Crawfish Boil for Astros: February 16, 2024.

Top prospects for the Astros are excited about Spring Breakout.

Josh Hader is named the closer by manager Joe Espada of the Astros in spring training 2024, while Ryan Pressly is moved to the eighth inning (ABC13 Houston)

Houston Astros Spring Training: Maintaining team focus (Fox 26)

The Houston Astros’ calculated strategic shift as the competition for rotation gets fiercer (SportsMap Houston)

Ryan Pressly, who is currently the Astros setup man, claims Josh Hader “makes our team better.“(Chronicle of Houston)

Putting the life of Alex Bregman in context (Chipalatta)

Everystros CIII

33. Ken Caminiti, a six-foot right-handed switch-hitter from Hanford, California, with a Bagwell score of 44.84. He was selected by Houston in the third round of the 1984 draft out of San Jose State University. He was born on April 21, 1963. Having outperformed the other seven in bWAR, 33.4-to-7.8, he leads the group of eight players who advance to the majors after the first round. After being selected 71st overall, Caminiti also leads the group of 26 players to reach the majors (Flint Bannister is second with 26.4 bWAR).

In his eight seasons in Houston, Caminiti played in 948 games after making his major league debut with the Astros in 1987. In that span, he appeared in 893 games at the hot corner (7938 1⁄3 innings,.952) and did not start at any other position. He batted 896 for 3441, slashing.260/.319/.386 with 61 stolen bases in 61 attempts, 180 doubles, 13 triples, and 75 home homers. Along with 409 runs scored and 445 RBI, he struck out 564 times and drew 298 walks. His career high of.283/.352/.495 in 1994 earned him a spot in his first All-Star Game.

Caminiti recorded 200 multiple hits in his first stint with the Astros, including 39 three-hit performances. Against Denis Boucher in the bottom of the 13th inning on April 4, 1994, with two outs and two runners on base and the Astros trailing the Montreal Expos 5-4, Caminiti was 0-for-five in front of 43,440 fans at the Astros dome. With a walk-off, 6-5 home win, Caminiti drove Steve Finley and Jeff Bagwell home with a line-drive double.

The Astros traded Derek Bell, Phil Plantier, Ricky Gutiérrez, Craig Shipley, Pedro Martínez, Doug Brocail, and Andújar Cedeño, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and PTBNL Sean Fesh to the San Diego Padres on December 28, 1994. Caminiti spent four seasons (557 games,.295/.384/.540, 121 home runs, 396 RBI, two All-Star Games, three Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, 1996 National League MVP) with the Padres before signing a free agent contract to return to Houston for the 1999 season.

During his second stint with Houston, Caminiti started 129 games at third base (1104 2⁄3 innings,.925), making a total of 137 appearances over two seasons. He hit 141 for 481 with 24 doubles, 1 triple, 28 home runs, and 9 stolen bases in 11 attempts, slashing out a.293/.400/.522 line. He scored 87 runs and drove in another 101 while walking 88 times and striking out 95 times. He participated in just one postseason series in 1999, losing to the Atlanta Braves in four games. It wasn’t Caminiti’s fault; he was eight for seventeen with eight RBI and just one strikeout.

Following the 2000 season, Caminiti once more considered free agency offers. He signed with the Texas Rangers (54 games,.232/.318/.432, nine home runs, 25 RBI), then the Atlanta Braves (64 games,.222/.306/.380, six home runs, 16 RBI) to close out the season. In addition to battling addiction after his baseball career, Caminiti played a significant role in raising awareness of the pervasive usage of steroids. In the Bronx, New York, Caminiti passed away on October 10, 2004.SABR Bio

32. Six-foot-four right-hander Roger Clemens (Bagwell score 85.82) hails from Dayton, Ohio. Born on August 4, 1962, he was selected by the New York Mets in the 12th round out of San Jacinto College in 1981. After enrolling at the University of Texas at Austin, Clemens was selected in the first round by the Boston Red Sox in 1983. Clemens, with a career bWAR of 139.2 (sixth all-time), leads the 20 players from that round to make it to the majors.

Clemens, popularly referred to as Rocket, has an impressive resume. He was the 1986 American League MVP, an 11-time All-Star, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, a seven-time ERA champion, and a two-time triple crown winner. In his twenty-four-year major league career, He had an ERA of 3.12 and was 354-184. Over 4916 2⁄3 innings, he gave up 1,580 walks and 4,672 strikeouts.

