Monday's Three Astros Things

Some things to talk about while we revel in day baseball all week long...

1) Mark Appel...forearm tightness...

Appel not going to pitch today for precautionary reasons. Had mild forearm tightness before the game.

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 9, 2015

GAAAAAH!

For Astros fans: not all forearm tightness ends in TJ. Felix Hernandez ('07), Stephen Strasburg ('13) had tightness, no further issues

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) March 9, 2015

PHEW

Updated: Mark Appel explains what happened today when he was scratched with forearm tightness http://t.co/AbmUxnvWks

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 9, 2015

Okay, everyone breathe. It's okay. It's okay.

2) In-game streaming

Maury Brown wrote about MLB.TV and in-game streaming in light of the new blackout rules around sports. What we have now is a good, old fashioned turf war. I'll let Brown explain:

It wasn't too terribly long ago that MLBAM owned the streaming media landscape for baseball through its out-of-market package. But as others have started to provide services, some backed by MLBAM's tech infrastructure, network partners have begun seeking to stream games, as well. ESPN originally reached a deal with MLBAM in 2008 to include streaming rights on both ESPN's platforms (ESPN360.com at the time) and for MLB.TV subscribers. In subsequent deals, those streaming rights have continued. Back to FOX and those national games and jewel events that are now available through authenticated streams via MLB.TV, they are also available via FOX's streaming service, FOX Sports GO. The Saturday national game does not require authentication as the game airing live on FOX in fans' local markets is blacked out with all other games in that window available on all platforms.

The whole article is worth your time on an issue that could affect plenty of Astros fans.

3) Maybe keep Bob Grossman around

How long do you think Colby Rasmus will stay in Houston? He's young, right? If he plays well, he could be here for at least six or seven years, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

Rasmus talked with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about life, his time with the Cardinals and what his future holds.

Rasmus admitted that sometimes he doesn't have fun in the game anymore and that he didn't plan to play 10 more years or even five. He said he wanted to play this season and three more and then retire to his newly purchased cattle ranch in Alabama, where he has a wife and two young daughters and where the deer hunting and fishing are abundant.

"It's a tough game," said Rasmus. "A lot of stuff goes on. I haven't got much more in me."

Who knew that 2015's Opening Day left fielder could have so much in common with that other Opening Day left fielder from half a decade ago?

Not a lot of guile in Rasmus. Baseball is a hard sport. Hopefully, the young fella can have some fun this summer in Houston, maybe turn around his outlook on things.

Side note: the P-D's baseball coverage is peerless. They have three writers who all get it and can really tell some great stories. It's why I follow them, despite, you know, the general Cardinal-ness of it all.