Houston Astros Off Season Thread

[eagle eye]

Here's a short video form MLB.com's Brian McTaggert about some of the top Astros prospects.

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/40172882/v37227483/astros-prospects-to-watch-in-spring-training

[KABrother88]

1 stinkin week boys and girls...pitchers and catchers report in 7 short days

[eagle eye]

1 stinkin week boys and girls...pitchers and catchers report in 7 short days

 

6 Days now and the truck is packed and on the way!

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/109194478/astros-truck-loaded-hits-the-road-for-spring-training

[eagle eye]

The Astros have two new pitchers as they head for Kissimmee. They have signed veteran starting pitcher Roberto Hernandez to see if he can find a spot in the Astros starting rotation. Hernandez, 34, went 8-11 with a 4.10 ERA in 32 games (29 starts) combined with the Phillies and Dodgers last season. General manager Jeff Luhnow said the veteran will compete for a spot in the rotation with Dan Straily, Alex White, Asher Wojciechowski, Samuel Deduno and Jake Buchanan. Brad Peacock, coming off hip surgery, will be in the mix when he's healthy. -- info from Astros.com

Just before they left for Florida they signed a veteran reliever Joe Thatcher to a minor league deal which included an invite to the major league camp.

Thatcher, 33, will earn $1 million if he makes the Major League roster, with an additional $1.3 million available in incentives, according to a source. He can opt out of the contract if he is not on the team's active roster five days prior to Opening Day. -- Info from Astros.com

 

The Astros needed to upgrade their bullpen after being the absolute worst in MLB the past two seasons. The bullpen has recorded 54 blown saves over the last two seasons which is 5 more than the next place team/s. Adding Luke Gregerson, Pat Neshek and now Thatcher to go along with Chad Qualls, Tony Sipp, Darin Downs and Kevin Chapman the Astros are hoping for more consistency from the pen. In the past two seasons Houston has averaged 27 blown saves. It's not hard to see that if they can slice that number in half that's 13-14 more wins and just so you see how big that is last year Houston improved by 19 games over 2013 and ended up with a 70-92 record. Thirteen more wins and Houston has an 83-81 record. That's one game over .500 folks. Let's add 7-8 more wins due to improved offense and Houston could end up a 90 win club! No wonder owner Jim Crane said recently he feels like Houston will be a playoff club in 2015!

 

News from Astros.com recapping offseason moves made by the Astros.

 

By Brian McTaggart / MLB.com | @brianmctaggart | February 12, 2015 +

18 COMMENTS

HOUSTON -- In addition to a new manager in A.J. Hinch and many new faces on the coaching staff, the Houston Astros will welcome several new key players when spring camp opens next week in Kissimmee, Fla.

Because of their work through trades and free agency, the Astros could have as many as four different bats in the starting lineup from a year ago, as well as the key newcomers to the bullpen, which was an area of emphasis that needed upgrading entering the offseason.

 

RHP Luke Gregerson: Gregerson signed a three-year, $18.5 million deal with the Astros in December and is the likely candidate to be the closer. The 30-year-old has been one of the most dependable setup men in the game. Last season, his first with the A's after five with the Padres, he went 5-5 with a 2.12 ERA in 72 outings. He has made at least 61 appearances in each of his six big league seasons, and at least 72 in five of them.

RHP Pat Neshek: Neshek, who admittedly had a hard time finding a job a year ago, signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Astros and should be a key cog in the back of the bullpen. The 34-year-old is coming off an All-Star season with the Cardinals in which he went 7-2 with a 1.87 ERA in 71 games. He struck out 68 batters and walked only nine in 67 1/3 innings, while saving six games.

OF Colby Rasmus: The 28-year-old spent the last four seasons with the Blue Jays after coming up with the Cardinals, where he was drafted by Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow. Rasmus, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal, is a career .246 hitter with 116 homers and 352 RBIs in six seasons. He hit .225 with 18 homers and 40 RBIs last year and should add some punch to the lineup.

