Follow Astros offensive coordinator and director of hitting Dan Hennigan is being courted by Wake Forest, sources tell @theathletic.com. There are efforts to retain him in Houston and Hennigan has not accepted a job with Wake Forest
Follow The nerve irritation in Spencer Arrighetti's right foot is between his third and fourth toe, he said. Arrighetti felt it while warming up, but didn't think it would prevent him from pitching. He said it bothered him throughout the first inning. Next steps are to be determined
Reasons to Smile We won a game we had no business winning to make it 4 straight wins. Walker had a clutch hit. LaMonte Wade revenged the team that cut him
Reasons to Barf Arighetti has reverted to a pumpkin, meaning Jim is probably going to trade assets for a starter if we keep winning.
Astros Flashback: July 25, 1980: Things look grim indeed for the good guys, entering the top of the ninth trailing the Expos 7-2 in front of 50,217 crazy Canadians at Stade Olympique with Expos' ace and American super-soldier Steve Rogers on the mound. But something crazy happens on the way to an Expos' win. Eight straight Astros bat as Houston scores 7 runs and takes an improbable 9-8 win.
GOAT REPORT: Jose Altuve had a great night with 3 hits yesterday, moving into 112th on the hit list with 2,462, passing Ozzie Smith (2,460), Bill Dahlen (2,461) and Jeff Kent (2,461) in the process.
Dahlen played half of his career before 1900 with the Cubs, most of the rest with Brooklyn in the deadball era, 21 years and 2,444 games in all. In the early years when most fields were like 215 feet to left and 900 feet to center, he had a ton of triples - 6 straight years of at least 10. He won a World Series with the NY Giants in 1905, really earning it by going 0 for 15 in 5 games.
Jeff Kent we know quite well. He enters the Hall of Fame this year after a 17-year career. In what was probably the worst moment of Barry Bonds' life, Kent won MVP in 2000 when he had 33 HR, 125 RBI, and batted .334. Bonds was 49/106/.306 that same year. Kent drove in 100+ runs 6 straight years and 8 out of 9 between 1997 and 2005. He played for the Astros in 2003-2004 as Craig Biggio move back to the OF to accommodate him. In 2004, he hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history, a 3-run walkoff in the bottom of the ninth at Minute Maid that gave the Astros a 3-2 lead in the NLCS against St. Louis with a 3-0 win after Brandon Backe had secured his legend with 8 innings of 1 hit shutout ball. (clip at the end of the post)
Ozzie Smith is on the short list of players that I call the greatest I ever got to see play in person. He won 13 Gold Gloves and is #1 in defensive WAR in baseball history. He struggled as a hitter early in his career, prompting the Padres to trade him to the Cardinals for the much more proficient Gary Templeton. Using the Astroturf in St. Louis, Smith got much better at the plate. In 1987, he hit .303 with 182 hits, 104 runs, 40 doubles, 75 RBI, and 43 steals, but lost MVP to Andre Dawson even though the Cubs sucked (shocker) that year. Ozzie hit a staggering home run against the Dodgers in 1985, a series that saw him bat an outrageous .435. (clip at the end of the post). He only hit 28 regular-season home runs in nearly 11,000 plate appearances. He finished his career with 580 steals, 22nd all-time.
And now, the newest sensation, sweeping the nation.
Better Know a Poster Day 63 spotlight: agenjake
Current Bingo Score: 3 Place: Tied for third with numerous folks Squares Achieved: Rangers suck, Ags beat sips, JV < 8 W Squares Missed: Opening Day W, Correa > 15 HR, Hunter > 14 W, Judge > 50 HR, NL HR Derby, Pena ASG Predicted Astros record: 93-69, just need to finish the season 42-15 (.737) to get there
Squares that look like future wins: Rockies > 52 W Yordan leads RBI Trout > 100 G
Squares that are technically still humanly possible: Altuve > .275 Bregman > 20 HR
Squares that haven't aged so well: 90-94 W
Jeff Kent's walkoff in 2004 NLCS. An all-time great Astro moment. And Kent, who had played in the WS before, being a bad-ass veteran getting in guys' faces and yelling "ONE WIN AWAY"
Ozzie Smith's stunning walkoff in the 1985 NLCS.
