Sunday Morning Hot Links

No one will decide to take the family to Minute Maid (or literally any of the other 29 stadiums) simply because Brad Peacock is pitching. Justin Verlander? Sure. Gerrit Cole? Maybe. But Brad Peacock has been a completely different pitcher since throwing out of the stretch. The Astros and Red Sox were scoreless until the bottom of the 6th and went back-and-forth before Carlos Correa walked it off in the bottom of the 9th. Houston is 35-18.

*The Astros have matched their April win total with 17. There are five games remaining in May.

Most wins, calendar month:
22: May 2017, July 2005, August 1998
21: September 2018, August 2008, August 2001
20: September 2017, September 2004, June 1979, July 1976, May 1969,

*Houston has won 17 of their last 21 games. They are 8-5 in 1-run games. Last night was the Astros' first win of the season in a game in which they did not hit a home run.

*The Astros officially won the season series with the Red Sox with last night's win. Three of the five games played were decided by one run, four of them by two runs.

*Brad Peacock threw 6IP, 4H/0ER, 8K:1BB. Since moving to a full wind-up, Peacock: 23IP, 12H/1ER, 32K:6BB. That's an 0.39 ERA / 0.78 WHIP.

*Roberto Osuna's 25-game consecutive game save streak came to an end. Osuna:
This was one of those days. They attacked me early, but I was able to make the adjustments late in the inning and keep the leading run at third...I was able to keep the game close for the guys to win.

*Houston was 4x13 w/RISP and Boston was 3x12. The Astros left 12 men on base.

*Carlos Correa got the walkoff hit in the bottom of the 9th to complete a 3x4 day. Correa, on his approach to the walkoff PA:
I didn't really want to give the at-bat to Yuli. A walk or a sac fly would get the job done. I'm not trying to do too much, I'm just trying to put the ball in play to right-center field and it happened to fall for a hit. Once I hit it, I knew it was going to stay fair. It was on a line over the first baseman. That's why I started celebrating right when I hit it.

"We got guys who can get the job done." @Ken_Rosenthal talks with @TeamCJCorrea after his walk-off hit. pic.twitter.com/OnkWFXr17L

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 26, 2019

*Aledmys Diaz had hit three doubles all season long, then got two last night. It's his first multi-extra-base hit game of the season.

*George Springer, the Astros, and all of us got a mixed bag of news related to Springer's hamstring today: It's a Grade 2 strain. Altuve's is considered a Grade 1 strain. Hinch:
It's not as dramatic as we had feared. He's going to be out a little while and is going to exceed the 10 days. But (the doctors) were encouraged by their findings and their observation. He's really sore. He's not going to do anything for the foreseeable future. But hopefully, if the initial diagnosis is right, then we've avoided the catastrophe that it looked like on the field.

I think the most interesting thing about this quote is the emotion that is clear in Hinch's words. Hinch is not an emotional guy, at least outwardly. He might cry at Verizon commercials at home, I don't know, but he doesn't use "dramatic" and "catastrophe" in his comments to the media. So he's relieved, as we all are.

Yordan Alvarez Kyle Tucker Derek Fisher was called up to take Springer's spot, proving that the Astros - who care not for your tweets to them - are sticking to the "methodical plan" they have outlined for Yordan Alvarez to join the Astros. McTaggart straight up says that they're waiting until after the Super Two deadline passes, in which the Astros get one less year of arbitration with Alvarez before free agency. Jake Kaplan with the fire:
There is no performance-based argument for Fisher to be called up ahead of Alvarez, only ones related to service time and cost-cutting. By delaying the start of Alvarez's service time clock and ensuring he won't qualify for the Super Two designation during the 2021-22 offseason, the Astros stand to save a few million dollars down the road.

Our Own Brian Arbour asks if we fans should even care about the Super Two deadline. It's extremely good.

At any rate, in the Hinch-quote link, Kaplan outlines how the Astros have to replace Springer (team leader on offense, leadoff hitter, etc.) and why 2017 World Series Game 5 Hero Derek Fisher got the call. Hinch has already said he plans to go Bregman-Brantley-Correa in Spots 2-4, so presumably Altuve will take over the leadoff role until Springer gets back, which I'm estimating (with no knowledge of the situation) will be between the end of June and the All-Star Break. Luhnow, on Fisher:
We really felt like Fisher, given his ability to play center field and his speed and the fact he's been hitting well for a while now and can steal a base, it's a good combination for us.

Also, the Springer injury probably accelerated Jose Altuve's return, with which I suspect the Astros were being overly conservative. Altuve will join Round Rock today in Nashville (jealous) play today and tomorrow and possibly rejoin the Astros after Monday's doubleheader with Nashville. Luhnow:
[Round Rock has] a doubleheader [Monday], so he'll be able to get as many at-bats as he needs. We do a checkpoint after the first night and after the second day and then come back here. We're hoping to get him in a game here before [the road trip], but certainly the goal is to have him active and playing every day by the time we get out on the road trip.