OF/DH/C Evan Gattis: A catcher by trade, Gattis figures to play several different positions after being acquired in a trade with the Braves. He might see time in left field, at catcher, first base and designated hitter, but the Astros signed him with power in mind. He hit .243 with 21 homers and 65 RBIs in 2013 and he was seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year Award totals. Last year, Gattis hit .263 with 22 homers and 52 RBIs in 108 games at catcher.

3B Luis Valbuena: Acquired from the Cubs in the Dexter Fowler trade, Valbuena, a left-handed hitter, will either platoon at third base with Matt Dominguez or be the outright starter. Valbuena, who agreed to a one-year, $4.2 million contract, hit .249 and set career highs in games played (149), home runs (16), runs (68), hits (119), doubles (33), triples (four), and RBIs (51) last year for the Cubs.

RHP Dan Straily: Acquired from the Cubs in the Fowler trade, Straily will battle for a spot in the rotation. The 26-year-old appeared in 14 games (eight starts) for the A's and Cubs last year, but in 2013 was among the top rookie arms in the American League by going 10-8 with a 3.96 ERA in 27 starts. He has an average fastball, but good secondary stuff.

C Hank Conger: The first acquisition of the offseason, the Astros brought Conger from the Angels with the intent of having him back up Jason Castro. The 26-year-old played in 251 games with the Angels in the past five years in a backup role and is known for his ability to frame pitches. Conger is a career .224 hitter who last season batted .221 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 80 games.

RHP Will Harris: Harris, acquired on waivers in November, appeared in 29 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, striking out 35 batters and walking just nine in 29 innings pitched, setting a franchise record by ending the season with 16 consecutive scoreless appearances. He also appeared in 43 games at Triple-A Reno and had a 0.99 ERA, striking out 44 in 45 2/3 innings.

[eagle eye]

Several of us here on BRI have made predictions who the starting lineup will be on April 6th when the season begins. I thought it might be interesting to see the projected lineup by MLB.com's Brian McTaggert.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/109447218/astros-lineup-and-bullpen-to-feature-several-new-faces-this-spring

 

Here's the schedule for spring training beginning this Saturday when pitchers and catchers report.

 

Pitchers and catchers report

Saturday

Full squad reports

Feb. 24.

First Spring Training game

Home vs. Phillies, March 5, 12:05 p.m. CT

Opening Day

Home vs. Indians, April 6, 6:10 p.m. CT

[eagle eye]

I wonder if I asked you, "What are the top 3 questions Houston needs to answer this spring?", I wonder what answers you would give. If you feel like it, before you read what Brian McTaggert said in the link below from Astros.com, give it shot. Don't cheat and read the article first. What is your top 3? See if you agree with McTaggert. BTW, pitchers and catchers are 2 days away.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/109660096/astros-looking-to-answer-three-key-spring-training-questions

Edited February 19, 2015 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

What's the main beef about baseball? If you asked me I'd say the pace of the game is too slow. Baseball is never going to be football or basketball for continuous action and even though I'm not a big soccer fan you can argue the ball is constantly in motion and the clock, for all intents and purposes, never stops. People in the new millennium are used to fast paced things. Internet, twitter, drive through, fast food, etc. You get the idea. A game as pastoral as baseball suffers by comparison and having games that really should be over in 2 and half hours can drag on for 4. Why? In large part, and I'm talking about major league baseball specifically, there are pitchers who make a big deal of the time they take between pitches and if it's not the pitchers it's the batters who feel like they need to step out of the batters box to adjust their batting gloves on every single pitch. Sheesh. Today MLB has taken steps to speed up play and it's long overdue in my opinion. There will be warnings and fines for violations of the new rules which will go into play in spring training. The warnings and fines will be waived during the first month of the season to give players time to get used to the new rules but beginning in May all bets are off and players will need to comply. For a rundown of the new rules here is a link to an article from ESPN.com. I personally am excited to see the game speed up. Games where the starting pitchers work quickly are awesome and they seem to influence batters to stay in the game--that is until they get behind or can't get to the pitcher so they deliberately slow down to throw the pitcher off his rhythm. The new rules address that mode of strategy because one of the rules states the batter must keep one foot in the batters box between pitches. A batter standing there trying to slow a pitcher down could conceivably give up a cheap strike because a pitcher goes ahead and throws a pitch for a strike when the batter is clearly not ready. I would love to see an MLB hitter's face if that happened. I guarantee you it wouldn't happen twice. Good for baseball. I am almost as happy about these rule changes as I was when former MLB commissioner Bug Selig stepped down. Both moves are great for baseball.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12351883/major-league-baseball-announce-pace-play-rules

