Saturday Morning Hot Links

*The Astros played a team formerly in the Major Leagues in Baltimore last night, and beat them 3-2. Houston is 76-40. Oakland won because Oakland doesn't lose, so the Astros' lead remains at 10.0 games. The Angels, Rangers, and Mariners all lost. There are 46 regular season games remaining. Fifteen of those games come against teams currently over .500.

If you imagine a world in which the Astros aren't 9-2 against Oakland, and Oakland isn't 2-9 against Houston, the standings are:

Houston: 67-38
Oakland: 64-41

That world does not exist.

*The Astros improved to 14-10 against the AL East this season.

*Wade Miley did a job last night, against a team that is highly reminiscent of the 2011 Astros in that they're 3-4 years away from anything resembling relevance. God bless Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal for willingly deciding to do That again. Miley: 5.2IP, 5H/1ER, 4K:2BB.

The Astros are 17-7 when Wade Miley starts. Number of starts with the following earned runs:

4: 2
3: 6
2: 8
1: 5
0: 3

Yep. In 24 starts, Wade Miley has allowed 4ER just twice.

Miley's 5.2IP, 5H/1ER performance put his ERA at 2.99. The Astros have three starting pitchers with an ERA under 3.00. And Zack Greinke.

Miley:
I was pretty wild out there early. I don't think it was until the fifth inning where I finally started commanding it where I wanted it to, but I was able to make pitches.

Hinch:
It was probably his worst command that he's had in recent memory, and yet he still pitched very well and got to the sixth inning.

Butt how? pic.twitter.com/IYOsrlq6JF

— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2019

*Joe Smith allowed a solo home run, his first earned run of the season.

*Dylan Bundy had a nice start for Baltimore, allowing 6H/2ER, 6K:1BB in 6IP.

*Bundy vs. 2019 Astros:  12IP, 9H/4ER, 12K:2BB, 3.00 ERA / 0.92 WHIP
Bundy vs Everyone Else: 102.1IP, 106H/60ER, 106K:37BB, 5.26 ERA / 1.39 WHIP.

*MLB.com says the Astros left 16 men on base. That would be the most LOBsters since the last game before the All-Star Break, when the Astros left 16 on base against Anaheim. Houston was 2x13 w/RISP against the now-38-77 Orioles.

*It was the first time since July 23 that Orioles pitchers did not give up a home run.

*Jose Altuve got his 30th multi-hit game of the season.

Multi-hit games, pre-injury: 10 (in 39 games)
Multi-hit games, post injury: 20 (in 41 games)

*Robinson Chirinos snapped a three-game hitless streak (0x11, 6K:0BB).

*A.J. Hinch says that Josh Reddick - is in no danger of losing playing time. Hinch:
I always go to pitch selection or I'll go to a little bit of how hard he swings and how hard he chases hits. He's not using the opposite field as much. There's little things that he could do that he hasn't done for the last month or so. He's not in any danger of losing playing time. I'm comfortable with him as a real threat and I expect him to finish the season really well.

Tyler White's OPS, with Houston: .650
Josh Reddick's OPS, w/Houston: .710

On May 25 Reddick was hitting .333/.386/.455 for an .840 OPS.
Since (232 PAs), Reddick is "hitting" .223/.255/.353, a .609 OPS.

*Mike Petriello writes about the chances of the Astros becoming the 2nd team ever to lead the League in Hitting K% and Pitching K%. 36 teams in MLB history have been in the Top 3 of both categories. The 2017 Astros and the 2018 Astros are two of those 36 teams.

*Brent Strom was released from the hospital, participated in team meetings, but won't join the Astros in Baltimore or Chicago.

*Ryan Pressly was activated from the IL, and Garrett Stubbs was optioned back to Triple-A. Need to get me a Stubbs "Stubbs" Players Weekend jersey ASAP.

*Chandler Rome: Yuli Gurriel's hot streak was sparked by his older brother. Rome:
In Miami this offseason, Yuniesky approached Yuli with an unorthodox idea involving weighted balls. Yuniesky thought flipping them in the batting cage would improve his brothers' strength and hard-contact contact. Yuli had never tried the tactic but, ultimately, decided to give it a shot.

