The Ramgers won the World Series. I hate it. But they went 11-0, outscoring opponents 71-29, on the road in the postseason, defeating the Rays, Orioles, and Astros on the way to the World Series. I hate them, but you can't argue with that.
We're not going to rush through this. So there's not really a timefrane. But as far as a candidate, I'm looking for someone with some leadership ability, someone that could run the clubhouse, of course, looking for someone with great feel for players and managing players...There's a lot that I'm looking for. I mean, he's got to know the game. He's got to be able to run a bullpen and most of all he's got to have the leadership skills. I'm looking for someone who I could gel with and communicate well with.
This is a little different from what Jim Crane said at Dusty's retirement press conference on October 26 regarding the timeframe:
We've got things running well in the back office. And, so I don't think it'll take us very long to find someone that will fit in well with us.
Ahem. Now we have a rivalry. The Astros won Game 5, 5-4. It was the Astros' 7th straight postseason road win, their last postseason road loss coming in 2022 World Series Game 3, the "Let McCullers Get Shelled and Then Throw A No-Hitter" game.
9th Inning - Jose Altuve 3-run homer: 82.9% Astros
9th Inning - Mitch Garver single: 65.2% Astros
9th Inning - Jonah Heim single: 53.2% Rangers
9th Inning - Evan Carter strikeout: 100.0% Astros
*Let's talk about that Adolis Garcia HBP:
-Did Adolis Garcia pimp his three-run homer in the 6th? Absolutely! Did he have every right to do that? For sure! I would still be moonwalking between 1st and 2nd base if I had hit that home run, which was actually Adolis Garcia's 100th career home run. That home run was massive. Absolutely no issue with Garcia slamming the bat down and yelling.
-Did Abreu try to hit him? Obviously I'm biased. I've spent a number of years referring to the Rangers as being located in a different random Metroplex suburb. I hate that team. That said, there is absolutely no reason to hit Adolis Garcia. Evan Carter was on 1st base after Abreu walked him. It was 4-2 Rangers, and the Astros had three outs to play with before having to go back to Minute Maid Park needing to win both games to win the Pennant. I'm sure the Astros have won back-to-back home games in 2023...but I can't quite remember when. (September 9-10 vs San Diego).
-What I'm trying to say is that intentionally hitting Garcia would be the height of stupidity. Garcia had woken up the World's Largest Storage Unit already, there would be no reason to fan the flames. I think Abreu was trying to blow an fastball by him. There were 0 outs. Maybe get a GIDP.
-I also understand why Garcia was pissed off. If someone hit me with a 97mph fastball you would see my soul ascend (I'm assuming I'm going to Heaven) on a cloud, playing a harp. There wouldn't even be dental records, such would be my demise.
-Shoutout to Dusty Baker for actually getting out of the dugout and putting his finger in one the faces of this awful umpiring crew. Dusty: "I haven't been that mad in a long time."
-Altuve's homer got Marvin Hudson off the hook for what was an absolutely God-awful job behind the plate. I didn't know Dusty had it in him. It also got Altuve off the hook for trying to bunt with Tucker on second base.
-Ultimately Garcia's outburst may have actually cost the Ramgers that game. He iced LeClerc, which is French for "The Clerc," for 11 minutes after he got Michael Brantley to juuuust get under one to end the inning with Kyle Tucker on second base. LeClerc's 9th Inning: Walk, Walk, Homer (then some outs).
I was concerned about that delay. I really was. It as a long one. It was taking too long, to be honest. The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there. Who knows what intentions are, but it's not the first time it's happened, and couldn't get the game going again.
LeClerc:
I'm not used to waiting around that long to pitch again, but it's no excuse. I needed to execute my pitches and do a better job.
That doesn't happen if Adolis Garcia just walks to first.
-But if Abreu did it on purpose, then he's dumb as hell and deserved to get tossed. And suspended.
Verlander made one bad pitch. That pitch also moved Verlander out of a tie with Clayton Kershaw for the 2nd-most postseason home runs allowed and past Andy Pettitte's 31 playoff homers and into sole possession of most postseason home runs allowed, at 32.
Of the 32 postseason home runs Verlander has now allowed, 19 have come with the Astros. That breakdown:
Solo: 13
2-Run: 3
3-Run: 3
Grand Slams: 0
It's the 9th time Verlander has allowed 2HR in a postseason game, and the 6th time it's happened with the Astros, who are now 2-4 in postseason games in which Verlander gives up 2HR.
*Jordan Montgomery vs Houston, ALCS: 11.2IP, 10H/2ER, 9K:3BB.
*Shoutout to Yainer Diaz, who got his first career postseason hit.
*Shoutout to Jon Singleton, who drew a walk that became the tying run in his first plate appearance since October 1. Singleton:
You put in the hard work, and you stay ready so you don't have to get ready. That's been my motto so far this year.
*Jose LeClerc had only allowed 23 homers in 302.1 career IP. He had given up 5HR in the 2023 regular season. Only one of those career home runs had more than one on base - a grand slam to Julio Rodriguez on July 15, 2022. And then came Jose Altuve.
*Jose Altuve hit his 26th career postseason home run to record his 54th career postseason RBI. It was his first multi-RBI game since 2021 ALCS G2. Altuve had 3RBI in his previous 25 postseason games combined. Listen to Robert Ford's call of the home run.
I know everybody is talking about the homer. But if you go and see Diaz's base hit and then Singleton's walk, especially when he hasn't played in a lot of days...coming from the bench facing probably one of the best closers right now in the playoffs, I think the key was these two guys and to be able to score all those runs.
*Alex Bregman's 18th career postseason home run moves him into a tie for 3rd in franchise history with Carlos Correa. He needs one more to tie George Springer for 2nd.
*Kyle Tucker got two hits in a postseason game since 2022 World Series Game 1.
*It was Ryan Pressly's first career postseason six-out save, and just the 2nd six-out save of his career.
The playoffs start today. But not for Houston [evil laugh]. The Astros are getting massages and hopefully Michael Brantley is fully immersed in a cryogenic chamber and whatnot.
*Somehow the biggest story of the day - yesterday - was Six Flags' General Manager Chris Young decrying the mean twetes of one Brian McTaggart and his "reporting" on how the Rangers celebrated clinching their first playoff berth since 2016. Here's McTaggart's original tweet, and here's a transcription in the event that it gets deleted (though, if it hasn't been deleted yet, I doubt it will be):
The Rangers partied last night while the Astros had a champagne toast and quickly turned their attention to Sunday and one more win. Houston's "been-there-done-that" mentality paid off, it seems.
