Houston Astros 2014 Season Thread

[eagle eye]

I agree with you KABro, Altuve should be a shoe-in All Star. Don't get me started about the All Star game starting with the BS about the ASG winner gaining home field advantage in the World Series. The TV ratings were a dumpster fire so MLB made this crap up to generate interest in what is an exhibition game. The pro sports all star games are boring but they do bring the best players in the sport together at one time which was great when there were only 3 networks and radio coverage. Now with all the cable outlets and MLB TV and pay-per-view sports networks you can see the top players on a regular basis. The same goes for fan voting. The fans get to vote and it's such bullsh*t because you can vote up to 30 times. I don't think it would hurt one thing to allow one vote per email address and it wouldn't allow strong fan bases to slam votes for their guys. They NBA gets it. They know it's a party and they accept it. MLB and NFL don't get it. All Star games are not the events they used to be no matter how you try to trick it up. The NFL is the most disgusting. Players don't want to get hurt, coaches and GMs and owners don't want their players to be hurt and the game turns into a 3 hour slap fight. Not only that, but the 9th guy in line might make the pro bowl and he gets to brag about being a pro bowl player for the rest of his career. Being a pro bowler doesn't mean squat anymore. To me, the guys who don't go to the pro bowl don't get credit for being pro bowlers. That would stop a lot of that crap. Bonus money on contracts a lot of time depend on being named to the pro bowl. So, the players get the best of both worlds. Make the pro bowl, decline to go and count their money because they made an incentive in their contract. Being All Pro means something. It's exclusive and the proper players get recognition. MLB and the NBA can play hard because their likelihood of being hurt is not that high. The respective leagues recognize it's an exhibition and at least to the NBAs credit market it as such.

I think Bud Selig was one of the most gutless commissioners ever in any sport. That's a whole different rant but his treatment of the All Star game is a joke. The game doesn't mean anything. I don't understand why everyone got so up in arms when the game ended in a tie after nine innings. People, it was an exhibition game. We got to see the best players in the sport (for the most part) play at the same time. Every summer we all got a "Field of Dreams" game and between the commissioner and the misguided fans and TV broadcasters who wanted change well, they F**ked It Up as a result.

[KABrother88]

Holy Jason Castro...walk-off winner in the 11th to beat Detroit 4-3...hopefully that HR will get him kick started for the 2nd half. That Aluve fella...just another day at the office...4 hits and 2 steals including home in the 5th inning

[eagle eye]

How good was Jose Altuve last night? As KABro posted 4-5, 2 runs scored, one RBI with no walks or K's. That just doesn't tell the whole story. In the first inning Altuve, leading off because Dexter Fowler got the night off, singled off Tigers ace Justin Verlander. With George Springer batter next Altuve stole second and later after Springer struck out and Jon Singleton at bat Altuve stole 3rd on what was ruled a wild pitch by Verlander and a bad throw by Tigers catcher Alex Avila to third trying to get Altuve which allowed him to score the game's first run. In the 5th Altuve hits an RBI double off Verlander and advances to third on a base hit by Springer. After a K by Jon Singleton and with Matt Dominguez batting, Altuve stole home when Avila tried to pick off George Springer on first. When Avila threw to first an alert Altuve took off and stole home and besides that the Tigers went to sleep on the play at the plate and allowed Springer to advance to second without even a throw! So, by now in the bottom of the 5th Altuve has accounted for all three Astros runs and 3-2 lead that lasted into the 8th inning. How good was Altuve's night? After the game Bo Porter wasn't talking about Altuve being an All Star he was saying Altuve had to be considered AL MVP! The Astros have reached the half way point in the season and if the season ended today it would be hard to find a better player.

Brad Peacock actually outduelled Justin Verlander last night. Verlander gave up 3 runs on 6 hits with a walk and 8 K's while Peacock went 6 2/3 allowing 2 runs on one of which was earned with 7 hits, 2 walks and 3 K's. It was Peacocks first start in about 2 weeks after he suffered food poisoning after a game in Houston. The bullpen actually came through last night. Darin Downs, Chad Qualls, Tony Sipp and Jake Buchannan all pitched scoreless innings with Buchannan getting the win in the 11th after Jason Castro's walk off HR. Jose Veras should have had a scoreless inning in the 8th except for an unearned run scored because of two Astros errors. First, lead off man for the Tigers, Eugenio Suarez, should have been out on a pop foul by first base but inexplicably Jon Singleton failed to catch the ball. Suarez ended up walking and he advanced to second on a Torii Hunter groundout to Dominguez. Then, Miguel Cabrera hit what should have been the inning ending out to Jonathan Villar but his throw to first short hopped to Singleton who couldn't handle the throw. Since there were 2 outs Suarez was off at the crack of the bat and with the bad throw by Villar Suarez scored the tying run.

