Houston Astros Baseball

Astros sign Tilghman to Minor League contract

2008-08-06T14:23:00.001-07:00

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros announced today that the club has signed right-handed pitcher Jack Tilghman, who was pitching for the Texarkana Gunslingers of the Continental Baseball League, to a Minor League contract. The announcement was made by General Manager Ed Wade.

In order to acquire Tilghman, the Astros first purchased his contract from Texarkana of the CBL and then subsequently signed him to a Minor League contract.

Tilghman, 21, is 3-2 with a 1.30 ERA (6ER/41.2IP) and 13 saves for Texarkana this season, including 57 strikeouts and 19 walks. He leads the CBL in both saves and appearances in 2008. Tilghman was signed as an undrafted free agent by Philadelphia in 2007 and spent last year with the GCL Phillies, finishing 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA (4ER/13.2IP) in seven appearances.

Scouted and signed by area scout Rusty Pendergrass, the 6-2, 205-pound Tilghman is a native of Telford, PA, and played collegiately at Walters State CC in Tennessee.

Paulino Set Back

2008-08-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO -- Right-hander Felipe Paulino was slated to make two relief appearances this week for Triple-A Round Rock, but after experiencing shoulder tightness in his first game on Tuesday, that plan is on hold.

Paulino pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowed a hit and a walk and struck out one before exiting the game prematurely. He didn't have a reoccurrence of the nerve issue that knocked him out of commission in Spring Training and later forced him to the disabled list, but his recent shoulder issue is cause for concern.

Paulino, 24, will be examined by team medical director David Lintner on Thursday.

"It's just to make sure he's still OK," assistant general manager Ricky Bennett said. "It's more precautionary than anything else. The good thing is the nerve issue he was dealing with seems to be a non-issue at this point."

According to Bennett, Paulino hit 97 mph on the radar gun, which is encouraging.

"His command was OK, too," Bennett said. "He's been out for a year, so from that standpoint, that was positive."

Paulino, who was in the running for a starting spot in Spring Training before he was injured, was scheduled to pitch again on Friday. The club will wait to hear from Lintner before deciding the next course of action for Paulino.

Another rehabbing pitcher, right-hander Paul Estrada, is scheduled to make his first appearance of the season after rehabbing a shoulder injury. Estrada, 25, was slated to pitch in relief for Double-A Corpus Christi on Wednesday.

Astros 2008 Schedule
Houston+Astros astros+blog hunter+pence Paulino

No Time For Blog. Firefighting!

2008-06-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, My Astros Blog will have to take a back seat to my career. The good news is that The Astros stink so it will be a little easier to not watch.

Thanks to all who kept up with the blog and sorry for the delayed response.

Mayday, Mayday...Astros Sinking!

2008-06-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

The Astros are 4-15 since May 25th and 3-10 in June. "Houston we have a problem" In case you missed it (lucky you) The Astros capped their disappointing month with a brutal, BRUTAL beating from the Bronx Bombers. Nothing like a 13-0 loss to really get you thinking. The loss, which was the finally of a three game sweep by The Yankees in our house, really shed some light on The Astros weaknesses. Our offense was bad, Roy Oswalt was the offensive player of the game going 2-2 yeah, that bad! Our pitching was just dreadful, nothing new and The Astros looked dead.

So, what's going on? Well, to be honest I have taken the last couple days off writing on here hoping The Astros would win a couple and keep me from sounding like a downer, but let's face it this team will be in last by Tuesday, if not sooner. Let's look at the facts:

When looking at The Astros team statistics from both sides of the ball and comparing them to say a month ago when The Astros could do no wrong there isn't a whole lot different.

The Astros are still ranked well in runs scored (9th/311) and ranked very high in batting average (4th/.264) and again are above average in total bases (6th/979). So, it would appear that our offense isn't to blame for a blunt of our problems, let's look at pitching.

The Astros team ERA ranks poorly (12th/4.50) with our starters alone posting a 4.77 ERA good enough for 13th in The NL. To supplement this information, The Astros rank 10th in quality starts (33) and worst in HR's given up (98). So, it would appear that although we have had our offensive struggles the overwhelming blame should be placed on the pitching staff.

How about the bullpen? The Astros bullpen isn't terrible in terms of ERA, ranking 10th (4.01ERA) and do stand out as having the fewest Blown Saves in The NL(5). So, the bullpen is good then? Not quite, The Astros bullpen ranks 2nd in allowing the most total bases (367) and posts the absolute worst slugging percentage against in The NL (.448) the next closest is St. Louis with .413. You guessed it, that slugging percentage against is a product of allowing the most HR's of any bullpen in The NL(33) . So, our starters stink and give up lots of HR's and our bullpen is ok but gives up lots of HR's, that's a recipe to lose.

So what now? Where The Astros go from here is anyones guess. My guess is that nothing changes for a little while. The Astros have a interesting schedule this month and look to sell lots of tickets during inter league month giving Drayton no reason to change a thing. I think once all this Red Sox, Yankee hoopla subsides and The Astros are left an abundant amount of home games after The All Star Break and Drayton sees ticket sales going down he will be forced to make a move. I am highly skeptical that he would agree to any trade giving away Oswalt, Tejada, or Pence. The other "stars" have no-trade clauses and aren't expected to waive those. So, in the end we may be witness to a pretty pathetic last gasp at regaining the season with a couple mediocre moves to bring in over the hill veteran pitching to try and patch this pitching staff back together, but in the end will have little effect.

What would I do? There isn't much that can be done really, but just for fun...

If The Astros are 10+ games back two weeks before the Trade Deadline (July 31) then I would try and trade Tejada for a bounty of high level prospects. His resurgence year will increase his value and losing his $13 Million salary would be nice as well. To replace him, I would bring up surging Tommy Manzella. Remember last year? Even though the team stunk it was fun to watch the young guys, Tommy can be that, but has a slight chance to stay. Tommy is considered a Adam Everett defender with a better bat.

This year Tommy was hitting very well in AA (.300/.346/.446) and was promoted to AAA. His performance in AAA will determine how loose I would be with Miggy. So far so good, in Tommy's first game in AAA he went 3-5 with a 2B and 3 RBI.

This sounds good and all, but I believe that Miggy some sort of no-trade clause, maybe limited but would have to agree on the team, and getting a decent bounty would be tough for the perpetually again SS. In summary, as Astros fans, we are in store for a long year. Hopefully, we can at least make it interesting.

Ps. The last time that I wrote The Astros stunk we started winning, so cross your fingers.

Astros Lose Again. Sign More Draftees

2008-06-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 8

Today was the type of game you hate to see. Mainly because The Astros pretty much had this one in the bag and just gave it away. These are the games that average teams wins, let alone good teams. The game fell apart in the seventh inning when Wigginton booted a double play. Instead of having bases empty with two outs, there where two on with no outs. From then on it only got worse. The Astros we able to get a couple outs in exchange for a couple runs. The big blow came when Brocail was able to induce an EASY pop up to shallow right center. I call it easy, but Pence and Bourn some how mess it up(communication error) and the ball drops. Giving The Cards a two run lead.

The Astros show a little heart and get a run back, and just as it seemed like would tie it up, Ed Romero holds Reggie Abercrombie at 3rd(came from 1st) on a Erstad pinch hit double. Odds are heavily in Abercrombie's favor that he would have scored considering the throw in from right field didn't even go home (2nd base). I can understand the logic behind his decision, but at the same I can't. He didn't want to risk ruining a rally by giving up the 3rd out at home. However, we were down by one with one inning left and two outs already recorder. To make an even better case, there was a lefty on the mound and Michael Bourn was due up, to save the suspense, Bourn popped out.

All in all, The Astros wasted a very good start, which seems to be in demand these days and gave away the game with lackluster heart and poor fundamentals.

On The Plus Side

The Astros Continue to sign recent draftees showing that farm depth is of top priority. What really struck me as impressive was the fact that Scouting director Bobby Heck was able to sign late round picks very early. Generally, if a player is picked later in the draft and thus offered far less money he would wait and hope to improve his position next year, or in the future. This is especially true with high schoolers. In just two short days since the draft finished Heck has been able to ink seven players. Hopefully soon to sign are a couple of Arizona outfielders who season ended today with a 4-2 loss to number one Miami. Those players, (T.J. Steele, John Gaston)

Note: I watched alot of the Miami vs Arizona Super Regionals and I really like Steele. he looks good in the field, looks confident at the plate, and has incredible natural speed. Hopefully he signs soon.

For a complete list of Astros Draft Picks Click Here

Draft Day 1 In A Nutshell

2008-06-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Although the draft isn't over for today yet, The Astros have made quite a splash with their early picks. The top ten in the draft overall today went as:

1) Tim Beckham
2) Pedro Alvarez
3) Eric Hosmer
4) Brian Matusz
5) Buster Posey
6) Kyle Skipworth
7) Yonder Alonso
8) Gordan Beckham
9) Aaron Crow
10) Jason Castro (Astros)

The Astros made possibly the biggest surprise move of the day by selecting Jason Castro 10th. When The White Sox selected Beckam with the 8th pick most would have bet their life saving that The Astros would end up with either RHP Aaron Crow or 1B Justin Smoak. When Aaron Crow was selected 9th that all but sealed the deal for Smoak. However, in a surprise move The Astros chose the 3rd catcher of the day and a player thought not to selected until the end of the first round. Smoak was immediately chosen next by The Texas Rangers. This single move may be Heck's early statement for his new team. Let's compare the two and you can decide who you would have chosen.