*And then Max Freaking Stassi left the game early with an injury. Guess it's time to see what Garrett Stubbs has done with Round Ro- oh he went 1x2 with a walk and a 2-run home run before getting replaced probably about five minutes after Stassi left the game. Kyle Tucker hit his 15th home run of the season, and A.J. Reed went 2x5 with 3RBI. Stubbs is apparently on his way to Houston. It is his birthday. Not a bad present.

*Here's a good piece from Chandler Rome on newly-promoted-to-Round-Rock Brandon Bielak's ninja-like assault on the Astros' top prospect list.

*Corpus tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the 9th, but Frisco re-took the lead in the top of the 10th for a 10-9 win. Abraham Toro was 3x5 with 4RBI, and was a double away from the cycle. Seth Beer was 4x5 with 2RBI, and is hitting .382/.488/.529 in nine games since getting called up to Corpus.

*Ruben Foster and Freudis Nova have joined Quad Cities. Spoiler alert: Freudis Nova plays a huge role in my 4th-straight World Series win in 2023 on OOTP 20.

*Chandler Rome: Jeff Bagwell has a lot to offer this group of Astros hitters.

*The Rays are keeping in touch with Dallas Keuchel AND Craig Kimbrel.

*The San Antonio Express-News' Mike Finger has some excellent satirical shade towards Art Briles and Mount Vernon High School.

*RIP, legendary Dallas Morning-News sportswriter Gerry Fraley. Here's a great tribute from Evan P. Grant.

*Two nights ago Colorado's Trevor Story hit his 100th career home run in his 448th career MLB game. It's the fewest number of games ever by a shortstop hitting 100 home runs. Carlos Correa is at 92 home runs in 520 games.

*Amanda Eller, lost in a Hawaiian forest for 17 days, was found alive. Here's how.

*A Musical Selection:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Good news/Bad news. Yes, the Astros won, but it looks as though George Springer will spend a decent amount of time on the IL after doing something to his hamstring. Wade Miley dealt. Pressly and Osuna are human. Houston won 4-3. They're 34-18, having played 34 games in the last 36 days. It'll be 39 games in 41 days when they have their next day off, on Thursday.

*First up, let's get to George Springer. After missing the last four games with a sore back, Springer did something to his hamstring making a sliding catch. It is being described as "significant." Springer:
It sucks, to be honest. It's hard, but I'll make it through. I've just got to support the team the best way I can.

Remember that Altuve has missed over two weeks for something they didn't think was that big of a deal. Hinch:
I'm not looking forward to the diagnosis, to be honest. It doesn't look very good. He never pulls himself out of a game like that. He was limping from the very beginning...Our best team has George Springer in the leadoff spot.

Have a nice cup of bleach and look forward to seeing Springer around the All-Star Break.

*Against Boston since the beginning of the 2017 season (postseason included), the Astros are 15-12, outscoring them 134-115. Fourteen of those games were decided by two runs or fewer.

*Anyway, on to the game, which the Astros won. Houston got four hits and one extra-base hit - Jake Marisnick's 6th home run of the year. It's the first time since September 5, 2017 that the Astros have gotten four hits, one extra-base hit, and won the game.

*Top four in the lineup (Springer-Bregman-Correa-Gurriel): 0x14, 1K:1BB.

*The Astros were 0x7 w/RISP. Reddick-White-Marisnick were a combined 0x5 w/RISP. That said, Marisnick made two great catches in center field to help seal the win. Hinch:
There's not much not to like (about Marisnick) in a game like that. When you're a bench player...you just want an opportunity. You just want a chance to show it. And he's doing great things on the field. It's pretty impressive.

Marisnick:
Anytime you get a chance to get in there and get consistent reps and see pitching consistently it makes it a little bit easier to make adjustments. When you're not playing every day and you're trying to make adjustments and make things work it's hard. So it's been nice to play every day.

*Wade Miley changed his attack plan on the Red Sox, throwing way more cutters this time. Miley: 6IP, 4H/1ER, 8K:2BB. The last time Wade Miley recorded 8+ strikeouts? June 17, 2017.

*Jackie Bradley Jr hit a home run in the 8th Inning off of Ryan Pressly, breaking his 40-game streak without allowing a run. Roberto Osuna allowed a home run in the 9th to Christian Vazquez, breaking his 18-game streak without allowing a run. It's the first time this season that the Astros have allowed a home run in the 8th and 9th innings.

*What. A. Slide. by Aledmys Diaz:

chose the red pill pic.twitter.com/Z555KPLRvR

— Calhoun (@linkcalhoun) May 25, 2019

*Asked whether Yordan Alvarez's continued presence in Round Rock is Super-Two related, Luhnow:
There is no rush, but there is a methodical plan that we're going through to make sure that when he get here we have him contribute and don't find out a month later that he wasn't ready or isn't able to play left field.

*Jake Kaplan says Corbin Martin's leash is longer thanks to McHugh's injury, though Framber might get sent back to Round Rock to stretch out. Good piece on Martin's struggles with pitch usage.

*Everyone, myself included, is kinda sorta wondering just WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO FORREST WHITLEY. Chandler Rome, who has Access, did some digging. [Hey Siri, figure out how to get Access]. Luhnow says he might be hurt:
I think there's some arm fatigue, something in that area. There's no pain necessarily, just he's mentioned a couple times some discomfort.

