Astros Spring Training Thread

[eagle eye]

Baseball is here! The pitchers and catchers begin workouts today with the rest of the team beginning workouts next week. I have a lot of optimism going into this season with the youth on this team and the money the Astros have spent to upgrade the talent on this team particularly in the bullpen.

[Big T]

I can almost smell it! God I love this time of year. Looking forward to the first ST game and seeing exactly how improved this team will be. Will also be exciting to see Springer, Singleton, Folty, and Appel in ST. I think this team could make a significant leap this year. I don't think 72 wins is out of the equation. I would be very surprised to see more than that though.

[eagle eye]

Here's some early news from spring training concerning 4 players. The article covers the rehab of pitchers Alex White and Mark Appel. It also talks about Brett Wallace's positive mind set going into ST as despite being a non roster invitee. The other item is how good Jason Castro feels after he had to have a cyst removed from the inside of his knee late last season. BTW he's feeling great!

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140215&content_id=67814298&notebook_id=67814714&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

Here's an article from Astros.com about the Astros President of Business Operations, Reid Ryan. It's a nice piece about one of the guys responsible for turning the Astros into winners. A guy who seems to inspire hope that Houston won't be bottom dwellers for very much longer. After reading this article I think you'll agree the Astros are building something special in Houston.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/houston-astros-president-reid-ryan-driven-by-love-for-the-game?ymd=20140217&content_id=67802318&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Spring Training began in earnest with position players reporting today. Everybody is in the house and ready to work. The next really significant date on the Astros calendar appears to be Feb 28th when spring training games begin with an evening contest against Atlanta. BTW that's only 9 days away.

 

Here's a couple of notes from Kissimmee;

 

> 1B prospect Japhet Amador will miss the opening of training camp and an indeterminate time going forward because he needed to return to Mexico for a family emergency. The nature of the emergency was not reported but apparently it must be pretty serious. Amador, a 6-foot-4, 311-pound slugger who signed out of the Mexican League last year and played in the Arizona Fall League, was going to compete with Jesus Guzman, Brett Wallace, Jonathan Singleton and Marc Krauss at first base this spring. It looks like that Amador's season will get started a little late. (info from Astros.com)

 

> New relief pitcher Jesse Crain will miss some time due to a strained calf suffered exercising in the gym at the Astros complex in Kissimmee. Crain has yet to pitch off a mound since his surgery last fall for a torn biceps. He is scheduled for an MRI to make sure no structural damage is present. (info from Astos.com)

 

> Here's link to Astros.com's article about GM Jeff Luhnow. It's a pretty interesting read with recounts his hiring by Jim Crane and whether the team is on course to becoming a successful franchise.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/houston-astros-expect-progress-in-2014-under-rebuilding-plan?ymd=20140218&content_id=67889618&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Here's a nice article about P Lucas Harrell who was extremely good in 2012 and he had a bad year last year. It's about turning things around getting back to 2012 form. At 28 Harrell is still young enough to be a factor for Houston for years to come and old enough to learn from past mistakes. Part of Harrell's troubles last year were between his ears and he has recognized this and is taking steps to remedy that as well.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-lucas-harrell-ready-for-a-bounce-back-season?ymd=20140221&content_id=68066506&vkey=news_hou

 

Here's some notes from training camp which include;

> Scott Feldman and the Astros pitchers face hitters for the first time this spring

> Tony LaRussa believes both Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell should be in the Hall of Fame

> Astros officials participate in meetings with other league officails about expanded instant replay talks

> New Astros player Andron Chambers brings championship experience to the roster

> RHP Asher Wocjiecowski is missing time with a strained back

> RHP Jorge De Leon pulled a quad in first base running drills

> MLB TV schedule for Astros spring training games

[eagle eye]

The Astros biggest deficiency in 2013 was a lack of runs scored and that's putting it nicely. However, there were too many games that were lost because the defense made bonehead errors allowing runs when they should not have. In the field Houston, at times, looked like they had never played baseball before. Yesterday in Kissimmee after getting the pitchers work in before rain put a damper on things Bo Porter had his team concentrate solely on defense. Nice move coach and I'm not being sarcastic! With more veteran representation than last year and not over-the-hill vets at that an MLB work ethic is being fostered. So far, I like what I'm reading about.

