2015 Astros Regular Season Thread

[eagle eye]

The world is not coming to an end after all. Houston broke out of their slump in huge way beginning with the very first inning sending 12 men to the plate and scoring 8 runs in an inning for the first time since 2008. This included home runs by Luis Valbuena and Jason Castro who both ended extended oh-fers during the 7 game losing streak leading up to last night's game. Carlos Correa added his first Minute Maid home run in the second and Chris Carter actually hit the train above the left field wall with a monsterous home run of his own in the 5th inning.

The real highlight of the night was the performance of starting pitcher Brett Oberholtzer who went 8 innings allowing only 3 hits, 2 walks with 5 K's. It was his longest outing of 2015. He hadn't gone more than 5 innings in his previous 3 starts. He did a great job of holding the Mariners down all game. So good, as a matter of fact, he and reliever Joe Thatcher, who pitched a strong 9th inning striking out 3 batters while walking one, combined for a shutout of the M's. Did I mention that the final score was 10-0?

The surprise of the night was the Astros chasing Mariner's pitcher Felix Hernandez after just 1/3 of an inning in which he allowed 8 runs on just 5 hits, two of which were homers and two walks. The lone out he recorded was a strike out of Correa who was batting sixth in the lineup last night.

The disappointing news from last night was that Jose Altuve, trying to leg out an infield single stained his right hamstring when he crossed the first base bag. He was out on the play but it was clear he had hurt himself as he limped back to the dugout and was seen headed to the locker room almost immediately after reaching the bench. It was announced later in the game that Altuve would be day to day with his injury and he would miss today's game for sure.

One observation I have, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but despite legging out an infield single in his first at bat which triggered the 8 run outburst he still got the hit on hustle, not a sure enough base hit. It seems to me that this slump has Altuve pressing and he's trying to muscle out hits. In a word, he over-swinging and he's over-anxious at the plate. His demeanor at the plate isn't calm but nervous as he fidgets with his gloves and batting helmet before stepping into the box between every pitch. It's sort of like golf, the harder you try the worse you do and that's the pickle Altuve seems to be in IMO. When he's on his game he doesnt' try to pull everything, he uses the whole field. He's gotten frustrated because even when he does get solid contact it goes right to somebody. The trouble has been the last few games he hasn't gotten solid contact on anything. It's even spilled over in his base running as he's been gunned down being too aggressive on ground balls when he has managed to reach 3rd base. I have issues with 3B coach Gary Pettis but the last two times Altuve got himself thrown out leaving too early trying to score was all on Altuve. The bang-bang nature of those plays the base runner is clearly to blame.

Carlos Correa seems to be all he's cracked up to be. Slick fielder with a strong arm, good hitter who looks like the type of player who can hit for average and power and he seems to be a good base runner. At first glance worries I had about the Astros rushing him up to the bigs as a Band-Aid for their current slump have been eased. You watch him play and he looks ready to be a big leaguer. BTW, that's a good thing!

 

The Astros play an afternoon game today beginning at 3:10 PM. A good thing about last night's easy win was that several position players got to come out of the game early to get some extra rest. With Brett Oberholtzer's nice outing last night the bullpen got an extra day of rest except for Joe Thatcher who shut the door on the M's in the 9th last night. The Astros need to continue building on this winning stuff because the Rangers don't look like they are going away. The beat the Twins last night to remain 2-1/2 games back of the Astros and the Angels seems to be finding themselves some too as they are only 3-1/2 back. The M's are going with rookie P Mike Montgomery who the M's got in the spring in a trade with Tampa Bay. He's 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He was called up and made his first MLB start for Seattle on June 2nd. He went 6 innings giving up only one run on 4 hits against the Yankees who came back win the game late 5-3. His second outing was June 7th against his old club Tampa Bay. In that game he went 7 innings giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits a walk and 3 K's. I guess Houston isn't the only team with bright young pitching talent. Houston is sending Collin McHugh to the hill. Should be a good game to watch if this confounded rain won't give us a break.

[eagle eye]

The Astros must have felt bad about beating up Felix Hernandez Friday night because they returned the favor in the person of Collin McHugh. To be fair McHugh has been giving up runs in droves in his last few starts but this is undoubtedly his shortest outing as a major leaguer. The 3 innings he lasted were hard to watch as he gave up 8 runs in those 3 innings. The most damage was done by the M's Logan Morrison who had a 3 run home run in the 1st and a 2 run blast in the 3rd. On the TV broadcast they said they had heard that on the Astros radio broadcast Steve Sparks said that he thought he read LoMo's lips on a dugout shot of the M's bench. Sparks said he thought LoMo said that McHugh was tipping off his pitches. Seems like a believable possibility given his tattooing of McHughs pitches. With the Astros loss and wins by Texas and the Angels the Astros division lead is down to 1.5 and 2.5 games respectively.

 

Jose Altuve has said his hamstring is feeling much better than it did when he hurt it on Friday night. Sounds like there may be a chance he could be back in the lineup today.

 

According to an article in Yardbarker.com the Astros and Rockets are teaming up again in relation to ComCast Sports Network. This time they intend to sue the sports network over the mess that was made of the broadcast deal for the two teams.

