The performances speak for themselves.
The makeup and intangibles are something else.
Just ask manager Pedro Grifol about left-hander Garrett Crochet (3.16 ERA), who entered his start against the Astros Wednesday night leading the major leagues with 12.63 strikeouts per nine innings and nine consecutive starts of five-plus innings with two runs or fewer allowed.
“Strong-minded, winner, team-first mentality, talent, work ethic, character, integrity,” Grifol said Wednesday. “This guy’s not only a great baseball player, great pitcher, but a great person and a great teammate. He’s a guy you want to be in a foxhole with, for sure.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can actually point at that you can say, ‘This is not a an attribute or an intangible of a No. 1 starter.’ Everything he’s got, his whole makeup, his whole arsenal, everything he’s got just screams No. 1 [starter] for a long, long time.”
Opposed by right-hander Hunter Brown, who entered with a 13-inning scoreless streak, Crochet fell behind 1-0 in the third when the Astros racked up three hits and plating a run when Maurico Dubon beat out a double play.
Lee’s game calling
Catcher Martin Maldonado’s game calling and handling pitchers have been cited as a big reason he’s caught so many games, but Korey Lee is getting assurances from manager Pedro Grifol and pitchers that he’s filling the bill, too.
“It’s coming along. Every day I learn something new,” Lee said. “Every day I learn something new, whether it’s [pitch] sequencing, communicating with the pitcher. Just the confidence in the game calling, knowing our pitchers and what we have to do every single day.”
Lee caught Jonathan Cannon’s last two starts with his four-pitch mix, guiding him through 15 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Garrett Crochet’s 13-strikeout performance with one run allowed in seven innings Thursday and handled Crochet again Wednesday.
Hot and cold, Vaughn and Robert Jr.
Andrew Vaughn was hitting .329/.364/.575 with five homers, 15 RBI and a .939 OPS over his last 18 games, raising his average from .195 to .235 since May 26.
“Kudos to him, he just never stopped working,” hitting coach Marcus Thames said. “We some smaller mechanical adjustments, getting him shorter to the baseball. He’s just smaller to the baseball, not missing as many pitches, the chases went down and he’s hitting ball hard.”
Luis Robert Jr. was 7-for-46 with 21 strikeouts in 13 games since coming off the IL. Five of the hits were home runs.
“He’s still trying to get his time back,” Thames said. “He’s working in the cage. He has to control the strike zone a little more. He’s trying to chase time he missed instead of being in the present and trying to have good ABs. My message to him is understand the game situations and what teams are trying to do to him.”
Boos OK with Grifol
Pedro Grifol was booed by fans who had been on their feet supporting Jonathan Cannon’s bid for a shutout Tuesday. Cannon was pulled after allowing two singles with two outs, running his pitch count to 106. John Brebbia finished a 2-0 win over the Astros.
“I actually took it as these are great fans that wanted to see something special,” Grifol said. “I wanted to see something special.
“I actually enjoyed getting booed on that because it was a special moment we were all watching.”