[eagle eye]

Pitchers and catchers arrived at the Osceola County Stadium today and started to settle in for the beginning of 2015 Spring Training Camp beginning with the first workout tomorrow. To paraphrase a line by Robert Duval in the 70's war movie, "Apocalypse Now", "I love the smell of a baseball field in the morning!". We can't smell the grass around here because it's too friggin' wet around here and this is allergy season to boot but I'll bet Kissimmee Florida is different. I'll bet little Disney cartoon blue birds are flying around hanging up bunting around the field and happy little people are hanging uniforms in lockers and maybe even a leprechaun or two dashing about. For the first time in ten years the Astros are in the discussion when it comes to the playoffs. Only Disney could produce this much magic! Football may have replaced the grand old game as the nation's national pastime but I'm old school enough to love the fact tomorrow kicks off the start of baseball. All I can hear in my head right now is James Earl Jones talking about baseball to Kevin Costner's character in "Field of Dreams". There is not another sport that allows you the time to appreciate the sport and it's history the way baseball does. It's just plain special. The kind of syrupy sentimentality that can "make your throat feel funny". That's how my little boy used describe how he was choked up over something. Hell's bells Chris, dad's throat feels funny right now.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/109814136/pitchers-and-catchers-mark-start-to-astros-camp

 

Roger Clemens oldest son Koby will begin his coaching career this summer for Houston when he will assist at the extended spring training in Kissimmee.

 

Here's a few items from Astros.com about the start of the new season beginning with some reflections by former Astros pitcher Brandon Backe. There is going to be a celebration the entire year commemorating the 2005 Pennant winning Astros of which Backe was a big part. I always liked Backe for his grit and determination. There is also an item about starting pitcher Alex White making his return this year from Tommy John surgery in 2013 and his hopes to make the Astros rotation. Check 'em out.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/109836316/former-postseason-hero-brandon-backe-reflects-on-career-2005-houston-astros-world-series-run

[Big T]

Jon Singleton has already reported. Great to see him get there early after last spring training when he was one of the last to show.

[eagle eye]

From the Bleacher Report

 

Roberto Hernandez will be late to Astros’ camp due to visa issues

 

Bill Baer

Feb 20, 2015, 7:25 PM EST

 

5 Comments

Roberto Hernandez Pitcher Roberto Hernandez is still in the Dominican Republic and will be late to attend Astros’ camp due to visa issues, per a report from MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Hernandez has already thrown a bullpen in the D.R. in preparation.

Hernandez, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Astros last week. He’ll compete for a job in the starting rotation. If he makes the major league roster, whether as a starter or a swing man, he’ll earn a salary of $2.65 million.

The veteran right-hander had a bounce-back season with the Phillies, posting a 3.87 ERA over 121 innings before going to the Dodgers in an early August trade.

 

From the Houston Chronicle via the Bleacher Report on how optimistic the Astros are about the state of the team's health going into spring training.

 

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2015/02/18/astros-optimistic-on-teams-health-outlook-entering-camp/#30605101=0

[eagle eye]

Here are some items about pitchers and other assorted things from Kissimmee via Astros.com.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/110032836/pitcher-chad-qualls-is-grateful-for-houston-astros-offseason-additions

[eagle eye]

Spring Training news and notes from Kissimmee including an article about new Astro pitcher Dan Straily, a meeting with MLB big wigs and Astros manager AJ Hinch and bench coach Trey Hillman to discuss the new pace of play rules being instituted this spring, A brief look at major league camp invitee Luis Flores who is slated to begin the 2015 season with AAA Fresno, talk about SS Jed Lowrie and 3B Luis Valbuena feeling at home in the Astros club house despite being newcomers. One note about the Lowrie section is all the players who showed up early. Not just the bottom feeders on the 40 man roster but guys who are expected to be starters and major contributors this season. Today is the day the players were supposed to report but many on the roster arrived yesterday and some even sooner. Just great to see.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/110155238/jed-lowrie-luis-valbuena-find-comfort-in-new-surroundings

