J.J. Watt and Kealia Ohai Watt along with a few Astros step up in time of need for Houston
Houston's athletes donate to help in time of need
Mar 16, 2020, 4:35 am
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
With school and work shutting down for thousands of Houstonians the Houston Food Bank received some financial help from some of Houston's biggest stars. The Food Bank will assist students who depend on free lunches, among others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Springer leads off in helping Minute Maid's workers
#Astros All-Star OF George Springer donating $100K to the employees at Minute Maid Park who are impacted by the cancellation of events: “These are the people that help take care of my family when I go to work. Now I want to help take care of them when they’re in a time of need.”
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 14, 2020
An incredible gesture by George Springer in the same vein as Kevin Love of the Cavaliers and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks in the NBA.
Bregman hits another homer
With our help, @HoustonFoodBank is assembling quarantine food kits so our students and their families don’t need to worry about their next 28 meals. Please join me in helping our community, every little bit counts! https://t.co/fr7eCRGvNP https://t.co/XpOxyeu9XU
— Alex Bregman (@ABREG_1) March 14, 2020
Alex Bregman took care of a tremendous amount of meals. As schools close down students who depend on free breakfast and lunches lose the ease of access to their meals.
Lance McCullers brings the cheese
I will be following @ABREG_1 lead & donating 10 k meals to the @HoustonFoodBank to help these families in need during this time!!! Houston will always come together in times of need. Please join us! @karaleighhh @LMcCullersJrFdn 🤘 https://t.co/19zvT2ObMj https://t.co/AjILtPK1Ea
— Lance McCullers Jr. (@LMcCullers43) March 15, 2020
Following the lead of his teammate Alex Bregman, Astros pitcher Lance McCullers also helped out on the food front.
The Watts look to sack hunger
Sports stars @JJWatt and @KealiaOhai made a generous donation to the Houston Food Bank so we can continue to serve our community during this time of great need. Thank you both for helping us remain a safety net for southeast Texas! https://t.co/bcQO25dVSv
— Houston Food Bank (@HoustonFoodBank) March 15, 2020
J.J. Watt and his family are no stranger to charity. Watt of course raised $37 million for Hurricane Harvey relief. He paid for the funerals of students and teachers who were slain in a school shooting.
Now Watt and his wife Kealia Ohai Watt have stepped up with a very generous donation. The Houston Food Bank explains every one dollar provides three meals. So, in theory, the donation provides over one million meals.
Rockets plan to take care of workers
#Rockets CEO @tadbbrown: “We’re putting together a plan to take care of our part-time employees during their time of need.” https://t.co/OsHtlH506R
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) March 13, 2020
Many NBA teams, in the midst of their season, have started to do the same.
If you'd like to donate to the Houston Food Bank you can at this link
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Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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