Tuesday Morning(-ish) Hot Links

Good morning. I got home late, overslept, and got to work late. It's a great day. The Astros beat the Brewers 12-2 to improve to 28-19, winners of eight straight and eleven of their last twelve games. The Rangers lost, so the Astros are just a game back for the Division lead. 

*To find a longer winning streak you have to go all the way back to [checks Baseball-Reference] May 2-13, 2022, when the Astros won 11 in a row against the Mariners, Tigers, and Twins. 

*The Astros - as a team - have hit .276/.352/.451 in the last twelve games, raising their team OPS from .676 to .709. Houston also hit five home runs last night, an impressive feat considering that they hit five home runs in the previous six games combined (218 PAs). 

*The previous 2023 game-high in homers was on April 5, when the Astros hit three against Detroit. It was the 56th time in franchise history that the Astros have hit 5+ homers, and the most since the Astros hit six homers at Fenway in a 13-6 win over the Red Sox on May 17, 2022. God, we've been spoiled. The Astros are 50-6 when hitting five home runs in a game. 

*Brewers starting pitcher and 2021 NL Cy Young Winner (a feat about which I had completely forgotten) Corbin Burnes had thrown four straight Quality Starts and entered the game with a 3.48 ERA before getting lit up for 5ER. Prior to last night, Burnes had made 144 appearances (83 starts) and had never given up 4HR in a game before. 

*Yordan Alvarez hit two home runs, one a grand slam on the first pitch of the AB. It was his 4th career grand slam and the 14th multi-homer regular season game of his career, both of which feel low. Those were also Yordan's 3rd and 4th career homers against the Brewers, and the 2nd and 3rd at Not Miller Park.

Yordan's homers vs. Milwaukee:

June 11, 2019 at Minute Maid Park vs. Matt Albers (his second career home run).

September 2, 2019 at Not Miller Park vs. Brent Suter.

May 22, 2023 at Not Miller Park vs Corbin Burnes and something called a "Hoby Milner." In the year of our Lord 2023 there are people walking around that answer to the name "Hoby." Of course he's from Fort Worth. 

Brewers manager Craig Counsell:

I mean, he's one of the best hitters in the league. I don't care what pitcher we're putting in there. It's a challenge.

*Mauricio Dubon hit a home run before Jose Abreu. Just like we all drew it up in March.

*Martin Maldonado was 2x3 with a homer and a walk. Since April 30 (15 games), Maldonado is hitting - and I swear this is true - .319/.396/.511. Maldonado became the 69th player in MLB history a home run against all 30 MLB teams. 

*Jeremy Pena took a 98.9mph heater off the hand, but stayed in the game.

*In his last six games, Jake Meyers is hitting .389/.560/.722.

*Cristian Javier threw 6IP, 4H/1ER, 5K:1BB. In the 54 starts in his career, 23 of them have been Quality Starts. The Astros are 17-6 when Javier goes at least six innings and allows three or fewer earned runs. 

*It was a routine day off yesterday for Jose Altuve.

*The Astros need five more wins this season for Dusty Baker to pass Joe McCarthy for 8th on the all-time managerial wins list. 38 more wins put him past Bucky Harris for 7th, 74 will pass Sparky Anderson for 6th. 

*Something I'm sure everyone will be extremely level-headed about: Chandler Rome, on Kyle Tucker's terrible defensive metrics. 

*Carlos Correa is hitting .213/.302/.396. FanGraphs says not to worry about that. Correa also talked to ESPN about his tumultuous free agency saga. 

*1916 Watch:

2023 A's: 10-39

1916 A's: 15-33-1

*Three people have been arrested over racial abuse of Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr. 

*How Leeds United's impending relegation would affect Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Brendan Aaronson, and the San Francisco 49ers.

*Uhhh check on your friends in Guam.

*Rufus Wainwright's debut album was released 25 years ago last Friday. This is hard, for me. So in honor of that...

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros lost 4-2. They're 12-4 in their last 16 games and stand at 90-50 on the season.

*The Yankees beat the Rangers, so they take the AL's best record by one game. There are 22 regular season games remaining, and four of them - Oakland at home next week - feature an opponent over .500. The next eight games are at Minute Maid Park.

*Zack Greinke threw one bad pitch to Eric Thames, which resulted in a 3-run home run: 6IP, 8H/4ER, 4K:0BB. It's his first Loss since July 14 and the first game he has started in which the Astros didn't win. Greinke smoked a single off Lyles, and then was promptly picked off. One of those kind of games. How did Greinke get picked off? Greinke:
I was trying to steal. Got nine career steals, trying to get 10. Don't know if I'll ever get there now. That was probably my last chance.

Next Astros game in a National League park is ideally World Series Game 3.

Worth noting that the Astros selected Eric Thames off waivers from the Orioles on September 5, 2013. He had not appeared in an MLB game since 2012, and he did not play for the Astros that September. The Astros released Thames on December 9, 2013 and went to play in Korea for three seasons, hit 124 home runs, and signed with the Brewers prior to 2017. I guess what I'm saying is that this loss is Luhnow's fault.

Maldonado caught Greinke for the first time since they were both with the Brewers in 2012, in order to get ready for the playoffs.

*Abraham Toro got his 1st career triple. Good work, Toro.

*Josh Reddick has not hit a home run since June 28, a span of 186 PAs, or 48 starts - extending a career-high set all the way back in 2018.

*George Springer had to be carted off the field after robbing Ryan Braun of extra-bases and crashing into the outfield wall, hitting his head on the way down. He was in considerable pain, but sitting upright as the cart took him for evaluation. Updates will be forthcoming as they're available. Reddick told McTaggart post-game that Springer was alert. He's scheduled to fly back to Houston with the team, in advance of the off-day on Wednesday. Reddick:
When me and Mike got there, (Springer) seemed to be very alert. He just kept saying he had a headache. That was a positive sign. He wasn't dizzy. He didn't have any memory loss out there. He made sure he answered all the questions right.

I don't want to talk about this game anymore.

*A.J. Hinch did some actual talking prior to the Brewers game, and tried to downplay whether or not Roberto Osuna was, actually, on fire:
I don't carry one game into the next. The last thing I'm going to do is show any sort of concern or any sort of panic when it comes to him. He's really good, he's got good stuff. He made a mistake to one of the best hitters in baseball, and [Yelich] tied the game. That's really the extent of his quote-unquote struggles yesterday.

Osuna, March 28-May 20: 21.1IP, 7H/1ER, 19K:2BB. 0.42 ERA / 0.42 WHIP. It is impossible to sustain that level of dominance over the course of a season.

Osuna, May 24-ASG: 15.2IP, 16H/7ER, 20K:4BB. 4.02 ERA / 1.28 WHIP. A little bit of a course correction? Osuna allowed an earned run in five of those 16 appearances.

Osuna, ASG-Sept 2: 17.2IP, 17H/11ER, 19K:4BB. 5.60 ERA / 1.19 WHIP, allowing an earned run in eight of 19 appearances.

Or taken as a Tale of Two Seasons:

Osuna through May 20: 21.1IP, 7H/1ER, 19K:2BB. 0.42 ERA / 0.42 WHIP.
Osuna, May 24-Sept 2: 33.1IP, 33H/19ER, 39K:8BB. 4.86 ERA / 1.23 WHIP.

There's not much else to say. I don't think that Osuna is a 4.00+ ERA pitcher. He's not a sub-1.00 ERA pitcher. He's giving up 1.3 HR/9, but doesn't get the number of innings a starting pitcher gets to even that out. Verlander is giving up 1.5 HR/9, but routinely pitches 6-7 innings. Osuna gets one inning, tops. It's so hard to statistically evaluate relievers, especially closers. They're brought in to face the best of the lineup in a close game, and sometimes things don't go their way. Or, if the OSUNA SUCKX narrative suits you better, no one is going to talk you out of it.

Osuna:
Right now, I've got to be honest - I got my mind thinking about October. Obviously, you think about winning games every day, but what I'm taking September to do, for me, is getting ready for the postseason. I gave up the home run yesterday, but, I mean, Maldonado and Chirinos and myself, we had a dinner [Monday] night and we were talking about, 'OK, we've got to learn from this and move on and make sure this will not happen in the playoffs.' 

If you think of it in that regard - that it was just an interleague game on Labor Day - you can see how Osuna's mind might not be focused 100% on the task at hand. The playoffs start in a month, and that's what Osuna is looking forward to. It's not ideal, I guess, but you can't expect every player to play 162 games like it's Game 7. I'll withhold judgment on Osuna's pitching performance. Feel free to disagree.

Within that link, we find that Pressly is doing agility drills, Correa hit off a tee, and McHugh thinks his elbow is a similar issue to the one that caused him to miss 34 games earlier in the season...which would be right at ALDS time, if not ALCS time (should we be blessed with such a roster).