It was a great game and the type of game the Astros have not won very much at all. As I said before, the Astros have reached the half way point of the season with a record of 35-46 and if you project that to the end of the season the Astros would be 70-92. That doesn't sound all that great until you realize that's a 19 game improvement over last year. Despite their recent struggles Houston has gotten better and I, for one, who has been upset over their recent slump can take a different perspective of the Astros season. They aren't as bad a team as they were in April and they aren't as good as they were in May. They are just somewhere in the middle and as long as they are getting better, well, that's okay.

 

Dallas Keuchel will miss today's start due to inflammation in his left wrist. He has been having an issue with the wrist since a bullpen session a few days ago and Bo Porter says the team wants to be careful with him. Brett Olberholzer will be brought up from OKC to make the start in Keuchel's place. The Astros will have to make a roster move today to allow for Obie's return.

 

Anthony Bass is close to returning to the Astros. He has made two appearances at Class A Lancaster on Tuesday and Thursday with no issues related to the intercostal strain that sent him to the DL on May 11th. He will make one more appearance and if no problems arise then the Astros will consider bringing Bass up to the big club.

 

Jose Altuve wasn't the only Astros organization player to have a big night on Friday. AAA Outfielder Domingo Santana went 4-5 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI's highlighted by a walk off 3 run jack in the ninth to power the RedHawks to a 8-5 win over Omaha. Santana is the Astros 7th ranked prospect and at 21 years old he is the second youngest regular player in the PCL. So far after 81 games Santana has posted a line of .303/.382/.505 with 13 HRs.

 

[eagle eye]

Is there anything more demoralizing than giving up the and lead and eventually the game when a pitcher has only one stupid out to close a game? I am really sick of Jerome Williams. The three run shot he allowed to Astros killer Ian Kinsler with two outs in the 9th really sucked. The Astros had done a good job getting the 2-1 lead against Max Scherzer. After all, the guy recorded 13 Ks in his 7 innings of work and only allowed 2 runs. Scherzer is one of the best pitchers in the game.

Brett Olberholzer went 6.1 innings allowing just one run on 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 K's. Josh Zeid and Chad Qualls did their job holding the Tigers scoreless for 1-2/3 innings. Then came Williams. I don't know why Bo Porter brought in Williams to close, the guy sucks. There has been very few of his appearances where he didn't give up at least one run. I dread seeing this guy come into a game. Hell, Qualls had been the guy in the closers role during the Astros run in May and he only threw 12 pitches in a perfect eighth inning. Why, oh why, did Porter run Williams out with a one run lead in the ninth?

Here's Williams inning--lead off single to Nick Castellanos, Alex Aliva called out on strikes, Eugenio Suarez singles - men on first and second one out, Rajai Davis out at first on a sac bunt - men on 2nd and 3rd two out, after falling behind 2-0 Williams grooves a pitch trying to throw a strike to Ian Kinsler who homers to left center field - Astros now trailing 4-2, Miguel Cabrera lines out to left for out #3. Thank you so much Jerome Williams.

We should be talking about Brett Olberholzer's afternoon actually out dueling Max Scherzer. We should be talking about how Alex Presley accounted for both, and eventually all three Houston runs. Presley knocked in two runs on a single in the bottom of the 1st and in the ninth after Williams had blown the save Presley led off the inning with a home run making the final score 4-3 as the Houston attempt to come back failed after Presley's solo shot.

The Astros did what you have to do against a top pitcher, get to him early and hang on but the Astros had to watch their hopes of a back-to-back wins against Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer fly out of the park. Thank you Jerome Williams. Williams is done as far as I'm concerned. You get your chances to hold a lead or to keep a game close and if you consistently fail at the job you lose your value to the team. Williams, to me, has reached that point. The Kyle Farnsworth experiment failed and he's gone and I can't understand why the Astros are sticking with this guy. In actuality, Farnsworth was better than Williams. Bring up a guy from OKC, he certainly can't be any worse than Williams. I turn off the radio when Williams comes into a game, I just can't bear listening while he screws the pooch. Some might say trade him and that's an option I suppose but, GMs around the league look at stats too and I wonder if you'd get any value in a trade. Although, anything could be better than what Williams has done in Houston so far.