At this point, it's probably better just to give him 10 days off and reset.

*The Astros' SLG is their most interesting stat.

*A.J. Hinch had to buy a bottle of wine for Gerrit Cole.

*Danny Knobler: What Verlander is doing right now, at Age 36, is unreal. Nolan Ryan comes to mind.

*Jayson Stark's Useless Info Department column is very Fun this week.

*From AstrosFuture: Go get Max Scherzer.

*FanGraphs: The cost of signing Keuchel or Kimbrel.

*Cavan Biggio made his MLB debut last night, just in case you had any hopes of holding on to any semblance of still being Young. BGO:
Obviously, it's hard to put into words. I can't tell you how exciting it is for our family and for him. He put the time and the effort and the work into it, and now to be able to be a big leaguer. We're excited about this evening.

Between the Bautista Bat Flip and Biggio, we're all okay with the Blue Jays doing well. Biggio was 0x3 with 2Ks. Lourdes Gurriel, Jr.

*Good Gesture:

Thank you to the @Astros PR team including Gene Dias, who grew up in Hanson, Mass just like my Dad. https://t.co/W45OG4f62V

— Ben Cafardo (@Ben_ESPN) May 24, 2019

*How the Fenway Sports Group built Liverpool.

*Yes, this photo of the line to summit Everest is real.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

Josh James made things more interesting than was necessary, but the offense was up to the task. The Astros swept the Yankees for the first time ever last night and improved their record to 8-5 on the back of a six-game winning streak.

*Longest home winning streak to open a season:

7: 1973
6: 2019, 1987, 1976
5:
4: 2001, 1968
3: 2018, 2017, 1988, 1979, 1962
2: 2014, 2003, 1997, 1980, 1977, 1967
1: 2016, 2015, 2013, 2008, 2006, 1999, 1994, 1991, 1989, 1985, 1975, 1974, 1971
0: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1990, 1986, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1978, 1972, 1970, 1969, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963

*The Yankees scored the first run in all three games haha.

*Hinch:
It was incredible to watch our at-bats the entire night, really, against any of their guys who came in. We needed to have good at-bats as the game played out.

*Jose Altuve hit a home run in the 1st inning and another in the 5th. In 71.2 IP vs Houston prior to that AB, James Paxton had allowed three home runs - all to George Springer. It was the 10th time in his career that Paxton had allowed 2+ home runs in a start, and the first time in his career he had given up two home runs to the same player in a single start. Altuve:
I'm as surprised as you are. I'm not used to hitting this many homers in two or three games, but I'll take it.

Altuve hit four home runs in the three games against New York. That's the most by any Astros player in a season against the Yankees. He hit four home runs in his first 285 PAs of 2018.

*Yuli Gurriel's triple was the Astros' first triple of the season.

*Jake Marisnick was 3x3 with a walk. The last time he got on base four times in a game was April 15, 2017.

*Collin McHugh threw 6IP, 4H/2ER, 9K:1BB.
Collin McHugh, 2019: 17IP, 10H/5ER, 22K:5BB.

Collin McHugh's slider is "kind of Astros legend at this point."

*Alex Bregman was not in the lineup last night after coming up with a [something] hamstring in the 9th inning of Tuesday night's win. Bregman:
Little tweak, I guess. Strain, whatever. Day to day. 

Prior to last night's game, Hinch described Bregman's injury as "very minor."

Altuve:
He's an MVP-type player, one of the greats in the game. I just want him to be smart about it. If he's going to take a couple of days, it's early in the season. We want him to be healthy when we really need him. 

*Correa is next up for the 100HR club, who currently sits at 83 career home runs.

Jenny Dial Creech: For Altuve, hitting HR #100 is "a dream come true."

Speaking of 100 HRs, you should totally buy this commemorative shirt (of which I get a small cut).

*Jake Kaplan writes about the changes that Robinson Chirinos has made since joining the Astros, including his defensive positioning, throwing motion, pitch-framing, and hitting. Let's see if the Astros can fix basically everything that was wrong with a career Rangers player.

*According to Forbes, the Astros' total value is a cool $1.775 billion.

*SI's Jon Tayler ranks the temperature of each MLB manager's seat, and - unsurprisingly - A.J. Hinch's is cold.

*The Astros are headed to Seattle, and their hot-hitting start defies the nature of a rebuild, writes Jay Jaffe.

*While the Yankees' roster looks like a Civil War-era field hospital, don't think they're looking at Dallas Keuchel just yet, reports SNY's John Harper. Scott Boras (with an assist from Keuchel, probably) screwed him over just fine. Harper:
....According to a person close to the situation, [who] indicated Tuesday night that Cashman is likely to exhaust all of the alternatives unless Keuchel's already-falling price drops another couple of levels.

*Nick Tanielu hit a walk-off grand slam to help Round Rock beat Nashville 9-5. Fayetteville was down 8-0, and won 11-8.

*Quad Cities pitchers Austin Hansen and Shawn Dubin combined for 9IP, 6H/0ER, 20K:0BB on Tuesday night in a 2-0 win over Clinton.