Tommy LaSorda lost his appetite for almost 20 minutes after this. Then he ate 17 lasagnas.
And Jefff Kent I'm pretty sure is the only Astro to ever play on Survivor!
And he was pretty good too. Just got too focused on getting the returnees out. All for that $600 grand
I remember Malcolm whipping beating him head to head in a competition where you had to catch a ball launched from a catapult as pretty humbling for ol' Jeff.
And Jefff Kent I'm pretty sure is the only Astro to ever play on Survivor!
And he was pretty good too. Just got too focused on getting the returnees out. All for that $600 grand
I remember Malcolm whipping beating him head to head in a competition where you had to catch a ball launched from a catapult as pretty humbling for ol' Jeff.
We talk a lot about Raleigh in here and the suspicious 2025 season but check out George. I love the guy but you can't help but think something fishy was going on. Varsho was similar so seems like a "Jays" thing.
Reasons to Smile We won a game we had no business winning to make it 4 straight wins. Walker had a clutch hit. LaMonte Wade revenged the team that cut him
Reasons to Barf Arighetti has reverted to a pumpkin, meaning Jim is probably going to trade assets for a starter if we keep winning.
Astros Flashback: July 25, 1980: Things look grim indeed for the good guys, entering the top of the ninth trailing the Expos 7-2 in front of 50,217 crazy Canadians at Stade Olympique with Expos' ace and American super-soldier Steve Rogers on the mound. But something crazy happens on the way to an Expos' win. Eight straight Astros bat as Houston scores 7 runs and takes an improbable 9-8 win.
GOAT REPORT: Jose Altuve had a great night with 3 hits yesterday, moving into 112th on the hit list with 2,462, passing Ozzie Smith (2,460), Bill Dahlen (2,461) and Jeff Kent (2,461) in the process.
Dahlen played half of his career before 1900 with the Cubs, most of the rest with Brooklyn in the deadball era, 21 years and 2,444 games in all. In the early years when most fields were like 215 feet to left and 900 feet to center, he had a ton of triples - 6 straight years of at least 10. He won a World Series with the NY Giants in 1905, really earning it by going 0 for 15 in 5 games.
Jeff Kent we know quite well. He enters the Hall of Fame this year after a 17-year career. In what was probably the worst moment of Barry Bonds' life, Kent won MVP in 2000 when he had 33 HR, 125 RBI, and batted .334. Bonds was 49/106/.306 that same year. Kent drove in 100+ runs 6 straight years and 8 out of 9 between 1997 and 2005. He played for the Astros in 2003-2004 as Craig Biggio move back to the OF to accommodate him. In 2004, he hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history, a 3-run walkoff in the bottom of the ninth at Minute Maid that gave the Astros a 3-2 lead in the NLCS against St. Louis with a 3-0 win after Brandon Backe had secured his legend with 8 innings of 1 hit shutout ball. (clip at the end of the post)
Ozzie Smith is on the short list of players that I call the greatest I ever got to see play in person. He won 13 Gold Gloves and is #1 in defensive WAR in baseball history. He struggled as a hitter early in his career, prompting the Padres to trade him to the Cardinals for the much more proficient Gary Templeton. Using the Astroturf in St. Louis, Smith got much better at the plate. In 1987, he hit .303 with 182 hits, 104 runs, 40 doubles, 75 RBI, and 43 steals, but lost MVP to Andre Dawson even though the Cubs sucked (shocker) that year. Ozzie hit a staggering home run against the Dodgers in 1985, a series that saw him bat an outrageous .435. (clip at the end of the post). He only hit 28 regular-season home runs in nearly 11,000 plate appearances. He finished his career with 580 steals, 22nd all-time.
And now, the newest sensation, sweeping the nation.
