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Zack Greinke Not Expected To Re-Sign With Astros

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The Astros have one of the more significant crop of free agents around the league, as the team is facing the potential departures of Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, Kendall Graveman and Zack Greinke, among others. Houston may make an effort to retain some of that group, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter) that Greinke is not expected to return to the Astros this winter.

Assuming he indeed signs elsewhere, Greinke will wrap up his Astros tenure after two and a half seasons. Acquired from the D-Backs in a surprise 2019 deadline day blockbuster, the six-time All-Star worked 62 2/3 innings with a pristine 3.02 ERA down the stretch. While he was knocked around in one start during the Division Series, Greinke had strong showings in both the AL Championship Series and World Series that year.

Over the past two seasons, Greinke has offered more steady mid-rotation production than the ace-caliber numbers he consistently posted for the bulk of his career. He worked 67 frames of 4.03 ERA ball in 2020, and put up a similar 4.16 mark over 171 innings this past season. His underlying numbers this year took a worrying downturn, though, which contributed to the team curtailing his postseason workload. Greinke’s strikeout rate dropped from 24.5% in 2020 to 17.2% this past season, while his home run rate doubled. During this year’s run to the World Series, skipper Dusty Baker relied more heavily on the team’s younger arms, with Greinke working just 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball in three playoff outings.

The dip in swing-and-miss should have some impact on Greinke’s offseason market, but the 38-year-old will no doubt still find plenty of interest. His 4.16 ERA, while his highest mark since 2016, was nevertheless a bit better than the leaguewide 4.34 showing for starting pitchers. Greinke remains one of the sport’s preeminent control artists, with this year’s 5.2% walk percentage checking in 11th-lowest among the 129 hurlers with 100+ innings. And that’s before considering the intangible value teams could expect from the 18-year big league veteran, who is regarded as one of the league’s most cerebral pitchers.

Nightengale suggests Greinke would prefer an opportunity with a National League team. That’s something of an odd distinction on the surface, since it’s widely expected that this offseason’s collective bargaining talks could result in the introduction of the designated hitter to the NL (thereby removing the biggest differentiator between the two leagues). Still, it’s possible Greinke — who played the bulk of the 2011-19 seasons playing for NL clubs — might broadly prefer the accommodations or ballparks in the NL to those of the American League.

Astros’ Pitching Coach Brent Strom Won’t Return In 2022

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In the champagne-colored haze that followed the World Series, the top story was the championship team in Atlanta, of course. But there was also some news from the opposing side, as Brent Strom held a post-game scrum and announced that he will not be returning as the Astros’ pitching coach next season. (Links from Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and Mark Berman of Fox 26.) A few weeks ago, Strom had hinted that he was considering this path, before making it official after last night’s game.

The 73-year-old isn’t committed to a full-on retirement necessarily, but seems confident about the role he won’t have. “There may be another opportunity for me somewhere else. I may look at that. I may just go lie on a beach in Mexico,” Strom said. “But I need to enjoy my life a little bit. I haven’t had a summer in a long time. So we’ll see. I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I know I won’t be back as the Major League pitching coach here. Yeah. I know that for a fact.”

Strom made 100 appearances over five seasons in his playing career, from 1972 to 1977. He logged 501 innings with an ERA of 3.95 over his time with three different clubs. Since then, he’s been coaching in different roles for various organizations, including the Royals, Nationals and Cardinals. But his most consistent stretch at the big league level has been his most recent tenure with the Astros, running from 2014 through 2021, which coincided with their emergence from a lengthy rebuild into a consistent powerhouse club, including the now-infamous championship club from 2017.

Strom’s departure opens up an important position in the dugout, and he seemed to imply that the torch will be passed to someone already within the organization, listing bullpen coach Josh Miller and assistant pitching coach Bill Murphy as options. “I really think this organization’s in a really good position with these two young pitching coaches that we have, and I’m sure had I stayed there would be teams coming after these two guys,” he said. “I think this organization deserves these two young guys, Murphy and Miller, to stay. How they work that out is up to them.” Miller has been with the organization since 2011, working in various roles over the past decade, but has been the bullpen coach for the past three seasons. Murphy signed on to work with the Astros’ minor leaguers prior to the 2017 season and then worked his way up to the big league team for the 2021 campaign.

It’s unclear if the Astros’ front office perceives the transition as smoothly as Strom does, but he made it clear that Miller and Murphy already deserve much of the credit for the current Houston pitching staff. “If you look at all these pitchers that we have right now, most of them came up through those two guys. Outside of Lance [McCullers Jr.] that I had as a holdover, all my guys have kind of moved on.” With that framing in mind, it seems like Strom has already been gradually relinquishing some duties to Murphy and Miller. But it remains to be seen how the organization will divvy up the job titles and responsibilities for next season, or if they plan to consider external hires.

