Justin Maxwell on the mend from hand injury

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Jose de Jesus Ortiz

Astros center fielder Justin Maxwell, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 24, had the cast removed from his fractured left hand Saturday. He’ll have another X-Ray on the hand Tuesday. Maxwell suffered the injury on April 23. He was expected to be out four to six weeks. The bone will continue [...]

Norris to start Tuesday for Astros (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Bud Norris will start Tuesday for the Astros against Kansas City.

On first day, Ryan gets up to speed with Astros

Source: MLB.com by Brian McTaggart

Monday, the first official day on the job for new Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan, included mundane tasks like getting the keys to the building, finding his office and getting his computer set up. He also wasted no time in rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty.

Altuve leaves Boras to rejoin former agency

Source: MLB.com by Brian McTaggart

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve recently left agent Scott Boras and signed with Scott Pucino and Wil Polidor of Octagon -- the agency that originally represented him before he switched to Boras about a year ago.

Maxwell ditches brace, making progress

Source: MLB.com by Brian McTaggart

Astros outfielder Justin Maxwell, who's been out nearly a month with a fractured left hand, is no longer wearing a brace and continues to make good progress. He hit 15 balls off a tee on Monday and took 30 more swing from soft toss.

Astros pitcher Norris showing signs of improvement

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Jose de Jesus Ortiz

Righthander Bud Norris, who was being pummeled by the Tigers before exiting with back spasms in his last start, says he’s healthy and ready to go Tuesday nightagainst the Royals. “I feel good,” he said. “I’m pitching tomorrow. All is good. I just got pushed back two days.” Norris, who has traditionally struggled on the road [...]

First pitch: Reid Ryan era gets started

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Jose de Jesus Ortiz

Lineups: Kansas City: Lorenzo Cain 8, Alcides Escobar 6, Alex Gordon 7, Billy Butler DH, Salvador Perez 2, Eric Hosmer 3, Jeff Francoeur 9, Miguel Tejada 5, Elliot Johnson 4. RHP Jeremy Guthrie 1. Astros: Grossman 8, Altuve 4, Castro 3, J.D. Martinez 7, Carter 3, Pena DH, Paredes 9, Dominguez 5, M. Gonzalez 6. [...]

Norris to start Tuesday (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Bud Norris will start Tuesday for the Astros against Kansas City.

Reid Ryan's first day as Astros president (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Reid Ryan spent Monday, his first day as Astros president, learning the front office, the organization and the TV deal situation.

J.D. Martinez batting cleanup (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

J.D. Martinez's improvements at the plate are getting noticed. He'll be batting cleanup for Monday's game against the Royals.

2013 AL Series: Astros vs. Royals

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by D_more55

Houston welcomes Kansas City for first AL series.

Houston vs. Kansas City, 7:10 PM CT

TV: CSN Houston
Radio: KBME 790 AM
Royals SBNation Blog: Royals Review

Pitching Match

LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-1, 4.82 ERA / 1.64 WHIP) vs. RHP Jeremy Guthrie (5-1 / 2.82 ERA / 1.29 WHIP)

Preview

The Astros return to the juice box with the sour taste of a quintessential National League loss, 1-0 to the Pirates. In a season full of firsts, Houston welcomes the Royals to Space City as a member of the American League. Kansas City no longer content with staying in the shadows of Tigers and White Sox, they made one of the biggest trades in the offseason.

Game 45 Preview: Astros vs. Royals

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by D_more55

Houston vs. Kansas City, 7:10 PM CT

TV: CSN Houston
Radio: KBME 790 AM
Royals SBNation Blog: Royals Review

Pitching Match

LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-1, 4.82 ERA / 1.64 WHIP) vs. RHP Jeremy Guthrie (5-1 / 2.82 ERA / 1.29 WHIP)

Preview

The Astros return to the juice box with the sour taste of a quintessential National League loss, 1-0 to the Pirates. In a season full of firsts, Houston welcomes the Royals to Space City as a member of the American League. Kansas City no longer content with staying in the shadows of Tigers and White Sox, they made one of the biggest trades in the offseason. KC traded away their top-5 prospect Wil Myers to the Rays,

Today's MLB starting lineups: May 20

Source: MLB.com

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

Astros' lineup for first game vs. Royals (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Astros are starting a three-game series against the Royals at Minute Maid Park. Here is the starting lineup.

Monday's Three Astros Things

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by David Coleman

Some things to talk about while one of my favorite non-Astros prospects may be ready for a big league call...

