Wednesday Morning Hot Links

 How's The Coup treating you?

*Kevin Cash won AL Manager of the Year, which I can understand. Though he should dedicate that award to Blake Snell in 2020 World Series Game 6. Dusty Baker got one single solitary vote for 3rd place.

*The Houston Astros are 12th in The Athletic's 2021 Power Rankings. Nick Groke:

[The Astros are] teetering on the edge of going for it again or regrouping. Maybe they'll split the difference and do both? Click's got a tough decision to make.

*In Jake Kaplan's latest mailbag, he addresses questions on a qualifying offer for Michael Brantley, a Correa extension, the rotation, Charlie Morton, the bullpen, and Jake Marisnick.

*More from Busy Bee Jake Kaplan: Who might the Astros protect from the Rule 5 Draft?

*Alex Cora had his second first press conference as the manager of the Red Sox and obviously didn't go into details of 2017 because that's only reserved for the Astros. Cora:

I deserved what happened this year. I'm not proud of it...In the end, I got my penalty and I served it.

And speaking of wonderful reunion stories with the Red Sox, J.T. Watkins - the former video room guy who was suspended for recording signals with the expressed intention of simply keeping it to himself - is back with the team as a pro scout. Don't forget that you can relive the entire sordid history of the Astros and sign-stealing because, as an Astros fan you know you love masochism.

*Ol 76-year old headass Tony LaRussa really dropped a "Do you know who I am?" at the cop arresting him for DUI.

*Wired: The latest COVID vaccines, deciphered.

*The Atlantic's Mansee Khurana: How Alex Trebek made a mundane game show brilliant.

*You may or may not know that I have watched the documentary Free Solo (available on Hulu and Disney+) over 200 times, in which Alex Honnold climbed Yosemite's El Capitan without a rope. It's insane. I give it 2.1 Escobars on The Two Escobars Scale of Documentary Greatness. I don't know what I find so fascinating about it, other than it's really cool to see people do cool stuff. I'll probably watch it again tonight after my wife goes to bed, like I'm doing something Naughty. Anyhow, Emily Harrington became the first woman to climb the Golden Gate Route on El Capitan in under 24 hours. 

*NPR: The Secret Life of Grocery Stores.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

The Astros beat the White Sox to complete the four-game sweep. They're 61-31, 30 games over .500 for the first time this season. At their current pace (.663) Houston is on track for a 107-55 record. Real life has no meaning. Houston is 24-6 in their last 30 games, the best 30-game stretch in franchise history. I have no thoughts on Keuchel's pre-game comments regarding Photo Day.

*The Astros improved to 13-16 in 1-run games.

*Houston finishes the regular season 7-0 against the White Sox. The last time the Astros went undefeated against a League opponent was in 2005, when the Astros went 6-0 against Philadelphia and ended up with the NL Wild Card spot over the Phillies by a mere game.

*Dallas Keuchel threw 7IP, 6H/1ER, 2K:3BB. It was his first win at home since May 13. It's also the first time this season Keuchel has had back-to-back starts of 21 outs.

Keuchel's last five starts: 31.1IP, 30H/9ER, 23K:10BB.

It's the 7th time this season Keuchel has struck out exactly three batters and the 2nd time he has walked more batters than he struck out. Keuchel:
It seems like everybody does their part and that's how we win.

*Not to get too "political" here, but Houston won on Sunday despite getting held to three hits. It's the 6th time the Astros have been held to three or fewer hits. They're 1-5. It's their first win on three or fewer hits since September 5, 2017 against Seattle, and the 2017 Astros were 3-3 when held to three or fewer hits.

*Jose Altuve hit his 9th home run of the season. It's a season-high 15 consecutive games with a home run. The franchise record is 19 consecutive games with a home run, set last year.

*Marwin got the game-winning run home on a suicide squeeze in an 0-2 count. Hinch:
It's one of the things I'm proud of. We homered today, but at the same time, there was minimal offense...The ability to win when maybe you shouldn't win or when you don't put up enough offense like the other side is a good feeling. Keuchel set the tone. You've got to win a lot of different ways over the course of a full season, and we do.

Marwin:
That was personal. That was more like I was thinking I have to do my job. I couldn't do it when AJ wanted me to do it with the first two pitches. The pitcher was throwing a good game, and he was on his game today. I decided to try it again one more time.

*White Sox starter Lucas Giolito got a Game Score of 64. The Astros have played 23 games when the opposing starter recorded a Game Score over 60, and they're 6-17.

