*The Astros/Cardinals game ended in a 4-4 tie, but I'm sure the Cardinals went ahead and counted it as a win for them.
Notable:
-Framber Valdez retired four of the nine batters he faced and allowed 3H/2ER, 0K:2BB.
-Roberto Osuna threw a perfect inning, striking out one.
-Corbin Martin threw 2.2IP, 2H/1ER, 0K:1BB.
-Tony Kemp and Myles Straw (SB) had two hits each.
-Carlos Correa had an RBI double.
*Carlos Correa is encouraged by his exit velocity even this early in Spring Training. Correa:
It just feels great to be able to put the barrel on the baseball, and my back feels great.
*Jenny Dial Creech: Lance McCullers doesn't like just watching Spring Training.
*The Astros' current bullpen setup is one of the best - statistically - in franchise history. McTaggart has your tale of the tape.
*The New York Times' Michael Powell went to the Astros' clubhouse to talk about the last two free agency cycles, and the comparison between the players' roles in the NBA and MLB. There were some quotes. Reddick:
A lot of guys are pissed off. There are a lot of guys who should have jobs who are just hanging there. If it takes another bad strike to change this, then that's what we need to do.
Bregman:
A lot of teams seem fine with losing and getting TV money and making no attempt to sign players. That is bad for the game.
According to MLBTR's 2018-19 Free Agent Tracker, there are 34 remaining uninjured free agents who played in 2018. Here they are with their 2018 fWAR:
Matt Belisle: -0.2
Blaine Boyer: -0.9
Santiago Casilla: 0.1
Bartolo Colon: 0.2
Jorge De La Rosa: 0.0
Yovani Gallardo: 0.1
Evan Gattis: 0.0
Carlos Gomez: -0.5
Carlos Gonzalez: 1.7
Miguel Gonzalez: -0.3
Gio Gonzalez: 2.0
Chris Hatcher: -0.4
Chase Headley: -0.4
Matt Holliday: 0.1
Edwin Jackson: 0.7
Austin Jackson: -1.0
Jim Johnson: -0.3
Adam Jones: 0.5
Dallas Keuchel: 3.6
Craig Kimbrel: 1.5
Ryan Madson: 0.2
Martin Maldonado: 0.9
Logan Morrison: -0.7
Brandon Phillips: -0.3
Jose Reyes: -0.9
Fernando Salas: 0.0
James Shields: 0.8
Tony Sipp: 0.9
Denard Span: 1.5
Chris Tillman: -0.4
Danny Valencia: -0.4
Adam Warren: 0.3
Blake Wood: 0.0
Chris Young: -0.5
I know that was long, but I wanted to show my work. So of this list of free agents there are four who were worth more than 1.0 fWAR. There are more who posted a negative fWAR in 2018 (13) than posted an fWAR over 0.5 (9). I mean, if you were to start a franchise on MLB 12 The Show, there are some tasty names in here, but a long list of players who used to be really good is not the team you build in 2019.
But still, Astros, offer Dallas Keuchel 3yrs/$50m.
*
*Abraham Toro: Gettin' it. Please let's not give him a nickname like "Ted," and ruin him for a year.J. B. Bukauskas, Wicked Changeup. 🤢— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 28, 2019
[A little birdie (or Woody) told me that JB said it was one of his nastiest. @rwoodard20 ] pic.twitter.com/WrJtzyiOsZ
*Chandler Rome has the story on Brendan McCurry, and how he went from a JuCo second baseman to a closer.
*Royals catcher Sal Perez probably needs Tommy John Surgery.
*Can Texas end Daylight Savings Time this time around?
*A Musical Selection:
