Thoughts On The Astros Roster Shuffle

Apr 15, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros catcher Carlos Corporan (left) and second baseman Jose Altuve (right) talk with starting pitcher Lucas Harrell (middle) during the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have made several moves over the last few days that will have an impact on the team’s future, one way or another.

First, they DFA’d Lucas Harrell and brought Brad Peacock into the starting rotation. This is something I was calling for since before the season. This is what I wrote:

"Astros GM Jeff Luhnow hopes that Harrell can pitch relatively well early in the season in hopes of finding a trade partner. There is a ZERO percent chance Harrell is in the starting lineup once the trade deadline passes. Either they’ll trade him because he proved to be good enough for another team to trade for him, or they’ll send him home packing because he isn’t even worth leaving in the pen.The Astros should have moved on from Harrell last season. They didn’t. Now we’re stuck with seeing if we can get some sort of fringe prospect or organizational depth for Harrell at the deadline instead of seeing if Peacock can become a reliable back-end of the rotation starter. It doesn’t make sense to me. Give Peacock the valuable starts which he earned at the end of last season and see what he can do. Oberholtzer seemed to earn his spot because of his success last season. How can Peacock not have earned his? At the end of the day, I’d rather see a 9.00 ERA from Peacock than from Harrell."

Looks like Jeff finally listened to me. Harrell proved he didn’t belong after just three starts this season, finishing with a 9.49 ERA and 2.27 WHIP in 12.1 innings. The Astros gave his spot in the rotation to Peacock who will make his first start of the season on Sunday. Thank you, Jeff.

The Astros also sent down Robbie Grossman and brought up (finally) George Springer. Grossman, 24, batted .125 in 48 at-bats and was not going to see much playing time with L.J. Hoes playing well and Springer now up. Though Grossman is better than Alex Presley, it was smart to send down Grossman so he can receive as many at-bats as possible at OKC.

Apr 2, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros manager Bo Porter (16) takes the ball from relief pitcher Kevin Chapman (66) during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Astros also chose to send down Kevin Chapman yesterday, after allowing 5 runs in 3.2 innings this season. Chapman was the only lefty in the bullpen and the Astros have chosen to call up Raul Valdes to replace him. Valdes will serve as the team’s LOOGY in the meantime.

Paul Clemens was also called up and performed very well in his first appearance this season, allowing just 2 hits in his 3 scoreless innings. He could help out a struggling Astros bullpen.

With the latest moves it appears the Astros are not keeping around players who aren’t performing. Harrell is (finally) gone, Grossman and Chapman have been sent down to work on their mistakes, and the Astros have called up George Springer to try and jumpstart their offense.

If you’re not performing, don’t expect to stick with the Major League team for too long.

Follow House Of Houston On Twitter – @HouseOfHouston
To Like House Of Houston On Facebook – Click Here