Remember way back when all was despair. Dark thoughts encircled our minds and made our shoulders slump from the weight of the gloom and doom. Yeah, way back on Monday morning, three games ago after the Astros had lost five of six games and were having their great starting pitching undone, by scarce and non-clutch hitting and the return of the playoff exploding bullpen.
But that was so long ago and our perspective has changed big time, thanks to our favorite Crash Test Dummy opponent, the Oakland A’s. They have been good medicine for what ails the Astros for quite awhile. Heading into this week’s series the Astros had gone 27-14 since the beginning of 2016 against their West Coast rivals. And after a fun three-game sweep, the Astros are now 30-14 in that same time period.
Here are various thoughts as the team comes home to meet their best friends forever, the South Denton Rangers…..
- Heading into the 2017 season, one of the keys was having the Astros two best pitchers, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers back healthy and performing well. So far in 2018, it can be argued that Keuchel and McCullers have been the weak links of this rotation. Folks, if Lance McCullers, who has a 2.15 ERA outside of one very bad inning and Keuchel, who has a 2.86 ERA if you ignore one of his eight starts, are your weak links, your chain is strong.
- The last two games against the A’s brought some comfort and positive flashbacks as the Astros came from behind twice and more importantly held on to those leads. This late game dominance was the base of their great 2017 season.
- As was discussed in the previous post’s comments, Max Stassi has been a welcome addition as he came out of today’s game hitting .273 BA / .355 OBP/ .864 OPS. Two of his three homers this year have been huge. Back in April his 3 run homer broke open a 0-0 deadlock in the 5th inning against San Diego and drove them to a 4-1 win. On Wednesday his solo HR in the 7th inning evened the score at 1-1 and opened the hitting gates on the way to another 4-1 win.
- We are a couple months out, but how does manager A.J. Hinch handle filling out the All Star team roster, especially the pitchers if his team continues on the path they are following. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton are in the top 6 in ERA in the AL, Cole and Verlander are tops in WHIP and Ks, etc.
- Is it the cool spring weather or did they take the Superball out of the center of the baseball? It just feels like offense is lagging this season. Actually… in the AL the runs/game are almost identical to last season 4.67 vs. 4.63 r/gm. Ks are up about 0.4 per game, but overall it is a bit of an optical illusion with the couple no hitters and near misses the last few weeks.
- After Wednesday’s game the Astros were on pace for a 99+ win season. The team’s 24-15 record is 3 games behind last year’s record at this point when they were 27-12. Of course last year they already had an 8 game lead over the 2nd place Rangers (19-20) while this season they are only 1/2 game up on the hot shot Angels.
- Can the Houston Rockets follow the lead of the Astros and win it all plus have the MVP?
- The most bizarre thing may be the fact that George Springer now has a 5 hit and a 6 hit game and Jose Altuve has never gone beyond a 4 hit game, which he has reached an amazing 26 times…..
What are your thoughts at this juncture about your favorite team?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
100 responses to “Good medicine for the Astros and other thoughts”
Daniel Boone was once asked if he’d ever been lost in the wilderness. He said, “No, I’ve never been lost. I’ve been bewildered for weeks at a time, but I’ve never been lost.”
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Would he be bewildered in the bewilderness?
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great post dan. this is why i preach patience. baseball is a game of streaks/slumps and at times being bewildered. we have a really good team. no need to panic when we run into a slump because somewhere there lurks a winning streak.
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O Dan, why tempt me? That means our players are sometimes wildebeests.
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Bewilderbeests.
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Nice to see Max Stassi and Derek Fisher jump start the team with late game heroics. Stassi has been a real shot in the arm. Fisher is still struggling to catch up to the pace of this league, but he has shown enough flashes to suggest that he has the potential to be a really good one.
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Looking forward, things are brighter. What concerned me most leading up to this point was how lesser quality pitchers were tossing gems against us. The guys we should’ve been hitting hard, we didn’t. But now, 7-9 hitters are making a comeback.
According to Stanton, the best thing to happen to Lance was that bad outing in Minny. And now all the starters have had games that were clearly not their most productive. I’m still tracking us as the best rotation ever assembled, though and would love to see us blow the lid off these longstanding pitching records.
J. D. Davis hitting .450 is pretty compelling, even though he’s not as talented bat-to-ball than White, after he tore up the Texas League already, I say it’s high time we create space for him now.