*Alex Bregman was named the August AL Player of the Month. He hit .404/.487/.747 in 26 games. Justin Verlander was obviously AL Pitcher of the Week, and Yordan Alvarez was the August AL Rookie of the Month, an award he has won in every month he has spent in Houston.

*Reymin Guduan was reinstated from the suspended list, the day after Round Rock's season ended, and subsequently DFA'd. About a week and a half ago I found out some things that led to Guduan getting suspended for a month. Since I wrote that, the story is maybe more complicated than that initial report, but no one is willing to talk even anonymously. Still, the story hasn't been refuted - or even addressed, really - by the Astros, Astros.com, or the Houston Chronicle.

*Jake Kaplan notes that every single domestic Astros affiliate (Round Rock, Corpus, Fayetteville, Quad Cities, and Tri-City) led the league in K/9. Related: home runs at Triple-A ballparks in 2019 - reminder that for the first time Triple-A used the same baseballs MLB uses - increased by 60% over their 2018 totals. Jayson Stark talked to a baseball exec who said, "from a development perspective, the PCL has now become essentially useless, and they are sending prospects to Double-A instead because the juiced ball is preventing clubs from accurately assessing players."

Yordan turned out okay so far.

*Not that these types of articles actually mean anything, but SI says the Astros' rotation gives them the edge over New York and Los Angeles in the postseason.

*Ken Rosenthal: The Yankees almost traded for Ken Giles at the deadline.

*Reuters: A climate-change frontier in the world's northernmost town.

*The Saturday Evening Post: America's first Opioid epidemic.

*SI: The Story of Tom Herman, Ed Orgeron, and LSU's Wild Coaching Search of 2016.

*NPR: Being optimistic might help you live longer.

*A Musical Selection:

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

The Astros won a game I was really sure they were going to lose when Christian Yelich tied it in the bottom of the 9th off of Roberto Osuna. But a Springer Dinger and some "clutch" "Pitching" (and some help from an umpire for once in their wretched lives) means the Astros are 90-49. Still fully expecting Richie Sexson to be in tomorrow's lineup for Milwaukee.

Game in which the Astros recorded their 90th win:

139: 2019
143: 1998
144: 2018
146: 1999
148: 2017
150: 2001
155: 1986
157: 1980
160: 2004
N/A: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1981, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962

Houston is 33-16 in the 2nd Half, 21-9 since August 1. Since their L5 streak in mid-August they're 12-3.

Oakland didn't play today. The Ramgers shut out the Yankees, ending New York's 220-game streak of not getting shut out. The AL looks like this, at present:

Houston: 90-49
New York: 90-49
Oakland: 78-58 (-10.5)

*Gerrit Cole threw 6IP, 3H/1ER, 14K:2BB. Two of those hits were infield hits. It's the first time teammates have posted 14Ks in consecutive games since the mound was moved to 60'6"...in 1893. That's four straight double-digit strikeout starts for Cole, and 16 on the season. The Astros haven't lost a game Gerrit Cole started since July 12.

Strikeouts, 2019:
Cole: 266
Verlander: 257

Cole is currently 7th on the Astros' all-time single-season strikeout list. Verlander is 8th. Only J.R. Richard (twice) and Mike Scott have struck out 300+ batters in a season. Hinch, on Cole:
Those guys, 1-2 punch, are really tough. We have a ton of confidence when [Cole is] pitching. We know we're going to be in the game, we know we're going to miss bats. His competitive fire is really second to none. He knows what he's doing out there and when he's in control of the game, he's completely dominant.

Impressive how absolutely nothing was actually shared in that paragraph.

*Roberto Osuna allowed a game-tying home run to Christian Yelich to lead off the bottom of the 9th, made a dumb error, but was *otherwise* unscathed. I'll talk about him another day.

*Josh Big Flames James walked two batters but had some help striking out the side, including Yelich and something called Hernan Perez to end the game. Brewers manager Craig Counsell:
It's two awful calls. I don't know what to say. It's the magnitude of the spot, it's the hitter. It's just bad calls, it's bad umpiring. When it's Christian Yelich and the game's on the line and you miss calls, it hurts and it dramatically affects the outcome of the game.

Yelich:
You guys saw it, so I'll let you guys all make your own judgments. I don't want to say anything that's going to get myself fined.

Just horrific grammar by Yelich, there.

*The Astros were 1x12 w/RISP. Bregman got the lone hit, while Yordan went 0x3 w/RISP.

*George Springer ended up with the go-ahead/game-winning home run in the top of the 10th - his 30th of the season. It's the 151st home run of his career, and his 64th go-ahead homer. It's the 4th home run of his career in extra innings, and the first since he bombed Wade Davis in the 10th back on July 24, 2018. Springer:
I'm just trying to get on base. Leading off the inning, hopefully I can get to first base somehow and let the other guys do the work, but I was able to hit one hard.

It's the 68th home run he's hit when leading off the inning. Springer is four home runs shy of his career-high of 34, set in 2017.

*Alex Bregman was 4x5 with a double and an RBI. It's Bregman's 5th 4-hit game of his career. The last one came on August 18. It's the first time he's had four hits in a game and one of them wasn't a homer. Scrub.

*Yordan Alvarez tied Carlos Correa's franchise rookie home run mark, with his 22nd of the year. Since June 9. Yordan, by month:

June: .317/.406/.733, 7HR
July: .333/.419/.627, 5HR
Aug: .309/.425/.670, 9HR
Sept: .250/.250/.625, 1HR

He's falling off, man.

*Jake Marisnick was 0x1 in a pinch-hitting appearance. From August 1 to before his pinch-hit AB, Marisnick: .215/.262/.329 in 84 PAs.

*You're going to want to spend some cash on this new "Where The F*** is Toro?" shirt from Breaking T.

*Brent Strom said his hands were shaking in the 9th during Verlander's No-No. Strom:
He's a throwback. He's a special guy. I often kid him, I think he should be pitching back in the day with Seaver and that group. That's the era he belongs in.

Here's a wonderfully-written recap of Justin Verlander's No-Hitter from The Athletic's John Lott.

Verlander's 2019 WHIP: 0.772

Two other pitchers since 1901 (minimum 120IP) have posted a lower WHIP:
-Clayton Kershaw: 0.72 (2016)
-Pedro Martinez: 0.74 (2000)

*Brian McTaggart took a look at how the Astros' postseason roster is shaping up.

*Kyle Tucker, Cionel Perez, and Garrett Stubbs were all called up for Monday's game. Another wave of call-ups is expected on Thursday.

*Jake Kaplan has a mailbag in which he discusses Yordan's ROY case, what to expect from Kyle Tucker, Gerrit Cole's plans this offseason, and more.

*Hinch, on Kyle Tucker's second stint in the Majors:
I think he's matured over the year, which is going to be helpful for him. Now that he has a second opportunity here to come up, he has a long list of guys in there that he can watch prepare as he familiarizes himself with the at-bats he's going to get. It's important for him to learn that preparation, routine and cage routines.

*Wade Miley, returning to Milwaukee for the first time since 2018, told Adam McCalvy that he doesn't have any regrets about turning down Milwaukee's "offer:"
I mean, it wasn't close enough, obviously. And it was getting late in the year. It was kind of the same as the year before when I signed [with the Brewers] late on a Minor-League deal. It's like, I'm the type of person that I want to pitch. I don't want to drag this thing out into Spring Training again. I just told my agent, 'I want a job.' Houston's close to home. It's nice. It's been great. I went with it and no looking back, no regrets. There's no hard feelings anywhere. 

*Unsurprisingly, Gerrit Cole is the Astros' top impending free agent.

*Ben Lindbergh: The knuckleball isn't dead yet.

*Meet the Marathon Cheats.

*A Musical Selection:

Monday Morning Hot Links

I was wide awake at 3am so let's just get today over with, huh?

*Joe Musgrove will be SP4 to start the season, and the rotation will be Keuchel, McCullers, Morton, Musgrove, and Fiers.

*Which of course means that Collin McHugh and his dead arm will start the season on the DL. He'll make his Spring Training debut today, about three weeks too late.

*And now the only question is who will be the final arm out of the bullpen: James Hoyt or Jandel Gustave? Hinch:
It's miserable being this guy. Hoyt's been this guy for the last couple of years; Gustave is the first time being this close to the team, (Dayan) Diaz as well. I don't want them to put so much pressure on themselves in the last outing or two they're going to have.

Hinch is looking to see if they can get lefties out to help Sipp in times of trouble. The bullpen, as of now, is Giles, Gregerson, Harris, Feliz, Devenski, Sipp, and probably Brad Peacock to serve as a multiple-inning guy (read: Out-of-Options guy).

*And Tony Sipp was scratched from both weekend games due to a back issue.

*Josh Reddick wants to hit more lefty pitching.

