A few days ago, long before yesterday’s Roberto Osuna trade acquisition, Dr. Don Matlosz, a former Jersey Boy pitcher, UH undergrad, good friend of mine from our UT doctoral degree days, and still a professor at Fresno State, e-mailed me that he thought the future closer of the Houston Astros was now on the staff of the Fresno Grizzlies. He was talking about Rogelio Armenteros, a 24-year old Cuban guy who apparently is lighting up the “K” count pretty good this season in that role as a PCL closer. He has 100 strikeouts while also yielding only 85 hits in 91.0 innings of work for the Astros’ AAA farm club this year.
Here’s a link to his professional stats to date:
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=t259&player_id=660494#/career/R/pitching/2018/ALL
Of course, if Roberto Osuna works out in the closer role – and also finds a remedial way to fit in with the morale of the Astros team as someone who genuinely has healed and matured from his past problems, Armenteros could still be a most welcome addition to the set-up role job competition.
Meanwhile, lets hope that Altuve and Correa are both back in the lineup soon. We can’t keep playing with feather bats, slippery gloves, and untimely pitches too much longer and expect to still be in contention by September 1st.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
July 31, 2018 at 12:47 pm |
The hot topic on 610 AM this morning was Osuna and if he will be welcomed by the players. We shall see.
July 31, 2018 at 10:50 pm |
As far as the Osuna trade is concerned, it’s a disappointing move by the Astros, especially since his legal case has not yet been resolved. I wonder what the Astros front office plans to do if Osuna is found to be guilty – I don’t know if their “due diligence” took that possibility into account, though I certainly hope it did.
Giles had to go. He needs a fresh start elsewhere. Still, I’d rather have continued to see Giles lose games for the Astros and punch no one other than himself in the face than to see Osuna save game after game and know that the Astros front office doesn’t care that he punched a woman around.
The fact that Jeff Luhnow mentioned that Osuna showed remorse seems to me to be a pretty clear indicator of Osuna’s guilt. After all, if he were innocent, there wouldn’t be anything to be remorseful about.
Last year’s trade for Justin Verlander energized the team as Verlander contributed nothing but positives both on and off the field. I have a feeling that the trade for Osuna will only divide the team. This move is an unfortunate sellout of ethics and morals in the pursuit of a second consecutive World Series championship.