Astros Crawfish Boil: May 10, 2023

It’s Wednesday, and here’s the Boil.

Is SB Nation as hyper-focused on Ohtani as the rest of the sports-reporting world? When I searched for a picture to attach to this article, and typed “Astros” in the engine, the first 57 pictures were Shohei Ohtani. So yeah.

Houston Astros News

How COVID year helped Astros rookie J.P. France reach the majors (chron.com)

Framber Valdez, Astros outduel Shohei Ohtani, Astros (deadspin.com)

List of former Houston Astros players trying to revive their careers overseas (climbingtalshill.com)

Houston area students invited to ‘slide into summer reading’ with the Houston Astros (click2houston.com)

Astros turn to Cristian Javier in rubber match vs. Angels (deadspin.com)

Framber Valdez dominates in Astros’ win over Angels (mlb.com)

Astros insider: Framber Valdez is big A, as in ace, in Anaheim (houstonchronicle.com)

Four Astros relievers who could dictate the bullpen’s success (theathletic.com)

Shohei Ohtani passes Babe Ruth mark, but Angels lose to Astros (latimes.com)

AL West News

Oakland Athletics begin exploring backup plans for new stadium site in Southern Nevada, per report (cbssports.com)

A’s announcer on ‘lack of response’ to Glen Kuiper’s on-air racial slur: ‘My silence has been misrepresented’ (foxnews.com)

Jacob deGrom doesn’t seem close to making his Rangers injury return (nypost.com)

Rangers blanked as Mariners’ P George Kirby stellar again (deadspin.com)

Mariners’ Andres Munoz likely out until mid-June; Evan White to have second hip surgery (seattletimes.com)

Mariners’ George Kirby ‘smothers’ Rangers as pitching keeps Seattle afloat (theathletic.com)

Angels News: ‘Sell The Team’ Chants Forced Halos Broadcasting To Move Pre/Post-Game Shows (si.com)

Angels Superstars’ Recent Pitching Puts Him On Rough Side of History (si.com)

MLB News

He had his choice: Baseball field or the medical field (mlb.com) Here’s some stuff you oughta know about Twins star Pablo López.

Schmitt provides spark, homers in 2nd Major League at-bat (mlb.com)

Mookie’s early homer comes back to haunt Crew (mlb.com)

When a game was canceled because of a prison break (mlb.com)

The boy who caught (and lost) one of baseball’s most famous homers (mlb.com)

The pitcher who got players ejected through ventriloquism (mlb.com)

Astros Birthdays

Left-handed batting and right-handed throwing backstop Merritt Ranew (1938-2011) appeared in 71 games for the 1962 Houston Colt .45s, the precursor to our Astros. He slashed .234/.287/.390 with four jacks and 24 RBI.

Lefty Pete Schourek (54) pitched in the majors for a total of 11 seasons. In the days of 1998 (before the trade deadline, anyway), Schourek went 7-6 with a 4.50 ERA and 59 K’s in 80 innings for the Astros.

Outfielder Glen Barker (52) appeared in 235 contests for Houston from 1999 through 2001, hitting .232/.330/.323 with 30 stolen bases.

First baseman AJ Reed (30) appeared for the Astros in 48 contests, 45 of them in 2016. He hit just .153 with a 40 OPS+.