 

Here is the notepad from yesterday's practices which include;

> Astros focus on defense

> Minor league prospects report early

> Porter to implement instant replay as much as possible during spring

> Odd and Ends

Note: the O&E section check out the item about the first intrasquad game next week.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140222&content_id=68197182&notebook_id=68197306&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

Today was the day for the first intra squad game. So much for a March 1st start. Regardless it was good outing for the team who batted strictly off a juggs machine that threw only curve balls. The star of the day was Carlos Correa who was one of four other Astros to hit home runs. Here's the notes from today with a slightly more detailed recap of todays events.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140223&content_id=68226808&notebook_id=68232436&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

Remember Kyle Weiland? The RHP pitcher acquired by Houston in 2011 in the Jed Lowrie deal? The guy who was good enough in spring training in 2012 that he earned a spot in the starting rotation to begin the 2012 season? The guy who disappeared after his first 3 starts because he was ineffective and beginning the season felt something was kind of "funny" in his arm? Turns out he had three surgeries and didn't throw a ball in the rest of 2012 into early 2013. Here's a link to the travails of Weiland and his move to earn a spot on the Astros.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/long-recovery-has-kyle-weiland-back-at-astros-camp?ymd=20140226&content_id=68351512&vkey=news_hou

 

Here's somes notes for spring training in Kissimmee.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140226&content_id=68360304&notebook_id=68360012&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

Check out the audio of the Astros first spring training game on Astros.com as Houston opens their schedule against the Atlanta Braves. Lucas Harrell will get the start for Houston and go 2 innings. I don't know if the game is free tonight or if you have to subscribe to MLB Gameday Audio but IMO it would be chickensh*t to charge for a spring training game. If you can you could listen on KMBE 790 am out of Houston. (Good luck with that after 6 o'clock.)

[eagle eye]

The 'Stros started off their spring with a "W" last evening beating the Braves 7-5. Dexter Fowler, hitting lead off, led the way with 1 hit and 2 RBI's and a walk in his short time on the field. Fowler, who came to Houston in an off season deal from the Rockies, got a two run hit in the second inning. Fowler was part of a 12 hit attack by the Astros. The Astros were able to work 7 pitchers on the day. Here's a link to the game recap on Astros.com.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/fowler-sets-astros-on-their-way-in-win-over-braves?ymd=20140228&content_id=68477742&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

Houston beat Miami in spring training action 4-0 in a game pretty much dominated by the Astros. It was an all around team win with 8 different pitchers combining for the shutout. George Springer showed some impressive plate discipline by working 4 walks off Miami pitchers. Springer also was 1-2 in stolen bases and he scored two runs to lead the Astros attack. Mark Krause began the scoring for Houston by hitting a solo home run in the first inning and he finished 2-4 on the day with a run scored and an RBI. The win gives the Astros a 3-1 record so far going into today's game against the Mets.

 

In an interview yesterday 1B prospect Jon Singleton (in the article he states he prefers Jon to Jonathan) admitted yesterday he has an addiction to marijuana. He stated he loves the feeling when he's high and as a result he failed a drug test last year for a second time and was suspended for 50 days to begin last season. A length of time that adversely effected his production and improvement. Singleton went to rehab and has not smoked weed in over a year and he's glad for it. The Astros released a statement that they are supportive of Singleton and his struggle with marijuana use. While I'm not aware of any physiological aspects marijuana use that would make it akin to alcohol or heroin or cocaine use the desire to make yourself feel better is a definite problem to face. Here's a link to the full article about Springer's trouble with pot.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/prospect-singleton-reveals-details-of-addiction?ymd=20140303&content_id=68657266&vkey=news_hou

 

 

[eagle eye]

If you're going off his 1/3 inning of work to start yesterday's game vs the Mets then you could definitely say starting pitcher Rudy Owens will not make the 25 man roster that starts the season in April. Owens is a hopeful to make the squad but is likely headed to the minors and yesterday's outing seems to confirm that. In that third of an inning Owens gave up 3 hits, 3 runs, a home run and 2 walks. The Astros couldn't do much against Mets pitching despite stranding base runners in scoring position in several different innings. They just couldn't manage a hit when it counted. The Astros lost 6-2 and it was an entertaining game (on radio) even though I'm not all that jacked about the Astros radio announcing team. I miss Milo and I wish they would hire somebody like Harry Doyle. Who? The character played by Bob Eucker in the Major League films. The was Owens first start and second appearance this spring but yesterday's outing is something I'm sure he'd like to forget.

