Astros Crawfish Boil: March 22, 2023

Mar 22, 2023 - 1:00 PM

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Welcome to the Wednesday Crawfish Boil!

Houston Astros News

Why the Astros might go with an all-righty ‘pen again (mlb.com)

Houston Astros honored with ice cream flavor (click2houston.com)

Former Astros teammates Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman reunite in heartwarming spring training photo (abc13.com)

Why Astros fans should watch Tuesday’s World Baseball Classic final (chron.com)

Dusty Baker talks Hank Aaron memories, reveals why he joined Astros (chron.com)

AL West News

Tyler Wade’s RBI double (mlb.com)

‘They should come here’: Hall of Famer goes to bat for A’s in Las Vegas (reviewjournal.com)

Mariners Notebook: Gilbert shines; updates on dings and dents (sports.mynorthwest.com)

Mariners’ Cal Raleigh chases dreams one grueling workout at a time (seattletimes.com)

Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani latest teammates to face off in international competition (ESPN.com)

Angels’ Mike Trout Plans to Play for Team USA in 2026 World Baseball Classic (bleacherreport.com)

Rangers’ Mitch Garver can take the next step as Texas’ catcher (dallasnews.com)

Lone Rangers: First spring training throws young prospects a learning curve (cronkitenews.azpbs.org)

MLB News

Jose Canseco’s daughter Josie: Ex-MLB star blew all of our ‘family money’ (nypost.com)

MLB plans to announce rules tweaks, week before opening day (apnews.com)

Cardinals’ Jack Flaherty gives insight into his role to help implement MLB’s new rules (stltoday.com)

2023 MLB season: Five playoff teams from 2022 who could fall out of the postseason in 2023 (cbssports.com)

Watch Shohei Ohtani’s pre-game speech that fueled Japan to a 3-1 lead at the WBC Final against USA: ‘Stop admiring them’ (marca.com)

The 2023 Best-Case Scenarios for Every MLB Team (bleacherreport.com)

Japan’s Sasaki likely to be coveted when available for MLB (apnews.com)

Japan Defeats USA in World Baseball Classic Final, 3-2 (mlb.com)

Houston Astros Birthdays

Concord, NC native Billy Goodman (1926-1984) was a 15-year MLB veteran when he played his final season, with the 1962 Houston Colt .45s. In 82 games as a first/second/third baseman, he hit .255 with 10 RBI. He also drew 12 walks to 11 strikeouts in 174 PA, a rare ratio in our current version of the National Pastime.

Sean Berry (57) played 11 seasons of major league ball, including 330 games for the 1996 through 1998 Houston Astros. He hit .283/.342/.476 with 38 homers and 190 RBI.

Jeremy Griffiths (45) started for the 2004 Astros in one game, on July 3 against the Texas Rangers. He struck out five and allowing five earned runs over 4 ¹⁄₃ innings. Houston eventually won that one, 10-8.

Dexter Fowler (37) played 14 seasons at the major league level, including the 2014 Astros. In 116 games, he hit .276 with eight homers and 35 RBI. He also stole 11 bases in 15 attempts.

Right-handed reliever Joe Smith (39) pitched in 111 games for the Astros from 2018 through 2021. He was 7-2 with a 4.09 ERA and only 21 walks in 92 ¹⁄₃ innings. Smith struck out 85 and put up a 1.181 WHIP.