*Nick Cafardo is the latest to write that the Astros are still in on Jose Quintana, though they're reluctant to part with Francis Martes in that deal. "One major league source" says that the White Sox could trade Quintana before Opening Day, which is in a week, of course.

*The Astros are impressed with Derek Fisher's base-stealing ability.

*New Astros play-by-play man Todd Kalas honored his Hall of Fame father with his home run call.

*The Astros traded catcher Tyler Heineman to, who else, the Brewers for "a player to be named later or cash considerations." How funny would it be if there was a player whose actual last name was Later. Or if their name was Cash Considerations. That'd be messed up. I'm very tired.

Heineman - the Astros' 8th Round pick out of UCLA in the 2012 draft - will be 26 in June. In 2015, between Corpus and Fresno, Heineman hit .285/.334/.379, good enough to spend all of 2016 in Fresno, where he hit .359/.344/.351. What with the emergence of Garrett Stubbs as a prospect, and with Juan Centeno's arrival, and Stassi's return to Fresno, there likely just wasn't playing time available for Heineman. Fare thee well, Tyler Heineman.

*The Astros released LHP C.J. Riefenhauser yesterday, and reassigned Jordan Jankowski, Tyson Perez, Alejandro Garcia, and Jon Kemmer to minor-league camp.

*Anthony Gose - who was an Astro for about eight minutes before getting traded to Toronto for Astros Great Brett Wallace - is about to be converted into a pitcher.

Friday Morning Hot Links

*We already did a quick link post for last night's selections of Forrest Whitley and Ronnie Dawson, while the County Mountie wrote a little more in-depth on Whitley. Here's the MLB.com Scouting Report on Whitley.

*In case you want to hate everything, here's a picture of Whitley in a Rangers hat.

*The Astros lost - again - at Arlington. The Angels and Mariners both lost so here's the updated division:
Southeast Wichita Falls: -
Seattle: -4
Houston: -9
Anaheim: -11
Oakland: -11.5

*FanGraphs still has the Astros with a 17.3% chance of winning the division and a 32.7% chance of making the playoffs.

*Carlos Correa sprained his ankle, X-rays were negative, and he'll get a few days off to let it heal up.

*McHugh only made it through 3.2IP:
My stuff felt really good the first two innings. I felt like we were pretty sharp. Then I kind of sprayed a couple pitches, a couple borderline calls on that first hitter and then he's on, and they were kind of off to the races.

The Rangers basically took advantage of every mistake and opportunity the Astros gave them. The Astros didn't have that ability this series. Or at all against Lower Ardmore.

*Chris Devenski threw 3.1IP of no-hit relief.

*Brian T. Smith says it's hard to believe in the Astros when they can't beat the Ramgers.

*Jon Heyman wrote that, while people expected an occasional slump out of Carlos Gomez, no one expected him to play so poorly. He also writes that the Gomez trade might just be the best in Brewers franchise history.

*FanGraphs: The Astros built a phenomenal bullpen.

*Hardball Times: An ode to BABIP

From the Office of the County Clerk: G6 - Astros in Milwaukee

Dallas Keuchel (1-0, 2.57) versus Jimmy Nelson (0-1, 2.45)

The Astros' second rubber game in two series to open 2016, and the second missed opportunity to take a road series.  The Astros have not played well since getting fortunate in the first game of the season, but in this game, most of the wounds were self-inflicted.  The annoying thing from a fans perspective is that they have wasted some excellent performances in this stretch with some inept play.   In Game 6, the ineptitude was obvious, definable and concrete, resulting in a frustrating 3-2 loss.

So the game started well, with José Altuve jumping all over Jimmy Nelson's first pitch, hammering a long home run to the LF power alley.  The pitch was meant to be a sinker in but Nelson missed glove-side, and Altuve nearly hit Bernie Brewers's slide above the LF bleachers.  Altuve has surprising pop, on it was display again, as it was often in 2015.

Then, pretty much everything else that happened in the game was not in favour of the Astros.  Springer singled on the next pitch, then was thrown out stealing with Correa at the plate.  Fabulous piece of work from the pitcher-catcher battery, and Rivera (starting at second base) dropped the perfect tag on him.  One run was all the Astros would score in their half of the first.

Dallas Keuchel struggled with his control early in his outing.  Walk (to Domingo Santana), strikeout (Villar), walk (Braun), walk (Carter) leaded the bases for Aaron Hill.  Hill came up hacking, Keuchel missed a little down and glove-side with the first pitch, and Springer had a line-drive drop just short of his glove as he came in and tried to make the miracle play.  The hit to RF plated two.  Things got worse as a walk to Martin Maldonado (the back-up catcher) re-loaded the bases, but Keuchel bounced back to strike out Yadiel Rivera and Jimmy Nelson, the opposing catcher to limit the damage.

So Keuchel walked four in an inning, and allowed one hit.  Given he found himself in bases loaded jams twice, it could have been much worse.  After the first, he settled down, began locating the ball down in the strike zone a little more (although quite a few of his pitches still missed up) resulting in a more familiar feel to the game.  He set down the Brewers in order in the second and allowed a double to Chris Carter on the first pitch of his one-out at-bat in the third (just inside the third-base bag) before yielding another run in the fourth.  A lead off double put Yadiel Rivera on second, Jimmy Nelson (batting 8) laid down a bunt to the first base side, but no one covered first on the wheel play, and no out was able to be recorded.  The runner did not advance.  After Keon Broxton struck out, Domingo Santana worked the count to 3-1 before Kuechel had to come over the plate with a fastball, and Santana lined it to the RF gap for a double.  With the pitcher on the bases, the Brewers were conservative with their running, and only one run scored.  Villar grounded out before Keuchel IBB'd Ryan Braun (loading the bases) then lured Chris Carter into a groundout.  At this point, the Brewers led, 3-1.

In the meantime, the Astros had their opportunities at the plate.  Tyler White walked leading off the second, but he was stranded on a grounder and two strikeouts.  Altuve walked and stole second with one out in the third.  But catcher and human-cannon Martin Maldonado caught him lolly-gagging off second after a pitch, and threw behind him.  Altuve was toasted on the run down.  In the fourth, Correa got picked off after working a lead-off walk.  He simply tried for his secondary lead too early, Jimmy Nelson stepped off and threw behind him, and Correa was toast.  For those keeping count, the Astros lost three baserunners in the first four frames, with only one of those a traditional caught stealing.

Preston Tucker homered leading off the fifth to reduce the deficit to 1.  Jimmy Nelson tried to locate the pitch down-and-away, but he missed up and glove-side, and Tucker drove it just out to the LF power alley.  Tucker has scorched the ball this year, and certainly deserves more playing time (which he got today at the expense of Carlos Gómez).

In the bottom half of the fifth, Milwaukee were granted a baserunner on a missed catch error by Tyler White.  After a walk, Jimmy Nelson bunted to move the runners over, but the ball was deadened too much and Castro grabbed it just fair down the third-base line, very close to home plate.  Castro went for the force at third, which he managed without problem.  MarGo then fired across to first for the attempt at the DP, and Jimmy Nelson was ruled out (despite appearing safe on super-slo-mo).  The call was never going to be overturned, however, as Martin Maldonado grabbed MarGo's leg as he slid past the base (á la Joey Bats and Logan Forsythe), so interference won the day - the second call of the series.

The rest of the game was all about missed opportunities for the Astros.  They got a lead-off walk in the seventh, and with no outs Rasmus (who worked the walk) advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Foul-out, strikeout, strikeout ended that inning.  In the eighth, the Astros started the inning poorly when pinch hitter Carlos Gómez struck out on four pitches.  But another pinch hitter Luis Valbuena walked before José Altuve grounded into a fielder's choice.  But the pitchers attempt at a force out at second sailed into CF, putting runners on the corners.  Fly-out, ground-out ended that frame without the game tying run scoring from third, and although the fly-out was shallow, Marisnick (pinch-running) would have scored from third as the throw sailed up the line.

And in the ninth, Rasmus struck out on a 2-2 count, Tyler White grounded to second, and Preston Tucker smashed a ball back up the middle, literally right back into the pitcher's glove.  The second baseman was shifted right behind the pitcher, so unless it deflected, it probably wouldn't have resulted in a hit.

So this loss was all about self-inflicted wounds.  The two vital runs that scored early in the game were both as a result of walks.  The Astros pitchers combined for seven walks, six by Keuchel.  They allowed another two baserunners by errors - one on a blown wheel play where no one covered first on a bunt attempt and the second via a catching error by Tyler White.  In the eighth, they failed to drive in the game-tying run from third with one out.  And, as the icing on the cake, they helped Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson out by losing three men on the bases, two via lolly-gagging on the base paths, and drawing throws behind them.

