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Houston Astros AM: The Jacob Nix Story
By Jason Burke
We are one short weekend away from watching regular season Houston Astros baseball. Just think, with all of the Easter celebrations, Sunday will fly on by. Friday is a work day, and Saturday there are plenty of chores that need to be finished around the house. Either that, or there will be plenty of naps to be had.. Then, baseball.
We aren’t the only ones that are looking forward to watching the Houston Astros this season. Just ask Rob Neyer of Fox Sports. He put together a list of three reasons the casual fan should watch the Astros this season. Those three reasons being Houston’s comeback kids–Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, not to mention Mark Appel—Jose Altuve, because he’s fantastic, and baseball’s most diverse catching trio, who, when combined form an All-Star. For more info on each of these topics, check out the article!
More from Climbing Tal's Hill
- Just how much better is the Houston Astros playoff rotation than the rest?
- Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
- Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
- Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
- Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer
A fews days ago Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated caught up with Jacob Nix, who told his side of the draft dilemma from a year ago. Nix was the fifth round pick of the Houston Astros, and according to Apstein is the first player in major league history, “to be picked, offered a contract and pass a physical, then have his deal pulled.” Apstein does a wonderful job of explaining last year’s draft debacle with both Nix and Brady Aiken, and how all of the moving parts collided which led to neither player being signed. Nix is a projected first rounder in the upcoming draft, but will be ineligible to be selected by the Astros in June.
Lance McCullers, Jr. will likely be pitching for the Astros in the weekend exhibition series against the Kansas City Royals, Jose de Jesus Ortiz is reporting. McCullers has made an impression on new manager A.J. Hinch, and is getting an extra look. McCullers held a 5.47 ERA with the Lancaster Jethawks (High A) last season over 97 innings. His walk rate per nine was a little high (bad) at 5.2, but his strikeout rate was also high (good!), at 10.7 per nine innings.
This spring he has made one appearance and pitched one inning for the Astros. In that inning he allowed one hit a recorded a strikeout. As the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday, McCullers will be in Double A at Corpus Christi to start the season.
If you’ve missed out on some of our recent articles at Climbing Tal’s Hill, here are some good one to get you through the weekend:
Houston Astros Trade Petit to New York – Jason Burke
Will Corpus Christi Have One of the Best Collections of Talent of All Time in 2015? – Eric Huysman