Jandel Gustave earns the Astros’ final roster spot over James Hoyt.
Gustave lands last roster spot, while Hoyt gets ticket to Fresno
A.J. Hinch held back tears when making the final roster move to keep Jandel Gustave and option James Hoyt.
A.J. Hinch stammered Friday as he announced which pitcher he chose for the final roster spot and which he cut. One would dress for opening day in Houston, the other would go to the Class AAA affiliate in Fresno, Calif. A dream seized, at least for now, and another just out of reach, maybe regained later in the season or maybe lost for good.
After 44 days of scrutinizing righthanded relievers Gustave and Hoyt, it was the fraternizing in spring training that pushed the manager to the brink of crying on Thursday night after both men pitched for the chance to stay in the majors.
Hinch’s voice trembled. His eyes went bloodshot and glistened. Despite years of making decisions like these, Hinch did not feel easy about this one.
“It was one good meeting with Gustave, who made our club,” he said. “And one disappointing meeting with Hoyt, that he didn’t.” ‘Real dominant outings’
They had performed similarly, particularly in their rate of strikeouts per nine innings, a critical measure for players deployed to strand runners and slash batters in a pinch. But Gustave, younger than Hoyt by six years and initially signed out of the Dominican Republic at 17, proved more efficient with an improved arsenal of power pitches.
Hinch held his emotions back enough to thoughtfully explain his decision.
“I’m proud of Gustave’s spring,” Hinch said. “He earned it. He did a really good job implementing a few new pitches for him. He’s throwing more sliders. He’s locating his fastball better. He had some real dominant outings.”
Hoyt, whose wayward path to the bigs at age 30 defies a world that invests in young arms, gave up more hits, walks and runs than Gustave. Not by much but enough to tip the scale. The healthy status of other relievers also crowded out Hoyt.
“I’ve been the 26th guy before,” Hinch said before Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, the spring training finale. He played seven major league seasons until 2005, when he spent his final year with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Class AAA affiliate.
He recalled when Phillies
manager Larry Bowa sent him down after a meeting “in his office at a brand new Citizens Bank Park.”
“It’s full circle for me,” he said. “I have great empathy for the guy who deserves to be here, but isn’t given the opportunity just due to decision making. The day that it gets easy to send a player down and to bench a player is not who I am. I’ll always have a great personal connection with these guys.”
First opening day
Gustave had his meeting with Hinch first. He was nervous.
“How many opening days have you been to in the big leagues?” Hinch asked.
“I’ve never been to one,” Gustave replied.
Hinch congratulated him on making his first.
“There’s great joy in that and a proud moment for all of us,” Hinch said. “That smile on a kid’s face when he makes it to he big leagues or his first opening day is priceless.”
Hinch’s emotions whipped in the other direction for Hoyt.
“As I told James, I’m not sure there’s a real good justification either way,” Hinch said.
During his news conference, Hinch reiterated Hoyt’s full name and emphasized that he should to be in the majors. Hinch seemed devoted to humanizing baseball’s severe attrition.
“I just had a conversation with James Hoyt, who’s a major league pitcher,” he said in a shaky voice. “And he’s going down to TripleA.”
“I feel terrible for him because he deserves to be a big leaguer.”
Hoyt struck out 93 batters in 55 innings with Class AAA Fresno last season. Although he maintained his strikeout numbers, Hoyt has been less effective against major league hitters. He and Gustave faced the heart of the Cubs lineup in Thursday’s 8-6 win, which featured Kris Bryant — the National League’s reigning Most Valuable Player — and a cycle of sluggers who won Chicago its first World Series in 108 years.
Hinch particularly wanted to see which righty could thwart lefties.
In two innings, Hoyt executed his pitches on three lefties, but he surrendered a soaring 383-foot home run to Anthony Rizzo that reached the second deck.
Gustave followed with a cleaner inning of work. He allowed a leadoff single to Kyle Schwarber.
Then he struck out two of the next three batters, one on a slider and the other on a 98.4 mph fastball, his fastest of the night, to end the inning.
Hoyt waits for the call
Shedding Hoyt from the roster visibly burdened Hinch. Hoyt took the demotion well. He believes he will return to the Astros clubhouse.
“They have confidence in me,” he said. “If I’m not going to contribute to this team right now, I’m definitely going to contribute this year.”
Hoyt has had to prove his worth several times before, domestically and internationally. He pitched in Fresno, Shreveport, La., Wichita, Kan., and Yuma, Ariz.
He competed abroad in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela.
In 2013, he signed with the Atlanta Braves, who traded him and Evan Gattis in 2015 to Houston.
“This is multiple years in a row where (Hoyt) has been this last cut, this 26th man,” Hinch said.
Last spring training, reliever Michael Feliz edged out Hoyt.
“It’s a business,” Hoyt said. “It’s hard. It’s like letting someone go. I’m a part of this team. At the end of the day, you’ve got to let someone go. Hopefully it’s not for too long and I’ll be up here soon.”
As reliever Will Harris departed the clubhouse on Thursday, he fist-bumped Hoyt and said: “See you when you get back.”
The paths taken by Hoyt, a journeyman from Idaho, and Gustave, a rising international prospect, were not so different as they seem. Rarely do relievers quickly settle into a role that streamlines them to a major league team. They tinker. They grind. They fail often.
Hoyt and Gustave played winter ball together in 2014 in the Dominican Republic.
“I’ve been working hard for this,” Gustave said of the narrow decision. “He worked hard, too.”