Astros Crawfish Boil: March 9, 2023

I don’t know how you all are doing this, but the WBC has wrecked my circadian rhythm. With games at 6AM and 11PM, it hasn’t been possible to sleep at night like normal people. It’s only going to get worse as we go from three games yesterday to four today to eight later this week. I would say that “some things are more important than baseball,” but that’s simply not true. Here’s your Boil.

Houston Astros News

Jose Altuve and his Venezuelan countrymen were victorious against the non-VZ Astros by a 9-8 final in a WBC tuneup (mlb.com)

All-Star Pérez with different pitch, sings Venezuelan anthem (newsday.com)

Astros’ López ready to lead way as Venezuela manager (mlb.com)

Houston Astros GM sets deadline for Tucker, Valdez extensions (chron.com)

Astros’ Alex Bregman reinvents double play with slick bounce pass (chron.com)

Astros 2023: Crisis mode? (chipalatta.com)

Non-Houston Astros AL West News

deGrom ‘really good,’ hits 100 mph in BP (mlb.com)

Mathias traded to Pirates for PTBNL (lonestarball.com)

Angels News: Mike Trout Says He’s Getting Frustrated With Losing (si.com)

How Phil Nevin has helped the Angels start fresh (latimes.com)

Las Vegas Really Wants the Oakland Athletics to Move There (insidehook.com)

Rebuilding A’s mulling move traditionalists might hate (yardbarker.com)

Drayer’s Mariners Observations: Kelenic, Julio, injury concerns and more (sports.mynorthwest.com)

A Hitter Who Is Happy to Go His Own Way (nytimes.com)

Non-AL West MLB News

CAN THE DODGER WHO FIXED J.D. MARTINEZ’S SWING GET THE BEST OUT OF HIM AGAIN? (foxsports.com)

10 Worst MLB Contracts For the 2023 Season (thebiglead.com)

In Search of a Triple Gold Club for Baseball (fangraphs.com)

Non-MLB Baseball News

Panama topped Chinese Taipei by a 12-5 final in Game two of the WBC (of 47) (mlb.com)

Australia 8, Republic of Korea 7 (mlb.com)

Bogaerts, Profar HRs power Netherlands to 2-0 record (mlb.com)

Astros Birthdays

Aaron Boone (50) played 12 seasons in the majors, making the All Star Team in 2003 with the Cincinnati Reds. In 2009, he appeared in 10 games for Houston, and went 0-for-13 with a pair of strikeouts in his final MLB games.

Wayne Franklin (49) played two of his first seven MLB seasons with Houston, in 2000 and 2001. In 36 games, he posted a 1.860 WHIP and struck out 30 in 33 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Lefty CJ Nitkowski (50) had a 10-season MLB career, making his stop in Houston in 1998. He pitched 59 ²⁄₃ innings, holding opponents to a 1.207 WHIP and whiffing 44 while walking only 23.