Houston Astros Baseball

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Astros Look Good!

Written by Baqqs on 7:01 PM




One day after a heart wrenching loss to The Phillies The Astros took the field behind ace Roy Oswalt and demonstrated that they had put the blown game the night before far behind them. With questions surrounding Oswalt and his unusual terrible start to the season he went 7 solid innings yielding just one run. Talking to buddies and other on Astros forums I said after Roy's first start that there had to be something wrong with him because he refused to throw his curve ball. This trend was in full effect in his last start against the Marlins where he gave up four HR's and collected his third straight loss. If you go back and watch that game you would see that Roy looked fantastic the first two innings. He got his fastball up around 95 and threw his curveball effectively and was rewarded with quick effective innings. After that something strange happened. Roy continued to shake off Towles calling for the curveball the rest of the game. The result was batting practice for The Marlins. How hard is it to hit HR's when you know a fastball is coming? He did throw a few sliders, but the Marlin batters were ALL sitting on fastballs.

Today, Roy made it clear that he had his curveball. He threw it much, MUCH more than he has in any outing so far this year. The result was a great start. To this day I am still unsure as to why he wouldn't throw "The Hammer" in his previous starts, but I will take credit for noticing and for predicting a quality start if he threw his curve.

In addition to Roy having a great game, Bourn made a point to excel as he faced his old team by getting two hits, one of which a go ahead Hr. He also stole a base and logged both runs scored by The Astros. Bourn was given the Player Of The Game award.

Maybe even more impressive today was the performance of Rule V pickup Wesley Wright. He came in the 8th inning against the heart of the Phlliy lineup with a one run lead and struck out of the side in 12 pitches. He faced Pedro Feliz, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. He deserves something special for that performance.

Lastly, Doug Brocail came in 9th to shut the door in a very positive performance. Brocail struck out 2 and worked a scoreless 9th to pick up his first 2008 save and did so in only 14 pitches.

Overall, the pitching deserves all the credit for this win today. If our staff can come close to producing games like this on a regular basis, The Astros will make a run at the playoffs.

In an early game 3 of this series on Thursday, Brandon Backe will face Brett Myers.


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

Written by Baqqs on 8:27 PM

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.




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Why Can't We Score ????

Written by Baqqs on 10:50 PM

There are two VERY important things to keep in mind as we watch our Astros in what seems like a free fall into failure.

1) Geoff Blum isn't going to have the highest Batting Avg. We have a good offense, in fact we have a really good offense. They just haven't really shown up yet. Our key players haven't quite caught up to their normal and that's why we can't score runs.

Player/ Current AVG/ Last yr AVG

Berkman .241/ .278
Lee .278/ .303
Tejada .273/ .296
Pence .179/ .322
Towles .238/ .375 (40 AB)

2) Pitching and defense wins games. So far our pitching has been very good. We have 5 Quality Starts so far which has us tied for 4th out of all of baseball. Also, we could have had more if certain starters were not pulled for pinch hitters. My main concern is that this pitching won't hold up, which it most likely won't, then we would have wasted these great starts (just like last year).

It seems that in recent years this team has had slow starts. This year seems to be no exception, I just hope that we aren't too far back when we start to get going that we lose our motivation.

Another positive would be that we are tied for 2nd in all of baseball in fielding percentage(.994).

A negative would be the comparison between our starters and relievers in terms of ERA. Out starter were suppose to struggle while our bullpen would pick up the slack. So far it would appear the opposite is true.

Starters ERA 3.83 (8th in NL)

Relievers ERA 5.73 (13th in NL)




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Tejada Wants To Win!!!

Written by Baqqs on 12:10 PM


Over the past two seasons The Houston Astros have been missing a vital piece of their team. Since Jeff Bagwell left the team there has been no player who has taken the leadership role on and off the field. Biggio was close, however didn't seem to inspire his peers. Many thought this year would be Lance Berkman's breakout year as the team leader, yet we haven't really seen him step into that role. It's unclear if he ever will, but what we do know, is that he may have some competition for that role.

Miguel Tejada has made is abundantly clear that he thinks The AStros can win and he desperately wants to win. This has been made very clear over the first week of regular season action. We have seen an energy on and off the field we haven't seen in years, Tejada has looked great on both sides of the ball and is a leader by example so far. These traits are exactly what The Astros have been looking for.

If you watch during games, you can see Tejada frequently approaching his pitcher and assuring the pitcher of the defense ability behind him and their positioning. Doug Brocail has said that Tejada made it clear on left handed batters he will more than likely be up the middle so lay off balls hit their. Tejada has also gotten rid of any doubts in his defense during this first week. After several errors during spring training on what was considered a "Wal Mart parking lot" infield, Tejada has shown a strong range and ability to handle his glove. During the home opener Tejada made an amazing play up the middle to save a run. On the way back into the dugout you could see the energy on his face and the passion he has for winning. About 3 minutes later Tejada had hit a game winning walk off two run HR. So far Tejada has made himself the leader of this team and has backed it up in every way imaginable. With his help, these Astros should win more games, have more fun doing it, and be alot of fun to watch. So far so good!


Astros 2008 Schedule

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At A Wedding

Written by Baqqs on 3:45 PM

This weekend my little sister gets married. This means that I won't be able to post any new info until probably Monday. See ya then.



