Fisher, Straw, Tanielu among roster moves

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Barring injuries to some of the Astros' core players, there was nothing that outfielders Derek Fisher or Myles Straw could have done this spring. They weren’t going to make a stacked big league roster no matter how strong an impression they made in camp.

The Astros trimmed their Spring Training roster to 30 players on a rainy Tuesday, optioning Fisher, Straw and left-handed pitcher Cionel Perez to Minor League camp, while reassigning outfielder Yordan Alvarez, infielders Jack Mayfield, Abraham Toro and Nick Tanielu and pitchers Kent Emanuel and Brendan McCurry to Minor League camp.

"A lot of conversations today were [with] guys who already knew they weren't going to be on the team," Houston manager AJ Hinch said.

With a stacked position-player roster that was pretty much set heading into camp, the Astros' next wave of big leaguers will begin the season in the Minor Leagues.

Fisher and Straw, both of whom have been on playoff rosters for Houston in past years, couldn't crack the outfield rotation that includes veterans Michael Brantley, George Springer, Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick and versatile Tony Kemp.

"They're really stuck on a really good team," Hinch said of Straw and Fisher. "There's no reason why they shouldn't be in the big leagues, other than being a little unlucky that we're just stacked in the outfield and we have opportunity we're going to give to somebody else right now and they're going to provide depth for us. They're both Major League-quality players, you can see them both contributing on a really good team, but we have to choose and we have a few guys ahead of them."

Fisher has played in 95 games with the Astros over the past two years, and he scored the game-winning run in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers. He went 12-for-40 with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs, with seven walks and eight strikeouts in 47 plate appearances this spring .

"I think I made a lot of good strides this spring," Fisher said. "It was the best spring I've had in professional baseball so far, and [I] made a lot of good adjustments."

Perhaps no player helped himself more than Tanielu, who hit .342 with three doubles, four homers, 15 RBIs and eight runs scored in 42 plate appearances this spring. Hinch said Tanielu has made himself a viable Major League prospect, which is what Tanielu was hoping to do this spring.

"You always want to hear that, you always want to know there's a chance for you to be in the big leagues," Tanielu said. "This spring coming in, I was trying to come in in shape and try to show AJ and them what I could do, since last year I was hobbled with a leg injury. This Spring Training was big for me, and [I] wanted to put myself out there and show the guys I could play."

Tanielu, 26, hit a combined .288 with 22 doubles, nine homers and 59 RBIs in 105 games between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno last year after missing most of the 2017 season following right knee surgery.

"There's not a reason why [he] can’t make it to the big leagues based on what we saw this spring," Hinch said. "Now Spring Training evaluation is the most dangerous to stamp a guy, so he's got to continue his work in the competition at Triple-A. I've been impressed by him and he's earned the right to stay with us."

Fisher, Straw, Tanielu and Mayfield will remain with the Major League club the rest of camp and will travel to Houston for next week's exhibition games against the Pirates.

Slugger AJ Reed, who's bopped 123 homers in 523 career Minor League games, remains in camp, but he won’t make a team with an infield that includes Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Diaz.

"Our position players are close to being set," Hinch said.