Who knew that it would soil the bedsheets of so many. Let's take a look at some of the Rangers'official account tweets from September 30, when they clinched a playoff spot. It took 45 seconds to find those. If you look super-closely you'll see that the Rangers are not partying. They are doing simple accounting. They are most definitely balancing their checkbooks. 100% they are all about their business.
Then the Rangers went and got shutout on Sunday while the Astros beat Arizona 8-1 to win the division, thanks to going 9-4 against Six Flags in the 2023 regular season. This was the source of much consternation to GM Chris Young, who on 105.3 The Fan was asked about it and responded:
I find it ridiculous that that's even a subject honestly. This is the most professional responsible group of players that I've ever been around. We had a very subdued, champagne popping, but beyond that, there was no partying there was nothing outlandish [the punctuation in here is an absolute MESS] These guys had earned the right to pop those champagne bottles and that was the extent of our celebration. It had no impact whatsoever on Sunday's game. And really it's pretty poor journalism to even suggest that honestly, I'm very disappointed in the lack of professionalism of the Houston journalists for putting that out there. It's classless and it's not appropriate and it's completely fabricated. It's wrong.
Sideline reporter Emily Jones apparently deleted her account because of the Astros fans that had been "sicced" on her. That sucks. But here's the thing: Chris Young absolutely had the ability to not even make this A Thing...less than 24 hours before the Rangers' first playoff game in seven years. I say things that get me in trouble all the time, and even I have the damn sense to know that it would have been far more beneficial to be all, "You know what, I'm not even paying attention to that. We have a series in front of us that's important, and that's where our focus is."
Doing that makes this whole "story" a non-issue. If you clicked any of those tweets, it's reasonable to assume, "Oh those dudes turned up." And you know what else? That would have been perfectly acceptable! Turn up! You made the playoffs! You went from 68-94 in 2022 to coming within a game of winning the division! That's incredible! Good job, buddies! Sure, the division slipped out of reach at the last possible minute, but that's baseball. It happens. Chris Young 100% did not have to make this a story on the eve of the AL Wild Card round. But he did.
Of course this entire episode devolved into a relitigating of the Astros' Trash Can Scandal. Which we all love. Ultimately, no one entity is at fault here. I don't think McTaggart's tweet was out of line. He was covering the Astros, not the Rangers, but looking at the Rangers' TL you saw bottles getting popped like Russians in a Brooklyn night club (right before John Wick kills them all) right before they get shutout to fumble away the division.
I understand that Chris Young wants to dispel the narrative that the Rangers were too hungover to score two runs against an already-eliminated team. He's not stupid, mans went to Princeton. Did he know that he was going to stoke this "rivalry" even more? Maybe. Did it get taken out of proportion? Probably. But your team spent 160 days in 1st Place, lost the division on the last day, and you make this kind of statement on a day when there's literally nothing else happening in baseball? To think that it wouldn't have any kind of ripple effect is short-sighted at best. Let me be someone's PR person. I'll keep you out of trouble.
*ESPN: Ranking the 40 players to make the biggest mark in October. Yordan Alvarez is the highest-ranking Astro, at #8. Altuve is #9, Verlander #13, Framber #16, Tucker #20.
*The mother of the Rangers' Nathaniel Lowe and the Rays' Josh Lowe is battling brain cancer. Best wishes, thoughts, prayers, vibes to her and to her family.
*Kim Ng is the first female GM in any of the four major sports to lead a team to the postseason. How she did it.
They did it. They eclipsed the 2017 Harvey Revenge Series, beating the absolute piss out of the Pride-less Rangers in three straight games. Houston is 80-61, the first AL West team to reach 80 wins (an accomplishment the 2023 A's should achieve no later than July 2024).
*The Astros have won eight of their last eleven games. They're 20-8 in road games since the All-Star Break. The last MLB team to score 39+ runs in three consecutive games was...the Houston Astros, all the way back from August 26-28, 2023.
*10.3% of the Rangers' home losses in 2023 came in the last 72 hours. Dusty:
It really wasn't about making a statement. It was more about winning games and trying to get into first place. You love to see your offense come alive like that. We got some good pitching performances. We played an excellent series.
Bruce Bochy:
Obviously, it was not a good series, wasn't a lot we did well. We just didn't execute pitches, left a lot up throughout the series and we paid for it...They put it to us, and there's no getting around that.
The Astros eclipsed the Harvey Revenge Series of September 2017. In that series, the Astros collected 37 runs on 46 hits - 11 doubles and six home runs. This series, the Astros collected 39 runs on 50 hits - seven doubles and 16 home runs.
The 16 home runs in three games are the 2nd-most in a 3-game span in MLB history, behind the 19 that the 2020 Yankees hit against Toronto in September 2020. Only four other teams hit 16 home runs in a three-game series: the 2023 Astros (just now), the 2019 Nationals, 2019 Yankees, and 1977 Red Sox. The 2023 Astros and 2019 Yankees were the only ones to do it on the road against the same opponent.
*Most runs in a game, single-team, Globe Life Field's history:
1. 18 - by Pantego vs Oakland: Apr 22, 2023
2. 16 - by Pantego vs Philadelphia: April 1, 2023; by Pantego vs Seattle: June 3, 2023; by Los Angeles vs Pantego, July 22, 2023;
5. 15 - by Pantego vs New York, April 30, 2023; by Houston vs Pantego, September 13, 2021
7. 14 - by Houston vs Pantego, Sept. 4, 2023; by Oakland vs Pantego, July 12, 2022; by San Diego vs Pantego, August 17, 2020.
10. 13 - by Houston vs Pantego, Sept. 5, 2023; by Pantego vs Colorado, May 21, 2023; by Pantego vs Houston, August 29, 2021; by Oakland by Pantego, June 22, 2021.
*Jose Abreu was 2x3 with a grand slam and a 3-run homer. The three-run shot left his bat at 113.3mph, his hardest-hit ball of 2023. His 7RBI tie a career-high, also set at Minnesota on September 4, 2016 and against Detroit on September 12, 2020. It's the 20th multi-HR game of his career. Abreu:
If there's one person here that gets impressed by what this team can do, it's me because I'm new here. I think that this organization, these guys, when the lights are shining bright, they know how to handle things, they know how to do things well. I'm just very grateful to be part of this, as well.
*Yordan Alvarez was 1x3 with 2BB, 2RBI, and his 25th homer of the year. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Yordan is hitting a home run every 16.5 Plate Appearances.
*Michael Brantley was 2x3 with a homer and 2RBI. Brantley has played in six games in 2023, three of them have been 2-hit games.