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We owe the Rangers some serious payback. Last time they came into our house, they took two out of three from us, really beating up on our bullpen – especially Brad Peacock, Will Harris, and Hector Rondon. Profar, Gallo, Beltre’ and Chirinos all feasted on our pitching. Meanwhile, our offense went into cybermetric sleep.
This is our house. Defend it against the Red Rangers Red Rangers.
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I am still not comfortable with this team. Hinch is forced to stack Springer Altuve and Correa at the top because of lack of production at the other 6 spots.
The awfulness of Marisnick and Gattis is very troubling because they both look so bad that when they do get a hit, it seems like an accident.
I think the key to the Astros returning to the form of 2017 offensively is Bregman and Reddick starting to matter when runners are on base and the Astros finding a hitter to replace Evan Gattis at DH. I think if those things happen, the Astros can start to wear down the competition in the AL West.
If those things don’t happen, tha Astros will start to wear down their starting pitchers.
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I agree, OP1. My proposed course of action would be:
1. Move Bregman back to #2 [his OBP is .369, trailing only Altuve and McCann – and OBP is what we need at the top of the line-up]; then move Altuve back to #3, Correa back to #4, Gurriel back to #5, and Marwin back to #6.
2. Move Gattis off the 25 man one way or another [with his bad back, there is probably a legitimate excuse for an extended DL stay – but I have so little faith in him ever producing as a DH that I would not hesitate to DFA him if necessary];
3. To replace Gattis, bring up either J.D. Davis or Tyler White and say to him: ‘Son, welcome to the big time. The DH spot on this team is yours to lose’. If the first one falters – meaning no better than Gattis – after a month, give the other one the same chance. A third/fourth option might be Kemp or Ferguson. KTuck doesn’t look ready, especially in regard to OBP. So there is no need to start that clock.
4. Don’t EVER start Jake Marisnick again unless injury requires it. He is a late inning defensive replacement [in left or center, never in right], and a pinch runner.
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PS: My proposed 7-8-9 would be c, DH, and Reddick [who hits lefties as well as righties] or on occasions, against some righties, c, DH, and Fisher. I like either Reddick or Fisher at 9 because of their speed and capacity to distract a pitcher if on base, giving Springer more pitches to hit.
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I would say op that both Marwin and Yuli are starting to hit the last few weeks and that is helping to extend the top 3 a little bit farther. The catcher’s spot has been decent and Bregman seems to be heating up. Reddick is slumping and the DH is bad and the Fisher/ Marisnick dual has been bad. Need a DH the worst right now.
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Marisnick is quoted in today’s paper: “My swings in general have been good, I’ve just been swinging under the ball.” Yes, I always thought that was a swing and a miss, otherwise known as a strike. Please explain.
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In response to Mr. Bill, Blummer and TC mentioned that Bregman seems to hit better in the #5/6 hole. Maybe too much pressure on him but who knows. Agree that we need a bonifide DH and Gattis isn’t it. At least with White and/or Davis you have a guy who can give a break to others in the field when not DH’ing. Unless one of them heats up the tandem of Marisnick/Fisher isn’t going anywhere. Therefore, cut one of them loose and bring up Kemp/Ferguson.
I also believe that there might be something about swapping Verlander/Morton for Friday’s game. I’m would think Salty didn’t mind but we’ve been talking about changing the rotation in previous posts. I would not be surprised to see Cole moved up a notch before too much longer. We’ve got some upcoming days off so that’s the best time to do it.
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One stat we don’t talk much about is our pitchers’ P/IP [average number of pitches thrown per inning pitched]. This is another way of showing how effective a pitcher is in getting outs. It is crucial for starters [determining how many innings they last], but is also relevant for relievers. Here is how this has shaken out so far for us:
Starters [really good is under 15]:
Cole avgs 14.4 pitches per inning;
Verland averages 14.76;
Morton averages 15.43;
DK averages 15.67, and
LMJ is the worst on the entire pitching staff, averaging 16.78 [piling up innings is thus a continuing problem for him]
Relievers [over 16 is a red flag]:
Giles avgs 13.46 pitches per inning [it just FEELS like 30; in reality, his P/IP is by far the best on the staff];
Devenski averages 15.53;
Smith averages 15.62;
Rondon is 16.16;
McHugh is 16.35 [and this is a red flag which may help, though not fully, explain his non-use];
Harris is 16.54 [corresponding to the control troubles he’s often had thus far];
Peacock is 16.72 [see above, under Harris, Will];
Sipp is 16.74 [no surprise to anyone, right?]