What I found impressive were the Altuve and Tucker home runs - both not guys that have homered in recent games, proving the Astros have power all through the order.  I was also impressed by Keuchel gutting out five-and-two-thirds innings, especially after six walks and eight strikeouts combined to run his pitch count up.  He was missing up in the zone early in the game, and a solidly-hit grooved fastball would have had a good chance of leaving the stadium, and hanging a seriously crooked number up there.  Fields and Harris also looked good in their outings.

But overall, this was another game for the Astros they could have won, already the third game of the year like this.  They had better sharpen up in a hurry because:

Up Next
The Royals are in town for the home opener.

 Collin McHugh (0-1, 135.00) versus Chris Young (0-1, 3.60)

8 Eastern, 7 Central.

As a special treat for AC readers, I can inform you that your much-loved Cockroach is back from having his blogging collateral ligament replaced, and after 18 months of rehab, he will be covering the Royals' series.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G5: Astros in Milwaukee

Doug Fister (lots of zeros) versus Wily E Peralta (0-1, 9.00)

Luck or good pitching does not seem to have been on the Astros' side over the last three games, which has played a part in their first multi-game slide of the season.  The happy news is that (i) the pitching is highly likely to get better, mostly because it cannot get much worse than a number 2 starter with an ERA of 135.00 and (ii) no one in the AL West has gotten off to any kind of a good start.  At the completion of todays games, the Astros - with a measly 2-3 record - sit a half-game off the pace set by the Rangers and A's, so it isn't like the Astros are spotting any of the other teams in the division a decent lead.

But after a promising rally was snuffed out last night on the technically correct application of a new rule designed to protect middle infielders, the Astros sorely needed a good performance.  They got an adequate performance tonight - one that was good enough for a 6-4 win.  They certainly aren't in mid-season form, but they head to their second rubber-game of the season with their ace taking the mound, so perhaps that is something.  A win tomorrow sends them home with a .500 road trip - something that was a rarity last season.

On the Mound:
Doug Fister, the Astros' nominal fifth starter, took the bump tonight, and was immediately staked to a two-nil lead, which is discussed in more detail below.  He looked good early, too, retiring the side in order in the first, and allowing only a leadoff walk to future-'Stro Jonathan Lucroy in setting the side down in the second as well.  It was a promising start.

Entering the third inning, Fister carried a 3-0 lead.  He scuffled a little in that frame, however.  Wily Peralta - the opposing pitcher - opened the frame by flying out to deep LF, pretty much to the warning track.  Then number nine hitter Jonathan Villar hit a hard single through the right side, and strikeout-machine Domingo Santana walked, putting runners on first and second with one out.  Scooter Gennett became the third straight Brewer to reach when he hit a hard single to the right side.  Springer made a good read, attacked the ball, and threw a hard throw home that was cut by first baseman, Tyler White.  White summed up the play well, threw to second behind Santana after looking Villar back to third, and the tag was successfully applied.  Villar headed for home and scored, however, but the second out was recorded (instead of having the bases loaded with one out), and the next batter (Ryan Braun) compounded the mistake by striking out swinging on a full count.

The the fourth, Jonathan Lucroy against led off by reaching base, this time on a double to deep CF.  But Fister bounced back to strike out Carter and Nieuwenhuis, and retire Aaron Hill on a first pitch grounder.  Starting the fifth inning, Fister was staked to a 6-1 lead, but he allowed a lead-off two-bagger to double-switch insert and third-baseman Yadiel Rivera, who advanced on Villar's grounder and scored on Santana's grounder.  The Brewers weren't done for the inning after that, however, as Scooter Gennett mashed his second home run in as many days to RF on the following pitch.  Castro called for a first-pitch curve away, Fister missed glove-side by a foot or so, and Gennett did a great job of getting underneath it, and mashing it over the bullpen in RF.

That made the score 6-3, and it became 6-4 when Pat Neshek retired the first two guys in order, then grooved a fastball down the middle.  It was a 2-2 count, the sixth pitch of the at-bat, and Castro called for a fastball away.  Neshek missed glove side and over the plate, and Nieuwenhuis hit a wall-scraper just over the RF wall for the second Brewers home run in as many innings.

Will Harris came on, and he allowed only a single to Jonathan Villar in recording a scoreless inning.  Giles got the eighth, and while that has been a recipe for disaster in 2016 so far, he sliced through the heart of the order (Braun, Lucroy and Carter) without allowing a baserunner.  Gregerson had an easier assignment in the ninth, and after retiring the first two hitters without problem, he allowed a single to deep CF, then walked Villar, putting the go-ahead run at the plate.  That happened to be Domingo Santana, and we all know how much power he has, but on the second pitch of his at-bat, he grounded it to Carlos Correa who completed the force out without drama.  So aside from Pat Neshek's oopsie, the Astros 'pen looked much more like the 2015 version today, unlike the 2013 version they have looked like so far this season.

At the Plate:
The Astros loaded the bases with no outs in the first on two broken-bat singles, and a walk.  Sac-flies to Colby Rasmus (deep to the LF power alley, not too far short of the wall) and Tyler White (deep to CF) both drove runners in and gave viewers a glimpse of the future.  The second inning looked promising, with Luis Valbuena singling the other way, and Jason Castro bunting the other way for base hits, putting runners on first and second.  But Doug Fister was the next batter, and he bunted it just to the left of the mound, but Peralta gathered it quickly and made a good play in forcing Valbuena at third.  The inning ended scorelessly on a José Altuve double-play.

In the third, Colby Rasmus took a first pitch breaking pitch and deposited it over the CF wall, in a very similar location to his sac-fly.  The pitch was meant to be a breaking ball down and away, but Peralta missed over the plate, and Rasmus hammered it.  Tyler White followed with a walk, but it was to no avail as Carlos Gómez struck out swinging on a pitch located in the left-handers batters box.

Jason Castro worked a walk in the fourth - he was stranded at second when Altuve struck out.  In the fifth, the Astros scored the decisive runs of the game.  George Springer walked to lead off the inning, stole second, and advanced to third when Scooter Gennett couldn't glove Lucroy's tailing throw down to try and get him.  Rasmus was the next up, and he absolutely unloaded on a 3-0 fastball down the pipe, mashing it into the second deck above the RF power alley.  It was an impressive shot - a long way back, and well into the upper deck.  The sound the ball made as it hit the bat was impressive, and Peralta and Lucroy just stood and watched.  It was estimated at 431 feet.

Tyler White was the next batter.  On an 0-1 count, Lucroy called for a fastball low and on the inside corner.  Peralta missed glove-side, and White hammered it to deep CF, very close to where he hit the sac-fly, at least in terms of line.  The ball hit the batting eye on the full - it also wasn't a cheapie, estimated at 423 feet.  That took the lead at the time to five.

The Brewers 'pen faced the minimum for the rest of the match.  That was despite a Carlos Gómez bunt single to the replacement third baseman Rivera, who promptly threw it away.  It got past Carter, and Gómez dug for second, then third.  Carter retrieved the ball, threw a strike to Jonathan Villar covering third, and Gómez was out relatively easily as he slid into the bag.  Marwin González singled to CF in the ninth, but he was erased on a José Altuve GIDP - his second of the day, and third of the season (if you include the GIDP that ended the game last night, which officially is not credited against Altuve by rule).

Tyler White had a solid night (1-2, BB, SF, HR, 2RBI), as did George Springer and Jason Castro (both 1-3, BB).  Gómez and Valbuena both went 1-4.  Correa reached once on a walk while going 0-3.  But Colby Rasmus was clearly the top offensive performer of the night, with a 2-3, 2HR, BB, SF, 4RBI effort, his first two home runs of the season.  He has looked impressive so far this season, making a lot of hard contact.

Turning Point:
Back-to-back jacks put the Astros out of reach in the fifth.  The two home runs combined for around 850 feet.

Man of the Match:
So far this year: Correa, Correa, White, White.... Rasmus!  A couple of Colby Jacks in the cheese capital of America.  Awful joke, I know.  Apologies.

Goat of the Game:
Hard to find a goat, but I think I need to draw attention to Carlos Gómez's performance thus far.  He seems... overenthusiastic so far this year.  If he keeps going at this pace, he will either run out of energy, or do himself some damage.  Chill, bro, and let the game come to you sometimes.

On the Morrow:
Wrapping up the, uh, cheddar in Milwaukee.  Apologies, my jokes aren't very gouda.

Dallas Keuchel (1-0, 2.57) versus Jimmy Nelson (0-1, 2.45)

2 Eastern, 1 Central.

Saturday Morning Hot Links

*G4 recap from the Masked Marvel

*Dallas Keuchel had some thoughts about the game-ending out call:

Are we even playing baseball anymore??? #unbelievable

— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) April 9, 2016

*A.J. Hinch:
It's a joke we lost the game based on that when there wasn't intent or contact. It was a baseball slide. 