Justin Smoak

Justin Smoak, 1b, South Carolina
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 188. Age: 21.

A switch-hitting first baseman with power, Smoak draws natural comparisons to Mark Teixiera. Drafted out of high school in the 16th round by the Athletics, he has started every game for South Carolina since arriving on the Columbia campus, doing nothing but produce. After batting .303 with 17 home runs, Smoak earned Freshman All-America honors. He followed that with a .315 batting average and 22 home runs in his sophomore year enough to be tabbed as a third team All-American. He also competed for Team USA last summer. As a first baseman, Smoak has Gold Glove-caliber actions and soft hands. His footwork and instincts around the bag are advanced and his arm strength is adequate. As a hitter, he is consistent from both sides of the plate, and he has superior pitch recognition. A power threat against any pitch, Smoak has the ability to hit to all fields. Smoak proved his power translates to wood when he hit 11 home runs in 39 games while playing in the Cape Cod League following his freshman year, though he struggled with Team USA last summer. He is thought to be the best combination of offense and defense at first base in this draft class.
(Credit: Baseball America)

Additional Info: MILB.com

Jason Castro
Jason Castro, c, Stanford
B-T: L-R. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 215. Age: 20.

A catcher most of his prep career, Castro entered this season thought of as a bat first after his strong summer in the Cape Cod League. He hit just .263 combined in his first two seasons at Stanford, then hit .341 in the Cape (second-best in the league), but he played mostly first base or outfield in deference to Florida State's Buster Posey. This spring, Castro has put it all together, showing he can hit for average and power while being Stanford's primary catcher. At 6-foot-3, he's tall but athletic enough to have good lateral movement and agility, and he's improved as a receiver, where he's considered fringe-average at worst. His arm also grades as average, and he's an above-average hitter, particularly for his position. Offensively, Castro stays inside the ball and has a fundamentally sound, strong swing. One scout likened his offensive package to that of former Athletics supplemental first-rounder Mark Teahen, who also played collegiately in the Bay Area, only with more power. In some years, Castro would be the best catcher on the board, but this he's third behind Posey and Southern California prep phenom Kyle Skipworth. He's not expected to last past the first round.
(Credit Baseball America)

Additional Info: MILB.com

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The Astros Day 1 Draft Picks (As of 9:00 ET)

Rnd 1. Jason Castro C (College)
Rnd 1*.Jordan Lyles RHP (HS)
Rnd 2. Jay Austin OF (HS)
Rnd 3. Chase Davidson 1B (HS)
Rnd 3*.Ross Seaton RHP (HS)
Rnd 4. T.J. Steele OF (College)
Rnd 5. David Duncan LHP (College)
Rnd 6. Jack Shuck OF (College)

*Indicates supplemental sandwich pick

Draft Day Analyst Extras

Baseball America On Astros 2nd Round Pick

Sandwich Shocker
"The Astros are the Astros, and after taking Jason Castro at 10 overall—considered a reach for a late-first-round talent—they went off the board with their supplemental pick, taking 6-foot-4 Jordan Lyles. He didn’t make BA’s Top 200, and ranked seventh in the state of South Carolina, tops among prep players. Here’s Matt Blood’s scouting report on Lyles:

Righthander Jordan Lyles leads the high school ranks. Blessed with a clean and easy delivery, Lyles offers a fastball in the upper 80s and can break 90 mph on occasion. He also has room in his 6-foot-4 frame to add strength and velocity. Lyles also throws a curveball and changeup and can command all three pitches. A three-sport star in high school, Lyles is athletic on the mound. He is committed to South Carolina."

Keith Law On Castro and Smoak

"Castro didn't get to catch last year in the Cape Cod League because his team also had Posey. Castro was expected to go in the second half of the first round. He's a contact hitter; he will not hit for a lot of power. He's an average regular catcher in the big leagues. But I don't see him as a star. By the way, the next best college catcher in the draft is well below Castro."

"This is the best pick in the draft so far. Smoak is the third-best player on my board. He's a switch-hitting Adrian Gonzalez with more power. In the Rangers' ballpark, he has a good chance to hit 40 home runs, if he develops. There are no major holes in his game. I saw this scenario possibly unfolding last night. A lot of things had to go right for them to get Smoak, and they did."

One last thing to think about regarding the draft and a teams success or failure. A team can select whomever they chose, but the big question is will that player actually play for your team? Signability is the buzz word this year and this may shed some light on how The Astros made their selections this year.

Even though Astros Scouting Director Bobby Heck claimed he would draft based on choosing the best player available over a clubs needs, one would have to wonder if that is really true. Also, keep in mind that it's fair to assume that Castro won't demand nearly the same bonus money as Smoak would have seeing as Castro was expecting to be picked towards the end on round 1, and that fact alone could have left Heck with very little options as McClane has shown his displeasure with giving draftees large signing bonuses. This same idea "signability" may have also contributed to The Astros 2nd round selection of Lyles. Lyles isn't even on the top 200 draft list yet he was selected in the thirty's.

In the end roughly 25 players from an average hull of 50 from a draft actually sign, and if we are able to sign most players because of a smaller price tag on the big picks then we may end up on top. Lastly, remember that these drafts are so deep that it's easy to forget that some of the best players in baseball have come from rounds 20 and higher, including Astros ace, Roy Oswalt (23rd rnd).

Help Is On The Way, The Draft Is Here!

2008-06-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday June 4

Tomorrow The Astros along with all thirty other MLB teams will begin the Amateur Draft. As most of you know, The Astros farm system is in particular bad shape. The Astros rank 29 of 30 in farm strength. Ironically, our poor performance last year is going to directly effect that same farm system in what hopes to be a very productive draft. For those of you who don't know The Astros have several picks in the first couple rounds and six overall picks in the first one hundred twenty-two.

Here is our draft positions:

Round 1
10) Astros

Supplemental Round 1
38) (Losing Miller)

Round 2
56) Astros

Round 3
88) Astros

Supplemental Round 2
109) (Not signing Dietrich)

Round 4
122) Astros

This years draft has me captivated considering the overall number of early selections we have, the completely transformed scouting system which will be looking to make a good impression, and hopefully some slack from Owner Drayton McClane on paying what's needed to sign these picks.

How The Draft Works, Or Doesn't Work

If you aren't familiar with the reasoning behind players being drafted not signing to a team let me explain. There are a few reasons why a player drafted may chose to not sign with a team. The most common are when a player being drafted out of high school or early in college decides he would rather continue on to college. For instance Astros CF Michael Bourn was selected by The Astros out of high school but decided to go onto The University of Houston instead. The next common way to lose a pick is what has really hurt The Astros in recent years. After a player is picked, that player, his agent and the team who selected him have to agree on monetary terms. To these players the yearly salary isn't nearly as important as the signing bonus. Now some players can demand very high dollars and are then less likely to be signed by teams with lower team salaries. For example, recent team signing bonuses.

2007
1)Orioles $7.7 Mil
**Astros $0.5 Mil

2006
1)Cubs $9.3 Mil
**Astros $3.1 Mil

2005
1)D-Backs $9.5 Mil
**Astros $4.1 Mil

As you can see, The Astros are going crazy with handing out money to draftees. Also know that in 2007 we were not able to a sign a player until the 5th round and that had alot to do with signing bonuses, or lack of.

To confront this issue and unfairness from team to team, MLB Commish Bud Selig put in place a "slotting" system. This was basically a cap on how much a player drafted from a certain position should be paid. The HUGE problem with this however, is that this was a guideline and not a rule. Because of this, The Astros were one of only two teams in all of baseball to actually follow these guidelines. For those wondering, The Pirates where the other. However, don't expect them to fallow this year. Their GM recently stated that the bank is open.

What gives me hope this year is that with The Astros recent AWFUL drafts and the emergence or prospect Hunter Pence Uncle Drayton may be a little more willing to spend. Now, Selig has put new men in charge of the slotting system this year and has changed some of the policies trying to make the system more effective, time will only tell if it is.

Now For The Good Stuff, Astros Draft Buzz

So who will Astros be signing?

The truth is, no one really knows. This years draft class is extremely muddled and to supplement that with Astros Scouting Director Bobby Heck's tight lipped style, we won't know until tomorrow. However, we can speculate and there are tons of mock drafts already out there. Unfortunately, those mocks are all SO different it's pretty hard to gauge who really gets who.