*There's an FOAC who is the manager for an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Nashville named Lauren Jenkins. Lauren was headed to Houston yesterday morning to open for The Wild Feathers, but basically all of her stuff was stolen Tuesday night. There's a GoFundMe to help replace what she lost to which it would be great if you decided to donate, or at least share on Twitter/Facebook. Also, support her.

*ESPN: The true story behind Michael Jordan's baseball career.

*Outside Magazine: Are you overdosing on caffeine?

*A Musical Selection:



Follow the Hot Links Music playlist on Spotify.

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros got Good Charlie Morton (or at least Bad Phillies) and a couple of key hits in the 6th inning and rode it out for a 5-0 win over Philadelphia. The Astros are 67-33, 37-12 on the road, 9-0 against the National League. Since the Mariners defeated the Red Sox again, the Astros' lead is still 17 games. Their lead on the team with the second-best record in the AL is 13 games. There are 62 games left.

*Astros record at 100 games, previous seasons:
2017: 67-33
2016: 54-46
2015: 55-45
2014: 42-58
2013: 34-66
2012: 34-66
2011: 33-67

Just to make sure you saw it, the Astros have won 67 games in their first 100 games in 2017. The 2011-2012 Astros won 67 games in their first 200 games of those respective seasons.

*The Astros and Dodgers both won 67 of their first 100 games - the first time two teams have done that in the same season since 1954 (Yankees & Indians).

*Hinch, on Morton (7IP, 4H/0ER, 9K:1BB:
I thought he cleaned up his delivery and his aggressiveness inside the strike zone. This team, they come out swinging, and it can make you shy away from the strike zone a little bit early.

Morton got 21 outs in a game for the first time since August 2015.

*It was the Astros' first shutout since May 26, a 2-0 win over Baltimore.

*Jose Altuve was a weak-ass 1x4, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

*Alex Bregman was removed from the game after scoring on a sac fly following his triple, thanks to hamstring tightness, and is the proverbial day-to-day. Hinch:
He got back to the dugout and complained a little bit of some tightness, and nowadays [that means] and immediate removal with the way the situation is and our depth. So he's day to day.

In what could be a preview of tonight's lineup Yuli Gurriel moved from 1B to 3B and Tyler White replaced Bregman's lineup spot by going to 1B.

So, just to recap the last week or so: Correa's out for 6-8 weeks, Moran is out for about that long, Springer leaves Monday's game with quad tightness, and now Bregman leaves early with hamstring tightness. All just as the pitching staff is about to get right. Baseball is a fickle whore, an unyielding Jezebel.

*With Thursday being an off-day and Fisher on the roster, the Astros could let Springer just sit until Friday and get three full days of rest.

*Pennsylvania native Derek Fisher was last at Citizens Bank Park during Roy Halladay's playoff no-hitter against the Reds. Last night he hit a two-run single there. Fisher:
It was fun. There were a lot of people here. High school coaches and teammates and guys I went to school with. It was a lot of fun, just to show to them that it's possible.

*A.J. Hinch joined 790 to talk Springer and the trade deadline.

*The Astros were among a handful of teams with scouts at last night's Rays/Orioles game.

*Ken Rosenthal reports that the Astros are "less inclined" to trade Frankie Tuesday due to his recent emergence in the bullpen.

*Buster Olney: Yankees should go get Sonny Gray, Dodgers should go get Yu Darvish, Cubs should go get Verlander. Astros...?

*Rangers players don't want the front office to trade anybody.

*Jon Heyman has a source that says a Gray-to-New York deal could be finalized by Friday.

*The Giants are reportedly interested in talking about dealing Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija.

*The Astros outrighted Ashur Tolliver off the 40-man roster to clear room.

*FanGraphs posted their KATOH Midseason 2017 Top 100 prospects (FanGraphs' minor-league projection system for their first six years in the Majors). For Astros purposes:
Kyle Tucker: #5
Derek Fisher: #29
Forrest Whitley: #32
Garrett Stubbs: #69
Francis Martes: #72
Jake Rogers: #85
Teoscar Hernandez: #93

*Fresno scored seven runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat New Orleans 10-3. J.D Davis hit two home runs, including a grand slam, while Jack Mayfield added a two-run home run.

*Kyle Tucker returned from the DL last night, and went 1x4 with a 2-run 9th inning home run that brought the game to 6-5 San Antonio...Corpus lost. Brock Dykxhoorn threw the final 5IP, allowing 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB.

*Cool story about Astros' PA announcer Bob Ford.

*If you want to sit front-row at an Astros game next season, those prices could jump 80%, though most of those seats aren't available for single-game purchase.

*Philly people are not happy with Odubel Herrera.

*Two Russians took Rick Perry on a 22-minute prank call.

Sunday Morning Hot Links

*The Rays pulled an Astros yesterday evening, scoring four runs in the 6th inning for a 6-3 win over the Astros. Will Harris allowed two of the runners he inherited from Charlie Morton - who fell apart in the 6th - to score. Hinch:
They did a pretty good job of putting five or six at-bats in a row where some positive things turned out on their end. Credit to them for putting a couple of things together. 

