All good things must come to an end.  The Astros dropped their final game of April, 3-0, to the Cincinnati Reds.  This ends a streak of eleven straight games in Great American Ball Park that the Astros had won.

You could feel it building up - all the talk, all the hype surrounding the success of a sub-.500 team.  It was particularly frustrating for me, as I'd predicted the Astros to finish April at 10-12.  Instead, they're 9-13.  So close, yet so far. 

We'll begin a five game road series with three games in Atlanta starting tomorrow, then it's off to Washington for a quick two games before coming back to Houston for two against the Cubs and three against the Padres.

Realistically, I think we can take two of three from the Braves, split with the Nationals and Cubs, and lose the Padres series 2-1.  That would be a straight .500 run, and our next off day, we'd be 14-18.  If we can steal a sweep in Atlanta or Washington, or the series against San Diego, we'd be at 15-17.


Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express had the day off today.  They finish the month 7-13, last place in the PCL American South.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Corpus Christi got off to a hot start, scoring 5 runs in the top of the first inning, but Brian Moehler - on his rehab start - allowed five in the bottom of the frame.  Over 5.0 IP, Moehler allowed 8 runs on 11 hits and no walks.  Yet somehow, he didn't earn the loss - that honor went to Christopher Salamida, who allowed the go-ahead run in the 16-9 loss to the Midland Rockhounds (OAK), who complete the sweep and continue their dominance over the Hooks.  1B James Van Ostrand was 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - 2B Marcos Cabral hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.  He's now hitting .356/.415/.576 so far in the young season.  The Jethawks won 4-3 over the San Jose Giants (SFG).  Jason Castro was 0-for-1 off the bench.

Lexington Legends (A) - C Federico Hernandez's 2-run home run would prove to be the game-winner as the Legends beat the Rome Braves (ATL) 4-2.  Henry Villar struck out 8 Braves in just 3.2 IP, allowing no earned runs.  Jose Trinidad earned the save, striking out 4 over 3.0 scoreless innings and allowing just a single hit.

Perhaps the most talked-about part of Wandy Rodriguez's career splits has been how much better he's pitched at home, compared to on the road. 

Astros fans know the numbers, but for those of you not as intimately familiar, here's the difference between Road Wandy and Home Wandy:

Home: 23-19, 3.94 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 1.308 WHIP, 2.15 K/BB

Road: 15-23, 5.59 ERA, 7.2 K.9, 1.513 WHIP, 2.06 K/BB

Now, it's not terribly odd that a pitcher would pitch so much better at home than on the road, unless that pitcher's home park happened to be hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park.  And though the strikeout rate is identical, every other peripheral favors his home numbers. 

If Wandy can put up numbers on the road anything near what he puts up at home, he could be a legitimate Cy Young candidate.  And that's no joke.  Today, he did just that, going 7.0 innings against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks and striking out 5.


Astros Win Eleventh Straight

Sure, the Boston Red Sox had a streak of eleven straight wins coming into today's action against the Cleveland Indians, but the Astros' win today was their eleventh straight, also.

As in their eleventh straight win in Great American Ball Park - the longest active winning streak by any team in any other team's home stadium.  The last time the Astros lost a game in the city of Cincinnati was May 10, 2007, when Matt Albers took the loss for the Astros in a 9-5 decision.

That had interrupted a streak of six straight wins in Cincinnati, on August 22, 2006, when rookie Jason Hirsh took the loss in just the third start of his career.


Thievery

Kazuo Matsui and Michael Bourn each stole two bases in today's game.  It marked the first time that a team stole four or more bases against the Reds in a single game since July 25, 2008, when the Rockies stole five bases against Edinson Volquez and Paul Bako.  Willy Taveras, now with the Reds, stole three of them.


Home Sweet Home

It's sometimes hard for me to watch games in Cincinnati, because it does give me a strong feeling of homesickness.  Of course, then I remember the scene from the last game I attended at GABP, and all is forgotten:

Of course, that's not to say that I couldn't go for a nice Skyline Chili coney right about now:

(I'm actually more of a Gold Star Chili guy, but I'm not going to be picky.)


Height Differential

Susan at Astros Fan in Exile asked me today how the Astros' pitching staff stacked up against the other 29 pitching staffs in terms of...

...height.

Well, okay.  It doesn't mean much, but I took a look at the heights of the pitchers on the active rosters of all thirty MLB teams.  What did I find?  Well, when looking at median height, 29 teams wind up with one of three results: 74", 74.5", or 75".  The Astros are the one outlier - at 72.5"

When looking at mean, here is the breakdown:

ESPN Mercifully Gets Rid of Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith, the always-bitter, always-confrontational sportscaster with an inexplicable chip on his shoulder, was told recently his contract would not be renewed by ESPN.  Though this doesn't exactly make them relevant, it's still good news.

I used to love college football as much - if not even more - than I loved baseball.  Call it the folly of youth, I guess, but at some point I just stopped watching.  I didn't realize it until years later, when someone asked me why and I had to give it some thought.  My answer?  I don't like college football anymore because all of the analysts feel the need to insert this bold, testosterone-fueled energy whenever they talk about any game.

I don't want to get constantly shouted at by "provocative" sportscasters, and unfortunately, this is the direction ESPN has been going in for as far back as I can remember.  Chris Berman was the original blowhard, but Stuart Scott and Stephen A. Smith sum it up best for me - the "look at me" style of reporting where they're more concerned about making stars out of the on-air personalities, rather than allowing the players'  performances stand on their own.  And no one exemplified that more than Smith and Skip Bayless, who have made a career out of bluster.

