Houston Astros Baseball

That's What I'm Talking About!!!

Finally! It seemed as though The Astros would never put together a winning series. Our team seemed to not want to click as a whole. One day the pitching would be good, but we couldn't hit (well, maybe more than one day), or we hit but got blasted ourselves. These past two games have really shown what these Astros are about, and what we could hope for from here on.





Today went like clockwork. This was just as good as it gets for us Stros fans. One of our "Roy and pray for rain" starters pitched great through the 7th, Brocail looked great in a perfect 8th, and Valverde finished with an "iffy" yet scoreless 9th. To top it off, we got production out of everyone in the lineup offensively.

So what was the difference? How did we go from losing three to winning two? Unfortunately a large part of that was the pitching we faced. The Marlins starters were hardly vet's and we took advantage of pitching that is far less proven than anyone else we will face this month. Not to get discouraged, but this beating of The Marlins green arms may be just the spark this team needed. 48 Hours earlier I was ready to skip a week of games out of disgust. Our Ace was throwing batting practice and our bullpen had yet to inspire any confidence. But now, it seems like our team is rejuvenated and ready to win.

I think alot of this has to do with two things. Lance is swinging a hot bat, and our new players. Berkman has been said to be somewhat of a downer, a cumbersome professional athlete. Rarely does he get fired up, and maybe that attitude effects the rest of our team. However, one thing is for sure. When Lance is on a roll, he has smiles for miles and in my opinion wakes up this team.

This past off-season we were blessed with something new to this team and I feel will have a significant impact over the course of the season. The play of guys like Tejada, Valverde, Backe, and Towles seems add a sense of urgency and intensity this team desperately needed. At the head of that effort is Miguel Tejada. have you noticed the difference in cheers as he enters the box now as opposed to 5 days ago? He gets some of the loudest cheers and that's because we (fans) realize how much he cares, and how badly he wants to win. That attitude is inspirational, and to a team with youngsters who we are counting on to perform, essential to success. It almost seems that he doesn't tolerate losing and he is unafraid to express it. Which I think is great and very much needed. He looks to be the leader we have been looking for since Baggy left.


Other Notes: Pence continues to struggle at the dish and visibly upset with himself. His problem isn't really cut and dry and would be hard to diagnose. Although it's fair to say that he may be getting a little fooled on those sliders. Is he going suffer the dreaded sophomore slump? It's worth noting that another major sophmore is going through the same thing. Troy Tulowitzki,is struggling quite a bit as well. The answer, wait it out! Although all the stats I have found would show hunter normally excels during the first month of the season (roughly .350 Minor league April Batting Avg) Hunter is player is has shown an ability to adjust and overcome. I would expect nothing less this year, although it may take longer on major league pitching. I think the move to the 6/7 spot in the order will only help him, and I believe that when he breaks out of this slump, he will REALLY break out!

Some bright spots: Our defense has been very good so far. Although we currently have backups starting at 2nd and 3rd base. When Wiggy and Kaz come back the overall difference will be small.

Our starters have exceeded expectations so far, but count me as cautiously optimistic. Remember, our starters were pretty good last April too.

Outlook: If our starters can regularly put up 6 innings with limited damage 3/4 runs, when this offense really starts to kick on all cylinders, we should win alot of games. The fate of this team may lay in the hands of Roy Oswalt and Jose Valverde.




Astros 2008 Schedule
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