At 8 PM ET, the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft passed with the Astros staying quiet as a flurry of activity came across the wires. Earlier in the day, the club announced that three players: catcher Drew Stubbs, starting pitcher Rogelio Armenteros and reliever Bryan Abreu, had been added to the 40-man roster.
Protecting Armenteros was an easy move- the righty is very advanced, to the point that he likely would’ve pitched in the majors in 2018 for most any other club. Over the last two seasons, Armenteros has amassed 166.1 innings at the Triple-A level, maintaining a K rate of around 28% with a sub-10% walk rate.