From what I have read, the players who are higher on The Astros list for the #10 overall pick are:

Yonder Alonso 1B Bio

Kyle Skipworth C Bio

Justin Smoak 1B Bio

Aaron Crow RHP Bio

Shooter Hunt RHP Bio

Astros Offense Hard To Watch

2008-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because we were spoiled this month that this four game losing streak really stings. Just after the analysts and skeptics were starting to come around to a "good" Astros team we give them a reason to re-think themselves. The Astros have lost their last four games, collecting a TOTAL of 5 runs during those games. I don't care what kind of pitching staff you have, you can't win with that lack of offense.

So what's the problem? It would appear that the recent slow down of Lance Berkman is the primary cause of this slump. This makes me worried. Meanwhile the bats of Ty Wigginton and Hunter Pence have slowly heated up. It's kind of ironic, but Wigginton has been arguably our best hitter during this team slump, yet his spot never seems to come up with men on base. I can clearly remember several occasions where Wiggy has hit a lead off double, only to get stranded. If only he was hitting those gappers with men on.

On the plus side, Brian Moehler looked good again. The box score of The Milwaukee game is a little misleading. He pitcher than his line would indicate. Moehler made one mistake in his outing and that was a two strike low and inside changeup against slugger Prince Fielder.

"But The Brewers looked good" No, not really. They are getting better and not held down by the once close Gagne, but The Brewers don't seem like a longterm threat this year. Today was a game we most certainly could have won. Coop decided to test Jason Kendall's arm and lost, several times. The worst was Matsui caught stealing third with one out and Lance up. the next pitch Lance gets a hit and Matsui would have scored. We would have had one on and one out for Lee and Pence, we could have rallied.

Also worth mentioning, Micheal Bourn sat today after and 0-fer yesterday. Instead Erstad lead off and played CF. He did very well and may warrant some more time, especially against lefties.

Up next:
Astros look to not get swept by The Brewers as they send Chacon to face Dave bush. Bush is 4-1 with a 3.45 ERA against The Astros. Although, I have a feeling Coop will have a few words of inspiration and rally this team to a big win Sunday.

Cards Even Series

2008-05-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday May 28

The Astros lost game two of their three game series in St. Louis today. You could almost say the game was lost in the first inning. Adam Wainwright looked like an ace and a pitcher who has dominated The Astros. Adam worked eight very strong innings allowing just a solo HR from Ty Wigginton.

Wandy returned to the mound for a pro game for the first time in over a month (April 19). As one would expect there was some rust. Although Wandy did have a strong start this week in AA, the majors has quite a different feel. I knew going into this game that Wandy would have to find his command early and get a feel for his famous curve ball to be successful. He was unable to consistently locate his fastball, which is typical of a pitcher who hasn't pitched in a while, and his "out pitch" the curve, was all over the place. Already tonight I have read several articles and columns writing Wandy off as a barely average pitcher. That seems a little harsh. What do you expect from a guy who hasn't thrown in a major league game in over a month. Not only that, but his first start back is on the road, in a very significant game and against our rivals. I was expecting an L today, but was hoping for Wandy to feel comfortable. Wandy impressed me tonight, (you heard me). He was able to stay composed while he was struggling with something out of his control. Wandy's hot head has been an issue and for him to collect himself and continue to battle, even though he was behind and facing a good pitcher is a good sign.

One game of frustration is worth a positive season. It may not be that bold but I predict Wandy ends the season with 12+ wins and the most K's on our team. Hopefully Roy can make that little contest interesting, but if not, then we really need Wandy to perform.

Astros Make Roster Moves

2008-05-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

The Astros hit the road again, for a three city tour that will be a pretty good barometer for where The Astros stand in The NL Central. The first series in this trip is in St. Louis against the Cards. The Cards are .5 games ahead of us and the winner of this series has a good shot at leading The NL Central. Besides the fact that this series is very important standings wise, Astros players will say that games against the Cards mean a little more based on their rivalry. This year especially both teams have shown displeasure which each other and look to at least provide an entertaining three games.

To prepare for this road trip The Astros have made a few changes. First, Fernando Nieve was sent back down in exchange for SP Jack Cassel. Cassel has done very well so far in AAA and looks to spend his time in relief while making a few spot starts.With Wandy coming off the DL for Wednesday's game, we needed to move a starting pitcher from the rotation to the bullpen. The Astros chose to leave Moehler and move Sampson. This move wasn't a big surprise seeing as one was pitching well and one wasn't. My personal opinion is that Moehler will have a couple more good starts before he begins to really struggle. At that time, Cassel will be moved into the rotation and will succeed there.

Lastly, with Geary coming back shortly, The Astros will be forced to move another pitcher. Common sense would say that Dave Borkowski is the likely candidate, as he is the worst pitcher in our bullpen right now. Villarreal is being paid too much and has a much better track record in the majors and therefore secures a spot in the majors. Not to mention that with his 5 year MLB service time he would need to agree to a minor league assignment, which he probably would not.

The Astros Will Contend When...

2008-05-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 24

Very simply, lose Borkowski, Nieve, and Jose Cruz Jr.

I would say that Bork and Cruz have lost 3-4 games for us this year between the two. I have nothing personal against Nieve, he just isn't ready for pro ball right now. So who fills those spots?

Well, Wandy comes back, Sampson goes to the pen (for now), and anyone off the street to replace Cruz Jr.

The Astros blew several leads today and gave away the game with VERY poor pitching performances from Fernando Nieve and Borkowski. With Geary on the DL the flaws in our bullpen have exposed themselves. Besides Geary, we have 2 good arms dedicated for the 8th and 9th and a couple avg lefties. the silver lining for me in this situation is that the poor play from our bad relief arms is pretty consistent and warrants a change. Until Felipe Paulino can come back we have a few options. Most likely we dip into our AAA system for some stop-gap solutions. Ultimately, I hope we bring Sammy Gervacio up from AA as asap. He's got the goods and will be with our team for a while.

What's Next

Whoever made this years schedule clearly didn't like the Astros. The Astros head off on another long road trip playing some pretty decent teams. If The Astros can continue to play .500+ ball on the road we will be in good shape in July when the schedule lightens up.

Up first, the St. Louis Cards in a very important series. Hopefully Roy can right the ship on the road since we will go nowhere without him.

Lat's Go Stros !!

Let'sTake A Look At The Competition

2008-05-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

So far this season, The Cubs appear to be front runners. Many sports analysts pick the cubs at least winning The NL Central and possibly going far into the playoffs. Also, the Cardinals and the mixture of Tony La Russa and pitching genius Dave Duncan they always have a shot, and this season proves that for them. The Cards were expected to be The Reds of recent years and putting up hardly a fight, but with the best hitter in baseball(Chew on that A-Rod), and pitching coach Duncan The Cards look to be the real deal. At least for now. Let's take a little closer look at these teams and how we stack up so far.

Standings

Team...............W/L.....Hm.....Rd.....NL C.

Chicago Cubs......29-19...19-8...10-11...18-13

St. Louis Cards...29-21...17-10...12-11...14-12

Houston Astros....28-22...14-8...14-14...10-7

First off, it's pretty easy to see that The Astros have gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to early home games. I bring this up for a couple reasons. 1) There is a reason why it's called home. A team normally performs better at their home, that's just the way it is. Thus The Cards and Cubs have had more games where statistically speaking they have better odds of winning. 2) Also, I believe that the early home games for The Cards have significantly helped their teams confidence. Going into this season, no one thought too much of The Cards. The fact that they having been playing alot of home games and because of this winning more, the team has a confidence they didn't have going into the season. That confidence really helps a team stay in games when behind, gives pitchers motivation to work just that much harder. Now, I am aware that in the end the schedules even out and The Astros will see their fair share of home games. These late home game may be a great help if we are contending for the playoffs, but my point is that it's possible that without these early plethora of home games for The Cards they may not have been looking at the playoffs at all.

Next, let's look at difficulty of schedule outside of where those games are played.

Team...............Over .500..........Under .500......(Series)

Chicago Cubs...........5..................12

St. Louis Cards........5..................12

Houston Astros.........10..................7

Clearly, not only have The Astros had to play more road games, but they have also had to play better teams at the same time. The fact that we were able to do this with a poor starting rotation and and seriously sub par Roy Oswalt is a testament to how good we have been playing.

Furthermore, The Cards have yet to play division leaders/contenders Marlins, D-Backs, and Phillies. All of which The Astros have played.

Holy Valverde !!!

2008-05-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 24

I didn't think it was possible to overshadow a multi-HR game from Hunter Pence, a GREAT start from Brandon Backe and Lance hitting a TRIPLE. Yet, Jose Valverde was able to do just that when he was hit in the cheek with a comeback liner off the bat of Pedro Feliz during the 9th last night in Houston.