Colby Rasmus:
There wasn't anything malicious about that slide. I just picked up my leg up and went on past the bag a little bit there. It's crazy. They didn't even attempt to make a throw, and they can end the game on that.

*BREAKNG NEWS: Starting pitching has been terrible since G1.

*Carlos Gomez wants to retire a Brewer. That's cool. I want Doug Fister to retire 27 Brewers pretty quickly tonight.

*Chris Devenski and his "circle of death" had a hectic 24 hours.

*Tyler White joined Ken Caminiti as the only Astros with seven hits in their first four games. Now he's the only Astros with eight hits in his first four career games.

*A.J. Hinch joined everybody else in being happy for Tyler White's success.

*Joe Prince - who sang the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America for the Astros for over 25 years, passed away.

*The Cubs believe they - and Kyle Schwarber - can overcome his complete knee injury.

*The poetry and dilemma of Ross Stripling's no-hit bid.

*The legend of Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

From the Office of the County Clerk: G4 - Astros in Milwaukee

Scotty Feldman against Chase Anderson.

Well, loyal Astros fans and Astros County readers, there is going to be some discussion about how this game ended.  More on that below.  The sum total of the game, however, was that the Astros' starter again struggled, the bullpen gave up a couple of insurance runs, and a late comeback fell short by virtue of a controversial call.  Milwaukee has not historically been a lucky place for the Astros, and tonight that continued.  As a result, the 'stros drop to 1-3, and really need to make some progress in the next couple of games to avoid starting the season in a horrible hole.

Astros lose, 6-4.

On the Mound:
Scotty Feldman looked ok, but he allowed runs in his first two innings, and ended up getting pulled just short of 80 pitches, after four frames.  There didn't appear to be anything wrong with him, but it did appear that A.J. Hinch was dying to pull a double-switch in an NL ballpark, so he was pinch-hit for in the top of the fifth.

Feldman was lacklustre early on.  He just didn't look sharp to start with.  After striking out leadoff hitter (and ex-Stro) Domingo Santana, Feldman immediately gave up a long home run to Scooter Gennett.  Feldman was meant to hit a target outside with a fastball running away from the left-handed hitting Gennett, but he missed glove-side and over the plate, and Gennett showed surprising pop, sending it into the second deck in the RF power alley.  Ryan Braun followed with a walk, and Jonathan Lucroy hit a hard grounder up the middle that rebounded off Feldman's leg into no-man's-land between the mound and first, and suddenly the Brewers has two on with one out, and one run already in.

The Brewers got generous, however, and tried to pull off a double-steal.  Castro's throw was perfect, as was Valbuena's tag, combining to nail Braun at third base.  The good feeling from that caught-stealing lasted all of one pitch, however, as ex-Stro Chris Carter pounded an elevated breaking-ball into dead CF for a massive two-run shot.  Three runs in the first - not the start the Astros needed.

The troubles continued in the second frame.  Ex-Stro Jonathan Villar singled to open the frame, but he was also caught stealing (on another pin-point Castro throw), which cost the Brewers another run. With one out ex-Stro Santana pulled another breaking pitch that missed a foot or so high down the LF line, just out of Rasmus' reach, and Keon Broxton - the nine hitter who walked (and remember, this is an NL team, so he batted behind the pitcher), scored easily from second.  Sigh.

That was another theme of Feldman's night, too.  Three times, on full counts, Feldman strangled the pay-off pitch, sending it nowhere near the strike zone.  He looked a little frustrated.  Also, after two frames of this game, it should be noted that non-Keuchel Astros' starters have been scored upon in 7 of the 8 innings they have thrown this year.  Feldman's third and fourth innings, both being scoreless, meant that the game ended with 7 of 10 scored-upon innings from non-Keuchel starters.  I get that it is really early in the year, but this was always the weak spot for the Astros heading into the season, and it is starting to worry me.  Feldman's final line: 4IP, 4ER, 3BB, 5K, 2HR allowed.

I hope the Astros have a solution for this.  One possible solution came running out of the bullpen to start the fifth inning.  Chris Devenski got his chance in long-relief, and he looked good, pumping gas around 93, and throwing a nasty change-piece.  I didn't see much evidence of a breaking ball, but his changeup looks filthy.  Devenski struck out four in three frames of work, allowing only one hit.  He only threw 38 pitches, but was pinch hit for leading off the eighth by Preston Tucker.

Josh Fields got the eighth, and his command-troubles in the zone continued.  He walked Gennett, then went 2-0 to Ryan Braun.  Braun isn't the steroid-buffed monster he was, but he still has some pop in his bat, and he proved it when Fields missed arm-side on a low fastball that was meant to be away.  Braun hammered it just to the RF side of the batting eye for the third HR of the game for the Brewers.

Fields bounced back to strike out the side, but the damage was done.  That home run from Braun proved to be vital, despite the score being a comfortable 6-0 at the time.

At the Plate:
Crickets... at least until the ninth.  No quite, but certainly the Astros lacked for effective offensive output in the first eight innings.  Chase Anderson allowed 4 hits (two doubles) in his five innings of work, while striking out five and walking one.  José Altuve led off the game with a single and stole second with one out, but he was stranded.  Tyler White doubled to deep left in the second with one out.  Gómez doubled with two outs in the fourth.  Tyler White led off with an infield single in the fifth, setting a record for the most hits by an Astro (8) in his first four major-league games.  He would later add another.

In the sixth, Carlos Correa dumped a flare into short-RF, and legged out a double, again with two outs.  In the eighth, Colby Rasmus walked.  That brings us to the ninth.

Ex-Ranger, Sam Freeman (who was plucked off waivers by the Brewers) got the assignment to start the ninth, and Carlos Correa responded with a single on a grounder through the 5.5 hole.  After a Valbuena fly-out, Carlos Gómez eeked out an infield single to second, putting two on for Tyler White.  Freeman came on a 2-2 count with a fastball down-and-away - not a bad pitch, perhaps not a lot of movement on it, but he didn't miss his mark, and Tyler White got under it and belted it just out, in the RF power alley.  Impressive hitting, I thought, and that propelled White to a 3-4, triple-short-of-the-cycle day, with 3RBI.

I don't have any stats to back this up, but the thing that I have been most impressed with from White is his two-strike hitting.  He seems to have the rare ability to hit the ball hard when he has two strikes on him, and I can think of four hits this year that he has managed with two strikes.  He will be fun to watch.

The Astros were't finished, either.  MarGo pinch hit for Jason Castro, and he walked on four pitches.  MarGo then scored all the way from first on Preston Tucker's double that dropped in the LF power-alley, beating a diving Keon Broxton.  That ran the score to 6-4, and the go-ahead run arrived at the plate in the form of José Altuve, after a Rasmus walk.  I was watching the game with my Dad, and I commented at that time that walking the lefty Rasmus with first base open may not have been the worst idea in the world, as it meant the double-play was in order.  Prophetic words.

Turning Point:
What happened next was the controversial bit.  José Altuve hit a slow grounder to the right side, which was fielded cleanly by Scooter Gennett.  The Brewers second-bagger fired to second for the force - a wise move, as it kept the go-ahead run out of scoring position.  Villar completed the force, but seemingly had no intentions of firing to first to attempt to complete the double play.  Rasmus slid wide and past the bag, and that was enough for the umpires to call Altuve out on Rasmus' now-illegal slide.

The "Chase Utley" rule got some press over the offseason, but it is not until now that the implications of it have been seen by most fans.  When the Rays-Jays game ended in a similar manner earlier in the week, it seemed reasonable because the Rays were attempting to complete the double-play when Joey Bats grabbed the foot of Logan Forsythe was he was sliding past the bag.  But in this case, there was no attempt to complete the double-play, Altuve would have been safe if they had tried, and Rasmus didn't make any significant contact with Villar on the slide.  In addition to this, Rasmus could probably have beaten the force on a head-first slide into second as well.

I have no issue with the call, because it was entirely correct given the rule changes that have been made.  MLB wants to stamp out dangerous slides at second and home, so they will not tolerate runners taking the liberty of sliding past or to the side of the bag (or catchers standing in the lane when a runner is approaching).  I don't blame Rasmus - this is a kind of slide that I have seen hundreds of time as a baseball fan, there was no way that Villar was ever going to be injured on the play, and he has years of instinct to undo because of the rule-change.  The Utley rolling block during the playoffs was brutal, and this was not one of those slides.  The wording of the rule allowed the umps no latitude, and the game finished in controversial circumstances.

Where the outrage is going to come from is because of the relatively innocuous play that resulted in Altuve being called out.  It also came at a very high-leverage time, putting the play in even more focus.  But the umps got it right - by the letter of the law - even if it leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of the Astros fans.  It snuffed out a promising rally from the Astros - and one they sorely needed to establish some early-season momentum.

