins: The 2005 Astros share an emotional bond with the 2017 team.

*NY Post's Joel Sherman: What other teams should learn from the Astros:
Getting the 11 or 12 wins in the postseason is a beast. The Astros played the best because they were not deterred by all that goes wrong on the way to nirvana. They stayed a proper course - right to a parade.

*The Ringer says the Astros didn't win the World Series, the Dodgers blew it.

*Guys, Clayton Kershaw is having a tough time:
Maybe one of these days I won't fail, we won't fail and we'll win one of these things...I think once the dust settles and we go home, we can realize that we had a pretty amazing season and we finished in second place, which nobody cares about or remembers.

The @Dodgers took out a full page ad in Sunday's @HoustonChron to congratulate the @astros. Well done. pic.twitter.com/Nk5FsC2vSn

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) November 5, 2017

*The Guardian: Why the Astros' World Series may end the era of super-rich baseball players.

Raise your hand if one of Correa, Altuve, and Springer won't be considered super-rich because of the Astros World Series.

*MLBTR has your Astros offseason outlook. They're also predicting the Astros sign Wade Davis to a 4-year/$60m contract this offseason.

*Jose Altuve gave a young Venezuelan kid his hat:

This is what it's all about. pic.twitter.com/39LRqVmUJz

— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2017

*Yu Darvish told Evan Grant that he had lost some of his joy for baseball in his final days in Arlington.

*MLB players are returning home to the Virgin Islands to help with hurricane recovery.

*The Houston Press will basically cease to exist, and that makes me sad.

*Watch Gary Pettis' son Donte set the record for most punt return TDs in NCAA history...and celebrate with the trademarked Pettis Windmill:

HISTORY on Montlake! @dmainy_13 is now has more punt return TDs than anybody in @ncaafootball history.

📺@fs1 pic.twitter.com/vxw4mYB4D0

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 5, 2017

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Altuve's Mad Dash. The Verlander Game. Whatever you want to call it, yesterday was a nerve-wracking bundle of nerves I'll never forget. Of course the two most potent offenses in the American League have combined for six runs in the first two games. Justin Verlander threw a complete game and Gary Pettis induced a collective heart attack on the Astros' way to another 2-1 win. Win two of the next five games.

*Correa, to Altuve before the 9th:
We got to do this for the team, we got to come through right now in this inning.

*Altuve was on 1st in the bottom of the 9th when Correa hit a double to right-center field. Correa:
When I saw him running I was like, 'Oh God.' And then obviously he beat it out.

Same. Except he didn't beat it out. Gary Sanchez misplayed the throw, allowing the Altuve to score and the Astros to take both games in Houston. Bob Klapisch has an excellent piece on why Sanchez didn't make that tag.

*Gary Pettis:
I was just happy we won the ballgame. At that point, everybody is celebrating. You don't remember anything but the fact you won, and that's good enough.

*Altuve went 1st-to-home in 10.27 seconds.

*Verlander, who threw 9IP, 5H/1ER, 13K:1BB:
When I decided to say yes, these are the moments that you envision. You don't envision going 5-0 in the regular season once you get here, that's all fine and great, but that's not why I was brought here. I was brought here to help this team win a championship.

*More Verlander:
I'm pretty tired right now, honestly. It's pretty mentally exhausting, the playoffs, but that's what it's all about. After that game is over and just kind of sitting in the clubhouse and having my teammates come over and say how much they appreciated that effort, that's what it's all about.

*Hinch:
I would have had to rip the ball away from that man if I was going to take him out. And sometimes you have to combine what you know with what you see. And that's really hard to do in this job, obviously it's a results-oriented game. When it works out you feel great about it. If it didn't work out I would have felt terrible about it. But when you see him finish games the way that he finishes, it's really hard to take him out of that moment.