 

http://network.yardbarker.com/mlb/article_external/the_astros_and_rockets_are_suing_comcast/18961618?mb_edition=4685&linksrc=mb_favorites_head

[eagle eye]

The past week Houston played six games. The beginning of the week saw the Astros on the road in the middle of what would be a seven game losing streak. The were coming off a brutal loss to Toronto in which they had a 6-3 lead late in the game but gave up the lead and suffered the loss in the 9th inning. They went from Toronto to Chicago and the White Sox continued the spankings sweeping our guys and it wasn't even really close in any of them. The Astros had a day off on Thursday and it must have had a real positive effect on the team because they came out on Friday night vs the Seattle Mariners and the best pitcher record wise in the American League, Felix Hernandez, and forced him to tap out in the 1st inning after he gave up 8 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Houston went on to shut out the M's 10-0. This included 4 HR's in the game including Carlos Correa's first MLB home run at the Juice Box, 2nd in his brief career. It was a different story in Game 2 on Saturday when the M's beat up Collin McHugh but at least he lasted 3 innings before giving up the 8 runs Seattle scored in the game. There was also a question of whether McHugh was tipping his pitches as well. A late run saved Houston from a shutout but the 8-1 loss seemed all to familiar considering the past week. Was Friday night's run outburst just an anomaly? That had to be the question going into Sunday's game but that question was answered more emphatically than on Friday night as Houston scored 13 runs in another shutout performance by Lance McCullers, who got his second win in his brief time in the bigs as he no-hit the M's for 5 innings before giving way to the bullpen. He was pulled partially because by the end of the top of the 5th Houston had the game well in hand with a 10-0 lead and partly because he had thrown 90 pitches to that point. McCullers was backed up by Tony Sipp, Joe Thatcher, Will Harris and Josh Fields who each pitched a scoreless inning to preserve the shutout. Houston won the game 13-0 in a 3-1/2 hour marathon that was pleasant because Houston was winning. Speaking of the 90 pitches, the home plate ump was squeezing McCullers pretty bad. I don't know if I'm just being a homer here but in the last month it seems like the umps in this league have made life miserable for Houston pitching with roving strike zones and just flat calling strikes balls. It certainly happened yesterday to McCullers. Hank Conger, who was behind the plate yesterday and he had to make a couple of trips to the mound in what looked like a mission to calm McCullers down as he looked rather upset and the non-calls he was getting.

Two things happened this past weekend, one good and one not so good. The good thing was Houston broke the 7 game losing streak and in doing so seemly broke their offensive drought as well. The not-so-good thing was in Friday's game Jose Altuve strained his hamstring in his second at bat of the big 1st inning when he tried to leg out an infield hit. He missed the rest of the game Friday as well as the 2 games this weekend. Personally, I think the time off will do Jose a lot of good. He was struggling like crazy at the plate rarely even making solid contact. Sometimes taking a step back and taking a breath is just what the doctor ordered. So, even in a perceived bad happening more good can come of it.

This past week saw Carlos Correa make his major league debut. By the end of the week he had hit hit first two big league home runs, driven in his first MLB runs and stolen his first big league bases. Everyone who talks about him has nothing but praise for his talent and potential and everyone agrees he's major league ready. As fans we can't expect him to just light up big league pitching but if everyone is right, it won't be long.

Another good thing is the emergence of George Springer. He had a heckuva week including early in Chicago as he was one of the few bright spots in the lineup at the time. Good to see the young talent on this team taking it's place in the Astros lineup. The days right now are pretty sunny but the outlook seems to be even brighter down the line.

The starting pitching has even taken a turn. Michael Feliz was brought up and he looked very good in his first outing, dominant even. Then they added Vincent Velasquez and sent Feliz down after his lone appearance. Now McCullers and Velasquez have added a healthy dose of power to their rotation. Velasquez' performance earned him more big league starts and the dominating performance by lefty Brett Oberholtzer on Friday night give Houston's rotation a completely different look. The look of the rotation changed even more when, after another poor outing against the White Sox, Roberto Hernandez was demoted to the bullpen. His value there showed up early in Saturday's game when he came into the game in the 4th after Collin McHugh got bashed around. For his part, Hernandez did a much better job of pitching than in his recent starts. The rotation is now Dallas Keuchel, McHugh, McCullers, Velasquez and Obie. If McHugh doesn't find an answer to his problems PDQ we could see another young arm, like Feliz in the bigs or they may just ride it out until Scott Feldman comes off the DL.

Currently Houston has a 2.5 game lead on Texas and a 3.5 game lead on the Angels after both lost yesterday. It is nice to see the Astros get off that losing streak they were on. We'll see if they can keep producing offense as they face the Rockies in a 4 game home and home series followed by another go-round with the Mariners in Seattle. Hopefully the team gets on another winning streak. I could certainly handle another 10 games in a row to the good. I'll bet the Astros wouldn't complain either.

Edited June 16, 2015 by eagle eye

[KABrother88]

#5 overall pick Kyle Tucker signed today for $4 million. His bonus slot was at $4,188,700 so not a huge savings there needed to sign Daz Cameron. Majority of any savings was going to come from #2 overall Alex Bregman anyways. He will not be able to sign until LSU is done finished at the College World Series. I would assume Cameron would be one of the last, if not the very last guy from the top 10 rounds to sign in order to save as much on other guys for his bonus. Houston currently has 4 of their top 10 round picks playing in Omaha.

