SATURDAY IS LEEDS VS THE BASTARD FRANK LAMPARD AND HIS BAND OF CHELSEA ROGUES AT 2PM. FiveThirtyEight gives Leeds United a 29% chance of getting a single point out of the game, so I'm looking forward to Nate Silver's algorithm eating a whole pile of crap.
*Brian McTaggart posted some thoughts as the off-season seems to look like it's about to pick up some speed. He has some notes about the bullpen, the outfield, and Josh Reddick.
*22-year old Hunter Brown, the Astros' 5th Round pick in 2019, is one prospect who MLB.com says the Astros could trade:
He can reach 98mph, maintain mid-90s velocity deep into games and he unveiled a wipeout curveball during instructional league.
*FiveThirtyEight: Who is the most chaotic movie football coach?
*Friday was December 4th, also known as Jay-Z's birthday. If you have not come into contact with Danger Mouse's (half of Broken Bells, the other half being the lead singer of The Shins) Grey Album - in which he mashes up the instrumentals from The Beatles' White Album with the vocals from Jay-Z's Black Album, then I'm about to do you a favor.
This offseason is uneventful so far. And, having lived through last off-season, I'm perfectly fine with that. AstroLine is back on Thursday night from 6-7pm, featuring Robert Ford/Steve Sparks interviewing GM Jiminy Clicket.
Undersized and from both a broken home and an impoverished rural background, he channeled his frustrations into throwing incredibly hard - with his left hand, despite being a natural righty, for he broke his right arm twice as a child.
Billy Wagner is absolutely a Hall of Famer. I skipped my own wedding shower (at my wife's church, to be fair) to watch Wagner record his 200th save, against the Rays, a 2-1 win that went Redding to Dotel to Wagner.
*The White Sox non-tendered Carlos Rodon, and I'll give you $20 if you had seen that coming in 2015. Reminder that Rodon, the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 Draft, two picks after the Astros took Brady Aiken.
*In case you missed it, on Monday morning I posted a delightful 37-minute interview with Astros fan/Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Post David Fahrenthold.
*On the 78th anniversary of the event, I wrote about the 1942 Boston College/Holy Cross game and the second-deadliest fire in American history.
*NY Times: This Japanese shop is 1,020 years old and knows a thing or two about surviving a crisis.
I've never seen anything like it. I tweeted this out, but - even considering the 2017-2019 postseason runs - Game 5 was the most keister-pucker game I can remember. The Astros actually threw a bullpen day in an elimination game, with all rookies except for Josh James and Ryan Pressly, and lived to see another day. I can't believe what I just watched. Game 6 - Framber vs. Snell - is at 5:07pm Central. Time to sauté a bowl of nails and get to making history.
I knew I was going to end it. I could feel my swing was in sync. I could feel my rhythm was good, and I felt like I was going to drive the ball. I believed I could do it.
Bregman got a bunch of guys together to watch Four Days In October prior to Game 5.
Carlos Correa has played in 61 postseason games and has two walk-off homers. Carlos Correa has played in 604 regular season games and has zero walk-off homers. He joins David Ortiz and Bernie Williams as the only players with 2+ postseason walk-off home runs.
You push our backs up against the wall, we're going to fight you. This team is filled with a bunch of fighters, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
Pressly has gotten 4+ outs in a game 94 times in his career. Houston has only asked him to do it nine times, and only once prior in the postseason (2018 ALDS Game 1).
Now, after two consecutive 4-3 losses, [Tampa's] foothold on that narrow edge has slipped, and the Astros, still hanging on by their fingertips, somehow haven't loosened their grip. The little swings of fortune - the lone hit coming at the perfect time; the defender standing in just the right place to make the incredible play - have begun to go in their favor. The Rays, of course, are still in a great position to take this series. But the Astros, who just a few days ago seemed done, are doing their best not to make it easy.
The last two games he's been outstanding. He's been driving the ball, giving us huge hits, the big homer yesterday, big homer today to get things started. He is the guy that we look to when you look at that time. He's the leadoff guy. When he gets things going man, we're a scary team.
*Jose Altuve: 1x2, 2BB. It's the 6th postseason 2BB game of his career. Three of them have come in 2020.
*Michael Brantley DH'd in Game 5 after fouling a couple of pitches off the inside of his foot and was 1x4 with a crucial 2RBI single, the 4th multi-RBI postseason game of his career. All have come with Houston, three of them in the 2020 postseason.
I don't have the words to really explain it. All I know is that they're fearless, and I'm so proud of them...I can't really explain how I'm feeling and how to describe how good and how composed they've kept themselves throughout this entire series.
Well that was less than ideal. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Houston had a 7-4 going into the 7th, which translates into a 91.1% win expectancy via FanGraphs. And now the A's have hope, which is the worst possible thing a Team Like That can have. Game 4 is at 2:35pm Central on TBS.
*It was the 22nd time in franchise history that the Astros have scored 7+ runs in a postseason game. They're now 19-3, the last such loss coming in Game 1 of the 2004 NLCS.
*It will be Frankie Montas vs. TBA today. We'll find out who takes the mound later this morning. Is it Cristian Javier, and that's why Javier didn't pitch in Game 3? Or will it be Zack Greinke? The pressure mounts! Montas is coming off a 2020 regular season in which he posted a 5.60 ERA/1.51 WHIP with 10HR in 53IP. He has thrown 2IP (Wild Card Series Game 3) since September 27. In 15.1IP against Houston in 2020 he allowed 14H/7ER, 14K:3BB, a 4.11 ERA / 1.11 WHIP.
