Eye of the Tigers
Paraphrasing the popular 80s song by the group, Survivor, is deemed appropriate after the day and night the Houston Astros had yesterday. First, they avoided a sweep by the Texas Rangers, beating them 5-1 and ending that series on a high note before returning to Houston for the first time since Hurricane Harvey hit. Second, they picked up outfielder, Cameron Maybin off of waivers from their divisional rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, in exchange for cash.
Quite a lot to happen in one day, so you would think that would be enough, right?!
WRONG! With the waiver wire/postseason roster deadline looming at the stroke of 11:59 pm EST, other teams were making deals left and right. While the Maybin pickup did bring speed to the base paths, the golden ticket of the night was for the Astros to try and land former Cy Young Award winner and 6 time All Star right-handed starting pitcher and ace, Justin Verlander. Around 11:30 pm EST (10:30 pm CST), word had come in that a deal was in the works to get him. 5 minutes later, however, reports came in the Verlander himself had nixed the deal by refusing to waive his no trade clause.
The nerve of him, right?! I mean, here was the team with the best record in the American League, despite it dwindling, putting up 3 top 10 prospects to get you and your big contract, and you still say no? What beef do these big contract guys like Verlander, and most notably of late Cole Hamels, have with the city of Houston, or the Astros as a baseball organization? Needless to say, many fans, including myself, were pretty livid. Hearts sank, rumors were started on both sides, and it felt like a grudge match was starting to happen across the social media and blogosphere.
Then, it happened. At precisely 11:58 pm EST (10:58 pm CST), source after source close to both clubs confirmed that Verlander was waiving his no trade clause to come to Houston. The deal was officially done, prospects were sent to Detroit, and the 6 time All Star and Cy Young Award winner was coming to the Astros. A move like this is not just what the team needed, but what the city needed as much needed jolt of positive news in the wake of the disaster that struck. He'll make his first start for the Astros on Tuesday, when they are in Seattle to face the divisional rival Mariners. He will follow Dallas Keuchel in the rotation order.
Originally, reports said that Verlander had wanted to go to the reigning world champions, the Chicago Cubs, who were also in the waiver trade running for him. This goes against original reports that he vetoed the trade to Houston altogether. When nothing came of Chi-Town, Verlander decided, literally at the last minute, to waive his no-trade clause to come to Houston. Very smart move on his part, I say!
In the midst of all this tremendous news, however, was still some bad news. Unfortunately, it involved your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis once again. After just coming off the disabled list a week ago today from a concussion injury that sidelined him for 3 weeks, he now has to return to the 10 day DL with a wrist injury the team is calling "right wrist soreness." From all accounts, it was sustained some time during last weekend's series in Anaheim against the Halos. Supposedly, Gattis had not flinched, or even said anything to the coaches, and it allowed for the soreness to get worse. He is being evaluated by doctors, and with any luck, we should know something before tomorrow's homecoming doubleheader game against the visiting New York Mets.
I highlighted the injury in another House of Houston post that you folks can view in the tweet below:
Additionally, he has already had enough playing time taken away from him as it is this season. El Oso Blanco/Bull is coming off a season last year that saw him lead the team in homers for a second straight year with 32 of them. Plus, he had a top 4 leading RBI count of 72, which was 4th just behind this year's positional All Stars in George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. I can go on and on with more of his stats last season compared to this one, and vice versa. But the truth is, in 2017, he has become a far more disciplined and productive hitter, but yet has to sit more for the likes of Carlos Beltran, who is playing very unbecoming of his future HOF career. It's been enormously frustrating, to say the very least.
Having now TWO injuries that were not his fault, or caused by anything stemming from his own physical health, is pretty grueling and hard to witness. I'm really hoping nothing serious is found, and it's only some kind of contusion that requires a couple of days rest, and then he can get back on another rehab assignment. If nothing else, if the minor league season really is ending that quickly, have him play some simulated games on both sides of the ball and rehab him that way.
Whatever happens, I hope it does so quickly. With another return for him, Correa and Lance McCullers due back soon, having all of them back and fully healthy will make this Astros team the very threat that it was in the first half. No matter who they play in the post season, adding Verlander to go with other acquisitions in Francisco Liriano and Tyler Clippard will make them nearly unstoppable. They will still have to "earn it" like always, but having these extra pieces around will help them along the way.
WRONG! With the waiver wire/postseason roster deadline looming at the stroke of 11:59 pm EST, other teams were making deals left and right. While the Maybin pickup did bring speed to the base paths, the golden ticket of the night was for the Astros to try and land former Cy Young Award winner and 6 time All Star right-handed starting pitcher and ace, Justin Verlander. Around 11:30 pm EST (10:30 pm CST), word had come in that a deal was in the works to get him. 5 minutes later, however, reports came in the Verlander himself had nixed the deal by refusing to waive his no trade clause.
