josealtubae

ANAHEIM, Calif. – With his first game back since the Jonathan Lucroy collision, Astros outfielder, Jake Marisnick, had Angels fans constantly ridiculing him at Tuesday night’s game; as well as, a plunking pitch to his left shoulder.

On July 8, 2019, Lucroy was left with a concussion after a brutal collision at home plate with Marisnick. Since then, he has been suspended for two games by MLB. Last night was his first game back and was booed each time he came at bat.

“The fans were brutal over the dugout,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “He was certainly the villain tonight.”

Marisnick went 2-for-3 with two hits and a stolen base. It wasn’t until the sixth-inning, Noe Ramirez threw a wild pitch, hitting his left shoulder.

“This was not a surprise,” Hinch said. “I wish they would’ve handled it better. The pitch was too high. If they’re gonna hit guys, they need to hit guys the right way.”

Though, Marisnick expressed extreme guilt and reached out to Lucroy to apologize, many think it was an intentional collision last week, leaving Angels fans and teammates less resentful.

“There’s unwritten rules in baseball, and I think, as players, we respect them,” Marisnick said. “I think that’s a question for Ramirez, if it was intentional or not. I’m not the one throwing the baseball.”

Marisnick, understanding the situation, took his base. However, his teammates did not feel the same way and started spouting at first basemen, Albert Pujols, resulting in both benches and bullpens to rampage onto the field. Before anything could happen, Marisnick sent his teammates back to the dugout.

“I honestly didn’t really hear, I just saw the kind of situation happening,” Marisnick said. “I mean there’s no place for anything like that on a baseball field. I’m doing my best to kind of calm down the situation.”

Astros reporter, Julia Morales, felt he handled the situation maturely.

“What Jake Marisnick did tonight was impressive,” Morales said. “Fans made his hometown an awful place to play, booing him every at bat and every play he was involved in. All he did was come up with two hits, a stolen base and tried to diffuse what might have been a brawl after he was intentionally thrown out.”

Marisnick also recently won the Astros’ Heart and Hustle Award, which is given to one player from each team who “demonstrates passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.”

While the Astros started their series in Anaheim last night, infielders Carlos Correa and Aledmys Diaz were sent to Round Rock to begin their rehab assignment in Triple-A.

With his fractured rib, Correa was put on the 60-day injured list. Since started his rehab assignment on Monday, he might be ready to start during the series against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

“With Correa having a built-in date already, that’s an easier target to plan for,” Astros manager, AJ Hinch said.

Diaz was put on the 10-day injured list after hurting his left hamstring against the Boston Red Sox. Diaz might need 4-7 rehab games before returning, Hinch said.

Though it is sad to say goodbye to some talented players, it is time to welcome Gerrit Cole to the Astros starting rotation.

Cole was the fist overall pick by the Pirates in 2011. The twenty-seven year old right hander has pitched in five major league seasons, holding  a 3.50 ERA of his career. He was also runner up for the National League Cy Young award in 2015 after pitching 208 innings with a 2.60 ERA.

Cole has a fastball that averages over 96 mph, a sinker of similar velocity, an 80 mph curve, an 89 mph change up, and a slider at the same speed.

With pitchers like Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and Lance McCullers as the front-liners, and Brade Peacock and Charlie Morton behind them in the rotation, Cole will be a great addition and provide some depth to the group. It also allows them to prepare after the 2018 season when Keuchel becomes a free agent.

Though, it is a risky trade for the Astros. It has everyone wondering which version the Astros are going to get. In 2016, he only threw 116 innings - caused by a tricep strain and right elbow inflammation. He remained healthy in 2017, however, it was recorded the worst season of his career. With a 4.26 ERA, he allowed 31 home runs across 23 innings (1.4 per nine), nearly three times his 2016 rate. 

Aside from his home-run rate, his strikeout rate improved from his 2016 career, as well as his walk rates. He had a strikeout rate of 8.7 per nine, strikeout percentage of 23.1, and his average fastball velocity was 96 mph (higher than recent years). Hitters swung at more pitches, but made less contact against him. 

Let’s hope he relies less on his fastball and more on his slider this season, which batters hit a .229 batting average with a .379 slugging percentage - compared to his fastball, which is a .263 batting average, .453 slugging percentage, and 12 home runs.

