Future of the Franchise

In a game against the A's, Kuechel tossed a ball into the stands for a heckler. It thanked him for paying a portion of his salary, regardless whether the fan liked him or not. Keuchal is a maverick, a renegade, a no-holds-barred true rebel. 

He looks at the painting on the wall, and thinks to himself, "that Mr. Van Gogh could have used a little more paint over there..."

While most pitchers are working on cutters and hiding their off speed pitches, he thinks about defense. He won the Gold Glove award in 2014 for flashing his leather, something all strong GMs hope from their pitchers.

Here is how the Astros GM views this emerging star: "He was the best fielding pitcher in the league, hands down. My guess is he'd probably be a pretty good hitter too if he had a chance to hit."

So here's a ball tossed back to you Mr. Kuechal, and on it, it reads: "Thank you for not falling in line like other pitchers, keep Dallas weird."

Yup, Mr. Astro, plays good defense and could swing the bat a little if needed to from the bench. Now that is what a good starting pitcher is made of.

Team MVP

Josh Donaldson took the scenic route to the majors. When he was just kid, his dad was convicted of a bunch of charges and sentenced to 15 years in jail. So he was largely raised by his mother and other various male figures. The lesson he remembers the most from his mom? 

"One thing my mom always told me is, 'There’s always somebody out there that’s going to probably be better than you. There’s always somebody out there that’s probably going to be outworking you.' "

True stuff there, keeping it real. So when he spent three years playing college ball, and five and a half years in the minors, he kept these words in the back of his mind. 

But once he did break onto the scene, he never slowed down. In 2013, when he was given a full years worth of at bats, he drove in 93 runs with 24 homers, with a .301 batting average. He is a true power hitter that can drive it into either gap. So look for him to continue this trend in Houston. He's a legitimate cleanup guy that can sit back and rake. Power on Josh.