*Yesterday was the 19th game in which the Astros have struck out five times or fewer. They're 17-2 in those games.

*Alex Bregman was 0x3 with 2Ks. He has 23 multi-hit games, and 21 hitless games, this season. It's just the 5th time this season that he's been held hitless and struck out twice, and the 7th time that he has struck out multiple times in a game.

*The Astros are still hopeful that Carlos Correa can return this week.

*Last night was the All-Star Game selection show. Jose Altuve led all players with 4,849,630 votes - the first time an Astro has led All-Star Game voting. Altuve and Craig Biggio are the only Astros to start four consecutive All-Star Games.

Joining Altuve on the team are Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, George Springer, and Alex Bregman. It's Cole and Springer's 2nd All-Star selection, Bregman's first, and Verlander's 7th. Give me enough time and I'll explain why every single Astro should be on the team. Springer and Bregman were elected via player ballot.

Former Astros Greats Mike Foltynewicz and Josh Hader are NL All-Star pitchers.

David Schoenfield: Blake Snell leads the league in Snubs.

*A.J. Hinch needs 24 more wins to take sole possession of 4th place on the Astros' all-time manager wins list.

*Hinch added Rays manager Kevin Cash to his All-Star Game staff.

*The Athletic's Rustin Dodd: One man's quest to quit his job and spend his life savings spreading baseball in the UK.

*England have a 27% chance of winning the World Cup, just behind France.

*Mental Floss: 12 Unsettling Facts about "The Metamorphosis."

*I don't get it. "Sweep" is right there in the GIF. What's with the four extra A's?

SWWWWEEEEAAAAPPPP!!!! #NeverSettle pic.twitter.com/sGBb99gO6T

— Houston Astros Orbit (@OrbitAstros) July 8, 2018

Brett Myers hearts Humberto

In Zach Levine's G139 recap, he gets a quote from Brett Myers, who says:

“Q’s been working great with me. It’s good when you can have a catcher that knows exactly how you want to pitch, and that’s why I think it’s important to have a guy that knows you.

Quintero:
“I talk to him before the game every time he pitches, and we follow the plan really well.”

Do the numbers play it out?

Catcher	IP	ERA/WHIP	K:BB	OPSa
Cash	61.1	3.08/1.30	50:24	.679
Castro	15	5.40/1.47	13:5	.913
Towles	33	3.82/1.48	23:8	.782
Quintero	88.2	2.03/1.00	71:19	.563

So, uh, yes.

Astros actually trade Kevin Cash

So pardon my outrage from yesterday. It seems as though I was able to witness the last game Kevin Cash ever played for the Astros' organization.

Because the Astros traded him to the Red Sox for infielder Angel Sanchez.

In order to make room for Sanchez on the 40-man roster, the Astros designated Yordany Ramirez for assignment.

Ed Wade:
"We feel with Tommy Manzella out, to get a little bit more backup and support defensively in the middle of the infield made sense for us."

Sanchez will be 27 in September, and was drafted in the 11th Round of the 2001 June draft. Sanchez has played the last two seasons in Triple-A - with the Las Vegas 51s (Toronto), and hit .305/.363/.428 in 126 games. In 62 games this season for Pawtucket, he has hit .274/.348/.327, with 30K:24BB.

Sanchez has played mostly shortstop, but also got a little time at 2B and 3B.

He was a 2010 Caribbean Series All-Star for Puerto Rico.

A couple of things about this:
1. The fact that the Astros got a Triple-A guy for Kevin Cash is amazing.
2. Oswaldo Navarro: You're on notice.
3. Ramon Vazquez: What the heck was that signing?

Weird tweet from Peter Gammons

Last night, as I sat at Greer Stadium for the Express/Sounds game, I saw something pop up on Twitter from the esteemed Peter Gammons:

When 'Stros wouldn't let Kevin Cash go back to Bigs, RSox are 9th team to have a Molina.

This is implying that the Red Sox were interested in Kevin Cash, but the Astros kept him in Round Rock. What the hell? Is C3/C4 so important that the Astros wouldn't let a guy - who has been with the Red Sox before - go back to the Majors and enjoy some time in Boston? We don't have near enough information to figure out what's happening here, but it's worth an explanation?

Cash to the Red Sox?

In the wake of the Red Sox' clubhouse looking like a Civil War field hospital, and the news that Victor Martinez may miss some time after breaking a finger, the Providence Journal is curious about whether or not Kevin Cash may come back to Boston as a stopgap.

