Astros notes: early BP, Martinez, The Regulators and free Altuve autographs (coming soon).
Taking early batting practice is pretty standard when a team is on the road, but normally, only a handful of players are present for the drill. Early BP, during which a team reserves the field prior to the home team taking it over for their daily practice, is normally designed for bench players looking to get some extra swings in, or regular players trying to work through some soreness or a slump, or young players looking for some extra time in the cage.
According to manager Brad Mills, attendance was a lot higher for early BP on Friday in Pittsburgh, enough for three hitting groups. That can partly be attributed to the weather — it was one of those picture-perfect sunny days, around 70 degrees with no humidity. Pittsburgh isn’t exactly a destination spot for ballplayers (although I’ve always said it’s a very underrated city, and great for baseball), so most were probably ready to head to the ballpark early, anyway. Players also like to get some extra swings in after an offday, which could also explain the crowd this time.
One of the participants was J.D. Martinez, who you’ve probably noticed was dropped in the order a few days ago and then omitted from the lineup more recently. Martinez carried an 0-for-21 streak to Pittsburgh and wasn’t in the starting lineup for Friday’s opener.
Mills said reinserting Martinez into the lineup is “coming up pretty quick,” after he gives the outfielder a chance to clear his head.
“I think he’s getting to where he needs to be,” Mills said.
Meanwhile, Mills tried something new with the lineup, sliding Jose Altuve into the three-hole for the first time and moving Jed Lowrie back up to two.
Until Friday, there were four players who had batted third this season: Martinez (23 games), Lowrie (five games), Travis Buck (two games) and Brian Bogusevic (one game).
“There are a lot of things I like about it,” Mills said of the Lowrie-Altuve tandem. “I talked to Jed and Altuve about it and they were all in.”
Mills also hinted he may keep them there for the remainder of this series.
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Brett Myers refers to the bullpen corps as “The Regulators” and often heaps praise on his ‘pen mates after the Astros nail down close wins. How do I know this? Why, I follow Myers on Twitter, of course.
Myers, who goes by the Twitter handle @TheOutlaw39, is one of several players who signed up at some point this season. Another newcomer is reliever Wilton Lopez, who can be found in Twitterland at @lopezwilton59.
The full updated list of players and staff members on Twitter can be found here.
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Altuve will sign autographs (free of charge) at the Team Store at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, May 19 from 1 to 2 p.m. CT. Autographs are not guaranteed, so the Astros encourage you get there early. We will send out several reminders leading up to the event.
An Astros player will sign autographs at no charge on Saturday per month at the Team Store throughout the season.
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Finally, we went with a smile-and-be-happy theme to today’s photo album. Batting practice, at beautiful PNC Park:
Travis Buck, Chris Johnson
Jason Castro
Brian Bogusevic, Carlos Lee
Jose Altuve
Bogusevic
Astros All-Star chatter has to begin with Jose Altuve.
I fully admit it. Exactly one year ago, I had no idea who Jose Altuve was.
Other than a couple of mentions by friends who follow the Minor League system pretty closely — “Seriously, there’s this little guy, an infielder, who’s playing Single-A and hitting like .400,” they’d tell me — Altuve’s meteoric ascent through the Astros’ Minor League system in 2011 barely grabbed my attention. There was all of that excitement on the Major League level to worry about, after all.
But the more I heard about Altuve, the more I learned about him, and the more I started paying attention. It became pretty obvious, fairly quickly, this was a kid not to be ignored. Altuve was intriguing not only because he seemed to reach base every at-bat, but because of how tall he was — or, more accurately, wasn’t. Altuve was listed at 5-foot-7. He’s really 5-foot-5.
Understandably, really short guys hitting for a really high average creates quite a spectacle.
Altuve was promoted to Corpus in the middle of the season, and I took a drive down to meet him and some other top prospects. One of the first things I said to Altuve was, “Let’s get this out of the way. I know everyone wants to talk to you about your height. Humor me for a few minutes and then we’ll move on to your hitting.”
The thing that struck me about Altuve, even more than his intelligence and firm grasp of the English language, was his poise, and how unfazed he was by his physical stature. He’s been reminded hundreds of times that he’s short. His answer is something like this, “Look, I know I’m short. I’ve known myself my whole life. I know what I look like. You’re not telling me anything new.”
This picture was taken in Corpus in early July last year. Within six weeks, J.D. Martinez and Jose Altuve were both called up by the Astros.
He first tried out for the Astros as a 16-year-old in Venezuela, and the Astros sent him home, telling him — yep, you guessed it — that he was too small to have a legitimate shot at playing in the big leagues. But Altuve persisted, and eventually, it was enough for the Astros to take a serious look at him. That was six years ago.