Man of the Match:
Correa-Correa-White-White is how the MoTM's have gone in the four games so far.  As mentioned previously, 9 hits in 13 at-bats, resulting in a line of .692/.714/1.308.  As Steve Sparks may say "if he keeps this up, it will result in a solid season".  Yes, I think an OBP over .700 and slugging over 1.300 would represent a solid season.

Also, HP ump Tom Hallion, for the best strike-three call in baseball.

Goat of the Game:
Josh Fields, and his ERA, which is approaching 20.  Two 2016 appearances.  Twice scored upon.  Not good.  Fields has a history of being terrible for stretches, and hot for stretches.  He has options, so he may have time to work it out in Fresno.  James Hoyt, anyone??

On the Morrow:
Versus the ex-Stros / Brewers again.

Doug Fister (lots of zeros) versus Wily Peralta (0-1, 9.00)

7 Eastern, 6 Central.  The Astros need a good one.

Notes & Numbers: G4 - Astros @ Brewers

The former NL/current AL Astros will take on the former AL/current NL Brewers for the first of three games - the only three times the Astros will play the Brewers this season, and the next, and the next - this weekend. Tonight's first pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm Central time. Unlike in 2008, this game in Milwaukee will be a road game.

The Brewers currently employ a number of former Astros on their 40-Man roster:  Chris Carter, Domingo Santana, Jonathan Villar. On Milwaukee's Double-A team in Biloxi are Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, and Jacob Nottingham.

The Astros have not played the Brewers since 2013, when Jordan Lyles and Hector Ambriz got the wins in a 2-1 inter-league series win. These were the only games the 2013 Astros won all season long on their march to a 2-160 record, and the successful drafting of Brady Aiken.

The Brewers are coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Giants in which they were outscored 17-8 (helped by a 12-3 Opening Day loss). They will send Wichita Falls native Chase Anderson to the mound. Anderson was acquired from the Diamondbacks in the January 2016 trade that sent Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner to Arizona for Anderson and Aaron Hill.

In 2014, Anderson became the first pitcher since Jered Weaver in 2006 to win each of his first five MLB starts.

The only current Astro that Anderson has faced is Carlos Gomez, who is 1x6 with a double, 3K:0BB against him.

The Astros send Scott Feldman to the mound to face the Brewers. He hasn't pitched against the Brewers since 2013, of course, but he has faced a few Brewers individually.

Aaron Hill: 5x24, HR
Ryan Braun: 2x6, 2B, HR
Jonathan Lucroy: 0x5
Chris Carter: 2x4, HR, BB

Feldman will be making his first regular season start since getting shut down on September 1. The Astros were 8-10 in his starts in 2015, though he was on the wrong end of three one-run losses after the All-Star Break, including an August 24 start at New York in which he threw eight shutout innings in a 1-0 loss.

The Astros lead the all-time series 127-112.

Friday Morning Hot Links

*Holy crap the Not-Keuchel/Gregerson pitchers were terrible against New York. In 16IP on Wednesday and Thursday, the Astros "pitching staff" allowed 29H/23ER, 13K:8BB.

*Ken Giles knows he has a job, and he also knows that he has not successfully done that job.

*But: Yay! Tyler White! McTaggart - or some nameless intern - did a deep dive and found that White is the first Astros player to have 4RBI in his first three career games since George Bjorkman in 1983.

*Puerto Ricans in NYC absolutely love Carlos Correa (alt link) A Bronx barber, upon hearing that Correa hit two home runs on Wednesday:
Arocho excitedly caterwauled a rally cry in Spanish and then translated it. "Rice and beans and pastels all day," he said, referring to traditional Christmas Day dishes that, Arocho assured, every Puerto Rican knows.

Folks if we can't make #RiceAndBeansAndPastelesAllDay a thing after every Correa home run then we have let a golden opportunity slip through our fingers.

*Typical NY media: NJ.com noted that Correa said he loves playing in New York and are already dreaming of seeing Correa in pinstripes.

*The Astros open a series this evening at 7:10pm Central to against the Milwaukee Fightin' Stearns, where the Brewers GM is remaking the club in his mentor's image.

*Lance McCullers will begin a rehab assignment in Corpus on Monday.

*Jeff Luhnow didn't want 2015 #2 overall pick Alex Bregman picking up the "bad habits" that come with playing in such an extreme hitters park in Lancaster. That, and the Spring Bregman had, led him to Corpus to open 2016.

*A day after throwing 107 fairly ineffective pitches in relief of a completely useless Collin McHugh, Michael Feliz was sent to Fresno. Chris Devenski - the PTBNL in the Brett Myers trade with the White Sox - was called up. Danny Reynolds was DFA'd to make room for Devenski.

*The Astros signed 22-year old Cuban infielder Anibal Sierra to a $3.5m minor-league contract. The deal will be finalized after July 2 so that it can go under the 2017 budget.

*The rising trend of young MLB stars switching agencies.

*The larger than life legend of Baltimore's Fancy Clancy.

*An 89-year old Holocaust survivor will sing the national anthem for the Tigers in May.

*How did "You'll Never Walk Alone" become such an enduring anthem?

Wednesday Morning Hot Links

*Evan Gattis and the Astros avoided arbitration with a possible two-year contract.
2016: $3.3m
2017: $5.2m with team option for a $100,000 buyout.

*BP released their PECOTA projections yesterday, and have the Astros at 88-74 - four games better than the 2nd-place Grand Marniers.

*"This is the best team in the AL West this year. They might hold that title for quite a while."
-Will Leitch

*Colby Rasmus is ready to "go out there and beat some folks, win some ballgames, chest-bump with these guys, and eat some gummy bears." And, oh yeah, he's become a clubhouse leader.

*Carlos Correa shows off Puerto Rico in his piece for The Players Tribune. He also signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.

*McTaggart took a look at the lineup, rotation, and bullpen.

*The Astros will have fun in the mornings, work in the afternoon at Spring Training.

*Jeff Bagwell will be in Kissimmee on A.J. Hinch's invitation over the first weekend in March.

*Thanks to an actually decent record in 2015, the Astros will have $8,062,700 to spend on the June draft and international players in 2016 - about $11m less than the Reds and Phillies. WHEN WILL THEY SPEND!!!1!?/?

*A.J. Hinch went golfing with the Dolphins' new head coach.

*In ESPN's pre-Spring Training Power Rankings, we're used to scrolling down to find the Astros. Today we scroll down so we can see the write-up...at #3.

*The Astros are shifting their scouting plan to accommodate lower draft picks.

*FanGraphs' KATOH system ranks the Astros as the 2nd-best farm system in baseball.

*"How about starting every inning with a runner on first base? How about starting each inning with a different count? Instead of three outs an inning, how about five batters? What if players are required
to steal?"

*Joel Sherman says baseball needs timeouts.

*Former Astros in the Milwaukee Fighting' Stearns organization: Chris Carter, Jonathan Villar, Jacob Nottingham, Domingo Santana, Josh Hader, Brett Phillips...

*The Barves really like what the Astros and Nationals are doing with their Spring Training site.

Monday Morning Hot Links

Pretty slow weekend in AstroWorld. Here are some things that happened while you got ready for the Pro Bowl...

*The Masked Marvel posted the Depth Charts: Corner Infield edition.

*Jeff Luhnow said over the weekend that the Astros are "built to go the distance."

*Astros-related notes from the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo:
-The Astros may be interested in Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, which would allow the Astros to play Castro some at 1B. Reminder that Brewers' GM David Stearns was Luhnow's assistant.
-Some teams were worried about Doug Fister's medicals, and thought the Astros could have gotten him on a minor-league deal.

*The Astros are one of seven teams who kept their closer (Luke Gregerson), and added another team's closer (Ken Giles).

*Scott Kazmir compared the non-World Series champion 2015 Astros to the non-World Series champion 2008 Rays.

*On the Royals, and spending:
The question: how can the Royals, owners of baseball's third-smallest market and worst local television contract, afford a payroll close to $130 million including two new $70 million contracts? The Answer: "We can't."

*Ken Rosenthal: The disconnect between fans and front offices

*Headline: Being a Mariners fan is difficult - but exciting.

*Are the Dodgers pricing themselves out of Los Angeles families' budgets?

*I guess Andruw Jones had not yet actually retired.

Astros make moves, clear 40-Man space

So the Astros did a few things today. Let's see what Those Things are...

*Released Robbie Grossman. Grossman was acquired in the Wandy trade on July 24, 2012 with Grossman, Colton Cain and Rudy Owens coming over from Pittsburgh. Grossman, who rejected (or his agent rejected, or it fell apart, or whatever) a contract extension reportedly for 6yrs/$13.5m back in March 2014, never could put it together for the Astros. After a somewhat promising 2013 season in which he hit .268/.332/.770, Grossman got 422 plate appearances in 2014, hitting .233/.337/.333, with 105K:55BB. He got 54 plate appearances in 2015, hitting .143/.222/.245.