[eagle eye]

Today's Astros news is looking at the Astros focus on the health of the players. Health is priority one for the team as they build toward the regular season. AJ Hinch believing that even though he won the AL batting title in 2014 there is no additional pressure on Jose Altuve this season. One of Carlos Correa's main goals this off season was to improve his base running. AJ Hinch is trying some "bonding exercises" to try to build team chemistry this spring. Yesterday was the first day of full team work and what that means is we're one step closer to the first ST game. Baseball has officially begun in earnest and that ain't a bad thing.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/110362244/astros-prospect-carlos-correa-adding-head-first-element-to-sliding

[eagle eye]

The Astros are trying a little something new this spring under new manager A J Hinch. His plan is to keep the ratio of players to coaches to 2 players to one coach. Third base coach Gary Pettis has been one of the guys instrumental in this new approach by the coaching staff as he has been handling the outfield and base running duties. The idea is that the players benefit more from a more one-on-one, or two in this case, and according to the players it's working well. Evan Gattis, for one, has raved about Pettis' coaching. Gattis has gotten a lot out of the back to basics approach Pettis is taking. In my experience you build from the ground up and focusing on fundamentals is never a bad thing. The Astros are hoping that Gattis and George Springer will be the cornerstones of the Astros outfield this season.

 

News and notes from spring training including the overall plan by the Astros including the expectations for this season and how training camp will be run. How Lance Berkman figures into the Astros spring training plans, P Kevin Chapman learning to use his change up, Astros prospects benefitting from being invited to the big league camp.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/110392964/astros-emphasize-plan-before-springing-into-action

 

Here's an item from Bleacher Report speculating on whether last year's 1st pick in the MLB first year player draft, Brady Aiken, will again be the first player taken in the draft. It's interesting to see what the reason for the contract impasse was last year with Houston. Also, 5th round pick by P Jacob Nix, who along with Aiken signed with the IMG agency, will again be available in this year's draft. The article is from Mike Rosenbaum MLB prospects lead writer.

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2378767-will-2015-mlb-draft-prospect-brady-aiken-go-no-1-overall-in-back-to-back-years

 

This is an article from Bleacher Report writer Joel Rueter gives his take on the best and worst moves the Astros have made this off season. I have a feeling Big T will agree with him!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2378072-predicting-every-mlb-teams-best-and-worst-offseason-move/page/12

 

Here's a guy you may not have been able to name as an Astros prospect but the front office guys and new manager A J Hinch have eyes on this guy. Who is he? A 24 year player who was the 7th round pick of the Astros in the same draft as Carlos Correa. He comes from the University of Florida where is the all time leader or second in all the major hitting categories. A guy who humbled top prospect Carlos Correa the first time he saw this kid launching bomb after bomb in the first batting practice he saw him at. That guy's name is Preston Tucker and as the article points out he will begin 2014 in AAA Oklahoma City. One thing I don't like is the fact that Hinch wants Tucker to primarily work as an outfielder. The Astros have a stacked outfield and no real prospect for 1st base. As the article indicates, Tucker worked last season at first and acquitted himself well. It's easy to second guess when you're outside looking in and you know that Hinch has seen Tucker on tape and talked to his coaches but it's just that the Astros have a bit of a hole at 1st. Oh well, take a look at Jorge de Jesus Ortiz article on the guy they call Bamm-Bamm.

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-prospect-Tucker-a-real-power-broker-6106703.php?t=e78d4b0899d8ff4dd2&cmpid=twitter-premium#/0

Edited February 28, 2015 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

PLAY BALL! That will be heard today around spring training ball parks all over the Florida and Arizona landscapes. Spring training games begin today and the Astros kick off the spring with a game at home at Osceola County Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies. Colin McHugh is getting the start in the opener. Manager A J Hinch announced his starters for the first 5 games of the season yesterday indicating that after today Brett Oberholzer will start against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla followed by Dallas Kuechel on Saturday in Osceola and in Sunday's split squad games Scott Feldman will start in Osceola against the Braves and Dan Straily will face the Tigers in Lakeland. It is so cool to see games begin.

