In real life as opposed to baseball faux life, a tropical storm named Cindy took aim at the low lying, flood prone big city of Houston and basically whiffed. Some winds, a bit of heavy rain, but no big Tropical Allison flood event. Houston has ridden out the storm.
Back over in the parallel world of baseball, the Astros have been facing their own threats. After starting the season with their third best starter Collin McHugh on the DL, the Astros rolled off to the best start in franchise history. And then the storm threats rose. Four of their five starting pitchers, Charlie Morton, Joe Musgrove, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers all ended up on the DL.
The Astros wobbled like a punch drunk boxer (or MMA champ) after that happened, but as LMJ returns to the rotation and Morton starts a rehab and the Astros finish a four-game sweep of the falling A’s, the Astros are doing a good job of riding out their storm.
Keys?
#1. The Mike Fiers renaissance tops the list. Fiers was headed to the bullpen with a possible DFA in his future when the governor gave him a last minute reprieve. The Astros have won 5 of the last 6 games he has pitched in and the appearance before that he lost a 3-0 game where he gave up 1 run in 6 innings. He has moved from a long reliever to a MOR pitcher and has been critical to the team holding on to their great start.
#2. Brad Peacock‘s performance has also been critical to warding off the storm. The Astros have won 4 of his 6 starts since moving from the bullpen. Yes, he has had some games where he did not go that deep, but he had not thrown more than 2 innings in an appearance before being shoved into the rotation. He has had to stretch out in an on the job situation and has done well.
#3. David Paulino entered the season in the minors with one MLB spot start under his belt. Paulino has had one sub-par start in his five sub starts this season and won his last two starts as he has begun to hit his stride. The Astros now have a feel for the young man and the young man has a feel for what the majors are about.
#4. Top prospect 21-year-old Francis Martes has also helped with the “adults” on the DL. After looking pudgy and getting roughed up in a forced relief appearance in his major league debut, he looked like a bulldog in winning his first two starts. Again, a big boost for a team looking for some help.
So, some questions for our good readers (bad ones too).
- How do you rate the guys who have helped stem the storm?
- How close to getting past the storm is the team?
- What do you do with the 4 guys above as the other folks return? What order do they get replaced and who gets sent down and who gets sent to the pen?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
141 responses to “Astros riding out, weathering the storms”
As you walk through this storm hold your head up high;
and don’t jump the gun or the shark.
at the end of DL you’ll have a rehab stint,
and a few tacos at Chukchansi park.
Chunk on – through the wind; chunk on – through the pain;
though your curve be crushed like a stone.
Chunk on! Chunk ON! Slider, Two-seam and change!
So you can play in October and have fun!
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In many ways, each baseball season is like a turn on the carousel…
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Sounds like a new theme song for Goonies. Chunk on!
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Mr. Bill, have you considered self-authoring a book of baseball poetry? You could donate the proceeds to help keep Chipalatta running. Alternately, if it’s a hit you could retire to the Caribbean. I know a guy who knows a bit about the properties there.
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Not sure if it is the Dan P jinx or the op jinx -but the lefty I was pushing to go get and who op pointed out could not pitch against good teams – the Mets Blevins walked 3 of the 4 batters he faced last night including the pitcher and one other with the bases loaded….against a good team the Dodgers.
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That’s okay Dan, we’ll get him for less!
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Don’t have answers to your questions, Dan, and hope daveb7 doesn’t get on me for hijacking, but I could sure use a break and a brief report on how nature is presenting in HC.
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It’s hot up here Diane – will be over 100 today but supposedly a “cold” front is coming tomorrow. Spent most of yesterday in Fredericksburg but today we will take the lovely drive from F’burg to Wimberley and then on to Austin. Love the scenery – love being somewhere that is not flat as a pancake.
But I really love the Astros being the first team to 50.
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Diane, no problem, I’m always up for hearing news on Texas. Used to spend a lot of time up in the New Braunfels area canoeing on the Guadeloupe. Where did time go!
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Yes, I floated down the Medina River in a tube by myself and was it ever peaceful and restorative. Course I wandered the glistening dunes of White Sands, NM in the dark of night guided only by the moon. Won’t touch on other adventures except to say watching guys play baseball ain’t necessarily the whole enchilada.
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I think Diaz gets sent down when LMJ is taken off the DL.