[KABrother88]

After Billy Beane literally gave up a dollar earlier this year for a pitcher I think it's safe to say we couldn't even get a bucket of balls for Williams...I don't see anyone trading anything for that guy...I've always given Bo Porter the benefit of the doubt but I honestly don't know what the hell he did that for...unless he is trying to show the front office this guy is garbage and let's move on but I get the feeling he actually likes Williams

[eagle eye]

After Billy Beane literally gave up a dollar earlier this year for a pitcher I think it's safe to say we couldn't even get a bucket of balls for Williams...I don't see anyone trading anything for that guy...I've always given Bo Porter the benefit of the doubt but I honestly don't know what the hell he did that for...unless he is trying to show the front office this guy is garbage and let's move on but I get the feeling he actually likes Williams

 

I agree but you can't let someone hang on and hurt the team no matter how much you like them. That's the hard core fact of pro sports and the fact is Williams is just not getting it done. I have questioned Bo Porter's decision making in earlier posts but one thing I just don't understand is why he refuses to name Chad Qualls the closer. Except for early in the season when he, and everyone else, was sick he has been money. I don't get that at all.

The other thing I wonder about is why he's forcing George Springer into the 3 spot when he was doing much better in the two. I think Altuve needs to hit lead off with Fowler hitting third. I think he's putting Jon Singleton in a bad spot as cleanup hitter. He should be hitting no higher than 6th. The fact is except for occasional streaks by Matt Dominguez nobody is hitting very well. I guess I need to remember that Houston is still a couple of years away from being really good and lower my expectations accordingly.

Speaking of expectations, has anyone seen the latest Sports Illustrated with George Springer on the cover with the caption, "Astros Win the World Series in 2017!"? I would love to read that article.

[KABrother88]

I'm with you EE on the line-up...seems like when we had our really good run in May Altuve led off with Springer in the 2 hole and Fowler 3rd...think Springer is more comfortable there and teams aren't scared of Singleton at the moment...I mean Springer got intentionally walked twice yesterday...Singleton did make them pay once but his .202 average isn't striking fear into many pitchers.

 

Altuve can add another achievement to his already record breaking season he has going...he stole 2 bases again yesterday becoming the 1st player in 97 years to steal 2+ bases in 4 straight games...has a grand total of 36 steals this season (career high was 35 set last season) and has only been caught 3 times (92.3%)...compare that to MLB steals leader Dee Gordon who is 40-8 (83.3%) and the guy everyone gawked at Billy Hamilton who is 34-11 (75.5%)

[KABrother88]

Moving and shaking after tonight's 10-4 loss to Seattle...2 moves we had discussed here...Villar was optioned to OKC and Jerome Williams was Designated For Assignment...bout time. No corresponding moved announced yet...hopefully Nick Torpeano gets the call...would like to see Folty but he could still use some seasoning...NiTro is ready...sporting a 2.38 ERA in 87 innings at AAA with an 81K:22BB ratio and a .197 BAA...Folty has a 4.40 ERA in 77 innings with a 77K:36BB ratio and .245 BAA. We'll probably get the ol Paul Clemens call up but hopefully the FO rewards NiTro

[KABrother88]

Reports are it won't be Tropeano or Folty to take the RP role but it will be lefty Kevin Chapman who has been up with the big club a few times this past year. The corresponding INF move will reportedly be Enrique "KeKe" Hernandez who is sporting as .337 average with 8 HRs at OKC. He was on fire in June hitting .383 (.442 in his last 10) with 5 HRs...listed as a 2B but I guess he has some versatility but I expect to see Marwin Gonzalez get his fair share of ABs. Big news is it appears more of the future is on the way...the report says 21 year old RF Domingo Santana is on his way to Houston...currently the Astros #7 prospect and the #93 in all of baseball according to MLB.com. Free swinger so if that drives you crazy look away...has racked up 99 Ks so far at AAA in 84 games and has punched out 615 times in 568 games in his minor league career...still hitting over .300 (.304) with 13 HRs and 22 2B so he is still tapping into his power which will be his calling card...has legit light tower power. Traditional RFer with a cannon arm so I expect Springer to shift over to LF or play so CF if Fowler misses anymore time. If he is indeed called up he will be the final piece of the Hunter Pence deal to make it to the Majors...other pieces were Jarred Cosart, Jon Singleton and Josh Zeid...and depending on what corresponding move is made they may all be on the same roster at one time. Interesting note I saw earlier this year about the trade is that Santana, who was the "player to be named later" in the deal, should have never been part of the trade...an executive from Philly accidentally included him in the list of players for Houston to choose from...and I'm glad they did