*Chas McCormick managed to talk his way into a PA in a blowout and responded by hitting his 20th home run of the season. He had an RBI in all three games of the Rangers series. McCormick has an eight-game hit streak in which he's hitting .375/.432/.563. He has a hit in 10 of his last 11 games.
Chas McCormick has 384 PAs. Only four centerfielders have a higher fWAR than McCormick's 3.8 fWAR:
1. Julio Rodriguez: 5.5 fWAR (612 PAs).
2. Corbin Carroll: 5.2 fWAR (552 PAs).
3. Luis Robert, Jr.: 5.1 fWAR (538 PAs).
4. Cody Bellinger: 4.2 fWAR (463 PAs).
Chas McCormick leads all MLB CFs with a 147 wRC+. Please find a way to play this man every day.
*Jeremy Pena was 2x6 with a double. It's his 4th straight multi-hit game. Since August 1, Pena is hitting .339/.413/.449.
*Justin Verlander: 7IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 6K:1BB. It's the 133rd start of Verlander's career in which he has thrown at least 7IP and been charged with 0-1 Earned Runs. It's the 31st time he's done it in an Astros jersey. Verlander:
As a starting pitcher, your job is to carry the momentum. Our offense made it pretty easy on us this series.
Verlander vs. Scherzer last night was the first time that opposing starting pitchers had 3,000 career strikeouts since Schilling vs Clemens on September 16, 2007.
Other Stuff
*Chandler Rome has a pretty electrifying piece in The Athletic, in which it is learned that the front office shares the fans' frustration with the number of Chas-less lineups. Rome:
This week, four people with knowledge of the team's inner workings said that McCormick's weight has become a talking point for Baker.
Chas:
I like being this heavy. I guess if I was a little lighter it'd be easier, bit easier to move a little bitter. I feel stronger. I feel healthier. I feel I can do more being at 220. Usually I'm at 216. When I'm 210, I'm too light. I was 214 last year, I think, and I felt too light again. I kind of like being where I'm at right now, at 220.
It's weird.
*The Ringer: The AL West is MLB's last great hope for an interesting division race.
Goodness. The Astros took West Van to the woodshed in a 14-1 drubbing that saw Future Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy pull Corey Seager after two ABs. Houston is 79-61. Seattle lost.
*AL Playoff Picture:
1. Baltimore (87-51)
2. Houston (79-61)
3. Minnesota (73-66)
4. Tampa (84-55)
5. Seattle (77-61)
6. Toronto (77-62)
---
7. West Van (76-62) +0.5
8. Boston (72-67) +5.0
*AL West Division Odds (and change from yesterday):
*The Astros hit six home runs. It's the most home runs ever hit by a team - the Rangers included - at Globe Life Field. The last time the Rangers allowed 6HR in a game was June 16, 2021...at Minute Maid Park...against the Astros.
*It's the 23rd time in MLB history that a team has hit 11 home runs over consecutive road games. The 2023 Astros are also on the list, when they hit 7HR at Oakland on May 28 and then 4HR at Toronto on June 5, their next road game after May 28. So it's just the 20th time in MLB history that it happened on back-to-back days (or in both ends of a doubleheader).
*Days in 1st Place, AL West, 2023:
1. West Van: 150
2. Seattle: 12
3. Houston: 1
*Jose Altuve hit a home run in his first three ABs of the game, the three homers tying a career-high with 2017 ALDS G1. That marked a run of four straight ABs with a home run. Jose Altuve's ABs against the Rangers, September 4-5:
1. Groundout
2. Flyout
3. Single
4. Home Run
5. Single
6. Home Run
7. Home Run
8. Home Run
9. Home Run
10. Groundout
11. Strikeout
The only other player in MLB history to hit four home runs in four innings was Bobby Lowe, you remember, from the 1894 Boston team. They were so old they didn't even have a name. Just "Boston." Altuve has raised his OPS from .899 to .969 in 11 Plate Appearances against the Rangers. Altuve:
It was just one of those days where you feel really good. I was just trying to get my pitch, put a good swing, and it happened...Obviously, this doesn't happen very often. Last month of the season where we are trying to get to first place, stay there, so good timing.
He goes, we go. That's how we've been. Every time he does it, we're not surprised, really, but at the same time, it's unreal what he does.
Altuve is only the 23rd player in MLB history to hit five home runs in two consecutive road games (on back-to-back days, or both ends of a doubleheader). The last to do it? Former White Sox Great Jose Abreu, who did it against the Cubs on August 21-22, 2020.
We're in first place and we want to pad that lead. Tomorrow is very important and when we get back home, we got to start showing some home-field dominance. Trying to figure out why we're hitting so well on the road and not at home. We'll figure it out. Right now, we've got a one-game lead, and we've got to pad it.
*Martin Maldonado hit two home runs last night for the 5th time in his career. It's the first time he's hit two home runs in the same game against the same pitcher since September 4, 2017.
*Yordan Alvarez went 3x6 with a HR and 2RBI. Since coming off the IL on July 26, Yordan is hitting .316/.425/.534 with 20K:22BB and 7HR.
*Framber threw 7IP, 6H/1ER, 4K:4BB. Framber's last three starts: 20IP, 11H/5R (3ER), 15K:9BB.
*Ryne Stanek was placed on the IL with a "right ankle sprain," which is far better than the "right ankle disintegration" I'd predicted. Parker Mushinski was called up.
*After throwing in 56 of the Astros' first 130 games, Ryan Pressly has pitched once since August 25. A nice little break on his arm.
*MLB Network put up a graphic yesterday for Discussion! or Engagement! or whatever, but it highlighted five AL Rookie of the Year candidates with some baseline stats. They had:
*On Monday, September 25-Wednesday, September 27, 2017 the Astros traveled to Arlington to play the series the Rangers didn't want to flip series after Hurricane Harvey out of respect for their own Season Ticket Holders. Houston outscored them 37-7 and out-hit them 46-23. Tonight the Astros need 11 runs on 11 hits to beat that ass even harder.
*What To Watch, September 6:
Blue Jays @ A's: 2:37pm Central
Red Sox @ Rays: 5:40pm
Mariners @ Reds: 5:40pm
Astros @ Rangers: 7:05pm
*BBC: Winless, Elusive, & Under Pressure: Jurgen Klinsmann in South Korea.
It wasn't looking good. Then it looked better. Then it looked worse. Then it was freaking great. The Astros beat South Ardmore 13-6 in the first game of the first pivotal series of September. Houston is 78-61, and 43-27 at Not Minute Maid Park. The Mariners lost, as well.