 

#2 overall Alex Bregman went 2-4 with a run scored in LSU's opening game 10-3 loss to TCU

 

2nd rounder Thomas Eshelman out dueled #8 overall pick Carson Fulmer (5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 Ks vs 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) but Vandy rallied scoring 3 in the bottom of the 9th to win 4-3.

 

3rd rounder Riley Ferrell struck out the side in the 9th in TCU's win over LSU. Ferrell needed only 11 pitches to record the 3 Ks.

 

9th rounder Zac Person did not pitch in LSU's loss to TCU

[eagle eye]

[quote=KABrother88;43995

#2 overall Alex Bregman went 2-4 with a run scored in LSU's opening game 10-3 loss to TCU

 

I was eating at Buffalo Wild Wings Sunday afternoon and a guy stopped by my table with an LSU shirt on and he asked me what I thought of the MLB draft. I was wearing an Astros hat so I reasoned he was interested in what I thought of Bregman. I told him I was happy, that it seemed like we got some nice players but only time would tell how they transition to the pros. He told me he's been watching LSU baseball for years and he assured me that, in his opinion, Bregman was MLB ready right now--that Bregman was in the top 5 of all players to ever play at LSU. I said that considering LSU has turned out some pretty darn good players over the years that was high praise indeed. The guy said he felt like Bregman may only have a brief stay at either AA or AAA before landing in Houston with the big club. Maybe so, but I'll be happy if he makes a good showing in the minor leagues the rest of the summer. I didn't say that to this guy because you could tell he was extremely high on Bregman and I didn't want to be negative anyway. KABro, I was wondering what you thought of Bregman. The only time I saw him play was Sunday in the TCU game and he looked pretty good. I think the LSU fan at BWWs to see the CWS game but it was in rain delay until after he left.

 

Astros beat the Rockies last night. Keuchel was awesome for 5 innings then I think he got a little tired. He benefited from some run support for a change and also some damn good defense particularly by George Springer who made two diving catches of fly balls that saved Keuchel's bacon both times. Keuchel pitched a perfect game through 5 innings--no hits and no walks--but as he had gotten to the 80 pitch area he was maybe a little fatigued or the second time through the lineup the Rockies sort of figured him out a little. 6-3 was the final with Keuchel getting the win. Springer has come alive since Carlos Correa came to town. Extra motivation or happy coincidence but Springer has been on fire the past 4 or 5 days. Correa, BTW had his best game at the plate since coming up to Houston. He went 3-4 with a run scored but it was second best to Springer who went 3-4 with 2 home runs, 2 RBI's and 3 runs scored. Springer, who at one time had a sub .200 BA is now hitting .269. It's nice to see him coming alive at last since his on-fire start to 2014 prior to the injury that sidelined him the rest of the season. It will be harder and harder to raise the BA because the more ABs you have the less impact a big night has but I wouldn't be surprised if Springer doesn't end up around .280 or .290 by the end of the season.

Edited June 16, 2015 by eagle eye

[KABrother88]

I'm a big Bregman fan and have been for a while. If fact I remember telling a buddy of mine in 2012 that Bregman would be a top 5 pick when he became available for the draft (little did I know it would be to Houston). You could just tell as a freshman starting at SS on a really good LSU team he had that IT factor. The question I have is if he is slated to be such a fast riser, where do you put him? Correa and Altuve aren't going anywhere and even if Bregman became a trade chip it wouldn't be until next summer after he's been in the league for a year (MLB rule states a player can not be traded until 1 year after he is drafted). I'm not sure I can see him sliding to 3rd cause I'm not sure he has the arm strength...he was projected to move to 2nd as a pro. With that pick though you are not drafting for need...you are selecting the best player available with other variables such as signability coming into play. I am with you though EE in the sense that I would like to see him in the minors this season though then try to sort it out in Spring Training. But isn't it awful nice to have an abundance to talent?!

 

In other news remember last year when Houston's database was hacked private info including scouting reports and trade conversations were leaked to the public? Well after the FBI got involved the investigation has led the Feds to St. Louis...and not just some geeky Cardinal fan mad at Jeff Luhnow for leaving...it seems to be in fact the St. Louis Cardinals organization that hacked the system as the NY Times is reporting. This will be very interesting to see what MLB does with this as it's not something that has ever knowingly happened in profession sports.

 

http://nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?referrer=

[eagle eye]

Wow. Not since the Patriots got caught filming Jets practices has something like this happened. This could be very interesting.

 

Big call to Astros fans to step up. Somehow the Kansas City Royals fans have figured out a way to stuff the All Star ballot box. As of yesterday Altuve is now 2nd in fan voting for the starting line up in the All Star game. I don't like the fan voting being the exclusive way to determine what the All Star starting lineup is. Somehow the Royals have managed to slam votes for their players and suddenly 8 starters for the AL All Star team are KC Royals. Altuve's competition has been the Royals Omar Infante who, statistically speaking isn't even in the same ballpark as Altuve and that's with the current slump by Altuve included. Infante's numbers, as a matter of fact, are a joke compared to Altuve's. The guy who you might think would be a big competition for Altuve is Seattle's Robinson Cano but he's hardly in the discussion and even his numbers can't compare to Altuve's. This is so unfair. So, I'm calling on all Astros fans on BRI to get busy and place all 35 of your eligible votes for Altuve on the Astros website or on the MLB.com website. When I have time I will post the top 2nd base stats and you will see that Altuve deserves to be an All Star and not just as a backup, he should be the starter. Let's get going BRI'ers, lets help set things right. Your votes count and while your at it get your friends and family to weigh in too.