The score was 4-1 and Jose came in for the save. He looked good for the most part until he was struck by a hard hit ball off his face. In most cases, the pitcher would have broken at least his jaw, and may have had other serious injuries. However, Jose was able to get his glove in front fast enough so that the ball just tapped off his glove resulting in a loss of velocity. Friday night game was a great one and the Astros fans were into it, however, when Jose was hit the crowd went silent. Jose lay on the ground for a little over a minute as the Astros medical crew rushed the field. At this point the fans were praying for some kind of movement from Jose just to assure them he was seriously injured. A few moments later, Jose stood up and received a rousing standing ovation and cheers from all fans. The make this story even better is that after only a few jaw exercises and a couple warm up pitches Jose said he wanted to stay in the game. Even the most die-hard fan knows that this is just a game and person health is far more important, and that's just what Miguel Tejada reminded Jose. However, Jose denied the option to leave the game and chose to muscle it out. The very next pitch, Jose hit 95 on the radar gun and the place went crazy. Unfortunately, the situation got a little more interesting. Jose ended up with some base runners on account of a Micheal Bourn error, and not being able to finish at-bats. Now I know Jose was hurt and he was showing incredible courage just staying on the field, but he was able to get several Phillies hitters in 0-2 counts and was not able to finish them off. This resulted in a small comeback from the Phils. The climax of the game came when The Phillies had brought themselves within 1 run of The Astros and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Shane Victorino was up and Jose started off with 3 straight balls. Jose was able to work back from that 3-0 count to get 3-2 and eventually get Shane to pop out to Micheal Bourn and secure the save.

Friday nights game was great in just about every way. Our young slumping hitters are starting to straighten things out, we are getting better starting pitching, and we continue to score runs. This new exciting Astros team has begun to fill the seats on a nightly basis, something very few expected. If they are able to continue this play, I would imagine The Astros may make a bid for the Division.

SI Sports Writers Take On Bourn

2008-05-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 21

First, The Astros win a pretty important early season game against division rival Cubs. This game was huge for three reasons.

1) Pithing wise we were outmatched. We offered Chris Sampson to their Ryan Dempster who is having a great season so far. Yet, Sampson shut them down and we were able to hit Dempster.

2) Lance Berkman is starting to cool off and it's obvious. Even though Lance is having 3-4, 4-4 nights lately, those who were struggling, like Pence have picked up where Lance left off. This offense is pretty even and when Bourn and Towles get it together look out. Oh, and even if Lance is "cooling" off, to him that means hitting .315, and just one or two HR's a week.

"Bourn To Lead Off - Later"

Like most baseball fans, I tend to keep an eye out for any piece of writing that has anything to do with our Astros. Even though the mainstream media tends to forget about us, there are quite a few online outlets that occasionally write a column or recognize that we are neck and neck with their precious Cubs.

Anyway, even more rarely are articles written about our players who are relatively unknown and not performing too well. For this reason I decided to post this article here.

Written by SI's: Don Ehrke

"I like Michael Bourn. His speed is phenomenal. If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch him race down the line on an infield grounder, you’re missing something. Not every fast runner is a good base stealer; some never learn to read the pitcher’s motion. Bourn has already mastered this art; he’s 36 of 39 in stolen base attempts for his career. There’s also no disputing that Bourn covers a tremendous amount of space in centerfield – a huge advantage in Houston’s Minute Maid Park. In Bourn the Astros possess a potentially great player.

Despite his talent, Michael Bourn is batting .181. Although he’s demonstrated an ability to draw walks, this pushes his on-base percentage to only .252. His OPS plus is a microscopic 38. Bourn’s inability to get on base has all but negated his speed; he’s 17 for 17 in stolen base attempts in 2008, yet he’s scored only 16 runs in 38 games played.

The causes for Bourn’s struggles are difficult to identify in light of his talent. Lately he seems to be getting better at bats but the hits aren’t falling. A quick glance at his statistics helps explain why this is.

Michael Bourn strikes out too often. He’s already struck out 37 times in 144 at bats – an acceptable number for a modern power hitter but excessive for a speed merchant. Bourn’s batting average when he puts the ball in play is .219, or 38 points higher than his current .181 mark. Last season, when Bourn batted .277, he was a .330 hitter on balls in play. Bourn needs to cut down on his strikeouts; he struck out often in the minor leagues (123 times in 2005, 100 in 2006) and has carried this habit to the majors. Speed is, obviously, useless when a batter fails to make contact, and thus Bourn robs himself of his greatest asset.

For speedsters, putting the ball in play isn’t enough. Bourn hits too many balls in the air; he’s batting .125 (4 for 32) on fly balls. Bourn is 14 for 59 (.237) on ground balls. Last season these numbers were .150 and .283.

To state the obvious, Bourn fits the classic pattern of a fast runner who needs to make contact and hit the ball on the ground with great frequency. Perhaps Bourn will develop (he only has 304 career plates appearances) into something more. His power may increase, although at 25 years old it may not increase much. Regardless, it’s clear what Bourn needs to do: make contact, bunt, and hit the ball on the ground.

It’s also clear what the Astros must do: they need to drop Bourn down in the lineup. Houston was saddled with poor leadoff men last year; Craig Biggio, the team’s primary leadoff hitter, posted a .285 on-base percentage. That was one reason Houston struggled to score runs in 2007. Of course, the Astros weren’t contenders in 2007 so they elected to give Biggio the plate appearances he needed to surpass the 3,000 hit mark.

This season, no one expected the Astros to contend, but they’ve posted a surprising 24-18 record and are only one-and-a-half games out of first place. More, this team is geared to win now. The Astros have some youngsters (Bourn, J.R. Towles and Hunter Pence) but the rest of the starters (including pitchers) are over 30 years old. The Astros, if they are to continue their surprising performance, cannot afford the luxury of letting Michael Bourn develop in the leadoff spot. They need men on base for Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada and Carlos Lee.

Hunter Pence should be moved to the leadoff spot. He’s batting .286 with a .335 on-base percentage despite a horrible start (he hit .161 in the first 15 games of the season). A one-two punch of Pence and Kaz Matsui at the top of the order will give Houston’s big hitters more RBI opportunities.

Meanwhile, drop Bourn to eighth in the order (or even ninth, if you’re a Tony LaRussa advocate). He’ll still have the opportunity to develop without costing the Astros as many RBI opportunities. If Bourn can push his on-base percentage up into the .330 to .350 range he can be moved back to the leadoff position.

Some may argue that dropping Bourn down in the order may hurt his confidence. Going 0-for-5 as a leadoff hitter can’t be helping his confidence, either. Bourn’s confidence will emerge by keeping him in the lineup and by letting him run down fly balls in centerfield. He’ll also gain confidence as he goes around the league again, seeing pitchers for the second and third times in his short career. This will help him cut down on his strikeouts and raise his average. Maybe he’ll also learn to hit the ball on the ground more often; this too will raise his average as well as his confidence.

Michael Bourn has great potential, but potential doesn’t win games. Performance does. Houston can make an investment in the future by playing Bourn this season; they can also try to win today by lowering him in the order and moving Hunter Pence into the leadoff spot until Bourn proves he belongs there."

Moehler Looks Good, Coop Let's Us Down

2008-05-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Monday May 19th

The Astros lose their series opener to the Cubs(That hurts to write). Call me crazy but this was a very winnable game. again. Don't look at the end score of (7-2) as a reflection of The Astros performance. The Astros were in this game for the most part. there were a few key instances that lost this game for our Astros.

To start, Brian Moehler looked much better than expected. He cruised through the first three innings and impressed me very much. In the fourth inning is where things got hairy. Again, Brian pitched very well overall and I beleive that he still looked good in the fourth as well. Here's the situation, Aramis R. works the count like a champ, and gets on base with a hit. There is one on and one out, Fukudome comes up to bat. He quickly gets two strikes on him. He remains patient and picks up a few balls, the count full, then Moehler throws what we used to call in little league, a "straight ball" right above the knees and dead read down the middle. To his amazement the pitch is called a ball.(The entire game my friends and I joked that the strike zone was an upside down triangle from what he was calling) To make matters worse Aramis was running on the play, Ausmus hops us to throw him out at 2nd, but sits back down when the strike wasn't called. Watching it again, Aramis got a bad jump and assuming Ausmus made a good throw he would have been out, "if Fukudome got the K". This called ball four (an awful call) leads to a monster shot to left center from over-achieving G. Soto. Again, I don't believe this was Moehler's fault, but rather Brad's. Moehler hit his spot exactly, the problem was that Brad called for a high fastball, only Geo was bale to get to it. Three runs score. Needless to say I was very upset. the game changed entirely from then on.

The next inning (5th) Coop pulls Moehler with Wiggy on second and one out. The problem with this was pretty predictable. Out of Blum, Loretta, Towles, Cruz Jr., and Erstad Coop feels Cruz is the best choice. Again, I am dumbfounded. Jose Cruz Jr. must have some racy photos of Coop or something the way he keeps playing our worst offensive player. However, Cruz is able to walk, even though his at bat looked worse than a pitchers. He hacks at pitches to my sister and prays for walks. Bourn is up next and drills a shot into the outfield (he looked very good today).

