  June 01, 2022  Hello! Welcome to another edition of the Astros Beat newsletter.
Remember when former pitching coach Brent Strom announced after Game 6 of the World Series that he was leaving and everyone wondered how the pitching staff would perform in his absence? It turns out the Astros' pitching talent remains elite and their pitching philosophy hasn't skipped a beat.
Entering Tuesday, the Astros ranked second in the Major Leagues in team ERA at 2.86 and were tied for the lead with seven shutouts (through 49 games). Houston's bullpen had the best ERA in baseball at 2.48 and had thrown the fifth-fewest innings, which is a testament to how deep the starters have been working into games.
One of the reasons Strom said he was comfortable leaving the Astros was because he believed the two younger pitching coaches who worked under him -- Josh Miller and Bill Murphy -- were more than capable of replacing him. Miller isn't surprised the pitching hasn't missed a beat.
"I think they outperformed overall expectations," Miller said. "But being around these guys close for the last handful of years, you know what they're capable of. They're very skilled and really good pitchers. I'm not surprised at how well we're doing, and, hopefully, we can keep it up."
So … can they? The biggest factor will be health going forward and not letting the occasional bad outing fester into a pitching slump.
"The game will humble you in a heartbeat," Miller said. "You've got to stay focused and keep working and always get a little bit better. Overall, if we throw strikes and execute pitches, we're going to be good."  What makes the quality work of the pitching even more incredible is the absence of Lance McCullers Jr., who was the Astros' best starter a year ago and has been out all year. Justin Verlander returned after missing last year following Tommy John surgery and is a Cy Young Award candidate, and lefty Framber Valdez might be in the mix, too. Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier have proven to be solid mid-rotation arms. Jake Odorizzi got off to a terrible start but turned his season around before going on the injured list two weeks ago.
Valdez, who threw a complete game Monday in Oakland, entered Tuesday leading the AL in innings pitched, and Verlander was tied for fifth. Garcia threw a career-high 171 innings last year, including the postseason, and is on pace to eclipse that mark. Javier also could reach a career high in innings.
"Those are things we can keep an eye on," Miller said. "We have a pretty good handle on the day to day, and we can adjust as needed. But there's no hard cap on innings or anything like that."
Miller said there is no secret sauce that's the reason the pitching has been superb. The Astros stress getting ahead in counts, limiting hard contact and putting away hitters. So far, so great.
"They all have exceptional weapons, and they're using them well," Miller said. "It's fun to see."
DOWN ON THE FARM  Everybody knows about the performances of top prospects Hunter Brown, Korey Lee and Pedro Leon this year at Triple-A, but there have been some hidden gems pop up on the farm in the first two months of the season. Here are a few players who have raised their stock in 2022:
• Second baseman Enmanuel Valdez, signed as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, is tearing up Double-A pitching at Corpus Christi and making adjustments with positive results. He entered Tuesday ranking among the Texas League leaders in batting average (first, .358), RBIs (second, 40), OPS (third, 1.089), total bases (third, 96), extra-base hits (fifth, 24), hits (fifth, 54) and doubles (fifth, 15). He had hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games, batting .408 with 16 runs, nine doubles, four home runs, and 19 RBIs.
• Utility player David Hensley, who was in big league camp this year, has a slash line of .291/.408/.443 in 44 games at Triple-A Sugar Land. He had a 30-game on-base streak earlier this year and leads the Pacific Coast League with 31 walks. He has appeared at all four positions on the infield and played left field in his Minor League career and is an intriguing depth infield piece.
• Outfielder Quincy Hamilton, a fifth-round Draft pick last year out of Wright State University, was slashing .316/.417/.526 with seven homers and 23 RBIs across two levels. He recently was promoted from Single-A Fayetteville to High-A Asheville and went 9-for-18 in his first five games at the higher level.
• Infielder Will Wagner, the son of former Astros closer Billy Wagner, was slashing .281/.413/.425 with four homers and 23 RBIs in his first 39 games at Asheville. A left-handed hitter, he has drawn good reviews for his solid makeup, which should be no surprise considering who his father is.
• Right-hander Matt Ruppenthal, taken in the 17th round out of Vanderbilt University in 2017, has pitched well in relief at Double-A and has flashed some quality weapons. He had 34 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA in 23 innings in 15 games while allowing 17 hits and 12 walks.
TRIVIA
Most Astros fans are aware that Nolan Ryan holds the franchise record for most strikeouts with 1,866 during his nine seasons in Houston (1980-88), as well as the MLB record with 5,714. Ryan also holds the MLB record for walks (2,795), but not the Astros record. Which pitcher holds the Astros' record for walks?
A. Larry Dierker B. J.R. Richard C. Darryl Kile D. Joe Niekro
 THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY
June 3-4, 1989
Raise your hand if you were, like me, still in the Astrodome at 2:50 a.m. on June 4. That's when Astros shortstop Rafael Ramirez slapped an RBI single to right field to score Bill Doran from second base in the 22nd inning to give the Astros a 5-4 win over the Dodgers. The game lasted 7 hours, 14 minutes, which at the time was the longest night game in National League history.
The game-winning hit came off infielder Jeff Hamilton and glanced off the glove of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who was playing first base. Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully had worked NBC's "Game of the Week" earlier that day in St. Louis, which went 10 innings, prior to flying to Houston for the Dodgers-Astros game. He arrived during the national anthem. Scully announced 19 of the 22 innings because broadcast partner Don Drysdale had laryngitis.
Less than 11 hours after the game ended, the two teams were back on the field for a Sunday matinee. The Astros beat the Dodgers 7–6 in 13 innings in a game that took 4 hours, 17 minutes, giving the Astros 10 wins in a row.
The Astros were down by six runs early before Louie Meadows hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to cut the lead to one. The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a Craig Biggio home run. "Don't tell me!" Scully screamed into the microphone to the listeners back in California. Mike Scott not only pitched one inning in relief to win the game, but he also lifted a sac fly to center in the bottom of the 13th to score Ramirez with the winning run.
"We won two extra-inning games and played 35 innings," manager Art Howe said. "It was unbelievable."
TRIVIA ANSWER
D. Niekro  The knuckleballer walked a club-record 818 batters while pitching 11 seasons (1975-85) with the Astros, though Ryan (796) wasn't far behind. Richard, who pitched for the Astros from 1971-80, is a close third on the list with 770 despite pitching 664 fewer innings than Niekro and 248 2/3 fewer than Ryan. Richard has the three highest single-season walk totals in franchise history, including a record 151 in 1976.
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Wednesday, June 1, 2022
No Strom, no problem for Astros pitchers
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