*Chandler Rome: We still don't know what's up with Zack Greinke.
I look at it like we're still in the lead. This team's been there before. These guys don't seem really worried about it. We got beat today. We made some mistakes. Hopefully, we don't make those mistakes tomorrow.
*Houston's opponents have scored first in four of the five 2020 playoff games. Houston is now 3-1 in those games.
*The Astros were 3x8 w/RISP, Oakland was 1x6. Oakland's one hit was just a back-breaking 3-run home run from Some White Guy Who Looks Like He Sells Insurance. Josh James hadn't pitched since September 22. It's debatable on whether or not this was the time to do it, but it was a three-run lead, and I don't know that there was a better option than Raley to clean it up. Just one of those games. And a guy named Chad hit it. That's ridiculous. As to leaving Raley in, I know you try to win every game, but I'm okay with letting him work through it because it saved some arms you'll need today and (hopefully not) tomorrow. It wasn't my favorite move to leave James in, but I can justify it to myself. Josh James:
It's tough, but everybody wants to get put in that situation. You always feel like you're the right guy for the job. You go out there no matter how long it's been, and you compete. Today, I got beat. It's part of the game.
You know who didn't pitch in Game 3? Enoli Paredes, Blake Taylor, Cristian Javier, Ryan Pressly.
*SI's Emma Baccellieri: The bad Astros bullpen has been good, and the good Oakland bullpen has been bad.
*Jose Urquidy: 4.1IP, 5H/4ER, 3K:1BB, 4HR. He had given up 4HR total in 29.2IP in the 2020 regular season. He had given up 2HR in a single game three times in his entire professional career, the only MLB start in which he gave up two or more home runs was July 31, 2019, and twice in 2016 when he was with Lancaster.
*Brooks Raley walked the leadoff batter, who later became Oakland's go-ahead run. It dawned on me recently that I have absolutely no idea how Brooks Raley ended up on the 2020 Houston Astros, so I looked it up: he was acquired on August 9 from the Reds for a PTBNL. Putting Osuna on the 45-Day IL was the corresponding move.
*George Springer was 0x4 with 3Ks, the 5th 3K game of his postseason career. In each of the last three times he's had a 3K day, the game following was a 2+ hit game, so that's good news for today.
*Jose Altuve was 3x5 with an RBI. His seven 3+ hit postseason games are the most in franchise history, and tied for the 5th most in AL postseason history.
*Alex Bregman was 2x4 with an RBI. The Astros are now 8-3 in the postseason when Bregman gets 2+ hits.
*Aledmys Diaz hit a massive game-tying two-run home run, and it was the first postseason home run of his career.
*How do you justify pinch-hitting Reddick for Maldonado? With Correa on 3rd, Tucker on 2nd, and two outs, and Maldonado's spot up, Dusty put in Reddick against Liam Hendriks. Also, Liam Hendriks looks like this. Ol' Shrek lookin headass.
Righties (Maldonado) vs. Hendriks (a righty) in 2020: .135/.148/.154, 18K:1BB
Lefties (Reddick) vs. Hendriks in 2020: .200/.243/.314, 19K:2BB.
First off, shoutout to Liam Hendshreks. That's a really good slash line, no matter from what side of the plate you prefer. Now:
Maldonado vs. Righties, 2020: .185/.324/.337, 4HR, 12RBI
Reddick vs. Righties, 2020: .236/.307/.358, 3HR, 13RBI
Neither is a *great* option. You needed a 2-out hit. In his career pinch-hitting:
Reddick: 80 PAs, .176/.225/.189, 1XBH, 22K:5BB
All this is to say...whatever. I don't get it. But what other options were there. Reddick could have been a hero. He wasn't. So it goes. Could Maldonado have done it? Maybe! It was a choice between this, Which Smells Worse: Your Butt, or Your Feet? The world will never know which choice actually smelled worse.
The Astros scored 10 runs for just the 6th time this season in a 10-5 win over Oakland. Houston has a 1-0 lead in the Best-of-Five. It's the 5th postseason game in which the Astros have put up double-digit runs in franchise history, and the first since Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS. Dusty Baker is the first manager in franchise history to win his first three postseason games. And now the Astros are 32-31 this season so all the "under .500" haters can suck it. Game 2 is at 3:37pm Central on TBS.
Houston is now 4-4 since 2017 in postseason games at Dodger Stadium. They've won three straight postseason games for the first time since Games 3-5 of the 2019 World Series. And we all know what happened next so...wait never mind.
*Yesterday, FanGraphs had the series 53.3-46.7 Houston. Today it's...53.7-46.3 Houston? FanGraphs apparently isn't so jazzed up about winning Game 1 in a best-of-five. FiveThirtyEight had it 52-48 Houston, and now it's 72-28, and FiveThirtyEight is Good, again.
*Per Brian McTaggart, whoever wins Game 1 has won 72% of the Best-of-Five series all-time, and 75% of the time since 2010.
*Houston got 16 hits, a number only eclipsed by the Astros in the postseason once prior - Game 5 of the 2004 NLDS.
The Astros scored eight runs for just the fourth time time since September 1.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: The Astros are sticking together and looking dangerous.