 

The Astros have a Doran in the clubhouse again. No, not former second baseman Billy Doran. He's long since retired but he was one of the most popular players on the team during the 80's. Doran was moved to the Cubs to make room for a young guy making the move from catcher to 2nd base, despite making the All Star team the previous season, named Craig Biggio. But I digress. The current Doran is pitcher Bobby Doran. He has sort of flown under the radar on the list of prospects I guess because he doesn't have an overpowering fastball or a wicked curve or knuckleball. What he is is steady. That's sort of a misleading description of Doran though. In his last two years of work in the minors between AA and AAA he is 25-8 with a 3.51 ERA and 2.6 walks per nine innings. Doran doesn't have an blazing fastball. He brings it in at 88-92 mph but it doesn't mean he's a lightweight. Greg Maddox didn't throw smoke but he'll be in the Hall of Fame sooner rather than later. I'm not saying Doran is headed for the Hall but I am saying he may be worth keeping an eye on as the spring progresses. Doran pitched a scoreless 7th against the Mets yesterday giving up a hit, a walk and notching a strikeout.

[eagle eye]

Here's a link to the page that lists the top 20 prospects coming up through the Astros farm system from MLB.com.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=hou

[Big T]

Stacked, just stacked! Plus the number one overall pick again this year! Luhnow has placed this team in the best position he could to succeed and now these players need to develope and take over. Seeing this list excites me to no end.

[eagle eye]

I've been listening to games this week and George Springer has gotten his first work past week and so far he's done something that he hasn't done to much so far in the minors--show some patience at the plate. In his first game had a walk to go along with being hit by a pitch. He scored twice without a hit. His second game he got two AB's going 1-2. In his third game he didn't have an official at-bat meaning of the 4 plate appearances he had were all walks. Not just 4 pitch walks but walks earned after working a 3-2 count. That's all four times. Impressive, no? He also scored 2 runs and added a stolen base to his line. His 4th game he went 0-2 with K. In today's game he went 0-3 but he scored a run because he legged out a double after the Nationals center fielder misplayed a fly ball. He came around to score on a sac fly by Marwin Gonzalez. So far his batting line this spring in 5 appearances is this: 8 AB's, 5 runs, 1 hit, 5 BB's, 3 K's, 3 SB's, 1 HBP and reached on an error. His OBP is .462 with a .143 BA and a .125 SLG.

What all this means is Springer has changed his approach a the plate so far and he's getting on base, using his speed and has terrorized opposing pitchers with his legs. In today's game they said he got a pitcher he liked and he was still aggressive enough to take a good hack at it. Even though he missed it tells me he's locked in already and when he starts making contact look out! It is not beyond the realm of possibility Springer will be in the lineup on opening day.

 

Today, Houston lost to Washington 8-5 behind a bad first inning by starting pitcher Bret Olberholzer who gave up 5 hits including 2 HR's with a K in a 6 run 1st inning. He pitched a 1-2-3 2nd to end his day but Houston couldn't overcome the disastrous opening frame. Jerome Williams came in the game in the sixth after pitching 2 scoreless innings in 2/3 of an inning he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, no walks and K to give the Nats a little breathing room.

All wasn't gloom and doom with Houston. Marc Krauss had a real nice day going 3-4 with a homer and 2 runs scored in 4 ABs. Carlos Corporan was 1-2 with a walk and 2 RBI's. The Astros used six pitchers today with Peter Moylan, Josh Zeid, Kevin Chapman and Josh Fields all holding the Nats bats to no runs on a K and 2 BB's. Not bad.

[eagle eye]

The Astros had a rough start to the weekend losing split squad games against the Yankees and Phillies on Saturday but they came back a eeked out a victory over Toronto 4-3 Sunday on the strength of a Jason Castro home run in the bottom of the sixth that tied the game. It was Castro's first homer of the spring after going 0-10 in his previous at-bats. RBI singles from Marwin Gonzalez and Carlos Perez gave the Astros the lead and the victory in the bottom of the 8th after the Jays had taken a 3-2 lead. Houston, behind Lucas Harrell's 3rd start of the season, will face the Washington Nationals. The Astros played the Nats last Friday and got whooped. Hopefully, tonight they will fare a little better.

