Astros Weekend Links

I know it’s a little early for the “weekend links” but I took a vacation day from work and there is a lot of good content out there. So, here you go.

Fangraphs

"Castro was never a bad, obnoxious receiver. He was in the vicinity of league-average. But above, you can see how still he keeps himself, particularly in the last .gif in which the pitcher missed up. It’s easy to frame a pitch that’s thrown right to the target. In the third instance, the target was missed, but Castro still made it look smooth and earned himself and his pitcher a borderline up-away strike."

 What the Heck, Bobby?

"Well, last night wasn’t the best of nights for Astros fans, major and minor, as the good guys got swept. But all four of the Astros full season minor league teams are at least at .500 and three of the four are in first or second place."

Grading on the curve

"Along with a sweet swing, Scott is learning to utilize his above-average speed to swipe bases at opportune times. He has worked at this a great deal, and was able to steal 25 bags out of 33 chances in 2013 with the Single-A Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League."

Houston Press

"There are lots of things that embody the wreckage of the Houston Astros. There’s the whole CSN Houston fiasco. There’s being shifted to a radio station that most fans have trouble picking up outside the city. There was the debacle of the erector-set billboard that blocked the view out of left field. There’s the current owner suing the former owner for fraud arising out of the sale of the team."

The Crawfish Boxes

"He shows good instincts and a mature approach in the outfield – adjusting on the fly, being aware of the situation, and knowing what to do with the ball once he has it."

ESPN (Insider only subscription required to view complete article)

"“The first day we get into town for our first workout out of spring training, we have what I call a ‘Welcome to the Caster’ talk,” said Alexander. “In that talk, I go through all the situations — the weather conditions, the travel, the [long commuter round-trips to play other California League affiliates], the wind, all that stuff, that we have to deal with on a daily basis out here. And then we don’t talk about it again."