Gurriel prepares for Friday night return
MINNEAPOLIS — Yuli Gurriel is, again, on track to return.
All feedback and signs are “positive” for the first baseman, who is expected to rejoin the Astros on Friday when he is eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list and the team opens a three-game home series against the Texas Rangers.
“It looks like things are pointing in that direction,” manager A.J. Hinch said of an imminent activation. “We’ve been there before, but the swings that he’s taken and the feedback from (Corpus Christi manager) Omar Lopez and Yuli himself has all been positive.”
Gurriel spent Wednesday, an off day for Class AA Corpus Christi, working out at Minute Maid Park. He went 9for-21 in six rehab assignment games with the Hooks, slashing four doubles and driving in three runs.
A move will be required for Gurriel to rejoin the Astros’ 25-man roster.
J.D. Davis, who has split time with Marwin Gonzalez at first base and started all three games there against the Twins, figured to be the odd man out. But Davis has at least made the decision tougher after raising his average to .250 with a 2-for-3, two-walk day in Wednesday’s 9-8 loss. Derek Fisher, who with Davis was one of the last two players to make the Astros’ roster out of spring training, is hitting .154 after going 0-for-2 on Wednesday.
Gurriel’s bat will be a welcome addition to an Astros lineup that, until Wednesday, was sputtering.
“He’s always a pretty good at-bat, a high-contact guy, and somebody that’s hit from fifth to ninth and helped us build an extremely long lineup,” Hinch said. “He’s a good hitter. Any time you take a good hitter out of the lineup, you feel it.”
Rondon, Smith get acclimated
The introduction of the Astros’ two new bullpen pieces has been, for one, sporadic and the other impressive.
Hector Rondon and Joe Smith have five and four appearances, respectively, with their new club, each with one highleverage situation.
Smith threw a clean eighth inning in Sunday’s 4-1 win against the Padres to record a hold. Rondon had a clean inning when the Astros the Orioles 2-1 in an April 4 game they won 3-2.
The duo has pitched in the same game thrice, including in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss.
Rondon pitched again on Wednesday, throwing a clean seventh inning with the Astros trailing 8-6. He has at least one punchout in each of his five appearances — seven total across five innings — and, according to FanGraphs, entered Wednesday averaging 96.4 mph with a fastball that had a 38 percent swing-andmiss rate this month.
Rondon has allowed just one unearned run. Forty-four of his 62 pitches have been strikes. Eight of those have been swings and misses.
Manager A.J. Hinch said it’s “pretty obvious just how physical and powerful his stuff is. Hitters take pretty funny swings against him.”
Smith, the sidewinder who signed a two-year, $15 million deal in the offseason, was affected by the “24-hour bug” that enveloped the Astros’ clubhouse to begin the season — one that forced
out of the lineup Monday.
The illness caused sporadic usage and a dip in Smith’s usually stellar command. He has a 6.75 ERA.
After debuting March 30, Smith went four days between his second appearance on April 3 and third appearance on April 8. Tuesday, he walked two in the eighth inning, startlingly uncommon for the 34-year-old righthander, who walked just 10 in 54 innings split between the Blue Jays and Indians last season and 18 in 52 innings with the Angels and Cubs in 2016. Smith has issued three walks in four innings this season.
“He hasn’t had regular time, and I think that’s impacted his command,” Hinch said. “He’s walked a few more guys than he ever walks. He never walks guys.”