Opening day a big deal
Brian T. Smith details Astros skipper’s love affair with start.
A .J. Hinch remembers every single one. • The warm pride and comforting chills. The charged stadiums. The perfect, untouched newness and child-like anticipation for everything that was about to unfold. • Opening day.
“There’s no greater optimism than opening day. There’s no greater excitement,” said Hinch, who distinctly recalls each one he has been a part of at every level of baseball.
After a longer-than-normal spring training that has been a literal twomonth marathon — World Baseball Classic; sparkling new ballpark in West Palm Beach, Fla. — Hinch’s Astros are eight days away from officially beginning their 2017 season.
Dallas Keuchel versus Felix Hernandez on April 3 at 7:10 p.m. at Minute Maid Park. The most eagerly awaited Astros team since 2006, and the franchise’s best shot at returning to the World Series since its lone appearance in ’05.
Almost everything will have to go right the next seven months for that to happen. But right now, almost everything is still going right for these Astros, which is why Hinch would love to fast-forward his late-March calendar a few days and immediately dive into the 162-game grind that awaits.
He’s as pumped for opening day as you. He also doesn’t want to count down any longer.
“That’s how important it is. That’s how exciting it is,” said Hinch, speaking into a phone in Florida while taking a brief break from his never-ending spring todo list. “That’s how much attention you put yourself into it — you’ll never have more energy for the next 162 games than you’ll have for that one particular night. And it’s special because, at this level, you can’t take for granted how many opening days you’re able to make or how many opening days I’m allowed to manage.”
‘I absolutely like this team’
The wait began in late September 2016, when the Astros played their first few meaningless games under Hinch’s reign and finished third in the American League West after being beaten up by the Texas Rangers too many times.
Owner Jim Crane spoke up by finally opening his wallet. General manager Jeff Luhnow finally signed the veterans this club has long needed. And now the baseball smarties, who spend March handing out projected win totals (92, 93, 95 — take your pick) and fake division crowns, are absolutely certain that the 2017 Astros finally have enough weapons to eclipse Texas’ other team and win the West for the first time.
We’ll get our first look at the 2017 club this week, when the Astros host the world champion Chicago Cubs in a twogame exhibition series at Minute Maid Park on Thursday and Friday.
After two months in West Palm Beach, Hinch believes in his club. He also remembers last year, when the Astros talked World Series all spring, then started 7-17 and rained out their own parade.
“We’ll have a lot of confidence going in, but we’ll also be humble enough to realize you have to go prove it and you have to go earn the distinction,” he said. “The last two seasons, the Texas Rangers have won the division, pretty much in our face. Until we beat them and have more wins than them, we can’t really brag about anything. … But I absolutely like this team.”
I also do (on paper). Like you, I can’t wait to watch everyone from Alex Bregman to Yuli Gurriel for a full season. But we also know that everything could come down to Lance McCullers and Keuchel, and that Collin McHugh potentially starting the season a little late might be more important than it initially seems.
All the minor fears could be replaced, though, by the simple act of Hinch writing out his lineup every day. These Astros have too many bats to go around, which is the first time we’ve been able to say that about Houston’s local nine in a long time.
“When we’re at our best, we have a little bit of everything,” Hinch said. “Our contact skills are going to be better. Our situational hitting is going to be better. And we’ve got a chance to do damage all the way through the lineup. … We’re going to be able to come at you from ninestrong, and then have guys on the bench who could arguably play every day.”
A long time coming
Of course, Hinch knew all that when The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches was being unveiled, and there’s been little left to decide since February began. The fifth starter and a bullpen spot — that’s it. This is the deepest and most dangerous roster Luhnow’s put together (on paper), which is why a third-year manager is waiting around for April 3.
“It’s been a long couple months,” Hinch said. “Spring training’s a bit like ‘Groundhog’s Day,’ where you show up and do a lot of the same things over and over, and you forget what day of the week it is and what time it is.”
The flip side of that is Hinch has rarely had his full crew together, thanks to the WBC, and he’s now counting on everything clicking in a week.
“It’s been like a split-squad for almost the entire spring training,” he said.
Then the optimism returned. Hinch was back to a clubhouse that already feels right, chemistry that has only been improved by vets such as Carlos Beltran and Josh Reddick, and the encouraging “vibe” of a promising team founded around a Core Four just touching its prime.
For Hinch’s Astros, opening day can’t get here soon enough.
“It’s one of the most exciting days of the year,” Hinch said.
See you at Minute Maid in eight days.