Peacock goes on paternity leave; Martes to start series finale
SEATTLE — Brad Peacock won’t make his scheduled start Sunday, affording top prospect Francis Martes a third turn in the Astros’ rotation for the team’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.
Peacock was placed on the paternity leave list Saturday. His wife, Stephanie, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a boy named Colton Joseph, on Saturday afternoon in their hometown of West Palm Beach, Fla. The pitcher left the team during Friday night’s series opener and made it in time to see his son born.
Players on paternity leave can take up to three days away from their team, so Peacock will rejoin the Astros before Tuesday night’s series opener against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. He will make his next start Thursday against the A’s in the rotation spot vacated by Joe Musgrove, who was optioned to Class AAA on Saturday.
Musgrove’s demotion essentially ensures Martes will get at least one more start after Sunday’s, as well, which is line to come next weekend against the New York Yankees. Martes, who at 21 is the youngest active pitcher in the majors, had a 3.38 ERA in his first two starts. The hard-throwing Dominican righthander has a 5.02 ERA overall; he allowed four runs over 32⁄3 innings of relief in his major league debut June 9.
Sunday will be Martes’ first outing against the Mariners. Astros manager A.J. Hinch said he would like for Martes to mix in more changeups to complement his mid-toupper 90s fastball and power slider.
Peacock, who began the season as the Astros’ long reliever before moving to the rotation, has a 2.82 ERA overall and a 3.81 ERA in his six starts. He has completed six innings only once but has gaudy strikeout numbers. Among pitchers with at least 30 innings, his rate of 13.30 strikeouts per nine innings tops the majors.
Jordan Jankowski was recalled from Class AAA to temporarily fill Peacock’s roster spot, giving the Astros a nine-man bullpen for the weekend’s final two games. Jankowski was chosen over righthander Dayan Diaz, who was sent down Thursday, and lefthander Ashur Tolliver, who has struggled mightily in Class AAA since returning from an injury.
Draftee Matijevic sent to Tri-City
Infielder JJ Matijevic, the second of the two players the Astros drafted last week with the picks they received from the St. Louis Cardinals, will begin his professional career in short-season Class A Tri-City.
Matijevic, the No. 75 overall selection in the draft, signed this week for a below-slot $700,000 bonus and was then assigned to Tri-City. The lefthanded hitter from the University of Arizona is on Tri-City’s roster but as of Saturday was not yet active. He’s listed at 5-11 and 211 pounds.
The Astros have yet to sign their first three picks, North Carolina righthander J.B. Bukauskas (15th overall), high school third baseman Joe Perez (53rd) and Texas A&M righthander Corbin Martin (56th). The No. 56 overall selection was the first of two the Astros got from St. Louis as compensation for the hacking scandal.
Teams have until 4 p.m. July 7 to sign their drafted players.
Gonzalez sits out with tight oblique
Marwin Gonzalez was a late scratch from the Astros’ lineup Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners because of what the team described as right oblique tightness.
Yuli Gurriel replaced Gonzalez in the lineup at first base and in the seventh spot in the lineup.
Jake Kaplan