Hinch looking for more consistency from lefthander Sipp
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Although manager A.J. Hinch acknowledged Saturday he could envision a situation in which his team carries an allrighthanded bullpen on opening day, he said the Astros remain invested in “trying to untap the good portion” of Tony Sipp.
“I’ve been pretty consistent saying we want Tony Sipp to be a part of this and get back to the effectiveness that he’s had not too long ago,” Hinch said.
Coming off a season in which he allowed eight home runs and had a 5.79 earned-run average in 37 innings, Sipp is the team’s lone lefthanded reliever in camp. Reymin Guduan and Buddy Boshers were optioned last week.
“I think consistency with his pitch quality, with his (split finger) and with his fastball command,” Hinch said. “We’ve seen spurts of it this spring, but we haven’t seen the consistency quite yet. We do have trust in him, he’s done it before and he’s been really good. We’re evaluating him every time.”
In six Grapefruit League appearances spanning five innings, Sipp has permitted four earned runs — all of which came during a March 7 stint against the Marlins.
Since tossing two scoreless innings to begin spring training, Sipp has issued three walks, one apiece in his last three outings, and has three strikeouts in his last three innings.
“If the situation comes up to where we feel like it’s a better option for us to have other guys, right now our current internal options are all righthanded,” Hinch said. “It’s not ideal and it would be somewhat unusual just given how teams like to put their teams together. I guess that’s an option.”
Morton adding to his repertoire
Charlie Morton exited his third Grapefruit League appearance with little to laud and a pitch to keep refining.
The lanky righthander required 69 pitches through four innings against the Marlins on Saturday before manager A.J. Hinch summoned Brad Peacock from the bullpen.
Morton, who had five scoreless innings to open camp, walked three, hit two more and allowed four runs — only one earned. He received little help from his defense, which committed three errors — two by third baseman Alex Bregman.
“Fastball command early just was not good and then I was trying to mix a couple cutters in there,” said Morton, who yanked a cutter and plunked Braxton Lee to open the game. “First batter of the game, I just, I don’t know. None of my stuff was there early and I started to get a better feel for it as time went on.”
Morton has dedicated some of spring training to developing a changeup, a pitch the team wants in his repertoire to complement his fastball, cutter, curveball mix. Morton said he experimented with it in the third and fourth innings and said it’s “coming along.”
“He doesn’t like using it because his other pitches are so dominant,” Hinch said afterward. “It’s a force-feed for him. It’ll be effective and it’ll get on some scouting reports. He’ll get more comfortable as he uses it more. It’s an extra pitch for him, it’s something we’re trying to develop. Game on the line, he’s not going to get beat by it.”
Absence well-timed for Virginia product
Derek Fisher’s Saturday morning absence was planned, a reprieve he and several Astros enjoyed following their 3½hour Friday journey to Tampa for a game against the New York Yankees.
“He probably wouldn’t show his face anyway,” quipped his manager, A.J. Hinch.
Fisher played collegiately at the University of Virginia, which on Friday night absorbed perhaps the biggest upset in college basketball history. The Cavaliers, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, lost 74-54 to No. 16 seed UMBC — the first No. 1 seed to suffer such a fate.
Fisher went 0-for-4 in Friday’s game, a 2-0 Astros win, which ended just as his alma mater began to implode on the court in Charlotte, N.C.
“It’s probably a good day for Derek Fisher to not be in camp,” Hinch said with a smile, “let’s put it that way.” Chandler Rome