Houston Astros fans couldn’t care less where Waldo is. The omnipresent red-and-white-striped children’s book character could be hidden anywhere. But, on Tuesday, May 14, Astros fans were playing “Where’s Luhnow?”

Houston’s GM, Jeff Luhnow, was visiting a day game played at Dell Diamond, the home of his team’s Triple-A Round Rock Express. The E-Train, as they’re called, were playing the Oklahoma City Dodgers in the fourth of a five-game series which opened a lengthy homestand.

If not in his Minute Maid Park office, Luhnow would expect to be seen, perhaps, on the road visiting his traveling, first-place Astros as they take on the Detroit Tigers in a three-game set.

Instead, he was apparently putting a set of eyes on a likely candidate for promotion to the big leagues. But, two questions loom large: Just when would this call-up candidate be promoted, and of course, whom?

Tweeting feverishly throughout Tuesday’s game was MLB.com Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart, an odd attendee, himself, at Dell Diamond on any other day. “Tags” is always on the prowl for a timely, well-documented story, and a juicy one may indeed be brewing in the Austin bedroom community of Round Rock.

Let’s take a look at what Luhnow was witnessing at the game. Prior to his arrival, it’s safe to assume he wanted rookie Express manager Mickey Storey to have certain players at certain prescribed positions.

Where’s Luhnow (on his pitchers)?

Was he looking for another arm for Houston’s rotation or bullpen? Promoted Sunday was Corbin Martin, who impressed immediately in his start against the Texas Rangers.

Brady Rodgers got the start for Round Rock, Tuesday, and went 4.2 innings, giving up three runs. He made his MLB debut in 2016. Rogelio Armenteros turned in two innings in relief, yielding five runs (only one earned) on four hits. Those would have been the only two pitchers, working on the day, anyway, whom Luhnow would’ve been eyeing.

Luhnow and McTaggart weren’t the only ones out of place at the game. Alex De Goti pulled mop-up duty on the mound in the ninth inning in the 6-15 shellacking the Express endured. It’s doubtful Luhnow wanted to see what kind of fastball the .280-hitting infielder could bring.

We May Be Getting Warmer

Hotter than BTS at a K-Pop festival has been MLB.com’s 26th overall prospect, Yordan Alvarez, rumored for weeks to be an imminent call-up to Houston. Luhnow has been quoted as preferring Alvarez to man the abbreviated left field at Minute Maid Park rather than first base; Alvarez is known to, generally, have limited abilities in the field.

Nevertheless, Alvarez was at 1B, Tuesday, during Luhnow’s visit, belting two doubles for two of his three hits on the day and scoring a run. That performance raised his average to .403 and his OPS to 1.353, both tops in the known galaxy.

Outfielder Myles Straw, adding shortstop to his resume a month ago, was at that position again for Luhnow’s game. He went one-for-five with a strikeout. Straw made his MLB debut last season and worked in nine ABs. Could Luhnow want to see the speedster up again?

Astro fans are familiar with outfielder Derek Fisher, another speedster. He DH-ed Tuesday and also got a hit in five ABs.

Kyle Tucker, weighed down under a horrendous slump to start his AAA season, has picked up things considerably, raising his average to .242 after a two-for-four day that included a home run that hugged the right field line. Houston’s top-ranked position player shagged his flies in left field, Tuesday, and made a throwing error. After a disappointing debut in 2018, could Luhnow be considering a Tuck redux soon?

Do You Luh-Know?

You’re general manager for a day. Whom would you circle on your scorecard? Do you think Luhnow came away from the Express game Tuesday with a slam dunk of an imminent call-up or just a few more notes to add to the files for future reference in a month or two?

Leave a comment below with your guess and rationale.

Me? I’m recusing myself from guessing… I found Luhnow!