Elsewhere on Houston’s coaching staff, there will also be a vacancy in the manager’s seat with Dusty Baker’s contract now expiring, although it’s possible that matter will be settled in short order. Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that Astros’ owner Jim Crane “plans to sit down with Dusty Baker in the next few days to iron out a one- or 2-year contract.” The return of Baker would not come as a huge surprise, given how his time in Houston has gone so far. The club was mired in the aftermath of the scandalous sign-stealing revelations when Crane personally hired Baker as the new skipper, and he has guided the club through a pair of successful campaigns, making it to the ALCS in 2020 and the World Series in 2021. Crane discussed the matter about a month ago and didn’t say anything definitive, but spoke positively of Baker. Dusty himself seemed to indicate that he wanted to return, when discussing things a few weeks ago, making it seem like there’s enough mutual interest for an extension to potentially come together fairly quickly.

Framber Valdez, Tucker Davidson To Start Game 5 Of World Series

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The Astros will turn to Framber Valdez to stave off elimination in tonight’s fifth game of the World Series, while the Braves will kick off a bullpen game with another rookie pitcher.  The Braves announced this afternoon that left-hander Tucker Davidson will get the start (or, more accurately, serve as the opener) in what will be Davidson’s first career postseason appearance, and only his sixth career games at the Major League level.  Davidson was added to the Braves’ World Series roster as an injury replacement after Charlie Morton suffered a fractured fibula during Game 1.

Davidson made one start for Atlanta in 2020 and then posted a 3.60 ERA over four starts and 20 innings this season, with his most recent MLB outing coming back on June 15 due to a forearm injury.  In fact, Davidson has only pitched one game total since that June 15 start, tossing three innings for Triple-A Gwinnett on the final day of the minor league season (October 3).

Though Davidson is one of the better pitching prospects in Atlanta’s farm system, obviously it’s anyone’s guess as to what he’ll be able to deliver on the mound, even in what might amount to just an inning of work.  That said, given how the rest of the Braves bullpen has stifled Houston’s lineup throughout the World Series, Davidson’s task is just to avoid disaster and then turn things over to his veteran teammates.

The Braves followed this same script in Game 4, as rookie Dylan Lee worked as the opener and pitched to four batters, recording one out and allowing a run on a hit and two walks.  Kyle Wright then entered the game to bail Lee out, and Wright proceeded to toss 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball.  A scoreless inning each from Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, and Will Smith later, and Atlanta sealed a 3-2 victory and a commanding 3-1 lead in the Series.

Astros hitters have combined for a meager .206/.291/.298 slash line over the four games against the Braves, with only Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker showing any consistency at the plate.  Starting the southpaw Davidson in Game 5 could be a preventative measure on Atlanta’s part against Houston moving the left-handed hitting Tucker up in the batting order, though the Braves have plenty of other left-handed options on their roster.

The lack of production from the usually-reliable lineup is the biggest issue facing the Astros, as their own pitchers have done a solid job of limiting Atlanta’s offense over the last three games, with only one victory to show for it.  In Game 1, however, the Braves hit Valdez hard for five runs over two innings, setting up a 6-2 Atlanta win in the Series opener.

It has been a roller-coaster of a playoffs for Valdez, who has been very shaky outside of his eight-inning/one-run gem against the Red Sox in Game 5 of the ALCS.  In Valdez’s other three starts this postseason, he has been torched for 11 runs over nine innings of work.  With the season on the line for the Astros, manager Dusty Baker may have a relatively quick hook for Valdez at the first sign of trouble, as Houston will have every available arm at the ready to try and get the Series to a sixth game.

Jason Castro Tests Positive For COVID-19; Garrett Stubbs Added To World Series Roster

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Major League Baseball announced that it has approved a roster substitution for the Houston Astros, with Jason Castro being removed from the World Series roster due to COVID-19 protocols. Fellow catcher Garrett Stubbs will take his place. Astros’ general manager James Click didn’t answer a question about whether Castro tested positive, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. However, Mark Berman of Fox 26 reports that Castro has indeed tested positive.

This news comes with just over an hour to go before Houston is set to take on Atlanta in the fourth game of the series. This shouldn’t affect tonight’s lineup as Martin Maldonado was penciled into the catcher’s slot when that was announced earlier today.