There’s no way to tell what Cole might bring for Houston, but if they are able to turn him around, it is possible for the Astros to become a greater team than they already are. 

As of Saturday evening, the Astros officially announced that they have acquired Gerrit Cole for infielder Colin Moran, and relievers Michael Feliz and Joe Musgrove.

Houston was having their annual FanFest that day when Musgrove received the news of the trade.

“The initial impact was kind of tough for me, and I think the emotion and the excitement of coming right out of FanFest and getting hit with all the news right after was what ultimately made it the toughest thing to swallow,” Musgrove said. “But I’m really excited to go to Pittsburgh. It’s a good opportunity or me to continue to develop as a pitcher and to get back into the starting rotation.”

As a starter, Musgrove recorded a 4.06 ERA in 2016, and a 6.12 ERA in 2017. However in the bullpen, his velocity went from the low 90s to the upper 90s. He had a 1.44 ERA in 31 relief innings to finish the regular 2017 season.

“I’ll never forget the time I spent with the Astros, and I was treated really well. I learned a lot. I was able to win a World Series, which is more than most people can say,” Musgrove said. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity to play. It’s not very often you get to play on a team of that caliber and have that many studs on one team. In 10 years you’re going to look around the league and be surprised that all these guys were on the same team at the same time. I was really fortunate to be a part of that.”

This is not the first time Musgrove has been traded. When he was just a rookie in 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays traded him to the Astros for J.A. Happ.

“It’s a different look. I think when you’re a minor leaguer trying to get to the big leagues, the trade is something that you look as an opportunity to get yourself up to the big leagues and try to start establishing yourself,” Musgrove said.

To prepare for spring training, Musgrove will integrate his changeup and curveball to start his new career as a starter.

“I don’t look at this trade a whole lot differently,” Musgrove said. “It’s giving me a chance to get back into the starting rotation and build my career where I originally wanted to, in the role I planned on doing it out of the gate.”

Quote source: Houston Chronicle

George Springer went from being 3 for his last 30 to the World Series MVP

Leadoff hitter George Springer finished the series with five home runs and 29 total bases, setting records against the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.

Springer helped lead the charge in the World Series. You would’ve thought I was joking if I told you this a week ago, with Springer being 3-for-30 in the ALCS and watching his teammates fight back from the Yankees being 3-2 against them. 

In the first game of the World Series, he was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, making everyone wonder if he was ever going to at least make contact with the ball. That all went away after Springer tied a World Series record by crushing five home runs, including hitting them in the final four games of the series. He also hit another World Series Record by his eight extra-base hits and his 29 total bases.

These are both new records. The total bases record before George was 25, held by Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson in 1977 and Willie Stargell in 1979.

“My approach was to get something out over the plate, get something I could drive. If I was going down, I was going to go down on my own accord,” Springer said. “I just remember swinging and hearing the sound off the bat, and I knew it was a good sound. Then I saw the flight of the ball and I got to first base and I round third and got to home and that’s a crazy feeling.”

Springer’s five home runs ties the all-time single World Series record. The only others to hit five home runs in the World Series were Reggie Jackson in the same 1977 World Series, and Chase Utley in 2009.

Even though he had been 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, Springer ended up hitting .379 in the World Series. He had three doubles, five home runs, seven RBI and eight runs scored. 

Though Springer went through a slump at the beginning of the post season, he came back when we needed him most. Like I’ve said in many recaps before: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. There were many talented players worthy of this award, but Springer definitely deserved it. 

“It’s a very surreal feeling because this is Game 7,” Springer said. “This is what you dream of as a kid, and for that to happen is indescribable.”

And this is how we got there...

On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers with the score of 5-1 in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, their first time ever winning a championship in franchise history.

They accomplished something no other team has been able to do, going from losing over 100 games in three straight seasons to being the top baseball team in just four years. 

They lost 106 games in 2011, 107 in 2012, and 111 in 2013. They drew 0.0 local TV ratings the majority of the time, they drafted all-world pitching prospects for two straight years and got nothing out of it. They traded talented players for Carlos Gomez...who was nothing but a disappointment (I knew that was a mistake since the beginning but wow no one listened to me...we’ll save that for another time). They traded amazing players like J.D. Martinez (who we got to see play in the NLCS this year), Hunter Pence, and Dexter Fowler and got to see them accomplish so much after we traded them...which pretty much is like seeing your ex upgrade to a better relationship...not fun. Not to mention players like Chris Johnson and Michael Bourn that we got to see slip from our hands.