*AL Playoff Picture:
1. Baltimore (86-51)
2. Seattle (77-60)
3. Minnesota (72-66)
4. Tampa (83-55)
5. Houston (78-61)
6. South Ardmore (76-61)
-
7. Toronto (76-62): +0.5
8. Boston (72-66): +4.5
*AL West Odds, Morning of September 5 (and change from yesterday):
*The win puts the Astros at 7-4 over South Ardmore in 2023, meaning that in the event of a tie record between the two teams, the Astros will get the tiebreaker.
*Arlington is 3-7 at Mimic Maid Park in their last ten games. Houston's 13 runs were the most scored by an opponent there since the Dodgers put 16 on them on July 22.
*Houston has now won six straight road games, and are 18-8 on the road since the All-Star Break.
*The Astros hit five home runs in a game for the fifth time this season - four of them have been on the road.
*Conversely, the Astros allowed 4HR in a game for the 4th time this season. It's the first time they've won a game after giving up 4HR since September 24, 2022 when Houston beat Baltimore 11-10. I hate it when I've committed to something like this only to find that "the last time it happened" wasn't all that long ago.
*Jose Altuve went 4x6 with 2RBI and enjoyed the 9th regular season 2HR game of his career. It's his 10th multi-HR game if you count the postseason.
*Mauricio Dubon also trotted 720 feet around the bases for the first time in his career. He hit two home runs between July 24-September 3. Career home run leaders, born in Honduras:
*Yordan Alvarez walked three times in a game for the 5th time in his career, and the first time since September 10, 2021.
*Alex Bregman was 4x4 with 2RBI and a walk. It's the 8th 4-hit game of his career. It's also the 7th time in his career he's been on base five times in a game, and the 5th time in 2023, raising his OBP from .365 to .370 - the highest since he had a .374 OBP on April 24.
*7-8-9 in the lineup, Chas McCormick-Yainer Diaz-Mauricio Dubon, went a combined 5x14 with 3HR/6RBI.
*Rangers Reliever of the Day: Josh Sbarro Sborz! Mans went 0.2IP, 5H/6R (5ER), 0K:2BB.
*Jonathan France (he has to earn his initials back): 5IP, 6H/5ER, 5K:3BB, 3HR. After allowing 10 homers in his first 17 appearances (and zero homers in six straight outings from July 14-August 17), France has now allowed eight home runs in his last four starts.
*Prayers up for Ryne Stanek, who went down hard on his ankle in the 9th inning and is being evaluated. But it didn't look good.
*Yainer Diaz said the vets called a meeting after Sunday night's loss to the Yankees and "implored" everyone to "turn the page."
Other Stuff
*Wednesday's game will feature Justin Verlander vs. Max Scherzer.
*AL Records since August 15:
Seattle: 13-5
Baltimore: 12-5
Tampa: 11-5
Detroit: 10-8
Minnesota/Toronto: 9-8
Houston/Oakland: 9-9
Boston: 9-10
New York: 8-9
Cleveland: 8-10
Anaheim: 5-12
Chicago: 5-13
South Ardmore: 4-13
Kansas City: 4-14
*What To Watch Today:
Blue Jays @ A's: 2:37pm Central
Mariners @ Reds: 5:40pm Central
Astros @ Ramgers: 7:05pm Central
I cannot recommend the Copa90 Stories YouTube channel enough.
*Speaking of the Angels, Anthony Rendon is such a bitch. Anthony Rendon has also played in 200 of the Angels' 522 regular season games since he signed a 7yr/$245m contract. I did the math. The Angels have paid him $617,547 per game that he's actually suited up for.
I do indeed hope you enjoyed a few days without the Astros jellydicking around. I know I did. I'm posting these now so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. The Astros start the second half of the season tomorrow night in Anaheim against Future Astros Great Shohei Ohtani.
*Playoff Odds:
FanGraphs: 43.2% to win division, 66.1% to make postseason.
*When can the Astros catch the Rangers for the division lead? The Astros start the second half with nine road games before coming back home to play Upper Mansfield: three at Anaheim, two at Colorado, and four at Oakland. The Astros are 13-2 against those three teams in 2023.
The Ramgers also have nine games, all of them at home, before coming to Minute Maid Park: three vs Cleveland, three vs Tampa, and three vs the Dodgers. They lost a three-game series against Tampa already, but haven't played Cleveland or LA - who are both lead their respective divisions.
But to go up in the division, the Astros have to be three games better than the Rangers in the next nine games. So if the Rangers go 4-5, the Astros have to go 7-2 (this seems simple, but just making sure everyone understands the maths). It's hard to make up three games in nine games, unless of course you're trying to catch the 2007 Mets lol.
*The 2024 season schedule has been released, and the Astros host the Yankees to start the 2024 campaign. They'll also play a series against the Rockies in Mexico City.
*FanGraphs: Jay Jaffe's Cooperstown Notebook still gives Altuve a good shot at making the HOF.
Well huh. That was an interesting one. Still, all's well that ends well except that NO IT'S NOT. Everyone is either Mad At Dusty, or Mad At Whoever Is Mad At Dusty, so that's what we're doing today. The Astros won a humdrum pre-holiday game against East Aledo, 12-11. Houston is 47-38, three games back, and have won six of their last eight games.
But we'll get to that in a second, I have a formula here.
I'll take it. You still think about the game we didn't have in LA...But we rebounded from that tough loss. I'm glad we didn't have another tough loss today, because we've had probably a dozen tough losses. But this team's very resilient.
It was huge. They're a good team, and they're in first place in our division. Being able to come in and get three games out of them is huge. We've got to go home and finish out the first half strong.
*The Astros have two against Colorado starting tonight, and four against Seattle. The Rangers have three at Boston and have three at Washington before the All-Star Break.
*On June 30, the day the Rangers series started, the Astros were at 32.9% to win the AL West. Now it's 38.2%, which is not nearly as dramatic as I was expecting.
*The Astros have scored 5+ runs in each of their last six wins. They've scored 10+ runs in three of their last six games.
*The scoring for the Astros and Rangers in the first three games of the series: 12-11 Astros. The final score in the final game of the series: 12-11 Astros.
*Seven of the Astros' 13 hits were for extra-bases. The four home runs were the most in a game since June 13, when they hit four against the Nationals. It's the 5th time the Astros have hit four home runs in a game in 2023, and four of those games were on the road. Houston is 6-0 when they hit 3+ home runs in a game.
*Houston topped out at 98.2% to win the game after Jose Abreu's homer made it 10-2, before it was, you know, 100%. The Rangers were at 85.5% to win after Corey Seager's sac fly put the Rangers ahead.
*Kyle Tucker was 4x4 with a grand slam and an HBP. After an 0x10 stretch from June 19-21, Tucker has a 10-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .436/.511/.846, with four doubles, four homers, and 14 RBI. Houston's eight grand slams lead the Majors.