*Released Luis Cruz. Cruz, a 25-year old LHP, was the Astros' 9th Round pick in the 2008 draft. In eight minor-league seasons, Cruz had a 49-42 record with a 4.40 ERA/1.34 WHIP. He spent all of 2015 in Fresno, throwing 116IP, 119H/55ER, 93K:52BB.

*Traded Jonathan Villar to the Milwaukee Stearns for Cy Young Sneed. Ahhh, Jonathan Villar.  Acquired in the Philly/Roy Oswalt trade for Anthony Gose and J.A. Happ, Villar joined the team immediately, and...hit .243/.321/.319. Whatever, he was 22. He played in a career-high 87 games in 2014, getting 289 PAs and hitting .209/.267/.354. It was bad. Villar got pushed out after Carlos Correa was clearly The Truth, but he hit a respectable .284/.339/.414. It was surprising. So with no obvious place to play, the Astros moved him.

So who is this Cy Sneed? The 23-year old Sneed was the Brewers' 3rd Round pick in 2014 out of Dallas Baptist University. He's a big drink of water - 6'4" 185lbs - and had a pretty great 2015 season. In 139.1IP between the Midwest League and High-A, Sneed allowed 129H/40ER, with 122K:28BB. This is Good.

Basically, the Astros got a pitcher who performed very well in exchange for a player with no position and some bad memories, and cleared three spots off the 40-Man Roster (which now sits at 34) in advance of the Rule 5 draft and any potential 25-Man additions.

Further Cy Sneed reading:
Brew Crew Ball - June 2014

Monday Morning Reset

With the Astros beating the A's 5-1 yesterday, the Twins beating the Angels and the Mariners beating the Rangers, Houston picked up a game on everybody. So the situation is:

Rangers: -
Astros: -1.5
Angels: -4
Twins: -4

FanGraphs gives the Astros a 32.6% chance of winning the division and a 79.4% chance of making the postseason.

*Dallas Morning News' Kevin Sherrington:
Now that the Rangers don't have the Astros to kick around anymore - at least not until next week - it's time they lived up to their first-place billing in the West. 

*Colby Rasmus hit his 20th and 21st home runs in Sunday's win, giving him 20+ HR for the third time in the last four seasons. It was the 6th multi-HR game of his career.
It's always good to answer back when they score or be able to push your foot on their throat when you can.

*George Springer hit his first homer since coming back from the DL.

*The Astros have a two-game winning streak for the first time since August 25-26.

*Collin McHugh threw 8IP, 4H/1ER, 8K:2BB yesterday, his longest outing since June 28, and a much-needed outing after allowing 14H/10ER, 9K:5BB in 9IP against the A's and Rangers in his previous two outings. It was the 9th time in McHugh's 30 starts this season where he has allowed 0-1 earned runs. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 15 of his 30 starts.

The next six games are against the Angels and Rangers, so who's down for a heart attack this week?

*ESPN's Christina Kahrl breaks down whether the Angels have a chance against the Astros, which is a little too much fate-tempting, if you ask me.
Considering the decent advantages the Astros have as far as the pitching matchups, a romp here might not just put the Angels away to stay, it might answer questions over whether Houston is resilient enough to win the West after all.

*Jeff Passan breaks down the insanity that could lie ahead in the AL Playoff picture.

*Bunch of reports are out saying that the Astros are sending 30-year old Assistant GM David Stearns to Milwaukee to complete the Carlos Gomez trade and to be the Brewers' GM.

*Evan Drellich writes that Stearns is likely the first of many Astros' PYTs to be lured away by promotions with other teams.

*Mark Appel struck out ten batters in 5.2IP as Fresno won Game 5 and the PCL title from Round Rock. Appel:
I thought today was one of my best outings on the year as far as my stuff and location and consistency of it. It's a great way to end my season and win Game 5. You can't draw it up any better.

Tony Kemp was named Pacific Coast League playoff MVP. Fresno will play International League champ Columbus on Tuesday in a 1-game "series" to determine the Triple-A champion. This time it counts!

*Now that the playoffs are (for the most part) over in the minors, we could be seeing Jon Singleton and probably a pitcher in Houston soon.

*Carlos Gomez swung a fungo bat yesterday.
I feel better when I move. The most difficult thing is to bat. On Saturday I did some very strenuous exercises with the medicine ball throwing it while simulating like I was batting, and I felt very good. 

*Funeral arrangements have been announced by Milo's family, and includes a public viewing on Friday, Saturday, and Saturday.

*Scary news out of Atlanta as Mike Foltynewicz is in the hospital with blood clots in his arm.

Astros trade for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers

(You) Hey. How's it going?

(Me) After spending all day thinking the Astros were about to land Tyson Ross and Craig Kimbrel - and, of course, there's still 18 hours before the Trade Deadline - the Astros went and took advantage of the Mets' really Metsing it up with the Brewers and got Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers.

Wait, what?

So if you were paying attention last night, the Mets and Brewers seemingly had a deal in place that would send Carlos Gomez to the Mets for injured starter Zach Wheeler and Wilmer Flores. Except it didn't happen, presumably because the Mets had concerns about Gomez's hip. Wilmer Flores cried, on the field, because some fans with Twitter behind the dugout told him he'd been traded. It was bizarre. Well, as it turns out, because (warning: oversimplified explanation ahead) the Mets' owners got suckered by Bernie Madoff, they don't have any money but agreed to the trade, anyway, and then remembered that they don't have any money, so the Mets wanted the Brewers to pick up $9m of Gomez's salary, the Brewers said "Nah, homey," and then the Mets made up some crap about Gomez's hip to get out of the deal.

Okay, so who is Carlos Gomez?

Gomez is a right-handed 29-year old outfielder, 6'3" 220lbs - he'll be 30 in December. Originally signed by the, yes, Mets as an amateur free agent in 2002, the Mets traded Gomez to the Twins (along with former Astro great Phil Humber) for Johan Santana in February 2008. After the 2009 season, the Twins traded Gomez to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy.

In 2012 he hit .260/.305/.463 for his first League-Average season, and followed that up in 2013 with a .284/.338/.506 season resulting in an All-Star appearance, a Top-10 MVP finish, and a Gold Glove. FanGraphs posted his WAR at 7.5. In 2014 he hit .284/.356/.477 with another All-Star nod - not that that means anything - and a 5.7 WAR. In 74 games this season, Gomez is hitting .262/.328/.423, a 105 OPS+, 1.7 WAR and 107 wRC+.

In short: for the last four seasons, Gomez is averaging .275/.335/.474 with 100 doubles, 19 triples, and 74 home runs and an average of almost 118 wRC+. He strikes out a decent amount - 22.3% K-rate this season to go with a 22.6% career K-rate.

So this year he's been average. How does that help?

You don't understand. Carlos Gomez is a really good defensive centerfielder. Let's compare, eh?

Avg. AL CF:    .266/.324/.409
Astros CFs:      .226/.285/.370
Gomez, 2015:  .262/.328/.423, 107 wRC+, 2.5 Def, 1.7 WAR
Marisnick, '15: .238/.275/.374, 78 wRC+, 1.1 Def, 0.5 WAR

So if you want to call Gomez's 2015 "average," you'd be marginally right. But an "average" centerfielder for the 2015 Astros is actually an upgrade.

What's his contract situation?

Gomez is obviously under contract for the rest of this season, so the Astros will take on the remainder of his $8m salary, but he's also under contract for 2016 at a modest $9m. So he's not a rental, the Astros get 220-odd games with Gomez in the outfield.

Whatever. Marisnick's still hot. What about Mike Fiers?

Mike Fiers, a 6'2" 200lb RHP who turned 30 this past June, was the Brewers' 22nd Round pick in the 2009 draft out of Nova Southeastern University - two rounds after his teammate J.D. Martinez was drafted by the Astros.

Can we stop for a second and pour one out for J.D.? 

Of course.

Okay, carry on. 

As I was saying, Fiers is really only getting his first shot at a solid rotation spot. His next start will be his 22nd, tying a career high he set in 2012 - his rookie year (I'm not counting the 2IP he threw in the Majors in 2011). He only threw 94IP in the Majors in 2013-14, making 13 starts in 25 appearances. This year, though, he has a 3.89 ERA/1.36 WHIP/3.79 FIP in 21 starts, 118IP. In those 118IP, he has allowed 117H/51ER, 121K:43BB for a 9.2 K/9 rate, 3.3 BB/9 rate. If K and BB/9 don't float your boat, that translates to a 23.8% K% and an 8.5% BB%.

