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Here are some new, unique advantages Houston Astros can capitalize on this season

Here are some new, unique advantages Houston Astros can capitalize on this season
The Astros will have some new rules to adjust to in 2023. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
How systemic changes will have immediate impacts on Houston Astros

If you are savvy enough to read next week’s column, you will be doing so with spring training underway in Florida and Arizona. Hip, hip, hooray! Astros pitchers and catchers have their first workout scheduled for next Thursday, with the full squad due early the following week ahead of games starting February 25. Spring training baseball is not meant to be exciting, but the major rules changes that will take effect this season will be in full effect in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, making spring games more interesting to follow.

The biggest change is the death of infield shifts. As reminder or to get up to speed, the first and second baseman must now always be aligned on the first base side of second while the shortstop and third baseman must both be on the third base side of second. Plus, all infielders must have both feet on the dirt of the infield.

There are legitimate points to be made as to why shifts should be allowed, and also why modifying the rules makes sense. I get the argument that if hitters can’t take advantage of an open side of the infield, shame on them. However, taking advantage of a shift is not as easy as it looks.

The best argument against shifts is that they clearly more penalized left-handed hitters. You think Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez will miss losing some hits on balls smashed on one hop 30 or 40 feet into the outfield only to have a second baseman make the play? If once every other week Tuck or Yordan picks up a hit that the shift would have taken away, over 500 at bats, that’s about a 25 point difference in batting average. Defenses couldn’t shift in the same fashion against right-handed hitters because unless the batter/runner has Martin Maldonado or Albert Pujols level (non)speed, throwing guys out at first from 30 or 40 feet out in left field is not viable.

Welcome the pitch clock. There will be griping from some pitchers and hitters. Suck it up buttercups! Adapt or die. In the minor leagues the pitch clock knocked off 20-25 minutes from the average game length. The average big league game should not take more than three hours. For darn sure a 3-1 or 4-2 game shouldn’t take more than three hours.

With no runners on base a pitcher has 15 seconds from when he gets the ball to start his motion, with runner(s) on base 20 seconds. Failure to comply is an automatic ball. It’s called the pitch clock but batters are on notice too. There is simply no need for batters to be stepping out of the batter’s box to contemplate the meaning of life every pitch or two. Batters not in the box and ready when the clock gets down to eight seconds get an automatic strike. There are several exceptions, such as a batter gets one timeout per plate appearance,

The bases themselves are 20 percent larger. Instead of 15 inches square they are now 18 inches square which serves a couple of purposes. There will be a bit more space for infielders to avoid baserunners at the bags. That’s sensible. We’ve all heard “Baseball is a game of inches.” Legendary General Manager Branch Rickey is credited with coining the phrase. Rickey is also the guy who brought Jackie Robinson to the Major Leagues, and the guy who basically invented the farm system.

Anyway, back to game of inches. The larger bases shorten the distance between first and second, and second and third base, by four and a half inches. A massive change it is not, but a meaningful change it is. Think of the close calls on stolen base attempts, or a runner going from first to third on a single. It’s not mastering advanced calculus to get that a shorter distance between bases makes it easier to successfully get to the next one. Anything that increases the value of speed in the game is a good thing.

Base stealing will also be impacted by the new pickoff limitations rule. Say Jose Altuve leads off with a single. Up comes Jeremy Pena. The pitcher gets two “disengagements” during Pena’s at bat. Pickoff attempts and stepping off the rubber both count as “disengagement.” A third disengagement not resulting in a pickoff is an automatic balk. Does Altuve take a huge lead to draw pickoff throws knowing that after two non-pickoffs he gets a big advantage?

Might any unintended consequences result from the rules changes? Let’s find out.

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Astros defeat the Guardians, 5-2. Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images.

Ronel Blanco pitched five scoreless innings and rookie Zach Dezenzo homered, leading the Houston Astros to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night in a matchup of division winners that could meet again this postseason.

Blanco (13-6) allowed just a single in five innings and remained unbeaten in his last nine starts. He combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Astros held on to win despite striking out 13 times and stranding 12 runners.

“You could make a case he's one of our best starters,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Blanco, who has a 0.75 ERA in four September starts. “He has helped us get to this point.”

Blanco was replaced by rookie Spencer Arrighetti, who made his first career relief appearance after 28 starts.

Arrighetti was good for two innings but walked the bases loaded in the eighth. As he was lifted, the right-hander was ejected by plate umpire Mark Wegner, who didn't appreciate him spiking the resin bag on the mound or his words on the way off.

It was a new role for Arrighetti. He hadn't pitched out of the bullpen since college, but could be used that way in the playoffs.

“It felt familiar, I was just a little bit rusty,” said Arrighetti. “I think I'll be able to find a better routine the next time I do it.”

Bryan Abreu came in and got the Astros out of the eighth by striking out rookie Kyle Manzardo and All-Star José Ramírez.

Held to one hit for eight innings, the Guardians got two runs in the ninth off Josh Hader, who finished up.

Victor Caratini and Dezenzo hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning for the AL West champion Astros, who are locked into the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and will host a wild-card series next week.

If the Astros advance, they'll play in Cleveland on Oct. 5 in Game 1 of the ALDS.

The Guardians are still chasing the New York Yankees for the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

After going 7-19 in April, Houston has turned it around by going 80-54 — the majors' second-best mark over that span.

After Caratini's shot to right off Eli Morgan made it 4-0, Dezenzo, who was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land earlier in the day and struck out his first two times up, blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center.

It was quite a moment for Dezenzo. He grew up a Guardians fan in Alliance, Ohio, before playing at Ohio State.

“I grew up coming to this park and I watched a lot of guys like Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Jim Thome,” he said. “So hitting a home run here, there's a lot of nostalgia and really, really cool for me.”

Guardians rookie starter Joey Cantillo allowed six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

“Just threw a lot of pitches,” he said. “Just was not very sharp for the most part, for the entirety of the game. Deep counts. Falling behind."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: LF Yordan Alvarez (knee sprain) ran on a treadmill in Houston and Espada said the slugger is “getting better quickly.” Espada said Alvarez will need to do more to be able to hit before he's considered for the wild-card roster due Tuesday. “You can’t just go from what he's doing now to the baseball field,” Espada said. “He’s a really, really good player but we need him to check some boxes.”

Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb (finger blister) had a productive bullpen session on Thursday as he continues progress from an injury that has sidelined him nearly a month. Vogt was vague in addressing what's next for Cobb, who has made only three starts since being acquired in a trade.

UP NEXT

Guardians RHP Ben Lively (13-9, 3.80 ERA) starts against Justin Verlander (4-6, 5.55), who will be facing Cleveland for the 57th time in his career.

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