*Verlander became the 7th pitcher to allow five or fewer hits with 13+ strikeouts in a postseason game. Read this article to see how Beltran has influenced the Astros' hitters and how data has helped Verlander become a more dominant pitcher. Correa:
That was the most fun I've ever had on a baseball field.

*NY Post's Mike Vaccaro: That's why the Astros traded for Verlander.

*Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, Games 1/2 combined: 0x14, 8K.

*Josh Reddick, who robbed a Chase Headley maybe-homer and then threw out Brett Gardner at 3rd base:
The little things may be blown into a lot bigger proportion than you're usually used to. During the season you come in here and miss the cutoff guy, you worry about the next day and doing it better. If your team loses because of it, you look back and go, 'Well, there's always tomorrow.' Now, you don't get that opportunity to look back.

*The Game 2 win made the Astros' FiveThirtyEight's favorites to win the World Series. The Astros win the pennant in 83% of their simulations. And in 86% of FanGraphs' simulations.

*Richard Justice: G2 win adds to the Astros' special resume.

*Everyone wants to call Carson Riley "Jeffrey Maier II"

*Yahoo's Jeff Passan: The Yankees couldn't live up to the Astros' "play clean" mantra.

*The New York Post ain't slick.

*Newsday: The difference between the Astros and Yankees is minimal. Other than that 2-0 thing.

*Alex Cora will interview with the Red Sox, Mets, and Tigers for their managerial opening.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*Man that was a crazy 24 hours for the Astros. After losing David Paulino for 80 games (and the playoffs) the Astros beat the Yankees on a walk-off throw. The Astros are an AL-best 7-3 in their last ten games. They're 55-27 overall with a 13.5-game lead over Anaheim.

*Let's start with what transpired before the game: Reymin Guduan (auto-correct is not a fan of either of those names) was optioned to Triple-A Freshno. Dayan Diaz was recalled and it was announced that David Paulino - this being his side day - would be available out of the bullpen. But because it had been less than 10 days since Diaz had been optioned to Fresno, he would be ineligible to play. And because Guduan had been optioned, the Astros would only have 23 players available for last night's game. Luhnow:
I had assumed it had been 10 days. It certainly seems like 10 days ago or longer to me. It was my fault. I made a mistake and will learn from it. 

AND THEN it was announced that David Paulino had tested positive for Boldenone, a performance-enhancing drug. Because of the suspension - and because Paulino did not appeal -  Dayan Diaz was eligible to rejoin the Astros for last night's game.

Hinch, on Paulino:
It's disappointing because of all the good that he's done in his career and to be effective, but it's the nature of the business when you try to find a competitive edge. The program's in place to catch these types of actions, and clearly, it worked.

*Luhnow, on Paulino:
He's remorseful. That's all I can really say. He feels bad about it, and he feels bad that he put the organization in this position. He'll learn from it, and I'm sure David will have a long and fruitful Major League career. 

Paulino had made six starts for the Astros since Joe Musgrove went on the DL on May 30. His best game was on June 17 against Boston when he threw 6IP, 3H/1ER, 4K:1BB. In his last outing - June 28 against Oakland - he was tagged for 7H/7ER, but with 8K:0BB in 4IP.

*Boldenone, which is also called Equipoise (root word: equine, as in "f***ing horse"), is the steroid that Jenrry Mejia tested positive for back in February 2016. It apparently helps increase the appetite, leading to bigger lean muscle gains. On Mejia's positive test, ESPN's T.J. Quinn had this to say:

Mejia tested positive for boldenone, the 2nd time he was nailed for it. It's old school, unsophisticated, easily detectable. Career suicide.

— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) February 12, 2016

*What does this mean for the rotation? The Astros have 12 pitchers and will have to add someone to the 25-Man Roster today (currently at 24). With a rotation spot available, maybe they can finesse it for a little while until Charlie Morton is ready to start this coming Saturday at Toronto. Morton will throw another rehab start today, in Corpus. Peacock will start Tuesday, with Wednesday's starter TBD. So right now you have (in no particular order): McCullers, Fiers, Martes, Peacock and...probably Musgrove, with Morton the first pitcher back from the DL, which would probably shift Peacock back to the bullpen.