1) Buying the Hooks

Lots of stuff to talk about that's only tangentially related to baseball from the past weekend, but I wanted to focus on just one thing. That's the impending purchase of the Corpus Christi Hooks by the Houston Astros. Coupled with Reese Ryan taking over the Round Rock Express, it frees up Reid Ryan from any conflicts of interest in running the Astros business side.

What it doesn't do is leave open the possibility that Houston will someday move

Tossing Up Zeros: The Pittsburgh Pirates Excel at Blanking Opponents (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

COMMENTARY | Jeff Locke held the Houston Astros scoreless through seven innings Sunday, just long enough for Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli to come in and shut the door like they have so many times this season. It was a masterful performance for the young pup of the rotation, even if it was against the worst team in baseball. The feat marks the third time this season Locke has held opponents scoreless during an outing, a trend that Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers are accomplishing at a rapid rate so far.

Recapping The Minors: Weekend Edition (May 17-19)

Source: Climbing Tal's Hill by Yoni Pollak

A tough weekend for the organization, as just one team went over .500 this weekend. Along with the MLB Astros, the Redhawks and JetHawks went 1-2 this weekend. The Hooks went 2-1 this weekend, while the River Bandits went winless. Here are the notable stat lines from this weekend. (more…)

Monday Morning Link Dump

Source: Astros County by Astros County

Articles from the last 24 hours that I don't have time upon which to post them separately:

*Awful Announcing on the CSN Houston deal. Takeaway: CSN Houston is asking for more per subscriber than the YES Network. 

*The Daily Telegraph (in Australia) has a fun story on Travis Blackley. From the story, we find that Blackley is:
More than happy to move into the rotation. Liking it in Houston. Would like a long-term deal. Writing off the playoffs, but they have apparently set a goal of .500. Reminded of the Kansas

PreStros Morning Report: May 19

Source: Astros County by Astros County

Oklahoma City (25-17)

OKC earned the road split with Sacramento with a 9-3 win on a Sunday afternoon in which the RedHawks never trailed. Brad Peacock got his first win with OKC after throwing 5IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 5K:4BB; Jason Stoffel walked one and hit one batter in his inning of work; Kevin Chapman allowed 1H/1ER, 0K:2BB, and Rhiner Cruz walked two batters but gave up no runs in the final 2IP.

Every RedHawk hitter got a hit, with Fernando Martinez (2B, 2RBI, BB) and Che-Hsuan Lin (SB) leading the way with two hits each. Brandon Laird, Raoul Torrez (RBI) and Jason Jaramillo (2B,

Astros – Royals Series Preview

Source: Climbing Tal's Hill by Greg Thurston

After a road trip that culminated with a 1-0 interleague loss in Pittsburgh, the Astros return home and get back to American League rules for the next eight games. The homestand starts tonight with the first game of a 3-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Kings of Kaufmann staff writer Mike Vamosi was kind enough to climb the hill and give us the scoop on the Royals. Here’s my Q & A session with Mike.

(more…)

Will Astros prospect Carlos Correa stick at shortstop?

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by Irish Pete

Houston Astros top prospect Carlos Correa is rarely on MiLB.tv, but the Quad City Bandits were visiting the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers early this week, so I had a chance to watch some of our young guns in action.

You'll have to forgive the quality of these gifs. I am pretty sure the Timber Rattlers still record their games with a VHS camcorder and pipe it into a streaming device through a VCR or something. I say this because as you're watching a Timber Rattlers game, an "auto-tracking" slider pops up at the bottom of the screen occasionally to adjust the picture.

When Correa was drafted he

Astros Minor League Recap: May 19, 2013

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by Subber10

He's a Peacock...You gotta let him fly on this one

Brad Peacock made his third start of the season for the RedHawks yesterday and displayed once again why he was once a top prospect and why he was made available in a trade. He was effective, don't get me wrong, but he was also what got him sent down in the first place. He gave up just two runs, and only was earned, but he threw 96 pitches to get through five innings. A lot of that had to do with him giving up four walks and striking out five.

Brad Peacock-5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 3/3 GO/AO, 96/59 P/S
Jason Stoffel-1

What If: Could Jose Altuve have won a Rookie of the Year award?

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by David Coleman

Don't ask me why, but Saturday night, I started poking around statistical sites instead of, you know, doing what normal people might do on a Saturday night. What is that anyways? Go to discotheques?

At any rate, my curiosity was drawn to the best hitter in Houston's lineup these days, Jose Altuve. After browsing through his hitting stats so far to see if he's made any progress or breakthroughs (short answer: not really, except for his outstanding line drive rate).