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Game 2 Vs Padres Preview

Written by Baqqs on 1:02 PM

The hard-throwing right-hander(C. Young) hopes to prove that he has overcome the injury Tuesday night when the San Diego Padres host the Houston Astros in the middle game of their series.

Young went 9-3 with a 1.82 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 118 2-3 innings over his first 20 starts last season. In the final game of that stretch and the third after he pitched in his first All-Star game, the 6-foot-10 hurler injured his oblique and never quite recovered. He lost all five of his decisions since the injury, posting a 5.96 ERA while fanning 53 batters in 54 1-3 frames over his final 10 starts.

He will try to put the injury behind him and continue his success at home, where he went 4-2 with a major league-low 1.69 ERA in 2007. He has won both of his career starts against the Astros (0-1) with a 3.75 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 12 innings, but hasn't faced them since June 25, 2005.

Young hopes to gain some inspiration from watching reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy throw a gem in Monday's season-opening 4-0 win. Peavy and relievers Heath Bell and Cla Meredith held the Astros to only four hits, while the Padres (1-0) produced 14 in getting to Houston ace Roy Oswalt.

Tadahito Iguchi is looking to build on an impressive debut for San Diego, going 3-for-5 with a run scored on Monday to improve to 9-for-23 (.391) with three homers in six career games against the Astros. The second baseman signed a one-year, $3.85 million contract in December after hitting .304 in 45 games with Philadelphia last season, helping the team to an NL East title.

Iguchi is seen as a solid No. 2 hitter in the Padres' lineup. He excelled in that role with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, helping them sweep Houston to win the 2005 World Series.

The Astros will counter with Brandon Backe, who is still trying to recover from having Tommy John surgery in August 2006. The right-hander underwent another procedure before the start of 2007 and did not pitch until September, going 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA in five starts.

That was enough for Houston to sign him to a one-year, $800,000 contract in January and assure him of a spot in the rotation.

"My understanding is he's 100 percent healthy," Astros general manager Ed Wade told the team's official Web site. "I know that when I served as general manager of Philadelphia, we tried to acquire the healthy Brandon Backe numerous times and couldn't get him.

"I'm excited about having Brandon here. I hear people talking about how he's a big-game pitcher. Every fifth day's going to be a big game. He's going to have a significant role in our rotation."

Backe is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three career starts against San Diego. He has only started once at Petco Park on Aug. 2, 2006, allowing one run and seven hits in 7 2-3 innings to earn a 7-1 victory.

(Houston Chronicle)

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Astros End Spring Training On High Note

Written by Baqqs on 3:24 PM

March 29 Vs the Tigers

Today was the last Spring Training game for The Astros before they start the season off against The Padres on Monday. Chacon got the start and pitched pretty well considering the circumstances. He was awarded with the win pitching five solid innings giving up five hits and three earned runs. Borkowski, Moehler, and Brocail followed Chacon combining for just one earned run.

Trends: Both Valverde, Chacon, Borkowski, and Brocail have shown recent signs of success and look to inspire some confidence a the season starts.

Offensive Notes: Hunter "Superman" Pence hit a HR today proving once again that he is ready for the season to start. Contributing doubles were Tejada, Berkman, Lee, and the newest man to the 25 man roster Jose Cruz Jr. All together it was a great time to win against a good team. Hopefully the team can carry some of this confidence with them into Monday.

Team Notes: Astros finalized their rosters today by cutting Humberto Quintero and sending David Newhan to AAA. Q must go through waivers were he will most likely be snatched up by another team before The Astros get a chance to send him to AAA.

Woody Retires:Upon hearing about the teams choice to cut Woody he stated that he will retire. He explained he wanted to end his career with his hometown and doesn't see any reason to change that now. Other members of The Astros had mixed feelings about the decision.

"I love Woody to death," Sampson said. "He's a great guy, a great teammate. I hate that it had to be him that I was going up against. That's the way it was. I'm excited, but also, my heart goes out to him too."
"I think it's unfortunate," Berkman said. "I think a veteran like Woody deserves the benefit of the doubt. We're talking about Spring Training and everyone knows it's a totally different ballgame when you suit up for real."

Oswalt echoed the sentiment.

"I think a lot of times they judge too much in Spring Training," Oswalt said. "If you went on Spring Training [stats], a lot of the superstars wouldn't be in the big leagues. I remember Jeff Bagwell told me after my first year, he said, 'If they judged me on Spring Training, I would never be here."




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Woody Williams Cut !!!

Written by Baqqs on 11:27 AM


It finally happened. After a bad season and after an even worse spring training The Astros decided it would be better for the team to not have 41 year old Woody Williams in the rotation. Consequently this will solidify the rotation with what I believe is the best possible staff out of the guys we have. Although the spring has been rough for those starters, I believe that once these guys get their feet wet again, they will surprise many people and perform pretty well. Well enough for our offense to carry most the load.

It is unfortunate that it had to come to this, Woody is said to be a great guy and positive influence in the clubhouse. However, you may be the nicest man on earth, but if you guarantee your team a loss every fifth day it doesn't make much difference. I wish nothing but the best to Woody, good luck in the future and enjoy retirement.









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