*Righties are hitting Morton with more, alarming, regularity in 2017 than they have at any point in his career. Morton:
For some reason righties aren't really having too much trouble with me this year, and I think (I need to) kind of reassess the same plan against righties a little bit. Because I've never really struggled with righties, but I am.

Through 2112 plate appearances, righties have hit Morton to a .252/.316/.355 slash line (far below his .852 OPS-allowed to lefties). Righties in 2017 (56 PAs) have hit Morton at a .365/.400/.577 line. Eight of the 19 hits righties have collected have gone for extra bases.

*Altuve and Gattis hit solo homers, and then scored what was then the go-ahead run with the best baserunning I've ever seen from him. He went 2nd to home in 5.5 seconds.

*George Springer's consecutive games streak is in jeopardy as he did something to his hamstring running down the line in the 5th inning.

*Mike Hauschild passed through waivers and has been returned to Houston, and will apparently report to Fresno.

*The Astros are one of five favorites to land Cuban prospect Luis Robert.

PreStros Report - Games of April 22

Fresno (8-9) carried a 5-4 lead into the top of the 7th, but Salt Lake scored two runs and beat Fresno 6-5. Frankie Tuesday had command issues, throwing just 3IP, 8H/4ER, 2K:3BB. Kevin Comer threw three scoreless innings in relief. Ryan Thompson gave up the tying and go-ahead runs, and Dayan Diaz lowered his ERA to 1.17 with 2IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB. Teoscar Hernandez was 2x4 with a triple, RBI and an outfield assist at home plate. Preston Tucker was 2x4 with 2RBI, Derek Fisher hit a two-run homer, his 3rd of the season.

Corpus (10-5) gave up four in the bottom of the 1st at Frisco and couldn't claw back in a 5-3 loss. Brock Dykxhoorn allowed 3H/4ER, 2K:3BB in 4IP and Cy Sneed had a far more successful outing, throwing 4IP, 2H/1ER, 1K:2BB. Jack Mayfield was 2x4, Mott Hyde hit a solo homer and Trent Woodward added an RBI. The top five in the lineup went a combined 1x18 with 1K:2BB.

Buies Creek (12-5) gave up a 4-spot in the bottom of the 5th at Carolina on their way to a 6-2 loss. Akeem Bostick got touched up for the first time this season, allowing 5H/4ER, 3K:2BB, with a wild pitch. Ralph Garza struck out the side in the 8th. Myles Straw and Anibal Sierra both went 2x4 with an RBI. Kyle Tucker was 1x4 with an outfield assist. BCA was 2x10 w/RISP.

Quad Cities (9-7) took an early 1-0 lead but Clinton scored the final six runs of the game for a 6-1 loss. Enoli Paredes allowed 6H/2ER, 4K:0BB in 4.2IP; Abdiel Saldana had a rough one - 7H/4ER, 3K:2BB in 3IP. Reggie Johnson retired all four batters he faced. Marcos Almonte was 2x4 with a double. Ronnie Dawson had a double; Alex De Goti was 0x2 with two walks.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

The Astros started the final 10% of the season with a 6-0 win at Seattle, the site of Collin McHugh's emergence as a viable starter two seasons ago. On April 22, 2014 - McHugh's first start as an Astro - he threw 6.2IP, 3H/0ER, 12K:0BB. Last night McHugh threw 7IP, 2H/0ER, 6K:2BB to spell the bullpen as the Astros' offense rolled the Mariners at Safeco.

*Mariners manager Scott Servais:
We were playing really good ball, and to come in here and kind of throw a clunker out there, not exactly what we were looking for tonight. 

The Astros did all their damage against Felix Hernandez, getting held to one hit and no runs in the final 4.2 innings.

*Who won yesterday: Orioles, Red Sox, Rangers, Blue Jays
*Who lost yesterday: Mariners, Yankees, Tigers,

WC1/2: Toronto/Baltimore
Detroit/Seattle: -3
Houston: -4

There are 15 games left. FanGraphs has it at 9.5%. FiveThirtyEight puts it at 12%. Seems high.

*McHugh to Musgrove:
'These last four starts, you really have to empty the tank. Whatever you have left, you have to treat every one as a must-win grind.' When you're going into a playoff push like this, kind of having a little bit of experience like last year shows you what it takes and how important and crucial every game is. 

*Altuve was back in the lineup, but Bregman may be done for the season with his hamstring injury. Hinch:
The diagnosis for [Bregman] is a little disheartening. He's got a hamstring injury that would normally require a DL stint right away...Where we're at on the schedule, that obviously is not a good sign. So he'll be back in Houston and beginning the therapy needed and the treatment needed. He won't be with us. 

*Colin Moran was called up to serve as an extra third baseman.

*Dallas Keuchel still hasn't played catch. But how the Astros fare against Seattle over the rest of the weekend will determine if he ramps up his recovery process. Keuchel:
It's tough, but yeah, we're going to take this series and see where we're at and then we go to Oakland. I fully expect if we win this series then I'll be playing catch in Oakland. 

*With over 70 walks, Carlos Correa has the most walks by a shortstop since 2009.

