1:10 PM central start time. It will be Joe Musgrove versus Yu Darvish.
This is the type of pitching matchup I couldn't resist spending my money on. I'll definitely be at Minute Maid Park.
Joe Musgrove will be making his first career Major League start against the first place Texas Rangers.
If you haven't seen Joe Musgrove pitch in the minor leagues you are in for a real treat. He can spot his fastball, slider and changeup anywhere he wants to. The entire strike zone is like a dart board to him. When people watch him pitch all they do is praise his command and his ability to hit the corners on both sides of the plate.
He doesn't blow you away with a particularly blazing fastball, mostly 92-93 MPH. Although he did hit 94 and 95 a few times against the Blue Jays the other night (likely because of his adrenaline rush), but we all know great pitching is all about location, location, location. As the great Greg Maddux once said.
He was ranked as the #32 overall prospect on the top 100 minor league prospect list.
Many teams had asked the Astros about him during this past trading deadline.
Keith Law had projected him as a future #2 starter in the big leagues. Baseball America had him as a #3.
The Astros didn't trade him, and thank goodness for that, with Lance McCullers' recent trip to the 15-day DL.
When he made his MLB debut a couple nights ago against the Toronto Blue Jays, entering the game out of the bullpen as a reliever when Lance McCullers had gotten hurt, all he did was dazzle everybody with 4.1 shutout innings and 8 strikeouts. Only one hit allowed. He was absolutely on target with all of his pitches. You can tell his elite command was as good, if not better, than advertised.
But we'll see what happens on Sunday when he makes his first career start.
Even though the Astros playoff hopes for 2016 are fading because a lack of offensive production (2-7 in our last 9 games, averaging a Major League worst 1.3 runs per game in that time). We still have a promising future with some good young starting pitchers in place.
We are still 5.5 games behind the Rangers. They have been losing too. Otherwise we'd be 8.5 or 9.5 games back again.
But we play the Texas Rangers 9 more times this year. Starting with a three-game series tomorrow night.
The Rangers have "owned our ass" for the last two years. Including 9-1 against us so far this year,
So it will feel extra special to me, and give me a lot of hope for future seasons, if we can beat the Rangers this weekend.
TL:DR - I'll be attending the Astros versus Rangers game on Sunday afternoon. Watching Joe Musgrove making his Major League debut as a starting pitcher excites the hell out of me (he already dazzled as a reliever in his official MLB debut). And he'll be up against the amazing Yu Darvish.
2016 hasn't gone the way I wanted it to but 2017 and 2018, in particular, look very promising for the Astros. I wouldn't be shocked if the Houston Astros win the 2017 World Series like the cover of Sports Illustrated had predicted a couple of years ago.
All we really need is a couple of consistently good power hitters for the middle of our lineup in free agency. But we'll get to see how Yulieski Gurriel pans out the final month and a half of this season. He is going to be called up on August 16. He could be part of the championship solution for us over the next few years. I'm not saying we should all pop open our bottles of champagne just yet but just keep it on the ice until then.
I'm very upbeat and excited about the Houston Astros future. I know some of you guys hate me for being a passionate fan but this is how I truly feel and I can't hide my pure emotions. I enjoy what I see even if it's not clicking on all cylinders quite yet. But I believe it will in the near future.
Genuinely from the bottom of my heart, I love all of you guys and thank you for your patience and precious time. God bless!