Thursday Morning Hot Links

We can all complain as much as we want about the wacky extra-inning rules (God knows I did) but the Astros' offense was hot garbage last night. The Dodgers beat the Astros 4-2 in 13 innings last night. Houston is 3-3.

The Astros were 3x19 w/RISP and left 15 on base. That's unfathomably bad.

Kyle Tucker was 1x6 with 4K. The last Astro to strike out four times in a game was Kyle Tucker, on September 26, 2019.

Tucker-Altuve-Bregman combined to go 1x16.

Myles Straw was 1x5 with two stolen bases.

Cristian Javier looked really good: 5.2IP, 2H/1ER, 8K:1BB. Javier:
I felt good. I felt good and I was really focused on locating my pitches so I really didn't have time to think about nerves or anything like that. 

The bullpen threw 7.1IP, 3H/3R (1ER), 5K:2BB. Blake Taylor racked up 2.1IP, 1H/0ER, 3K:0BB.

Dusty Baker:
We had a number of opportunities. We just couldn't push the run across.

More Dusty:
You can't hit if you don't swing. Sometimes I think we can be a little more aggressive early in the count, especially with runners in scoring position, because they're going to try to get ahead of you and then mess with you.

Michael Brantley, who was 2x4 with a walk.
It's an adjustment period for everybody. George Springer, he's one of the best players in this game. He's gonna be just fine.

10% of the "season" is now over, presuming they actually play a full season. After 10% of the season:
Springer: .048/.200/.190
Altuve: .174/.321/.348
Bregman: .174/.321/.348 (not a typo)
Reddick: .182/.250/.364

*Houston made a trade with Baltimore, bringing in pitcher Hector Velazquez for a PTBNL in the first trade of James Click's tenure. Velazquez had spent the previous three seasons with the Red Sox. The first two went okay!

2017: 2.92 ERA / 4.20 xFIP
2018: 3.18 ERA / 4.63 xFIP
2019: 5.43 ERA / 5.46 xFIP

So luck sort of caught up with him in 2019, but he has MLB experience and is alive, so he is useful to the Astros' bullpen at present.

*PAB Joe Kelly was suspended for eight games for his errant throws near Bregman and Correa, and Dave Roberts was suspended for one game. Kelly appealed his suspension, Roberts served his one game last night. Dusty Baker was fined an undisclosed amount because the players broke COVID protocols by coming on to the field.

McCullers discusses Joe Kelly incident pic.twitter.com/cM2YnmNFmn

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 29, 2020

*ESPN's Dan Mullen: Inside the bench-clearing 6th Inning.

Ross Stripling on Joe Kelly’s performance last night: “The face that he made is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on a baseball field.”

Stripling said the #Dodgers will have t-shirts made with Kelly’s face on them.

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 29, 2020

*Leaking bag of fecal matter Bill Plaschke: Joe Kelly earned his spot in Dodgers' lore.

*George Springer had the night off and Kyle Tucker replaced him at the top of the lineup. Kind of like a preview for 2021. Springer is "hitting" .050/.174/.200 with 5K:2BB in 23 PAs. In 2019 Springer struck out in 20.3% of his PAs, this year it's 21.7%. His one hit was a home run so officially Springer's BABIP is .000. That's...unsustainable. Dusty, on Springer:
George is struggling right now. I've been where he's been. It seems like there's eight infielders and about six or seven outfielders. It looks like there's a hole on the field and every time you get to the plate it's 0-2. Anybody that's played this game has been there before. This is more of a clear-your-head day and stop counting.

The Astros are off today, so Springer will have a couple of days to get right.

*Myles Straw had been dealing with a sore hamstring, which is why he only made his 2020 debut last night.

*Chandler Rome: Chris Devenski and Ryan Pressly aren't ready yet, but will travel to California.

*Check out Jake Kaplan's new mailbag, in which he discusses fallout from Verlander, Urquidy, Whitley, the outfield, the trade deadline, and Josh James.

*Former Astros Great Jake Marisnick was placed on the IL.

*The MLBPA is asking MLB to consider shortening double-headers.

seems important pic.twitter.com/M0UON7cUdr

— MLB Insider Chomper (@ec773) July 30, 2020

*Rob Manfred now has the ability to punish players for electronic sign-stealing, with video rooms basically on lockdown.

*Make that 16 members of the Miami Marlins who have tested positive.

*I saw That Thing You Do for the first time yesterday. The craziest thing to me is that they got Adam Schlesinger (RIP) and told him, "We need you to write the perfect pop song that people will hear multiple times in a 100-minute movie and not get infuriated." And he did.

*RIP, Malik B.