In the course of that meander, I checked out Altuve's five best Similarity Score players courtesy of Baseball Reference through their Age 22 seasons. If you're not familiar, Similarity Score

Masterson: Masterful (Rotoworld)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Drew Silva checks in on red-hot fantasy commodities Justin Masterson and Jay Bruce in Monday's edition of the MLB Daily Dose.

Photos: 2013 Astros game-by-game

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Ultimate Astros

Astros morning links

Source: Climbing Tal's Hill by Greg Thurston

Get your week started with these informative Astros articles from around the web.

(more…)

The Juice: Miggy smash! Cabrera homers three times, but Tigers still fall to Rangers (Big League Stew)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more. Miguel Cabrera doesn't exactly need to remind us that he's really, really good at hitting baseballs. Coming into Sunday's game against the Texas Rangers, the reigning AL MVP and Triple Crown winner, already led baseball in batting average and RBIs. With an other-worldly display Sunday, the Detroit Tigers slugger showed why he's a Triple Crown candidate again. He hit three homers, going 4-for-4 and driving in five runs. He now has 11 home runs, which is one behind the AL lead. But here's the reality check: The Tigers still lost to the Rangers 11-8 in a matchup that many think we could see again come playoff time. The Rangers have the best record in baseball at 29-15, while the Tigers are in second in the AL Central at 23-19, behind the surging Cleveland Indians.

Team Report - KANSAS CITY ROYALS (The SportsXchange)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Sputtering offense hurting Royals

Photos: 2013-2014 Astros game-by-game

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Ultimate Astros

Monday Astros’ reset: Draft, deadlines, mid season means important days ahead

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Chip Bailey

While the Astros continue to flounder at the bottom of major league baseball, there has been a bright spot or two in recent weeks. Still, the next 60 days are imporant for the reconstruction plan. Yes, every day is important and every move is more critically scrutinized when there is a dearth of talent, but Jeff [...]

Porter finds positives within negative season

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Brian T. Smith

PITTSBURGH — Before his club’s fifth shutout loss in 44 games and a tight 1-0 defeat to the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park, Astros manager Bo Porter showed extra interest in a reporter’s question. The Astros’ upside-down record (12-32) doesn’t show any on-the-field improvement, but the young club continues to play with passion [...]

Rays' Moore stops Orioles for 8-0 start (Reuters)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

(Reuters) - Tampa Bay's Matt Moore matched a 1917 start by Babe Ruth as he improved to a Major League-leading 8-0 in the Rays' 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Moore tossed seven innings and allowed just five hits and one run to stay undefeated and win his ninth straight decision, setting a Rays' franchise record. The 23-year-old left-hander's start is the best by a pitcher that young since the 22-year-old Ruth went 8-0 in 1917. "Historically speaking, it's been wonderful," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters. "I like the idea that he knows that he can get better. ...

Royals-Astros Preview (The Associated Press)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Kansas City Royals are on the verge of dropping below .500 for the first time in more than six weeks. Giving the ball to Jeremy Guthrie could help them avoid it.

Baseball-Rays' Moore stops Orioles for 8-0 start (Reuters)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

May 19 (Reuters) - Tampa Bay's Matt Moore matched a 1917 start by Babe Ruth as he improved to a Major League-leading 8-0 in the Rays' 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Moore tossed seven innings and allowed just five hits and one run to stay undefeated and win his ninth straight decision, setting a Rays' franchise record. The 23-year-old left-hander's start is the best by a pitcher that young since the 22-year-old Ruth went 8-0 in 1917. "Historically speaking, it's been wonderful," Rays manager Joe Maddon told reporters. "I like the idea that he knows that he can get better. ...

Astros report: Harrell gives praise after solid 7 innings

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Brian T. Smith

One start after criticizing his club’s emphasis on defensive shifts, Astros No. 2 starter Lucas Harrell happily passed out praise Sunday. Harrell cited the work of pitching coach Doug Brocail, who observed Harrell wasn’t removing his hand from his glove pre-delivery as quickly as he did in the 2012 season. Brocail also pushed Harrell to [...]

AL West: Angels beat White Sox (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jason Vargas kept throwing strikes and catcher Chris Iannetta kept taking his walks -- a winning formula for the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

Dynamo heated after weekend loss to NE (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Dynamo's second straight loss at BBVA Compass Stadium didn't leave the team at a loss for words. Flopping by the Revolution had them hopping mad.