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This is really good info, Mr. Bill. Where did you find this (what site).
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On the Astros’ official website, on page 3 of the pitching stats categories. It is the last one listed.
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On the bull pen issue with Peacock & McHugh. To me it’s obvious that both need to be used more often and for at least two innings. I don’t think either of these guys is a one and done type pitcher. The next time our starter has to come out after 5 or 6, let one of these guys go at least 2 or maybe 3 innings. The way we’re using them now will more than likely work against us if they then have to have a spot start in the future.
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Problem with that is McHugh is our designated long guy. Last week when Morton walked four in the first, Collin was up. Hinch needs to have him ready to go for that kind of a situation so giving him 2 or 3 innings on any given night would make him unavailable for a situation like the Morton one. I’m not really pleased by it, because I think McHugh can really help us late in games. Maybe soon, Sipp finally gets his walking papers and a new long guys comes up. Hoyt again? Paulino? Do we really need a crappy lefty in the pen?
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Where is Paulino? I haven’t seen anything on him this year.
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Paulino recently came back off the DL, and is pitching for Fresno. I think he has two starts.
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The Astros team ERA is 2.60, the best in baseball.
But their ERA at home is 3.05 and their ERA on the road is 2.16.
So, it is not just the hitters who have more problems at home than on the road.
As far as Giles is concered, I am only interested in two stats: saves and blown saves. That is the defining contribution he makes to this team.
I didn’t like Correa being kept out of the lineup yesterday. Stassi and Fisher saved Hinch’s bacon. Who would have thought it?
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You guys can’t trick me, I’m not going to procrastinate again today after procrastinating about Fisher/Kemp, was it yesterday? Thing is the stinky Fish is showing a bit of a less stinky glimmer of hope. And as Grayson mentioned the other night, even Evan Gattis seems to have hit the ball hard a couple of times. George is back in mid season form. Altuve is awakening. I think Bregman can go back to the two slot now. Our clean up hitter is not a worry, and man, he’s getting better and better at short before our eyes! Yuli got his BABIP straightened out and after hitting .224 in April he’s hit .378 in May so far. The catchers are doing more than we could have expected. Marwin is becoming an RBI machine again. Of the regular humans, Reddick is the one guy we really need to get going now. And if Gattis and Stinky should miraculously come to life, they’ll save Jake from a demotion. Now for those of you clamoring for Davis, Kemp or Nephew (solid arguments for all) I think you’re going to have to hope for our bats to go to sleep at home again this weekend to have any chance of an adjustment. Let’s face it, Luhnow designed this 25 and he’s just not going to make a change unless there is a whole lot of gloom out there. And I’m pretty sure we’re going to win at least 3 of 4 this weekend.
The pen could end up being a bit of a different story though. Smith needs to do something. Sipp needs to join the priesthood or something. The other guys just need to start being themselves again. I am still on the fence with Giles though. He’s pretty kookie.
As far as the rotation goes, I’m going a bit out on a limb here, but I think we’re okay for now.
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I’ll have some of what you are drinking. 🙂
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Kent Emmanuel opened the 6th in relief for the first last night, facing three lefties he retired them. It looks like we’re grooming him for an eventual callup.
I mentioned Josh James and his 98 mph FB last month. James, 25, made five appearances in April (3 starts) for Double A Corpus Christi, going 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA (4ER/20IP), six walks, 34 strikeouts and a .208 opponent batting average. The 34 strikeouts by James were tied for the most in the Texas League during the month, while his ERA ranked second. The right-hander was a 34th round pick by the Astros in 2014 out of Western Oklahoma State College.
On Sunday, he was promoted to Triple A Fresno, and debuts tonight!
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Thanks for the farm update Grayson. If a 34th round pick gets to the majors it is a huge unexpected value for the team
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Dan, we’d be remiss not mentioning the expected value of this last draft class.
Bukauskas (1st), Martin (2nd), Ivey (3rd), Solomon (4th), Mushinski (7th), Bielak (11th).