The next questionable move by Coop was who he brought in to pitch after Byrdak in the 7th. Fernando Nieve is brought in during a 3-2 game with the heart of The Cubs lineup due. Nieve hasn't pitched well recently, has had some medical issues with his nose and his breathing and is still pretty fresh from TJ surgery. Nieve struggles throwing strikes and gives up a run. The inning could have been worse, however Lance makes a heads up defensive play and catches Cedeno in a pickle.

My last real issue with Coop's moves. This one should be obvious and must have come as a shock to Astros fans that he actually did this. The game is within three, with the heart of our order due up. A three run deficit hasn't really been to tough for our team recently, so by no means was this game over. However, Coop decides he is tired of waiting this game to unfold and pretty much concedes when he brings Dave Borkowski in to face the heart of The Cubs order. Fans already know what's coming, and sure enough Bork gives up a huge 2 run shot to Aramis Ramirez, and seals the fate of our Astros.

I am in awe as to how many times Coop can make the same mistakes yet not realize what he is doing wrong. Cruz Jr. DOES NOT deserve to be in the major leagues. The fact that his name is Cruz shouldn't matter anymore. The simple fact is that he makes our team worse. It's gotten to the point where I would rather see Backe up there hitting than Cruz. He can't hit at this level anymore. Meanwhile players like Erstad, Blum, and Loretta, who can hit major league pitching rot in the dugout because they have no relation to an Astro legend.

I thought I had seen the last of Borkowski in close, late games after he was rocked by the D-Backs and Brewers, including a pinch hit 2 run HR off an injured D-Back pitcher, however Coop must have missed those games.

Other Notes Of Interest

Lance Berkman hasn't "cooled" just yet. Tonight was his first game in forever where he didn't get on base. The fact that he struck out 3 times leads me to believe that he was nervous trying to perform for the hometown fans for the first time in about two weeks. Consider that before tonight Lance had only struck out 20 times an had more walks than K's. Trust me when I say Lance isn't done yet. Let him relax for the rest of this home stand and I would bet on some long shots.

Michael Bourn is looking better and better. Not that I doubted him, but it's nice to see his hard hit balls finding gaps finally.

Jim Edmonds should be a CF for hire when playing The Astros. I don't know what it is about him, but he continues to ruin games for us Astros. Tonight it wasn't his bat, although he did get a hit, but his Willie Mays style basket catch in deep, DEEP center ended an Astros inning that had some promise.

What's Next?

Tuesday night we face probably the best pitcher we will face during this home stand in Dempster. Even though Dempster hasn't pitcher that well against the Astros (career 4.88 ERA) he has looked great this year and with Sampson working the bump for us this may be a bit of a mis-match.

Astros Stats Worth Mentioning

2008-05-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Astros have shown us a new type of team than remembered in recent years. Our pithcing staff is barely adequate while our offense is one of the best in the league. Leading that charge is offensive monster Lance "Big Puma" Berkman. His accomplishments so far are astro-nomical! He deserves much more credit than he is getting. When we open our homestand tonight, the entire crowd should stand an applaud the efforts of possibly the best offensive Astro ever.

Here are a few interesting stats highlighting the positives of this team so far.

Stats Glossary

Win Shares

Lance Berkman not only leads the entire NL in total Win Shares for the 2008 season, he leads all of baseball, with 13.

Basically, Win Shares are a metric used to rate a players overall contribution to his team. The numerical number (13 in Lance's case) represents the numbers of Astros wins he is credited.

Interestingly enough, the top seven players in this category are ALL from The NL. So much for Arod and Big Papi!

Also high on that list is Miguel Tejada. He comes in 8th in The Nl and 9th in all of baseball with 9.

Both hunter Pence and Carlos Lee are much further down the list, with (HP)6 and (CL)5.

Win Probability Added

On a similar metric, Win Probability Added is very similar to Win Shares although WPA is designed in order to be able to predict the future success of a player/team. Like Win Shares, each play/At Bat is taken into consideration for each player.

Lance leads this list as well with 4.30. To take into consideration how good Lance has played, there are only two players in all of baseball with a WPA of over 2. (Berkman, Burrell 3.34)

Miguel is also on this list at 9th in all of MLB. (1.34)

Basic Batting Stats

Berkman leads all of baseball in OPS (On Base + Slugging) with 1.280.

Again, take into consideration the best career OPS numbers ever put up:

1) Babe Ruth 1.164
2) Ted Williams 1.116
3) Lou Gehrig 1.080
4) Barry Bonds 1.051
5) Albert Pujols 1.040

Currently, Lance is 17th on the all-time list (.971). Other Astros great, Jeff Bagwell is ranked 23rd all time.(.948)

Both are ahead of players like: Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mel Ott.

In a similar Stat (PrOPS)"Predicted OPS" PrOPS Info

Basically this metric is used to identify "lucky"/"un-lucky" players. Using certain stats such as:

* Line drives per batted ball
* Groundball-to-flyball ratio
* Walk rate
* Hit-by-pitch rate
* Strikeout rate
* Home run rate
* Home park of the player

With this info we can predict how a players stats (OPS) should look over the long term. Here is 2008's list.

1)Berkman 1.095
2)Johnson 1.059
3)Pujols 1.050
4)Utley 1.043

Using the same idea, we can predict a players slugging % as well. Just for kicks, here is the top 3.

PrSLG

1)Berkman .682
2)Utley .639
3)C.Jones .623

Slugging Percentage

Lance carries a huge lead in this category.

1)Berkman .804
2)C. Jones .679
3)Uggla .671
4)Utley .636
...
27)Tejada .522
32)C. Lee .515

Compared to best all time SLG %

1)Ruth .690
2)Williams .634
3)Gehrig .632
4)Pujols .620
...
21)Berkman .551
43)Bagwell .540

GPA

GPA (Gross Production Average)

Basically, again this stat accounts for a players contribution, however variables like ballpark are added. According to HBT, ".200 is lousy, .265 is AVG, and .300 is a star"

1)Berkman .415
2)CJones .387
3)Pujols .377

HR Stats

HR/FB (HR / Fly Ball)

1)Berkman 29%
2)Howard 25%
3)H.Ramirez 23.9%

Defense

With Ed Wade's decree to better our defense let's look at a few bright lights as far as range goes. There are several different metrics used to judge a players range, I chose to use RZR (Revised Zone Rating) because of it's simplicity and accuracy. Using RZR a player is judged by how many balls hit into his zone are converted into outs.

RZR

First Base

1)Pujols .911
2)Berkman .889

Shortstop

1)Escobar .881
2)Tejada .874

Centerfield

1)Bourn .953
2)Ankiel .953
3)Patterson .950

Right Field

1)Winn .958
2)Pence .928
3)Nady .928

Left Field (Oh, Carlos...)

Keep in mind, there where only 11 NL Left Fielders with the minimum amount of games to qualify, so Carlos got 2nd to last.

1)Byrnes .963
...
10)Lee .793

Clutch

This is a stat invented by Bill James trying to identify the best batters to have up with runners on/in scoring position. Basically, batting avg with runners on/in scoring pos. and xtra base hits with runners on/in scoring pos. are what matter here.

1)Pence 5.6
2)Johnson 5.1
3)Hudson 4.4

To keep the same "clutch" idea going here are the leading in Batting Average with runners in scoring position.

BA/RISP

1)Keppinger .424
2)Pence .404
3)Sanchez .400
4)Hudson .395
5)Berkman .390(This is crazy, because this is actually LOWER than his normal BA)

Runs Created

Last stat of the day. This stat is used to truly identify how many runs a particular player has accounted for his team. This stat is pretty complicated, using variables such as ballpark, OPS/RISP.

1)Berkman 52
2)McClouth 42
3)C.Jones 42
...
10)Tejada 34
21)Pence 29
39)C. Lee 25

After Thoughts

After going through all these different stats and seeing the impact of cartain players there are a few things I have taken away from all this info.

1) Lance Berkman is not a god, but greater than a man. What he is doing this year is truly, truly amazing.

2) Although Pence has struggled, his production and defense remain solid. This gives hope to us Astros fans that when he really turns it on and finds his power he will be a force.

3) Carlos Lee is NOT carrying his weight. It's pretty easy to see that something is wrong with El Caballo. He doesn't look the same at the plate. To me, it looks like he is pressing, or trying too hard to hit the ball. Like I guessed in early April, I believe this has alot to do with his slot as the #5 hitter. He is getting fewer "good" pitches to hit and is thus trying too hard to hit bad pitches. This results in a lower batting average and lower overall production. Sadly, there isn't an easy way to cure this. He is slotted there to best benefit the team and shouldn't be moved. My advice to him would be to be more patient. Make pitchers get into bad deep counts trying to pitch around him and wait for your pitch. Also, when Hunter stops striking out as much, pitchers won't want to pitch around Carlos quite as much. However, unless Carlos adjusts he is looking at a below average year for him offensively.

Back From My Trip

2008-05-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 17

About an hour ago I got home from my six day trip that took me to a few Astros games and a cabin on lake in Northern California. All in all it was a great week, other than to come home and find out that the Astros choked (once again) in Arlington. Why do we always lose to them? Why do they always kill our pitching? the big disappointment this time was that Roy Oswalt was on the losing end of a whooping. To add insult to injury, it appears Roy may be hurt. With Geoff Geary recently hurt, Wandy already hurt, and now Roy, our once shaky rotation is starting to look like one of those Jenga sets. How long can we hold on before it all crumbles?