 

Here's a bunch of news from Astros.com besides the first spring training game including a item about P Pat Neshak's baseball card collection, shift drills as part of the Astros teaching of fundamentals in spring training, A J Hinch lining up a seven man bullpen, prospect P James Hoyt getting closer to making the majors after coming to Houston in the Evan Gattis deal, Lance Berkman at spring training and other items from spring training.

 

PLAY BALL!!!!

[eagle eye]

Okay, thanks for not outing me about being a day early talking about the opening day of spring training games. Up until 12:30 went I tried to listen to the game and found an interview on 790 with Colin McHugh talking about how excited he was about pitching tomorrow-duh-I finally figured out it was the 4th, not the 5th. Anyway, I got to listen to the first 3-1/2 innings and I must say the Astros did pretty well. Colin McHugh pitched two scoreless and the walk he gave up, according to the radio broadcast guys, was more on the ump than on McHugh. Mark Appel pitched two scoreless including retiring the side in the 3rd after giving up a lead off double. It seems Houston won 6-3 banging out 12 hits against the Phillies except for starter Cliff Lee, who may be auditioning for another team this spring. Lee gave no runs, one bloop hit by George Springer and no walks. It's good to see the games begin.

 

Here's some news and notes from today's game and articles about C Hank Conger, P Roberto Hernandez finally reporting to spring training.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/111318502/veteran-roberto-hernandez-reports-to-astros-camp

[eagle eye]

Man I have been honey-do'ed to death the last couple of days. The game yesterday (Friday) against the Cardinals was a loss but according to the write up the Astros struggled at the plate including 0-3's by Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis with an 0-2 by Colby Rasmus to boot. Jose Altuve and Jed Lowrie started off well in their first action today against the Yankees which is good news. Of course it's not time to make any judgment about the team after just 3 games. Baseball, more than any other sport, is about the process. I'll be glad when they start to televise games.

 

Here's some news and notes from Astros.com about the games the past two days.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/111628328/jose-altuve-sparks-astros-offense-in-grapefruit-league-debut

[eagle eye]

Houston is nothing if not entertaining. If it's not drama on the field it's a mixed bag of drama off it. Now, we're not talking about As The World Turns here but in the last few days Mark Appel was a somewhat healthy scratch due to soreness in his forearm, we saw the arrival of P Roberto Hernandez who was late getting to Astros camp due to problems with his visa and now relief pitcher Pat Neshak is riding a little pine nursing a sore foot. On the field it's been either feast or famine regarding scoring runs. Sunday's split squad games are a case in point. In Kissimmee Houston suffered the indignity of being no-hit by a combination of nine different Atlanta Braves pitchers but they managed to salvage a 10 inning tie on the strength of 2 runs scored in the 7th on a walk, a hit batsman and a couple groundout RBIs. Of course after that two run outburst Houston had a 2-1 lead which they blew in the top of the 8th. Minor league pitcher Jason Stottel gave up a leadoff double to Joey Terdoslavich the big blow of the inning that allowed Atlanta to tie the game. After that nobody score again through 10 innings when it was decided to call the game. By contrast Houston's other half of the roster playing Detroit banged out 20 hits scoring 14 runs in a 14-9 slugfest that could hardly be described as a pitcher's duel. Yesterday Houston eeked out a 1-0 win over Toronto with the lone run of the game coming on a bases loaded infield single to 2nd base to score L J Hoes and that was it. Houston got great pitching from Colin McHugh, Roberto Hernandez, Asher Wojciechowski and Will Harris. I'm listening to the game and in the bottom of the 3rd with Houston batting St Louis is leading 2-1 but the Astros have a little something going with George Springer on base after being hit by a pitch with two outs.

 

Update; Springer stole 2nd easily and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch. Jon Singleton at bat.

 

Singleton, BTW, is starting off his spring pretty well. He's 1-1 so far today and he's hitting .545 after the first week of the spring. Good signs but just as I was writing this Singleton struck out on a slider away and if you believe the play-by-play guy on the radio he was kicking his own ass for that K --- figuratively.

