Luhnow works phones, won’t force a deal
With the Aug. 1 nonwaiver trade deadline less than a week away, the Astros remain in constant talks with teams.
But general manager Jeff Luhnow said that as of Monday, “there’s nothing imminent.”
“We have a good team,” Luhnow said. “There’s no reason to do anything foolish at this point. We’re in constant communication with all of the clubs that have made players available or potentially will, and we’re going to evaluate each opportunity on a case-bycase basis.
“If we feel that there’s something that helps us with this club right now, we’re certainly going to consider it seriously.”
At least for now, the Astros have addressed any need for a bat. Top prospect Alex Bregman joined the team Monday, and touted Cuban infielder Yulieski Gurriel, who recently was signed to a five-year, $47.5 million deal is working out at the Astros’ spring training facility in Kissimmee, Fla., while waiting for approval of his work visa. He faced live pitching for the first time Sunday and figures to be with the Astros next month after a brief minor league assignment.
There still might be a need for pitching help. The only lefthanders on the staff are starter Dallas Keuchel and reliever Tony Sipp.
But the Astros have been Major League Baseball’s best team since May 1.
“Our rotation’s been good, our bullpen’s been good, our lineup’s been good,” Luhnow said. “We have Gurriel coming; we have Bregman here. We have guys in the minors that could be here.
“There’s a real argument to be made that if you’re healthy and playing well and you’ve got guys in Triple A that you can bring up, maybe it’s foolish to go out, take a piece out and add a piece. So we’ll see.”
Tucker prepared for second stint
Astros manager A.J. Hinch calls it “chasing hits.”
That’s what Preston Tucker was doing during his first six weeks with the Astros this year. Tucker said that as the team struggled to start its season, he was doing too much, and it ultimately cost him a spot on the 25-man roster. He was recalled Friday.
“I was pressing for hits, I wanted to stay up here, (and) I wanted to stay in the lineup,” said Tucker, who Monday batted second for the first time this season, going 0-for-4. “We were losing some close ballgames, and me and probably a lot of the other guys were trying to get that big hit and make something happen. I pressed a little bit too hard, and I needed to go back down there (to Class AAA Fresno) and regroup.”
Tucker had three hits over the weekend — all for extra bases — and reached base six times in 11 plate appearances. His home run Sunday off the Angels’ Jose Alvarez was his first off a lefty in the big leagues.
Tucker’s lefthanded bat helps break up a run of righties (George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa) at the top of the order. He hit second in 22 of his 98 games last season.
“His control of the strike zone has been a little bit better,” Hinch said. “His nemesis has been wanting to hit too much, hit too hard, and swing out of the strike zone. So I like that he’s confined that a little bit.”
Tucker hit .176 with 26 strikeouts in 85 at-bats in his first Astros stint this season. At Fresno, he hit .301 with a .512 slugging percentage.
“It’s something that I’m hoping carries over into here,” he said. “Rather than focus on getting a couple hits per game, focus on having a good at-bat every time I’m up there.”
A-Rod looks for bright side
About three hours before Monday’s game, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez wanted to talk numbers. Just not the numbers most people would discuss.
He didn’t mention his .206 batting average or 60 strikeouts in 209 at-bats. He spoke of his strikeoutto-walk rate, which he said is down from 3-to-1 to, more recently, 1-to-1. He talked about his rate of balls chased outside the strike zone, which he said is down from 44 percent to 22 percent.
The Yankees sabermetrics team told him about all of these encouraging numbers recently, Rodriguez said. Those were more positive things for him to mention than the fact he wasn’t in the Yankees’ lineup, despite the Astros’ starting lefthander Dallas Keuchel.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi’s plan this season was to have Rodriguez be the designated hitter against lefthanded pitchers. But Rodriguez, once one of baseball’s best and now a struggling veteran with an untradeable contract, has perhaps lost his role on the team.
Saturday, Girardi said he never considered pinchhitting Rodriguez in a 12-inning loss to the Giants. Monday, Girardi didn’t use Rodriguez in the small role he’d filled thus far this season.
Girardi said he made the decision mostly to keep Carlos Beltran in the lineup. The manager said he won’t DH Rodriguez in New York’s other two games in Houston, which will be against righthanded starters Doug Fister and Lance McCullers.
“I wish I could wave a magic wand to have that go away,” New York general manager Brian Cashman said of Rodriguez and first baseman Mark Teixeira’s struggles, “(so) that that wouldn’t be a distraction.”
Perhaps it’s too late for that. During a conference call regarding New York’s trade of closer Aroldis Chapman, Cashman answered a question about how the franchise could continue to have a tenable relationship with Rodriguez, who’s under contract through next season, when he’s due $21 million. Girardi answered multiple questions about his decision to bench Rodriguez, who is 1-for-9 against Keuchel with four strikeouts.
“Go watch the at-bats,” Girardi said in an exasperated tone to end his pregame dugout meeting with reporters.
Rodriguez, who turns 41 this week and is four home runs shy of 700 for his career, said his confidence is high after his meeting with New York’s sabermetrics team, a meeting he said he set up.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t hit with any luck, but I am getting the ball up in the air, which is a good sign,” he said.
Odds and ends
Catcher Jason Castro, who missed two games after suffering a bruised right hand, was back in the lineup Monday night and went 0-for-3. … Marwin Gonzalez, who sprained his left ankle Sunday, didn’t play for the first time since July 6, but manager A.J. Hinch said he would play Tuesday if able.