Regarding Wandy, when I was in San Fran I talked to Dewey Robinson about our lefty. He said Wandy was feeling good and he would be back with the team in 13 days. That was on Tues May 13th. So according to Dewey we should Wandy in just over a week from now. Oh, and because I was so friendly and knowledgeable (maybe) talking with Dewey he gave me a nice MLB ball. Thanks Dewey!

Here are some pics from my week, if anyone is interested, and yes those are front row seats.

Going into San Fran

Pence Looking A little Angry

Loretta Laughing At My 5 Wise men joke

McCovey Cove

Carlos Throwing The Ball In

Carlos Hurt

My Vacation Destination

If anyone is interested in viewing some more photos, just ask in the comment section. I have plenty and would love to post some more.

In San Fran for Astros Games!!!!

2008-05-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 13

I've headed to San Francisco for the last three games against The Giants!

When I get back I'll post some pictures from my trip!

Go Stros!!!

Oh My Sampson! Astros Sweep!!!

2008-05-11T17:02:00.001-07:00

Chris Sampson had one of his most important starts of his career. A bad start may have meant a demotion to the bullpen or a trip to AAA. So how did Sampson respond? With seven scoreless innings highlighted by giving up just 3 hits on the night! Sampson surely cemented his position in this rotation and Cooper was rewarded by sticking with the pitcher he considered The Astros second best starter last year when he was healthy.

The Astros continued to win 5-0, clinching a series win.

Astros Sweep!

Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda made his presence known to The Astros as he no-hit the powerful offense for just over six innings. Unfortunately for Kuroda, The Astros rallied against The Dodger bullpen to score a total of 8 runs. Just about everyone is the lineup hit, including Brad Ausmus who came through in a big way with a 2 run single to keep the inning alive. Silly me, I was yelling at the TV to bunt. Also, Michael Bourn made a ridiculous catch in the bottom of the ninth to hold off the surging Dodgers. That catch better be a web gem!

The Lowlights

In the 8th inning, The Astros rallied for 6 runs. the bad news is that on a Hunter Pence RBI single to center, Lance Berkman came into home expecting a play at the plate. To his surprise the incoming ball hit the pitchers mound and was thrown into the air. Lance had no idea and continued to slide into home expecting a confrontation. The slide was an awkward one, and Lance got up looking to be some serious pain. He was able to walk away on his own but clearly hurt something. In my opinion I think he hurt his knee. His slide kind of stuck his knee under his leg and may have been jammed or over-extended in some way. From the way Lance got up and grabbed his head, I imagined him saying "Oh my god, what did I do?" I could be way off, and maybe he just cut his arm, and I hope that's the case. However, Lance didn't come back into the game and left all us Astros fans wondering. If Lance is hurt, this season just got ALOT harder. I can't imagine a scenario with Lance where we win the division. Let's all hope he is ok!

Astros 2008 Schedule
Houston+Astros astros+blog hunter+pence tejada

Astros Blow Sweep

2008-05-08T22:19:00.002-07:00

Thursday May 8th

Do not be fooled by the final score in the finally between your Houston Astros and the visiting Nationals. This game was very winnable and if I was Coop I would be upset that it wasn't won.

Now I know what you are thinking, that's a five run difference, no easy task for even the hottest of offenses. The truth is, the game was 2-1 up until the 6th and even then after Backe fell apart we were only down 4-1. This was an incredibly sloppy game by the Astros and isn't the best way to end a home stand and head out on a very long road trip.

The word of the day was "opportunity". The Astros were able to muster 10 hits in this game yet only scored three times. We had countless "opportunities" to score yet couldn't pull the trigger. Before tonights game, the Astros were 2nd in The NL is batting avg with runners in scoring position, which is strange considering our regular batting avg is pretty bad as a whole. But for the past couple weeks when were did get runners into scoring position, we were able to come up with clutch hits and score. Unfortunately today, that was not the case.

The middle of our order (3,4,5) held up their end of the bargain with 6 of the 10 hits. It was our right handers that followed that didn't come through. Pence, Wigginton, and Towles combined to go 2-11 while leaving 9 runners on base. When this happens we deserve to lose the game. What makes this even more disheartening is that we faced a pretty straight forward left hander tonight, the type of pitcher that Pence, Wiggy, and J.R. hit the best.

The other negative to take away from tonights loss was the lack of base runners for our "BLT" sandwich (Berkman, Lee, Tejada). This inefficiency was due to Bourn and Matsui going a combined 1-9 with 3 K's. When those guys don't get on base, our power is pretty useless. Berkman can't carry this team everyday. An interesting stat I found is that in May, Kaz Matsui has 6 hits and 7 runs. This stat leads me to believe that when he gets hits, he is later driven in. A big part of this offense will lye in the hands of Bourn and Matsui.

As for the pitching, Brandon Backe pitched very well. He had a similar outing as Oswalt had the night before. He made a couple mistakes and was taken deep, from then on he stayed focused and gathered the strikeouts. Unfortunatel, in the bottom of the 5th inning, Brandon got a hit and ran the bases a little bit. In the top of the 6th it appeared that the heat and lack of rest in between innings got to Brandon as he became a little wild, and left the ball up the zone.

Back to the word of the day, in the 8th inning Oscar Villarreal was brought in. the first batter he faced (Zimmerman) he got ahead in the count 0-2. Instead of throwing pitches to get Ryan to chase, he left his pitch up in the zone and Zimmerman was able to get on base with a hit. Villarreal's poor pitch would later come back to haunt him as he gave The Nat's an "opportunity" to pile on some runs. Oscar was able to get two outs that inning unfortunately advancing Ryan to third. Then on a wild pitch Zimmerman scores. Remember, Zimmerman was able to score because Oscar couldn't get him out at the plate when he had an 0-2 count. Next Austin Kearns gets on base (walk) and and brings up Mackowiak, all with two outs. Mackowiak then hits a huge 2 run HR. Three runs come in all because Oscar couldn't get Zimmerman out when he had an 0-2 count. I know I may sound a little angry, and you may be thinking it's only one loss and what's the big deal, we have been winning. Well, I get frustrated when the other team doesn't beat us. When we beat ourselves it spoils team chemistry and momentum, something we really needed as we head off on our road trip.

The last thing I will discuss this evening is Coop's use of Wesley Wright. Coop brings Wright into the game in the 9th inning to face Guzman, Zimmerman, and Johnson. Johnson is the only lefty out of that group and besides, we are losing 7-3. My problem, or concern is that why would Coop bring Wright in now during this game? We are behind substantially and a lefty - lefty match up isn't really going to effect the game. Wright is arguably our best run stopper. He is pretty much the only guy that we have been able to count on when the game is late and close. These are the times when pitchers like Dave Borkowski enter games, yet Coop's moves would indicate that Borkowski is more reliable and Wright is more expendable. In my mind, I would give Wright the day off, save him and his very young arm for a much more important outing. This appearance by Wright has me worried that Coop's leaning more towards Borkowski as the go-to guy when that clearly shouldn't be the case.

Astros 2008 Schedule
Houston+Astros astros+blog hunter+pence tejada

Astros Win Again! Where Do We Stand?

2008-05-08T13:12:00.001-07:00

Thursday May 8th

The Astros seem to be making a habit of late inning heroics as we won our fifth straight game coming from behind. Astros announcer J.D. chatted with Cecil Cooper (Manager) mid game yesterday and discussed the recent plethora of late game runs. Cecil mentioned that as long as our pitchers could keep it close he had no doubt we would score some runs. The best part of Wednesday's game was the fact that with recently departed manager Phil Garner in attendance, Coop showed Garner why he is the better manager. Coop was as aggressive on the base paths as any manager I have ever seen, and ever more impressive than that, it worked every single time. The base running of our Astros won the game on Wednesday and Coop deserves some recognition for that. In just over a month, The Astros have are already at the half way mark Garner set last year for stolen bases. This comes with Michael Bourn not having stolen a base in over 10 days.

Take Aways:

Roy Oswalt looked very good despite getting hammered by Ryan Zimmerman twice. Roy had all his pitches working and made just two mistakes. In addition to his progress with his pitches it was really nice to see an Astro starter go into the 7th inning.

Carlos Lee looks bad at the plate. Even though Carlos did deliver the walk-off game winning RBI, these past couple weeks he has looked awful at the plate. I remember writing about his move to the 5th spot last week and it looks like he still hasn't adjusted. Simply put, his problem is pressing. He is trying too hard. In the 5th spot he is seeing fewer fastballs and hardly any pitches over the plate. This is difficult for a perennial RBI machine. He is suppose to swing the bat, however, opposing pitchers are taking the bat out of his hands by throwing so many balls, yet he continues to hack at those bad pitches and becomes even less valuable. Hopefully pitching coach Sean Berry has recognized the problem and can tell Carlos to simply, relaz and make them come to you. There is nothing sad about taking a walk.