*George Springer was 4x5. It's the first 4-hit postseason game of his career, the 13th 4-hit game of any kind in his MLB career, and his first since September 29, 2019. Springer:
To get down early and not quit and fight hard and come out with a win in the first game is obviously huge. As the game got deeper, the at-bats got better.
We just slowed it down finally. We really, really slowed the game down and understood this is the playoffs and you don't know if you're ever going to get back here or not, so you might as well enjoy it.
Correa, on Springer:
You can't judge this offense by 60 games. When you get the leadoff guy getting on base every single time, good things are going to happen. When he goes, we go as a team.
George is closing in on 200 at-bats, and that is about the time when the big boys start swinging it. The repetition and concentration level have increased. He's not fouling balls off or missing balls he was missing earlier in the year.
Oakland's bullpen: 5IP, 7H/7R (3ER), 5K:1BB. The A's came into the postseason with the 5th-best bullpen in MLB, according to FanGraphs. The Astros had the 16th-best bullpen, according to the same Web Site. FanGraphs' Jon Tayler: Houston's anonymous-yet-excellent bullpen helped Houston take Game 1.
*Carlos Correa was 3x5 with 4RBI. He hit two home runs, the 13th and 14th postseason home runs of his career. He has three home runs in his last two postseason games, and the 2HR postseason game was his first since Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS. Per TBS he's the first shortstop in MLB history with two multi-HR postseason games. A full and complete list of Astros' 2HR postseason games:
Correa came into this postseason with a career .247/.308/.474 line in 50 postseason games. After the first three games of this postseason, he's now hitting .256/.315/.508 in 53 postseason games.
I love October baseball. I want to be in there. I want to be in tough spots in decisive situations. I prepare myself every single day mentally for when that time comes. October baseball, the energy is just different.
When Carlos Correa's right, ain't nobody better. That's just facts.
Two players in the history of the American League have multiple postseason games with 2HR and 4RBI: Correa, and Babe Ruth. Correa and Alex Cintron spent hours in the cage in Arlington trying to get back to his 2015 swing.
Two outs and nobody on, next thing you know they get four runs. You have to give them credit, too. They hit some good pitches to get to that point, even Brantley off of Diekman. They were pretty relentless after an opening in that inning and took advantage of it.
*Jose Altuve was 2x4 with a big 2RBI single. It was his 19th multi-hit postseason game and his 7th 2RBI postseason game. Reid Leymance: Houston rode "vintage" Altuve yesterday.
*Josh Reddick was 0x4 with a run scored yesterday. In 43 postseason games with the Astros (40 starts), he's hitting .183/.236/.244 in the postseason, and is 6x40 since the beginning of the 2019 Postseason (.150/.190/.225).
*The Bullpen of Blake Taylor, Enoli Paredes, Cristian Javier, and Ryan Pressly held the A's to 0H/0ER, 5K:1BB in five innings of work. As a reminder:
Blake Taylor: Had thrown 11.1IP above Double-A prior to 2020
Enoli Paredes: Had only thrown 50IP above High-A prior to 2020
Cristian Javier: Had thrown 11IP above Double-A prior to 2020
*Lance McCullers made his first start since September 26 and gave up his first earned runs since September 4. He gave up three home runs for just the second time in his career (May 26, 2018).
*Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan became the first pitcher to make his MLB debut in a postseason game last night and gave up a hit and a walk in 0.1IP. More like Boo McClanahan?
*29 Minor-League players suing MLB over minimum-wage claims got a big W when the Supreme Court gave them class-action status, instead of making them take on MLB individually.
*Texas Monthly: How high school QBs prepared for the strangest season in football history.
The White Sox and A's had themselves a bullpen game to determine who would face the Astros. The Coward Mike Fiers threw 39 pitches in 1.2IP, allowing 5H/1ER to start it off. Ultimately, the A's string of eight pitchers was slightly better than the White Sox' string of nine pitchers, and the A's won the game 6-4, and the series 2-1. It was Oakland's first playoff series win since the 2006 ALDS. Game 1 is Monday vs Oakland at Dodger Stadium.
*FiveThirtyEight has it 53-47 Houston and I'll just cross my leg over my other leg and let you tell me the last time FiveThirtyEight had an outcome wrong in October of an election year.
*McTaggart: The heated Astros/A's rivalry hits the postseason. Reddick:
We have to grind it out and get our butts in gear. Playing a team in your division is going to give you an upper hand recognizing and knowing how...[bullpen] guys are going to pitch you, and starters, because they've faced you before.
Oakland's Liam Hendriks:
I think there's a little bit of us wanting to make sure they know what they've done and we can prove it to them that they weren't the top team in the AL West. But we also don't want to be petty and let our emotions get the best of us.
Houston was 3-7 against Oakland in the "regular" "season," with Oakland outscoring the Astros 38-35. Five of those losses were within two runs, as were all three of Houston's wins. The Astros took both ends of a double-header on August 29 before COVID forced the rescheduling of the third game on August 30.
*Chandler Rome: A Best-of-Five-in-Five-Days series is going to require some careful pitching management, but Dusty deserves some credit for how he's deployed the pitching staff this season.
*ESPN: Looking for some playoff spice? Astros/A's could be for you.
*Justin Verlander had Rob Manfred Tommy John Surgery on Wednesday, and his timetable to return is 12-14 months which [takes off socks] is somewhere between October-December 2021. So unless he signs an extension, his time in Houston is over.
I'm very proud of these guys. It's been a tough year for them and I'm so happy for them to go to Minnesota, sweep them and move on to the next round.
