Plenty of time for Astros to live up to hype

There are two things we know about these Houston Astros. One is that general manager Jeff Luhnow will not allow the season to get away from his team. The other is that he has options.

Luhnow helped transformed the Astros a year ago with a string of callups — most notably American League Rookie of the Year Award winner Carlos Correa, outfielder Preston Tucker and pitchers Lance McCullers and Vince Velasquez.

Does Luhnow have another Correa in the Minors? Probably not. But there’s talent.

Third baseman Colin Moran is hitting .326 at Triple-A Fresno, and last year’s No. 1 pick and the organization’s top prospect, shortstop Alex Bregman, is hitting .370 at Double-A Corpus Christi.

There’s pitching, too: right-handers Mike Hauschild and Brady Rodgers are pitching well at Triple-A. Likewise, three right-handers — Frances Martes, the best arm in the system, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino — are doing well at Double-A.

Here’s the tricky part. What’s a reasonable amount of patience for a group widely picked to win the AL West? Where’s that fine line between doing the right thing and hitting the panic button?

There’s no answer for that. It’s a feel thing, from both Luhnow and his manager, A.J. Hinch. It’s also a standings thing.

As the Astros open a weekend series against the Red Sox at Minute Maid Park, they’re 5-11 and already five games out of first place in the AL West. As disappointments go, there’s none bigger in baseball.

In the larger scope of things, that five-game deficit is nothing. So who cares if they’re tied with the Twins for the AL’s worst record? Things can change quickly in these early weeks of a baseball …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com