Locke gem, Alvarez homer lead Pirates past Astros (The SportsXchange)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

PITTSBURGH -- As Michael McKenry worked with left-hander Jeff Locke on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates backup catcher couldn't help but think about the potential of his young batterymate.

LIVE: Talking With Astros Pro Scouting Coordinator Kevin Goldstein

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by Timothy De Block

TCB Podcast

Podcast Start Time: 7:05 p.m. CT

Hosts: David Coleman, Sean Feist and Tim De Block

Special Guest: Astros Pro Scouting Coordinator Kevin Goldstein

Houston Astros Major League Topics:

Interview with Kevin Goldstein
Figure out how to do an Astros podcast after talking to Kevin Goldstein
TCB Astros Minor Podcast

Podcast Start Time: 8:05 p.m. CT

Hosts: Brooks Parker, Anthony Boyer and Tim De Block

Houston Astros Minor League Topics:

Thoughts on the Astros intent to purchase the Corpus Christi Hooks
Projectability of the starter in AA Corpus

Rockies 5, Giants 0 (The SportsXchange)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

DENVER -- The San Francisco Giants completed a memorably bad road trip Sunday with better defense but another shaky outing from a starting pitcher.

Keuchel heads to the hill in opener vs. Royals

Source: MLB.com by Evan Peaslee

Dallas Keuchel heads to the mound as the Astros open a series against Jeremy Guthrie and the Royals on Monday at Minute Maid Park.

AL West Notes: Profar, Astros, Mariners

Source: MLB Trade Rumors by Charlie Wilmoth

The Rangers have placed Ian Kinsler on the disabled list with an intercostal strain and recalled middle infielder and top prospect Jurickson Profar, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News

Dynamo suffer second straight home loss (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

The Dynamo's second straight loss at BBVA Compass Stadium didn't leave the team at a loss for words. Flopping by the Revolution had them hopping mad.

Bullpen session puts Harrell back on track (Comcast SportsNet Houston)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

A bullpen session between starts prepped Lucas Harrell for a 'vintage' performance Sunday against the Pirates.

Astros show signs of being competitive despite losing record

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Brian T. Smith

PITTSBURGH – Before his club’s fifth shutout in 44 games and a tight 1-0 loss to the Pirates on Sunday at PNC Park, Astros manager Bo Porter showed extra interest in a reporter’s question. While the Astros’ upside-down record didn’t show any on-the-field improvement, the club had continued to play with passion for its first-year [...]

Locke gem, Alvarez homer lead Pirates to win oveer Astros (The SportsXchange)

Source: Yahoo! Sports

PITTSBURGH -- As Michael McKenry worked with Jeff Locke on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates backup catcher couldn't help but think about the potential of his young battery mate.

Astros Bats Waste Harrell’s Great Performance

Source: Climbing Tal's Hill by Yoni Pollak

It was another close game for the Astros which they have been on the wrong side of over the season. A solo home run by Pedro Alvarez was all the scoring in the 1-0 loss to the Pirates. Jason Grilli closed the door on the Astros in the 9th, sending them home with another series loss.

From the Office of the County Clerk: G44 - Astros @ Pirates

Source: Astros County by Cockroach

Lucas Harrell (3-4, 5.11) vs Jeff Locke (3-1, 3.15)
Welcome back to National League baseball. After spending the majority of their history in the offense-unfriendly Astrodome, Houston fans are well familiar with the pitcher's duel. The Astros spent the last three days back in the league of their birth, and split two tightly contested matches to start the series. Today was no different, but unfortunately on this day, they came up just shy. Astros lose the game and the series by a 1-0 score, and they return home 12-32 overall.
On the Mound:
*Lucas Harrell has not seemed himself in two of his last three outings, but today he was on top of his game. Unfortunately, one bad pitch to Pedro Alvarez ended up

Minor League Recap- May 18th, 2013

Source: The Crawfish Boxes by kyuss94

The wait is almost over. Today's announcement that Jonathan Singleton is set to make his debut at low class A Quad Cities next is only going build the anticipation for the Astros best pure offensive prospect to return, and anyone making the trip to Quad Cities is going to be in for a treat while Singleton rehabs. The club will feature a wealth of top talent, and, including Singleton, arguably five of the organization's top ten talents will be rostered by the River Bandits, with Lance McCullers, Carlos Correa, Rio Ruiz and Vincent Velasquez alongside Big John. After posting a .396 OBP in AA with 21 home runs in Corpus Christi last year, expectations will be high for the 21 year old, who will make the jump to AAA once his feet are under

Photos: Pirates 1, Astros 0

Source: The Houston Chronicle by Ultimate Astros