Osuna said Tommy John surgery was recommended, but a second opinion said otherwise. Osuna:
I started playing catch about three weeks ago and I've been feeling much better. So at this point right now, we don't believe we're going to need surgery, which is good. Hopefully, it stays this way and continues to get better and better.
Ahhh the old Verlander recovery plan. Worked out well for him, too.
*In two games (22 Innings) against the Braves, the Reds' "offense" scored exactly zero runs on 13 hits. The Reds were 1x15 with runners in scoring position in two games.
A bus driver who drove the Tennessee Titans last weekend in Minnesota also drove MLB's Houston Astros on their trip for a playoff series this week against the Twins, per sources. After the Titans' COVID-19 outbreak surfaced, the Astros removed the driver.
*Human Delight Fernando Tatis, Jr. hit two home runs, becoming the third youngest player to hit multiple homers in a game, behind Carlos Correa and Andruw Jones.
I am growing tired of Base Ball, and am very ready for it all to end. But! The Astros beat the Mariners 6-1 thanks to stellar pitching from Framber and a massive moonshot from Machete. Houston is 28-27, up 3.5 on the Angels, and 4.0 on the Mariners, with five games to play. An Astros win tonight and an Anaheim loss means the Astros are going to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. I am running late, so let's get this done.
*The Astros scored five runs in the 6th inning, meaning they scored more in the 6th Inning last night than they have in any game since September 12.
*Maldonado's three-run homer sealed the game for the Astros, finally getting the big swing they've been missing since...September 2019. It's Maldonado's 2nd 3-run HR of the season, and the 9th of his MLB career. Machete:
I would say probably the best [swing] I took all year, especially in the situation and the way I have been lately.
Chandler Rome: Framber has embraced an "attitude before everything" mantra this season, and it's showing. Maldonado, on Framber:
He's always had good stuff. Last year, even the year before, when I caught him, he was still the same guy. It seems like he cares more now. It seems like he's developing better. He's not letting stuff get into his head, I would say.
And the stat that I know everyone is tracking and celebrated on Twitter when it happened: Framber had a 5th-straight game with a Wild Pitch! He joins Joe Niekro (7), Darryl Kile (6), and Mike Fiers, Mike Hampton, Don Wilson, and Dave Giusti as the only Astros pitchers with a wild pitch in five straight games.
*Since allowing 3H/4ER against the Giants on August 10, Josh James: 9.1IP, 6H/2ER, 10K:5BB. James has walked just one of the last 20 batters he has faced, after walking 16 of the 63 batters he had faced prior in 2020.
*Kyle Tucker was 4x5 - the 2nd 4-hit game of his career.
*McTaggart's Notes column features info on Ryan Pressly's resurgence, and Enoli Paredes' transition from the rotation to the bullpen in 2020.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: "Slogging through 2020, the Astros reach for a postseason spot no one wants them to have." These are great to read - for the heart and for the soul.
-The postseason in Arlington will have fans, pending approval from Texas officials (which will, obviously, approve it). Expanded playoffs are here to stay, but not this season's format. And who knows what rule changes, be they 7-inning doubleheaders or runners on 2nd to start extra-innings, will stick around in 2021?
*The last two days have featured songs from Semisonic, the Most American Band of the Last Twenty-Five Years. Neither of these songs were "Closing Time," which many consider to be the hallmark of a One-Hit Wonder's musical career. I scoff at your insolence. That said, I apologize. Also, the following is the Hot Links Playlist's 400th song, which now features over 25 hours of basically my favorite songs of all-time. Yeah, I sort of get it if you don't listen to all 25 hours...
We here at Astros County took Sunday night off in the same way the bullpen did. Regardless, here we go. The Astros...took the night off, again. Houston had seven hits, all singles, and only had three PAs with runners in scoring position for a 6-0 loss to Oakland. It's Houston's 5th straight loss and they're now 4.5 back of Oakland and only 2.0 ahead of [squints] Seattle. Been a rough week.
*Last night was the first time the Astros have been shut out with no extra-base hits since June 27, 2019 against Pittsburgh. It was ugly.
*1-5 in the lineup: 3x19, 1K:1BB
6-9 in the lineup: 4x14, 3K:0BB
Carlos Correa had two of the Astros seven hits. He's hitting .301/.367/.441 in 2020.
7-9 in the lineup last night (Diaz, Toro, Garneau) are hitting .179, .154, .174, respectively.
We can't look behind us, we have to look ahead. Nothing lasts forever. I think we have another streak of five games and we reeled off eight in a row. You can't be afraid of somebody overtaking you from behind, there's nothing you can do but play the game you're playing.
Blake Taylor hid his elbow soreness from the Astros. Dusty:
He had hidden it and was trying to medicate himself because as a young player, he was afraid to go in and get treatment. He was afraid of being sent out, like a lot of young guys, that's in the back of their minds no matter how well they're doing. We could tell something was wrong. His velocity was good but his location was bad.
What a stupid day. After putting Jose Altuve on the IL, the Astros lost two games in which they scored 15 runs and got 21 hits, dropping to 21-18 on the season, which includes a 5-12 record when they play in other empty stadiums, and 6-10 in 1-run games. Houston is 3.5 games back of Oakland. The Astros have lost 13 games in which they had the lead. Houston is tied for 11th in win% in MLB with the 9th-best run-differential (+24).