The nerve of him, right?! I mean, here was the team with the best record in the American League, despite it dwindling, putting up 3 top 10 prospects to get you and your big contract, and you still say no? What beef do these big contract guys like Verlander, and most notably of late Cole Hamels, have with the city of Houston, or the Astros as a baseball organization? Needless to say, many fans, including myself, were pretty livid. Hearts sank, rumors were started on both sides, and it felt like a grudge match was starting to happen across the social media and blogosphere.
Then, it happened. At precisely 11:58 pm EST (10:58 pm CST), source after source close to both clubs confirmed that Verlander was waiving his no trade clause to come to Houston. The deal was officially done, prospects were sent to Detroit, and the 6 time All Star and Cy Young Award winner was coming to the Astros. A move like this is not just what the team needed, but what the city needed as much needed jolt of positive news in the wake of the disaster that struck. He'll make his first start for the Astros on Tuesday, when they are in Seattle to face the divisional rival Mariners. He will follow Dallas Keuchel in the rotation order.
Originally, reports said that Verlander had wanted to go to the reigning world champions, the Chicago Cubs, who were also in the waiver trade running for him. This goes against original reports that he vetoed the trade to Houston altogether. When nothing came of Chi-Town, Verlander decided, literally at the last minute, to waive his no-trade clause to come to Houston. Very smart move on his part, I say!
In the midst of all this tremendous news, however, was still some bad news. Unfortunately, it involved your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis once again. After just coming off the disabled list a week ago today from a concussion injury that sidelined him for 3 weeks, he now has to return to the 10 day DL with a wrist injury the team is calling "right wrist soreness." From all accounts, it was sustained some time during last weekend's series in Anaheim against the Halos. Supposedly, Gattis had not flinched, or even said anything to the coaches, and it allowed for the soreness to get worse. He is being evaluated by doctors, and with any luck, we should know something before tomorrow's homecoming doubleheader game against the visiting New York Mets.
I highlighted the injury in another House of Houston post that you folks can view in the tweet below:
I know many fans out there try to label me as "that conspiracy theory guy," or even some names that are much worse. One person even equated me to the like of Info Wars host, Alex Jones. Pretty insulting, considering he is a far right wing nut job lunatic. But I digress, I feel as though this recent injury report continues to be as vague as the ones regarding his concussion. So my follow up questions below warrant some merit:The #Astros have placed Evan Gattis on the DL but he's far from frail. @tvwizard85 proves to you as to why. ⚾️🔥🤔💯https://t.co/TjOpTeuqvi— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) August 31, 2017
- If this really happened in Anaheim over the weekend, why did it take until just yesterday to have anything done about it?
- Was it really Evan Gattis causing the breakdown in communication, or was it the team that found out and decided to keep "playing him through the pain?"
- Why, during the 9th inning of Tuesday's game against the Rangers when he caught JD Davis, was there photographic evidence that points to no swelling, or even anything out of place, with his right wrist?
- Is the injury more than just "soreness," and the team not willing to reveal that?
Additionally, he has already had enough playing time taken away from him as it is this season. El Oso Blanco/Bull is coming off a season last year that saw him lead the team in homers for a second straight year with 32 of them. Plus, he had a top 4 leading RBI count of 72, which was 4th just behind this year's positional All Stars in George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa. I can go on and on with more of his stats last season compared to this one, and vice versa. But the truth is, in 2017, he has become a far more disciplined and productive hitter, but yet has to sit more for the likes of Carlos Beltran, who is playing very unbecoming of his future HOF career. It's been enormously frustrating, to say the very least.
Having now TWO injuries that were not his fault, or caused by anything stemming from his own physical health, is pretty grueling and hard to witness. I'm really hoping nothing serious is found, and it's only some kind of contusion that requires a couple of days rest, and then he can get back on another rehab assignment. If nothing else, if the minor league season really is ending that quickly, have him play some simulated games on both sides of the ball and rehab him that way.
Whatever happens, I hope it does so quickly. With another return for him, Correa and Lance McCullers due back soon, having all of them back and fully healthy will make this Astros team the very threat that it was in the first half. No matter who they play in the post season, adding Verlander to go with other acquisitions in Francisco Liriano and Tyler Clippard will make them nearly unstoppable. They will still have to "earn it" like always, but having these extra pieces around will help them along the way.
Original Photo Credits: Keith Allison on Flickr (Verlander, Left) and Mike Carlson of Getty Images (Gattis, Right)
The bear's second injury return will see him stronger than ever before! And boy, will it be great to see THESE TWO as battery mates!
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