When Jorge Soler tested positive during the NLDS, he had to quarantine for at least five days and couldn’t return until cleared as non-infectious by a four-person joint health and safety committee, consisting of two doctors, and one representative each from the league and the players’ union. Assuming the same protocols are in place now, that means Castro’s season is done. The seventh game of the series is scheduled for November 3rd, which is just four days away.

Maldonado has seen the bulk of the playing time behind the plate this season, garnering 41 plate appearances so far to Castro’s nine. But Castro has made those nine appearances count, as he had a single, a homer and two walks. As for Stubbs, he only made 38 plate appearances at the big league level this year. But in Triple-A, he got 146 appearances and hit .265/.418/.363.

Zack Greinke, Dylan Lee To Start Game 4 Of The World Series

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Both starting pitchers have now been announced for tonight’s Game 4 of the World Series, as the Braves have revealed that rookie left-hander Dylan Lee will get the ball to begin what is expected to be a bullpen game against the Astros.  For Houston, manager Dusty Baker confirmed last night that Zack Greinke will start, with Greinke also likely in line for an abbreviated outing.

While both pitchers can probably be more accurately described as openers rather than true starters for tonight’s game, the Lee/Greinke matchup represents quite a contrast in experience.  Greinke has 18 MLB seasons, 3110 regular-season innings, and 21 postseason appearances on his resume.  On the other side of the equation, the 27-year-old Lee didn’t make his Major League debut until October 1, and he has thus far pitched a total of two regular-season innings and 2 2/3 postseason innings in his brief career in The Show.

Lee was included on Atlanta’s NLDS roster but didn’t see any action, and he wasn’t initially on the NLCS roster until Huascar Ynoa had to be replaced due to injury.  Lee pitched two frames of relief in the Braves’ 11-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS, and he then pitched two-thirds of an inning against the Astros in Game 2 of the World Series.

Originally a tenth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2016 draft, Lee posted some solid numbers in his first four pro season, but Miami released him during Spring Training this year.  The Braves inked Lee to a minor league deal, and he responded with some big numbers (1.54 ERA, 30.9% strikeout rate, and a tiny 3.4% walk rate) over 46 2/3 Triple-A innings.

Now, Lee finds himself on the hill in the Fall Classic, becoming the first pitcher to ever make his first Major League start in a Series game (as per the Elias Sports Bureau).  Lee will face a probable top three of Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, and Alex Bregman, assuming the Astros stick with the same lineup they’ve deployed throughout the World Series.

Between injuries, two weeks on the COVID-related injured list, and a general lack of effectiveness late in the season, Greinke has been limited to two appearances during the playoffs.  He tossed an inning of relief in Houston’s 12-6 loss to the White Sox in the ALDS, and then got the start against the Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALCS.  Though the Astros won that game by a 9-2 margin, Greinke only faced nine batters over 1 1/3 innings, walking three batters and allowing a two-run homer to Xander Bogaerts.

These recent results notwithstanding, “if anybody knows how to pitch in a big game, it’s Greinke,” Baker told reporters yesterday.  “We don’t know how long he’s going to go. Just give us as much quality as you can, and then we’ll turn it over to somebody else.”  Cristian Javier is probably the likeliest candidate to toss bulk innings tonight, as the righty has worked beyond one innings in each of his four postseason outings this year, including 1 1/3 innings against Atlanta in Game 2.

Astros Announce World Series Roster

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The Astros announced their 26-man World Series roster ahead of tonight’s Game 1 clash with the NL Champion Atlanta Braves. The AL champs made only a single change from their ALCS roster, dropping rookie outfielder Jake Meyers for utilityman (and playoff veteran) Marwin Gonzalez. The Astros’ pitching staff, which again does not include Lance McCullers Jr., is unchanged.

Here’s the full roster breakdown:

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Gonzalez’s contributions to Astros teams of yore — including the 2017 World Series winners — make his inclusion noteworthy, but he’s unlikely to offer more than bench depth as the series moves to an NL park for Games 3-5. Though always crucial to his value, his positional versatility is Gonzalez’s calling card at this point; he’s appeared at every position on the diamond but catcher at least once at some point in his ten-year career. Aside from a roughly average year with the Twins in 2019, Gonzalez has done little with the bat since leaving the Astros and posted only a combined .567 OPS across 307 plate appearances with Boston and Houston in 2021.

Meyers, the man he replaces, was solid for the Astros in 2021 in his first taste of big-league action, putting together a .260/.323/.438 line in 163 trips to the plate while also capably manning Minute Maid Park’s spacious center field, but he did not see the field in the ALCS after suffering a shoulder injury in the Game 4 ALDS clincher against the White Sox. Though the Astros had carried him on the ALCS roster to maintain his eligibility for the World Series, hopes he’d be ready to go by now have evidently not borne out. Fellow rookies McCormick and Siri will be tasked with manning center field in his stead.