I think that when Morton is ready, one of Martes or Paulino gets sent down. But they might try to make it to the ASG before that happens or at least wait until the road trip before the break.
I think when Keuchel is ready, the other gets sent down. But I think they might try to make it to the ASG before that happens.
I think Peacock eventually goes back to the bullpen but has secured a spot on the team, unless someone makes Luhnow an offer he can’t refuse. I think Brad Peacock is a major league pitcher with lots of value and I give Luhnow credit for hanging on to him.
If the Astros make a trade for a pitcher at the deadline, I would expect Diaz to be DFA’d and Hoyt to be sent to Fresno.
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OP, yes, I’d rather have you out there than Diaz. I know you’d at least keep the ball down.
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If I had his fast ball, I sure would have been able to throw the curve I threw when I was young. He has one pitch and it got hit, hard.
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I feel that, somewhere in there, Musgrove will be sent back down to rediscover himself and, perhaps, Peacock or Paulino will keep that starter spot.
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Diaz down but Guduan recalled. When it comes to control, that is swapping the devil for the witch.
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I just saw that on Hinch’s lineup card.
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Astros catchers:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/06/23/astros-catchers-brian-mccann-evan-gattis-form-deadly-combination/422091001/
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– Rating the guys? Peacock gets comeback player of the year for HOU. Martes and Paulino look like players who can help you as much as anyone available by trade in 2017…if not more. That changes if Archer goes on the block, but considering the cost/control and their future potential it would be dangerous to gamble and give them away. Fiers is earning his annual salary right now. He deserves to be in the rotation based on this stretch. Fisher gets an Incomplete. Be honest – if he doesn’t hit the solo HR in his last at-bat against Oakland his .235 AVG at the time would temper your expectations. For me, fisting the single to center of Kimbrel showed he’s got a future at the big league level that guys like Wallace, Reed, Moran, Singleton, etc. don’t. As for Diaz, well, he got thrown to the wolves and should get thrown back to Fresno soon. I’m not going to say anything negative – his arm is good enough to play at this level. It will be really tough to find a spot this year with the team though, and as oldpro points out, he may be in a different uniform within weeks.
– The storm?
3-0 against TEX
2-2 against KC
1-2 against ANA
1-2 against TEX
1-2 against BOS
4-0 against OAK
That’s 12-8 so far in June with 3 @SEA, 3 OAK, and 1 NYY remaining for the month. The scary thing is (despite our panic) there were a couple of those losses we could have / should have won. My only concern is how this stretch impacts our bullpen arms in August/September. Recall that in 2015 we had guys like Will Harris going out with their arms duct-taped on late in the year.
– I think oldpro has the order right above. Let’s see how Musgrove does tonight, though. If he has a bad start you may see him go to Fresno when Morton returns. I think Diaz has his bags packed already.
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The way things stand right now the Astros have the following pitchers who would qualify as a guy who is a major league caliber starting pitcher on opening day 2018 and would be under team control:
Dallas Keuchel
Lance McCullers Jr.
Charlie Morton
Collin McHugh
Mike Fiers
Joe Musgrove
Brad Peacock
Francis Martes
Felipe Paulino
If the Astros make a trade for a front line starter with more control than this year only, you can add his name to the list above, bringing the number on that list to ten pitchers. But you may also have to subtract one or more names from that list if we have to give them up in a trade.
No matter what the Astros do, they will have pitching for 2018, but that is also the last year of control the Astros have over Keuchel and Morton.
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I did it again! Felipe Paulino, sheesh!
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We sure had high hopes for him.
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We were here in Wimberley 2 years ago Memorial Day weekend. My son called and said bad weather was coming and to leave for Austin. That night it poured like crazy in Blanco and a wall of water came down river to here and flooded houses 40 feet above the river and ripped a house away killing 11 if I remember. Just hot and no rain today.
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Dan, good people lost their homes on that stretch. People died too. The river will always have last say.
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Houston got more rain from Walmart than Cindy…
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Dan P if you are in Austin over the weekend, i’d love to buy you a brew. Perhaps Tim and other Austin area chippies would show as well. Name a place, we can meet you there. or i have suggestions if you are not familiar with Austin. keep in mind its supposed to rain here sat and sun.