Altuve played in the Futures Game during All-Star Week last July. If the first month of the season is any indication, it’s very possible he could represent the Astros in Kansas City at the All-Star Game this year. Only seven players have appeared in the Futures Game one year and the All-Star Game the following season: Adam Dunn, Neftali Feliz, Jason Heyward, Francisco Liriano, Evan Longoria, Ben Sheets and Geovany Soto. Could Altuve be No. 8?
Entering Monday’s game, he was leading all Major League second basemen with a .352 batting average. His 15 multi-hit games were tops in the National League, and he was tied for third in with 38 hits.
Altuve will probably continue to have his detractors who will look at the stat sheet, size him up and say, “He can’t keep this up.” No big deal. He’s heard that before.
He just thinks back to the conversation he had with the Astros scout who decided to take a chance on him at that tryout six years ago. “Just do what you know how to do,” Altuve was told.
“This,” Altuve answered, gesturing to the field, “is what I know how to do.”
And now he’s found a home in Houston.
Astros weekend roundup: Dog Day roundup, and a new Twitter for the seamhead population.
The sight of hundreds of dogs walking around the warning track is entertaining enough, but the added element of the sparkly doggie costume only enhances the festive nature of Dog Day at Minute Maid Park.
Whether it’s sunglasses and rock star fur-dos or the Astros logo shaved onto a dog’s side, this promotion always brings out the creativity in our dog-loving fanbase that participates in the Pooch Parade every year.
The promotion is popular among players as well — spotted at the Pooch Parade were Bailey Brutus Norris, Harley Johnson, Sophie Buck and Daisy Bogusevic. (I think there’s a trend among your Astros, considering the majority of their pups are of the bulldog variety.)
Bud and Bailey Brutus Norris.
Travis and Summar Buck and Sophie.
Chris Johnson and Harley.
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Sunday’s ceremonial first pitch involved a Cocker Spaniel named Jenny, a foster dog who was diagnosed with bone cancer last December. With the help of the volunteers at the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of East Texas, Jenny created a bucket list and since then has made appearances throughout Texas helping to bring attention to the program and raise awareness for animal rescue.
With the help of retired NASA astronaut Michael J. Forman, Jenny was at Minute Maid Park on Dog Day to check the final box on her bucket list, a ceremonial “first fetch” with the Astros.
Starting pitcher Lucas Harrell was more than accommodating:
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The amount of statistical information available these days to not only teams, but also to the fans who follow them, can be a little overwhelming. But if you’re a seamhead, you can’t get enough of it: the WAR, the VORP, the OPS, the BABIP…and if you know what they actually mean, you’re even more ahead of the game.
In other words, you’d fit in well with the Astros’ baseball operations staff.
To share their insights, select staffers on the baseball side have created a new Twitter handle: @AstrosAnalysis. They’ll post info they find interesting, whether it’s a cool stat or a detailed article that breaks it all down, seamhead style.
Give them a follow if you please…
Pink in the Park event draws players, coaches and raises thousands for Methodist Cancer Center.
The Houston Astros Pink in the Park Brunch and Bazaar — an annual event that douses Minute Maid Park in pink hues as far as the eye can see — raised $145,000 for The Methodist Cancer Center on Friday.
Most of the Astros players and coaching staff attended the brunch, which was designed to raise awareness for breast cancer and research. This was the third year in a row the Astros have hosted the event.
The luncheon featured a panel discussion that included input from Dr. Angel Rodriguez, director of the Methodist Triple Negative Breast Cancer Clinic, Roberta Schwartz, a breast cancer survivor and executive vice president at The Methodist Hospital, Maryanne McCormack, a breast cancer survivor and founder of Visible Changes Hair Salon and Sara Lyon, whose mother, Joan, is a breast cancer survivor. Sara is married to Astros reliever Brandon Lyon.
In addition to the team, several members of the Astros’ staff attended the event, including owner Jim Crane, General Manager Jeff Luhnow, President and CEO George Postolos and Vice President of Marketing/Strategy Kathleen Clark. Broadcasters Jim Deshaies, Dave Raymond, Brett Dolan and Francisco Romero were also in attendance. Astros in Action Foundation board member and honorary chair Shawn Taylor delivered introductory remarks to the crowd.
The Astros and the Methodist Cancer Center are providing pink-themed items to 10,000 fans at each of three early May games to promote breast cancer awareness. The pink promotions include a pink belted tote bag (May 4), a pink Yoga mat (May 6) and a pink pashmina scarf (May 7).
Wandy and Luz Rodriguez.
Bud Norris, Brandon Lyon, Jason Castro.
Marwin Gonzalez, Jose Altuve.
Fernando and Myla Rodriguez
Jason Castro with his fiancee, Maris Perlman.
Brandon and Sara Lyon and Sara’s mother, Joan Chipman.
Wesley and Sherrel Wright.
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