We made a lot of costly player evaluation mistakes and relied on a rebuilding process, which the Astros a joke, the laughing stock of the MLB. People say the past doesn’t matter anymore now that we’eve won, but it really does. It just shows how much this team worked hard to get to where they are now. Houston took the spotlight with a plunge, completely diminishing the 104-win Dodgers using their new and improved (or “rebuilt”) team. 

As I mentioned before, we made mistakes in the past with our players but if that didn’t happen, we would never have the players we have now. Our lineup today has shaped this team in many ways possible.

Jose Altuve and Dallas Keuchel were the first building blocks of the team, both being initially overlooked by the organization - Altuve for being “too short” and Keuchel for his lack of velocity, both proving everyone wrong.

Altuve being drafted in 2007 and brought up in 2011, he went from a speedy slap hitter to a 5-foot-6 powerhouse, leading the league in hits four times and batting average three times, but also banging out 140 extra-base hits during the past two seasons. Dallas Keuchel turned his 89-90 mph fastball into a lethal weapon, and was undefeated at home and got the Cy Young Award in 2015. He pitched a 2.90 ERA this season and was 14-5 this season. 

George Springer was the 11th overall pick for Houston in the draft, his arrival foreshadowing the invasion of more high-level talented players to come. Shortstop Carlos Correa was the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, who ended up getting Rookie of the Year in 2015 and made an All-Star appearance. 

Speaking of 2012... Utility Player Marwin Gonzalez made the Astros Opening Day Roster that year. Starting off as a free agent, the Cubs signed him in 2005, later the Boston Red Sox selecting him in the 2011 Rule 5 Draft, then trading him to Houston for Marcus Duarte. On April 2, 2013, Gonzalez broke up a perfect game bid by guess who...Yu Darvish. Darvish was playing for the Rangers at the time and had one more out to go at the bottom of the 9th. Gonzalez also set a Major League record by hitting his first 25 career home runs with no one on base, which was later broken when he hit a home run on May 6, 2016 with Evan Gattis on second base. Gonzalez is probably one of the most underrated players on this team. He can play any position and his offensive skils are unbelievable.

Alex Bregman  being pick number-two in the 2015 draft, who had the chance to represent USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, hitting .208 this season and coming in clutch not just defensively, but at the plate as well. 

Obviously, later getting players like Josh Reddick, Brian McCann, and Yuli Gurriel; Also including pitchers like Collin McHugh, Chris Devenski, Joe Musgrove, Charlie Morton, and the biggest snag of them all...Justin Verlander to build this championship team. 

Are they able to win it all?

With Justin Verlander on the mound, the Astros head to LA for Game 6 hoping to get their first World Series win in franchise history.

After a thrilling game 5 with the final score of 13-12, probably one of the best World Series games of all time, Houston leads the series with 3-2. 

Verlander has been unbeatable since joining Houston on August 31, being 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four playoff starts and one relief appearance in the post season this year.  He allowed two hits, both home runs and three runs in Game 2 win over the Dodgers. He is 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) overall with Houston, giving the team plenty of confidence to try to win it all.

“LA is not an easy place to play, but we’re giving the ball to Justin Verlander,” leadoff hitter George Springer says. “And that’s going to be awesome for us.”

Houston has never won a World Series before, let alone a world series game being swept by the White Sox in 2005. The playoffs for Houston in the past have been nothing but disappointment. 

With legends Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell playing in the late 1990′s and early 2000′s, the team couldn’t get passed the braves (and the Padre’s once), plus St. Louis sending Houston home in seven games in the 2004 NLCS. Though, there was the rematch the next year against them and Houston won the pennant, they got swept by Chicago in the 2005 World Series. 

Even in 2015, the Astros blew a chance to clinch Game 4 of their first ALDS against Kansas City, who ended up winning the World Series that year. 

Though Houston has experienced a lot of heartache during the post season, they are hoping to get their first win tonight and make history. There is no denial that Houston has a power hitting and well defensive team, but finishing the Dodgers with Verlander tonight to avoid Game 7 is significant.