Though the club’s roster selection proved relatively drama-free, a number of question do loom for manager Dusty Baker. In particular, the club’s pitching plan remains up in the air, with only Valdez and Urquidy announced as starters. While rookie Luis Garcia is likely to get the ball for Game 3 in Atlanta, Baker’s Game 4 plan is anyone’s guess, with Greinke, Odorizzi, and a bullpen game all viable options. It’s also unclear how Baker will handle DH Yordan Alvarez in the games played in Atlanta — and who would be asked to take a seat if Alvarez plays the outfield.

Lance McCullers Jr. Won’t Pitch In World Series

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OCTOBER 25: McCullers confirmed he won’t be able to pitch in the World Series while speaking with reporters this afternoon (video via Mark Berman of Fox 26). The righty indicated that the strain he suffered typically requires a six-to-eight week rest period, and there’s obviously not that level of leeway remaining at this point of the season.

OCTOBER 24: Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. hasn’t pitched since Game 4 of the ALDS, and it looks like his forearm injury will end his season.  MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that McCullers won’t be available for the World Series, so Houston will now have to try and win its second consecutive postseason matchup without one of its best hurlers.

Astros GM James Click didn’t rule McCullers out when speaking to reporters (including The Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner) earlier today, noting that roster decisions didn’t need to made until Tuesday morning, “and we’re going to take every minute we can just to see how he’s responding.  We’re not taking anything off the table….It’s obviously something that I know Lance wants to be out there if he can, so we will talk to the doctors and him and the trainers and figure it out from there.”

However, as open-minded as Click was about McCullers’ chances, Heyman’s report essentially formalizes what has seemed increasingly evident over the last few days.  McCullers has yet to so much as throw since suffering his injury, a strain of his flexor pronator muscle.  While the muscle injury itself doesn’t present any serious long-term issue, McCullers has already undergone Tommy John surgery (costing him the entire 2019 season), and obviously the Astros aren’t going to take any unnecessary risks with his health.

That TJ rehab cost McCullers a chance to participate in the 2019 World Series, and it’s quite possible that with a healthy McCullers in the fold, Houston would’ve been able to bring home another championship.  The righty has quietly been a very solid arm during the Astros’ postseason runs, with a 2.83 ERA over 57 1/3 innings as a starter and a reliever in the playoffs.  This year alone, McCullers allowed just one earned run in 10 2/3 frames against the White Sox in the ALDS, starting Games 1 and 4.

Framber Valdez was announced as Houston’s starter for Tuesday’s Game 1 against the Braves.  As we saw in the ALCS against the Red Sox, the Astros will take a flexible approach to their pitching plans, so no other starters have been officially slated for the other World Series games.  On paper, it would seem like the Astros would line up Luis Garcia in Game 2, Jose Urquidy in Game 3, and then Zack Greinke for perhaps only a few innings to begin Game 4, with Cristian Javier and Jake Odorizzi on hand to provide innings as long men out of the bullpen.

Cubs Hire Ehsan Bokhari As Assistant General Manager

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The Cubs’ reshaping of the front office continued Monday, as they announced the hiring of Ehsan Bokhari as an assistant general manager. Bokhari, 38, has spent the past four seasons in the Astros’ front office — first as their director of R&D in 2018 and, more recently, as their senior director of player evaluation from 2019-21.

With the Astros, Bokhari contributed to player evaluation at the amateur, professional and international levels in addition to overseeing the entirety of the team’s research and development projects. He was one of the original members of the Dodgers’ research and development staff, serving as a senior analyst with Los Angeles from 2015-18. Bokhari holds a PhD in quantitative psychology and an MS in Statistics from the University of Illinois, in addition to undergraduate degrees in psychology and mathematics from the University of Arizona.

Bokhari will replace longtime Cubs executive Randy Bush as assistant general manager, as the 63-year-old Bush transitions into a consultant/advisory role with the Cubs, per Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). The Cubs’ front office has seen a good bit of turnover throughout the past calendar year, beginning with Theo Epstein’s decision to step down as president of baseball operations. Longtime GM Jed Hoyer was elevated to that vacant title, and earlier this month Hoyer announced the hiring of Cleveland assistant GM Carter Hawkins as the team’s new general manager.

Poll: Astros/Braves, Who Wins The World Series?