*Want a free agent this offseason? Jon Heyman has the Top 30 free agents with a ballpark guess at their contract details.

*Jeff Passan on the Padres and baseball's dirty information wars.

*W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (you may have seen the film version: Field of Dreams) died in British Columbia with a doctor-assisted death.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

The Astros will carry a W1 against the Rangers until May 2017 after last night's costly win. Why so costly? Because Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman both left the game with injuries. Because that's how Astros fandom goes.

More on that in a second. George Springer tied Craig Biggio's franchise mark with his 8th leadoff homer of the season, Teoscar Hernandez hit a 2-run shot, and Joe Musgrove threw 6.1IP, 5H/3ER, 7K:2BB, throwing 79 of his 106 pitches for strikes.

*Hinch, on playing the Rangers:
I want to see them again. If we see them again, it means we're meeting in October, so bring it. I hope we're there. 

*Marwin Gonzalez played three infield positions and smoked a two-run single to clinch the victory. Hinch:
He's been stuck at first base quite a bit, but that doesn't speak to his versatility. When something happens, Marwin can fill in admirably. 

Hinch had to negate the DH role when Yulieski Gurriel switched from DH to 3B in the 8th. Hinch:
I didn't have a lot of options. We had players going down left and right. I wanted to put our best defense in when we had the lead. 

*Altuve left with oblique discomfort and one inning later Bregman was pulled after grabbing at his hamstring. Hinch:
They're getting looked at, getting all the tests. They're going to have a full evaluation before we know anything. I'm not optimistic about Friday for either one of them. 

So just to recap the injury situation since July 27, here's who has missed time with injuries:

Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, Luke Gregerson, Luis Valbuena, now Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman. Two starting pitchers and three key position players. 

*Wild Card update: The Astros are 3.5 GB of WC2 with the Tigers, Mariners, and Yankees between them and the Blue Jays. There are 16 games left. If the Astros go 12-4 over their last 16 games it means the following would need to happen to get into the postseason:

Blue Jays: 8-9

Tigers: 9-8

Mariners: 9-7

Yankees: 10-7

The Astros begin a series at Seattle on Friday, with Seattle riding an 8-game winning streak. 

FanGraphs: 6.3%

FiveThirtyEight: 8%

*24 of the first 33 games in 2017 will be against AL West teams. Check the schedule here. To be honest, I don't even want to look at Friday's schedule, much less 2017. They'll close out 2017 with three games at Grapevine Mills and four games at Boston. 

*Lourdes Gurriel told reporters following his showcase in Panama that he would love to play with his brother Yulieski. And we would love to watch that. Lourdes Gurriel:

I've always thought of (the possibility) to play with my brothers from the beginning. He's in the big leagues and I can do it, too. Why not? It's a goal of mine to be up there with him. 

Open that checkbook, Jim!

*A "fan" apparently threw a lime at Carlos Gomez as Tuesday night's game ended. When Gomez gestured towards the fan, they threw a baseball. Gomez:

I thought it was a golf ball. It was a lime. They were screaming at me the whole game in really offensive language, but I didn't even look at them. You can talk, but when you try to injure me, it's not fun. 

Between lime/baseball throwing and drunk angry truth-telling Astros fan, Tuesday night wasn't a good night for Astros supporters.

*San Antonio's mayor shelved a plan to bring Triple-A baseball to the city by 2019.

*Boston Globe: Bill James and the inside-baseball explanation for the rise of Donald Trump.

*The hypocrisy of Tony LaRussa

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros scored three runs with two outs in the 8th, starting with a dropped 3rd strike. Altuve, who was 4x25 on the homestand, isn't worried:
I think it's a good time to be struggling, because the team is playing good and we got the wins anyway.

Who Won Yesterday: The Rangers (sure), Tigers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees

Who Lost Yesterday: The Orioles, Mariners, Royals

The Astros remain 8.5 GB of the Rangers, 3.0 up on the Mariners
The Astros are 2.0 GB of the Red Sox for WC1; 1.0 GB of the Orioles/Tigers for WC2.

*FanGraphs gives the Astros a 23.7% chance of winning a Wild Card spot.
FiveThirtyEight puts the Astros at 27% to make the playoffs.

*Not long after saying that his body was geared up for the stretch run of September baseball, the Astros are shuffling the rotation to accommodate Dallas Keuchel's fatigue.

*Marwin Gonzalez left the dugout with a trainer after experiencing some significant hamstring discomfort.

*Brian T. Smith, who has on numerous occasions counted the 2016 Astros out, says to not count the 2016 Astros out.

*Fresno's season doesn't end until Tuesday, so it's unlikely that position players will join the Astros before then, but guys like Jandel Gustave and Brady Rodgers (who will need to be placed on the 40-Man roster) could join the Astros before the Rangers season.

*Brady Rodgers was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year after a season in which his 2.91 ERA led the league. It's the 3rd-best ERA in Fresno's team history:
Putting Rodgers' superb 2016 season into further perspective, 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner sported a 3.16 ERA in his lone season in Fresno, 2010. 

