After spending all summer working out in the intense heat at the alternate training site in Corpus Christi, Texas, outfielder Chas McCormick was thrilled to be added to the Astros’ taxi squad and travel with the team. While in Arlington to close the season last week, McCormick asked bench coach Joe Espada if he thought he might see some action this year.

“Joe comes up to me and says, ‘I’m going to be honest with you, Chas, I don’t think you’ll get activated this year. I don’t think you’ll play this year. But you never know,’” McCormick said.

Fast-forward to Monday night, when Espada called McCormick and told him he was going to be on the club’s 28-man roster for the American League Wild Card Series. That meant the 25-year-old had a shot to make his Major League debut in the playoffs. McCormick couldn’t wait to call his family back in Pennsylvania, even though it was late.

“It sounded like they were sleeping,” he said. “After I called them, they couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, just like me. I couldn’t sleep either.”

McCormick did not play in Tuesday's win or Wednesday's series-sweeping 3-1 victory over Minnesota, which sent Houston to the AL Division Series. It remains to be seen if he'll be on the roster going forward.

McCormick appeared in 110 games last year between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Round Rock, and he hit .269 with six doubles, six triples, 14 homers, 66 RBIs and 16 steals. He admitted he had butterflies while sitting in the dugout in Game 1.

“It was pretty crazy just watching the greats from the Astros and watching the greats from the Twins,” he said. “I’ve watched these guys from when I was a teenager growing up. I’m sitting in the dugout and looking and thinking, ‘This is the highest level of baseball, and it’s pretty surreal that I’m in this dugout right now.’ I was pretty speechless in the beginning. I had butterflies during the game. We’ve been playing this game our whole life, so it felt like just another game at the same time.”

Javier ready for long relief
The Astros’ path to victory in Game 1, with starter-turned-reliever Framber Valdez piggybacking starter Zack Greinke to throw five scoreless innings, was similar in Game 2. Manager Dusty Baker's plan to use rookie Cristian Javier, a starter, in relief behind Jose Urquidy went off without a hitch. Urquidy limited Minnesota to one run in 4 1/3 innings, and after Brooks Raley finished out the fifth frame for Urquidy, Javier entered and threw three scoreless.

Urquidy, who made his first postseason start since throwing five scoreless innings in Game 4 of the World Series last year, was also terrific in the playoffs a year ago. He allowed one earned run in 10 innings but made only five starts this year after missing the first six weeks of the season following positive COVID-19 tests.

Javier, also a rookie, was among the dozen young pitchers thrust into action this year, perhaps sooner than anticipated, because of injuries to the pitching staff. He made 10 starts and two relief appearances, allowing 36 hits and striking out 54 in 54 1/3 innings. He led all AL rookies and ranked fourth among AL pitchers in opponents' batting average (.188) among pitchers with at least 50 frames.

Baker brought Javier into a game in relief on Sept. 13 at Dodger Stadium, and the rookie had five strikeouts, allowing one hit, in two scoreless innings.

The Astros had a full stable or relievers who didn’t pitch in Game 1. That included closer Ryan Pressly, who began warming up in the ninth inning Tuesday before Valdez got a game-ending double play. Baker stayed away from his closer and let Valdez finish off the Twins. On Wednesday, Pressly got the save with a scoreless ninth.

“Framber was, at the time of the game, he was in the fifth or sixth inning, which is his best time of the game,” Baker said. “He just happened to be in the ninth inning, but in reality, he was in the fifth or sixth inning on his pitch count and how he usually throws a game. At that point in time, I thought he was going great.”