Tyler Ivey has 6 bb/ 40K in 26 IP. His ERA is 3.71 but his FIP is 2.40 and xFIP 2.25; Solomon has 29K in 21 IP, has struggled with control, but still has a 2.49 ERA. Mushinski has 33 K in 20.2 IP and a 1.74 ERA.
Martin was cruising, and after a rough first start in Corpus, he responded with 5 K in 3 IP on Tuesday. Bielak has 37/9 K/BB ratio in 25 IP. His FIP is 2.32 and his ERA 2.16. He’s absolutely dominating A+ as an 11th rounder.
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Is Marisnick leading the league in strikeouts?
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Well, Jake has 39 K’s in 80 at-bats.
Let’s compare him to Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the league with 54 strikeouts in 134 AB’s. The good news is we’re saving $24,000,000 by playing Jake, that’s the only fact that helps me sleep at night.
Op, are you certain he has two options left?
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Roster Resource has him listed with 3.145 years of major league service and 2 options left. I think the Marlins optioned him once and we never have optioned him down. He has only been in our minor leagues on rehab assignments.
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I am just going to offer my opinion on Correa getting the day off yesterday. In one of the Astros Facebook pages I visit I commented that I thought if they are going to give Correa the day off yesterday was a great time. The pitching matchup was very favorable for the Astros (until yesterday they had hit Mengden very well) and the offense was showing signs of coming around. It was also a day game with an off day today so it gave your young SS who is going to be very important to the success of this team a very long break before the next game. The Astros philosophy is that every player will be getting a day of rest from time to time. So, with this in mind, yesterday was as good a day as any to give Correa a day off. He simply isn’t going to start 162 games.
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No, I don’t expect anyone to play everyday, although Jose will force himself on the field in late September if he’s in danger of not reaching 200. As I said initially, with Carlos leading the league in hitting on the road, I would have liked to see him in there. Our win streak was only two games at that point. But I can see the other side of things too. I just hope 70 or so hours without live pitching doesn’t make for a stale Correa.
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No worries. I just don’t think we should blame Hinch even if they had lost. Correa is going to get a day off again probably this year and it’s up to Hinch’s discretion when this happens. I just was making the case that the team has been playing better on the road, it was a very favorable pitching matchup and the offensive funk wasn’t like it was earlier in the year.
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Speaking of the devil …. some recognition coming to Mr. Stassi.
https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/al-west-has-five-unsung-heroes/c-276028814
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Nice.
Max was a great hitter in high school and was highly regarded. Hitting wise didn’t have problems until AAA as has had injuries. Glad to see him getting his shot and his due finally
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Maybe it’s just me, but everytime these guys have a day off….they come back the next day and play like crap. I like the match up with Verlander and Hamels, those two guys go toe, to toe when they face each other! I heard the “stinky” kid will be back in the lineup tomorrow as well as Beltre.
If the Padres are still playing bad by the end of June, if I was Luhnow I’d ask them what guys they want for Brad Hand. No…..not Tucker or Whitley.
Sipp is not being used, and he’s taking up a spot on the roster, and sucking down to $6 million dollars.
I have some news on myself and my grandson Tanner. I’m not in the mood to expound on us just yet. I’ll let you know when I’ve finished all the tests I have to have. The news about Tanner is not good. Becky⚾
Think we can include Marisnick in a trade?!!!
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Keeping you , Tanner, and the rest of your family in my prayers.
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I will keep you both in my daily prayers Becky. God bless
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Thoughts and prayers for you and Tanner.
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Cionel Perez is throwing 97 mph tonight.
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I was pretty surprised to see Cionel, and especially Hector Perez so highly regarded by fangraphs. This list is going to change quite rapidly by the end of this season!
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-27-prospects-houston-astros/
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http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/indians-trevor-bauer-cheating-allegations-pine-tar-astros-twitter-explanation-spin-rate/18eue4z3a39jj1g1chagmpbraz
I read this twice. Still not sure what I read. If MLB allows a bag of pine tar on the mound, they using it is illegal?
Very confusing to me. Sounds like he is saying everyone else is cheating, but I couldn’t get my cheating to work, so they should quit cheating.
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Maybe it’s there for decoration and for good luck like those cat statues at Chinese buffets.
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Good to see the bullpen getting some scoreless (often hitless) innings under their belt – 3 innings of no runs and the night before 4 innings of no runs … No need to mention the one inning in the 16-2 win.