Where Do We Stand

After just a month of baseball The Astros have started to climb some stat charts as individuals and as a team. Let's see where we stand.

TEAM STATS

Category - Rank (NL)

Runs - 8th
Hits - 12th
Doubles - 5th
HR's - 4th
RBI - 8th
BA - 11th
OBP - 14th
SB - 3rd

Individual Stats

Player - Category - Rank (NL)

Berkman - Batting Avg - 3rd
Tejada - Batting Avg - 12th

Berkman - On Base Avg - 5th

Berkman - SLG % - 1st !!!
Tejada - SLG % - 17th

Berkman - Home Runs - 2nd
Lee - Home Runs - 11th

Astros 2008 Schedule
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Astros Sweep! Offense Saves Coop's Butt

2008-05-04T17:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 3

The Astros have now scored six runs in their last five games and are now undefeated in May as they have won 10 of their last 14. The series against The Brewers was a battle of power as HR's ruled each game. The Astros wowed fans on Friday as they hit five HR's including an impressive back to back to back show from Tejada, Berkman, and Lee. Pence also provided two HR's to help secure the win. Like Friday, the game today saw The Astros against the ropes, so to speak. We were behind by four and were able to muster up some big time runs to come back and win. The difference however, was today we shouldn't have had to come back like we did. Coop made some bad decisions that once again cost the team. In the 4th inning Sampson found himself in a tight spot, with runners on and only one out. Sampson had thrown alot of pitches and clearly wasn't his best, but was still throwing strikes somewhat consistently and getting alot of ground balls. unfortunately, those ground balls were all directed in between infielders and became hits. So, needing a double play, instead of leaving in a groundball pitcher, who was getting ground balls, and rarely gives up Hr's Coop decided to go with the least likely pitcher for the situation in Dave Borkowski. Bork has recently struggled mightily and has been hit very hard. Coop's move proved a mistake as Borkowski gives up a 3 run HR to the first hitter he faced. Increasing The Brewers lead to four.

The problem with Borkowski is that his numbers are misleading. If you look at his career numbers you will see a not great, but somewhat serviceable reliever. The problem is that his good outings only occur when the game isn't on the line. For example today, in a close game Borkowski gives up 3 runs. Now it isn't a close game and he pitches better. We were all hoping Coop learned from his previous mistake when Borkowski gave away the final game in The D-Backs series.

Coop also made a mistake by pinch hitting Jose Cruz Jr. Lucky for Coop, hell froze over and he got his first hit in about 20 days. Unfortunately, the base paths were so unfamiliar to Cruz Jr. that he forgot how to run them correctly and was quickly thrown out at second on a base hit by Bourn.

The Positives:
the Astros continue to score runs and lots of them. The best thing about the offense currently is that they are spreading it out. Typically we have been a one and done offense. We would score some runs in a single big inning and fall asleep the rest of the game. This hasn't been the case lately and is a huge breathe of fresh air for us.

The bullpen outside of Borkowski has been very good. The few very important pieces in The Astros bullpen have really excelled lately. Jose Valverde has been extremely solid lately and looks to be on his A game once again. 8th inning man Doug Brocail continues to impress and it looks like Coop may have found his 7th inning man in Geoff Geary. Geary has also looked very good this season, and as Coop puts him into more and more important spots in the game he continues to get outs. Left hander Wesley Wright is on another level as far as impressions so far this season. He has done everything asked of him and has shown tremendous mental strength along with a very good arm. Lately Coop hasn't hesitated putting Wright in the toughest of situations and Wright continually answers the bell and gets both lefties and righties out. Wright may be the biggest surprise and addition to the bullpen this year.

The Negatives:
So far the biggest negative in my eyes is Cecil Cooper. I believe he will be a very good manager, in time. So far he has fumbled a few key situations and our team has paid for it. Today was one of the few exceptions were our power bats were able to overcome the defacet Coop created. Also, in some situations it seems to me (A fan) that he almost over thinks some situations. Today for example, in extra innings Bourn gets on first and is expected to steal in order to place the winning run in scoring position as our big bats come up. However, he sits there and doesn't end up stealing as Kaz strikes out. My problem with this was the we needed him in scoring position. he has been the best base stealer in baseball and was forced to be a distraction to Kaz as he continued to take pitches in order to give Bourn a chance to steal, eventually causing his strike out. There may be something I am not aware of, a health issue, or Bourn not feeling comfortable getting a read, but in most circumstances, Bourn should have been at 2nd.

Our Starting Rotation has also been a pretty big concern. The first couple weeks of the season our starters were right up there with the best in The NL in terms of quality starts, yet, recently our starters have scarcely gone 5 or 6. Wandy has big a big reason for this as he is pegged to go about 190 innings this year and has been out with a groin injury, but Oswalt, Backe, and Sampson have to start lasting longer in these games, because our offense won't always be there to bail them out.

Astros 2008 Schedule
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Blame This One On Coop

2008-04-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday April 30

This loss was hard to swallow. Today The Astros were given a victory and series win from the best team in baseball on their home turf and just gave it right back. This sums up why we are not a playoff team and The D-Backs are. Yes, they have lots of young talent, but if you look at their lineup, they are very similar to us. A few sluggers who are hitting for average and a bunch of players who will be great in a couple years but are still hitting in the .245 range. But The D-Backs are a team that can focus, and work at clawing their way back into a game. This would explain why they haven't lost a series since their very first series of the season.

At the end of Wednesday's game The Arizona broadcast showed a graphic that displayed their lineups individual performance. Every single D-Back contributed with one or multiple hits (Minus Chris Burke, haha). They are a team that takes what they can get when they can get it. This drew me to question our teams performance minus our big 3 (Tejada, Berkman, Lee). Going into todays game:

Big Three Batting Avg.: .301
All other Astros Avg. : .186

Wow! Outside of our offensive nucleus we just simply stink. Now, this offensive drop off wasn't necessarily to blame for Wednesday's loss, but if this continues, Coop can draw up whatever lineup he wants, but we will still lose.

As for today's game. It's really hard to even think about it, I still can't believe we let this one get away.

A brief summary:
We get to Randy Johnson early and score 6 in the first two innings. Chacon bends but doesn't quite break as he gives up 5 in five. Now, this is were it gets interesting. Wesley Wright comes in, he gives up a hit, but gets the K on the next hitter. The ninth spot is up for the D-Backs and Micah Owings (Starting Pitcher) comes up to pinch hit. Coop challenges with a righty in Borkowski. This move cost us the game. Wright has looked good, he is much more capable of getting outs in these situations than Bork is and yet Coop decided to play the righty on righty odds. At this point in the game we are up but 2 with a runner on. First pitch from Bork to Owings is an opposite field 2 Run HR. Next batter blasts a ball less than 5 feet from a HR in deep center (About 405 Ft). The D-Backs score one more in the inning and take an 8-7 lead never to be surrendered.

Let's talk about this move. Coop made three bad mistakes today and this is one of them. How can you take out a pitcher who has shown this season that he can get outs in tough situations? Were you not impressed when he struck out the side to hold a one run lead against Utley, Howard, and Burrell? If Borkowski ever did that we all would have fainted. Maybe Coop was worried about Wesley's health. He has been working him a whole lot (Too much in my book, and in bad situations) but that's not it either, it was simply the right vs right match up.

Mistake numbers two and three. How could you start Jose Cruz Jr. over Bourn and how could you bat him in the 6th spot?

Defensively, there were a couple of balls that Bourn would most likely have gotten to that came back to cost The Astros. Was this move to give Bourn some time to think about his bad batting average? Then what about Cruz Jr's abysmal .074 batting average? That warrants a start over an excellent defensive outfielder and stolen base king? Then I thought, maybe he worried about Bourn's leg. If that was the case, he wouldn't have pinch ran him late in the game. Next, how could he bat him after Carlos Lee? Arguably the worst hitter on our team right now being placed in an important RBI spot baffles me. This move came to haunt The Astros as Cruz Jr. made it look easy to not produce i nthe ninth with two on and effectively complete his 0 for 9 in this series. Cruz Jr. hasn't had a hit since April 16th.

Positives: Positives of the series would be that valverde looked amazing on Tuesday night and he has put together a nice little slew of scoreless outings to instill some confidence in his manager.

Brocail also looked very good Tuesday night by making quick work and racking up some K's in the 8th.

We are all witness to a absolutely spectacular pitching display by D-Backs prospect Max Scherzer. Although he was on the other team, we will all be able to say someday that we were first to witness this special talent. The downside to that is now the rest of my fantasy team now knows what I knew and I am 9th in the waiver line.

Side Note: It was nice to see some Ex-Astros in Chris Burke and Chad Qualls. Apparently Arizona just loves Chad Qualls by the comments of the Arizona broadcasters and why shouldn't they. He has yet to give up a run in about a dozen innings and it clutch in key situations. Burke on the other hand is their Jose Cruz Jr. Someone who dazzled in Spring Training and Fizzled when it count in the pros. Anyway I hope them both the best and remind them to count their blessings, they have inadvertently landed on the best team in baseball.