 

Brett Oberholzer did okay going 3 inning today. He surrendered 2 earned runs on 4 hits with a BB and 2 K's. Chad Qualls is on in the 4th.

 

As for Neshak's foot he had been feeling the soreness for a week and so Houston will sideline him until results of x-rays and an MRI come back. He has been told that he has caught this issue at a good time before it got to be more serious. Right now all the Astros know is it won't require surgery and he may be out up to 10 days to let the foot rest.

 

Marc Appel has been cleared after missing his last outing with soreness in his pitching forearm. That was on Monday when he was warming up to pitch. Yesterday he saw a doctor and today he has declared himself ready to play. Appel worked two innings and allowed three hits and one run, while striking out two batters on Thursday against the Phillies in his first spring outing. It was his first game action since last fall, when he pitched well for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. You probably can imagine the Astros front office people breathing a big sigh of relief having the No 1 pick in the 2013 draft set back at the beginning of 2014 with an emergency appendectomy. He had regained his form by the end of last season and he and Astros are hoping for much better things in 2015.

 

Game update:

 

Chad Qualls had an up and down inning in the 4th but he almost got out of it without giving up a run. Notice I said 'Almost'. With two outs and two strikes on a batter Qualls uncorked a wild fastball allowing a runner on 3rd to score. Qualls got the 3rd out causing the Card hitter to ground out to 3rd ending the Cardinal threat. Bottom of the 4th began with a walk to Jason Castro. Jed Lowrie at the plate.

[eagle eye]

Just an update on today's game. Houston won 7-6 on the strength of a Max Stassi 2-run home run in the 7th and big 4 run 4th inning sparked by a double by Colby Rasmus in the Astros win over the Cardinals.

[eagle eye]

Houston had an off day today meaning no game was scheduled but Houston did play Atlanta in a scrimmage. Evidently, nobody told Dallas Keuchel who was bringing the heat in terms of his intensity. He pitched 3 innings allowed no hits and no walks while striking out 3.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/112212112/dallas-keuchel-dials-up-intensity-in-scrimmage

[eagle eye]

The Astros played a home game in Kissimmee against the Tigers and they had their second game go to a 10th inning. I shouldn't have because Houston blew some opportunities to score in regulation time but they came through in the clutch in the bottom of the tenth with a walk off hit by utility man Gregorio Petit. Dan Strailey pitched 3 good innings as he makes a bid for the 5th spot in the Astros starting rotation. After missing a few days with a sore foot relief pitcher Pat Neshak pitched a perfect 4th inning dominating the Tigers hitters. Good to hear that.

 

For a recap of today's game as well as some spring training news like, actor Will Farrell making the rounds of the Cactus league reminded Jason Castro of a situation with the Round Rock Express when Farrell in disguise as Venezuelan pitcher Rojo Johnson as a fund raiser for the Express. Funny story and so Will Farrell. Also A J Hinch saying he envisions new 3B Luis Valbuena getting lots of PT as well as some other articles in the link below.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/112426392/jose-altuves-3-for-3-day-helps-astros-in-walk-off-win

 

I was looking at Houston's hitting stats today and it's incredible some of the starts for Astros hitters after just one week into spring training games. You have to go down to the 14th player on the list before you have a batting average under .300. Jose Altuve went 3-3 today with a stolen base. His BA is currently tied for 9th place on the list with Jake Marisnick. Both are sporting a .417 BA. 3B prospect Colin Moran tops the list with a .571 BA. I'll bet you can't name the top 5 guys behind Moran unless you've been listening to the games or checked out the box scores every day. Shoot, Jon Singleton is 8th with a .429 Ave. In 14 ABs he has 6 hits, 5 doubles with 2 walks and only 3 K's. For a guy who struck out as much as Singleton did in 2014 the Astros have to be ecstatic with his first week of 2015 spring. The Astros have a record of 5-2-1 in their first 8 games of the spring. Wins and losses don't mean that much in the spring unless you had 3 consecutive 100+ loss seasons in the past 4 years. Then it gets a little more important to show a little something. There are a lot of guys who have something to prove and that's what you want---hungry players. Not just hungry players but hungry players with skill to feed that hunger. Maybe it's not so far fetched when owner Jim Crane said prior to spring training that he believes Houston is a playoff caliber team. Here's a link to the stat page I was looking at.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp?c_id=hou#playerType=ALL&elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting&game_type='S'&season=2015&season_type=ANY&league_code='MLB'&sectionType=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1426203175557

