Slow news day doesn't begin to describe it:
- Jose Valverde had this suggestion on how to keep Wandy Rodriguez in top form:
- More on the Wandy front, Richard Justice marvels over this conversation between Tal Smith and himself a year and half ago:
- Kevin Goldstein, of BPro, had this to say about the Astros draft (subscription required to read the full piece):
- I think I feel the exact same way the Astros hitters do about facing off against Zack Greinke.
- I think this BtB piece holds a special place in my heart just because HLP and I have a mutual friend who used to swear up and down that Willy Taveras would definitely turn out to be a far more valuable player than Michael Bourn would ever be.
"After that ball that hit Wandy yesterday, I thought he wasn’t even going to get into the third today," said Valverde, who pitched the ninth for the save. "He pitched really well. It was scary when it hit him on a line. But we have to keep hitting him if he’ll pitch like this."
It was about 18 months ago that Tal Smith said something that sounded surprising at the time. ''Wandy is right on schedule,'' he said. ''He's close to becoming a polished major league pitcher. We have to be patient. Not all these guys are like Roy (Oswalt). They don't all come up and become stars overnight. Wandy has had to figure out what works and what doesn't. He has had to learn to trust his stuff.''
Final Summary: While it's hardly a ground-breaking draft, the Astros are definitely moving in the right direction under scouting director Bobby Heck, focusing on athletes and ceiling in order to replenish one of the minor leagues' weakest systems.
That's all I've got.