Friday Morning Hot Links

The Astros


*MLB Network released some excerpts from the first interview with A.J. Hinch since his, ahem, headline-grabbing offseason.

For the first time, A.J. Hinch talks about the Astros investigation.

See Tom Verducci’s full sitdown with the former manager, Friday at 6pm ET on MLB Tonight. pic.twitter.com/EBIRDmHGFJ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 6, 2020

The full interview will air Friday at 5pm on MLB Network.

On whether or not the 2017 World Series title is tainted, Hinch:
I hope over time it's proven that it wasn't. But I understand the question. It's a fair question and people are going to have to draw their own conclusions (Ed. Note: Oh, they have). Unfortunately, we opened that door as a group. That question may never be answered....I can't pinpoint any advantages or what happened or what exactly would have happened otherwise. But we did it to ourselves. 

There are a couple of ways you can interpret this sit-down with Tom Verducci:
a) He's just biding his time until the next managerial opening and is doing the PR round.
b) Hinch is legitimately sorry that he didn't try harder to stop The Coward Alex Cora and any other Astro player (Beltran, maybe, McCann, maybe) and he's getting in front of the camera to confess.

Both can be true at the same time.

*Brian McTaggart writes that all eyes, and ears, will be on the Astros' Spring Training. Stoner hero Mike Clevinger has already said this:
I'm all about policing the game in its own right, keeping everyone safe. But I don't know, I think players will deal with it the way it should be across the league. I don't think it's going to be a comfortable few ABs for a lot of those boys, and it shouldn't be. They shouldn't be comfortable.

If anyone knows anything about being uncomfortable after cheating (on his wife, a month after she gave birth to their daughter), it's Sunshine.

*Chandler Rome has five questions for the Astros as Spring Training starts next week. Those five questions detail SP5, Kyle Tucker vs Josh Reddick, which reliever will get lefty-hitters out, Lance McCullers' innings, and the possibility of a sophomore slump from Yordan.

*Richard Justice writes that the Astros-Dusty partnership can be mutually beneficial. Justice:
Baker cannot make the sign-stealing scandal go away, but his presence - and essential decency - will be a big step in the right direction. He understands that all the Astros can do this spring is own up to the past, apologize for it and then attempt to win a fourth straight American League West title.

*Jake Kaplan says the relationship between Dusty Baker and James Click is more "a marriage." Baker:
You start with trust and you start with honesty. You be as straightforward as you can on all situations. You don't sugarcoat anything. If he asks you a question you answer to the best of your knowledge and ability. There are some things that I can learn from him. There are some things that possibly he can learn from me.

*Missed this from the other day, but the Astros have apparently for some reason made an offer to Former Astros Great Hunter Pence. Makes sense, what with the thinned outfield depth of Springer, Brantley, Tucker, Reddick, Straw...

*Jordan Brewer (3rd Round - 2019) is the organization's fastest prospect. Brewer was limited to 16 games in 2019 for Tri-City after injuring his toe.

*The Astros have apparently come to a $4m agreement for July 2 with 21-year old Cuban outfielder Pedro Leon (Pedro The Lion!). Hey, there's the Astros' 1st Round draft pick in 2020!

*Nice hat that Verlander wore to the Pebble Beach Pro-Am (in which Jim Crane is also playing):

Good luck to Jim Crane and @JustinVerlander in the @attproam this week! pic.twitter.com/t4W9NSQvHo

— Houston Open (@HouOpenGolf) February 6, 2020

*Check out Joe Posnanski's profile in his essential Top 100 on his #50 - Nolan Ryan.

*Hank Aaron thinks everyone involved in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal should be banned from baseball for life.

*Sam Miller: They secretly replaced Yankee Stadium...and other lies that can be proven using real stats.

*Rob Manfred said he wants to complete the Red Sox investigation before Spring Training camps open, with the same offer of immunity for players who talk that the Astros got.

*BBC: How Kirk Douglas helped end the Hollywood blacklist.

*Bloomberg: The time I sabotaged my editor with Ransomware from the dark web.

*A Musical Selection:

Thursday Morning Hot Links

It's Astros Playoff Eve!

*It's Yankees/Red Sox in the ALDS, so that automatically relegates everyone else to the Morning Slot for playoff games so that ESPN/TBS/TruTV/Whoever The Hell can do a six-hour pre-game buildup. Astros County Guarantee: Luke Voit will be the one everyone hates the most by the end of the weekend.

*MLB.com's (and Indians beat-writer) Anthony Castrovince has a position-by-position breakdown of the Astros/Indians series. If you want to find something to argue about - because that's so hard when you're #online now - start your day here.

*Game 1: Verlander vs. Kluber.
Game 2: Cole vs. Carrasco
Game 3: Keuchel vs. Clevinger

"They're pretty loaded top to bottom," Mike Clevinger said. "But we're right there with them. There's not anything they have that we don't have. They're not that special." https://t.co/EMgaoGn8tp

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) May 19, 2018

*Despite not playing any games since I last did this on Tuesday, the Astros' 58-42 edge from FanGraphs has now dropped to 50.8-49.2. Who knew four days off could swing momentum in such a huge way?

Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight gives the Astros a 63-37 edge in making the ALCS. They're giving the Astros a 65-35 shot at winning Game 1. Wait. The Astros went to a Drake concert? Make that 90-10 in favor of Cleveland. Cleveland in Two.

*Terry Francona:
The one thing that I think they've really done for the last couple years is they play until it's time to go home. Sometimes you'll beat them, but they might just have to run out of outs. They keep coming at you. You've got to pay attention to detail, but they're fun to play because they've got so many good players, so many good pitchers. 

*The Astros bullpen is now a strength.

*Chandler Rome describes "agonizing decisions" in who to leave off the playoff roster. Personally, I'd go with Bregman over Bogar.

*The reason you couldn't get tickets to any playoff games is because the Astros sent them all to a lady in Spring Branch.

*Two dudes who are Well Known for their reasonable takes and astute baseball knowledge - Chris Broussard and Rob Parker - talked to Alex Bregman about the possibility of a repeat.

*Boston Globe: Alex Cora borrowed from the Astros' model.

*Jake Kaplan notes that Tony Sipp, Joe Smith, and Hector Rondon all spent significant time with the Indians' organization.

*AL West Playoff Wins since Houston joined the American League:
-Houston: 14
-Arlington: 2
-Oakland: 2
-Anaheim: 0
-Seattle: 0

*From Andy McCullough: An inside look at 2017 World Series Game 5 - How a championship slipped away from the Dodgers.

*A musical selection. Peep Midlake's Eric Pulido's Astros hat:

Friday Morning Hot Links

The Astros are 33-18, 15 games over .500 for the first time this season. Charlie Morton allowed two runs so he obviously needs to get DFA'd. The Astros got a pair of three-run homers from the likeliest of sources and beat the Indians 8-2. It's their 12th win in their last 15 games.

1968 Watch
Runs allowed through 51 games:
2018 Astros: 128
1968 Indians: 130

*A.J. Hinch:
It never feels easy, especially against a good team. For us to put up back-to-back big innings is tough for them to come back. It's a nice way to start a long series, and we've got a long battle ahead with some of their strong pitching we're about to face.

Morton: 6IP, 5H/2ER, 5K:3BB. His ERA is 2.04. Trash. Morton:
Having my breaking ball and throwing my breaking ball for strikes [was key]. That allows me to get back in counts...I'm really not throwing the ball where I want to, but my secondary stuff has been good.

All five of Charlie Morton's strikeouts came on his curveball.

*So five days after Mike Clevinger said the Astros weren't all that "special," the Astros used the word "special" in responses to reporters. Charlie Morton:
It was an absolute team win. It's pretty fun to be a part of this special team.

*Is Alex Bregman breaking out? He went 2x4 with a double and a home run with 4RBI. It's an eight-game hitting streak, and he has 2-hit games in three of his past four. In May Bregman is hitting .303/.411/.579.

*George Springer went 2x3 with two walks and two stolen bases. Springer has three stolen bases this season - all against Cleveland. It's his first two-steal game since July 5, 2017 against Atlanta.

*Terry Francona:
These guys are really good. Even last year, before they won the World Series, the way they played the game really stood out. They're fun to play, not because you think you're going to push them around, but because they play so well.

*Jake (Roger Maris)nick hit a three-run home run to straightaway center, and the dugout went nuts:
There was a big roar in the dugout when Jake did that because George called it. Now, George makes a whole lot of other calls that don't come close to happening, but that one he got right.

*ClintShane is...the smartest man alive.

*FanGraphs' Travis Sawchik puts the Astros' 2018 rotation in historical perspective.

*How will Hinch sort out playing time, what with Springer, Kemp, Marisnick, Davis, Marwin, etc? Match-ups.

*Creepy Roommate Tyler Bauer gets to face the Astros on Sunday, pitching against his old UCLA teammate and polar opposite Gerrit Cole. There were a couple of stories on this yesterday.

-Bauer, on Cole, talking to Jordan Bastian:
We had a rocky relationship in college, because he told me that I had no future in baseball and he insulted my work ethic as a freshman. I don't take kindly to those couple things, so we had our issues....Regardless of how each of us feels about anything, we're intertwined forever.

Okay, Tim, that's a little creepy.

Now, Bob Nightengale talked to some people who know both Cole and Bauer and their personalities. Like an unnamed Astros pitcher who said that Bauer's issues with Cole stem from jealousy:
It's just killing him to see Cole have such a great year.

Oh check out Cody Decker:
I like (Bauer) a lot. But I can't tell you I know Bauer. I spoke with Bauer one time, and I said, 'I'll never do that again. I'm good. I got my fill for a lifetime.' So I don't want to say I'm rooting for Cole (on Sunday), but I'm completely rooting for Cole. I would love to see Cole strike out 21 batters. And all on high spin-rate sliders.

That is an all-time quote and I will support Cody Decker until the day I die.

*Read a longer interview with Bauer in The Athletic.