After making his major league debut for Boston in 1984, Clemens spent 13 seasons with the Red Sox (192-111, 3.06 ERA, 2776 IP, 2590 K). After that, he spent two seasons (41-13, 2.33 ERA, 498 2⁄3 IP, 563 K) with the Toronto Blue Jays and five seasons (77-36, 3.99, 1004 IP, 946 K) with the New York Yankees.

When Clemens signed a free agent contract with the Astros for the 2004 season, he was already forty-one years old. With a 3.06 ERA in three seasons of play, he was 38-18 with Houston. In 539 innings, he gave up 170 walks against 505 strikeouts, had a 1.074 WHIP, and limited his opponents to a.210/.276/.310 slash line.

Out of 84 games, Clemens wrote Quality Starts in 61 of them. On May 16, 2004, in a 3-2, 13-inning loss to New York, he struck out ten and held the Mets scoreless on two hits and a walk over the course of seven innings. In a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on September 19, he struck out 10 in eight innings while giving up just two hits, two walks, and no runs.

On April 13, 2005, Clemens lost 1-0 to the Mets in eleven innings despite striking out nine batters and allowing two hits and a walk over seven frames. In eight scoreless innings on August 13, he struck out nine batters while giving up only two hits and no walks in a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Clemens won his eighth Cy Young Award (18-4, 2.98) in 2004 when he was still with the Astros, and in 2005 (13-8, 1.87), he had the best major league ERA. Following his tenure in Houston, He made a comeback appearance with the Yankees (6-6, 4.18, 99 IP, 68 K). Five seasons after he retired, Clemens made two appearances with the Sugar Land Skeeters in 2012, giving up three hits in eight innings of work. SABR Bio

31. Tulsa, Oklahoma-born, six-foot-two left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel (Bagwell score 40.98). He was born on January 1st, 1988, and came out of the University of Arkansas as Houston’s seventh-round selection in 2009. With a career bWAR of 18.9, Keuchel is the best of the seven players to reach the bigs out of the round. Miles Mikolas scores 10.3, and Khris Davis, in second place, has 10.8. Keuchel, who was selected 221st overall, is also leading the 11 players to make it to the majors..

2012 saw Keuchel make his major league debut for the Astros, a position he held for seven seasons. Along with playing in two All-Star Games, winning four Gold Gloves, and leading the AL in wins (20) in 2015, he also took home the American League Cy Young Award.

Keuchel, who went 76-63 with a 3.66 ERA in 192 games for Houston, started 183 of those games. In 1189 1⁄3 innings, he struck out 945 batters while walking 343 and compiling an NPC-like 1.250 WHIP. Against him, opponents managed a slashline of.253/.307/.383.

On May 25, 2014, Keuchel defeated Seattle 4-1 by striking out six while allowing the Mariners to score just one unearned run off of our hits and zero walks. He allowed no runs on two hits and two walks in nine innings of relief on April 24, 2015, during an 11-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics. He threw a four-hit, 3-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on May 30, striking out eleven in the process. He pitched a six-hitter on June 25, struck out twelve, walked none, and the New York Yankees were defeated 4-0.

Additionally, Keuchel pitched for Houston in a number of postseason games. In Game One of the AL Wildcard round on October 6, 2015, he defeated the Yankees 3-0 by striking out seven in six scoreless shutout innings. In Game 1 of the AL Championship Series on October 13, 2017, he recorded ten strikeouts while holding the Bombers scoreless on four hits and one walk. The game ended 2-1 for the Yanks. In 10 postseason games, he was 4-2 overall with a 3.31 ERA, 16 walks, and 48 strikeouts in 51 2 1/3 innings.

Keuchel was granted free agency after the 2018 season, but he had to wait until the middle of the season to get the deal he desired. He signed with the Atlanta Braves (8-8, 3.75, 112 2⁄3 IP, 91 K), and went on to play for the White Sox (17-16, 4.79, 257 1⁄3 IP, 157 K), the Texas Rangers (0-2, 12.60, 10 IP, seven K), and the Minnesota Twins (2-1, 5.97, 37 2⁄3 IP, 26 K).

Although I don’t think Keuchel has much left in the tank, someone might be lucky enough to sign him and see what he can do on a song. More bizarre incidents have occurred.

Another eighteen chapters and just thirty participants remain. There are still five players on the current roster in addition to two recent and active former Astros.