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David Paulino is starting tonight for Fresno.
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Yes, time to start seeing what he’s really got on a consistent basis.
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The guys have not played all that well at home, maybe they can reverse that this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed that Fisher is on the cusp of really breaking out, and the homeruns have found their way to his bat! Should be a good series. Becky⚾
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Our big guns really haven’t done much – so far – with Cole Hamels. Here are their lifetime averages against the tall, ugly drink of water:
Correa – .100
Gurriel – .125
Bregman – .200
Altuve – .222
Springer – .250
Reddick – .250
It is time for those numbers to go up.
Who HAS hit Hamels well?
Derek Fisher [1-1 = 1000]
Marwin .333
McCann .286
Gattis .310
Well, let’s just hope those numbers don’t go down!
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Powers That Be: Will there be new post (“fresh meat” as OP says) before EOD ? Sorry, it’s slow today and could use input, even stats.
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The ‘Powers That Be’. Diane, are you outing Dan’s true identity as Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery?
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Would not attempt to out Dan on anything except he apparently likes lasagna. 🙂
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I’m facing a project deadline today and a son’s college graduation tomorrow – not promising anything
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Both the Angels and the Mariners are playing teams with losing records [Angels vs. Twins, and Mariners vs. Tigers]. Well, technically, we are going to be playing a team with a losing record, too, but this particular losing team – our in state rivals – beat us 2 out of 3 last time they came into our house.
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Happy Graduation! I’m not going to post anything new because as soon as I do, some wise guy adds the fresh meat and I get ignored again. For a sensitive individual such as myself, I can’t take so many blows.
Just this afternoon I got a report back on an endoscopy done in St. Kitts (it’s almost free here) but the report described me as an “Elderly male of Caucasian descent.” I might be 63, but I’ve never been called elderly before. Can I protest that designation? I might go down to the beach for some rum and not make it back for the game, just so that I can prove to everyone that I’m still a knucklehead like Mr. Bill.
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‘Rock on’, Uncle Knuckle!
. . . Or is it ‘Peace Out’?
. . . Or maybe ‘Don’t Cross the River if you Can’t Swim the Tide – don’t try denyin’ livin’ on the other side’ ?
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Irie Mon.
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Only people 63 or over still say stuff like that, Dave.
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Can I unlike?
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groovy, far out and right on.
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I’m sorry about your senior problem. My problem is that I started to be described like that so long ago that I forgot about it.
I realize what you are going through, but I watched “Code Black” a little while ago and my emotions were totally drained by that.
Coincidently, I looked up Nevis this morning and learned a lot more about the island and it’s sisters(or brothers, to be all inclusive).
By the way, one can drink rum and watch the Astros, too, you know. As a matter of fact, the latter has a tendency to push us toward the former.
Chill, Brah. (I first heard that on “Swamp People”)
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The rum drinking facility I generally patronize does not offer Houston Astro baseball games. Now if you want a replay of a cricket game played in Trinidad last Tuesday, that’s doable. Brah is good OP.
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If I could be 63 again I’d feel like a spring chicken.
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Don’t you know it, Sandy!
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Correa has a 48-game errorless streak going, longest by Astros shortstop since Adam Everett’s 53-game streak in 2006. Adam is one of my absolute all-time favorites.
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Interesting, nobody really talks about Carlos going over to third anymore due to mobility issues. When it happens, I think he’ll be well into his elderly 30’s.
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I’ve thought of something I can throw out there that is quick and requires some audience participation. New meat….
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I figured a little competition would draw you out of your burrow.
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Can we wrap it in bacon?
Just thought I’d ask.
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MMMMM….new meat…..Hot off the grill
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OK – I have one in the queue – whenever Mr. Chip has a chance to post it – your filet mignon wrapped in bacon will be ready to go…..
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Filet, bacon and you can spell “queue.” What more can we ask?
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Faster than the speed of light, more powerful than a superconducting supercollider, able to leap tall project deadlines in a single bound, while simultaneously composing fresh meat for the Chipalatta great unwashed. It’s a falcon! It’s an X-15! It’s ……. SUPERDAN !
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I did not like that HBP by Hamels on Springer who has had a lot of success this year off him.
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Don’t forget Bartolo. They can’t hit him either.