Manzella out for six weeks

Hm. Tommy Manzella is out for six weeks with a broken finger, and Oswaldo Navarro has been recalled from Round Rock.

Within that linked article, we see that Kevin Cash and Casey Daigle cleared waivers and have accepted their assignment to Round Rock, while Cory Sullivan cleared waivers and has elected to go the route of this "Free Agency" thing.

Dayum! Now it's on.

Alyson Footer's blog post shook me to my very core.

Chris Johnson, Jason Castro, and Jason Bourgeois were all called up and will be in uniform on Tuesday. That means three dudes are out of a big-league job. And those three dudes are Cory Sullivan, Casey Daigle, and Kevin Cash.

Because Humberto Quintero got popped in the coconut, but may not go to the DL, Castro will be your C1 for the time being. Chris Johnson? 3B1. Pedro Feliz? Bench player. Jason Bourgeois is now OF5.

On SportsRadio 610 this morning we discussed what it would take for the Astros to become interesting again, and this was the answer.

This season just got way more interesting.

Norris gets closer, Fulchino may be hurt after all, and Wandy's still in the rotation

Zach Levine's Notes column touches on all aspects of the Astros pitching staff:

-Norris is nearing a return, but they're waiting on his physical, and mental, sides to come along. Mills:
"Bud broke as one of our starters, and since he's been starting, we're trying to build those innings up and get some confidence going back into how he's throwing the ball. We want to make sure that mentally he's locked in, not only his stuff but that he's able to command the fastball."

Who's spot will he take? Moehler's? Or Wandy's?

More Mills, on Wandy:
"There's some concern there. We're going to continue on his program and continue to talk to him about some things. (Pitching coach Brad Arnsberg) is going to talk to him on the side, and we might take a little bit different approach for his next outing."

Among those approaches may be switching away from catcher Humberto Quintero for Kevin Cash. Because losing 5-0 is preferable to losing 9-1.

And Fulchino may be hurt after all!
"I've been having issues with throwing breaking balls. I can't really throw my slider in there really hard, and it hurts when I throw it."

That said, shutting him down for a while doesn't seem to be an option, as the team evaluates whether or not to give him a cortisone shot after the MRI on his elbow revealed bone spurs, inflammation and bruising, according to Levine.

From the Office of the County Clerk: G57

New set-up here at Astros County for game recaps, as the ones that we have been posting for a season and a third have grown tedious for me. And that's not the point of doing this. You can find excellent recaps at other sites including, but not limited to, MLB.com and the Chronicle's website. You don't need to come here for the exact same thing - that was never the intention of Astros County.

So after each game the County Clerk, a mid-level up-and-coming politian, and a generally miserable bureaucrat, will email me with notes following each game. There will be some of the same features in the recaps: Pitch Count Hero/Pitch Count Punk, Man of the Match/Goat of the Game, but also some generally interesting notes about the game in question. For instance, today's game, G57: Astros v. Cubs.
--

Interesting game, today, Citizens. The Astros scored in just two innings, but that was enough to beat the Cubs 6-3.

*1-5 in the order went a combined 8x19 with 1K:1BB, while 6-9 went 1x12 with 2K:2BB.

*Geoff Blum was 0x2 with 2BB in his fourth start at Shortstop this season. He was 0x3 against Los Angeles on May 17 in his first, and has played short three times in the last week. The Astros are 3-1 in games that Blum starts at Short. And they are 16-27 in games Manzella starts.

*Carlos Lee hit his 8th homerun of the season, 94th as an Astro, and 315th of his career. It was his 46th first-inning homer - the inning in which he has hit the most homers. His 32 HRs against the Cubs are the most against any other team.

*The Astros made two basepath outs on the day: Keppinger thrown out at third trying to take the extra-base in the 1st, and Blum doubled off first on Feliz's popup.

*Feliz had two RBI on the day, which was just his 4th multi-RBI game on the season, and his first since May 23, when he had three RBI. Since his OPS was at a season-high .684 on April 28, Feliz has hit .202/.244/.264 in 33 games, with four extra-base hits. He is on an eight-game hit streak, however, in which he has hit .393.

*Brett Myers went 6.2IP, 8H/2ER, 6K:1BB for his 4th win of the season, making him the rotation leader in wins, and tying him with Brandon Lyon for the team lead. It was his fifth straight game with a 50+ Game Score, and he has recorded 18+ outs in each of his twelve starts.

