Altuve bolts to big lead in All-Star voting
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jose
Altuve’s quest for a fourth straight All-Star Game start is off to a flying start.
Altuve is the second-leading vote-getter among all American League players and leads the Yankees’ Gleyber Torres by more than 420,000 votes for the starting nod at second base, it was revealed Tuesday in the first AL All-Star ballot update.
Fans vote for each starting position player in the Midsummer Classic, slated for July 17 at Nationals Park in Washington. Astros manager A.J.
Hinch will manage the American League team along with his entire coaching staff.
A five-time All-Star and the reigning American League MVP, Altuve entered Tuesday with a major league-leading 93 hits on a .342/.388/.471 slash line.
He garnered 701,236 votes, trailing just Red Sox outfielder
Mookie Betts —heofa league-high .750 slugging percentage and 1.187 OPS — for the most votes for any position player.
Catcher Brian McCann and third baseman Alex Bregman were in third place at their respective positions. Shortstop
Carlos Correa sat in fourth place, as did designated hitter Evan Gattis.
Outfielder George Springer, the Astros’ leader in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage, was fifth among outfielders. Springer trailed Betts,
Aaron Judge, Mike Trout and Michael Brantley.
Back in the lineup, Correa seeks groove
After a four-game absence because of a sore right side, shortstop Carlos Correa returned to the Astros’ lineup on Tuesday in search of the “groove” that eluded him prior to his injury.
Correa missed all of the Astros’ four-game sweep against the Rangers this past weekend.
“He responded great,” manag- er A.J. Hinch said Tuesday. “He came out early (on Tuesday) and hit around 2:00 and took ground balls like a normal pregame. He’s had no issues. … He was hitting the ball over the place, swinging the bat the best I’ve seen.”
Correa went on the disabled list mired in an ugly schneid, slashing just .214/.286/.371 in his 77 previous plate appearances. The strikeout on which Correa injured himself, in his final at-bat against the Mariners on June 6, was his 23rd in that span.
“I just have to get in a groove, be consistent and get hot,” Correa said. “Last year, that’s what I did. I got hot, and I looked back at the moment I started swinging it good. I just have to find a groove, find the right swing, and go from there.”
Correa, who had just 14 RBIs since May 5, returned to his customary cleanup spot behind
Alex Bregman and led off the second inning with a home run off Oakland’s Daniel Mengden to tie the game at 1.
“I’m ready to go,” Correa said. “I feel like my body is ready, there’s no pain, and I’m excited to be back.”
Smith’s right elbow structurally sound
Visits to multiple doctors in Houston revealed no structural damage in Astros reliever Joe Smith’s right elbow, manager
A.J. Hinch said Tuesday. Smith was placed on the disabled list with “right elbow soreness” on Thursday. Hinch said the doctors do not believe it to be anything other than inflammation, which will take some time to diminish.
“He’s got a few days off where he’s not going to do anything, but eventually (when) the inflammation subsides, we’ll be able to initiate a throwing program and begin that process,” Hinch said.
The sidearming righthander did not accompany the Astros to Oakland on Monday, though Hinch did not rule out a return to the club — just to be present, not to pitch — near the end of the road trip.
Signed to a two-year, $15 million offseason deal, Smith had a 5.49 ERA in 19 innings prior to being placed on the disabled list.
Hinch’s AL staff will include Dauer
Retired Astros first-base coach Rich Dauer will be in uniform and a part of manager
A.J. Hinch’s American League coaching staff during the AllStar Game on July 7.
Dauer, 65, retired following the Astros’ World Series triumph last season. During the club’s victory parade in Houston, he suffered bleeding in the brain after a subdural hematoma.
He was rushed through parade traffic to a hospital, where he was initially given a 3 percent chance of survival. Dauer survived a three-hour surgery and was released from the hospital on Nov. 15.
Dauer threw an emotional first pitch during the Astros’ home opener April 2, one that concluded with Hinch embracing a sobbing Dauer midway between home plate and the pitcher’s mound while the crowd roared with applause.
Now Dauer — who played from 1976-85 with the Orioles before coaching in five organizations — crosses another milestone in his long career.
“It’s one of the few things that, when you look at the list of things he’s accomplished, that he’s never done,” Hinch said. “It’ll be like old times.” Along with Dauer, Hinch will bring his entire current coaching staff to Washington. The practice of inviting other managers on staff was done away with in 2015, Hinch said — the same year Royals manager Ned Yost invited Hinch to assist with the American League team.