I'll be honest, I don't think the County Clerk has it in him for today. Maybe tomorrow he can examine today's debacle, but not this afternoon or evening.
That said, the Astros did make a move, and boy, is it loaded. Jordan Lyles stays in the rotation. How do the dominoes fall?
1. Wandy returns from the DL tomorrow.
2. Aneury Rodriguez goes to the bullpen.
3. Jeff Fulchino goes to Oklahoma City.
So how is it loaded? First of all, it's good news for those of us who feel like Lyles will get more from working with Brad Arnsberg than sticking in Triple-A. His service time clock has started, so why not let him continue to throw? He's been better than Aneury and Happ. Seriously!
Look at Lyles' last three starts: 17.1IP, 18H/8ER, 12K:3BB, 1.21 WHIP.
Compare that to Aneury: 14IP, 18H/13ER, 10K:6BB, 1.71 WHIP.
How about Happ: 17.1IP, 14H/10ER, 15K:8BB, 1.27 WHIP.
He even compares, a little, to Myers, including today: 19IP, 14H/10ER, 13K:4BB, 1.06 WHIP.
So what does it tell us? The Astros don't want to give up Aneury Rodriguez. He stays on the 25-Man roster so that he doesn't go back to the Rays.
But, boy, did they miss a golden opportunity. Because with Fulchino going to OKC, it means that Brandon Lyon stays on the 25-Man roster. They could have put him back on the DL. I'm not sure, off-hand, whether or not he could be optioned to Triple-A, but that could have been the corresponding roster move, be it through a release or another DL stint - it wouldn't have taken much convincing.
No, Fulchino hasn't been good lately. Since May 13, he has thrown 11.2IP, 13H/10ER, 11K:10BB, with a 1.002 OPS-against. Problem is, his BABIP is just .313 - not terribly far off the norm. So I understand that Fulchino has struggled. Just not as high-profile as Lyon. After all, Fulchino is - by definition - a replacement-level player (0.0 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference). It's just that Lyon stays, and Fulchino has been worth 1.2 more WAR than Lyon.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
