With George Springer activated off the disabled list, the Astros decide they want a longer look at J.D. Davis and send Tyler White back to the minors.
CHICAGO — Seeking a longer look at recently recalled third baseman J.D. Davis, the Astros opted to send first baseman Tyler White back to Class AAA to clear a spot for George Springer’s activation from the disabled list Wednesday.
The move was somewhat surprising given White had produced well in limited playing time with the Astros and Davis in his two starts is 1-for-7 with five strikeouts. But with the Astros facing lefthanders on Thursday (Carlos Rodon), Friday (Cole Hamels) and potentially Tuesday in Arizona, the team decided to use this stretch as a time to evaluate the righthandedhitting Davis against major league pitching.
“We struggled with that decision because we could’ve gone a couple different ways,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Whether it was between (White) and J.D. or the pitchers — we could’ve gone down a pitcher if we wanted to. But going into Texas (this weekend) and Arizona (next week), we wanted to keep the extra pitcher.
“And then when you start breaking down the position players, we felt like having Yuli (Gurriel) at first base and protecting the left side of the infield was the most important.”
White, who learned of his demotion after he arrived at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday, won’t be eligible to be recalled until July 19 unless it’s as a replacement for a player going on the DL. He also bats from the right side and since his recall late last month had hit .310/.344/.655 in 29 at-bats. He homered in three consecutive at-bats spanning Friday’s and Saturday’s games against the Blue Jays.
Davis joined the Astros on Saturday, his first career call-up. Both Davis and White figure to spend next month with the Astros as part of expanded September rosters.
“We want to see how the power translates here, the at-bat quality that we can look at,” Hinch said of Davis. “Two games is not enough to really make a determination where he fits in short-term or longterm, so he’s going to get a little bit more opportunity.” Bregman hits 7th despite hot streak
In the span of a day, the hot-hitting Alex Bregman went from leadoff to seventh in the Astros’ batting order.
Bregman’s fall, of course, coincided with the activation of George Springer, who returned to his customary leadoff spot Wednesday after missing 13 games with a quad injury. Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick have a stranglehold on the No. 2 and 3 spots against righthanders, and Yuli Gurriel and Marwin Gonzalez have seemingly settled into the No. 4 and 5 spots.
“Which guy are you going to take out?” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s not going to be Altuve. It’s not going to be Reddick. It’s not going to be Yuli. Marwin’s very comfortable in the five hole.
“You just start going down in the order, and you start to realize that we can have one of our most dangerous hitters at this time hitting in the bottom third. That means we have a good team and a good offense and a good opportunity to score in a lot of innings, not just the first.”
The switch-hitting Carlos Beltran batted sixth Wednesday, a configuration that allows Hinch to avoid having three lefthanded hitters in a row at the bottom of the order. The difference between No. 6 and 7 is negligible, anyway.
Bregman might still bat second against lefthanders, a lineup that would push Altuve back to the three hole. Bregman has been on a tear as of late. After batting .249/.329/.402 in April, May and June, he has slashed .333/.423/.667 in July and August.
“I think part of why our offense is the best in the league in a lot of categories is the depth,” Hinch said. “Regardless of how guys are swinging, we’re going to have somebody hit seventh, somebody hit eighth and somebody hit ninth, and those guys have been arguably the best in baseball as a group at 7-8-9.”