 

I tried to watch the Astros-Yankees game Saturday afternoon. The key word is tried. MLB blackout rules cause Directv to not show the game because, in theory, the game was available on ComCast Sports. NOT! The ComCast deal is already a sore spot because now that the Rockets are playoff contenders we still can watch them and it's quite apparent we won't be watching the Astros either. Oh, and don't buy the MLB.com video package because it's only good for "out of market" games which mean we are withing the 100 mile radius of Houston, hence they are an in market team. MLB and their blackout rules suck and ComCast just sucks. Today I got an email from Time Warner Cable saying they were in the middle of a merger with--wait for it---ComCast! They said the merger would result in better tv, phone and security services from the company. Great! Better everything! Then they said the merger would be complete in LATE 2014. So, it doesn't appear there will be a resolution to the programming of Rockets and Astros games very soon. No telling when a resolution with Directv or Dish Network will happen. I know from following the Astros that owner Jim Crane is none-to-happy with the radio and TV deals Drayton McClain left him with.

 

The Astros have made their first cuts of the new season. On Sunday morning they optioned 8 players to the minor league camp. The players were pitchers Jake Buchanan, Bobby Doran, Jason Stoffel and Nick Tropeano, infielders Jonathan Meyer and Ronald Torreyes and outfielders Leo Heras and Preston Tucker. They also optioned right-hander Paul Clemens to Minor League camp. All but Clemens were not expected to make the final club but the experience of being a big league camp was good for them. Clemens was a bit of a surprise but his results were mixed at best.

 

[eagle eye]

The Astros beat the Nationals today on the strength of Jonathan Villar and Carlos Corporan's bats and nice outings from pitchers Lucas Harrell and Mark Foltynewicz. Corporan was 2-3 with a homer, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Villar was 1-3 with 3 RBI's, a run scored and a walk. Harrell pitched 4 full innings giving up only two hits with an earned run, one walk and one strike out. Folty went 2 innings with one run allowed. The amazing thing is his efficiency. He threw only seven pitches in two innings! SEVEN. He faced seven batters and recorded all 6 on ground ball ball outs including a double play. He gave up a home run to lead off the sixth to RF Steve Souza. But, are you kidding me? Seven freaking pitches? In a park like Minute Maid you want to see a guy who gets a lot of ground balls and Folty surely was that today.

[eagle eye]

Of the three players Houston signed prior to last season that were expected to add pop to a weak line up only one, Chris Carter is still with the club. Rick Ankiel never made it past the middle of May 2013 and Carlos Pena lasted until the end of July before he was released but even so he wasn't getting any playing time. All three were around .225 lifetime hitters who struck out a lot and that didn't change one bit. In fact, Chris Carter led the major leagues in strike outs (212) and SO percentage (36%). This is in contrast to the fact he hit 29 homers with a .451 slugging percentage. The fact is his 212 K's was the 3rd highest amount in MLB HISTORY! Here's a link to the Astros.com article about Carter's quest to become a more selective hitter. To say he's improving is an understatement and the article will give all the details.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-slugger-chris-carter-working-to-be-more-selective-at-the-dish?ymd=20140310&content_id=69087892&vkey=news_hou

 

 

Here's a link to an article from Astros.com with spring training news and notes including the Astros designating 4 players to minor league camp including No 12 prospect C Max Stassi getting the Astros ST roster down to 52. Also a closer look at Lucas Harrell's outstanding 4 innings of work against Washington yesterday.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140310&content_id=69076124&notebook_id=69076126&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[eagle eye]

Houston faced the Washington Nationals today for what seems like the 30th time this year. Today's game was delayed for a while by rain but once it got started it was a pretty exciting game from a high scoring standpoint without getting ridiculous. The final score was Houston 10 and the Nats 9. The final margin of victory came off the bat of George Springer who hit a two run walk off single scoring DeLino DeShields, and Marwin Gonzalez who singled earlier in the bottom of the ninth.

Nine of the 14 hits the Astros put up came off the bats of DeShields, Gonzalez, Springer and Jason Castro. Seven of the Astros RBI's came from these same four players. The Astros offense was able to overcome shakey outings by pitchers Jerome Williams who actually pitched well for 3 innings but he got victimized in the 4th that started with a misplayed pop up by Jonathan Villar. Of the 4 runs Williams surrendered in the 4th none of the runs was earned. Rhiner Cruz also got roughed up but his problem was he couldn't get anybody out. In 2/3 of an inning Cruz managed to give up 4 runs, all earned, on 3 hits and a walk. Of the six pitchers Houston used I'm sure they didn't expect the veteran guys to be the ones who were tagged with all but one of the Nats 9 runs.