 

Speaking of Altuve he's back in the lineup today. Here's today's (1:10 PM start) lineup:

1. George Springer RF

2. Carlos Correa SS

3. Jose Altuve 2B

4. Evan Gattis DH

5. Chris Carter 1B

6. Hank Conger C

7. Domingo Santana LF (Call up for Colby Rasmus who is on funeral leave)

8. Luis Valbuena 3B

9 Jake Marisnick CF

 

P - Vince Vasquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

[KABrother88]

Houston has reached agreements with several other top 10 round picks within the past couple of days and here is what we're looking at at the moment

 

1A - Alex Bregman

Slot - $7,420,100

Signed -

Saved -

 

1B - Kyle Tucker

Slot - $4,188,700

Signed - $4,000,000

Saved - $188,700

 

1C - Daz Cameron

Slot - $1,668,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

2 - Thomas Eshelman

Slot - $1,325,700

Signed -

Saved -

 

3 - Riley Ferrell

Slot - $765,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

4 - Anthony Hermelyn

Slot - $522,700

Signed - $250,000

Saved - $272,200

 

5 - Trent Throrton

Slot - $391,500

Signed - $325,000

Saved - $66,500

 

6 - Neator Muriel

Slot - $293,100

Signed -

Saved -

 

7 - Michael Freeman

Slot - $219,600

Signed - $100,000

Saved - $119,600

 

8 - Garrett Stubbs

Slot - $176,000

Signed -

Saved -

 

9 - Zac Person

Slot - $164,200

Signed -

Saved -

 

10 - Scott Weathersby

Slot - $153,400

Signed - $5,000

Saved -$148,400

 

Total Savings Thus Far:

$795,400

[eagle eye]

The Astros won yesterday and they put up 8 runs in doing so. It's nice to see the team hitting again. About the time I'm ready to trade Luis Valbuena for Elmer Fudd he has a game where he hits the ball and yesterday his two hits were both home runs as he accounted for 4 of the 8 runs scored. The 8 runs were needed as Vince Velasquez making his second MLB start was far from sharp. He was only able to last 4.2 innings and he allowed all 5 Rockies runs as he depended far too much on his curve ball rather than his 96 MPH fastball IMO. Live and learn for the rookie isn't unexpected. One good thing is he's still 0-0 record-wise but after giving up those 5 runs his ERA has ballooned to 4.66 but a few scoreless innings will bring that down.

Domingo Santana was brought up to fill an opening when Colby Rasmus took off for funeral leave due to the death of his grandmother. Santana, in his first MLB action had a nice day. He was solid in the field and he went 1-3 in the game getting his first MLB hit and it came with a runner in scoring position and he scored his first big league run 2 batters later when Valbuena hit his 2nd HR of the game. Nice job by the young man. It seems like every opportunity a rookie has to perform on the big club they do a good job. The only exception I can remember this season is the trouble Asher Wojciekowski had as he began the season in the starting pitching rotation.

Jose Altuve was back in the lineup and he got a solid single in his first at-bat in the 1st inning that drove in George Springer who singled and moved to 2nd on a balk by Rockies pitcher Chris Rusin.

The Astros won their half of this home-and-home 4 game series in Houston and they play Games 3 and 4 in the series beginning in Denver tonight. Brett Oberholtzer (1-1, 2.25 ERA) faces Kyle Kendrick (2-8, 5.87 ERA) in tonight's game.

 

Did I mention that I am really happy Houston got their ahem together and started getting their games back on TV? If not, I guess I just did.

 

I wonder if there is anything more on the tampering case by the St Louis Cardinal organization has come out? If so, I haven't seen it.

[KABrother88]

Updated:

 

1A - Alex Bregman

Slot - $7,420,100

Signed -

Saved -

 

1B - Kyle Tucker

Slot - $4,188,700

Signed - $4,000,000

Saved - $188,700

 

1C - Daz Cameron

Slot - $1,668,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

2 - Thomas Eshelman

Slot - $1,325,700

Signed -

Saved -

 

3 - Riley Ferrell

Slot - $765,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

4 - Anthony Hermelyn

Slot - $522,700

Signed - $250,000

Saved - $272,200

 

5 - Trent Throrton

Slot - $391,500

Signed - $325,000

Saved - $66,500

 

6 - Neator Muriel

Slot - $293,100

Signed - $250,000

Saved - $43,100

 

7 - Michael Freeman

Slot - $219,600

Signed - $100,000

Saved - $119,600

 

8 - Garrett Stubbs

Slot - $176,000

Signed -

Saved -

 

9 - Zac Person

Slot - $164,200

Signed -

Saved -

 

10 - Scott Weathersby

Slot - $153,400

Signed - $5,000

Saved -$148,400

 

Total Savings Thus Far:

$838,500

 

Also 8th round pick Garrett Stubbs has signed but the number has yet to be released. Cal State - Fullerton was knocked out of the College World Series yesterday so Houston can now begin negotiating with 2nd rounder Thomas Eshelman.