Better Know a Poster Day 63 spotlight: agenjake
Current Bingo Score: 3 Place: Tied for third with numerous folks Squares Achieved: Rangers suck, Ags beat sips, JV < 8 W Squares Missed: Opening Day W, Correa > 15 HR, Hunter > 14 W, Judge > 50 HR, NL HR Derby, Pena ASG Predicted Astros record: 93-69, just need to finish the season 42-15 (.737) to get there
Squares that look like future wins: Rockies > 52 W Yordan leads RBI Trout > 100 G
Squares that are technically still humanly possible: Altuve > .275 Bregman > 20 HR
Squares that haven't aged so well: 90-94 W
Jeff Kent's walkoff in 2004 NLCS. An all-time great Astro moment. And Kent, who had played in the WS before, being a bad-ass veteran getting in guys' faces and yelling "ONE WIN AWAY"
Ozzie Smith's stunning walkoff in the 1985 NLCS.
Tommy LaSorda lost his appetite for almost 20 minutes after this. Then he ate 17 lasagnas.
My wife and one of her friends were heckling Tommy LaSorda at an Astros game years ago and they got him to give them the bird.
We talk a lot about Raleigh in here and the suspicious 2025 season but check out George. I love the guy but you can't help but think something fishy was going on. Varsho was similar so seems like a "Jays" thing.
Cal Raleigh extension. Why couldn't we have done something like this for Pena or Brown after the 2024 season? (Pena would have been a little cheaper given his breakout regular season was 2025)
I dunno how the PED rules work. Do they change what they are testing for periodically? Might explain things with guys using something that was legal last year but then went on the banned substance list this year.
According to @BGlobeSports, #1 Prospect Franklin Arias could be included in a trade for a high impact SS like Zach Neto or Jeremy Peña.
“The (Red) Sox believe 20-year-old Franklin Arias is their shortstop of the future, but he could be included in a trade of that magnitude.” pic.twitter.com/1Lk0x0uBxi
I've nearly given up hope we will do the shrewd move. The only scenario I could see is if you make that type of trade and call up Arias immediately to play SS. Then maybe you feel ok moving your prospects to pick up guys to help immediately. Trading Neyens or Alvarez (or both) to get you LF and/or SP help would be more palatable if you at least solved your SS problem and free up some money to spend in free agency this offseason.
I dunno how the PED rules work. Do they change what they are testing for periodically? Might explain things with guys using something that was legal last year but then went on the banned substance list this year.
Does MLB announce additions to the banned substance list?
Cal Raleigh extension. Why couldn't we have done something like this for Pena or Brown after the 2024 season? (Pena would have been a little cheaper given his breakout regular season was 2025)
Cal himself could very well be a cautionary tale against it. The Mariners had him locked up last year, this year, and next with his Arb 1-3 years. They added on 3 more years at 23 million per (105 million total with signing bonus and agreeing on Arb numbers).
Year 2 (of 6) of the deal that's made him now financially secure sees him with a .572 OPS, a 65 OPS+, and a -.4 bWAR. Yainer is embarrassed by the player Cal has morphed into.
We did the same thing with Javier on a 5 year deal (2 beyond his 3 Arb years for 21.4 million a pop) and in year 1 of the extra 2 years we bought he has a -.6 bWAR and a 9+ ERA with just 16.1 innings pitched.
Bregs worked out using that path though.
I think Pena would have been a good roll of the dice even with his limited availability these last two years. But it's the move of clubs that can't let the players get closer to FA (and prove themselves over time) because those clubs won't/can't play with the big boys financially for proven talent at that time.
Sucks we are in that tier of teams, but there are worse tiers we could be in I guess.
The Big Dumper is the poster child for a GM getting sucker punched. If they didn't lock him up with the year he had they would get slaughtered in the media but they also had to know what was going on chemically. And that the moment the biochemistry experiment ended that he was going to crash back hard and they would be overpaying like crazy. Now they get to spend the next 5 years praying he doesn't get busted.
The Braves were either praying Profar wouldn't revert back to normal or praying he wouldn't get caught. And then praying he wouldn't get caught a second time. I have no sympathy for them. They knew the chance they were taking.
They inked him and it looked like an absolute bargain because he broke out last season. Now this year it looks like a boat anchor.
"Broke out". I cannot wait for someone to "break out" the truth of what he did.
I'm also wondering what is anything will change in the new CBA for testing. It's clear the good stuff still exists and is being used. The question is do the owners care? I'll bet the answer is "not really". The players certainly don't.
