Tuesday's Three Astros Things

Some things to talk about while I enjoy Correa's start to the season...

1) Dallas Keuchel is an ace

I don't know why FanGraphs didn't just use my title for this article, but it's basically what they wrote. No, seriously. Read this:

He hasn't even reached his first arbitration payday yet, so he clearly qualifies as one of the single best pitching bargains in the game at present. He might not look or quack like an ace, but Dallas Keuchel most certainly deserves to be classified as one at present.

Read the whole thing, because it gets at why Keuchel has been so successful this year. It also suggests that his success wasn't a fluke and he'll keep pitching this well, as long as he continues to manage his contact like he has.

The Astros don't need an ace because they already have one.

Now, what this doesn't talk about is how it relates to other Astros pitchers. For instance, is it significant that Brady Rodgers checks off many of the Keuchel-ian success boxes? He's an ultra-control freak who never walks anyone. He generates a ton of ground balls. He doesn't give up many line drives. he has a nice strikeout rate that's not terribly high.

Is it any wonder that he's sitting in Triple-A right now? I don't think he'll be in the starting rotation in the next year, but Rodgers could leapfrog a few guys with better "stuff" who aren't as good at managing contact.

2) Altuve film debuts Thursday

Have you ever wanted to go to a big-time movie premiere? Are you not lucky enough to live in Los Angeles? Do you just love orange carpet?

If you answered yes to any of those things, do I have the event for you. On Thursday, the Astros will be a part of a movie premiere for a documentary on Jose Altuve, narrated by Dennis Quaid.

Produced for MLB Productions by Danny Field, who has worked on documentaries and reality shows for MLB Network, the film includes footage on Altuve from the 2014 season, when he won the American League batting championship, and from postseason trips to Japan and Venezuela and from this year's Astros spring training.

It's invitation-only, so if you didn't know about it now, you probably can't go. Sorry.

But, feel free to show up and gawk at all the celebrities that go to this thing, just like real-life paparrazzi.

3) MLB security

If any of you have gone to Astros games recently, you'll have seen the security measures. New metal detectors sit at every entrance, which slowed things waaay down on Opening Day.

Well, it turns out they may not do much. In fact, they may have the opposite effect, says an independent security expert.

There's no evidence that this new measure makes anyone safer. A halfway competent ticketholder would have no trouble sneaking a gun into the stadium. For that matter, a bomb exploded at a crowded checkpoint would be no less deadly than one exploded in the stands. These measures will, at best, be effective at stopping the random baseball fan who's carrying a gun or knife into the stadium. That may be a good idea, but unless there's been a recent spate of fan shootings and stabbings at baseball games — and there hasn't — this is a whole lot of time and money being spent to combat an imaginary threat.

The Astros, if you'll remember, were one of the first teams in the league to install metal detectors. They typically haven't had the kinds of crowds that would draw out the time it takes to go into a ballpark. But, it certainly slowed things down on Opening Day.

My question to you is this: do these metal detectors and new security measures make you feel safer at Minute Maid Park?