Game 1
After letting a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 3rd get away, the Astros scored three runs in the top of the 7th to take a 9-7 lead, and then the Angels scored three in the bottom of the 7th to walk it off. Everyone in the Astros' lineup got at least one hit, except for Abraham Toro (now hitting .141/.218/.282). It was 109 degrees at 1st Pitch, the highest 1st Pitch temperature recorded in Anaheim.
Kyle Tucker was 3x4 with a home run and 3RBI. He has a team-leading seven home runs.
George Springer hit the 12th triple of his career, and his first since August 2, 2019.
Astros pitchers allowed 13 hits and three walks. Eight of the Angels' 13 hits were for extra-bases.
Bullpen: 2.2IP, 6H/6ER, 2K:3BB
Game 2
The Astros had a 4-0 lead...and then blew it, allowing three runs in the top of the 7th without an answer in the bottom half (Houston was the "home team" even though it was played in Anaheim, due to the rescheduling of one of the Hurricane Laura games) in a 7-6 loss.
George Springer was 2x4 with two home runs and 3RBI. He hit his 37th career leadoff home run, tying him for 8th all-time with Ichiro. It was the 13th 2HR game of his career, three of which have been against Anaheim.
Josh Reddick had his 17th 3+ RBI game as an Astro, his first of 2020.
Bullpen: 3.1IP, 4H/5ER, 6K:1BB
*Chandler Rome: Lack of pitching moves at the deadline could prove to be costly. Dusty:
These guys have a lot of pride. They know how to win. They've probably never been with their backs against the wall like this. They had a lockdown bullpen for a number of years here. Every year is different.
We've got to just continue to fight. You've got to be a fighter. That's what it's all about. You got to fight through tough times. You can either hang your head and quit, or you can tighten your belt up and keep fighting.
*Jose Altuve was placed on the 10-Day IL with a right knee sprain, the same knee that cost him a number of games in 2018 and required surgery in the offseason. Jose Urquidy and Brad Peacock were activated and pitched on Saturday. Dusty:
He felt a little better [yesterday] but can we afford to play short for possibly another week? We're hoping that he's ready to come back a couple of days before, so he can get some swings in and some running in and feel 100%, not only physically but psychologically. That's the hard thing about any injury, and especially in an area where you had hurt it before.
Cionel Perez was optioned to the alternate training site, and Rogelio Armenteros was transferred to the 45-Day IL.
I'm so happy. Being able to go to games and sit in the stadium and see you sign this extension, it's pretty special. Crazy how fast it comes. Thankful to call you a friend and watch you in Houston for a long time to come.
Lance McCullers took the mound without having thrown a warm-up pitch. The Astros got in their defensive positions behind him. The dugouts emptied, and Martin Maldonado and Marcus Semien placed a 42 jersey in the opposing batter's box, a Black Lives Matter shirt resting on home plate. Then they walked off the field after a 42-second moment of silence. After 72 hours off the Astros took a stand with the Oakland Athletics and decided not to play last night on Jackie Robinson Day, in an effort to make a statement of civil disobedience and stand with others who are trying to reiterate that Black people's lives matter. I am incredibly proud of this team and this organization. I respect Oakland as a city in the historical record of protesting injustice, and I respect the Oakland Athletics as an organization that could field 25 Eddie Gaedels and still win 90 games. There will be a double-header today. The Astros and the Athletics didn't say a word on the field, and they didn't play. Listen to Robert Ford's call.
If we can change one person's mind, have a conversation that changes one person's thought process that saves a life, this was worth it to us. As a group, as a community, we're doing a great job of talking about it. But these situations that keep coming up have to stop. I think we all feel the same way, and the more times we can talk about it and educate ourselves, the better off we're going to be.
I think this is bigger than baseball. We talked about it in our meeting that this is just not about baseball. This is about life.
Josh Reddick:
We felt like this message was bigger than missing another game, to show support for our brothers not only on our team but across the league as well, to let them know that we have their backs every day no matter what goes on.
Dusty Baker, one of two (2) Black managers in MLB:
For a while there, it had gotten away from being America's game. This brought it back full circle...This is definitely America's game. America belongs to all of us, no matter if you got here early or late. We're all Americans and we've all had a hand in building this country, and we've probably all had a hand in tearing some of it down. Now it's time to rebuild it back again.
I'm so excited about these young people. My generation, we're getting old, and very tired. We're activists, but we went through all kinds of things - from civil rights, to women's movements, to the war. We protested everything. Now these young people need to come forward, and they're doing it. There's black and white and brown, and that's very exciting.
*Meat Wagon Updates from McTaggart: Bregman is in Corpus, running. Aledmys Diaz could rejoin the team today. Devenski and Peacock are throwing. Urquidy is maybe ten days away from joining the Astros.
Verlander is a little further away than we would like, but he's closer to reality than it appeared like when he first went down.
*Yordan Alvarez had surgery on *both* of his knees on Wednesday, to repair the patella tendon on his right knee and then to clean up his left one. He should be ready for Spring Training 2021, if we're all still here by then. Thoughts and prayers to his wife, who now has a baby and a husband who probably cannot walk right now aka another baby.
*The Trade Deadline is Monday and Brian McTaggart says the Astros are looking for arms.
Related: SI's Stephanie Apstein on the awkward reality of being traded in a global pandemic.
*It's two weeks today until Leeds United announces their presence in the Premier League with authority and beats Liverpool at Anfield, 2-1. The Roggits play at 5:30pm today.