*So on to last night's game against the Yankees. The Astros gave up a grand slam for the second night in a row - and the third time this week, giving the Yankees a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. In the 8th, a Correa RBI-groundout preceded an Evan Gattis monster shot to left, which preceded a Yuli Gurriel two-run double, giving the Astros a 7-6 lead. In the top of the 9th, Ken Giles got Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier to pop up before Brett Gardner singled and got too aggressive on the bases, and was thrown out to end the game.

*Hinch, on the win:
This game will show you something crazy every day.

*Gurriel was 3x4 with 4RBI, his go-ahead hit off of Aroldis Chapman's 101.5mph fastball was the fastest pitch he had ever hit (according to Statcast). Hinch, on Gurriel vs. Chapman:
He was incredibly patient. That's about as mature of an at-bat as you can get in that situation. It was a really special at-bat.

*Yankees manager Joe Girardi (scroll down past the Clint Frazier-fellating to read anything about the Astros actually winning the game):
Their offense is relentless

*Altuve was 0x3 with a walk and two stolen bases. It's his third 2SB game of the season, and his 2nd in the last four games.

*Frankie Tuesday threw 5IP, 4H/2ER (one of those came courtesy of Will Harris' grand slam), with 7K:1BB but was taken out after 89 pitches. In 21.1IP with Houston, Martes has struck out 23 batters. Hinch, on Martes:
When I went out to talk to him, I told him, 'That's the best I've seen you throw.' I'm proud of him for coming back after a start where he took it on the chin, in an environment like this against a team like the Yankees - that's a big performance. 

*Last night's lineup had as many players (four) with an OPS over .900 as they did players with an OPS under .800. Carlos Beltran is hitting .210/.260/.377 at Minute Maid Park this season.

*Ken Rosenthal's video from yesterday told us two things: the list of Untouchables is basically Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley, and that over the winter the Astros rejected a trade proposal for Jose Quintana because of their insistence on Kyle Tucker.

*Gary Pettis apparently slipped on some wet grass in Minnesota on Memorial Day and tore his meniscus. He'll have surgery on Wednesday and Fresno manager Tony DeFrancesco will act as 3B coach for the next road trip while he recovers.

*The County Mountie wrote about the Astros' defense.

*MLB sent a letter to all 30 teams saying the ball is not juiced.

*The New Yorker: My Dentist's Murder Trial

Sunshine on home plate tonight. pic.twitter.com/SQqqFGcZAU

— Mike Acosta (@AstrosTalk) July 1, 2017

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*Don't let the 2-1 loss to the Red Sox last night overshadow how crucial Mike Fiers has been over the last four starts. Fiers threw 7IP, 5H/1ER, 4K:2BB to mark his 4th straight start with 2ER or fewer and his 2nd consecutive 7+ IP outing. Over his last four starts, Fiers has thrown 25.1IP, 19H/5ER (1.78 ERA), 25K:8BB. We linked to the article yesterday, but just in case, you can credit Fiers' refined curveball with his recent success.

*Hinch:
We played well enough to win. In the big at-bats is where this game swung a little bit. 

Like the 6th inning, where Springer and Altuve drew walks, Correa hit a sharp liner to RF Mookie Betts (who also hit the go-ahead homer in the 8th). Springer tried to score and got thrown out by about a quarter of a mile. Red Sox SP Drew Pomeranz:
Mookie obviously helped me out there towards the end of the game. I don't know what [Springer] is thinking there running. 

