Astros Crawfish Boil: May 17, 2018

Houston Astros News

A special night for Astros ace Justin Verlander as he records career strikeout #2500 and earns complete game shutout - MLB.com

While the Rockets were dominating the Golden State Warriors, Justin Verlander was out in Los Angeles dominating the likes of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Albert Pujols.

The Astros are not scheduled to face Trevor “Tyler” Bauer in upcoming weekend series against the Cleveland Indians - Houston Chronicle

Many were hoping for this matchup, but the Astros will still go to Cleveland in just one week to play a four-game series so there’s still a very good chance that Houston will face Bauer.

Unlike the Los Angeles Dodgers, here’s how the Astros have been able to avoid a bad World Series hangover thus far - Houston Chronicle

Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch seems to have made a lot of right moves in Spring Training in order to avoid a hangover from the 2017 championship run.

Another angle on the Astros World Series hangover topic, this time from the former Dodgers beat writer - Los Angeles Times

Always interesting to hear the opposite side’s perspective. Times are certainly becoming a little bit desperate in DodgerTown.

MLB News

Former Houston Astros pitcher Jordan Lyles is finding himself in San Diego - FanGraphs

The Astros drafted Lyles in the 1st Round for a reason, and it seems like the talented right-hander is finally figuring it out for the Padres.

Highly touted prospects Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna Jr. are becoming a historically unique pairing for the Atlanta Braves - MLB.com

These two have wasted no time making their mark in the big leagues, and by doing that they have already carved out a piece of baseball history.

At the 2018 first quarter mark, trade deadline buzz beginning to take shape - MLB.com

Teams are already starting to separate themselves as contenders or pretenders, and the trade market is taking shape accordingly.