*There are now over 100 confirmed COVID-19 cases related to a Smash Mouth concert at a South Dakota motorcycle rally. These are decisions that were made.
*InFocus: Pictures of the aftermath of Hurricane Laura.
*A note about this morning's Musical Selection:
About ten years ago The Wife and I went to see one of our favorite musicians - Joe Firstman - play The Basement in Nashville. We like to see who opens, so we showed up early, and heard this dude Jay Buchanan. It was us and about 10 other people, and he - completely by himself - KILLED it. If you ever had a chance to go to The Basement, "intimate" is a generous word for the venue. We bought an EP of his and it kills me that I can't find it. Anyway, this was one of his songs:
We didn't hear anything about him again. It was a topic of conversation: how in the world did Jay Buchanan not become famous, at least in some under-the-radar indie singer-songwriter sense. And then we went down a musical rabbit hole two nights ago, and found that he had, in face, made it, at least in a little bit of an under-the-radar sense. May I present to you, Rival Sons, whose lead singer is Jay Buchanan:
Just. I mean. So the thing is. If you really think about it. No, I got nothing. First things first, some streaks came to an end in Sunday's game: the 15-game winning streak over Seattle, as well as the 27-game streak of hitting a home run. Then Justin Verlander is apparently dead. First, the game:
*Zack Greinke lasted just 58 pitches, throwing 3.1IP and allowed 4H/3ER, 2K:2BB. It was his shortest outing since March 28, 2019, when he got 11 outs and allowed 7ER. That was also his first start of the season. The last time Greinke recorded fewer outs in a start was August 14, 2016 (1.2IP).
Make of it what you will, but Zack Greinke averaged 87.7 mph with his fastball today. He averaged 89.9 mph in 2019.
Greinke said: Not too happy with anything. Command wasn't great, stuff wasn't great, endurance wasn't even good at all.
*The four runs allowed by the bullpen (one to Biagini, three to Devenski) were the first runs allowed by the Astros' bullpen this season. Blake Taylor, who was acquired from New York for Jake Marisnick: 1.1IP, 0H/0ER, 2K:0BB.
*Chris Devenski, 2016-2017: 189IP, 129H/50ER, 204K:46BB, 2.38 ERA / 0.93 WHIP.
Chris Devenski, since: 118.1IP, 115H/62ER, 127K:35BB, 4.72 ERA / 1.27 WHIP.
*Brandon Bailey, who was acquired from Oakland for Ramon Laureano, made his MLB debut. So did Taylor Jones, who GIDPd and then struck out on three pitches with the bases loaded.
*Bryan Abreu faced nine batters: two HBPs, two walks, 13 of 31 pitches for strikes.
*Jose Altuve drew two walks for the second game in a row, which only happened once in 2019 (April 25-26, 2019), once in 2018, once in 2017. He had five walks in 57 games in 2011.
*Josh Reddick tripled to lead off the 6th, and then the Astros couldn't get him another 90 feet. They were 3x13 w/RISP in Sunday's game. It's the first time as an Astro that Reddick got a triple and the Astros lost the game (they were previously 9-0 when Reddick tripled).
*Thanks to Our Dude Chris Peixoto we find that Martin Maldonado's six RBIs over the first three games are the most by an MLB catcher since Brian McCann did it in 2007. Maldonado has never had 2+ RsBI in three straight games before.
Dusty: It's not a pleasant situation to think about Verlander or to think about how many young players we have in the bullpen and organization but we'll go back to the drawing board.
The report that I’m currently missing the rest of the season is not accurate. There is a forearm strain... I’m hopeful that with some rest it will heal and I’ll be able to return soon. Thank you for all the well wishes. 🙏🏻
"Currently missing the rest of the season." Losing Verlander long-term is obviously one of the worst-case scenarios coming into the 2020 season, an entire team outbreak of COVID aside. But let's hold off on doom-and-gloom on the baseball front for two more weeks, or just bottle it up and assume the worst privately, like an adult. We did this already with Lance McCullers (or pretty much every pitcher), where a forearm strain was a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Maybe this isn't it. But it probably is.
*In McTaggart's pre-game Notes we find that Blake Taylor and Enoli Paredes were the first Astros pitchers to make their MLB debut on Opening Day since Wesley Wright in 2008 and Josh James' backyard MLB-regulation mound.
Saturday, April 4 at 7:30pm Central! There will be a Zoom meeting set up for Astros fans while AT&T SportsNet Southwest shows the Astros/Yankees game. There's a ton of special guests and giveaways lined up. It's going to be pretty epic.
*What we absolutely do NOT need: The Astros prepare for the possibility that George Springer (and Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick) has played his last game for the team. Chandler Rome: Owner Jim Crane said in January he "made it clear" to Springer and his representatives that there was interest in an extension. Springer and Mookie Betts will be the most coveted free agents of an otherwise light position-player class.
*AT&T SportsNet Southwest will continue to pay its free-lancers at least through mid-April.
The city of Houston is hosting a #COVID19 protective equipment donation drive at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m., per @SylvesterTurner. Items will go to first responders and city employees. The city is asking for N95 or surgical masks, gloves, gowns, etc.
New Stuff *Chandler Rome says the battle for playing time between Josh Reddick and Kyle Tucker is starting to heat up. Dusty: The longer it goes, the more it's in Reddick's favor. The shorter it goes, the more it's in the younger player's favor.
