The Astros were off last night. It's their first day off since May 30, their second day off since May 16, and their third day off since May 3. They've played 50 games in the last 53 days. This seems unreasonable.
*There are a bunch of Astros in line to play in the All-Star Game, as though that is a surprise.
*Off-Day Playoff Odds:
-FanGraphs (103-59): 99.8% to win division, 20.7% to win World Series
-FiveThirtyEight (105-57): 98% to win division, 21% to win World Series
-Baseball Prospectus (102-60): 99.7% to win division, 21.1% to win World Series.
*Lance McCullers sat down with Astros.com to give a rehab update.
*Here's Jim Callis on what to expect from Yordan Alvarez.
*Kyle Tucker and Enoli Paredes made MLB Pipeline's Team of the Week.
*21st Round draft pick Davis Vainer is heading to the University of Arizona.
*Jay Jaffe in FanGraphs: Cavan Biggio and Vlad Jr are part of a very rarefied group.
*David Ortiz is expected to be okay. SI breaks down how the story of an attempted robbery doesn't exactly check out.
*Check out McTaggart's podcast with Jeff Luhnow, on the 2009 draft.
*Tom Eshelman - the Astros' 2nd Round pick in 2015 whom they traded to Philadelphia in the Fabled Ken Giles deal - was acquired by Baltimore GM Mike Elias (who drafted Eshelman in 2015).
*Whoa check this Deadspin story on the Chargers' "team doctor."
*Meet the Money Whisperer to the Super-Rich NBA Elite.
*Hackers stole 18 hours worth of unreleased Radiohead music and demanded $150,000 to not release it. Radiohead released it all, anyway, and donated the money to charity.
*A Musical Selection:
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
