Astros Crawfish Boil: December 6, 2022

Dec 6, 2022 - 2:00 PM

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It’s your Tuesday Boil!

Astros News

How Houston Astros can replace Justin Verlander’s production (chron.com)

Report: Houston Astros Emerge as Possible Suitor for Catcher Murphy (si.com)

2022 All-MLB Team: Astros lead way with four first-team selections; Judge, Ohtani make cut again (cbssports.com)

MLB’s Winter Meeting notes: Day 1 with Astros’ Bill Firkus (click2houston.com)

Winter Meetings: Manager Dusty Baker Provides Updates on Houston Astros’ Offseason Plans (si.com)

Jeremy Peña expresses excitement about Houston Astros’ offseason moves (chron.com)

MLB News

MLB Winter Meetings 2022 live updates Day 2: Phillies sign Trea Turner (nypost.com)

MLB rumors: Justin Verlander, Trea Turner start Winter Meetings with a bang; Clayton Kershaw deal finalized (cbssports.com)

LIVE on MLB Network: 2022 All-MLB Team unveiled (MLB.com)

Where things stand with SS market after Trea deal (mlb.com)

‘I’m thinking crazy busy’: MLB execs expecting major moves at Winter Meetings (sportsnet.ca)

Yanks re-sign GM Brian Cashman to 4-year deal (mlb.com)

Editor’s Note: Limited Edition FOCO Astros championship bobbleheads will go on sale here at The Crawfish Boxes today at exactly 10 AM CT. Don’t wait. They will be gone almost instantly.

Oops! All Astros: Brett Conine

Brett Conine is a six-foot-three, 218 lb. pitcher from Orange, CA. Born on October 16, 1996, he was Houston’s 11th round choice in 2018 out of CSU-Fullerton. Taken with the 342nd pick overall, Conine would be the 12th taken at the position to graduate to the majors. The group is led by Scott Downs (10.8 WAR).

Conine spent 2019 making three stops in Houston’s minor league system. He threw 33 innings with the Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, 63 ¹⁄₃ innings with the then High-A Fayetteville Woodpeckers, and another 18 frames with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. Between the three levels, he whiffed 134 batters in 114 ¹⁄₃ innings, posting a 2.20 ERA and an 8-4 record. He only walked 29, and finished with a 1.050 WHIP.

After the COVID-19 forced layoff, Conine joined the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters, and started in 18 of his 25 appearances through the season. He was 8-4 with a 5.66 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 98 ²⁄₃ innings in 2021. The 2022 campaign would start the same way as 2021 for Conine — back with Sugar Land, newly rechristened the Space Cowboys.

On April 6, Conine made his season debut with three innings of no-hit relief in a 4-3 loss to the Sacramento River Cats. On August 7, in an 11-6 win over the Round Rock Express, he struck out a pair over three hitless innings of relief. Unfortunately, Conine pitched in seven separate games where he allowed more earned runs than innings completed. In a nine-game stretch from May 29 through July 14, he walked 26 and allowed 51 hits in 28 innings, posting a WHIP of 2.750, a 13.50 ERA, and a .375/.485/.735 slashline.

Overall, Conine started in 14 of his 29 appearances, going 6-3 with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.853 WHIP. It’s likely that Conine could end up pitching another year with the Cowboys, but it’s not so much that he gets onto the major league roster anytime soon.