I don't really know what that means.
*Cristian Javier will startGame 8 the first Spring Training game of 2020, against the Nationals tomorrow evening. Of course Dusty will be in uniform against his former team. *Martin Maldonado will be the primary catcher this season. *Josh James thinks he can do this Starting thing. James: This year, I really want to try to do the starting thing. I think I can do any role. It doesn't matter what it is, but this year I want it a little bit more, just to prove that I can do it, you know, give the team what they need, 160-plus (innings). Whatever they ask me to do this year, I want to be able to prove I can do it...This is the best I've felt in my four years or whatever that I've played. It's the strongest I've felt coming into camp, the most energy I've had coming into camp. I'm really excited to see how this turns out.
Sign Stealing Stuff *Chandler Rome talked to bench coach Joe Espada for his take on the last three months, and also the last week. Espada: We're starting to get the spirit back and the excitement back. I think the first couple of days were a little bit challenging, but the last few days, I feel like the players are starting to get excited about the future and our work. I think the more we dive into our work, the more that we start getting closer to games, the more they put our past behind us.
The funny thing is, for all parties involved - Astros players and fans - I think there is a horribly misguided assumption that once Opening Day comes, then everyone else in baseball (players and fans) is going to just accept that the Astros aren't cheating anymore and go on about the business of baseball. This could not be further from the truth. Every home run hit, every game won, every single status the @Astros account posts is going to be met with "Cheeter" (sic), or "Bang bang," or a picture of Aaron Judge, or a trash can (though, to be fair, right now those two things are one and the same). It doesn't matter. It won't ever matter.
*The Athletic's Andy McCulloch asked a bunch of GMs if they would know if their team was cheating. Some interesting answers in there. None more so than former Oakland/current Milwaukee pitcher Brett Anderson: I know the A's weren't cheating, because, one, I don't know if they could afford it. And to relay from f***ing 300 yards away in the video room? What were we going to do, get some vendor to throw some popcorn in the air, or something? It's too f***ing far to relay something.
*Jonathan Lucroy said he changed signs every single pitch when he played against the Astros. Lucroy: Everyone in baseball [knew about the sign stealing], especially in that division that played against them. But we were all aware of the Astros doing those things and it was up to us to outsmart them, I guess you could say. It's kind of hard when you have a computer program that breaks your signs. We actively changed signs. Every single pitch, we were changing signs. You had to because they would relay them to second, stealing them from first, too - from between your legs. They had a very intricate system going on. We were well aware of it, and it was a challenge. It was a mental challenge to really overcome that. It's easier said than done. But it's a shame, and I'm glad it came out and it came to light.
The predictive algorithm was legal. If the guy on first can see your signs, then you need to narrow up your legs, Lucroy.
*David Ortiz: Mike Fiers looks like a snitch. Ortiz: I'm mad at (Fiers). And let me tell you why. Oh, after you make your money, after you get your ring, you decide to talk about it. Why don't you talk about it during the season when it was going on? Why didn't you say, 'I don't want to be...part of it? So you look like you're a snitch. Why you gotta talk about it after? That's my problem.
*Joe Posnanski has a very poignant post on his blog regarding MLB's response to the Astros: ...I do think that it is time for Major League Baseball to forcefully, explicitly and unequivocally say...that the Astros did not cheat in 2019 and all statements to the contrary are false and irresponsible unless they come with new evidence.
Click the link. It is well worth your time.
Other Stuff *An oral history of Team USA winning gold in the 2000 Olympics.
*FanGraphs posted their 2020 standings projection on the Depth Charts page. They're slated for a .567 win% - 3rd-highest in MLB - though at 92 wins. Using this, here's how the AL West shakes out:
*Dusty Baker wants the Astros to be more aggressive on the basepaths. Baker: I'm an aggressive person. Baserunning is probably one of the things that I think is really missing in baseball. Aggressive baserunning (and) smart baserunning. You can't just be aggressive. You have to be smart about it. Baserunning can create a lot of mistakes on the opposition. You're going to get thrown out every once in a while. But if you don't try anything, then that's very boring baseball, and you don't put pressure on the opposition.
The 2019 Astros stole 67 bases in 2019, 17th in MLB and 8th in the AL. They were thrown out 27 times for a success rate of (71.3%).
*ZiPS Projections are live at FanGraphs! Some notable projections:
-Altuve: .305 BA, Yordan: .288 BA, Bregman: .287 BA.
-Bregman: 7.1 fWAR. Springer: 4.6 fWAR; Altuve: 4.5 fWAR; Kyle Tucker: 3.3 fWAR
-Correa projected at 109 games played.
-Verlander: 4.7 fWAR, Greinke: 2.8 fWAR...and that's pretty much it. ZiPS isn't so high on the Astros' rotation.
*Blake Taylor, the return from the Mets for Jake Marisnick, was blown away by the information the Astros gave him. Taylor: They show you everything. They say, 'This is how much hop your fastball has, this is how much your slider has.' The information is there and they're hands-on and work with you. Everything is specialized to you. It's not cookie-cutter....I hope to make an impact on this team and if I break with the team that's awesome, and if I don't, I'm going to work my ass off to get up there.
*Check out What The Heck Bobby's interview with Former Astros Farmhand Daniel Minor. It's super-insightful information about playing in a crowded system (even if the team had lost 100 games forever), playing in Mexico and Venezuela, and what it was like to play in the Atlantic League when they were doing a dry-run on the crazy new rules.