*Francis Martes and David Paulino will represent the Astros in the Arizona Fall League along with Garrett Stubbs, Ramon Laureano, Jason Martin, Nick Tanielu, and Jacob Dorris.

*Mike Trout was involved in a serious crash Wednesday night after the Angels game that required one person to be removed via the jaws of life.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the Yankees last night behind yet another strong Lance McCullers outing.

ERA leaders in the AL the last 10 years among starters age 22 and under. Lance McCullers tops the list. pic.twitter.com/4nz5ey2Ox7

— Matt Hammond (@MattHammondShow) July 28, 2016

Career ERA coming into today:
Lance McCullers Sr. 3.25
Lance McCullers Jr. 3.26

Updated:
Lance McCullers Jr. 3.21
Lance McCullers Sr. 3.25

— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) July 28, 2016

*McCullers' 11.79 K/9 is #onpaceto set the franchise record by Nolan Ryan, who had an 11.48 K/9 in 1987.

When Lance McCullers gets his spin rate above 3000 RPMs on his curve batters are 4 for 40 with 25 strike outs.

— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 28, 2016

*Rasmus came alive last night, snapping an 0x29 slump and a career-high seven-game hitless streak. Rasmus:
Any time you get a hit or a home run or whatever, just to help the boys is great. Especially as much as I've been letting us down, to be able to do that against the Yankees in a game we needed to win, since they beat us the first two, I'm thankful and happy to do it.

*Rasmus has a cyst on his inner ear that will require surgery.

*Carlos Gomez joins Luis Valbuena with a strained hamstring. Now with the possibility of just one healthy player on the bench, Hinch says a move will likely be made, but it's an easy move:
...We're expecting to put Fister on paternity leave soon. His wife is going to deliver his first child in the next couple of days, so we might have a transaction in Detroit that will probably be a position player. 

*AL West: the A's beat the Rangers, the Pirates beat the Mariners, the Royals beat the Angels.

-Red Oak: -
-Houston: -2.5
-Seattle: -6
-Golden State: -11
-Anaheim: -12.5

*Wild Card Watch: the Padres beat the Blue Jays, the Tigers beat the Red Sox.

-Toronto: +0.5
-Boston: -0
-Houston: -1

*FanGraphs has the Astros at 45.7% to win the division (Ramgers at 45.6%) and 62.9% to make the playoffs.
*BP has the Astros at 36.5% to win the division (Ramgers at 50.6%) and 58.2% to make the playoffs.
*FiveThirtyEight has the Astros at 39% to win the division (Ramgers at 52%) and 58% to make the playoffs.

*The County Mountie wrote up Round 3 of potential Astros trade targets.

*I wrote about the life and times of Rangers great Lucas Harrell.

*Trade talks are picking up on Brewers' catcher Jonathan Lucroy, and the Astros are apparently in the mix.

*Ken Rosenthal wrote that the Astros might be okay with letting Gattis be the catcher next year and to find a backup elsewhere, searching instead for pitching.

*Today's Knuckleball writes that Castro is the best catcher in the AL.

*MLB.com updated their prospect rankings for the midseason, and here's where we are:
Bregman (#1, yes, the #1 prospect in baseball), A.J. Reed (#38), Francis Martes (#41), Forrest Whitley (#85), David Paulino (#86), Joe Musgrove (#87), Kyle Tucker (#93).

Houston also is ranked as the 5th-best system in baseball by MLB.com.

*Francis Martes' line last night: 7IP, 1H/0ER, 9K:1BB.

*Sean Pendergast has the 10 Most Important Trades in Astros history.

*Eno Sarris has what it's like to get traded, from a player's perspective.

Thursday Morning Hot Links

*The Batguy has the recap of the longest regular season game in Astros history.

*The Astros left eight men on base in the first three innings, left 17 on total, went 2x15 w/RISP, didn't get a hit for eight innings, and still ended up with a win. Correa:
Everybody was trying to hit a homer at some point. It was the 10th inning, everybody was trying to hit a homer to finish the game. 

*McTaggart: The Astros' 12 walks are the most since they drew 14 against Milwaukee in 2000.

*Michael Feliz, who got his first MLB win yesterday, is growing up right in front of A.J. Hinch:
We watched him grow up in front of our eyes today a little bit more and a little bit more. It's real stuff coming out of his hand now. There's no tentative approach to him. It's 96 to 98mph. He's rearing back and blowing it by a very contact-driven lineup, so I love seeing that.

*Via Baseball Savant, Erik Kratz has swung and missed at 42% of the pitches he's seen - tied for 3rd-highest in baseball. At 38.55%, Carlos Gomez has the 9th-highest swing-and-miss rate.

*With McCullers coming back tomorrow night, the Astros are kinda-sorta going with a 6-Man rotation for the next couple of weeks. Fiers will be available out of the bullpen for the weekend. Hinch:
Nobody's out of the rotation. We're going to have everybody available. We need a little bit more information on a couple different fronts, most notably Lance. For him to take over a rotation spot, I want to be a little bit more convinced that he's able to handle the workload with the recovery and with pitching every five days.

*Hold the Call A Mup phone: A.J. Reed is on the DL with a strained hamstring.