*Our own Brian Arbour reminds us to enjoy this run the Astros are on.

*Here's your first Gerrit Cole-to-Anaheim hot rumor of the next eight months.

*Here's Hunter Atkins doing the Good Work: J.R. Towles was at Yuli's 8RBI game. Atkins:
A 35-year old married father of two working construction and living an hour north of Houston, Towles gets to say he is a former major-leaguer. Because of Gurriel, he was a swing away from being a former record-holder.

This is a really, really great story which is poignant and sad. God bless J.R. Towles.

*MLB's home run surge has pitchers scrambling and confused.

*Standings Craziness:

In the AL Central: Minnesota and Cleveland are tied for the lead. The Twins are 14-13 since the All-Star Break. Cleveland is 20-8.
In the NL: Five teams (Milwaukee, St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, and Arizona) are all within 1.5 games of second Wild Card spot.

*A day in the life of Nolan Arenado.

*Everyone knows the strike actually killed the Montreal Expos. The Astros were having a really good season, too, but Jeff Bagwell was hitting .368/.451/.750 when Andy F. Benes broke Bagwell's hand with a pitch so who knows how that would have impacted the postseason, if it had happened. Actually, it's time to rethink the Padres on our collective Most-Hated Teams list. Benes breaks Bagwell's hand. 1998 happens. Screw the Padres. Oh but the Yankees want to remind you they were really good, too. Expect a banner to go up as a result of this sluttery.

*Ken Davidoff writes that, in the wake of the Brett Gardner ejection, it's time for the umpires to show more accountability. All we needed to get calls for the escape from Umpire tyranny was for something silly to happen to a Yankee.

*Yankees GM Brian Cashman was mistaken for a car thief and the cops pulled up on him with guns drawn in Connecticut. Brian, there's only one GM who can credibly be charged with theft and that GM is Jeffrey F. Luhnow.

This concludes the Two Minutes Yankees Hate. Back to work.

*A death and life in the Bronx's opioid crisis. I broke my elbow in college. I was really overweight and decided - after watching Jackass - that the skateboard should be my primary mode of transportation. I bought a skateboard at 3pm and had broken my elbow by 3:15. My doctor gave me Vicodin. A lot of it. And he gave me more when I asked for more. I was lucky enough to escape being hopelessly addicted to it, but I got to see just how easy it is to get hooked.

*Outside: We've reached Peak Wellness. Most of it is nonsense.

*A Jordan bookseller's 24-hour 'Emergency Room for the Mind.'

*A Musical Selection:

You could put me in a room with a 12-string guitar for 100 years and I would not be able to come up with this, my favorite moment of the entire MTV Unplugged series:

The J.R. Towles era has come to a swift end

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Joe Christensen tweeted that the Twins have signed J.R. Towles to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Ahhh, Justin Richard. The promise you had! The ways you would tease us! You're now a Twin. No longer will we confuse your appearance with Chase Budinger.

Over five seasons - three of those stints totaling fewer than 53 plate appearances - Towles hit .187/.267/.315. But man, on September 20, 2007, we thought we saw Johnny Bench. Do you not remember that game? It was a meaningless one, although anytime the Astros beat the Cardinals 18-1 it can hardly be described as "meaningless."

It was Towles' sixth career major-league appearance. He started it off with a two-run double to left in the top of the 2nd. And a two-run single to left in the top of the 4th. And then an RBI ground-rule double to right in the top of the 6th. And was hit by a pitch in the 7th. And drew an RBI walk in the 8th. And then topped it off with a two-run homer in the top of the 9th.

The result? Six plate appearances: a walk, an HBP, four hits (two doubles, a homer, a single), eight RBIs.