[eagle eye]

Colin McHugh was terrible last night. 5 runs on 5 hits, including 3 HRs and 4 walks negated the 8 Ks he logged in 6 innings of work. McHugh did what, for the most part Houston starters have avoided in 2014 which is not allowing HRs or walks. McHugh wasn't the only one to stink last night. Josh Zeid pitched just one inning but back to back singles and a 3 run HR by Robinson Cano occurred before Zeid even recorded an out. The 3 runs iced the game for the Mariners who got a nice MLB debut by Taijuan Walker who went 6 innings and allowed only 3 runs and 3 innings of relief by Tom Whilhelmsen who allowed one run and got his first save of the season. Just for icing on the cake Jerome Williams sealed his fate in Houston by allowing two runs in the ninth inning. As KABro said he was designated for assignment after the game. Aloha, Mr Williams. I'm glad you didn't blow another game before you left.

The worst news of the night was that Jose Altuve was hit in the elbow by a pitch in the 5th and according to Astros.com it was described as a "nasty swollen elbow following Monday night's game". This leaves his availability in question for a few days any way. That may be the only way to slow him down, just knock him out of the game even though he never came out last night. He did go 0-3 in the game. June however, was another matter. Altuve hit .411 for the month and was 17-17 in stolen bases. His availability may be in question but last night after the game Altuve said he expected to play today. Houston, so far in 2014, has been conservative in handling injured players so I still think Altuve could miss a few games.

 

As for June, Houston ended the month with a total record of 36-48 twelve games under .500 after getting up to 6 games under .500 with a little over a week left in the month. Their final record in June was 12-15 which was just slightly worse than the 15-14 record in May. The difference was the beginning of the month of May was bad vs the end of June being the bad part of the month. It was time in between that was so glorious for Houston. Jose Altuve caught on fire and hasn't cooled off yet with talk escallating from deserving All Star consideration to AL MVP talk. It wasn't all good for Houston as the Astros sent Robbie Grossman, Kevin Chapman, Brett Oberholzer, LJ Hoes (who has since come back) among others to the minor leagues for poor play. The last to feel the sting of being sent down were Jonathan Villar and Jerome Williams. You could live with Villar's weak bat because he played some good defense but the move will probably help him in the long run. Williams, on the other hand, and as KABro has said was long overdue going (and I fully agree). Williams has been awful and enough said about that. July begins against the Mariners as we ended June with a blowout loss to them last night. Hopefully we can get on another roll and beginning with division opponent Seattle would be sweet. Jarred Cosart is starting the month off for Houston and he has emerged as a top pitcher for the Astros tying Dallas Keuchel for the team lead in wins. Projected over a whole season having two 16 game winners would be pretty sweet. BTW if you project the Astros current 36-48 record to the end of the season it would be 70-92. It is a 19 game improvement over the 51-111 record in 2013 which is a significant improvement for a team to make in one season.

 

One last item. Reliever Anthony Bass is scheduled to be activated today and would take the roster spot formerly held by Jerome Williams. Bass is in Houston and has been seen in the Astros club house. The Astros sending Jonathan Villar to AAA made room for SS Enrique Hernandez. Houston will have to make roster moves to make room for OF Domingo Santana and P Kevin Chapman. It will be interesting to see who goes. I checked the current roster and I didn't see Chris Carter's name. Carter has struggled even more than last year and his current BA of .184 won't win him many votes from management to stay on the roster. I also didn't see Josh Fields name so if I was betting man I would guess Carter and Fields will have a new address before the day is out.

[KABrother88]

Astros.com is still currently showing Carter on the roster and Fields is on the 15 day DL at the moment...I wouldn't be surprised to see Carter sent down/out though...really don't think you can afford his Ks if your bringing up Santana...he's a strictly DH guy right now and without him the team has a lot more flexibility to be able to give guys a day off from the field and keep their bats in the game late in the year

[KABrother88]

Just announced that Dexter Fowler will be placed on the 15 day DL creating the spot for Santana on the active roster.

