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It’s here! The season is here! Hello everyone, it’s Ari Alexander writing to you this week -- Opening Day came and went with the first Astros loss, but there’s still plenty of optimism surrounding the defending champs.
THE HOPE FOR ALTUVE
Jose Altuve was not put on the 60-day Injured List, meaning the Astros are anticipating he may return within 60 days. That means the original timeline of mid-June may be as fast as late-May.
Altuve has moved to a soft cast after thumb surgery, and I saw him wearing it - it’s pink, and has kids’ signatures on it.
THE FINAL ROSTER MOVES
In a shocker, the Astros brought up OF Corey Julks and C Cesar Salazar over some better-known names. Julks is a power hitter from Friendswood who played his college ball at Houston and high school ball at Clear Blook.
Salazar played college ball at Arizona where he led the Wildcats to a College World Series appearance as a freshman. He’s highly thought of by coaches and teammates and fits better in the backup catcher role than Korey Lee, who Dana Brown said needed at bats.
STAR-STUDDED
Opening day at Minute Maid Park featured long-time Astros fans like Paul Wall in the crowd, but some new faces as well. Mark Wahlberg showed up to give the play ball call and hung out with Alex Bregman in the dugout. Travis Scott also hung out in the dugout for an extended period of time. Megan Thee Stallion threw out the first pitch, and got a nice scoop from her catcher David Hensley, who volunteered for the role of catching Megan.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Astros continue a sold-out home series against the Chicago White Sox, where ring night is Friday and replica ring night for the fans is Saturday. Saturday and Sunday are day games.