*Myers' ten swinging strikes marked the seventh time that he has made opposing batters swing and miss 10+ times. He gave up two doubles, the first time in three starts he has allowed more than one XBH.

Pitch Count Hero: Lance Berkman (2x4), and Hunter Pence (2x3, BB): 18 pitches in four plate appearances.

Pitch Count Punk: Carlos Lee (1x4): 8 pitches in four PAs

Man of the Match: Brett Myers!

Goat of the Game: Kevin Cash - 0x3 and three groundouts to the infield.

G49 Preview Astros v Reds

Today is the 2nd game in a 3 game series in Cincy featuring the AstBros and the Redstockings. It'll be B-Mo squaring off with Lurch.

Moehler hasn't stared a game this season for a reason, he is teh suck. So good luck to him.

Harang has been up and down this year but has a career winning record against us (10-9).

So hopefully this turns into another slugfest because lord knows its fun to see your backup catcher take the mound in the late innings. And speaking of Kevin Cash, did anyone else think "Who the hell is that?". I literally had no idea who was pitching for about 5 minutes, but that knuckleball was dancing like crazy. I approve.

Predictions:

WP: Lyons
LP: Harang

HR: Rolen, Quintero

SB: Bourn, Phillips

I have a weird feeling that the game will be delayed by a natural disaster of some kind. Like a tornado filled with flying cows and street signs. Possibly resulting in a decapitation of a radio announcer.

Score: Hou 5 Cin 4

Don't forget to follow me on twitter during the game for updates and redactions. twitter.com/txnpwrlifter

Recap for G48: Astros @ Reds

Astros lose 15-6

Why They Lost

Because Zach Levine at the Chronicle had a chance to grab the "briefly unattended head of Mr. Redlegs spotted near the press box and [make a run to] the Kentucky border with it," but failed to do so. Couple that with a "good feeling" from Deputy Jason and you have a recipe for disaster. At this point the Astros fate was sealed. Utterly craptastic performances from the Astros pitching staff were just logical outcomes from the aforementioned gaffes.

Astros Pitching

Road Wandy: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 86 pitches (49 strikes)

Chacin: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 37 pitches (18 strikes)

Fulchino: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 15 pitches (9 strikes)

Byrdak: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 17 pitches (8 strikes)

Lopez: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 22 pitches (15 strikes)

Kevin Cash (yes that Kevin Cash): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 10 pitches (8 strikes)

Pence spotted Wandy a 1-run lead with a home run in the top of the first, but after that it was all downhill for the Astros. If you really want to know what happened during the rest of the "game," feel free to read Levine's recap. Personally I have no desire to put you through yet another description of it... Bottom line: the Astros' pitching got pounded. Don't believe me, then take a look at the pitching lines above...

Man of the Match: Hard to believe, but there was one. Kevin Cash (yes backup catcher Kevin Cash) came in to pitch in the bottom of the 8th inning for the Astros. Featuring a 64 - 72 mph knuckleball, he held the Reds to only one run. Cash saved a couple of bullpen arms (or more, considering how the pen had pitched thusfar during the game), and considering that Brian Moehler is not likely to pitch more that 3-4 innings tomorrow, potentially saved a couple of arms from being DustyBaker'ized.

Goat of the Game: So very many to choose from here. Pedro Feliz for his 0-5 performance was a possibility, as were Fulchino and Byrdak (the latter serving up a grand-slam for former Astros farmhand Drew Sutton). Nevertheless, the Goat of the Game goes to Wandy Rodriguez for letting the Reds absolutely hammer him, and for lasting only 3.1 innings knowing full well that the pen was going to be used heavily on Saturday. Mr. Rodriguez, you sir are the Astros County Goat of the Game!

Reaction to G35: Astros @ Giants

McTaggart has some reaction from last night's corn-cobbing:

Paulino:
"It's a bad day. Nothing was working well today. It was a really bad day. I tried to do the best I could do."

Note: That's not good.

Mills:
"The thing was he was getting ahead of guys. I don't know how many times he got ahead of guys 1-2 and he wasn't able to put them away. That was the big issue, more than anything else."

Note: I do. Paulino got the count to two strikes 14 times: the Giants were 4x12, 7K:2BB

Cash:
"He just never found a consistent rhythm. He came out and wasn't quite as sharp with his offspeed pitches and got behind in some counts, and then he had two innings or maybe three that he rolled right through. Then he fell back into that slot. We missed some 0-2 pitches, 1-2 pitches when we had some guys and maybe caught too much plate with them to good hitters. Sometimes you get away with them and sometimes you don't, and we definitely didn't get away with them tonight. Seems like every mistake or missed spot or bad selection on my part, it hurt us...