 

Speaking of the DL...I wonder if Jesse Crain's 3.5 million dollar contract is fully guaranteed or prorated for when he's actually active...I didn't expect him to be out this long and I'm not even sure how close he is to pitching again

[eagle eye]

Crane was hoping he could return by now but rehabbing after shoulder surgery is dicey at best. As for his salary, I don't think Houston is sweating it too much. They knew what they were getting so they also had to know his rehab could take a while.

 

Matt Albers was scheduled to throw a light bullpen session last Wednesday but no other word can I find on his status.

 

It looks like, barring setbacks, that both will be back sometime later this month. Then Houston will have a problem with who to remove to make room for these guys. Heck if their rehabs last long enough to run into September call ups then what you have could really be a non issue roster-wise.

 

BTW, KABro, you're absolutely right about Chris Carter being on the roster. I was looking at the outfielders which only lists four Presley, Hoes, Fowler and Springer-----ooops now it shows Presley, Hoes, Springer and Domingo Santana! Since Fowler is on the DL he won't be listed. I should have been looking at infielders. Enrique Hernandez and Kevin Chapman are listed on the active roster. I just can't figure out who is missing. Also an interesting note, in an earlier post KABro said Enrique Hernandez would likely get the call up but he called him 'KeKe' (phonetically key-key) but on Astros.com he's listed as Kike Hernandez which looks like it's got to be a typo because of the racially insensitive nature of the word Kike.

[KABrother88]

You are right I guess I had read wrong but he does go by Kike instead of KeKe...his twitter handle is even @kikehndez...

[KABrother88]

Houston has reportedly signed 2nd pick (37 overall) Derek Fisher. He was the last remaining draft choice left to sign but had to wait until he finished his college career at Virginia to do so. Also means Houston has signed their top 10 round picks from the last 4 drafts.

 

Fisher's bonus was for the full value of $1,534,100...so Houston came in at $471,700 under their allotment.

[eagle eye]

You are right I guess I had read wrong but he does go by Kike instead of KeKe...his twitter handle is even @kikehndez...

 

That's weird. Since Kike is short for Enrique (I'm assuming) I wonder if you pronounce it Kee-Kay? If my Spanish memory is correct i is pronounced ee and e is pronounced eh. I suppose he'll be in the lineup tonight so it won't take long to find out.

[Big T]

Santana has his first start tonight. The Astros have a lot of swing and miss guys on the roster that also have light tower power. Should be interesting to see how some of these guys like Santana will pan out. I just don't think you can have more than two of those type of hitters in your lineup and with Springer and Singleton already there.... I don't know if Santana will ever be able to find a true home with the Astros.

[eagle eye]

There's a growing feeling that I hate Seattle. I thought it was mainly because of the Seahawks but I'm really starting to grow ill feeling for the Mariners. Houston just completed being swept by the M's today but at least it wasn't a blowout like the first two games were. It was actually a game until the M's exploded on Brad Peacock for 4 runs in the 6th. Up until then Houston had a 2-zip lead but Peacock just couldn't hold the Mariners down any longer.

Today marked the first time in a while reliever Anthony Bass made an appearance. He came in to start the 7th and he lasted 1.2 innings giving up 3 hits and one run. Not a bad outing for his first MLB action in like forever. Tony Sipp and Chad Qualls followed Bass and they both pitched scoreless innings.

As for the offense, there wasn't any. From the 1st hitter (Jose Altuve) through the seventh hitter (Domingo Santana) there wasn't a hit to be found on only one walk to Carlos Corporan. The only damage was done by Kike Hernandez (DH) and Marwin Gonzalez (SS). They recorded the only 3 hits for the Astros, the only two runs and and the only 2 RBIs. Needless to say Mariners pitcher Chris Young dominated the Astros for 7 full innings. So long to Seattle and good riddance. Kike Hernandez hit his first MLB home run in the 5th inning, a solo shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field. In his debut the night before in his first at bat he hit a ground rule double. Pretty nice start for the kid.

