Yesterday's Spring Training game against the Nationals ended in a tie because Selig. Carlos Correa's first homer of the Spring accounted for the Astros' lone run. Dallas Keuchel threw 3IP, 1H/0ER, 4K with 30 of his 43 pitches thrown for strikes. Feldman and Gregerson will throw in a minor-league game this morning while Brad Peacock gets the start against the Tigers.
*UPDATE: Max Stassi had surgery on his injured wrist yesterday, and will be out for six weeks, which would put his earliest return on May 1. Given that timetable, he would miss at least the first 24 games of the regular season. Also, given that he would have opened the season as Castro's backup, we're talking about maybe 5-6 starts on the high side (not including any spot starts he *might* get at DH). It's not great news for Stassi, who was likely hoping for a simple bone bruise, but it's also no reason to break out our sackcloth & ashes alternate jerseys.
*Doug Fister left camp today with some sort of illness.
*Keuchel felt pretty good, especially against the lineup the Nationals ran out.
*Through 12 Spring games Astros starters have a 2.51 ERA. Hinch:
We're stronger at this point this year than we were at this point last year. Lance McCullers wasn't in our camp last year. We weren't talking about guys like Feldman and Fister in the fourth- and fifth-starter spot. Fiers wasn't here last year. So some names have changed but the quality has been enhanced.
*Jon Singleton is wasting yet another chance to take the 1B role, writes Brian Smith.
*FanGraphs: The Astros' 1B/DB Dilemma:
With Reed likely to spend April in the minors for service time reasons and Gattis not at full health, the team has a chance to give (Tyler) White some regular at-bats against big-league pitching and see how his skill set might translate. It's a chance they probably shouldn't pass up, even though it will require the team to use a 40-man roster spot to get him added to the roster.
*Juan Minaya, Brendan McCurry, Joe Musgrove, David Paulino, Brady Rodgers, and Danny Reynolds were all reassigned to minor-league camp yesterday.
*...But David Paulino totally feels "like a champ."
*Luhnow said Joe Musgrove has a very real chance to contribute to the Astros this season, either as a starter or long reliever.
*Though he was reassigned, Brady Rodgers will rejoin the Astros for the Mexico City series later this month.
*Jandel Gustave, raised by his grandmother, was left unprotected in last year's Rule 5 draft and was taken by the Red Sox who traded him to the Royals who waived him and was picked up by the Padres who offered him back to the Astros.
*Collin McHugh is one of Jon Morosi's 10 Most Underrated Players in Baseball (as is J.D. Martinez).
*Bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte does it the right way.
*For the first time, the NFL is willing to admit that Murderball might actually damage your brain.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