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Man……what a game. Verlander pitches his rear end off, and gets *0* run support. JEEZE😠
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Luhnow….make that call to Fresno, NOW!
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I’m not sure if it is playing at home that shuts down our offense or having JV pitch….
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Tonight These guys are making the the Arlington little league look like the World Series champions.
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Really bad offensive approach. Repeatedly lunging at balls way out of the strike zone. We are making it way too easy for them to never throw anything over the plate. Not a formula for success.
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Our starters are going to resent this team for not giving them *one* run!
I don’t blame them if they do. Lefty pitching and a day off= BRAIN DEAD.
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Pitiful
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Ugly.
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Back to the batting cage. A pathetic display of offense (not).
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Angels are leading the Twins.
And the bad thing is, one of the only pitchers in the league we hit worse against than Hamels is Doug Fister – and he starts for the Rangers tomorrow.
#RangersHaveOurNumber
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I’m sooo pi$$ed off I can’t see straight. This game was personal. They came here and rubbed our noses in dog crap. And walked off laughing, just like they did in 2011 when we lost to them everytime we played them.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFRRRRRFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR😠😠
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Settlers
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I felt so bad for Verlander after the game, the media stuck tape recorderS in his face and had the GAUL to ask him about his outing. He stood there and answered questions like it was his fault that this team lost.
ARE.
YOU.
KIDDING.
ME..???
Yep OP…..they settled.
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Tyler White was the DH for Fresno and got hit by a pitch in his second at bat. He went to run at 1B but was taken out of the game before his next AB.
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Look on the bright side. A game like this does not hurt the batting statistics for Jake and Fisher.
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Pretty bad when Gattis is the only guy who could get a hit. I’m tired of the excuses that AJ puts forward. If we continue this type of play we won’t even make it to the playoffs. With our hitters it’s either feast or famine and it’s mostly famine. Definitely need an infusion of some hitters. It’s also obvious that we can’t hit anything but a fastball right down the middle. Continually swinging at pitches out of the zone. And I hate to say it but Altuve is just not hitting like he was. He swings at a lot of pitches out of the zone too. Pitchers have adjusted to us, we have not adjusted to them. Nice to get those 8 -12 run games, but I’d trade all of them for some 3 and 4 run games.
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That about sums it up.
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Do not mistake what I am about to say for panicking, or ‘ledge-walking’. This is just a baseball truism: To win your division, you have to win the season series from both the strongest other team in your division and have to dominate the weakest team in your division. Last year we did both. Right now we are not doing either.
The weakest team in our division, the Rangers, have now tied us in the season series at 4 games apiece – and quite frankly are out-pitching, out-hitting, and just plain out-playing us . . . BADLY.
Meanwhile, the strongest [other] team in our division – the Angels – leads the season series 2 games to 1, and is doing whatever it takes to win.
It is still early. But the most critical trends to watch are how we do from here on out against the Rangers and Angels. If we want the division, we have to reverse the trends set thus far in our meetings with those two teams.
PS: Hit another Astro, JERKS, and if AJ doesn’t order retaliation, I might.
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Well, I’m pleased to have missed the game last night. I was sipping El Dorado 15. I’m a bit fuzzy headed this morning, but nothing like the Astro hitters.
So, hypothetically, say we lose 3 of 4 to the Rangers. Does Luhnow make a move or two?
Hey, maybe Gattis is waking up!
When our good hitters all have bad nights, to me it’s game plan. And give some credit to the oppposing pitcher. But Hamels hits two guys and walks two guys early. Seems a bit of patience up and down the lineup might have made for a different outcome.
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And, as his strength failed him at length, He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he, ‘Where can it be— This land of Eldorado?’
‘Over the Mountains of the Moon, down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,’ The shade replied,— ‘If you seek for Eldorado!’
If the bottle isn’t empty, would you mind pouring me a little hair of the dog, Dave?
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Daveb – the story of the game may have been the first two hitters of the game. Springer patiently works Hamels for a 7 pitch walk. Altuve jumps on the first pitch, which was a pitcher’s pitch – low, outside corner and pulls it into a double play you and I could turn.
McCann barely missed on a couple swings, Reddick hit a couple shots that were caught.
Gattis’ hit was a hard ground ball in the right place.
And I’m still hacked off that Hamels just happens to knock Springer out of the game the one guy who has his number.
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