On the 7th inning, when Nori Aoki came up with two outs, Gurriel on 3rd, Fisher on 2nd. A nine-pitch AB between Aoki and reliever Joe Kelly ensued, Kelly threw all fastballs (four of them 100mph+) and got Aoki to smoke a liner to third...right into the glove of Josh Rutledge to end the inning. Hinch:
We had a great matchup with Aoki coming off the bench against Kelly, and he hits a bullet to the third baseman. One foot, one inch, one way or the other, up, down, left, right, and we might be talking about a different result. 

Or the 8th, with Matt Barnes on the mound. Springer struck out swinging to lead-off the 8th, but Altuve doubled, Correa singled, and then Altuve stole 3rd, putting runners on the corners with one out. Evan Gattis got the worst possible outcome - an inning-ending GIDP.

*Alex Bregman was 0x3 to lower his slash line to .244/.319/.394 to drop his OP+ to 97, joining Beltran and Aoki as the only Astros with below-average offense.

*The Rangers won, Mariners and Angels lost. The division lead is 11 games.

*Meat Wagon Update:
Keuchel could play catch today or tomorrow.
McCullers may resume throwing this weekend.
Reddick will be ready on Tuesday.
Morton threw 15 pitches, took a break, and threw 20 more. One more bullpen and he may be off to a rehab start.
McHugh threw a bullpen session yesterday, and could face live hitters soon

Hinch:
In my shoes, it's kind of wait and see all the time when guys are coming off of injuries, small or big. We'll watch these guys play catch and then we'll meet with the medical team and assess what's next. 

*ESPN's David Schoenfield has a trade scenario for you: Francis Martes, Franklin Perez, J.D. Davis, and Teoscar Hernandez to the White Sox for Jose Quintana.

*Alex Bregman and Andrew Benintendi: Buddies off the field

*George Springer is not interested in your derby of home runs.

*Brian T. Smith: Fans are starting to come back to Minute Maid.

*Jeff Luhnow talked to the Providence Journal about Ken Giles and evaluating the health of relievers.

*A.J. Hinch talked to Evan Drellich about Dallas Keuchel, Rick Porcello, and following up a Cy Young season.

*Jonathan Mayo wonders if 1st Round pick J.B. Bukauskas could end up in the Astros bullpen...this season.

*Fresno and Albuquerque played a crazy one last night, with the Grizzlies allowing five runs in the bottom of the 9th...but still winning, 15-14 (a day after Fresno lost to Albuquerque, 12-11). Tyler White was 5x6 with 6RBI for his 10th straight multi-hit game. In those ten games he's hitting .565/.596/1.065.

*MLB.com's Terence Moore: The Astros can challenge the 1970 Reds.

*MLBTR has the Top 50 Trade Deadline Candidates.

*Astros fan Pete Van Vleet asked all 30 teams to woo his newborn son.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

Okay, so this is getting interesting. Mike Fiers was quite solid and the Astros beat the Mariners 2-1 on Yulieski Gurriel's 2-run single. As McTaggart notes, this is the first time the Astros have had back-to-back starters throw at least 6IP since August 24-25.

Mariners manager Scott Servais:
Coming into the game, I thought if we could hold them to two runs, we'd be in pretty good shape. But their guy threw the ball very well. Give him some credit. And our guys were a little anxious. I think you could see that.

Hinch:
We needed all the good pitching we could get, based on how their guy was throwing. It was another good outing by our starters, and if we can get that, we're a pretty interesting team. I like the tone our starters have set the last couple of days.

James Paxton retired the first 15 batters he faced. Fiers retired 17 of the first 19 he faced.

Everyone in front of the Astros lost. So the Wild Card race is as such:

Baltimore/Toronto (81-67): WC1/WC2
Detroit/Houston/Seattle (78-70): -3

There are 14 games left. The win and everyone else's losses jumped the Astros' playoff odds to 18.2%. FiveThirtyEight has it at 21%. If Baltimore and Toronto go 7-7 the Astros will need to 11-3.

*Fiers:
We've got a great starting rotation and maybe things haven't gone the way people want it to be, but we're still going out there and trying to do our job and not worry about everybody else. Just go game to game and I've got to do my job and tomorrow Doug's got to do his job and just go on from that.