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I’m in S.A. this weekend celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. Otherwise, I would have gladly joined you over a beer and Astros talk.
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ps. thats a glorious picture. we are now, count em, 26 games over .500
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I have to wonder if JL is telling everyone in the office today, “See I told you we had enough pitching” when a month ago he was as nervous as a prostitute in church.
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Thanks for the offer rj – but time is not my own this visit – will be with family (two sons, daughter-in-law and grand daughter) the whole time. Maybe on another visit.
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well have a great visit dan, and the family would always be welcome as well, perhaps in a more family friendly setting. dont know if y’all like sushi, but if you do i recommend Korea House. its near the intersection of anderson lane and burnet rd. the chef’s name is Ji, tell him russell sent you.
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When these stats are given out one by one in the middle of an inning or an at bat, they might just get lost in a moment. But when you see them stacked player upon player it gives you a sense of why the Astros have a 50-24 record.
This is all of the things the Astros hitters do with runners in scoring position, with batting average highlighted in order highest to lowest. Look where Gattis ranks.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp?c_id=hou#elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting&game_type='R'&season=2017&season_type=ANY&league_code='MLB'§ionType=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1498249601518&playerType=ALL&timeframe=&last_x_days=&split=risp
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So, the part of the comment that got lost is: Look where Evan Gattis is.
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Wow…that was revealing.
I guess I see what happens when I base an opinion on the 4 games I saw him start this year!
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I promise you that I was not picking on you. I was very surprised to see Gattis’s name at the top, especially when I keep hearing about Bregman’s prowess over and over by the Astros broadcasters. I am just as intrigued by the next two guys below Gattis, Marwin and McCann. Sometimes you get lost in so many stats, but I think this particular list shows how great a team these guys are.
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Also shows just how disappointing Beltran has been this year, and how surprisingly good Jake has been
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It will be interesting to see how well King Felix pitches tonight. He’s facing a pretty loaded lineup! I posted last night that if I had to choose between Mates, or Paulino I’d pick Paulino. Kid just needs to keep his pitches in check. Man, I hope the fellas have some runs in their bats tonight, Big Joe needs a WIN!
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Reymin Guduan was called up and Dayan Diaz sent down. I would think Guduan will pitch tonight when needed and might be sent back down tomorrow when LMJ comes off the DL.
Yordano Alvarez was promoted today from Quad Cities to Buies Creek.
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That’s a “good one”!
Might as well start pronouncing his name that way.
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So far I have the Astros needing to sign five more of their top 10-round picks. By my rough calculations they are $385,000 under slot for the top-10 round picks they have signed.
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Springer is back and in CF. Reddick in RF and Marwin in LF.
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Hinch made it clear tonight in an interview with Julia Morales that McCullers could’ve pitched in the A’s series, “wanted to pitch,” but didn’t want him hitting in the Braves series upcoming with a sore back. Also, Mike Stanton, “because of where they are in the standings, they haven’t really needed him.”
Hinch also said that Morton “on his way back, and Keuchel is on his way back.”
I hope that answers the questions about whether the nature of these DL stints are serious.
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Yordan Alvarez homered in his first game at High A Buies Creek. It came in the 4th inning of a scoreless game that ended in a 3-0 win for the BC Astros.
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Well folks it looks like we are going to get a butt whopper tonight. He probably needs to go back to Fresno to work on getting his pitches down. When the rest of our rotation gets back, do you keep Peacock in depending on how McHugh is pitching??
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Musgrove needs to go down. Like, as in, yesterday
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Billy….if Keuchel is going to out until after the break, Musgrove stays up. I know this was a real stinker, but I don’t think this is a pattern. He just had a bad night. But I agree that he needs to go to Fresno to work on some stuff, and personally I hope he makes it back up with the big club.
ALL pitchers have one of these ugly games from time to time. I still have faith in Joe Musgrove, he has major league stuff.
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He’s pitched bad all year. I think he’ll be ok in the long run, but we need to send him to Fresno before his confidence gets ruined, he forgets, how to pitch, and he turns into another Jordan Lyles.
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Sounds like it is time for another one of our insane come from behind late inning wins.
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Wild pitch just scored two more….11-3. Can’t keep pitching the same guys over and over. Tough game, and it’s only the 7th inning😣
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Maybe Musgrove does need to go and find his pitches in AAA. This was not good.