..."He's right on the brink of just taking off, I think. He's pumping 96, 97 [mph], and with the offspeed pitches that he has, he's real close. You just hate to see that one big inning -- three runs the first time and then mows them down for a couple of innings and gives up three runs again. Finding that rhythm is the biggest key for him."

Manzella:
"You always kind of want to get that first game and not really pay attention to the others. The first game of the series is the most important to try to get a little leverage, a little momentum and especially to keep the momentum we had from the Cardinals series. It didn't work out tonight. Seemed like everything they touched found its hole and sometimes it goes like that, and the score represented that."

Lineup for G27: Astros v. Diamon'backs

Alyson Footer has your lineup for tonight's game against Arizona, and guess who's catching:

1. Bourn - CF
2. Matsui - 2B
3. Lee - LF
4. Berkman - 1B
5. Pence - RF
6. Feliz - 3B
7. Manzella - SS
8. Cash - C
9. Myers - P

Towles sent down, Castro stays put

After last night's game, the Astros sent J.R. Towles down, and not to Round Rock. No....all the way to Corpus. And he ain't happy:

“I’m not happy about the situation, but I guess they had to make moves and I’m that move...I thought I did all right, considering I had just a hair over 40 at-bats. A lot can change in 40 at-bats. You can shoot your way up. I know I’m not knocking the cover off the ball, but to be honest right now nobody really is.”

He has a pretty good point. Send them all down to Corpus.

Fallas:
Towles, a Crosby native, said the most frustrating part about the move was not knowing where he stands with the organization.

I think he does know. He earned a job in Spring Training that took him 47ABs to lose. He knew he had a thin margin for error, and he ended up on the wider side of that margin, and he lost his job. His place in the organization is now C3, because Quintero stayed put, being able to better communicate with Roy, but as Mills said that they want him to catch every day, he isn't taking Castro's job at Round Rock. So we can help: J.R., you're the third catcher. Kevin Cash came up to give Quintero a rest, and it's not an indication of Castro's performance.

Fallas says the Astros moved Arias to the 60-Day DL to make room for Cash on the roster.

The Screw-gee

So the dreaded cuts came today for nine, and I'll agree with The Crawfish Boxes, some of them don't make sense.

Here are your nine:
RHP Wilton Lopez
RHP Casey Daigle
RHP Gary Majewski
RHP Gustavo Chacin

IF Drew Meyer
1B Chris Shelton
IF/OF Edwin Maysonet

C Jason Castro
C Kevin Cash

McTaggart notes that Majewski, Chacin, Meyer, Shelton, and Cash were reassigned to minor-league camp, but will stay with the Big Club through the end of Spring Training.

Lopez, Maysonet, Castro, and Daigle are reassigned to Minor League camp immediately.

So this likely means the following:
Towles will be your Opening Day catcher (though Footer notes that the Astros are saying it's between Towles and Quintero.)
Gervacio has his spot in the bullpen.
Cory Sullivan is your OF5.

I'm most surprised by Lopez, Maysonet, and Daigle's reassignment. Lopez didn't allow an earned run all Spring. Maysonet got playing time in LF yesterday, and was given a nice review by Mills, so I'm not sure what that guy has to do to stick with the Big League team. Daigle has been lights out this Spring, while Moehler and Byrdak have taken their sweet time to get ready for the season to start (though I understand Byrdak's predisposition to throwing with his left arm is a reason why he's a roster lock). Hopefully with the performances shown this spring by these three, that means there's a short leash on the big league guys.

Astros sign Kevin Cash

And in what may be the final post of the morning in which I catch up on what happened yesterday, the Astros signed catcher Kevin Cash to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. That sound you hear is the weeping and gnashing of J.R. Towles' teeth.

Cash is 32, and has spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors, with the Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees (and the AL-Easting of the Astros continues...). I wonder how many players have played for four teams in one division before?

His most productive season came in 2008 with the Red Sox (he spent 2009 in the Yankees organization), when he hit .225/.309/.338 in 61 games/162 PAs.

So what's the point in signing Cash? My initial thought was that he might challenge Towles and Quintero for the C2 spot. But now I'm thinking that, with both of them likely opening the season in Houston, the Astros wanted to have an experienced catcher with Major-League experience in Round Rock to give Jason Castro some tips on Major-League life.

Anyone else?