But what was to come was not pretty. If you take out that one game, from 2008-11 Towles hit .168/.251/.289, bouncing back and forth between Houston and Triple-A/Double-A, where in parts of four seasons, he hit a maddening .286/.389/.443. But his days were effectively done when, on May 5, 2010 Greg Lucas brought the thunder about Towles, following his demotion all the way to Corpus. He wrote:

J.R. Towles is no longer an Astro because pitchers don’t like working with him. It has not been a secret within the Astro clubhouse that at least two starters—one with significant prominence—have had problems communicating with J.R. Everything from pace of the game, to targets offered, to being on the same page contributed to the split.

So fare thee well, J.R. Towles. If anyone has ever needed a change of scenery, it's you.

Three outrighted to OKC

J.R. Towles, Jose Valdez, and Alberto Arias have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. So the 40-Man roster now stands at 37.

Callup recap

Here are the six players who will lose playing time to Jason Michaels this month:

Lucas Harrell
Chris Johnson
Jordan Lyles
J.B. Shuck
J.R. Towles
Brett Wallace

Enerio Del Rosario will be activated from the DL to serve as the 7th player. First off, we called a list of potentials, and were spot-on (picking some players who were called-up in the meantime).

That said, it's a traveshamockery that Andy Van Hekken is not on this list.

Quintero activated, Towles back to OKC

It was bound to happen. The unluckiest player in all of baseball (J.R. Towles, natch) has been optioned to OKC to make room for Humberto Quintero.

Towles had the lowest BABIP (.189) in the Majors among players with 140+ PAs, and just couldn't buy a hit.

Towles vs. Corporan

The Constable has some astute, and not-so-astute, observations on the catching prowess of J.R. Towles, over at the Chronicle.

Astros' #2 hitters have been worth #2

Perhaps you've noticed the revolving door of hitters from the #2 spot over the course of the last handful of games, as Brad Mills tries to find someone, anyone, who can hit.

Because it just hasn't been happening.

Over the course of the season, #2 hitters are posting a .246/.316/.311 line. The .627 OPS is 57 points lower than the #9 spot, but not as bad as the #6 spot, with a .206/.275/.300 line, and we'll do the math for you: .275 OBP + .300 SLG = Caca.

Since May 7, the Astros have trotted out Angel Sanchez, J.R. Towles, and Clint Barmes. In those ten games, here's what you've had:

Angel Sanchez: 0x10, 2BB
J.R. Towles: 0x12, 2K:2BB
Clint Barmes: 1x14, 2K:3BB, HBP

Yes, that's 1x36 with 4K:7BB and an HBP. So just to make this more quantifiable, that's a line of .027/.182/.027.

Barmes gets the start at St. Louis today, so let's see what happens.

Lineup for G35: Astros v Reds

Interesting lineup for tonight's game, in which we see:

*J.R. Towles hitting 2nd.
*Bill Hall hitting in front of Brett Wallace

I really like the first part. Kind of want to vomit at the 2nd.

Towles don't need no stinking hitting coach

Lexington Herald-Leader's Mark Maloney profiled the seven former Legends currently with the Astros, with good quotes from Bogusevic and Norris. But the most interesting one was from J.R. Towles, on his month-long success in 2011, and what changed:

"I figured it out on my own. Someone needed a picture for a charity event, so I was digging through some pictures at my house and there was a picture from '07. I was like, 'man, my hands look lower there.' So I went and looked at some film and some more pictures from when I was going well in '07 and the beginning of '08, and my hands were lower then than they were in 2009 and 2010."

J.R. Towles is Cinderella Man

Richard Justice has a feel-good story about J.R. Towles and his various stops along the way.

Towles:
"I never really lost confidence. I always thought I could play at this level. It's just that when an opportunity comes, I've got to take advantage of it. "I hate the way it happened, but Jason (Castro) will be fine."

Towles' back spasms give me heartburn

So J.R. Towles is dealing with back spasms on the Monday of the week of Opening Day. Isn't this a pretty damn good summation of J.R. Towles?

Today, he took swings off a tee. Mills:
"It was good to see him do some baseball activity. He played catch and threw. He still felt it in his back, but he felt much better. To have him go out there and do some baseball activity is huge."