.@JustinVerlander talked with @jaysonst about the night he threw a 124-pitch complete game against the Yankees last postseason: pic.twitter.com/Hez8hrikm1

— Stadium (@WatchStadium) May 24, 2018

*Corpus' Corbin Martin got done dirty by the offense and his bullpen last night. Martin: 7.2IP, 2H/0ER, 9K:0BB. It went into extras tied 0-0. Erasmo Pinales allowed five hits and a walk and committed a throwing error to give Springfield a 4-0 win. Martin's last four starts: 21IP, 12H/2ER, 20K:5BB.

*No, the Astros aren't thinking of turning J.D. Davis into a two-way player.

*From Baseball Prospectus: An MLB Commission confirmed the ball has changed since 2015.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

Doing any of this feels pretty freaking stupid, given what happened in Santa Fe yesterday morning. A.J. Hinch spent two minutes going off about trying to find answers instead of offering condolences. School shootings in America should not be treated like typhoons in Southeast Asia, Nor'Easters in New England, or earthquakes in California - things that are geographic anomalies.

Whatever. Here's some baseball stuff.

Surprisingly, the Astros have won eight of their last ten games, 19 of their last 30. They're three games up on Seattle. Houston's Pythagorean Record is 35-11.

*Charlie Morton: 7IP, 4H/1ER, 8K:1BB. The one run came on an Edwin Encarnacion home run - it was Cleveland's only extra-base hit of the night. Devenski and Giles allowed as many hits in their two combined innings. Morton:
I thought it was OK. I thought I made some really good pitches and I thought I got away with some really bad pitches. I think I'm surprised at how effective my four-seamer is and it's made my job easier. I don't feel like I'm really pitching that well. I'm not really executing a ton of pitches. My stuff is playing in the zone pretty well.

*The Masked Marvel takes a break from binge-watching Royal Wedding stuff to tell you how great the rotation has been.

Opportunities to score:
1st inning: Bases loaded, one out - Gurriel GIDPs.
4th inning: Two on, one out - Fisher and Stassi strike out swinging
5th inning: Two on, nobody out - Bregman GIDPs, reaches first, gets picked off.
8th inning: Two on, nobody out - Marwin flies out, Gattis sac flies, McCann grounds out.

Hinch:
We had a lot of runners on base because we had really good at-bats, especially from the top half of the order and Tony at the back end. I always say if we keep giving ourselves a chance, we'll eventually come up with the big hit, and we did.

*The Astros were 1x10 w/RISP last night. The Astros are hitting .255/.334/.424 with runners in scoring position. With two outs and runners in scoring position, the Astros are hitting .195/.282/.328 with 53 strikeouts in 195 PAs. So, for perspective:

Astros w/RISP: .255/.334/.424
MLB w/RISP: .247/.332/.401

2017 Astros w/RISP: .294/.360/.481

Astros w/RISP, 2 out: .195/.282/.328
MLB w/RISP, 2 out: .227/.331/..382

2017 Astros w/RISP, 2 out: .282/.380/.492.

Yeah, the 2018 Astros OPS w/RISP, 2 outs is 261 points lower than 2017's split.

*Derek Fisher is now 1x20 with 15 strikeouts with runners in scoring position. Tony Kemp is 1x1 with no strikeouts with runners in scoring position.

*George Springer was 2x3 with a home run and 2RBI. Gurriel was 2x3. Tony Kemp was 2x3.

*Indians starter Mike Clevinger, after the game:
There's not much room for error. They are pretty loaded top to bottom. We are right there from top to bottom. We are right there with them. There's not anything they have that we don't have. They aren't that special.

No, see, idiot, this is a family situation: we are allowed bust on the Astros, but you do it and I will absolutely hit you with a pipe.

*We are all this guy's significant other.

welp. Sorry @astros My husband did not see Kemps hit since he was shelling peanuts for our 5 year old daughter at her FIRST ever game. When he looked over the wall it was foul and he wanted to get the ball for his baby. I'm not a jerk wife and he knows baseball.

— Valerie Dominy (@AMDEventPlans) May 19, 2018

*See, this cat thinks he cute:

Tyler Bauer in the @Indians dugout...against @astros pic.twitter.com/jL24aMjEgX

— Karen Warren (@karenwarrenHC) May 19, 2018

*Josh Reddick was a late scratch last night with a "left leg irritation." I doubt he cut himself shaving. If this is Peak Astros, then next Saturday we'll wonder why Reddick hasn't played all week, and then at the All-Star Break they'll announce he had to have it amputated.

*Maybe you noticed (I didn't): Will Harris is back to pitching from the 3B side of the heheh rubber after spending the Spring and early part of the season more towards the middle.

*Jake Kaplan: What Tony Kemp's promotion means for Derek Fisher. Stay for notes on Verlander, McHugh, and Yordan Alvarez.

*A.J. Hinch says he's open to splitting up Verlander and Cole.

*Jayson Stark notes that Justin Verlander's batting average against is 19 points lower than the season-best .167, set by Pedro Martinez in 1999.

*Nick Tanielu (14th Round, 2014) made his Triple-A debut last night and went 2x4 with a double and an RBI

*Here's a great piece from Jayne at WTHB (which, if you don't follow her or read her site on a daily basis then what in the actual hell are you doing with your fandom?) on Buies Creek's Brett Adcock.