Guduan was ready to pitch tonight. Hoyt looked used up.
Ready for LMJ to come back and pick this team up.
Tomorrow is another day.
I think I said something like this the last time Musgrove pitched: It was Musgrove vs Felix Hernandez. What was I expecting?
Musgrove vs David Price. What was I expecting?
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Rangers lost and the Angels lost.
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Good
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Joe-Joe was a man who really wasn’t ready,
to get real major leaguers out.
He pitched at Safeco Park – and well . . . it wasn’t pretty,
they chopped him up like sauerkraut!
So get back! Get back! Get back to where you jumped the shark’!
Get back! Get ba-a-ack! Get back down to Chuckchansi Park!
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Or is Joe Joe going to do a remarkable Mike Fiers turn around?
Yes he probably needs to work on something but in baseball guys do go thru slumps
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I am mostly just trying to be funny after a big, ugly beat-down, Dan. Dark sense of humor, I know. I am actually a big Joe Musgrove fan, and I want him around, and at the top of his game, for a long time. But I look at him and see him struggling horribly all season, and I just don’t think he is helping either the Astros or himself by continuing more of the same. He was rushed to the majors last year due to injuries on the big club, and he has never really gotten his mojo with us. Right now he has a whopping 6.01 ERA and a terrible 1.530 WHIP. He is not competing. He is punch-drunk. He is just trying not to get killed. For his own sake, he needs to go back down and work on his composure, his command, and his location with less pressure to be perfect. He is way better than this.
As for Fiers, I don’t think the situations arereally comparable. Joe is just 24; Mike is 32. Mike has had stretches of success at the major league level – including throwing a no-hitter; Joe really hasn’t had any comparable level of major league success. Furthermore, when Mike goes, he’s probably gone forever – and he knows it. Joe, on the other hand, has the youth, the capacity, and the talent to go back down, get it right, and come back strong.
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I know you are right but I sometimes feel we do knee jerk on decisions. So is Musgrove going to be the first one going down or is he going down when Morton returns?
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Amazing!
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Hopefully, in a year or two, sending them down just means sending them to Round Rock. Wouldn’t that be somethin’?
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With the announcement this past week that San Antonio will be an AAA city starting in 2019 it’s basically a foregone conclusion that the Round Rock Express will be the Astros AAA team starting in 2019 season. All the pieces have come together and this Round Rock resident couldn’t be more excited.
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So my question is, what does everyone think we should do with Musgrove? I was just kidding, some humor after that butt kicking. He has mostly been awful this year, you don’t have a 6 ERA and 1.6 whip form a bad outing. He is a good kid, he needs to go down and find a pitch that can get people out, everything he is throwing is finding wood.
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The system is set up to help young pitchers grow. Multiple option years and the room to send them down multiple times in a year.
It’s not a crime to send a young pitcher down who is struggling and it wouldn’t be a punishment. In this case, it is meant to be a blessing. Joe has got to find his best pitch and perfect it and set batters up to get them out on that pitch.
ESPN box scores has a pitch by pitch option on it and you can go back and review the pitch count on each batter and in the first three innings the M’s just kept fouling him off with two strikes until they either walked or got their pitch and crushed it. By the fourth inning he was done and was grooving everything.
It seems that not giving him a chance to regroup in Fresno would be a disservice to him right now.
Musgrove can look to Peacock as an example of how it can be and how success comes with trials. Or Sipp, or Hoyt, or Keuchel, or McHugh, or Morton. All of them struggled.
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As I stated, in a posting earlier in this thread, he needs to go back to Fresno and rediscover himself. Remaining on the big club and getting beaten down is not the way to get that confidence back. He should be sent down today, already, with McCullers coming back off the DL.
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Along the theme of the getting a full arsenal, and healthy – Hinch’s pregame comments alluded to McCullers having already been wanting to pitch in the A’s series, but didn’t want to use him in the Braves series hitting. So, he isn’t really injured, just sore. AJ said of Morton that he’s on his way back. On Keuchel he said exactly, “on his way back, hopefully on his way back,” sounds a lot like what Mike Stanton said. He said we don’t really need him with the cushion in the standings.
Sounds pretty clear to me that we are creating opportunities for Paulino, Martes, meanwhile trying to get some Musgrove confidence.
