Armenteros to start today’s spring opener
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Rogelio Armenteros ,a 23-year-old righthanded starter from Cuba, will open on the mound for the Astros on Friday afternoon in their first exhibition game of the spring against the Washington Nationals at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
After his promotion to Class AAA Fresno last season, Armenteros had a 2.16 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 581⁄3 innings. He and Forrest Whitley — who will miss the first 50 games of the minor league season for violating MLB’s drug prevention and treatment program — are considered the franchise’s best pitching prospects.
Manager A.J. Hinch plans to use Armenteros, whose slider and low-90s fastball look faster because of an excellent changeup, for two innings.
“I wanted to reward him for a great season,” Hinch said. “We want to get a first look at him.”
Before the Astros invested $47.5 million dollars in first baseman Yuli Gurriel, $4 million in lefthander Cionel Perez and $3.8 million in righthander Elian Rodriguez, general manager Jeff Luhnow entered the Cuban market by signing Armenteros for $40,000 in September 2014.
Three-plus years later, Armenteros is giving the Astros reason to think about him for a possible spot start in the event of injury at the major league level.
“He’s only made one big league camp appearance over the last couple of years,” Hinch said. “So the next couple of days, especially for the firsttimers and young guys … we want them to breathe. Break into this camp knowing they cannot make the team on the first go-around. They’re not going to ruin their impression if they don’t do well.”
Buddy Boshers, Reymin Guduan, Mike Hauschild and Matt Ramsey will pitch after Armenteros, Hinch said.
Hinch to employ Bregman’s versatility
As defending champions with a roster almost identical to the one that rode World Series floats through downtown Houston, the Astros do not have the spring hassle of filling roles. They are expanding the ones of established players.
A day after he explained plans to get first baseman Yuli Gurriel more playing time at the other infield positions, manager A.J. Hinch said Alex Bregman also will be moved around the diamond more this season.
Hinch is far past the pressures of refining talented but raw prospects thrust into the majors. He is building on a championship core of players by making them more versatile. He is preparing the team for injuries that inevitably reshuffle lineups throughout a season, something that happened often to the Astros but was handled well enough to win a World Series.
Bregman will start at shortstop, his natural position, in the Grapefruit League opener against the Nationals on Friday. He also will play second base in some games.
Because Bregman was drafted in 2015 and competed with the United States in the World Baseball Classic in 2016, he is experiencing his first full spring training.
“We’ve never had a full spring training to prepare him,” Hinch said.
Last season, Bregman made four errors in 30 games at shortstop, the bulk as a fill-in for Carlos Correa from late July until early September.
Jake Marisnick, Derek Fisher, Bregman and Evan Gattis will bat first through fourth in the starting lineup Friday, Hinch said. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will start Saturday. George Springer will start Sunday.