He's also not exactly what you would expect from an Astros pitching acquisition - with only a 37.7% Groundball rate. He's also experiencing a 37.6% Hard-hit rate - an increase of almost 8% over 2014, all pretty much borrowed from his 2014 Medium-hit rate. He throws a fastball (89.3mph) 56% of the time, and mixes in a cutter, curve, and change all between 11-16% of his pitches.

Okay...how does this help?

What immediately stands out to me is that Fiers allows the Astros to move McCullers to the bullpen, managing his innings in the same way that they're doing with Velasquez. McCullers and Velasquez are obviously young pitchers unaccustomed to a full season workload. You probably already know this, but McCullers is 1.2IP away from matching his 2014 total (97IP), Velasquez is 12.1IP away from his 2014 IP total. Fiers is a serviceable pitcher that can fit in behind Keuchel, Kazmir, and McHugh alongside Feldman.

ORRRRR....the Astros could fulfill a pipe dream and flip Fiers in a deal to San Diego where his flyball rate isn't such a big deal in a barren landscape.

What does this do to the roster construction?

Gomez and Fiers have already been added to the 40-Man with no issues. The Astros had DFA'd Alex Presley, Joe Thatcher, and Not Fausto, and with Peacock on the 60-Day DL, there was room.

The 25-Man roster is going to be interesting, because it's firmly at 25. Those on the bubble:

With Lowrie's return, the Astros simply have too many infielders. Note that Valbuena got the start at 1B tonight over Singleton, who did hit his 1st home run of the season last night. Singleton could head back to Fresno and...see what happens. Marwin is more versatile than Singleton, and Valbuena's luck has to come around, right....RIGHT?

Tony Sipp was a candidate when Kazmir came on board, but he remains the only lefty option out of the bullpen. So he's probably untouchable. Valbuena and Carter are out of options, so they would have to clear waivers...which won't happen.

The other option - and it's not going to be popular - is to send Jake Marisnick to Triple-A. He has options left, and coming into Thursday's game he was hitting .238/.275/.374. Gomez makes him expendable. I know you think it's a joke to consider Evan Gattis a "left fielder" but with Tucker, Gomez, Rasmus, and Gattis (and with Springer's return, ideally in about a month), Marisnick is expendable.

Who did the Astros give up?

The Astros gave up four minor-leaguers, though one - Domingo Santana - has Major-League experience. The four, in no particular order, are:

Domingo Santana: We know Domingo. Had a nightmare Major-League debut in 2014, going 0x17 with 14K:1BB in 18 plate appearances. This season, though, in 14 games (42 PAs) he hit .256/.310/.462, still with 17K:2BB, but at least he made contact. He's projectable, still only 22. But he was just blocked, what with Springer, Preston Tucker impressing in his rookie season, and then the glut of outfielders.

Adrian Houser: 2011 2nd Round pick. In five seasons, Houser had a 4.30 ERA/1.37 WHIP, though in seven games with the Hooks this season, he's thrown 33.1IP, 39H/23ER, 23K:15BB. Houser was Rule 5 eligible, meaning that, if the Astros didn't add him to the 40-Man roster (which was unlikely) some team could come in and just pick him up like the Rangers did with Delino DeShields, Jr this last offseason. So basically the Astros got something out of Houser before running the risk of losing him for nothing.

Josh Hader: Acquired in the Bud Norris trade with Baltimore. Losing Hader hurts me a little bit, though I get it. He pitched extremely well in Lancaster last year - a 2.71 ERA/1.11 WHIP in the California League, which is similar to pitching on the moon. His brief stint in Corpus didn't go real well last year, but in 17 games for Corpus in 2015, Hader - in his Age 21 season - had a 3.17 ERA/1.29 WHIP with 69K:24BB in 65.1IP. But there are mixed reports on what Hader could become: a serviceable starter or a future LOOGY, or what? Again, there are roster concerns, though he wouldn't be Rule 5-eligible until after the 2016 season. Given the depth acquired and the goals of the organization over the next 15 months, it's hard to see where Hader fits in.

Brett Phillips: Oh crap this one hurts. This is the very definition of "you have to give to get." Phillips was the Astros' 6th Round pick in the Magical Draft of 2012. 21-year old lefty outfielder, just a sweetheart of a guy. In four seasons, Phillips put up a career minor-league line of .298/.371/.491. In 93 games in Lancaster, he hit .325/.391/.580, and carried that on to Double-A where in 31 games he hit .321/.372/.463. Oh, and he's 21.

Things work out differently for people, but right now I'm most upset about Hader and Phillips. Still, losing Phillips hurts. He's lining up to be the prize of the trade. The Brewers did well.

Did the Astros have to make this trade? 

It's impossible to know what trade talks fell through but the Astros had to make a move to take advantage of the wild ride that has been the 2015 season. In my heart I knew that losing Phillips was likely in any trade of substance, but it doesn't make it any easier. It's strange being in this position: a fan of the team that looks at trade impact now instead of on the "let's reevaluate in five years" side. In no way is the overall state of the Astros' system "in danger." This trade did not "clear out the farm."

Did the Astros get better?

Did they get better today? Yes. They upgraded the team today and still have McCullers...and Velasquez...and A.J. Reed....and we could do this for literally minutes. Will they be regret this trade in five years? Who knows - baseball is a faithless whore. Now, call San Diego...

From the Office of the County Clerk: G74 - Astros v. Brewers

Yovani Gallardo (6-6, 4.41) vs Lucas Harrell (5-7, 4.48)

CARLOS PENA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In what was a very ugly game for both sides for 9 and a half innings, Carlos Pena made sure it ended on a beatiful note for Houston. Three unearned runs on two Astros errors in the 2nd ultimately wouldn't matter, as Carlos Pena delivered a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th, sending Houston north to Wrigley with a happy 7-4 final. The Astros take the series from Milwaukee 2-1, and improve to 28-46 overall.

On the Mound:

*Lucas Harrell had to record the third out of the 2nd inning three times, due to Houston errors. If not for that, he'd have been able to go deeper today, but instead he was out after 97 pitches with a 5.1 IP / 5 H / 4 R / 1 ER / 0 BB / 3 K line.

*Wesley Wright wrapped up the 6th and started the 7th, turning in a scoreless 1 IP with a walk.

*Jose Cisnero is a wizard. He escaped runners on first and third with one out in the 7th, and a runner on 3rd with no outs in the 8th, all without allowing a run while fanning 3 in 1.2 IP.

*Jose Veras did his own escape act, allowing a leadoff single in the 9th, wild pitching the runner to third after a sac bunt, and still keeping the Brewers off the board.

*Then, AMBRIZ. But it actually turned out okay, and he would ultimately earn the win. Hector walked one and struck out one (!) in a scoreless 10th.

At the Plate:

*Carlos Pena was quiet all day, going 0 for 4 with 2 K before coming up with two on in the 10th, but it only took him one pitch from Michael Gonzalez to make all the difference. Three-run homer for Houston's second walk-off of the season.

*Rough day for Trevor Crowe. He led off the 1st with a double but was thrown out trying for a triple, then left the game with a right shoulder injury in the 6th after hitting the wall hard trying to catch a Jonathan Lucroy home run. He did get a RBI FC in between, finishing his day 1 for 3.

*Matt Dominguez, on the other hand, had a great day. He went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a RBI, a run scored, and gunned down the Brewers' potential go-ahead run at the plate in the 9th.

*Carlos Corporan came up huge in the 8th, knocking a solo HR (5) off the Chick-Fil-A pole in right, which tied the game at 4. Corp finished 1 for 4 with 2 K.

*Jose Altuve went 1 for 5 with 2 K, but more notably committed a pair of errors in the field, the first of which cost the Astros a run in the 2nd.

*Justin Maxwell made it back-to-back errors with Altuve in the 2nd, dropping a fly ball to cost Houston two more runs. He was hitless at 0 for 3, but did also walk and score a run.

*Jason Castro upped his hitting streak to 7 games, going 1 for 4 with a BB and a K.

*J.D. Martinez had a very timely double in the 10th, finishing 1 for 5 with 2 R and 2 K.

*Marwin Gonzalez was likewise hitless at 0 for 4, but also had a RBI on a fielder's choice.

*Josh Fields - of all people - actually scored the winning run, after pinch running for Carlos Corporan in the 10th.

Turning Point:

Milwaukee brought in Michael Gonzalez to start the 10th, and Gonzalez started by striking out Jason Castro. He actually struck out Carlos Corporan next, too, but the third strike was wild, so Corporan reached first safely. J.D. Martinez followed one pitch later with a double to right, moving Corporan over to third. Then Josh Fields pinch-ran for Corporan, but it wouldn't matter, as one pitch more and Carlos Pena sent us all home happy.

Man of the Match:

Carlos Pena! Because WALK-OFF.

Goat of the Game:

Justin Maxwell. Altuve had two separate errors, but Maxwell's one cost the Astros two runs.