 

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, the reported asking price for Daz Cameron was $5 million and that is why he fell so far. To meet that number, Houston will have to save $3.3 to $3.4 million on the other picks.

 

The total bonus number Houston has to work with is $17,289,200. Going over that number results in one of 4 penalties:

Up to 5% overage = 75% tax on overage.

5%-10% overage = 75% tax on overage AND loss of 2016 1st round pick.

10%-15% overage = 100% tax on overage AND loss of 2016 1st AND 2nd round picks.

Over 15% overage = 100% tax on overage AND loss of 2016 1st round pick AND 2017 1st round pick.

 

By this Houston can go to $18,153,660 (additional $864,460) without losing a pick. The penalty for going that high would be being taxed $648,345.

 

Not sure how willing Houston would be to go into the less that 5% range but I know in how they value the draft they will not sacrifice 1st round pick.

[KABrother88]

Also of note Alex Bregman went 4-5 yesterday batting out of the lead off spot (normally hits 3rd)...he's now 6-9 at the CWS

[eagle eye]

KABro, I want to run something by you in regard to your post about the draft money pool and signing Daz Cameron. You contend that Houston may not want to exceed the 5% overage which would mean they would sacrifice next year's 1st round draft pick. My question is this, in this last draft with such high picks and multiple picks in the top 45 don't you think it may be worth even a draft pick to get this class signed? It is widely accepted that Houston's 2015 draft is among the best in baseball and with Houston likely to end up, at best (that's if the Astros fade and don't make the playoffs this season), or highest draft pick in 2016 would be in the high teens or early twenties that wrapping up such a talented draft class would be worth losing a draft pick? I sort of do. I think that the Astros would never let scenario 3 or 4 even enter into a discussion but scenario 2 doesn't seem too big a price considering the circumstances. After this year we will truly see how good Jeff Luhnow and his staff are as they find themselves in a realm of having to restock their organization with late round draft picks. Luhnow comes from the Cardinals who seem to be perennial contenders and that's what we hope for Houston but right now the building blocks for the Astros future is on the table now and must be locked up while the opportunity is there. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Edited June 17, 2015 by eagle eye

[KABrother88]

Well the 2015 draft was really considered to be a pretty weak draft. I would have to do some research in regards to the 2016 draft to see the early strength in comparison.

 

Quick comparison of the MLB.com player grades (20-80 scale) to the 2014 draft:

 

2014

65 grade - 3 players

60 grade - 10 players

55 grade - 20 players

 

2015

65 grade - 0 players

60 grade - 2 players

55 grade - 18 players

 

There are a couple reasons I wouldn't expect Houston to sacrifice their first rounder in 2016 though. First is because how much Luhnow values building through the draft. Second is without the slot bonus of a 1st rounder it really limits what you can do oversigning people because you are looking at your top pick having a signing bonus in the $1,000,000 range if you pick middle of the 2nd round.

[eagle eye]

Well the 2015 draft was really considered to be a pretty weak draft. I would have to do some research in regards to the 2016 draft to see the early strength in comparison.

 

Quick comparison of the MLB.com player grades (20-80 scale) to the 2014 draft:

 

2014

65 grade - 3 players

60 grade - 10 players

55 grade - 20 players

 

2015

65 grade - 0 players

60 grade - 2 players

55 grade - 18 players

 

There are a couple reasons I wouldn't expect Houston to sacrifice their first rounder in 2016 though. First is because how much Luhnow values building through the draft. Second is without the slot bonus of a 1st rounder it really limits what you can do oversigning people because you are looking at your top pick having a signing bonus in the $1,000,000 range if you pick middle of the 2nd round.

 

Okay, that makes sense especially about the 1st round slot bonus. I get that but I when the pundits write about Houston having a top 5 draft, especially getting the value pick of a Daz Cameron, it can be confusing to a fan. While I don't doubt the numbers I find it hard to believe that Houston draft picks graded out so low. While there was no clear cut shoe in number 1 (or 2) pick the draft was deep in ++ players from just the SS position. So, I guess I can disagree about the quality of the draft but time will tell us if I'm right or full of a lot of hooey. The one thing that makes sense to me is the value of the slot bonus. That really is a big deal and is enough to make me agree with you so, short story long, you answered my question of, "Am I missing something?", with a resounding yes!

[KABrother88]

Those grades aren't for the Astros selections...those are of all of the players in the draft. In 2014 Houston had a 65 (Aiken) and 2 55s (Derek Fisher & A.J. Reed). In 2014 they had 3 55s (Bregman, Tucker, & Cameron). I was using those number to show how this weak this draft was compared to the past and show that sacrificing a 2016 pick might not be worth going overboard on a weaker draft when you could possibly get the same caliber player in 2016 in the middle of the draft depending on its strength.

[eagle eye]

Those grades aren't for the Astros selections...those are of all of the players in the draft. In 2014 Houston had a 65 (Aiken) and 2 55s (Derek Fisher & A.J. Reed). In 2014 they had 3 55s (Bregman, Tucker, & Cameron). I was using those number to show how this weak this draft was compared to the past and show that sacrificing a 2016 pick might not be worth going overboard on a weaker draft when you could possibly get the same caliber player in 2016 in the middle of the draft depending on its strength.

