'Rona-Free Hot Links, Vol. 13

*Alex Bregman is over $1.2m for the Houston Food Bank.

*Everyone's buddy, mine included, Ed Tom Bell wrote this, and it's really good.

*Chandler Rome caught up with Former Astros Great/Current Kia Tigers Great Preston Tucker, as his season is about to begin. Related: ESPN was talking to the KBO about broadcasting games, but the KBO understandably balked at ESPN's offer of $0.

*Michael Bourn owns three apartment complexes in Houston. He waived rent in April, and will do it again for May.

*On July 2, 1994 Jeff Bagwell played RF for his first and only time. He went 1x3 with a home run and a walk in a 5-4 win over the Cubs.

*The ten greatest offensive seasons in Astros history, according to fWAR:

1. Craig Biggio - 1998 (9.3)
2. Alex Bregman - 2019 (8.5)
3. Jeff Bagwell - 1997 (8.0)
4. Jeff Bagwell - 1999 (7.8)
5. Cesar Cedeno - 1972 (7.8)
6. Jeff Bagwell - 1994 (7.8)
7. Jeff Bagwell - 1996 (7.7)
8. Lance Berkman - 2008 (7.6)
9. Jose Altuve - 2017 (7.6)
10. Alex Bregman - 2018 (7.6)

*Alex Bregman is the most-hyped Astros SS prospect of the last 20 years.

*McTaggart: How trading Roy Oswalt sparked the Astros' turnaround.

*Richard Justice: 2005 Roy Oswalt is one of the great underappreciated seasons of all time.

*MLB.com has the Astros' prettiest swing of franchise history and it's...Terry Puhl?

oh my god this Lance McCullers Jr. Chipotle story is incredible and Brett Phillips CANNOT HANDLE IT pic.twitter.com/TTWX8soVew

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 23, 2020

*GQ: Jason Isbell's Redemption Songs.



*The BBC on Eliud Kipchoge: The humble home life in rural Kenya behind athletic success.

*Vice: The man who deleted his past before he was found dead.



*Pitchfork: How a new age hustler sold the sound of the world.



Each day is better than the next.

Tuesday Morning Hot Links

I mean, I guess as long as the Astros find ways to grind out wins, there's not much about which to complain, yes? Astros beat the Yankees 2-1, snapping their 9-game winning streak. The Astros are 5-0 against the Yankees at Minute Maid Park dating back to the beginning of the 2017 ALCS. The Astros finish April with a 20-10 record.

*Houston vs. New York, last seven games at Minute Maid Park: 7-0, outscoring the Yankees 25-5.

*Charlie Morton: 7.2IP, 2H/1ER, 10K:2BB. Hinch:

His curveball was the pitch tonight. It's the best it's been, I think, all year. That's saying a lot, given he was arguably one of the best pitchers in the American League. Everything he does starts with his breaking ball, and when he has that going - we know he has 96-99 in the tank - it's a tough combination when he's landing his breaking ball for a strike.

Stanton, on Morton:

He's throwing five to eight miles an hour harder than when I saw him last. You do that and mix your pitches, it's going to be a nice little battle.

The Astros’ rotation has now produced nine double-digit strikeout performances, which matches its total from last season. It is not yet May.

— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) May 1, 2018

*23 outs is CFM's longest outing since May 6, 2014 when he got 24 outs against the Giants.

*Get you a Charlie Freakin' Morton shirt.

*Ken Giles struck out the side on 13 pitches in the 9th. Giles:

Overall, everybody was amped up about this series. It's a great team we were facing, and it brings back a lot of memories. We want to prove a point. We want to make a statement that we're the team to beat and you've got to come past us first.

More Giles:

When you put me in a spot and you put me up to a great challenge, I'm always up for the task. It's a great adrenaline rush for me....All I care about is I'm trending the right way, and all the hard work I've been doing between games, and all my learning experiences, I'm finally putting them to use.

*Gregorius-Stanton-Sanchez-Hicks: 0x15, 10K:1BB.

*The Astros were 1x9 w/RISP.

*Altuve's hit last night gave him 1,291 career hits - 8th on the Astros' all-time list. 66 more and he catches Terry Puhl.

*Brian T. Smith writes that the starting rotation has one thing in common: Brian McCann.

*A.J. Hinch and Aaron Boone have a bond that goes back to college. Jake Kaplan has further color in The Athletic.

*Jake Kaplan also writes about how righty Chris Devenski has become the Astros' lefty specialist.

*George Springer hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a refurbished field.

*David Paulino made his 2018 debut last night for Fresno, going 3IP, 4H/3R (2ER), 5K:2BB. The Grizzlies won 11-4. Kyle Tucker was 3x4 with two doubles, a walk, and 3RBI. He's 15x43 (.349) in his last ten games, and has back-to-back 3-hit games.

*The Dodgers' Corey Seager is out for the year.

*I, a chubby, love to run. I'd rather run than lift weights (they're heavy) and I've always wanted to run a marathon - something I'm currently working on doing. Well, not currently, but you know what I mean. But there's no way I'm going to try the Barkley Marathons. Read this article, then check out the documentary on Netflix.

Winter Meetings likely to be boring as hell

Brian McTaggart talked to Ed Wade about the Winter Meetings, which begin next Monday.

Ed Wade:
I don't see us being really active at the Winter Meetings unless we're engaged in specific trade discussions at that point, but I envision it being quiet for us. As we've indicated, we've got some payroll limitations that we're working through, and that being the case, it will be a challenge being out there and be overly aggressive in the free-agent market. That doesn't mean we're not going to work to get things done, but I look at it in a realistic context. I don't envision us being as active as we were last year."

But here's an interesting note from McTaggart:
As is the case with the outfield spot, Houston may choose to find a starting pitcher internally. Wade said top prospect Jordan Lyles will likely be invited to spring camp to compete for a spot, and the team has kicked around the idea of putting young relievers Fernando Abad or Henry Villar in the rotation.

As of now, your rotation is: Myers, Happ, Wandy, Norris, and...someone else. Lyles just turned 20 in October. The last time the Astros had a 20-year old appear in more than a handful of games in September was in 1977, when Terry Puhl got in 60 games (and had a .786 OPS, by the by).

Villar started making that transition in Corpus earlier this season. What do you think about transitioning either him or Abad to the rotation?