Relievers James Hoyt and Jandel Gustave will soon learn which one is an Astro.
Hinch to choose between relievers for 25th spot on opening-day roster
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As players packed belongings to ship back to Minute Maid Park, James Hoyt and Jandel Gustave were summoned, minutes apart, from down the hall.
Separately, the two relief pitchers vying for the final spot on the Astros’ 25-man roster entered their manager’s office and shut the door. With decision time looming, A.J. Hinch made it a point Sunday morning to offer encouragement to both righthanders in oneon-one meetings.
“It’s miserable being this guy,” said Hinch, who as a player was on his share of roster bubbles.
Come Friday, Hoyt or Gustave will celebrate making his first opening-day roster while the other deals with the disappointment of being sent back to Class AAA Fresno. Theirs is “a really, really close race,” Hinch said, and it’s also the only personnel matter left for the Astros to settle before finalizing the list of 25 players who will suit up April 3.
Barring an injury or a surprise trade, the first 24 roster spots are accounted for. Starter Collin McHugh’s impending stint on the 10day disabled list paved the way not only for Joe Musgrove and Mike Fiers to make the opening-day rotation but for Brad Peacock to win one of the two open bullpen jobs.
Peacock is in line to make the Astros as their long reliever, an innings filler in the event of a short outing by a starter or an extra-inning game. His stay will probably last only a week or two, or as long as it takes for McHugh to ready for his debut, at which point Musgrove or Fiers — likely the latter — will assume the long-relief role.
Long relief for Peacock
Facing remote odds to make the team coming into spring training, Peacock became a more viable option the longer McHugh went without throwing after experiencing dead arm at the start of camp. McHugh is scheduled to pitch three or four innings in his Grapefruit League debut Monday night but is a couple of outings behind the rest of the Astros’ starters.
Peacock’s void of minor league options abetted his case, as he cannot be sent to the minor leagues without first passing through waivers. The chances of his being claimed decrease once the regular season begins and the other 29 teams have set their rosters.
The inclusion of a more traditional long man will allow Hinch to deploy Chris Devenski less often for multi-inning outings and more regularly in higher-leverage situations. Michael Feliz began last season in long relief, but the Astros have built him up this spring to pitch in only one- and two-inning spurts.
Hoyt and Gustave are for the most part one-inning options. Gustave has had the superior spring, but Hoyt’s split-finger fastball makes him a better candidate to face lefthanded hitters, an area in which the Astros are lacking because of lefthander Tony Sipp’s continued struggles.
Hinch said the Astros are “paying close attention to” the competing relievers’ effectiveness against lefthanded hitters, which is why Hoyt is believed to be the favorite. The coaching staff has had him focus all spring on throwing his splitter, a potential neutralizer against lefties.
Hoyt, 30, a journeyman who debuted in the major leagues last August, has been trying to throw his splitter on up to half his pitches in his Grapefruit League outings. He’s always had the pitch in his repertoire but in the past relied much more on his fastball and slider.
“It’s such a feel pitch,” he said. “It’s like a changeup. Unless you throw with it and make mistakes with it, you’re not going to overcome and get that real comfort level with it. My main priority this spring was commanding that pitch.”
An order of sliders
The 24-year-old Gustave’s calling card is his fastball, which has registered up to 99 mph in his short time in the majors. The development of his slider, which has been his biggest focus in the spring, will dictate his ceiling. He’s practiced throwing the pitch backdoor to lefties this spring, he said.
“Anybody that has an arm that can reach the upper 90s, it takes some coaxing to get him to use (the slider),” Hinch said. “We’ve talked to him quite a bit this spring about mixing his pitches a little bit better, especially against lefthanded hitters.
“It’s gotten a little bit better. I think he can finish at-bats with it. Like most young pitchers developing a pitch like this, he’s got to get good at throwing it for a strike when he wants to. There’s a difference between a put-away slider and an early-count slider.”
Hoyt logged a scoreless ninth inning Sunday, working around a two-out double by the Nationals’ Adam Lind to lower his spring ERA to 3.38. In eight innings overall, he has struck out eight and walked three. Gustave has a 2.08 ERA in 82⁄3 innings with 10 strikeouts and four walks.
Both will pitch at least once in the Astros’ final three Grapefruit League games and are slated for an inning in one of the team’s two exhibition games against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday and Friday at Minute Maid Park.
Like last season, when Feliz edged out Hoyt, the team’s final decision will wait until that final day.