Anticipate Keuchel, McCann playing today
Barring an overnight change, Dallas Keuchel as expected will be activated from the 10-day disabled list and make his scheduled start for the Astros on Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
“We have a full expectation that he’s going to be able to start (Saturday),” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Friday.
Keuchel missed his Monday start against the Detroit Tigers because of a pinched nerve in his neck. It’s expected he will be caught by Brian McCann, who will be activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list ahead of Saturday’s game.
The Astros can’t make either of the two roster transactions official until Saturday. But righthander Jordan Jankowski and catcher Juan Centeno were informed after Friday night’s game of their demotions back to Class AAA as the corresponding moves.
Keuchel said Friday he felt good but that he had been instructed not to say anything regarding whether he will start Saturday.
“I would be happy if I started (Saturday),” he said.
Lefthander Wade Miley will start for the Orioles on Saturday. Righthander Alec Asher is listed as their starter for Sunday opposite the Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr.
Peacock may join rotation
The Astros are considering moving long reliever Brad Peacock to their rotation next week in place of Mike Fiers or Joe Musgrove, a determination they expect to make by Sunday.
Peacock, who has a starter’s background, has excelled in long relief this season and pitched 41⁄3 scoreless innings Monday when filling in for ace Dallas Keuchel. It’s uncertain whether Peacock is a long-term answer to the team’s back-of-the-rotation issues, but the Astros have reached a point where he has become a viable alternative.
“We’ll have a determination at the end of the weekend,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Friday night’s series opener against Baltimore.
Several rotation scenarios are in play for the Astros in their three-game road series against the Minnesota Twins that begins Monday. They could start Peacock on Monday and push Charlie Morton to Tuesday, affording the veteran Morton an extra day of rest. They could keep Morton on normal rest Monday and start Peacock on Tuesday in place of Fiers, who could move to long relief or start Wednesday instead of Musgrove.
Delaying the decision is the fact Hinch may need Peacock in relief of Keuchel on Saturday. The team also must still decide which struggling starter Peacock would replace. Fiers’ poor start Thursday inflated his ERA to 5.40. Musgrove actually came into his start Friday with a worse ERA of 5.63, but he lowered it to 4.89 with seven shutout innings.
Fiers, who’s making $3.45 million this year as a first-time arbitration eligible player, has exhausted his minor league options, so if he’s removed from the rotation he would presumably assume Peacock’s long relief role. Musgrove, who’s in only his second season in the majors, has minor league options available.
Behind improved command and a refined slider, Peacock has a 0.87 ERA in 202⁄3 innings this season. The 29-year-old righthander allowed only one hit and struck out eight against two walks in his spot start Monday against the Detroit Tigers.
Marisnick’s value outweighs usage
Despite garnering by far the least playing time this season, fifth outfielder Jake Marisnick has provided the Astros as much or more value than six of their 12 position players.
According to FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement entering Friday, Marisnick has been worth 0.7 WAR in 34 games and 66 plate appearances. That total is the same accumulated by right fielder Josh Reddick and better than Astros regulars like third baseman Alex Bregman (0.3), first baseman Yuli Gurriel (0.0) and DH Carlos Beltran (-0.5).
Marisnickwas slugging an impressive .559 despite while striking out in a woeful 39.4 percent of his plate appearances entering Friday’s game in which he homered in his first at-bat. Even though he has started only 17 of the Astros’ first 48 games, he has been credited with a team-best six defensive runs saved. He has stolen four bases in five attempts.
“When guys swing the bat the way that Jake has, it certainly warrants consideration (for more playing time),” manager A.J. Hinch said after Marisnick’s eighthinning homer propelled the Astros to their 7-6 win over Detroit on Thursday. “There are some matchups moving forward that I already know that I want for him.
“I think everyone dreams of this everyday lineup that plays all the time, but these guys are responding pretty well with how they’re being used, and I have all the confidence in the world in Jake and the rest of the bench to come off when needed.”
Correa, Gonzalez opt for safety
Shortstop Carlos Correa began wearing a batting helmet with a face guard Thursday, a preventive measure he and fellow Astros infielder Marwin Gonzalez decided to take after seeing the scary incident involving Chris Iannetta of the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 12.
The Astros were in New York to play the Yankees the night Iannetta was struck in the face by a 93 mph fastball from Pittsburgh’s Johnny Barbato. After seeing a replay of the incident, from which Iannetta suffered a split lip that required stitches, a couple of fractured teeth and a broken noise, Correa and Gonzalez ordered the specialized helmets.
Gonzalez, a switchhitter, has versions of the helmet for batting from either side of the plate. He started wearing the new gear Wednesday.
“There are a lot of pitchers out there throwing hard these days. Almost every pitcher that comes out of the bullpen seems like they throw 95 miles per hour. It just takes one to get away,” Correa said. “Just trying (to get) a little more protection.”
Odds and ends
Carlos Beltran, who came into the day with just a .234/.278/.373 batting line in 158 at-bats, batted sixth in the Astros’ lineup Friday for the first time this season. He previously hadn’t batted anywhere other than second, fourth or fifth this season. …
The switch-hitting Beltran and Josh Reddick were the only lefthanded hitters in the lineup against Baltimore Orioles righthander Kevin Gausman. Gausman has reverse splits, meaning same-sided hitters are actually better against him than opposite-sided hitters. His splitter can be tough on lefties. …
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ken Giles’ save Thursday was the 50,000th in major league history since the save became an official stat in 1969.