HOUSTON -- It was no secret why the Astros traded All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs last December. It was days after free-agent right fielder Juan Soto had signed a massive deal with the Mets. It was clear the price to retain Tucker when he hit free agency following this season was going to be more than Houston was comfortable paying.
Instead of keeping Tucker, who¡¯s at the early stages of a great career, and losing him in free agency like they did in years past with George Springer and Carlos Correa and after last season with Alex Bregman, the Astros dealt Tucker to the Cubs in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski and top prospect Cam Smith.
Tucker is off to a flying start with the Cubs -- he was named National League Player of the Week for games of March 31-April 6 -- but the Astros are feeling good about what they got in return, too. Paredes, Smith and Wesneski played big roles in Sunday afternoon¡¯s 7-3 victory over the Angels at Daikin Park.
Wesneski picked up his first win with his hometown Astros by striking out a career-high 10 batters in six innings, overcoming three solo homers, Paredes homered for the third game in a row and Smith sparked a five-run second inning with an RBI single. The Astros took two of three games from the Angels.
¡°I probably should have gotten that [game] ball,¡± Wesneski said with a smile. ¡°Every win is a good win.¡±
Wesneski gave up a homer to Taylor Ward on the third pitch of the game at 106.6 mph off the bat. A 104.7 mph single by Luis Rengifo followed, and it wasn¡¯t until he got Mike Trout to fly out at 103.1 mph off the bat that Wesneski could begin settling in.
¡°You have to keep pitching,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s no other way to do it. You try not to make a big deal of it and try to cut it up to where, ¡®Hey, I¡¯m going to win this pitch.¡¯ The solo homer wasn¡¯t a great start to the game. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s ever happened to me. You have to be able to handle it and know there¡¯s a long start coming.¡±
Beginning with the Trout at-bat in the first, Wesneski retired 14 of the next 15 batters, with Nolan Schanuel touching him for a leadoff homer in the second. Jorge Soler homered in the sixth -- two batters after Jake Meyers made a great diving catch in center.
¡°Early hard contact, but then after that, he settled,¡± Astros manager Joe Espada said. ¡°I like his demeanor. He gets after it. I thought the entire pitching staff did a tremendous job.¡±
Behind Wesneski, who threw 60 of 93 pitches for strikes, the Astros had 16 strikeouts and no walks. He threw 37 sweepers against the Angels¡¯ predominantly right-handed lineup after throwing the pitch just 30 times in his first two starts.
¡°We were told that this guy fills the strike zone up, and I think earlier in the count we should have been jumping on him like Taylor did,¡± Angels manager Ron Washington said. ¡°If you looked at him the whole day, when he felt that we weren¡¯t swinging the bat, he just got the ball over the plate, and that's what you do. I just think if we would¡¯ve jumped on some balls early in the count, it might¡¯ve made the difference.¡±
Paredes blasted a three-run homer to left field to cap the five-run second inning, marking the second time in his career he¡¯s homered in three consecutive games. A pull hitter, Paredes is finding the Crawford Boxes and the 315-foot left-field line to his liking.
¡°It¡¯s super close,¡± Paredes grinned.
More than that, Espada has been pleased with how Paredes has been able to work counts and get deep into his at-bats. He¡¯s slashing .276/.382/.448 with three homers and nine RBIs in 15 games as the replacement for Bregman.
¡°We knew coming in that he was good, but I did not know he was this good at controlling the zone,¡± Espada said. ¡°Yordan [Alvarez] behind him, he gets to see a ton of pitches when he¡¯s on deck because this guy controls the zone, which is a good thing.¡±
Meanwhile, Smith -- Houston¡¯s top prospect -- is hitting .353 (6-for-17) with three runs and six RBIs in his last five games as Tucker¡¯s replacement in right field.