MACHETE. 🪓@MLBONFOX x #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/axPqDanWb8

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 11, 2023

Forrest Whitley was 95-96 mph on the stadium gun during his first inning of work against the Cardinals. Threw a ton of strikes and got ahead of almost everyone. Willson Contreras got him for a two-strike single and an error behind him created a mess, but Whitley stranded both

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 11, 2023

Captain America with the hose job.

Maldonado with a big base hit up the middle to push Christian Vazquez to third base and set up a Puerto Rico score on the next play.

Puerto Rico takes a 2-1 lead over Nicaragua in the bottom of the fifth.

— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) March 11, 2023

MaLdY cAn'T hIt

Oh, say, can you sing? Astros catching prospect Luke Berryhill can. Check out his terrific National Anthem. pic.twitter.com/gDxcix6poB

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 11, 2023

It wasn't until Japan's 14th batter that they scored and Ondrej Satoria did not throw a single pitch at even 80 MPH!

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 11, 2023

Great stuff

Another hit for Maldonado in the sixth inning. He's 2-for-3 with a run scored.

— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) March 11, 2023

Clutch Maldy is best Maldy

Forrest Whitley threw well today. Threw 38 of his 57 pitches for strikes and lived ahead in the count. Got a lot of groundball contact — and a couple found holes. He allowed two runs, four hits, struck out two and departs with a runner at second and two outs.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 11, 2023

Phil Maton is pitching now, meaning every projected opening day Astros reliever has appeared in a Grapefruit League game.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) March 11, 2023

Hopefully he can get some punch outs

Two babies and a wife who was told she'd be in Frisco or Manhattan this spring. Carlos gonna be loving those long road trips this year!

19 days until Opening Day brings us to a player with more grit, hustle, and determination than most guys play with in their entire lives; the Biggio before Biggio, Billy Doran.

Doran wore #19 from 1982-1990 for the Astros and was a sixth-round draft pick in 1979. He had a monstrous season at AAA Tucson in 1982, scoring 100 runs, stealing 48 bases and hitting .302 and it got him the call-up to Houston at season's end. He never went back down, hitting .278 over 26 games in 1982 and taking over as the team's second baseman in 1983. He almost never got hurt, playing at least 145 games each year from 1983-1987. In the division-winning 1986 year, he hit .276 with a team-high 42 bases, drew 81 walks against 57 strikeouts and scored 92 runs. He also hit a 2-run homer in Game 2 against the Mets, a heart-breaking 6-5 loss.

1987 was his best year as he played in all 162 games, hit 16 homers, drove in 79 runs, stole 31 cases and hit .283. He was hitting close to .290 midway through the 1988 season when he got hurt, and his average slid to .248. The next year it dove to .219, and In the off-season he had rotator cuff surgery. In 1990, Doran was looking good, hitting .288 for the team, but the Astros were falling apart all over the place and had already decided it was time to rebuild.

On August 30, Doran was traded to the Reds for players to be named later. A native of Cincinnati, Doran caught fire, hitting .373 in 22 games to end the year. However, he hurt his back and had to have surgery that caused him to miss the entire post-season. He played 2 more years with the Reds and briefly with Milwaukee, but injuries forced him to retire at age 35.

He's the only MLB player I've ever seen in person steal home in a game and hit an inside-the-park home run in a game. If you had 9 Billy D's in your lineup every day, you'd win 145 games a year.

The Astros are inducting him into their Hall of Fame this August 12th.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Carlos and Daniella Correa have welcomed their second son to the world, as announced on their Instagram accounts. pic.twitter.com/OtrEuV4cAs

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) March 11, 2023

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Take it to the Twins Giants Mets Twins thread

Watching WBC. Neris was about 3" away from ending Altuve's season on a fastball up and in.

Just came here to post this

Just goes to show how hard it is to judge intent. Based on Neris' body language, if I didn't know they were teammates I would have 100% thought he was going after him.

Altuve gave him a look too.

Neris wouldn't have been allowed back in the clubhouse if he had tagged 'tuve in the face. So close. Dodged a bullet.

f1ghtintexasaggie said:

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Neris wouldn't have been allowed back in the clubhouse if he had tagged 'tuve in the face. So close. Dodged a bullet.

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No doubt.

He might be the first current Astro to get booed at MMP since the legendary NiKo Goodrum.

https://instagr.am/p/CcnSJ_GA4ZG

LuAce with 7 Ks in 3 1/3 innings tonight against Dominican Republic.

cc10106 said:

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LuAce with 7 Ks in 3 1/3 innings tonight against Dominican Republic.

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Almost as impressive as the 6 shutty in SEA.

In the WBC Luis Garcia strikes out Jeremy Peña pic.twitter.com/Luf912DNEv

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 12, 2023

k20dub said:

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In the WBC Luis Garcia strikes out Jeremy Peña pic.twitter.com/Luf912DNEv

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 12, 2023

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slider away. I'm shocked