Luis Garcia and the most videoed bullpen session in spring training history pic.twitter.com/l2HEDAOYS8

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 17, 2023

Still is pretty slow overall. I'm going to miss him rocking that baby

except MLB told him his wouldnt apply and would be deemed a balk

So Luis is just going to go out of the stretch?

They damn well better punish the crap out of Juan Soto for all his delaying antics the first time he does it.

43 days until Opening Day gives us some terrific #43s from Astros history, led by our current favorite bulldog pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. who has worn the # since 2015. Would you believe that in 7 years, Lance has only pitched 718.2 innings. The injuries and the COVID year have us always wanting more. He's 49-32 as an Astro with a 3.48 ERA. His best season was in 2021 when he was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 185 K in 162 innings.

He's been a big baller on occasion in the playoffs, most notably in the 2017 World Series when he started Game 3 and got the win, putting the Astros up 2-1 in the series.



Rolling back the clock, we find that bonus baby Turk Farrell wore #43 for the 1962 Colt 45s, and Don Nottebart sported it in 1963-1965. Nottebart was 11-8 with a 3.17 ERA on the Astros 1963 team that otherwise went 66-96.

The number found a home on Ken Forsch's back from 1970-1980. Forsch was 78-81 with a 3.18 ERA for the Astros, which tells you how really bad their offense was in the 70s. He had a weird career. He was a starter from 1971-1973, switched to the bullpen from 1974-178, then went back to starting for the remainder of his career. He took the hard-luck loss in the Astros' Game 1 defeat at the hands of the Phillies in the 1980 NLCS, losing to Steve Carlton 3-1. In 1979, he no-hit the Braves 6-0 at the Dome. He and brother Bob Forsch, who pitched for the Astros in the 1980s, are the only brothers in MLB history to have both pitched a no-hitter. Coming on April 7, it was the earliest no-hitter in a season ever, coming in the Astros' second game. He walked two and struck out three. Game time? 2 hours and 5 minutes.



Of course, I've buried the lead a bit, because from 1986-1991, #43 was worn by one of our collective favorite Astros on and off the field, Mr. Jim Deshaies, a laid-back dude who was an absolute joy to listen to when he was giving color commentary in the broadcast booth.

The Astros got Jimmy D from the Yankees, who wanted 40-year-old Joe Niekro for their stretch run. Deshaies earned the #4 spot in the rotation for the '86 Astros behind Scott, Knepper, and Ryan, and was brilliant, going 12-5 with a 3.25 ERA. He wound up staying 7 years in Houston, going 61-59 with a 3.67 ERA.

His most memorable game came during the Astros' most memorable 3-game regular-season stretch in franchise history. On September 23, 1986, the Astros were 87-64 and two days away from clinching the AL West. Playing the underachieving Dodgers at the Astrodome, Deshaies fanned Steve Sax, Reggie Williams, Enos Cabell, Pedro Guerrero, Alex Trevino, Jeff Hamilton, Dave Anderson, and Jose Gonzalez all in a row to tie an MLB record with 8 consecutive strikeouts to start a game.

True to form as the world's biggest d*bag, Tommy Lasorda pinch hit for his pitcher in the third inning down 2-0 to avoid setting the record, and it worked. Pinch hitter Larry See popped out to second to end the inning. Deshaies pitched a 2-hit shutout with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. The record was broken in 2021 by Pablo Lopez of the Marlins. In 1989, Jimmy D went 15-10 with a 2.91 ERA. He was also one of the single worst hitters in MLB history, batting .088 for his career with zero extra-base hits.

He was the Astros' color commentator on TV from 1997-2012 when he got plucked by the Cubs.

Enjoy Framber Valdez pic.twitter.com/YjQGUfIncj

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 17, 2023

,@rstanek_55 pic.twitter.com/cTKFBVp2Zq

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 17, 2023

First group of bullpens today pic.twitter.com/DkOocYg2in

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 17, 2023

Framber pic.twitter.com/p7o33yFcGB

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 17, 2023

Maldonado telling me I haven’t lost 17 pounds pic.twitter.com/pGSI9wXylw

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 17, 2023

Yainer Diaz is all smiles pic.twitter.com/Huu7BlGW0S

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 17, 2023

Phil Maton pic.twitter.com/XZvnA4c8cR

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 17, 2023

.@astros 1B Jose Abreu pic.twitter.com/sGE4Ssi8Dm

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 17, 2023

Don't do that to me, Dusty.

Yeah I'm alarmed.

Farmer1906 said:

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Coby said:

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Yeah I'm alarmed.

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Hard not to be at this point.

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Death, taxes, and Lance with random arm soreness

and just like that the DB retirement wishes start again..... now

If this is truly an open competition and I were Chas I'd be asking for a trade.

How can what he did last year especially down the stretch and in the playoffs not earn him a spot?

What else does he have to do?

Man Dusty really hates chas. I wonder what he did to piss him off. If making a game winning catch in the world series and hitting two key homers in the alcs still has you in the dog house, nothing will get you out.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Man Dusty really hates chas. I wonder what he did to piss him off. If making a game winning catch in the world series and hitting two key homers in the alcs still has you in the dog house, nothing will get you out.

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Chas nor Jake will ever be Myles Straw's equivalent in Dusty's eyes.

And that is why we didn't trade Jose U last year. Lance is made of glass