The Astros were off. The Nashville Predators are my hockey team until Uncle Billionz brings an NHL franchise to The H, and they...crapped the bed against the Jets. FACT: I used to really be into hockey. Ya boy once wore a Houston Aeros jersey to picture day. It filled the baseball offseason. Then, I just wasn't into hockey anymore. I lived in Nashville about a year before I realized that goaltender Pekka Rinne wasn't an Italian goaltender whose last name was "Pecoriné."
*Jose Altuve gave an interview to USA Today's Jorge L. Ortiz about 3000 hits, and it's pretty great. Altuve:
I'm coming off the best year of my career, a season when I won the MVP and we won the World Series, and maybe at one point I thought, 'Maybe now that I have some experience everything will be easier.' But I come in this year and it's the same...You might hit the ball well and the right fielder makes a great play on you, or the shortstop. What I mean by this is I don't much believe in projections, because baseball is so hard.
So let's parse this out a little bit. Altuve has 1302 hits in 4485 Plate Appearances. If he is able - and that's a huge If, given the potential for injuries and general aging - to maintain that pace of a hit every 3.45 PAs, then he would reach 3000 hits with another 5849 PAs. Let's take out the 2018 season and his call-up season in 2011 and get an average number of full-season PAs. Through the magic of Math, I can tell you Altuve got 1189 hits in 4077 PAs, or a hit every 3.43 PAs, averaging 198.1 hits and 679.5 PAs from 2012-2017. At that pace he needs to replicate his 2012-2017 pace for another 8.5 seasons in order to reach 3000 hits. That's Altuve's Age 36 or 37 season. If you really want to project - and this is now officially an academic exercise - at that pace Altuve would break Pete Rose's hit record in his Age 43 season, but that's based on Altuve replicating his 2012-2017 through 2032. I think that says more about Cheatin Ass Pete Rose than it does Altuve.
*Max Stassi is one of MLB.com's AL West Unsung Heroes.
*Jon Heyman posted his weekly Inside Baseball column, so let's see what he found on Baseball-Reference and which pissed-off scout he talked to:
One scout says he's sure the Astros should make Lance McCullers Jr. the closer. That scout says McCullers' "demeanor and motor" better fit the closer role. He also suggested his stature (he's about 6 feet) makes it tough to be a starter long-term. That scout suggested Brad Peacock should move to the rotation instead.
As soon as we book McCullers on Lima Time Time, this is Question #1.
*A.J. Hinch's former college teammate was a Silicon Valley guy who now does something with motivational speaking and did something with a book about clubhouse chemistry and I guess Hinch is in it and he thought Springer's homer in Game 5 was cool and showed something important about life.
*J.D. Davis' 12-game hitting streak came to an end, though Tony Kemp got a single in the 6th to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Fresno (21-14) dropped a 3-2 decision to Las Vegas.
*Corpus (18-15) beat Midland 9-2. Cionel Perez threw 5IP, 3H/0ER, 7K:1BB. In his last five starts Perez has thrown 20.1IP, 19H/1ER, 22K:8BB. Riley Ferrell walked four batters in 0.2IP.
Hooks outfielder @mylesstraw leads @MiLB in stolen bases. Want to know how he does it?@SammyLev went to the field to talk with Myles about his approach and what he looks for when he's ready to run!— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) May 10, 2018
FULL VIDEO: https://t.co/aZZ8G9ctXG pic.twitter.com/144HOtB13F
*Buies Creek (21-13) overcame a 4-0 1st inning deficit with a 6-run 6th inning to beat Myrtle Beach 8-5. Ronnie Dawson and Osvaldo Duarte each went 3x5. JJ Matijevic went 2x4 for his first hits at High-A. Ronel Blanco and Brandon Bielak combined for 8.1IP, 4H/1ER, 12K:1BB.
*Quad Cities (18-14) lost to Lake County 2-1, the pitching staff allowed four hits but eight walks. Corey Julks went 1x2 with a walk, two stolen bases, and an outfield assist.
*Jeff Sullivan: A bad day at work.
*You were impressed by Kris Medlen's perseverance? Let The Athletic's Rustin Dodd tell you about Jason Adam.
*Scott Miller on the painful story of Troy Tulowitzki, the "best player, like, ever."
*Dan Jennings discussed passing on Pujols in the draft.
*The Austin American-Statesman has an interesting read on what we now know about the serial Austin bomber.
*Richard Overton, 112 years old, lives in Austin and smokes 12 cigars a day.
*Pitchfork published their staff's favorite moments in songs. Here are four of my favorites, in no particular order:
3:03 of "Children of Children" by Jason Isbell. It's the moment that album went from Really Good to Transcendent, for me.
4:14 of "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" by Wilco.
2:52 of "In Bloom" by Nirvana, because it's what Kurt Cobain's soul sounds like.
1:42 of "Like A Friend" by Pulp.
