Plus: Catching up with Houston's newest resident
The Astros traded Jake Odorizzi to the Braves last week because they were able to land a left-handed relief pitcher in Will Smith, but they were also dealing from a position of strength. Houston was working with a six-man starting pitching rotation and it also had veteran right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. working his way through a Minor League rehab assignment. As McCullers nears the end of his rehab time at Triple-A Sugar Land, the Astros are debating where his next start will take place. Is he ready to be inserted into the Astros' rotation, or does he need another Minor League rehab start? His 30-day rehab window comes to an end later this month, so there's time for the club to get another look at him in Triple-A. "Everybody has been great to me," McCullers said Sunday. "I can't say enough about the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and the staff they have here. We have great guys in the Triple-A organization and the coaching staff has been amazing. I feel like I'm healthy. I want to get back and I want to pitch with the Astros." McCullers, who injured his right flexor tendon in last year's playoffs and then suffered a setback while gearing up for Spring Training in January, was up to 86 pitches on Sunday, which is an encouraging sign for him. If there's a concern for the Astros it's that McCullers' velocity was down Sunday, with his sinker averaging 91.2 mph – a 2.7 mph decline. The velo on his slider and curve was down, as well. It wasn't a concern for McCullers, though. |
"I've been working on some [pitch] shape issues," he said. "I haven't been super happy with the shapes of my two-seam, and [Sunday] they were a lot better. If I can kind of build off of the shapes and maybe add [velocity] as I go, I think I'll be happy with that." The Astros' rotation, which has been the best in the American League for much of the season, is led by a pair of All-Stars in Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez. Then there's José Urquidy, who's been their third best starter since the All-Star break. Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier have solid performers, as well. The Astros began a string of 19 games in 20 days on Tuesday, so they could return to a six-man rotation by adding McCullers. From there, McCullers' place in the rotation will be determined by his performance. He was Houston's best starter a year ago and would provide a massive boost if he can approach that form down the stretch and in the playoffs. "I'm going to let them know I feel good and whatever they decide to do from there, I want to be help for the team," he said. "I feel like I'm at that point. Just have conversations with them and we'll go from there. I'm not going to speculate too much or put my opinion out there. I think that everyone knows I want to pitch, but I think we all want the same thing and I think that's to win a ballgame." | |
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TRIVIA Since moving to the American League in 2013, which Astros pitcher has compiled the most wins? A.) Lance McCullers Jr. B.) Dallas Keuchel C.) Justin Verlander D.) Collin McHugh |
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| CATCHING UP WITH TREY MANCINI |
Q: What's your favorite road city? A: "I like when we go to Anaheim. I lived in Laguna Beach last year, so I always spend a lot of time there. It's always my favorite place to go." Q: What's your go-to postgame meal? A: "If pizza's there, I'm definitely going to eat it. I'd normally get some sort of chicken and veggies and try to keep it somewhat healthy." Q: What's your biggest baseball superstition? A: "I don't really have one now, but when I was in Double-A I ate Lucky Charms before every single game and that was probably my best year definitely in the Minors, so Lucky Charms before games." Q: What do you like most about Houston? A: "The food scene is really, really good. I learned that very quickly. You can get anything you want. Great Mexican food, great Italian, great barbeque. Those are my three favorite foods and Houston's got a lot of that. It's been great so far in that regard, and in every regard." |
• Astros OF prospect Pedro Leon, the team's No. 3-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, suffered a facial fracture on a hit-by-pitch while playing for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday. Leon will not require surgery but will be placed on the Minor League injured list. He was slashing .237/.370/.822 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs for the Space Cowboys. • OF Justin Dirden, the team's No. 28-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, was promoted to Sugar Land from Double-A Corpus Christi on Monday. Dirden was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and didn't make his professional debut until last year because of COVID. The 25-year-old slashed .324/.411/.616 with 20 homers and 73 RBIs in 92 games for the Hooks. • RHP Brett Conine of Triple-A was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week. He threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings across two relief appearances, allowing two hits. • Astros' first-round pick Drew Gilbert leads a group of 2022 Draft picks who have been assigned to Class A Fayetteville. Gilbert, a center fielder, was taken with the No. 28 overall pick out of the University of Tennessee. The others who headed to Fayetteville are catchers Collin Price (sixth round) and Ryan Wrobleski (20th round), infielders Jackson Loftin (13th round), Garrett McGowan (17th round) and Tommy Sacco Jr. (14th round) and outfielders Zach Cole Jr. (10th round) and Zach Dezenzo (12th round). • Corpus Christi RHP Adrian Chaidez was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week. Chaidez struck out eight and gave up three hits and four walks in nine scoreless innings over two starts against the Springfield Cardinals last week. Chaidez is 4-1 with a 4.75 ERA in 16 games (eight starts) for the Hooks. |
THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY Aug. 10, 2019 |
En route to winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award unanimously, Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez blasts three homers in a 23-2 win over the Orioles in Baltimore, giving him an MLB-record 51 RBIs in his first 45 career games. The Astros set the franchise record for most runs and most extra-base hits (13) in a game and tied the club record for most hits (25) in a game and most homers in a nine-inning game (six). |
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TRIVIA ANSWER B.) Dallas Keuchel |
The lefty went 73-55 for the Astros from 2013-18, becoming the first Astros pitcher to win the American League Cy Young in 2015. McHugh and Verlander both have 58 wins for the Astros while in the AL, and McCullers has 45, which ranks as fourth-most. |
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