James called up, will start against Angels
Josh James, a 6-3 righthander from Hollywood, Fla., seemed like a long shot to make the majors when the Astros drafted him in the 34th round in 2014.
Now the Astros, heading down the final stretch of a race for the American League West Division lead, are calling up James, 25, to make a start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park.
In addition to James, the Astros will take further advantage of rosters expanding Saturday. The team will activate catcher Brian McCann and outfielder Jake Marisnick from the disabled list and call up lefty reliever Cionel Perez.
James’ name does not come up in discussions about the organization’s most promising talent, but he will start Saturday because it would be his day to pitch for the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies and because he has earned it through his performance.
“He has done wonders for himself to get this opportunity,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I’ve never seen him in person, but people to a man will tell you his stuff is real — high-end stuff.”
Including his start with the Class AA Hooks this season, James has a 3.23 ERA, but it is his 171 strikeouts in 114⅓ innings pitched — a 13.5 K/9 rate — that catches the eye.
He throws a mid-90s fastball, a hard slider and a diving changeup.
“He’s punching out everybody in the minors,” Hinch said. “His stuff is creeping up to where it’s the mid- to upper 90s.
During his rehab assignment to recover from knee surgery, McCann caught James for the Grizzlies. The Astros made sure to make them battery mates then in preparation for their reunion Saturday, when McCann is expected to play his first game for the Astros since June.
The spot start became necessary after righthander Charlie
Morton landed on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder discomfort. Hinch expects Morton to return for the Sept. 7-9 weekend series in Boston.
“The next test for him will come in the big leagues,” Hinch said of James. “He’s outperformed a lot of pitchers to make his way to the top of the list.”
Correa working through slump
Shortstop Carlos Correa does not look right since suffering a back injury that caused him to miss 45 days of the season.
He came off the disabled list Aug. 10 and has batted.162 (11 for 68) with two extra-base hits.
He appears to be rolling over balls that usually he squares up and, sometimes, launches into orbit.
He went 0-for-4 in Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Angels. He softly grounded out in his first at-bat against lefty Andrew Heaney on a 93-mph fastball middle-in. In his career, Correa had hit .364 with five homers against fastballs from lefties to that part of the zone.
Of the four pitches that retired him Thursday, three were over the plate and one was an egregiously high fastball from Heaney that Correa chased.
Pitchers have thrown a significantly disproportionate number of low and away pitches to Correa lately, and the star slugger has batted .091 on them.
Even when they have challenged Correa with 23 pitches in the center of the zone, Correa has hit .200.
Manager A.J. Hinch suggested that Correa, in his search for the right rhythm, is trying too hard to manipulate his swing for hits.
“With all hitters that go through these ruts, there’s always an element,” Hinch said, “of being a little to stiff in your actions.”
Hinch is open to giving Correa a day off “if he needs it,” but he pledged unwavering confidence that Correa will hit his way out of the slump.
“He’s putting in a lot of work trying to get his timing and rhythm back,” Hinch said. “He’s not going to come out of the lineup. I’m not going to move him.”
“Talent wins in the end,” Hinch added.
Affiliation with ValleyCats extended
The Tri-City ValleyCats and the Astros announced Friday that they have extended their deal through the 2020 season.
The ValleyCats, who play in the short-season New York-Penn League, have been affiliated with the Astros since 2002, making them Houston’s longest- tenured minor league affiliate.
“They have been instrumental in our player development process over the last 17 seasons,”
Reid Ryan, Astros president of business operations, said.
Since 2002, 55 former ValleyCats have gone on to play Major League Baseball, and 42 of them with the Astros. Alumni include Jose Altuve, George Springer and Dallas Keuchel.
The ValleyCats are one of five Astros minor league affiliates that have qualified for the postseason this year. Since 2012, Tri-City has posted a 297-226 (.568) record.