Astros Crawfish Boil: February 28, 2018

Lance McCullers will make his first appearance of the spring today. Hot take: 2018 is the year he will become the best starting pitcher on the Astros staff. Mark it down, this writer said it. Ridicule to your heart’s content. On to the boil!

Let’s start off by continuing our shiny new “Tag’s Tweets” mini segment, shall we? Go follow Brian McTaggart on Twitter, if you don’t already, by clicking this blue button:

Tag’s Tweets

Astros News

Gurriel (hand) sent to Houston for more testing

Yuli Gurriel’s hand injury might be more serious than initially thought.

Astros Notebook: Dallas Keuchel bulks up ahead of contract year

This is a paywall article at The Athletic (please click this link here and subscribe...it’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a really great site for baseball news in general, and the Crawfish Boils are going to be littered with pieces from the site) by former Chronicle writer Jake Kaplan. It takes a look at several aspects of Astros camp right now, today.

Prospect Whitley issues apology for suspension

In case you missed our story about it, here’s a piece on MLB.com about Whitley’s twitter statement.

Astros, fans take first road trip of spring training

Pretty self-explanatory title there.

Rogelio Armenteros among top prospect performers

“The Rogue” struck out five more hitters in his second appearance of the spring over three innings of work and now has eight strike outs over just five innings - which is a superhuman 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings in this extremely, ridiculously tiny sample.

Three strategies the Astros can use to make the most of their rotation depth

TCB Alumnus Tyler Stafford continues to churn out good work with the Athletic (subscription required and totally recommended - feel free to click the link and subscribe!).

Astros have thoughts on 2018 World Series road: ‘How does it not go through Houston?’

The Astros players know they’re good, are flaunting it, and are unashamed...and that’s as it should be.

Around The League

Twins third baseman Miguel Sano talks to Major League Baseball investigators

Major League Baseball conducted their interview with embattled Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano today with regards to sexually-based assault allegations made by a former Twins photographer.

C.J. Nitkowski’s Twitter controversy highlights a social media truth: it’s easier to apologize

A piece that looks at aspects of the allegations against Texas Rangers broadcaster C.J. Nitowski. (The Athletic - paywall required and highly recommended)

Rangers Agree To Terms With Tim Lincecum

Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels, Bartolo Colon, Matt Moore...congrats to the Rangers on winning the 2009 World Series this year.

‘She’s really impressive’: Meet Dana Parks, the 26-year-old South Jersey native making her mark in the Phillies’ player development department

This is a really great look at Dana Parks, a woman who is making a name for herself in the Philadelphia Phillies Baseball Ops department.

Players union files grievance vs. Rays, 3 other teams over revenue-sharing spending

In a seemingly-shortsighted move that is probably going to backfire ultimately, the Major League Baseball Players Association has filed grievances against multiple teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Why the Players’ Association has the Pirates’ spending habits under a microscope

A Pirates-centric look at the aforementioned grievance. (This is another Athletic piece behind a paywall - again, a subscription is highly suggested and can be attained by clicking on the above link).

Indians Agree To Terms With Mike Napoli

The party is back on in Cleveland.

Sarris: Pitcher Matt Strahm is the Padres’ secret weapon

Another Athletic (paywall - subscription required and highly recommended) article - this one by Eno Sarris, formerly of FanGraphs.com and one of the best in the business.