Other things we learn from McTaggart's notebook:

*In a complete lack of surprise, Wallace is 1B1.
*Joe Inglett led the Majors in pinch-hits last year (20).
*Alberto Arias threw a bullpen session.

In completely unsurprising news...

...we find that Quintero and Towles may share catching duties to open the season.

Mills:
"Both of them have performed really well, and there's no reason to think they wouldn't be able to handle the situation moving forward on into the start of the season. Corporan has also done a good job back there and has opened some eyes as well, which has been nice."

So it's not 100% settled, but there is a reason to think they wouldn't be able to handle the situation moving forward on into the start of the season. In 2010, Towles hit .308/.372/.513 in 39 Spring Training ABs. And then moving forward on into the season hit .191/.235/.319. I can't seem to find Spring Training stats in previous years, but there are plenty of reasons to think that Towles will struggle. To be clear, I hope he doesn't. But still.

While You Were Drinking: March 21

Here's a recap of what you may have missed over the weekend because you were puking in the kiddie pool:

-Good Lord, Reid Ryan is happy not to be with the Astros anymore. ("“Our fans are really going to see the difference on the field: the amount of hard-throwing pitchers we will have, we really haven’t had a guy that can hit the ball out of the ballpark the last couple of years. We’ll have that, and just speed and some younger players coming through,"

-Something that's not news, is now news, as the Astros won't be attending Doug Davis' workout.

-With a captip to SBN Houston, Ken Rosenthal reports that the Astros are apparently still in the market for a lefty off the bench, and another catcher. Click the TCB link for some good reaction.

-In a McTaggart notebook, Mark Melancon is working on a cutter and has a good shot at the OD11 roster.

-Everyone went guano crazy over the return of St. Louis Cardinal Lance Berkman over the weekend.

-J.A. Happ feels good.

-Brett Myers gets the Opening Day loss start against Roy Halladay on April 1.

-Angel Sanchez' back concerns Mills (and may earn him a trip to Oklahoma City).

-Ryan Rowland-Smith is out of the running for SP5. Nelson Figueroa is your likely SP5 candidate.

-In Former Astros news, Hector Gimenez just may make the Dodgers' OD11 roster.

-J.R. Towles is hoping this is his year.

Towles "feels good"

The Orlando Sentinel has a nice little article on the Astros' catching situation, in which they get some nice quotes from J.R. Towles:

“This year I got to work out a lot more and get bigger and stronger. I feel good coming in and I’m just going to continue to do the things I need to do behind the plate. I need to build better relationships with the pitchers and just do whatever I can [to improve].”

Mills wants to make sure it's not deja vu:
“J.R., so far, he’s having a good spring. Now he had a real good spring last year and was our Opening Day catcher. So we’re looking forward for him to continue to swing the bat and play well, catch well and continue to get better as he’s done so far this spring.”

While we don't necessarily care for his tone, the Common Man is right

Over on the ESPN's Sweet Spot Network, The Common Man takes a gander at the Astros' pursuit of another catcher.

The Astros are terrible. According to Dan Szymborski’s projections, they have just two hitters and two pitchers capable of being above average. Baseball Prospectus thinks they’ll be worse than the Pirates. This is a team with absolutely no chance of going anywhere in 2011. Ninety-plus losses is a virtual certainty. That’s going to happen whether Houston picks up Jesus Flores, or Ryan Doumit, or even if they manage to kidnap Joe Mauer. They can’t actually think they’re going anywhere, can they? If they do, well, they could be poised to make themselves even worse in the long run...

...Really, the only smart play for the Astros is to sit on their hands. If they get worse, they improve their draft spot, which would allow them to take some truly talented players in 2012. If Towles finds the talent that once made him a prospect, he can be dealt to a team desperate for catching help and bring in talent that way. There is simply no upside to expending resources to win a game or two more this year.

Like we said, we don't appreciate the insolence, but we agree.

Astros still not sure what to do about the catcher situation

Steve Campbell's post on C1 has some interesting nuggets, as Drayton and Easy Eddie met to re-evaluate payroll.