 

I agree with you about not wanting to sacrifice a 1st round pick but it's because of the slot bonus thing not because I don't like the talent we drafted earlier this month. I understand that the rankings of the players is generally accurate but if it was an exact science ranking players then the baseball pundits and football guys like Mel Kiper Jr and Mike Mayock would be freaking gods! I really don't subscribe to the notion of passing on the now in favor of MAYBE getting something better later. Even now you can't say whether "later", meaning next year, will offer a better pick than Daz Cameron is touted to be right now. To have the attitude that we can do better next year is sort of a slap in Cameron's face isn't it? This discussion started as what Houston needs to do to be able to sign Cameron who slid from a high first round talent to the beginning of the 2nd round or A compensation round because he wanted too much money speaks of his value as a player and in some ways his business acumen. I also think that player rankings can be misleading. Maybe less so in baseball than football but the pro sports trash heep is piled high with 1st and 2nd round busts. You really don't know what you will get until the player gets to see how he makes the transition from college to the pros or, in baseball's case, from high school to the pros. 3-5 years is generally a good barometer for a draft class for a team or the sport in general. I agree with not sacrificing a 1st round pick but for just the one reason. I think if you like a player you try your best to sign him because future drafts are like a Forrest Gump box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get. Keep in mind too that we have 4 players that were the basis of MLB experts saying Houston had a top 5 draft that were selected within the first 42 picks of the whole doggone draft. Next year we won't have a 3rd pick at number 37 overall. Our 3rd pick will likely be in the 70's or 80's and you can't tell me the 77th overall pick is better than a 1st round caliber pick in A compensation round or the beginning of the 2nd round. Scenario 2 is acceptable to me to sign Cameron. A fine is nothing compared to the money baseball teams make. Losing a first round pick and the slot bonus that goes with it---not so much but there is no reason Houston has to come up with 5 large anyway. Cameron may look at the upward pointing arrow in Houston and decide that maybe 3 will do. You just never know.

[KABrother88]

Man Correa is killing it. Through 9 games he's hitting .359 (14-39) with 3 HRs. His 14 hits are a franchise record for most hits in a players first 10 games...and he's still got one more to try to extend it.

[eagle eye]

Man Correa is killing it. Through 9 games he's hitting .359 (14-39) with 3 HRs. His 14 hits are a franchise record for most hits in a players first 10 games...and he's still got one more to try to extend it.

 

Not just Correa, about the same time Correa got to Houston George Springer has been en fuego. With both hitting 1-2 at the top of the lineup it's been a heckuva punch for the Astros.

 

One bit of bad news, Jose Altuve reaggravated his hamstring and that's not a good thing. He could be out for a while now. Hamstring injuries are a son-of-a-gun and they can keep a player sidelined for weeks. Especially when you hurt it a second time.

 

So SS Jed Lowrie (remember him?) got the cast off his hand where he broke his thumb way back in April and he's travelling with the team again. That was decision made by AJ Hinch and Lowrie so Lowrie could sort of reconnect with the team. In Colorardo before the game last night it was reported that Lowrie did some light throwing and he made some swings with a plastic bat as he begins getting his hand ready for playing baseball again. There are going to be questions about what AJ Hinch going to do about Lowrie when he gets back since Carlos Correa has come up and played so well. In a way, it's going to a pleasant dilemma for Hinch to consider. "I've got too many good players on this team! What should I do?" One recourse is that Lowrie can play 2B until Altuve comes back. Another solution is to platoon Luis Valbuena and Lowrie at 3rd. Valbuena has one good hitting day a week and he's made some bonehead errors in the field. To be fair, he's made some good plays too but he's made more than a good 3rd baseman should. The way Lowrie was hitting before he got hurt it could very well be a serious upgrade to the position in the field and at the plate.

 

Another guy who is dealing with his own injury situation is P Brad Peacock. He's trying to come back from an intercostal strain he suffered last season. He pitched in a AA game last week and felt bad afterward prompting the Astros to send him back to Houston to get checked out. With Brett Oberholtzer pitching pretty well since he finally got over the blister problems in his pitching hand it makes Peacock's chances of cracking the Astros starting rotation pretty slim. The emergence of Lance McCullers and Vince Velasquez hurt his prospects although both of those guys have had limited amount of big league starts and still have some more starts before we can say for sure one or both will stick around. Velasquez' last outing was pretty shaky to say the least. With Obie coming back showing the same form he had last season (which is a good thing) the starting rotation is seems set for the time being. Velasquez and Collin McHugh, who's been getting roughed up lately, are the wild cards right now. If McHugh can't figure out why he can't get anyone out before they score 4 or 5 runs or more a game then he may find himself back in AAA or on the street. That would leave an opening for Peacock, at least until Scott Feldman gets back from his injury in mid July. It's a good situation where you can plug in talented players in if someone falters or gets injured.