*Jose Abreu was 2x4 with a double, home run, and 4RBI. On this road trip, Abreu played in nine games and hit .378/.390/.730. Seven of his 14 hits went for extra bases (4 doubles, 3 homers). Abreu's homer was his 250th career home run. He's the 17th active player in MLB with 250 home runs.
*Chas McCormick was 2x5 with a home run, double, and two crucial RBI. He had the game-winning hit for the second game in a row. The "who should be playing CF" debate is officially over.
*Cristian Javier: 4.1IP, 9H/8ER, 4K:0BB. After his June 15 start against Washington, Javier was at a 2.90 ERA / 1.04 WHIP. In his last three starts: 10.2IP, 21H/18ER, 6K:6BB. His ERA has risen to 4.34 in the last three starts. Javier recorded 18 outs in nine of his first 14 starts of the season, and hasn't gotten out of the 5th in his last three.
*NOW: the decision to leave Javier in to start the 5th Inning caused a meltdown on the burning hellscape of Twitter.com. But I get it. You gave Cristian Javier a 10-2 lead, which he allowed to get to 10-5 by the time the 5th Inning started.
But the Astros have played 33 games in the last 36 days. Also, the starters haven't exactly shortened the game for the bullpen in the last few weeks. Yesterday's game followed Shawn Dubin's start in which the Astros were hoping he could give them three innings, and he ended up going four. Starter innings, 10-game road trip:
July 2 (Dubin): 4.0
July 1 (Brown): 4.0
June 30 (Blanco): 5.0
June 29 (France): 7.0
June 28 (Javier): 4.0
June 27 (Framber): 6.0
June 25 (Brown): 6.0
June 24 (Blanco): 6.0
June 23 (France): 6.0
From June 23-June 29 the starter went at least six innings in five of those six games. But in each of the four games of this crucial series against the Rangers, the bullpen had to cover at least four innings, and that was five innings in each of the last three. The bullpen is absolutely gassed, mainly because Javier has forgotten how to pitch, and Framber slipped down some stairs.
Bullpen Usage, last ten games:
Hector Neris: 6 games
Phil Maton: 6 games
Ryne Stanek: 5 games
Bryan Abreu: 5 games
Rafael Montero: 3 games
Seth Martinez: 3 games
Your high-leverage guys have thrown a lot. And you should be able to trust your #2 starter (Javier) with a 10-2 lead, or a 10-5 lead, to go an extra inning and give one of those guys a day off. Javier couldn't, because he has completely forgotten how to pitch. Pitching Coach Josh Miller:
He's not working deep into games. That's something he did last year, the back half of the year when he was a consistent starter for us. He was dominant. He was a force. We're working to get back to that version of him. He's working his tail off. We're going to go back to the drawing board and, hopefully, get him right.
It's worth revisiting this recent Eno Sarris article on the decline of Cristian Javier's fastball, or how his Invisiball is a little less Invisi.
So who should you be mad at? I'd go with Javier, or the injuries that led to the loss of Urquidy, McCullers, Garcia, and Framber, before Dusty.
*Ramgers 6-9 in the lineup, last four games: 18x57, 10RBI.
*This might be it for Michael Brantley. He will not take live BP against Jose Urquidy, having "plateaued" in his rehab, and the Astros are backing off of his recovery.
*This guy was charged with attempted murder after beating the piss out of a another guy (who happened to be in bed with his wife at a Florida AirBnB). The most insane sentence you'll ever read:
He further said, that he had a bat that he kept in the closet for self-defense or hitting baseballs or soccer balls.
I have been a high school soccer coach for eight years. Never once has a baseball bat been involved.
*NY Times: Texas BBQ is the best it's ever been. Here's why.
*ESPN: The Champions League begins in Iceland, where teams dream (and spend) big.
The Astros just kind of stumbled along in a 5-2 loss to East Haltom City. Houston is 45-38, back to five games back.
*The Rangers' 15 hits were a season high for the Astros' pitching staff. 11 of them were singles.
*Hunter Brown, the day before Shawn Dubin starts for the Astros, really could have helped everyone out with a strong performance. Instead: 4IP, 10H/3ER, 6K:0BB, needing 91 pitches to get through those four innings.
Brown:
I put some pitches in some good spots. Whether they fought them off or worked a hit out of it, they just made it difficult on me today. I don't think I was overly mis-executing. But it's kind of difficult to not think how you could have done better when they put up 10 hits on you.
Brown has faced three teams a second time in 2023:
*Kyle Tucker hit his 12th home run of the season in the 9th to provide the Astros' only runs. Tucker has an eight-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .387/.457/.774. Six of his 12 hits in this span have been for extra-bases (three doubles, three homers).
Tucker has two home runs in his last nine PAs. He had two homers in his previous 91 PAs.
*Alex Bregman was 1x3 with a double and a walk. He has six walks in his last four games. Bregs is hitting .267/.421/.533 through this eight-game road trip.
*Framber Valdez will not make today's start due to a sprained ankle, which the Astros say (eyes roll completely out of head) happened against the Mets when he slipped down the dugout stairs. Framber sprained his ankle so badly that he made his next start a week later, losing the one game against the Cardinals (but not pitching terribly). Valdez:
I twisted it there and just continued pitching, maybe because of the heat or adrenaline there. But when I pitched in St. Louis, I felt it a little bit more, felt it a little more tender. And just figure better to skip a start than to regret it the rest of the season.
*The Rangers classed up the joint by having a bunch of different mascots beat up a replica Orbit in their replica ballpark prior to the game. Which is pretty on-brand for a franchise whose generational highlight is punching Jose Bautista.
*If you're having trouble using Twitter, but still want to follow Astros reporters/accounts, lists don't seem to be rate limited, so you can find my Astros Media list here.
In what has to be one of the dumbest games in recent memory, the Astros coughed up a lead five times against Cleveland and lost 10-9 in 14 innings. At 4 hours and 3 minutes, it was the longest game of the season. Houston is 36-28, having lost a season-high four straight games and five of their last six. They've played a game in each of the last 15 days.
*The Astros are now 5-1 when they score 9+ runs in 2023. They're now 54-1 since the beginning of the 2021 season when they score 9+ runs. It's the first time they've scored 9+ runs and lost the game since September 5, 2020, when they lost 10-9 on an Anaheim walkoff.
That was like a 15-round fight, but we only went 14. We would score, then they would score. My guys battled hard, they battled hard. That's a tough one to lose.
Houston is now 6-7 in one-run games. Cleveland is now 13-17 in one-run games. It's only the 4th time this season Cleveland has put up double-digit runs.