Next up Houston travels to Dunedin, Fla to face the Blue Jays. Dallas Kuechel will get his third start of the preseason. Jason Castro, Jose Altuve, Jonathan Villar, Dexter Fowler and Mark Krauss will not make the trip with the team.

 

One item of note: Brett Wallace has been given his unconditional release. With a glut of 1st basemen and Matt Dominguez entrenched at 3rd base there just isn't room for Wallace. He came to Houston a highly touted prospect but he never became the player they wanted. He did well in the minors but it just didn't translate to the bigs.

 

[eagle eye]

Houston hung on to beat the Toronto Bluejays today on back of 2 home runs by 2nd year phenom Carlos Correa and a home run by Jon Singleton. The home runs by Correa were the first two of the spring and were just part of a day that say him go 2-5 with 3 RBI's and scored two runs. He was also very good in the field. Singleton was equally impressive as he went 1-3 with a run scored and an RBI go along with 2 walks further illustrating Singleton's success at becoming more of a selective hitter and cutting down on his strike outs. Dallas Keuchel started and pitched 4 scoreless innings earning him the win today. His ERA so far this spring after 3 starts is 0.00. Collin McHugh came in after Keuchel's day was over and he struggled giving up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. Josh Zeid, Kevin Chapman, Chia Jen Lo finished off the Bluejays with Lo getting the save.

 

Houston takes on the St Louis Cardinals tomorrow at 12 Noon. The Astros are now 7-6 on the preseason winning their last four after losing 5 in row before the current winning streak.

[eagle eye]

The starting pitching rotation is coming together as two more pieces were added to the Houston starters club. Earlier in the week RHP Scott Feldman was named the opening day starter and today Bo Porter named RHP Jared Cosart the #2 man in the rotation. The #3 man will be LHP Brett Olberholtzer. The naming of Cosart to the starting rotation was evidently not affected by his poor outing earlier this week in which he gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs. Porter was quoted, "For me, you look at what Jarred Cosart was able to do last year, I was pretty comfortable with him being one of the guys who was going to be in our rotation," Porter said. "Last night, you got a chance to see a guy who has an opportunity to be a front-of-the-rotation guy. When he's locked and if we get that type of consistency, he's going to pitch to his potential."

Porter said right-handers Lucas Harrell, Jerome Williams and Brad Peacock and left-hander Dallas Keuchel are the remaining candidates for the final two spots in the rotation. Harrell got the chance to get back on the mound today after being bombed in his last start. He came back last night facing the Phillies. He went 4-1/3 giving up six hits and only one run. Kevin Chapman gave up 2 runs in relief of Harrell in his 1.2 innings of work but it was reliever prospect Darin Downs who gave up the runs that allowed the Phillies to open up a bit of a lead that became the final margin of victory.

 

One item of note. It is being reported that the smokin hot spring that Marwin Gonzalez is having could actually allow the Astros to keep an extra pitcher on the roster. Gonzalez has played almost every position in the field short of Pitcher and catcher. The one thing that could make the biggest difference is the fact that Gonzalez has worked hard on his hitting and it's paid off so far through 17 games with a Grapefruit League second best BA of .441.

[eagle eye]

Scott Feldman made his second start yesterday and he wasn't all that sharp. Not good with opening day less than two weeks away. The really disturbing thing is the lack of runs being scored. This is beginning to look like last season and that's not good. I know Houston isn't going to challenge for a playoff spot but I expect them to be better than last year. But, if they don't start putting up some runs it will be really hard to be any better.

[baller]

It would be a tough job selling season tickets for the Houston Astros the last few years.Probably tougher than coaching the Washington Generals.

[Big T]

Scott Feldman made his second start yesterday and he wasn't all that sharp. Not good with opening day less than two weeks away. The really disturbing thing is the lack of runs being scored. This is beginning to look like last season and that's not good. I know Houston isn't going to challenge for a playoff spot but I expect them to be better than last year. But, if they don't start putting up some runs it will be really hard to be any better.

 

It is Spring Training... Lol I have seen teams win eight ST games and be play off teams and I have seen some win 20+ and lose 90+ games. Calm down EE!