[SirGreatWhite]

The end of spring training has come. There were some great performances by several young guys that got a full spring training with the every day MLB guys. The camaraderie and chemistry was terrific. The future looks bright and owner Jim Crane is very excited for this particular group. The expectation is that the Astros make the playoffs.

Unfortunately there were some injuries to our big league pitching staff that occurred: newly acquired prize LHP Blake Snell left his second spring training outing with a strained forearm and will miss about 2 months based on the early prognosis. Fortunately the Astros have depth and experience with the arms in their organization, but we were definitely looking forward to a healthy start to the season.

In addition to Snell, RHP Joe Smith, the submarine specialist, will start his second consecutive season with the Astros on the 60-day IL. In 2019 he missed the first few months recovering from achilles surgery. He will miss 2-3 months to start the 2020 season with a partially torn labrum.

OF Michael Brantley will miss the first month and change of the season (5 weeks) with shoulder bursitis. Brantley was the Astros clean up hitter for most of the season and led the majors with 60 doubles (tied for 6th most in MLB history - and most since 2000 when Todd Helton did it w/ the Rockies). He hit .328 and had 113 RBI's last season. The improvement made by both top hitting prospects Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez, plus the offseason signing of Nick Castellanos should be able to hold the fort down while Brantely recovers from injury. The new MLB rule allowing 26 on the active roster for the 2020 season (up from 25 previously) will also allow added depth to be carried, if necessary.

The plan for the Astros to start the season is to carry 13 pitchers (8 relievers) and 13 position players (2 catchers).