 

Houston signed some international prospects today just a couple days after GM Jeff Luhnow said the Astros would be aggressive in signing foreign players. Here's the details.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-ink-three-top-international-prospects?ymd=20140702&content_id=82700052&vkey=news_hou

 

The answer to the question of who gets sent down to AAA when Anthony Bass is activated is Kevin Chapman. After having some success in OKC since being sent down earlier this year he didn't have such a great outing against the Mariners on Tuesday night. It wasn't terrible but since he wouldn't be available to pitch today the Astros sent him back to OKC.

 

Anthony Bass just came back to the Astros lineup today after missing time since May 11th with an intercostal strain. CF Dexter Fowler was put on the 15 DL with the same injury on Tuesday.

 

[eagle eye]

I was right about Enrique Hernandez nickname pronounciation. Spelled Kike it is pronounced, at least by the Houston announcers, Kee-Kay.

[eagle eye]

I continue to have issues with Bo Porter's handling of the batting order. In Thursday's game, a 5-2 loss to the LA Angels, Porter had Jason Castro hitting in the #2 spot between Jose Altuve and George Springer. It was good move for Castro who had a good night at the plate going 2-4 with an RBI. But, it didn't help either George Springer or Jon Singleton who continue to struggle. For rookies, even very talented ones, hitting in the 3 and 4 spots is a very demanding and pressure packed situation. As I've said before Springer should never have been moved out of the 2 hole where he was flourishing. Let the kid get some confidence, settle into big league baseball for at least a year before throwing him to the wolves. Same with Singleton. After an initial splash Singleton has turned into LJ Hoes. Some power, some hitting, mostly and easy out. When you're a rookie and hitting cleanup with all that means I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that he was feeling like he was in "quicksand". If you saw the movie 'The Replacements' starring Keanu Reeves you know what I'm talking about. Case in point, last night with Castro out of the lineup completely Kike Hernandez went 3-4 with a run scored hitting between Altuve and Springer. It looks like Kike is going to be good if Porter doesn't screw him over moving him all over the lineup. Another case in point; Friday night Jon Singleton hit sixth with Matt Dominguez hitting fourth and Chris Carter hitting fifth. With veteran guys protecting Springer in the lineup he hit better and, for one game at least so did Carter and Singleton. With the threat of Singleton's power behind Carter made it possible for Carter to see better pitches. This whole scenario is complicated because there is no real veteran force to build around the young players coming up. There are vets but they aren't anything but what they would be on any other team, backups and role players. Bo Porter has to be aware of what he's dealing with and stop putting the young players in situations than won't allow them to grow.

[eagle eye]

Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Well, mighty may be a bit strong but you know what I mean. In the not-too-distant past the home team was a mere 6 games under .500 but now after going 2-8 in their last 10 games and losing the first six games in July it don't look good. How bad is it? Right now on Sunday night they are 36-54 18 games under .500. Ouch! So, by now you know that Houston was swept by another division foe over the weekend as the Angels pulled out the brooms on the Stros. The next three games are against another division rival, the Texas Rangers. In the aforementioned past Houston was nipping at the Rangers heels for the prime spot in the division cellar the boys from Arlington have almost been equally underwhelming as the Astros as they have gone 3-7 in their last 10 and are 3 games ahead of Houston in the standings. If a team ever needed the All Star break it's the Astros.

 

I thought this was classified in the sad-funny category. The Yankees signed the Cubs Alfonso Soriano last year and he did pretty good for the Yanks---last year. Today the Yankees optioned Soriano to their Indianapolis club. The kicker is Soriano was batting .221 and was having an "off" year. If he was doing that in Houston he'd be an every day starter and he would still be hitting better than almost the half the starters on the team. Apparently, hitting .221 holds a lot different meaning in the Bronx than in Houston.

 

I hate to beat a dead horse but Bo Porter's constant jacking with the lineup can't be good for the young players on the team. The only guy who hit about where he needed to hit was Domingo Santana and he began his career in Houston going 0 for 13 in the 4 games he played in with 11 K's. I say "played in" because he was optioned back to OKC before today's game and his place on the roster was taken by the call up of relief pitcher David Martinez. Porter has moved Kike Hernandez all over the place in the batting order and today he played left field while Marwin Gonzalez played short. Porter moved Singleton back into the cleanup spot and went Oh-fer with 3 Ks. Without veteran Matt Dominguez behind him in the lineup Springer went Oh-fer too but he had 4 Ks. I am really more than a little fed up with Bo Porter and I hope the next move Jeff Luhnow makes is a change at manager.

