Thursday Morning Hot Links

Alright so let's clear a few things up:
No Hot Links yesterday morning because Tuesday night I was up until 1:30am writing something you'll hopefully read here soon. Hot Links late this morning because I overslept from staying up until 1:30am writing something you'll hopefully read here soon. Tomorrow morning's posting plan is to be determined. Could be a late scratch, who's to say?

*Big News of the day yesterday was not the 4-2 loss to the Twins, but that of Yuli Gurriel's impending hand/wrist surgery to remove the hamate bone that will keep him off the field for 5-6 weeks, or from now until his suspension ends (if you are the Cynical Type).

Jake Kaplan writes about how this is, of course, better news for Tyler White, J.D. Davis, or A.J. Reed - all of whom had hoped to win an Opening Day job even with Gurriel's 5-game suspension. Luhnow:
It will provide an opportunity for somebody on our roster to play in the big leagues while Yuli is recuperating. We knew that was going to be the case anyway for the suspension, but instead of five days, it might be 10 or 15 days. Whoever it is who gets that spot is going to have more time to prove themselves. 

*Jeff Bagwell came to West Palm yesterday. Bagwell:
They're a machine right now. As great as last year was, there's such an opportunity for us to continue this. We're a good team. We're going to be a good team for a while.

*

Are you kidding, @tonykemp?? 😱😱#NeverSettle | #KempinAintEasy pic.twitter.com/ZbqsmcYjTg

— Houston Astros (@astros) February 28, 2018

*Tony Kemp's diving catch was SportsCenter's #1 top play. He talked about it to McTaggart.

*Hinch said that AC Favorite Rogelio Armenteros will pitch in the majors this season.

*Missed this from a couple of days ago: undrafted free agent Jacob Dorris is an inspiration to A.J. Hinch:
I have a soft spot for guys that never expect to be here or never had the way paved for these opportunities. He's a good story for the minor league camp that anything's possible. He hasn't been a top prospect, he wasn't a high pick, he wasn't handed anything, he just performed his way to big league camp.

Dorris was signed in 2015 out of A&M Corpus Christi. In 33.2IP for Fresno he allowed 22H/7ER, 28K:13BB for a 1.87 ERA/1.04 WHIP.

*Gerry Fraley writes that the Rangers are trying a new plan to beat the Astros this year: Start mostly lefty pitchers.

*Colby Rasmus walked away from baseball, but now he's back in Baltimore. Rasmus, on why he left:
Man, it wasn't fulfilling me with all the happiness in the world. It's always been that love-hate relationship. That's how it is with every player. All of my life it's all I've been around. I realized that even more when I went home. That's about the only thing I'm good at. Or, that I could get lost in.

I miss Colby Rasmus.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

Yesterday's Spring Training game against the Nationals ended in a tie because Selig. Carlos Correa's first homer of the Spring accounted for the Astros' lone run. Dallas Keuchel threw 3IP, 1H/0ER, 4K with 30 of his 43 pitches thrown for strikes. Feldman and Gregerson will throw in a minor-league game this morning while Brad Peacock gets the start against the Tigers.

*UPDATE: Max Stassi had surgery on his injured wrist yesterday, and will be out for six weeks, which would put his earliest return on May 1. Given that timetable, he would miss at least the first 24 games of the regular season. Also, given that he would have opened the season as Castro's backup, we're talking about maybe 5-6 starts on the high side (not including any spot starts he *might* get at DH). It's not great news for Stassi, who was likely hoping for a simple bone bruise, but it's also no reason to break out our sackcloth & ashes alternate jerseys.

*Doug Fister left camp today with some sort of illness.

*Keuchel felt pretty good, especially against the lineup the Nationals ran out.

*Through 12 Spring games Astros starters have a 2.51 ERA. Hinch:
We're stronger at this point this year than we were at this point last year. Lance McCullers wasn't in our camp last year. We weren't talking about guys like Feldman and Fister in the fourth- and fifth-starter spot. Fiers wasn't here last year. So some names have changed but the quality has been enhanced.

*Jon Singleton is wasting yet another chance to take the 1B role, writes Brian Smith.