*Josh Reddick told reporters: At some point, you have to move on and not give a s**t. We're going to go out there and win and shut everybody up.
*Mike Fiers talked to The Athletic. When asked if he was worried about his safety in coming to Houston, Fiers: No. Everyone's crazy - everyone can get crazy at a certain point if they don't like something that you do. Listen...everyone's mad at (the Astros). There are teams that are mad. It doesn't matter what it is, extra protection, I mean, what are you going to do? There's not much you can do.
*Francis Martes - Frankie Tuesday - was suspended for the entire 2020 season after testing positive a second time for Boldenone. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, Martes was suspended for 80 games after testing positive at the beginning of the 2019 season. It wasn't a factor, since he was recovering from TJ surgery, but now it's put his entire career on hold.
Martes, 24, was once Baseball America's #15 overall prospect prior to the 2017 season. This closes the book on the July 31, 2014 trade with Miami. The Marlins received Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez, and Austin Wates - the Astros got Jake Marisnick (traded to the Mets), Colin Moran (traded to Pittsburgh for Gerrit Cole), Martes, and a 2015 Comp Balance A pick which they used to draft Daz Cameron (traded to Detroit for Justin Verlander).
*George Springer said it's "way too early" to decide on a contract extension with the Astros. Springer: The fans have been great to me my whole career in Houston. The city has been great to me. I've grown up as an adult here, I guess. I've been in this organization since I was 21 years old. This organization has been very special to me, but time will tell.
In other words, "Let's talk money."
Counting his $2.52m signing bonus, Springer has made $52,455,300 from the Astros organization in his career, $45m of that from 2018-20. He'll be 31 in September.
*The Astros signed 34-year old reliever Jared Hughes to a minor-league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training. Hughes: I'm a Texan (Ed. Note: Dallas). I live in the state of Texas with my wife and children. I love the state of Texas and the people in it, and the opportunity to come and play for the Houston Astros is something I just couldn't miss. It's a dream come true.
Hughes has a career 2.88 ERA (4.11 FIP), 1.22 WHIP in nine MLB seasons, all in the National League.
In that above link, we find from McTaggart that:
-Correa changed his workouts and diet in order to stay healthy for an entire season.
-Bregman is 20 pounds lighter compared to last season, and thinks that the extra weight resulted in his slow start in 2019.
-Reddick's shoulder is on the mend. In 114 games from May 2 to the end of the season, Reddick hit .259/.301/.395.
*The Astros had their first full-squad workout (without Zack Greinke). Altuve: I like to talk about the team, team results. I'm here taking full responsibility for the team. I appreciate what Carlos did. Believe me, that tells you what kind of person and what kind of teammate he is. I tell him 100 times what I feel about what he did.
Reddick, on why he didn't use the Trash Can Scheme: This game is hard enough as it is to focus on outside stuff like that. I'm not trying to make it about me...We've got to live with it as a team and get through it as a team. I'm not trying to individualize myself among these guys. We all could have stepped up and done something about it.
*
Harold Reynolds breaks down Altuve's walk-off homerun against Chapman in Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS pic.twitter.com/zVy0GJCA3k
*Jake Kaplan on how Spring Training is different with Dusty Baker as opposed to A.J. Hinch. Kaplan: For the most part, it's been plug-and-play with Baker replacing Hinch and James Click replacing Jeff Luhnow as general manager, and with most of the same coaches and data- and technology-savvy staffers as Spring Trainings past.
*Game 4 Hero Jose Urquidy ranked 62nd on the ZiPS Top 100 Prospects list. Bryan Abreu was 72nd. Forrest Whitley was 84th and Brett Conine was 89th.
*Chandler Rome: The Astros know they have each other, and that's pretty much it. Reddick: I think as a team we've done pretty much everything we can do. We keep asking for our peers' forgiveness, and hopefully, they can come around to us one day and understand that we are truly remorseful and sorry for what we've done.
*Mike Trout became the latest player to offer his wisdom to the Astros' situation: It's sad for baseball. It's tough. They cheated. I don't agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything....A lot of people lost jobs. It was tough. Me going up to the plate knowing what was coming? It would be fun up there. A lot of guys lost respect for some of the guys...I lost respect for some guys. A lot of stuff that comes out, you have to see if it's true or not. I'll talk to them and see them in the season. All this stuff coming out, it's tough to see.
*This happened:
A player suggested a very unusual punishment for #Astros so I thought I’d share. Every single team refuses to take the field at Minute Maid Park. Visitors forfeit every game there. Astros go 81-0 at home, but affects their revenue (no fans with no games played!) Quite an idea!
*Bookmaker William Hill set the over/under on the number of times the Astros get HBPd at 83.5. Houston batters were hit 66 times in 2019, which was 16th. The Mets led MLB in 2019 with 95 HBPs, followed by the Reds at 89, the A's at 87, and the Cubs at 83.
*Joel Sherman thinks Rob Manfred should go back and punish the Astros players for the Sign-Stealing Scheme, after all. I'm no lawyer, but going back on a promise of immunity sounds like it wouldn't backfire at all. The punishment(s) he recommends: A three-year ban on All-Star Game appearances, no postseason money shares ever again, Astros bat first in home games in 2020 and 2021, no home playoff games for the next three seasons, no hosting the ASG for 15 years, no international signings for 2021 and 2022, Jim Crane suspended for two seasons.
