Roster Moves

I missed one from Sunday. 3B Ryan Dineen was assigned from Quad Cities back to Extended Spring Training.

Also, as I'm sure you're aware by now, RHP Jose Cisnero was called up from Oklahoma City to Houston and did a terrific job in his major league debut with three and two-thirds scoreless innings. In a corresponding move, LHP Brett Oberholtzer was returned to Oklahoma City after his one major league appearance.

Many on twitter expressed surprise that Oberholtzer was optioned back to Oklahoma City so quickly. It was not a surprising move to me at all. Because of the Astros pitching woes, they needed warm bodies to help out at the major league level and Oberholtzer was the freshest arm in OKC. I don't think the promotion was intended to be more than a stopgap measure at this time and I don't think Keuchel's move back to Oklahoma City was a demotion either. I think we will see both of them back in Houston sooner than later.

The front office is simply re-arranging the deck chairs as Astros pitching has been gouged by a Titanic-sized iceberg and is sinking rapidly. Luhnow rolled the dice on a lot of low risk, high reward types over the winter to shore up the pitching staff until some of the younger players in the system were ready. Right now, it's looking like he crapped out, but the season is still young. If one or two players like Cisnero, Oberholtzer or Keuchel can help patch the hole in the ship while the rest of the team bails water, the good ship Astros should be able to limp along through the season until she can be restored to her former glory.