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:

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*Shin Soo-Choo hit a leadoff home run against Justin Verlander, and then the Astros did some Astros things to beat the Rangers 7-3. The Astros are 40-25, still one game back of the Mariners (see below).

*Game in which the Astros won their 40th game of the season:
2018: 65
2017: 56
2016: 77
2015: 68
2014: 95
2013: 121
2012: 126
2011: 124
2010: 98
2009: 82
2008: 83
2007: 94
2006: 82
2005: 82
2004: 77

*Justin Verlander threw 6IP, 5H/3ER, 9K:3BB. It was just the second time in 14 starts that Verlander had allowed 3ER, but his 7th start with 9+ Ks.

*Adrian Beltre was 0x4 with 4Ks, his first Golden Sombrero since June 2, 2012.

*Collin McHugh (2IP) and Will Harris (1IP) each threw perfect outings.

*Jose Altuve hit his 5th home run of the season, going 2x4 on the night. It's his 25th multi-hit game of 2018. On the road, Altuve is hitting .415/.452/.600.

Bregman, who hit his 8th home run of the season:
When you have a starting staff that keeps you in every single game, and gives you a chance to win every time out, us as an offense, you need to be able to pile on insurance just to give them a little bit of comfort and a little bit of a lead. These guys know how to do it - they know how to pound the zone and get outs.

*Tony Kemp was 1x3 with a walk and an RBI. In 69 PAs this season Kemp has been on base 25 times (16 hits, eight walks, one HBP). In 120 PAs, Jake Marisnick has been on base 21 times (18 hits, three walks). Kemp also made a 121-foot sliding catch for the longest run by an Astros outfielder this season.

*With all four infielders standing to the right side of second base in Joey Gallo's AB, he laid down a bunt. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jeff Wilson wonders if the Astros didn't win that AB, anyway:
It's clear that Gallo has worked on his bunting, and it's something nice for him to have to keep defenses honest...His job, though, is usually to hit the ball hard and far.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article212871604.html#storylink=cpy

*Carlos Correa was out of the lineup for a second straight game. Hinch:
I think what gives us comfort is that he hasn't had any pain since the night that he got injured. He's not feeling anything when he coughs, when he breathes, when he laughs, and sort of body movement.

*Here's Jake Kaplan on whether Dallas Keuchel is getting too far away from his bread-and-money-buttered sinker? Stay for this gem:
The reduced sinker usage is a result of Keuchel's attempt to attack batters' weaknesses as opposed to playing to his strengths. He's thrown it for only 43.6 percent of his pitches this season, according to Brooks Baseball. In each of his two All-Star seasons (2015 and 2017), he relied on the pitch 50 percent of the time or more.

*Forrest Whitley made his season debut for Corpus last night, throwing 4IP, 1H/0ER, 5K:0BB in an 11-1 win over Frisco. Myles Straw (SB #35 on the year), Josh Rojas, and Ryne Birk (SB) each had three hits while Alex de Goti hit his 4th and 5th home runs of the year. Randy Cesar extended his hitting streak to 30 games.

Hunter Atkins: The rise, suspension, and return of Forrest Whitley. Roy Bragg says Whitley could be September bullpen relief for the Astros.

*Buies Creek beat Down East 5-2 last night. Hector Perez threw 6.2IP, 2H/2ER, 12K:2BB. The twelve strikeouts are a career-high. J.J. Matijevic was 2x5 with a double and a home run and is hitting .311/.339/.557 at High-A.

*The Mariners beat Tampa Bay 4-3 last night. They're 40-23. Twenty of those wins have been by one run. That's stupid. The Astros are 4-12 in 1-run games. That's also stupid. Baseball-Reference says the Mariners have won six games they shouldn't have won while the Astros have lost six games they shouldn't have lost.

*Jeff Sullivan: The Most and Least Team-Friendly Strike Zones.

*Shohei Ohtani will be out until at least July with a Grade 2 UCL sprain. Bad news for everybody. Ohtani represents 1.1 of the Angels' rotation's 4.9 fWAR and 0.9 of the Angels' lineup's 11.1 fWAR.

*Boston's Joe Kelly (there are literally 1.3 million dudes in Massachusetts named "Joe Kelly") has a pretty incredible Draft-Day story.

*The Athletic's Jon Greenberg has a great story about Itamar Steiner, the 1208th pick in the draft, by his favorite team.

*Anthony Bourdain and the power of telling the truth. RIP Anthony Bourdain: you were 23 years my senior and at least 60 pounds my junior, but I felt like we were soul mates. If you're like me and stacking Bourdain tributes in your Pocket queue, might I suggest Spencer Hall's eulogy.