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Astros Activate Brad Peacock for Game Today–Wojo to AAA

By Eric Huysman

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The Astros and Scott Feldman did not have a great game last night. It started with a Jonathan Villar error on an easy chance at his first opportunity at shortstop this season. The Astros and Feldman never recovered from that play with the A’s scoring three times in the first, one in the second, and then four in the fifth inning, with five of their eight runs coming via the long ball. With the Astros having already played 14 innings Sunday in the win versus the Rangers, Astros manager A.J. Hinch did not want to use his bullpen in a game that he trailed 8-1 in the sixth inning.

Asher Wojciechowski was scheduled to be pitching in tomorrow’s game in Houston, but instead he was brought into tonight’s game in the sixth inning. Wojciechowski’s entrance into the game led Twitter to explode with posts asking who would start tomorrow’s game? Wojciechowski probably knew that he was going to be sent down after the game, and pitched well for the last four innings of the game. His fastball and overall movement showed improvement from his first start of the season. He pitched four innings with two hits, no runs, one walk, and four strikeouts.

The above tweet was speculation by Astros MLB.Com reporter Brian McTaggart after Wojciechowski entered the game. After the game was over, Hinch gave Wojciechowski props for the way he pitched tonight. Following the praise came the news that Brad Peacock will be activated from the DL to start tomorrow’s game. A reporter asked Hinch which player are they sending to AAA? He said, “that with the need for a starter for tomorrow’s game, we will be sending down Wojo.”

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Hinch went on to say that he proud of the work that Wojciechowski has done, but he will continue to work on his stuff in AAA. The Astros saw the true Wojciechowski tonight, and he will be back with the club at some point during the season. Had the Astros kept themselves in the game for longer, Wojciechowski may not have been used and would still be on the team today.

Brad Peacock had a limited spring training this year after recovering from offseason hip surgery. The fact that he can return so quickly is a testament to how much effort he has put in to get his body ready. During his last spring training game, Peacock got hit around. He showed that he was not ready to start the season, which is why Wojciechowski made the opening day roster. He was able to make one start in the minors, let’s see how that game went for Peacock.

While Brad Peacock’s minor league outing probably did not impress you much, he does have the experience of pitching to big league hitters. The numbers that jump out at me from his appearance at Fresno was the five walks he issued. At the same time, he pitched 4 2/3 hitless innings against the Las Vegas, the Mets Triple-A affiliate. The Astros need a pitcher to give them innings, and I’m afraid that if walks he that many hitters, he will have a high pitch count early in the game, which doesn’t help save the bullpen. As the Astros learned tonight, if you give the Athletics too many opportunities such as errors and walks, they will take advantage of your weaknesses.

In 2014, Brad Peacock was 4 – 9/ 4.72 ERA/ 119 K’s in 131.2 innings. Asher Wojciechowski will go AAA with a 0 – 1/ 4.50 ERA/ 6 K’s in 8 innings.

If I were Manager or General Manager of the Astros, I might have called up someone for a spot start so that Peacock can get one or two more start at AAA to refine his mechanics. Peacock could then be stronger during his 2015 debut. The Astros saw little choice because Peacock was scheduled to pitch in tonight’s game, so he was the most logical answer for now.

Even though Wojciechowski was sent down, I see Joe Thatcher as the next pitcher to go. He has only pitched two-thirds of an inning for the Astros this year, and he has yet to be effective.

Next: Astros in Fantasy: Week 2 Preview

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