For my part, I’d send Joe and James Hoyt down, keep the other starters up. It’s a long season – the goal is momentum and fresh arms come October.
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Joe needs Fresno more than Martes or Paulino right now. I hope that’s the direction taken.
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All eyes are back on the Buies Creek High A team. Yordan Alvarez has now been promoted from Quad Cities, and has kicked off his High A career with a home run. Watch this kid. Also, today the starting pitcher for Buies Creek will be Franklin Perez. So far this year, in 7 starts and one relief appearance [which was a save], he is 3-1, with a 2.25 ERA, a 0.67 WHIP. Opposing teams are hitting .126 against him.
Did I mention that both of these guys are 19?
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His save was pitching the back end of a tandem without giving up the lead.
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Ninth round pick C Papierski from LSU has hit a HR from each side of the plate during the first four innings of the CWS semis.
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He’s showing off.
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Bregman tweeted: “Are you kidding me!”
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Astros:
Optioned Musgrove to Fresno.
Put Peacock on maternity leave, as his son, Colton, was born this afternoon.
Activated LMJ to the roster.
Recalled Jordan Jankowski to put in the bullpen while Peacock is gone and
Martes will start tomorrow on regular rest in Peacock’s place.
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Glad Musgrove got sent down. Enough is enough. We don’t want him to be Jordan Lyles 2.0
Congratulations to Peacock!
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Lance is special so far tonight
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I understand that he has a great slider. But the big difference in his slider is that if you hit it its going to be at the knees or lower and it’s real hard to barrell up a slider down there.
Other Astros pitchers need to look at what he’s doing with that pitch. He is not throwing it above the belt.
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Lance was great getting out of Jam in 5th but got back in another one in the 6th. Harris limited the M’s to a single run but a good night for LMJ.
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And now another huge hit by McCann – 2 out 3 run double to give them 5-1 lead!
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giles cant find the plate
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whew!
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We won. So, how come it hardly feels like it? Guess I’ll go wring out my shirt and go to bed.
LMJ pitched beautifully and the Astros lead second place Seattle by 12.5 games.
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Innings where the pitcher can’t get anyone out last forever. Each minute seems like an hour.
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Tried to get the game on the radio coming back from the Casino tonight…..no luck.
So I had to use my phone to “see” the game. Giles…WTH dude!!?? What’s up with the walks???? JEEZE I almost had a heart attack! I sure hope these guys get enough runs tomorrow, and Giles can sit back and suck down a tall ice tea, ’cause he threw three innings worth of pitches in the 9th. I’m going to step out on a limb here…..but I’m a big fan of Joe Musgrove, and letting him go back to Fresno is a good thing. Losing starts to grate on a pitcher, he needs to go work on a few things, then come back up when his confidence is back, and his pitches down. This is a special young pitcher…..the Astros kept Peacock on this team because they saw something the rest of us didn’t. I absolutely think this kid has the stuff to pitch in MLB. Let’s not trash him just yet. Becky⚾
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In spite of things, we’ve got a pretty good club.
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In one of Altuve’s at bats last night he went down after a low outside slider and hit it down the third base line and got thrown out. It was a terrible swing at a ball he should not have chased.
When he struck out with runners on late in the game, he dropped down to his knees as the low pitch came in and completely took away the umpire’s prospective. The pitch was a ball and was a bad call, but the umpire might have seen it better if Altuve hadn’t collapsed on it. Altuve has continued to chase a lot of bad pitches on this road trip, something he did a lot of on the recent home stand.
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Have to disagree. For several games, the umpires have called strikes off both sides of the plate. Blummer has mentioned it twice on this trip as no one can be expected to cover all that area. Same comment on McCann last night. Blummer commented the pitch was low even to Altuve. Pitch track showed it low. Finally Altuve for several weeks has the same issue as last August or September. He is not making solid like we expect from him.
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I was opposed initially to booth replays. All in all it has quickly corrected obvious mistakes and let stand bang bang plays. I now am ready for electronic balls and strikes. It is not removing the human element but human mistakes. Every batter and every pitcher gets the same strike zone. Rookie and veteran. Then it is up to the player to adjust once to what is the strike zone.
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A lot of Altuve’s improvement over the last couple years has been based on making better pitch choices. When he slumps that seems to be where he falls back into bad habits.
