Scrubb alters body, delivery in bullpen bid
JUPITER, Fla. — Andre
Scrubb seems pointed in the right direction, be it with his delivery, his body or his bid to make the Astros’ opening-day bullpen.
Scrubb trimmed down this winter and shortened the stride in his delivery, “quieting down” his mechanics, as pitching coach Brent Strom described it. He also spent the offseason fine-tuning a slider after the Astros introduced the pitch to him when he was acquired in July 2019.
Early results appear favorable. After tweaking his inner leg at the beginning of camp, Scrubb has six strikeouts in his first three scoreless innings of Grapefruit League play, including one Monday against the Miami Marlins. More meaningful, though, is only one walk in that span.
Scrubb emerged last season as one of manager Dusty Baker’s more reliable rookies in the bullpen despite walking 20 batters in 232⁄3 innings. He struck out 24, though, and threw a cutter/curveball combo that induced a 46.6 percent ground ball rate — often getting him out of the self-inflicted sticky situations.
Scrubb’s toned-down delivery might solve some of his control issues.
“I had a big front-leg pop. I probably still have it, just a little bit smaller where I rotate on my front foot and keep my body in line with the plate,” Scrubb said. “I shortened it up, and it definitely feels good. They’re little tweaks, but we’re in the right direction.”
Better command and continued refinement of Scrubb’s slider are keys to his audition for the Astros’ opening-day bullpen. Six of the eight spots seem to have been secured by Ryan Pressly, Joe Smith, Ryne Stanek, Enoli Paredes, Brooks Raley and Blake Taylor .If Pedro Baez is ready for the regular season, he’ll take a seventh, leaving Scrubb to fight for the final spot with nonroster invitee Steve Cishek and Bryan Abreu.
Top prospect Pena takes deGrom deep
Jeremy Pena’s plan mirrored almost anyone’s against Jacob
deGrom. The touted Astros prospect watched for two innings Tuesday while deGrom fired fastballs in the upper 90s. Six reached 100 mph during the first inning.
“You have to be on time for the fastball when he’s throwing that hard,” Pena said. “You can’t really think of any other pitch. If you are, you’re already beat.”
With only one objective in mind, Pena deposited deGrom’s first-pitch fastball over the leftfield wall in the third inning of Tuesday’s 8-3 loss, creating a memorable moment for Houston’s best position player prospect.
Pena entered the game with only one hit in his first 15 Grapefruit League at-bats. Manager
Dusty Baker has played him plenty throughout the spring to get him acclimated to major league pitching. Pena started Tuesday with Freudis Nova at second base — a glimpse at the team’s two best position player prospects.
Pena ambushed deGrom’s first pitch during his first at-bat, launching the elevated fourseamer deep into left field. Wind swirled and might have helped the baseball leave the park, but Pena tagged it with a 103.5 mph exit velocity. Dominic Smith leapt for it but could not corral it. The ball bounced just above the orange line.
“You want to face these guys. Those are the guys that dominate the league,” Pena said. “You want to see where you stack up in that competition. You want to see what the best looks like, and it’s eye-opening. You just compete with those guys, and that’s a good feeling.”
Castro returns from oblique strain
Catcher Jason Castro said he is “100 percent” recovered from a strained right oblique that sidelined him from Grapefruit League action for 14 days.
Castro said he suffered the injury while taking a half swing during an at-bat March 2 against the Mets. It only limited his hitting, Castro said, allowing him to catch some bullpen sessions during his absence from Grapefruit League play — crucial for a new catcher trying to learn a pitching staff.
“I wanted to be smart about it so it didn’t snowball into something that could keep me out awhile,” Castro said. “We caught it early enough, and we were pretty conservative with the amount of time that we had. I’ve been happy with the progression, and I felt great today.”
Castro caught five innings in Tuesday’s 8-3 loss to the Mets. He struck a solid opposite-field single off Dellin Betances in the sixth before exiting the game.