Houston Astros Spring Training Week 1: Ascending In West Palm
Some notes from the various things that happened during the very first week of Spring Training 2017 for the Houston Astros.
House of Houston will now be favoring readers with weekly recaps as to the latest news coming out of West Palm Beach and the Houston Astros Spring Training 2017.
Here are some things to note from Week 1:
1. Pitchers and Catchers showed the early love on Valentine’s Day.
At the new facilities at the Ballparks of the Palm Beaches, the battery bunch got the early taste of the new home. The general consensus was very favorable across the roster.
Out of everyone in the organization, Houston Astros skipper A.J. Hinch appears to be the most excited. He told reporters on the first day of camp how the team needs to earn the right to be elite in the league today. A task they are all more than capable of!
2. Some early health scares raises eyebrows.
Carlos Correa arrived at camp by Friday, but has been limited in his workouts. According to Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle, the star shortstop had four wisdom teeth removed before heading to the Sunshine State. He is looking to buildup his approach at the plate this season.
The biggest of the early health scares came from El Oso Blanco, Evan Gattis. Since Wednesday, he has dealt with some right shoulder soreness. The medical staff gave him an anti-inflammatory booster injection to, as Gattis himself put it to Fox 26’s Mark Berman, “nip it in the bud.”
Good news is, it has since paid off. The Big White Bear has taken some light workouts through Friday. And as early as Saturday, returned to full catching drills. He has even begun throwing back to the pitcher instead of handing his balls off to a bullpen catcher. I recently attempted to settle down the naysayers in my Evan Gattis fan blog, The White Bear Chronicles.
3. Some active communication from the veteran backstop.
Newly acquired catcher, Brian McCann, has been a perennial part of the bullpen sessions with the pitching staff. With this being the first season without longtime Astros catcher, now Twin Jason Castro, McCann knew he had his work cut out for him.
In fact, BMac has been watching some of the videos of the staff on his own private devices. This according to another report from Kaplan of the Chronicle. McCann has even been studying these from as far back as when he was acquired in November.
A quote of note from that article:
"“The Astros sent along video of all of the pitchers on the 40-man roster along with strengths and weakness listed for each. McCann made it a habit of studying the film on his iPad before bed.”"
The tandem of Brian McCann and Evan Gattis working the pitching staff in 2017 is something I extensively analyzed back a few weeks ago. With both of them having elite 20+ home runs/season of power, Astros fans definitely have something to look forward to with these two!
Next: Will The McCann/Gattis Catching Duo Work?
4. The fight for First Base actually gets somewhat friendly.
Root Sports Southwest, the network responsible for broadcasting Houston Astros games, tweeted out on Saturday that both Yulieski Gurriel and Tyler White will be taking the most reps at first base. While Gurriel is the player expected to start the season there regularly, White could be another position player option that the team could exercise.
In order for that to happen, they would have to carry one less pitcher. That’s a risk the club should consider taking, since the lineup has so much depth to it. Hinch will have some tough decisions to make in the coming days and weeks.
5. The entire Calvary has now arrived!
The first full squad workout took place this past Saturday. The organization tweeted out the following set of pics to show the entire team down in Florida, and ready to grab that World Series title!
Stay tuned every Monday for more happenings around West Palm Beach.
GO ASTROS!!!!