[eagle eye]

The Astros played another tie ballgame yesterday after narrowly escaping one the day before. On Thursday Houston barely eeked out a win with a walkoff hit in the bottom of the tenth inning against the Detroit Tigers. On Friday Houston played only 9 innings and on a rally in the top of the 9th scoring two runs to tie the game Houston shut out the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the frame to maintain the tie and that was the ballgame. George Springer broke out the whoopin' stick yesterday hitting his first home runs of the spring. The first came in the top of the 3rd. It was a solo shot the made the score Nats 3 Houston 2. The second was a solo shot in the 5th giving the Astros the lead 4-3. Starter Scott Feldman got roughed up a bit giving up 3 runs, all in the third inning. In his 3 innings of work Feldman gave up 3 runs on 4 hits with a walk and no K's. Roberto Hernandez followed Feldman and didn't fare much better in his 3 innings of work. Hernandez gave up two runs on 5 hits, a walk and a K. Darin Downs, Josh Fields and Jake Buchanon pitched an inning each to close out the game with Fields surrendering a run in the 8th to bring the Nationals score to 6 runs.

 

The Astros play the Braves in their ball park Champion Stadium but the game starts a little later than usual. Instead of a 12 o'clock start the first pitch tonight is at 5:05 PM. Colin McHugh gets the start against an old teammate Wandy Rodriguez. Too bad that it's not on TV.

[eagle eye]

The Astros have already made roster reductions after a week of spring training games. OF Domingo Santana and LHP Luis Cruz were optioned to the minors. That move could be made because both were on the 40 man roster. The other cut was C Luis Flores who was acquired via the Rule 5 draft. In the link below in an article from the Bleacher Report are some details of the deal.

 

http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2015/3/13/8207543/domingo-santana-luis-cruz-among-astros-first-cuts-of-spring-training

 

In the link below Joel Reuter from the Bleacher Report gives his estimation on who will make the final 25 man roster to start the 2015 season. Feel free to disagree it see something you don't like. Also, Reuter gives his view of a couple of the more interesting position battles as he sees it. Do you think he missed one or two. Let's hear from you!

 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2391051-spring-training-predictions-for-all-30-mlb-teams-final-25-man-roster/page/12

 

Right now I have an issue or two with his list. Jake Marisnick has been very good so far and in many people's minds he's making a real bid to be the starting CF and Marisnick isn't even on Reuter's final 25. I agree with the infield except for keeping Matt Dominguez. I would rather Jonathan Villar make the team. As for the starters, I am not sure if I agree with his choice of Roberto Hernandez. Based on his so-so outing yesterday Hernandez hasn't done much to impress. I think Dan Strailey should be in there somewhere. And what about Alex White? White has only 2 innings worked and he's given up 6 earned runs on 6 hits and four walks and no K's. Not a good spring so far for Mr White.

Edited March 14, 2015 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

Here's some news and notes from Saturday, March 14th including a surprise one day promotion to the big league camp from minor league camp for OF Brett Phillips. Also a recap of yesterday's loss to the Braves, SS Jed Lowrie excited to be part of Astros future, Update on Jonathan Villar after being hit by a pitch in yesterday's game, P Brad Peacock feeling great after facing minor league hitters and more.

 

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/112801420/called-over-from-minors-camp-brett-phillips-makes-major-impact

[eagle eye]

Houston beat the Washington Nationals today in Kissimmee by a score of 3-2. Asher Wojciechowski faced off against Nats new pitcher Max Scherzer and did well. Both pitchers went 4 scoreless innings with both impressive. The Nats scored a run in the top of the 5th on solo home run by Dan Uggla off Pat Neshak but the Astros came back with a big 3 run inning in the 5 bottom of the 5th with hits by Jake Marisnick, Jose Altuve, and George Springer which gave the Astros a lead they would not relinquish. The Astros now have a 6-3-2 record and are in 3rd place in Grapefruit League Play.