Up Next: We go home to take on division rivals Milwaukee who has been pretty good on the road this season just after they finish up with The Cubs on Thursday. Oswalt takes the mound for The Astros as we look to quickly climb The NL Central ladder against the 3rd place Crew.

Astros 2008 Schedule
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Streak Ends, Astros Decide Not To Play Sunday

2008-04-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 27

The Astros 6 game winning streak was ended yesterday(Sat) as The Cards squeaked out a victory to even the series at Busch Stadium. Today, the Astros faced off against The Cards in the rubber match at Busch trying to win this series and even up the season series versus The Cards. Unfortunately, the Astros decided they didn't want to play baseball today. Simply from a fans perspective The Astros looked careless and tired, even though for a second straight game tensions ran high. The Astros didn't get outplayed, but looked terrible as a mediocre pitcher made them look awful at the plate. Mark my words, The Cardinals are not a very good team. In every game in this series The Astros just looked confused and beat down by a clever Dave Duncan (Cardinals pitching coach). In each game of the series the Astros had fewer hits, and maintained very low walk numbers. The Astros should have easily won yesterday. How often are we going to get 3 HR's and lose the game? It is absolutely pathetic that all three of the HR's hit were solo shots considering who hit them. But that fact seemed to be the game plan for this series, "The fewer the base runners, the better"

I know I may sound a bit upset, but that's because I am. At the plate we were simply out smarted and left dumbfounded as our hot-hitting streak was abruptly cut short. What makes this loss even more sour is the fact that we now head to Arizona to face off against the best team in baseball, we will be lucky to walk out of Arizona with a win. Keep in mind, that isn't because of how bad the Astros are playing, but more of respect to The D-Backs.

Positives and Negative of Cardinals Series:

Positives:

Lance Berkman remains extremely hot, and seeing as he is our more important hitter, if he is on we always have a chance to win. However, he may cool off when we face some good pitching in Arizona.

Shawn Chacon showed some heart in his past start. He obviously didn't have his best stuff on Friday, (the rain delay likely responsible) but he was able to limit the damage with some quality pitches at some pivotal times. He is clearly trying to earn himself a paycheck this next off-season.

Valverde looks to have turned a corner. In his last 4 appearances he hasn't given up any earned runs and has either a save or a win in those games. Just as important he is striking people out with both his fastball and his splitter.

Negatives:

Our offense is dead! I know that you can't expect teams to stay hot forever, however, all three of these games were very winnable we just continued to have bad at-bats. By that I mean, we didn't work the counts as a team, and allowed average pitchers to to dominate us and work deep into games. It's always been my philosophy that if you can't hit the starter, at least make him thrown more pitches to you and pray you can get into their bullpen.

Because of the lack of baserunners, we were unable to steal a single bag during this series. (Keeping in mind were leading all of baseball in SB's going into St. Louis)

Carlos Lee has been pretty cold. Minus his first pitch jump on an Izzy fastball on Friday Lee has been cold at the plate. Luckily for us, the hits he is getting are almost always for extra bases, but for Lee standards he is having a typical April, but bad at-bats. My theory remains that most of his struggling has to do with his spot in the order. However, I don't think that moving him anywhere else would really benefit the team positively. He is in a similar situation with Albert Pujols in the fact that he has little protection behind him (for now) and isn't seeing as good of pitches as he is used to. The difference is, although Albert will rarely get a fastball over the plate considering how unbelievably often he gets walked, he capitalizes on those few hittable pitchers and maintains his slugging. Carlos on the other hand seems to press, meaning he is too anxious and wants to hit the ball hard almost too much.

Bourn is slumping. I honestly believe that Bourn is going to be a very good overall player. Has a chance to win gold gloves in the outfield and set the bat in stealing bases. The problem becomes, what do you do when he can't get to first to steal any bases? Do you move him down in the order, maybe try some bunting, or platoon him with Erstad in favorable match ups? For now, I believe that this is a slump the Astros as a team will have to weather. Seeing as The Astros plan on him being in CF for years to come he will just need time to work things out himself, and I think he will. his season reminds me alot of Spring Training. He started out hot and gradually declined. I don't believe this is because pitchers have found a weakness, but more so that Bourn isn't working as hard. It's a weird thing to accuse, but as a fan we can kind of tell when a batter is really focused. Bourn was this way to open Spring Training. He watched every pitched into the glove of the catcher, he ran out every ball, he worked most counts and seemed visibly upset when he didn't succeed. This was the same during the first two weeks of the season, he wanted to impress and worked his tail off. Now it seems like their is less urgency, less focus, and less intensity. I could be wrong, but either way I do believe he is our CF for the next 5 years and he will hit around .275/.350. (Which would be acceptable)

Pence looks bad at the plate. He has been hitting better recently and has significantly raised his batting avg. but the fact remains that he isn't seeing pitches and because of that, isn't driving the ball. It's hard to believe, but his walk's are down from last year and his strike-outs are up. The most telling stat is his ISO (isolated power). Last year Hunter's ISO was .217 against this years .135. As reference, Berkman's 2008 ISO is .407 and Tejada .240. The effect Hunter has on this lineup is quite clear. When he was hitting last week the rest of our lineup was hitting, when he isn't our lineup isn't. His importance is based on the fact that when he hits, Lee has protection and hits better, their are runners on for Towles, we get back to the top of our order fast, he provides pop at the bottom of the order, putting continuous pressure on the pitcher, and he hits for extra bases.

In the end, I still believe that if our pitching staff is able to maintain their team avg ERA of 4.30 and 3rd best in The NL in Quality starts we can compete for the playoffs. I just hope to see more of a sense of urgency and focus in the batters box, even though it's only April. My fear is that we get buried by June and we label 2008 as a lost season. I know this was alot of writing and it may seem like I am over-reacting for two loses, but I am only upset because our Astros continue to show little consistency and that worries me.

Astros 2008 Schedule
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Astros Make It Five

2008-04-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

The Astros have rolled their way into a 5 game winning streak combining for 41 runs over that span. Those 41 runs have more than doubled the opposing run total during the same period.

Why are The Astros so good? It's pretty simple, we are scoring runs and lots of them. Our offense has been consistently hitting starting pitching, which increases their pitch count, which dives into their bullpen faster. Also, we have generally been leading and thus faced the other teams "mop up" bullpen arms over their solid set-up men. However, this isn't always the case as we saw when we hit The Padres Jake Peavy and elite set-up arm Heath Bell.

What's the difference from a week ago? It's hard to narrow the change down to any one thing. As Matsui has recently joined, Pence has starting hitting, and Coop shuffled the lineup. It's fair to say that all of those things combined to give this new offense a jolt. One major plus that I've noticed this past week is that we aren't doing ALL of our damage in one inning. Typically our offense has been a "one and done" type team. We have a big inning, which usually consisted of at least one HR and called it a day, hoping the bullpen could hold on. This isn't the case lately and I think that can be attributed to Coop's lineup. Just yesterday the Reds announcers noticed that very detail and mentioned "There is no easy out in their lineup". This was without Bourn and Wigginton as well.

Can this roll continue? Probably not at the same rate. We have been hitting above expectation's individually and have been riding Berkman's hot streak. However, there is no reason to beleive that 5-6 runs isn't possible on a daily basis. After all, we still have a few player who are actually hitting under their normal range. With this offense, if our starters can regularly put up quality starts (Which we currently rank 3rd in the NL, with 13) then there is no reason why we can't win 60% of our games.

Negatives: The only real negative I see is that Shawn Chacon isn't likely to continue his beyond impressive starting pitching. he has been just about the best Astro starter so far and that isn't likely to be continue. Hopefully, if he implodes it's on a night where we score some runs.

Carlos Lee still doesn't like hitting 5th. It's understandable that he doesn't want to hit 5th, and even though he has seem to quiet down his displeasure with the situation it's clear that he prefers to hit with a slugger behind him. The reason being pitches. When Carlos bats with a slugger behind him he gets better pitches to hit and Carlos has said "I Like To Swing The Bat". Unfortunately, with Carlos batting after both Lance, and Miggy he sees less fastballs over the plate because opposing pitchers aren't as worried about walking him since there isn't a major HR threat behind him. The difference is pretty clear. Last year at this time, Carlos was leading the NL in RBI's, this year he isn't even the top in any stat just on The Astros. He is getting less opportunities to hit for power and although he will most likely see an increase in On Base Percentage, that isn't quite the reputation he would want. Batting 4th (69 AB's) Carlos walked once, batting 5th (17 AB's) Carlos has already walked 3 times. All of his HR's have come as the #4 batter, and although his batting avg has gone up, along with his on -base-percentage, his slugging has gone down and that's the reason he doesn't like hitting 5th. However, as a fan, I would say that it seems to be working and I definitely wouldn't change anything now.

Astros 2008 Schedule
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