I'm giving Flick a break this long weekend, so he can actually rest before he has to go through Finals.
*The Astros were off last night. If you count Opening Day, the Astros are 4-0 following an off-day in 2019.
*The Astros were off April 11, 15, and 18. Then they play 26 games in 27 days. A.J. Hinch talks about carrying an extra position player during this random stretch of off-days.
*Jake Kaplan says McHugh/Miley/Peacock are the steadiness the rotation needs after an off-season of turnover.
*The Astros will have the 3rd-lowest draft pool in the 2019 Amateur Draft, at $5,355,100.
*After 14 road games to start 2019, it was finally the home opener in Fayetteville at Segra Stadium. They lost, 7-5. Seth Beer hit his 2nd home run of the season, as did 2017 39th Round pick Colton Shaver.
*Before you go judging pitching performances at Round Rock, note that all of Triple-A is experimenting with a new baseball in which early returns are projecting a 1,200 Home Run increase from 2018 to 2019. Jake Kaplan looks at how the Astros are planning to manage Forrest Whitley's workload.
*Yordan Alvarez is hitting .318/.455/.841. Kyle Tucker is hitting .109/.180/.217. Jonathan Mayo answers a question about Alvarez replacing Tucker on the prospect list. Alvarez is 21, Tucker is 22. We're lucky to have them both.
*Mike Rosenbaum and Jim Callis mention the possibility that J.B. Bukauskas is the Astros' closer of the future. Coincidentally, last night Bukauskas started for Corpus, throwing 2.1IP, 3H/6ER, 1K:5BB.
Bukauskas, 2019: Three starts, 8IP, 16H/17ER, 7K:12BB. 19.13 ERA / 3.50 WHIP. He has thrown 211 pitches, 113 for strikes (53.6%).
*Noted Boras Shill Jon Heyman reports that Dallas Keuchel would be interested in a 1-year deal to reset his value, and mentions the Brewers, Phillies, Padres, and Astros as a potential destination.
*SI: The 6-13 Red Sox, currently behind the Orioles, are desperate for answers.
*One more link to The Athletic: David Aldridge talked to Michael Jordan about watching Tiger.
*ESPN: The fake jobs MLB players reference in order to not tell Randos they're MLB players.
*WSJ: The All-Star pitcher who bought a food truck and plans on using recipes from his favorite hometown restaurant.
*FanGraphs' Rachael McDaniel: The 17-Year Old Boy in the 16-Foot Boat.
*The Ringer's Claire McNeal: Big Bets and Fast Buzzers: The Secret of James Holzauer's "Jeopardy" Success.
*Hashtag United - a team created by a YouTuber - just won their league and are eight short leagues away from the Premier League.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