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The Fall Classic is set to begin on Tuesday, with the Astros and Braves meeting in Game 1 of the World Series.  This is the first time these two clubs have met in the World Series, though they were pretty frequent postseason opponents back when the Astros were in the National League.  Between 1997 and 2005, Atlanta and Houston met five times in NLDS play, with the Braves coming out on top in three of those matchups.

The Braves are heading to the World Series for the tenth time in their history, and in search of their fourth championship.  While nothing will ever top the 1914 Miracle Braves as the franchise’s signature comeback story, the 2021 team isn’t that far off, considering how this year’s Braves were only 52-55 heading into action on August 3.  By this point, Atlanta had already lost Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Soroka to season-ending injuries, and Marcell Ozuna was away from the team (and soon to be put on administrative leave by the league) due to domestic violence charges.

However, the Braves were far from done.  An aggressive trade strategy saw outfielders Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, and future NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario all added prior to the trade deadline, and Atlanta went 36-18 the rest of the way.  A lackluster NL East undoubtedly helped, but the Braves kept it going into October, defeating the Brewers in the NLDS and then ousting the defending champion Dodgers in the NLCS.  That last win was particularly sweet for Atlanta, considering the blown 3-1 lead against Los Angeles in the 2020 League Championship Series.

The Astros had a bit of an easier time of it in the regular season, battling with the A’s and Mariners for the AL West lead for much of the year but eventually pulling ahead in comfortable fashion.  Even without such familiar names as George Springer or Justin Verlander, Houston could still rely on several core members (i.e. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel) of its last two pennant winners, plus a pitching staff that has been almost entirely overhauled since the Astros were last in the World Series in 2019.

This will be the fourth time the Astros have reached the Fall Classic, with Houston’s lone championship coming back in 2017.  As you might have heard, there was more than a little controversy attached to the Astros’ success in 2017, so it’s safe to say that another championship won’t erase the “buzzers and garbage cans” cloud that may hang over the franchise for some time to come.  Yet, that hardly matters to a group that has turned over a great number of its personnel since that 2017 season.  Dusty Baker, for instance, has been manager for just the last two years, and it’s hard to not feel some sentiment for the veteran skipper trying to win the first World Series of his long managerial career.

Who is your pick to win it all?  And, as an added bonus, how many games will be required?  (poll link for app users)

Who will win the World Series?
Braves in 6 36.66% (9,292 votes)
Astros in 6 26.31% (6,669 votes)
Braves in 7 13.88% (3,518 votes)
Astros in 5 8.92% (2,261 votes)
Braves in 5 6.60% (1,674 votes)
Astros in 7 4.26% (1,081 votes)
Astros in 4 1.76% (445 votes)
Braves in 4 1.61% (409 votes)
Total Votes: 25,349

Latest On Dusty Baker

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Dusty Baker is headed back to the World Series, after the veteran manager’s Astros triumphed over the Red Sox in the ALCS.  This is the sixth time Baker has been part of the Fall Classic as a player (winning with the Dodgers in 1981), coach, and manager, and he is the ninth manager to lead both an American League and a National League team to a league pennant.  While capping off his managerial career with a championship would seem like a storybook ending, Baker isn’t planning to retire even if the Astros win it all, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

Back in December, Baker was somewhat non-committal about his future with Houston, saying “Depends how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me….You never know what changes are going to come about in life.”  More recently, however, Baker has stated that he does want to keep managing into 2022 and perhaps beyond.  Rosenthal writes that Baker would love to collect the 13 more regular-season victories he needs to reach 2000 wins for his managerial career, and obviously Baker has interest in helping guide the Astros to another run at the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2022.

Baker’s contract with the Astros is up after the season, as he was originally signed to a one-year deal with a 2021 club option year.  Both Baker and team management has indicated that they will hold off on negotiations until after the year, though Baker has a pretty notable supporter in Astros owner Jim Crane.  Talking with FOX 26’s Mark Berman, Crane reiterated that the two sides will talk after the playoffs are over, but said “Dusty deserves another shot for next year.  We’ll see where it goes.”

Given all of the success Baker has enjoyed in his two seasons in Houston, it would count as a surprise at this point if the 72-year-old isn’t back on the bench next season.  That said, there wasn’t much normal about the circumstances of Baker’s hiring in the first place, as the veteran skipper was brought on to replace the fired A.J. Hinch in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.  Crane personally hired Baker as manager even before the hiring of new general manager James Click, and most GMs would prefer to have their own managerial hire in place.  Crane would obviously have the final say-so if he made a point of retaining Baker, though the owner has said that he and Click will mutually decide on Baker’s future.

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