*Houston went 6x28 with runners in scoring position. Surprisingly, for the year, Houston is hitting .273/.349/.454 w/RISP, good enough for a 124 tOPS+ (that's above average for the league).
*Jose Abreu was 2x7 with a 3-run home run. The Astros are now 1-1 in games where Jose Abreu homers.
*Jeremy Pena was hitting 7th in the lineup and went 4x6 with two doubles, but only scored one run. It's his 18th multi-hit game of the season, and the second 4-hit game of his career (July 3, 2022 vs Anaheim). Since May 27 (13 games), Pena is hitting .289/.373/.500.
*Astros pitchers struck out seven Guardians, and walked eight. It's the second time this season they've walked more batters than they struck out. Over this four-game losing streak, Astros pitchers have struck out 29 batters and walked 24. The Astros are 2-3 when they walk 6+ batters.
Astros pitchers, first 60 games: 3.39 K:BB ratio.
Astros pitchers, last 4 games: 1.21 K:BB ratio.
*Yordan Alvarez was placed on the 10-Day IL with a strained right oblique. McTaggart: How can the Astros replace Yordan's production? Bourbon sounds like a plan, for me.
*FanGraphs: Houston's Top 38 Prospects. The Top 10:
1. Hunter Brown (Houston)
2. Yainer Diaz (Houston)
3. Drew Gilbert (Corpus)
4. Korey Lee (Sugar Land)
5. Ryan Clifford (Asheville)
6. Luis Baez (Florida Complex League)
7. Camilo Diaz (Dominican Summer League)
8. Joey Loperfido (Corpus)
9. Trey Dombroski (Fayetteville)
10. Kenedy Corona (Corpus)
*Check out Friend of Astros County David Coleman's new Substack: Three Astros Things.
*ESPN: How the Rangers went from rebuild to contenders, in one offseason. (Hint: It's probably the $775 million they spent on Semien, Seager, Gray, Eovaldi, Gray, and de Grom.)
*Texas Monthly: 100-degree days are coming next week. How does that compare to the past? On the subject of "teh weather," make sure you've bookmarked The Eyewall - a new joint from Matt Lanza and Eric Berger in which they use the same no-spin approach from SpaceCityWx on potential storms in the Atlantic.
*Vice: The Psychic, the Sheik, and the $90 Million Diamond Heist.
*From the dudes that brought you "Drive To Survive," I watched "Tour de France: Unchained" in two days.
*Leeds United's relegation to the Championship cost Andrea Radrizzani probably $250 million. Good. Now the financial arm of the San Francisco 49ers own Leeds United.
*The Champions League final - between Manchester City and Inter Milan - is today at 2pm Central. Watch and see if City can be the first English team to win the Treble (domestic league, domestic cup, international cup) since 1999.
The Houston Astros raced out to an early lead and beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 yesterday to improve to 32-22, tying a season-high ten games over .500. The Rangers obviously won, so the Astros still sit three games back.
*Astros after 54 games:
2023: 32-22
2022: 35-19
2021: 30-24
2019: 35-19
2018: 34-20
2017: 38-16
2016: 25-29
2015: 34-20
2014: 22-32
2013: 17-37
The Astros are 19-11 in their last 30 games but have managed to lose two games to the Rangers in that span, though the Astros' 15-5 record in their last 20 games is a game better than the Crowley Rangers. The Rangers are playing at a 2019 Astros pace through the first third of the season, and I'm just skeptical that that's sustainable. 16 of Crowley's games have been against teams currently in last place in their division, posting a 13-3 record. Only six of the Astros' games have been against those teams (all Oakland, and Houston is 6-0).
*Alex Bregman hit a Unicorn Homerun (a homer that would only be a homer in one ballpark) - his first HR since May 17. Bregman has a hit in each of his last six games, and seven of his last eight. In his last 20 games Bregman is hitting .313/.356/.488 with almost as many extra-base hits (7) as he has strikeouts (8).
*Chas McCormick hit a two-run homer, the second consecutive game in which he has homered (he didn't play in the Monday game), something he hasn't done since July 1-2, 2022.
*Twins pitcher Joe Ryan hadn't allowed a home run since April 19, and gave up four bombs all season...before yesterday.
*Brandon Bielak pitched well: 5.2IP, 3H/1ER, 6K:3BB. Bielak has given up two or fewer earned runs in five of his six appearances in 2023.
Astros runs in Bielak appearances:
0 runs: 1
1 run: 2
5 runs: 2
7 runs: 1
McTaggart: Bielak's mid-game change in approach helped him out a lot.
*Phil Maton, 2023: 26.2IP, 11H/2ER, 30K:3BB, 0.68 ERA / 0.53 WHIP. Chandler Rome: Maton is pitching angry, and it's helping.
*With a hit yesterday, Carlos Correa improved to 3x29 against the Astros in his career. And if you were one of the fans that booed Litos on Monday, please exit this web site and never come back.
*Chandler Rome: How Bielak and J.P. France have entrenched themselves in the Astros' rotation.
*Dusty is "very encouraged" by Jose Urquidy's rehab progress.
*ESPN: How the Rays proved in May that they could win it all in October.
*Leeds United are set to lose both Brenden Aaronson (boy bye) and Tyler Adams (please God no) this summer. Adams suffered a hamstring injury following Leeds' March 11 2-2 tie against Brighton, and Leeds got eight points from their remaining 12 games. Adams apologized to Leeds fans this morning on Twitter.
Huh. Well the Astros crapped the bed late, but the Angels out-crapped the Astros, and Houston is headed to the postseason for a franchise-record fourth straight year. Houston is 29-29. There are two games remaining, and the Astros need to win one to extend a season .500 streak to six seasons, tying a record set from 2001-2006. One more win also means the Astros won't be the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record. Dusty Baker is the first manager in MLB history to take five different franchises to the postseason (Chicago, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Washington).
*Houston was down 2-1, took a 3-2 lead, and then allowed the Euless Rangers to tie it in the bottom of the 9th, before scoring in the top of the 10th and allowing two in the bottom half of the inning. Alex PresleyJosh Pressly Ryan Pressly and Enoli Paredes were the culprits, though the Astros "hitting" 1x10 with runners in scoring position was as big of a culprit. Ronald Guzman hit a two-out two-strike home run to ensure Pressly's 4th Blown Save of the season in 16 chances. Pressly was asked in the post-game if he was going to stay up and watch the end of the Dodgers/Angels game:
Who cares? We've got to take care of business first.
The playoff berth gifted by the [squints] Dodgers means the Astros don't have to start Lance McCullers tonight or tomorrow, instead being able to save him for the 1st Round. All of Greinke, Framber, and McCullers will be on full rest, however the matchups happen. Today is likely a bullpen game.
