“I hear we drafted a catcher today. Call him up. Now.”
That’s Brad Ausmus possibly contemplating his unexpected role as the starting catcher in his final season as an Astro. Link
on Thursday, the Astros optioned catcher J.R. Towles to Triple-A Round Rock and purchased the contract of Humberto Quintero,
Cooper assured Towles that he was happy with his defensive output.
“It wasn’t about his catching, game-calling,” Cooper said. “It was more about his offense. …He needs to go play and get his confidence back a little bit. He’ll do that. He took it well.”
“I was trying to get things figured out and people were saying, ‘Do this, do that,'” Towles said. “I was trying everything. I think I need to get back to the basics and try to work things out. Hopefully, that’s what I’ll do [in Round Rock].” Link
Towles sacrificial lamb
The Astros hit .227 during the road trip, and two-thirds of the middle of the order — Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee — barely produced. Tejada was 0-for-4 Thursday, and hit .111 on the trip (4-for-36). Lee, also 0-for-4 during the series finale, had six hits in 35 at-bats during the trip, for a .171 average. Link
On the choice of catcher Jason Castro as the number one pick in the draft,
“This was a not a need pick at all,” Heck said. “We need to add talent, and we can’t walk by a player just because of need [at a particular position]. He was the best player available.” Link