*The Astros are asking MLB to review error calls that cost Jose Altuve hits.

*The Cardinals are unlikely to lose draft picks as a result of their breach into Ground Control. They're probably just going to get fined.

*Gary Pettis' son is a receiver at the University of Washington.

*Corpus manager Rodney Linares was a few blocks away from the explosion in Chelsea last night.

*Shohei Otani threw the fastest pitch ever recorded in the Japanese Professional League last week.

*Why 20 wins still matters

Friday Morning Hot Links

The Masked Marvel has your recap of last night's loss to the Mariners.

*Gary Pettis waved Jason Castro around third in what would have been the go-ahead run, but he was thrown about by about 20 feet. This is becoming commonplace as a fan, but Hinch disagrees.
Gary's right virtually all the time, so I certainly can't fault him for a play that they had to make a 430-foot relay.

*A boy with terminal cancer asked Jose Altuve to hit a homer, which he did to lead off the game:
He was like, 'OK, now you're going to hit a homer.' I was like, 'Eh, I hit a homer yesterday, so don't expect me to hit a homer today, but I don't want to make you feel bad if I don't. He was like, 'Yes, you're going to make it. We'll see.' As soon as I hit the hime run and I got to second base, I remembered what he said...I hope God blesses him for what he's been through.

*Altuve is just seeing the ball better.

*FanGraphs' Eno Sarris asked Dallas Keuchel what's up with his 2016 season.

*Everyone is happy Jake Marisnick is back.

*ESPN's David Schoenfield writes about the front office mistakes that have hurt the Astros.
That's the thing about building a winning team: it's hard. You have to be patient in a rebuilding situation. And you can't afford to make too many mistakes. The Astros have made some big ones, however, and their path to the playoffs, while far from dead, isn't as evident as it appeared a few weeks ago.

*Playoff Projection Check...
Five Thirty Eight - Playoffs: 15%, Win AL West: 9%.
FanGraphs - Playoffs: 29.5%, Win AL West: 19.5%

*Alex Bregman returned to the Corpus lineup after missing 11 games with a hamstring injury. He went 1x3, as the Hooks only got two hits in a 13-0 loss to Midland. Cy Sneed and David Schmidt got lit up.

*From Hardball Times: Can pitchers prevent solid contact?

*Yesterday I wrote about Brian T. Smith's column in which Gomez was quoted very literally. Gomez fired back (to Smith, not me):

@ChronBrianSmith oh yeah next time you want an interview have Google translate on hand.. God bless #GetYourWritingSkillsUp #ZeroNegativity

— Carlos Gomez (@RealCarlosGomez) May 5, 2016

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros and Angels won yesterday while the Mariners lost and the A's and Rangers were off. So the Astros' lead stands at 4.0 games, with FanGraphs giving the Astros a 37.5% chance of winning the division, with a 61.6% chance of making the postseason. CoolStandings is showing that the Angels are due for a big-time surge, while the Astros are still projected to play a touch under .500 the rest of the way out.

*The Astros have had nine runners thrown out at home, including one last night where Marwin was halfway between third and home before the ball reached the catcher's glove. A.J. Hinch talked about The Aggressiveness.

*Jason Castro was hit in the knee by a Ubaldo Jimenez fastball, stayed in the game, and then left when it started to stiffen up.

*Here's Owen Watson on whether or not the Astros' bullpen is for real.

*Here's ESPN's David Schoenfield on the importance of bullpens (including a quick note on the Astros)

*Carlos Correa isn't in Houston, Take 14: He sat last night because of a sore right heel.

*"Last year pretty much sucked," Jacob Nix told USA Today, "I was literally in the wrong place and the wrong time." (Note: This is an excellent read)

*Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of the Tombstone edition by the Chronicle, and Ortiz wrote about the reaction to the graphic.