*Read the story behind one of the most iconic sports photographs ever taken (which was taken at The Astrodome)

*We recorded a bonus episode of Lima Time Time last night.

*Former Astro Brandon Laird won $10,000 and a year's supply of beer.

*A new documentary highlights the improbability of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.

Before You Go: Watch Derek Fisher hustle for an inside-the-park home run

WATCH: @DeFish23 speeds his way around the bases for an inside the park home run! #IMHOOKED #IWasRunning pic.twitter.com/TkZrR888hI

— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) May 11, 2016

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros have a 2.5 game lead on the Rangers in the AL West through 39.5% of the season.

*The must-read of the morning on yesterday's 13-0 beating of the Mariners comes not from any Astros-related site, it comes from Mariners blog Lookout Landing, and not because of schadenfreude, but because this is an excellent recap of one game in the grand scheme of things.

*Lance McCullers threw five no-hit innings despite not having his best stuff, says Lance McCullers:
I had to battle from the first pitch on, and I knew that. I knew I didn't have the same stuff I usually have, but thankfully I had good defense and (Conger) helped me battle through.

*Jose Altuve, whose hamstring was a sacrifice to Tal's Hill in order to break the 7-game losing streak, has begun light running.

*The return of Jed Lowrie will serve as one of the Astros' "key July acquisitions," though he likely won't be playing shortstop when he returns. A.J. Hinch:
Personally, he's played a lot of different positions...so I won't deal with that until he's (doing baseball activities).

*The Houston Press' John Royal says the CSN Houston lawsuit is "nonsense"

*Brad Peacock is back in Houston for re-evaluation after aggravating something during his rehab start in Corpus

*Lucas Harrell was released by his Korean League team

*Not Hank's wife wrote a post for Father's Day

*Reminder: We're updating signings and numbers from the 2015 draft as we find them

Sunday Morning Hot Links

The Astros maintain a 1.5-game lead in the AL West. Check the Playoff Odds at the sidebar.

*You can find the latest news and numbers from the 2015 Astros draft right here. For instance: the Astros are currently $311,100 under their bonus pool so far...

*Carlos Correa "exudes a desire to be great" on and off the field.

*After getting blasted by the Mariners yesterday, the Astros and McHugh will work on his mechanics.

*And Jeff Luhnow acknowledged that they're not going to be idle in trade talks over the next few weeks.

*The Astros think they avoided a disaster with Altuve's hamstring.

*Brad Peacock cut his rehab outing short due to some kind of setback.

*The Braves signed recently-released Alex White

The Meat Wagon comes for Austin Wates

According to Corpus, Austin Wates has been placed on the DL with a hamstring injury. In 16 games (60 ABs) for the Hooks, Wates is hitting .317/.438/.467 with 11K:11BB, 9SB - .333/.435/.538 in his last ten games.

Jio Mier done with rehab

2009 1st Round pick Jio Mier, who has been out for three months with a hamstring injury, is done with his rehab, and presumably heading back to Lancaster, according to none other than Jio Mier.

Mier on track for his best season in full-season baseball, hitting .309/.414/.447 in 26 games for Lancaster before the injury. In five rehab games for the GCL Astros, he hit .214/.250/.286.

Early Sunday afternoon update

Carlos Lee has been placed on the 15-Day DL with a hamstring sprain, and thus Brett Wallace has been recalled from OKC. This is the second time that Lee has been placed on the DL, with the first time coming in 2008 - after Bronson Arroyo hit him on the finger with a pitch on August 9, 2008.

In 50 games for OKC, Brett Wallace was hitting .265/.327/.476, with 49K:12BB in 202 PAs. In his last ten games, Wallace has hit .267/.450/.633, with 11K:8BB, and has hit 3HR in his last four games.

Also, Brad Mills says the current plan is for Jordan Lyles to stay in the rotation...for good. Perhaps this was a way of getting Lyles to settle down in advance of today's start against the Reds.

Keith Bodie got his 1000th win, and Jonathan Villar hurt his hamstring

Congratulations to Hooks manager Keith Bodie who, with a win last night over Frisco, got his 1000th career managerial victory.

Within the linked piece, we find that SS Jonathan Villar left last night's game in the 4th inning with a hamstring injury, but his removal from the game was precautionary.

No Carlos Lee this weekend

You likely won't be seeing Carlos Lee at first base this weekend, friends, as he has a hamstring issue.

Reply of the day comes courtesy of John Wessling:
but all Carlos heard was HAM. Mmmmmmm...HAM!

Updates on Mier, Wates

Zach Levine has your Lancaster Meat Wagon updates:

On Jiovanni Mier:
Diagnosed with a sprained knee, and will be examined today in Lancaster.

On Austin Wates:
Placed on DL with a strained hamstring.

Is George Springer hurt?

There are some rumblings that Astros 1st Round pick George Springer re-injured (or further injured) his hamstring Sunday against South Carolina...

Meat Wagon update

McTaggart provided the analysis and reaction to ST13, and we even get an update on Michaels and Norris.

Michaels: Is fine. Will be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Norris: Also fine. Threw off the mound with no complications.