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Astros AM: Not So Fast, Gurriel Not Expected Tuesday
A Look at the Astros News You Need to Know: Gurriel Not Ready?
Good morning, rise and shine, and know that the Houston Astros can’t lose today. The Astros are off today. They looked like their day off couldn’t come any sooner with their sloppy play yesterday. When George Springer makes an error on a routine play, you know they are tired. The Astros did have a winning record for the seven-game road trip, winning the road trip 4-3.
Winning three games versus the Twins helped the Astros get back on track and helped gain momentum in Game One of the Blue Jays series. The Astros struggled to score against the Blue Jays top two pitchers in Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman. If fact, the local nine have trouble scoring against the better pitchers in the MLB.
With how much the Astros pitching staff struggled to limit the scoring in the past two games, you begin to appreciate how dominant Joseph Musgrove has been. Musgrove has dominated the team that drafted him back in 2011 out of High School. In two games, one start, Musgrove is 1.59 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings.
Injuries Building?
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
Yesterday’s game was not only a loss for Houston, but a few players had some injury scares. The first one was
Jose Altuvewho seemed to tweak something in his leg in his first at-bat trying to hold back on a swing. Then he fouled a ball off his shin, which barked a little too. He stayed in but was hitless.
A pitch hit Marwin Gonzalez right on his knee cap. He stayed in to run the bases but was limping noticeably. He left for Tyler White immediately. Jason Castro has been banged up, fouled a ball off his leg, but hit a homer later in the game.
What else do you need to know this morning? Keep reading on to find out what us going on with Yulieski Gurriel.
Next: News and Notes From August 14th
News and Notes From August 14th
Not so fast on Yulieski Gurriel.
Yesterday I wrote about the potential lineups for when Gurriel makes his anticipated debut on Tuesday. The 16th was the date that many suspected that Jeff Luhnow had marked on the calendar for when Gurriel would make his big league debut. They signed him thinking that he was big league ready. We thought all he needed was to get his timing back after not playing since February.
FYI Gurriel... https://t.co/1O94vsKQ5m
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 14, 2016
However, looking at his stats with the Corpus Christi Hooks, he’s not ready. Last Monday, he said that he was at 70% ready at the press conference upon arriving at Corpus Christi. I have heard from some Hooks STH who stated that he looks off. One game, he let the bat go four times. The following game he did get a hit and had two runs batted in, but he hasn’t shown that he has dominated Double-A pitching.
Normally, when a player has mastered a level, that is the time to promote them. The Astros might have promoted A.J. Reed too soon, but he did show mastery when he went back down. Reed is swinging better now but has yet to break out in the big leagues. So many people saw that Gurriel was struggling, why were the Astros still insisting that he make his debut Tuesday?
Luhnow made it sound like Gurriel would make his debut Tuesday in a media session before Friday’s opening game versus the Blue Jays. Apparently, he changed his tune a little over the weekend. On Astros Radio on 790 AM, Luhnow said, “We’re going to wait until he feels like his timing is right.”
In other words, he’s not ready.
Astros extend partnerships with two minor league teams.
I had a feeling that the Houston Astros were trying to move their Triple-A team to Round Rock next season before the season. However, the Astros and Fresno Grizzlies have formed an excellent partnership together the past two seasons, winning the Triple-A National Championship last season.
The #Astros have extended its Player Development Contract (PDC) with the Triple A Fresno Grizzlies: https://t.co/o6fyvl9ugx
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 14, 2016
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
According to a press release, they have extended their Player Development Contract with the Fresno Grizzles through the 2018 season. The Astros will continue to have the Fresno Tacos as part of their farm system for two more years at least. The two paired up in 2015 after they were part of the Giants farm system. The Astros thought it would be beneficial to have a team in the west since they were in the AL West division.
The Astros also entered into another two-year PDC contract with the Quad Cities River Bandits to be their Low Class-A affiliate. They have been part of the Astros organization for a while and like the Grizzlies, they had a record breaking streak and season in 2015. They have come back to the pack in 2016 but look for more winning from the River Bandits the next two seasons.
Ken Giles will return versus the Cardinals.
Giles’ last day of paternity leave was yesterday, he gets a little extra time with the scheduled day off tomorrow for the team. However, on Tuesday, he has to be returned to the 25-man roster. Luke Gregerson has already returned, so the bullpen is nearing full health. The Astros will have to decide who goes down between Jandel Gustave and James Hoyt.
Next: Predicting the Batting Order With Yulieski Gurriel
My guess is that Gustave would be going down to activate the closer in time for Tuesday’s game. After getting off to a terrible start, Giles has finally taken over as the closer for the Astros. If the playoffs are realistic this year, the team has to start playing better baseball against the better teams in the league. They face a tough team in the Cardinals for a two-game series starting Tuesday.
***Stats from Baseball-Reference***