 

Speaking of McHugh, last night during the game the TV guys, Alan Ashby and Geoff Blum were talking about McHugh and his recent struggles and they expressed concern about a guy whose best pitch is 4-seam fastball pitching in the launching pad known as Coors Field. McHugh has pitched in Denver before but not struggling to keep the ball down in the strike zone. He can't make the same mistakes because the Rockies have a pretty good hitting lineup. If McHugh struggles again then the Rox could tag him with 10 runs before the dust settles. The last time Houston lost was at home last Saturday at the wrong end of an 8-1 rout by Seattle. Guess who was pitching? Yep, Collin McHugh. He pitched well early in the season and that's why his 6-3 record is a little misleading because in his last 7 starts he's 2-3 with a 6.86 ERA. His two wins he lucked out and got big run support or he would've been 0-5. Hopefully, he irons out his issues and gets back on track. It won't hurt one bit if Houston puts up around 8 runs for him. In the previous 3 games Houston has hung 6, 8 and 8 runs on the Rox and something tells me they will have to do it again today.

 

The game is this afternoon at 2:10 PM.

[KABrother88]

9th round pick Zac Person will get the start for LSU tonight against TCU in an elimination game

[KABrother88]

Updated:

 

1A - Alex Bregman

Slot - $7,420,100

Signed -

Saved -

 

1B - Kyle Tucker

Slot - $4,188,700

Signed - $4,000,000

Saved - $188,700

 

1C - Daz Cameron

Slot - $1,668,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

2 - Thomas Eshelman

Slot - $1,325,700

Signed -

Saved -

 

3 - Riley Ferrell

Slot - $765,600

Signed -

Saved -

 

4 - Anthony Hermelyn

Slot - $522,700

Signed - $250,000

Saved - $272,700

 

5 - Trent Throrton

Slot - $391,500

Signed - $325,000

Saved - $66,500

 

6 - Neator Muriel

Slot - $293,100

Signed - $250,000

Saved - $43,100

 

7 - Michael Freeman

Slot - $219,600

Signed - $100,000

Saved - $119,600

 

8 - Garrett Stubbs

Slot - $176,000

Signed - $100,000

Saved - $76,000

 

9 - Zac Person

Slot - $164,200

Signed -

Saved -

 

10 - Scott Weathersby

Slot - $153,400

Signed - $5,000

Saved -$148,400

 

Total Savings Thus Far:

$915,000

 

Last night Zac Person was yanked after giving up 3 runs in 1.1 IP but in an elimination game like that you can't let a guy try to work through it. Alex Bregman went 1-4 as TCU won 8-4 to eliminate LSU from the college World Series. Houston can now begin negotiations with Bregman and Person. Wouldn't be surprised to see Person get a similar bonus as 10th rounder Scott Weathersby ($5,000). Was actually surprised to see 7th & 8th rounders both get $100,000. Thought with both being seniors with no leverage they would be closer to the $50,000 range at most.

[eagle eye]

Speaking of Bregman here's a really nice play from last night's elimination game against TCU. Notice how fast he gets rid of the ball on the throw to 1B. Nice.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk_7Zs7jwBo

 

The Astros completed the sweep of the Rox yesterday and they scored 8 runs again. The highlights of the game were the 3 run pinch hit home run in the 8th inning by Domingo Santana, his first MLB round tripper. The other main highlight was a record tying 3 stolen bases by Carlos Correa. Correa became the second youngest MLB player to steal 3 bases in a game. The number one guy is Ricky Henderson who was about 3 months younger than Correa is. Having a 20 year old steal 3 bases in a game is rare and is further evidence of how special a player he is.

Worries about whether or not Collin McHugh can turn around his recent issue was sort of answered yesterday. He gave up just 4 hits in 6 innings worth of work. He threw 112 pitches including issuing 5 walks in the game and included some good defense behind him. Unfortunately, one of the 4 hits he allowed was a 3 run home run in the first inning to cleanup hitter for the Rox Carlos Gonzalez. After that McHugh was pretty solid the rest of the time he was on the mound. It will be good news if he did find his problem and is back on track. The 5 walks issued had a lot to do with home plate ump David Rackley who had a very tight strike zone. The zone was so tight reliever Pat Neshak though he had just throw strike 3 to Rockies hitter Brandon Barnes which would have retired the side with no runs scored. Instead the pitch was called a ball and one pitch later Neshak walked Barnes. Instead of getting out the inning with no runs after allowing a leadoff double by Nolan Arenado. Instead Neshak lost his composure for a moment and gave up an RBI single to Wilin Rosario. Pitching coach Brent Strom and Jason Castro went out and tried to get Neshak to refocus but it was clear he was still upset. In spite of being mad he was able to induce a fly ball out by Charlie Blackmon to end the inning. The run Neshak allowed tightened the score to 8-4 but it wasn't a save situation in 9th when the Rox came to their last AB. Instead of going with Luke Gregorson AJ Hinch brought in Josh Fields. It could very well be that Fields is going to be the future closer. He's got a + fastball and he's found a groove lately that has made him dominant. I used to cringe a little when Fields came in the game because despite a mid nineties fastball he had trouble getting people out. 2015 has been a different story. So far this season Fields is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 20 appearances and 18.2 inning pitched. He has 31 K's and just 8 walks with a 0.91 WHIP. Just another young player stepping up making this team so much better.