*Game 4 Hero Jose Urquidy: 7IP, 7H/2ER, 5K:0BB. Urquidy has walked two batters in his last 20IP.
*Something from the Rangers called a "Sam Huff" hit two home runs.
*Alex Bregman hit homers in back-to-back games for the first time since September 24-25, 2019 - one year to the day.
*Jose Altuve was 0x2 w/RISP last night. In 47 ABs with runners in scoring position in 2020, Altuve is hitting .149/.216/.255. He hit .255/.360/.638 w/RISP in 2019.
*The Astros made the playoffs despite getting 6IP all season from Justin Verlander, nine total PAs from Yordan Alvarez (that's the reigning Cy Young and Rookie of the Year), 4.1IP from Roberto Osuna, and a .220 year from Jose Altuve, and injuries up and down the roster that led to 201 Innings from pitchers who had never pitched in the Majors before. Given that the Astros have thrown 508 Innings all season, that's 39.6% of their innings pitched by rookies. Houston is also 10-14 in 1-run games, and 2-7 in extra-innings.
*As of now, the Astros would play the Twins in the 1st Round, with Games 1-3 taking place from Tuesday-Thursday. As the 6-seed, the Astros will play the 3rd seed, likely whoever wins the AL Central. Here's 2-5 in the AL:
Oakland: 35-22
Minnesota: 35-23
Cleveland: 34-24
Chicago: 34-24
*With three games left in the regular season, Josh James was placed on the IL - likely with COVID, since they won't actually talk about it. It's decidedly not ideal, something we would have laughed at not a month ago.
Josh James, July 27-Sept 9: 11.1IP, 13H/14ER, 14K:16BB, 11.12 ERA / 2.56 WHIP.
Well that was fun. The Astros beat the North Mansfield Rangers 12-4. Houston is 29-28, and are three games up with three games to play. An Astros win or an Angels loss will clinch Houston's 4th straight playoff appearance. The Mariners were officially eliminated from playoff contention for the 19th year in a row.
*The Astros offense finally looked like the Astros offense. They scored 12 runs on 15 hits - double-digit runs for the first time since August 24 and double-digit hits for the first time since September 12.
*Houston hit four home runs in a game for the 3rd time this season, after hitting four home runs total in their previous five games. Somehow the Astros are now 2-3 when hitting 3+ homers. They were 35-7 when hitting 3+ homers in 2019. It was the first time that Springer, Altuve, and Bregman homered in the same game since June 20, 2018. Dusty:
It was big to break out like that and keep scoring. We usually have the big first inning, but we kept scoring.
*Bregman was (wink) a single away from the cycle. Springer, Altuve, and Reddick all had three hits each. It was Bregman's sixth career game with 3+ extra-base hits. Bregman:
I think that's what we should be doing. We're a very good offense. It's repeating. We've had a few games this year I thought we swung the bat well, but we didn't really repeat it, so now it's time to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, and keep doing that.
*Jose Altuve was (wink) a triple away from the cycle, and got his first home run since August 6, a span of 32 games in between home runs, matching his 32-game streak without a homer from May 16-June 26, 2015. Longest span of games between homers, by season:
It's a long time coming. I think his swing actually looks great. He's hit the ball hard a lot but doesn't have a lot to show for it. He's our guy. He's our leader. He's been extremely positive and upbeat all year. To see him have this night...it was awesome.
*And still somehow the Astros were 2x8 with runners in scoring position.
*The Kennedale Rangers' SP Lance Lynn was roughed up: 5.2IP, 12H/10R (9ER), 5K:2BB, 3 HR allowed. Lynn had never allowed 12H/10R before. Lynn has only given up 3+ home runs seven times in his career - three of them have come against the Astros.
*Cristian Javier: 5.2IP, 5H/3ER, 6K:1BB. He gave up a 2-run homer to Kole Willie Calhoun.
*MLB Standings Insanity! Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Astros are currently slated to face the A's. There are six NL teams within one game of the final four playoff spots. In the AL Central Minnesota, Chicago, and Cleveland are within two games of each other.
*Smithsonian: Did the Northern Lights play a role in the sinking of the Titanic? Yeah I didn't see the Northern Lights shimmering when Jack froze to death while Rose had at least an extra 14 square feet of space on that Big Ass Raft so I'm calling BS.
*REALLY interested in Utopia, which premieres on Amazon today.
*Three NYC MTA employees got busted for building a Man Cave beneath Platform 3 at Grand Central Station. I think it's genius, also, Grand Central Station is my literal favorite place on earth.
The Astros beat the Upper Midlothian Rangers 2-1 last night thanks to Framber and Kyle Tucker. Houston is 25-25. Turns out maybe I shouldn't have gotten so mad about seeing the Baseball-Reference/OOTP simulated standings and stats back when baseball was shut down, because those things were apparently pretty accurate.
The Astros are 6-11 in September, 4-10 in their last 14 games, and will try to win consecutive games for the first time since September 2-3 tonight against Arizona. Houston is 6.0 back of Oakland, and 3.0 up on Seattle, with 10 to play.
*Framber Valdez: 6.1IP, 4H/0ER, 11K:1BB. His 11 strikeouts tied a career-high, set all the way back on August 24. Framber has gotten 18 outs in eight of his 10 starts in 2020. Interestingly enough, Framber has thrown at least one Wild Pitch in four straight games. He had thrown a Wild Pitch in just six games prior to this streak - only ten other Astros pitchers in franchise history have a four-game WP streak. The Astros' franchise Wild Pitch streak record is 7, set by Joe Niekro in 1979.
Framber, in two starts vs. Arlington: 13.1IP, 9H/3ER, 19K:4BB. Dusty:
His curveball was working tonight. They helped him out by chasing some. You don't have much time to pick up that curveball. It's one of the best curveballs around. He kept us in the game big time. Very rarely does a two-run homer early in a game hold up.
*The Astros offense has recorded two runs and eight hits in the last two games against the Ramgers. Kyle Tucker's home run was his first since September 6. Chandler Rome: Astros' offense looks for a lift. Jose Altuve hasn't had an RBI since August 20. Carlos Correa hasn't had an extra-base hit since September 6.
*The Astros are supposed to head to Seattle for a three-game series on Monday. Seattle's home series against San Diego got shifted to San Diego for the weekend. We'll see if the Astros actually play in Seattle, where the air quality index is currently Unhealthy.
Nobody wants to see the Astros in the World Series. The Astros have bumbled their way through the regular season and don't deserve to play for a title.