Run-DMc:
“It’s hard to make a trade now. Most teams are assessing where they are. But at the end of spring training, we’re certainly going to look at what we do at the start of the season. That’s what I’ve done for 18 previous years: We adjust as we go.”

Wade:
“We’re not going to go overboard to chase somebody. But at least it gives me a sense of feel for some of the parameters we’re operating on. Even if there was a guy out there making substantial dollars available, I’m not sure we would be in the mix to be able to go do something like that.”

More Wade, on what Towles/Corporan should do:
“Every opportunity they get to go out there and put their best foot forward, they should take advantage of it. We’re not saying we’re (definitely) going outside to do something.”

So how are they doing? In four Spring Training games, Carlos Corporan is 3x5 with three singles, and J.R. Towles is 2x8 with a double and an RBI. Quintero is 3x7 with two doubles, 3RBI, and a 1.214 OPS (limited sample size implied).

Castro out for the year

As suspected yesterday, it looks as though Jason Castro will be out for (most of) the year with a torn ACL.

Wade:
"The recovery for ACL and meniscus is about six months plus conditioning. There's going to be things as a catcher he's not going to be able to do. We're looking at sometime in September before he'll be back playing."

What the hell do we do now? Doesn't it seem strange to fret so much over a player with a .573 OPS (59 OPS+)? Well, the Astros are now going to take a harder look at J.R. Towles and Carlos Corporan. Brian Esposito and Rene Garcia are also in camp, but it's likely that the catcher they choose will get the majority of starts, as the Astros are sticking with Quintero at C2.

Free Agency, you say? Yeah...the only catcher available on the free agent market is Bengie Molina. And I'm not sure I want the Astros to go down that road. Molina is 36, and made $4.5m in 2010. Of course, you're virtually assured of going to the World Series with him on your roster. But still, Molina will likely want at least $4m, and his OPS+ was 67 in 2010. That won't cut it. Can J.R. Towles post a .623 OPS? Maybe, but it's worth saving that money to try to find out. And now that his nemesis, Roy Oswalt, is gone, there's less of a chance that a pitcher will go all Michael Jordan v. Kwame Brown on him. And I know it feels like Towles is as old as Molina, he's still only 27.

I just can't envision a scenario where a trade makes any sense. J.R. Towles, you've got more lives than an alley cat. Make it count.

Options "inside and outside" abound for the Astros to replace Castro

Steve Campbell's article on Jason Castro lets us peer into the mind of Ed Wade, as he weeps and gnashes his teeth about the knee of Jason Castro, and just who in the world is going to start the season (because it ain't gonna be Castro).

Wade:
“We’ll give J.R. lots of opportunities, Corporan lots of opportunities, and Q will continue to do what he’s been doing, and we’ll see if we have any answers internally. If we don’t, then we’ll look for possibilities. There’s not a lot of quality depth out there. I don’t know what we’ll necessarily be able to go outside the organization and get anybody the quality of Jason Castro.”

Earmuffs! Castro has a torn meniscus

Jason Castro is likely headed for surgery after being diagnosed with a meniscus tear, and no one knows just how long he'll be out.

Mills:
"If he does have to have surgery, they're going to have to see once they get in there how much damage and what they have to do. If they have to do more. It might be a little bit longer. We'll see."

Castro:
"It could have been a lot worse. We still have to talk to Dr. Lintner and get his opinion on everything. Once we speak and I'm able to see him and we'll just go from there. Obliviously, it's frustrating. It's happened and it's over with and now we have to really focus on doing everything I can to get back as soon as I can."

Berkman dealt with a moderately similar injury last spring, and we all saw how well that worked out for him.

According to Dr. Jonathan Cluett, a torn meniscus is often accompanied with ACL/MCL injuries, as well.

So who benefits from this development? J.R. Towles, whom Alyson Footer has already noted will get more ABs in Spring Training, though the Opening Day catcher is yet to be determined.

Towles taking grounders at 1B

In one of the what I'm sure will be, "Huh." moments of the Spring we learn that J.R. Towles is taking grounders at 1B "to increase versatility."

Would you rather see Carlos or Towles at 1B if Brett Wallace struggles?