 

One bad thing happened in yesterday's game, CF Jake Marisnick trying to leg out an infield hit strained his hamstring much the same way Jose Altuve did a week ago against Seattle. I can't find any more info about his status but it's a sure bet he won't play in the next couple of games to allow him to heal. The Astros are likely to be cautious with Marisnick because they allowed Altuve back into the lineup after missing 3 games and in his 2nd game back he reaggravated his hammy to the point where Houston has said Altuve will not be back in the lineup until he's 100% I would imagine their attitude will be the same in regard to Marisnick. The Astros have Domingo Santana already up and Colby Rasmus should be back from bereavement leave tonight give Houston some good options to go with until Marisnick can get back on the field.

 

One last good news item, the stupid Texas Rangers finally lost to the Dodgers meaning the Astros division lead is now 3.5 games.

Edited June 19, 2015 by eagle eye

[KABrother88]

Brady Aiken has signed with Clevland who selected him 17th overall. He walked away from $5 million last year and signed for $2.39 million this year...

[KABrother88]

Vandy knocked out TCU 7-1 last night but TCU closer and Astros 3rd round pick Riley Ferrell did make an appearance pitching 2 hitless innings issuing 1 BB, 1 hit batter and recorded 5 of his 6 outs by K. His final CWS line is 3 IP, 0 Hits, 1 BB, 1 HBP and 8 Ks

[eagle eye]

Houston lost last night 5-2. There were two main reasons, 1) Lance McCullers wasn't very sharp and 2) the offense was not very sharp either. Lance McCullers was constantly putting himself in deep counts because he was nibbling too much at the corners instead of challenging hitters and getting ahead in counts making the Mariners hitters swing at his pitches. How do come to this conclusion? That's exactly what Seattle's starting pitcher Roenis Elias did. Seven innings allowing only 4 hits with 6 Ks and 3 BBs. It didn't matter that two of the hits were HRs because there were only 5 other base runners all game. To be fair McCullers got victimized by some pretty bad defense. I'll tell you, I like Luis Valbuena even less every day. As I've said before, he has one good hitting game a week and the rest of the time he's useless at the plate. Now his defense is getting down-right lousy. If McCullers had taken the same aggressive chance Elias did with the 96-97 mph fastball he was firing at the M's he really could have blown them away. Highlights were few but George Springer kept his consecutive game hitting streak alive with a home run off the very first pitch of the game. Houston didn't score again until the 8th inning when Marwin Gonzalez homered on a 1-2 pitch leading off the inning. That was the end of the night for Elias but by then it really didn't matter.

 

Aiken is a genius. Or maybe not but the Astros are fortunate his business acumen isn't all that great.

 

The Astros can now get to work signing some draft picks with LSU and TCU no longer in the College World Series picture. The last thing I read was that Houston had already signed 21 of their 42 draft picks. More to come soon I hope.

[eagle eye]

A recap of the week boils down to 2 things. 1) The Astros went 5-2 on the week and 2) they gained a game in the division lead over the Rangers.

> The Astros starting pitching in Seattle this past weekend was not up to par. Lance McCullers, Dallas Keuchel and Vince Velasquez didn't have their best stuff at all. McCullers and Velasquez couldn't find the strike zone with Velasquez having the shortest outing of the 3 throwing 93 pitches in 3-1/3 innings in the Astros lone win in Seattle this weekend. He did pretty good damage control but he went deep in counts but he only gave up 2 hits and 5 walks and only 1 run. If his outing hadn't been so short he would've qualified for the win as Houston finally got some offense that mostly came at the expense of former Astros pitcher J A Happ. Since coming off funeral leave Rasmus has hit the ball pretty well and that's a good thing. Rasmus return coincided with fellow outfielder Jake Marisnick when on the 15 day DL following injuring his hamstring earlier in the week. Houston began the week sweeping a home and home four game series against the Colorado Rockies that saw Houston pretty much dominate the Rox.

There is one thing that is disconcerting though, 4 of the seven games played this week were well over 3 hours and boy, does that make for a long game. It was primarily due to the length of time between pitches the pitchers were taking coupled with the usual gesticulation of the batters who are way too concerned about how tight their batting gloves are, how their helmets fit and a generally just killing time in the batter's box. I will be glad when MLB decides to institute a time limit between pitches. Baseball needs it and another thing that could save time is baseball getting into the 21st century when it comes to calling balls and strikes. Rootsports, ESPN, FoxSports, all the networks have that box that shows the strike zone and where the pitches are in relation to that box. I don't buy into the "human element" crap about baseball. Get the calls right. It is the only way to standardize the strike zone. IMO it would eliminate 95% of arguments that occur over balls and strikes and umps would no longer be able to squeeze pitchers or catchers that piss them off. They could give the home plate ump an ear whig and set up a tone similar to tennis that would could either sound if the ball is a strike or if it's a ball. Either way, umps get the call right and neither the batter nor the pitcher can bitch about it.

We begin the new week in first place, a position the Astros have held since mid April, which is just the best ever after a decade of frustration and loss. Hopefully Houston can keep up the pace but there is still 3 full month left in the season and the margin for error is pretty slim but at least they are in the conversation. The Rangers got hot there as they closed the gap to 3.5 games after being in 5th place in the division at one time. The Angels are in 3rd place but they are getting hot at they have gone from 7 games back at one time this month to just 5.5 games back and they now seem to have an Albert Pujols who seems to be earning his big contract at last. Bad news considering the Astros go to LA to face the Angels for 3 games to start the week.