*FanGraphs: The Astros' 1B/DB Dilemma:
With Reed likely to spend April in the minors for service time reasons and Gattis not at full health, the team has a chance to give (Tyler) White some regular at-bats against big-league pitching and see how his skill set might translate. It's a chance they probably shouldn't pass up, even though it will require the team to use a 40-man roster spot to get him added to the roster. 

*Juan Minaya, Brendan McCurry, Joe Musgrove, David Paulino, Brady Rodgers, and Danny Reynolds were all reassigned to minor-league camp yesterday.

*...But David Paulino totally feels "like a champ."

*Luhnow said Joe Musgrove has a very real chance to contribute to the Astros this season, either as a starter or long reliever.

*Though he was reassigned, Brady Rodgers will rejoin the Astros for the Mexico City series later this month.

*Jandel Gustave, raised by his grandmother, was left unprotected in last year's Rule 5 draft and was taken by the Red Sox who traded him to the Royals who waived him and was picked up by the Padres who offered him back to the Astros.

*Collin McHugh is one of Jon Morosi's 10 Most Underrated Players in Baseball (as is J.D. Martinez).

*Bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte does it the right way.

*For the first time, the NFL is willing to admit that Murderball might actually damage your brain.

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the Braves yesterday 7-6 behind a 3-run Jose Altuve homer, but the biggest news of the weekend (and, apologies if you came here looking for some NOOZ and didn't find any, it was a rather busy weekend at ACHQ) was the injury bug that reared its ugly head:

*Lance McCullers has a sore shoulder and, despite a clean MRI taken on Friday, could still land on the DL to open the season. He was scheduled to start a game this past weekend, but the soreness prevented that from happening, and there is no timetable for his return. "150 games are more important than those first two (starts)," McCullers told the Chronicle.

*Max Stassi has an injured hamate bone which, as Hinch says in this MLB.com video, affects Stassi's hitting more than it does his catching. Stassi will see a specialist in Houston today and rejoin the team in Kissimmee on Wednesday.

*As far as depth, Alfredo Gonzalez is the only other catcher on the 40-Man roster (other than Castro, of course). Gonzalez has only played in 32 games for Corpus, but hit .321/.409/.378 across three levels in 2015. Tyler Heineman hit .285/.334/.379 between Corpus and Fresno last year, but would have to be added to the 40-Man roster.

*Jim Crane loves what he sees in the 2016 Astros. Try the first link if you have trouble with the second.

*Brian Smith loves how much fun the Astros are having.

*Luke Gregerson threw live BP for the first time, and is ready to go.

*Teoscar Hernandez - who struggled in Corpus last year (.219/.275/.362) - is impressing A.J. Hinch in camp.

*Correa's rise makes the Astros hungry for more.

*Colby Rasmus: We just love the game more than anybody else.

*The Astros' ESL program is paying off for pitching prospect Juan Minaya.

*The Astros' shift from development to domination is almost complete.

*Fresno State made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years and alum Doug Fister couldn't be happier.

*Kevin Chapman and Jake Buchanan won an Astros basketball shooting contest.

*Guys like John Kruk and Dmitri Young are worried about Pablo Sandoval.

*Someone leaked the bracket halfway through the train wreck that was CBS' Selection Show.

J.D. Martinez done for year

J.D. Martinez is out for the year after he has surgery to remove part of his hamate bone removed on Wednesday. He'll be out for 4-6 weeks, and the Astros are hopeful he can still play Winter Ball.

Pablo Sandoval is the player who comes to mind when thinking about returning from hamate bone surgery. Telvin Nash and Rafael Valenzuela had part of their hamate bones removed in the 2011 season.

Here's a Baltimore Sun article on the recovery process.

Telvin Nash to return in a week?

The Astros are tentatively targeting a June 22 return for Lexington slugger Telvin Nash, after having his hamate bone removed at the end of April/beginning of May.

Rafael Valenzuela out with hamate bone

Eddie's Farmhand Rafael Valenzuela is on his way to Charlotte to have his hamate bone removed.

In 50 games in 2010, Valenzuela hit .287/.333/.489 between the GCL and Greeneville.

Meat Wagon picks up Telvin Nash

We mentioned the other day that Lexington outfielder Telvin Nash was out with a hand/wrist injury. Now there's an update: Nash is out with a hamate bone issue. If it's broken, then like Pablo Sandoval, he's looking at 4-6 weeks.