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I promise this is the end of my rant. The ump didn’t throw Altuve out of the game. He had to know it was a questionable call. The other day Gurriel was called out on Ball 5. He protested and was shown the gate. Game Day really shows the umpires mistakes. It is so bad this year it appears to be on purpose. Not favoriting either team but the pitching. If an ump calls a pitch 4 inches outside a strike then the next pitch will be 5″ outside.
The plate is 17″ wide. Add a 3″ baseball to each side. You are already 23″. And it you add 1″ to each side the Batter will need a broom stick or a fishing pole.
I am through now and feel a lot better.
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45, I only have the replay to go by, but the Altuve pitch looked too close to take. He hits that pitch on a regular basis. I’m guessing he was spared because he very rarely gives any lip to an ump. Gurriel had to get tossed. He was far more demonstrative.
The problem batters face day in and day out is that umpires still have their own strike zones. And other umps are not committed to being consistent. Those are the guys that piss me off.
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Call hurts #Astros
Strike 3 should be ball 3
Top 7 Cishek vs Altuve
0% call same
5.1in from edge
On Twitter a couple posts show electronically how low it was with 0% ever being a strike.
I think Altuve has shown he is upset with his lack of production. Last night, couple games ago the helmet toss, etc. We can’t say, “it was too close to take” and on another pitch “he is not selective “. It was one pitch out of one at bat. But during the past few games, he has gotten his share of close strike????
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Altuve has had a quiet week, but his OPS is still well over 1.000 for the past 28 days. We have great expectations! He’s hit .190 over the past week. I guess that means he gets three hits today.
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My problem with the umpires is this: They don’t call the top of the zone consistently
It is easier for a batter to see the ball in the top of the zone because that is where the eyes are.
It is easier for the umpire to see the ball in the top of the zone because that is where the eyes are.
Pitches don’t break up, they break down and yet umpires continue to give the top of the zone to the batter. even though there is supposed to be a top of the zone.
My problem with Altuve is that he swings at balls in the dirt a lot and yesterday he wanted a low pitch called a ball but he took his strike zone out of vision by collapsing to his knees on a pitch that was low and should have been called a ball but wasn’t because he took all of the umpire’s prospective away. If he had stayed in his batting stance and had his knees where they were supposed to be that pitch would have obviously been mid-calf.
You are right. The umpire missed a ton of calls yesterday. They do every day. I hate the fact that Altuve does not get the benefit of a smaller strike zone because of his height. It is time for umpires to look at every batter as they step in and make the proper adjustments for every batter according to where their knees are and where their letters are. And it is time to stop giving guys like Cano all the close calls because of his status. Squeezing a pitcher because he’s facing a HOF batter does nothing to enhance this game.
The problem with umpires is that the league won’t make them call a batter’s strike zone. Instead, the league allows every umpire to establish the umpire’s own zone, making hitters and pitchers adjust to them and that sucks. I want to watch players play, not umpires.
Angel Hernandez made a good balk call yesterday, but it doesn’t make up for all the bad stuff he’s done over the years. It just points out that so many umpires let obvious balk calls slide and somebody in blue finally made a call.
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1OP I realize that I miss a lot of background by watching on TV. But to me, a non umpire, it would seem plausible that the outside corner is harder to determine because they are sitting over inside corner. Also the higher in the zone, the most difficult. But these inside pitches that do not cross any part of the plate and getting called strikes?? I attempted to copy and paste the game Day strikes to Gurriel. Can’t make it work. But 1 strike was on or near the edge. One was an inside 1″ and another 2 inches inside. Those calls were right in front of the ump. Me personally, I prefer the players determing the outcome of the game.
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And to be fair, Lowrie was called out with runners on base on a very questionable call a few days ago.
In the old days, we could only state our opinion. With current technology that calls exit velocity, angle, distance immediately, wouldn’t it be nice to use that technology on the strike zone.
I promise I will quit, but this is really bothering me.
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I think we’re on the same side of this issue, aren’t we? Or am I misreading?
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I think so. But if Tim agrees that will make us all three wrong.
Seriously though I just want the players to determine the game. Yes, they have to adjust but not for every ump and for every inning.
One more example, King Felix threw two pitches the other night. One directly on top of the other on pitch track. One a strike and one a ball.
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