The Astros continued a trend dating back to the 2019 Postseason in which they simply could not get the one hit they needed, losing to the Grand Prairie Rangers 1-0, completely wasting a stellar Lance McCullers start. Houston is 24-25, 17-7 at home. It was their first home loss since September 1. Houston is 7-12 in 1-run games, giving off some Extremely 2016 Vibes.
*It's just the sixth time in franchise history that Astros pitchers have struck out at least twelve batters, allowed one run, and still lost. The last time it happened was April 18, 2005. The time before that was five days earlier. Roger Clemens started both games. 2005 started off extremely stupid. Ended the same way, as I recall.
*It's the 8th time the Astros have held their opponent to just one run, and now they're 7-1 in those games.
*Lance McCullers: 7IP, 2H/0ER, 8K:0BB. McCullers' Game Score was 81, the third 80+ Game Score game of the Astros' season, and McCullers has two of them. McCullers:
Solid effort. Sad that we couldn't get the team W. That's what we care about.
*Ryan Pressly: 0.2IP, 1H/1ER, 1K:1BB.
*32-year old Rangers starter Kyle Gibson came into last night's start leading the league in hits allowed. He held the Astros to four total in his first career CGSHO. The Rangers were 1-8 in Gibson's starts prior to last night. In Gibson's previous five starts combined, he had posted an 8.10 ERA / 1.80 WHIP, so of course he straight dominated. Idiots.
He lowered his season ERA from 6.14 to 5.18. Farmers Branch is now 5-18 on the road.
*Oakland beat Colorado yesterday and their magic number is now five. The two teams were 2x19 w/RISP. So...very 2020. Oakland is 6.5 up on the Astros. So if the Astros go 11-0 starting tonight, Oakland would need to go 4-6 to win the division.
Seattle lost as the home team in San Francisco, so the Astros' lead is still 2.0 games with 11 to play, and three against the Mariners.
*Carlos Correa was in the lineup last night. After watching that foul ball, that's unbelievable to me, someone who would have turned into a transparent version of myself and just ascended into heaven while somehow simultaneously playing a harp, should I have done that to the inside of my ankle. Two and a half months ago I slipped on some water and haven't run a mile since.
*Lance McCullers was activated in advance of last night's start, and Cionel Perez was optioned to the alternate training site.
*Justin Verlander threw 75 pitches off the mound in a simulated game. I, too, threw a simulated game in which I simulated 75 pitches and got 27 strikeouts in the most dominant outing you didn't get to see because it was behind closed doors (and minds). How Verlander responds over the next two days will determine the next steps, but the regular season ends a week from Sunday.
In that link we also find that Chris Devenski had arthroscopic elbow surgery that comes with a four-month recovery time. Devenski's last appearance in an Astros uniform may very well have been a September 6 outing in which he allowed 1H/1ER, 0K:2BB in a 9-5 loss to Anaheim.
*Almost a quarter of young Americans (not the David Bowie ones) think the Holocaust is either a myth or is exaggerated. I'll say this as a History Teacher: If you don't like History, you had a teacher who didn't know how to tell a story.
*Got dang Leeds United lost to MF Hull City FC in the 2nd Round of the Carabao Cup, 9-8 after penalty kicks. Oh well, that's fewer games to play in order to smash all of your individual English Football hopes & dreams. Also, Marcelo Bielsa gives the most devastating of post-match comments:
With our preparation for this game we thought that we were going to do more than we did. When a coach picks a team...I picked the team thinking they would have enough to beat Hull but when the team didn't have enough to beat Hull, I feel like I am responsible for the defeat....The team was built with players that should have shown a better performance.
Leeds fielded a lineup that did not start against Liverpool last Saturday. Fulham is gonna taste the pain on Saturday.
What We Know So Far: *In McTaggart's 2020 Season FAQ, we find...
-Spring Summer Training will take place at Minute Maid Park, with players reporting by July 1. Fans won't be in the stands.
-The season will start on July 23 or July 24. The schedule has not yet been set.
-It's a 60-game schedule, with 40 divisional games and 20 games against the NL West in inter-league play.
-The Astros will open with a 30-Man Roster, and reduce it by two every two weeks for the first month of the season.
New Rules:
-Universal DH
-Extra innings begin with a runner on 2nd.
-If a player/manager comes out to shout at Joe West or Angel Hernandez or Ron Kulpa and gets within six feet, he's immediately ejected and could be fined/suspended.
-Pitchers can have a wet rag consisting only of water in their back pocket.
Is it weird? Yeah. Is it crazy? Sure. But let's just enjoy it for what it is, and let's hope that every player and coach and staff member stays healthy (and all of their families, as well) so they can entertain us in a crisis. Let's not get bogged down with the rule changes and the weirdness - we can complain about Crooked-Ass Manfred and umpires and greedy billionaires, for sure - but let's chill out.
*Dusty Baker is pumped, but worried: I've been staying in contact with the players. Most I've talked to seem excited. Some didn't want to be too excited, because they didn't want to be let down if there wasn't a season. The guys are ready. They've got a great attitude. We want to go back to where we belong.
*Two possibilities for the "Taxi Squad:" Sugar Land's Constellation Field and the University of Houston.
Keep in mind that George Springer, Josh Reddick, Michael Brantley, and Brad Peacock are free agents after this season. Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers, Joe Smith, Roberto Osuna, Martin Maldonado, and Chris Devenski are free agents after the 2021 season.
*Richard Justice: 20 reasons to be excited about the 2020 season.
*Chandler Rome: Meet Cody Orr, the Astros' "most fascinating free agent signing." Orr runs a 6.43 60, can play five positions, and pitches out of two different arm slots.
*Jake Kaplan: What if the Astros had re-signed Charlie Morton? I'll help: Houston doesn't have to trade a bunch of dudes for Zack Greinke. Before the pro-rated salary thing became A Thing, the Rays were on the hook for $15 million in 2020 with a vesting $15m option for 2021. The Astros are on the hook for $50m (again, pre-pro-rated salary stuff in 2020) for Greinke in 2020-2021.
*Beyond the Box Score's Sheryl Ring says the Yankees might be in sign-stealing trouble, noting that Mark Teixeira said the Yankees would use a replay monitor to signal signs to a runner on 2nd, who would then notify the hitter. Ring: The Astros' use of video rooms was considered to be an unacceptable rules violation, and the Yankees were doing something similar. The big difference here is the contemporaneous use of a trash can to signal pitches to hitters, and whilst that's a significant difference, both teams were using video monitors in order to learn and decode opposing signs. Assuming Teixeira is being entirely honest, this doesn't launch the Yankees into an upper echelon of cheaters, but it also doesn't absolve them from any wrongdoing.
