Sneed surprised, excited to be called up

Cy Sneed did not sense it coming. With the Astros in need of a fresh arm but unable to promote the usual suspects, Sneed expected to douse a Class AAA Round Rock teammate in celebration of a call-up. Instead, he wound up surprised, soaked and stoked to be at Minute Maid Park on Thursday.

“Got a full 30 minutes of sleep,” said the 6-4 righthander, whose bushy beard calls to mind former Astros lumberjack Evan Gattis. “I told my wife a whole bunch of times last night I always thought I could do it and get here, but in the back of my mind there was a little bit of doubt.”

Pitchers Rogelio Armenteros, Reymin Guduan and Cionel Perez could not be called up because they had been optioned in the previous 10 days. Dean Deetz, Corbin Martin and Brady Rogers are hurt. Sneed was the odd man in. “I got doused with a lot of liquids in all directions,” Sneed, 26, said of the minor league clubhouse celebration. “People throwing stuff at you from everywhere and guys giving you hugs.”

Sneed made his major league debut in Thursday’s 10-0 loss to the Pirates, throwing the last six innings after Brad Peacock was roughed up early. Sneed allowed four runs, seven hits and a walk while striking out four.

The Texas Rangers selected Sneed in the 35th round of the 2011 draft. He did not sign, opting to enroll at Dallas Baptist to play college baseball. Milwaukee took him in the third round in 2014 and after the 2015 season traded him to the Astros for Jonathan Villar.

This season with Round Rock, he has a 4.48 ERA in 701⁄3 innings. He made eight starts and six relief appearances.

“Ball cuts a little bit,” said Astros manager A.J. Hinch. “He’s got a very durable, reliable arm.”