 

Colin McHugh left the game today after the 4th inning and 70 pitches because the finger nail on his right middle finger pulled loose. (Isn't there some irony here?) David Martinez, who was called up to take the roster spot held for a whopping 4 games and 13 at-bats with 11 Ks by Domingo Santana. Martinez actually pitched in relief of McHugh going 3 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits with a walk and 4 Ks. McHugh's day wasn't quite as good. He gave up 3 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 Ks. BTW, Chad Qualls got credit for giving up 2 runs but he really didn't. Recently activated Anthony Bass allowed both runners Qualls left to score. Unfair I say. Especially since both base runners got on base in sort of a fluky manner. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter since the offense took the day off anyway.

 

Domingo Santana is back in AAA after 4 games, 13 at-bats with 11 Ks. I already said that I know but for a guy hitting .304 in OKC with 13 HRs and 52 RBIs in 84 games at OKC. Bo Porter said he hoped that this peek at the bigs would be a learning experience that he can build on in OKC. At 21 I'm sure Santana is disappointed but I'll bet a bunch of banana's he'll be back in September.

 

One last item, Jose Altuve made the All Star team as a reserve. No other Astro made the team. Considering how lousy the last 3 weeks have been I'm not surprised one bit. Altuve will play behind Seattle's Robinson Cano. Blah, blah, blah.

[eagle eye]

As of yesterday evening Jose Altuve made the All Star Game as a reserve but today on Astros.com the headline was Altuve makes AS squad as a result of being voted in by the players. Altuve actually was only 4th in fan voting. Good for Altuve he deserves the nod.

 

Altuve may not be the only player from the Astros to make the All Star Game. Dallas Keuchel who has had a nice first half of the season going 8-5 in 16 starts with a 3.06 ERA with 3 complete games has a chance to get into the Summer Classic via the Final Vote where 5 players are selected to be the final candidate for the ASG. Besides Keuchel there are Cleveland starting pitcher Corey Kluber, Detroit starting pitcher Rick Porcello, Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale and the Angels pitcher Garrett Richards who just stifled the Astros on Sunday with a 6-1 win. The explanation of the Final Vote criteria is that five AL and NL players compete for fan votes for the last spot on the AS roster. The fact the 5 are all starting pitchers is amazing. A recent swoon by Keuchel who was 8-2 at one time has not helped his cause especially since he just hasn't pitched all that well. He has, like the other guys in the Houston rotation, suffered from a lack of run support the others on this list haven't had to endure. Get out there and vote for Keuchel people! Details on how to vote are in the link to the article below.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/astros-pitcher-dallas-keuchel-earns-spot-as-all-star-final-vote-candidate?ymd=20140706&content_id=83359766&vkey=news_hou

[eagle eye]

One big thing. With the Astros beginning a series with the Rangers then the games should be televised on FoxSportsSouthwest. You'll actually get to see Jarred Cosart try to rebound from his last outing to beat the Rangers. Actually, you'll probably either see Cosart NOT get any run support from his offense or Cosart pitch well except for one lousy inning that costs him the game. Needless to say I'm not happy with my Astros after they just lost 7 games in a row. But, it is a rare opportunity to see the team play. Here's a challenge to you all---watch the game and list every time, including the batting order, that Bo Porter f**ks up. My over/under for this game is 5 (including the batting order).

[KABrother88]

Not the news I was hoping to hear but it appears this years top draft pick Brady Aiken may possibly have an elbow issue according to MLBTradeRumors. There has been a lengthy delay in the official signing of Aiken since he reportedly agreed to a $6.5 million dollar signing bonus shortly after the draft in early June. The report days that Houston is trying to renegotiate and offering a $5 million dollar signing bonus (slot value was 7.9). If Aiken instead turns down the offer and heads to college Houston would get the #2 overall pick in the 2015 draft...but it will come at the expense of our regular 1st round pick. Why? Because by my calculations, the bonus money given for all signees in the top 10 rounds was $471,700 under total slot value...that was with the original $1.4 million dollar discount we had gotten from Aiken...if he goes to UCLA we lose the $7.9 million allotment for 1.1 meaning we would be $950,400 over budget costing us our 1st rounder for being over the 5% penalty. Let's just hope these rumors are not true and for Aiken to begin his pro career shortly

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/brady-aiken-has-elbow-issue-astros-seeking-discounted-deal.html

[eagle eye]

Thanks KABro, that's what we needed was some more bad news. (LOL)