*To be fair, the Red Sox have been killing the ball lately, but Dallas Keuchel had a very 2016 Keuchelesque start. He allowed eight earned runs and grinded out 6IP anyway, but if the Astros are going to have any chance, they'll need Keuchel to be 2015 Keuchel.
*The Astros are 2x26 with runners in scoring position in their last three games.
*Amazing. The Astros optioned Josh Fields and Max Stassi to Triple-A Fresno to make room for new dad Jason Castro and new starting pitcher Lance McCullers. This essentially means that the Astros trust Michael Feliz more than they trust Josh Fields.
Fields has managed to cut his walks in 2016, but he's suffering from a .457 BABIP and a 9.1% HR/FB rate (2015's HR/FB rate: 3.5%). His 6.89 ERA is belied by a 2.78 FIP. It's bad luck. But there are a lot of talented guys who have been pretty unlucky, so the move was made.
Hinch:
Fields hasn't had a successful start to the season. He's about one click off every outing it feels like. From a competition standpoint, we feel like Feliz is the right pick.
*McCullers won't be on a pitch count, but he's certainly not built up to throw 100+ pitches.
*Injured the last two times the Astros have gone to Fenway, George Springer finally got to play at his "hometown" park.
*I wrote down concerns about Carlos Gomez yesterday. FanGraphs backed me up.
*Tonight's opposing starter Steven Wright is baseball's new knuckleball king.
*The Fresno Bee has a profile on new Grizzlies pitcher Joe Musgrove, promoted yesterday with Reymin Guduan. Angel Heredia was promoted to Corpus from Lancaster, Conrad Gregor was placed on the inactive list, and catcher Trent Woodward and infielder Chan-Jong Moon were sent to Corpus from Tri-City, who will not play a game for another six weeks. The Astros released Triple-A reliever Edwar Cabrera.
*A.J. Reed says his hamstring injury is minor.
*The Crawfish Boxes picked this up yesterday, but 2015 3rd Round pick Riley Ferrell (TCU product) will likely miss the season after having surgery to repair an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder.
*But hey Cy Sneed threw 5IP, 5H/0ER, 5K:0BB for Corpus, in a game where Evan Gattis hit a 2-run homer.
*Quad Cities' Dexture McCall is learning from his experience in the Colombian Winter League this past off-season.
*Hardball Times: How often should your team win the World Series?
*Before You Go: The Fresno Grizzlies are out of freaking control
The Fresno Grizzlies' latest food creation... The severed finger hotdog. Bon appetit! pic.twitter.com/bfw227DhWF— Bryant-Jon Anteola (@Banteola_TheBee) May 13, 2016