So I'm glad to see Smith leave, though it's unlikely to get me back to ESPN, who have opened the floodgates on these types of personalities.


Speaking of the "Worldwide Leader"...

I don't mean to keep piling on, but I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only one fed up with the design of ESPN.com.  It's becoming next to impossible to find any kind of actual news story on the site, as they cram more and more advertising onto their page. 

On top of that, as the economy spirals downward and more and more web services become free, or at least greatly economical, ESPN.com seems to continue to make more and more of their content "Premium Insider" content, requiring users to pay for news.  The business model is broken.  I say boycott this Insider nonsense.


Racist Flyer Surfaces at Youth Athletic Association Tournament

This is a despicable story.  A man takes his 9-year-old son to a youth baseball tournament, and as he's leaving, he finds a racist flyer on his car:

"This is our sport and our town. We don't need you --- here taking our children's future. Get On Back To Memphis where you --- belong!"

In the lower left hand corner of the flyer is a picture of a baseball player with a racial slur written across his chest, and an X through his face.

Every time we start to make some kind of progress in this country, some jack**s comes out of the woodwork to show us just how far we still have left to go.


Majestic Hates The Natinals

As if the Washington Cincinnatinals didn't have enough indignity in their lives, they had another uniform blunder last night when Mike Hinckley's uniform had an upside-down 8 on it (notice the side that the beveling is on). 

On top of that, they recently announced that Garrett Mock and Joel Hanrahan would be removed from the setup and closer roles, respectively, and will be replaced by a closer-by-committee.  I don't have anything against the c-by-c, per se, but I do when it consists of Kip Wells and Julian Tavarez. 

To be fair, Wells has pitched well so far for Washington, with a 1.154 WHIP and a 2.08 ERA, but he's only thrown 4.1 innings, which is the epitome of "small sample size."  He has pitched better as a reliever than as a starter in his career, no doubt in large part because matchups can be selected more judiciously out of the bullpen.

His career as a reliever is 88.1 IP, 1.392 WHIP, and 3.36 ERA, with 74 strikeouts to 49 BB.  Those aren't terrible numbers, but they're not really bullpen ace numbers, either.  And Tavarez, well, I don't need to tell Astros fans about ol' Julian, who broke two fingers on his hand punching a bullpen telephone during Game 4 in the 2004 NLCS after Carlos Beltran homered off of him.

Roy Oswalt pitched well, as usual in Great American Ball Park, but earned a CCND* after scattering 6 hits over 7.0 innings and allowing a single run in the Astros' 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. 

Lance Berkman also continued his excellence in the Reds' new park, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run. 

In fact, the only starter who didn't make it on-base was Ivan Rodriguez, who did make J.R. Towles' heart go pitter-patter when he fell to the ground after getting hit on the back of the leg by Brandon Phillips' bat.

Even Jason Smith reached base, though he did it rather easily, as a pinch runner.



* CCND: Cecil Cooper No Decision, or what a pitcher earns when manager Cecil Cooper inexplicably pulls them in favor of an already-extended bullpen after throwing just 98 pitches.

Here in Los Angeles, on Fox-11, we are treated every night to the whitest man in America dancing on the evening news.  I have no reason to post this other than the sheer entertainment/schadenfreude value:


Round Rock Express (AAA) - Two good things happened in the 5-4 Express victory over the Memphis Redbirds (STL): First, Brandon Backe pitched 5.0 IP, allowing a single run on 2 hits and 2 walks in his first rehab start.   Second, Clay Hensley earned his first win of the year, though he did it after blowing a save by allowing one run on two hits in his sole inning of work.  Brian Bogusevic was 2-for-4 on the night with a home run and a triple, and C Lou Santangelo was 3-for-4.  As has been documented elsewhere, Chris Johnson is back on the disabled list for the hand injury he sustained over three weeks ago when he was hit in the hand by a pitch.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Midland Rockhounds (OAK) own the Corpus Christi Hooks.  Dating back to June 2008, they have taken 15 of the 17 meetings between the two clubs, and today was no different as they won 7-5.  OF Andrew Locke was 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI, but there were few other highlights for the Hooks.  The Rockhounds pitchers combined for eleven strikeouts (three of them against 1B Mark Ori) and just two walks (3B Felix Molina and SS Drew Meyer deserve mention for being able to accomplish this apparently-rare feat).  Hooks pitcher Paul Estrada managed to walk three batters - more than the entire Midland staff allowed - in a single inning of work.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - Christopher Hicks allowed 4 runs on 12 hits in 6.1 IP, but was able to get the win in today's 8-4 win over the San Jose Giants (SFG).  Chia-Jen Lo earned the save, striking out 4 and walking 2 in 2.2 scoreless innings.  Several Jethawks showed up at the plate today, including leadoff hitter OF Jack Shuck, who went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 walks.  Jason Castro was 2-for-5 with a home run. 

The Lexington Legends had the day off before beginning a four-game homestand against the Rome Braves (ATL).

I've decided that when I don't have much to report, but want to tidy up a few things, I'm going to call it Dusting the Ficus.

Because I want to, and because it reminds me of John Turturro, who is pretty much the most amazing actor ever.


Long Beach Armada

This morning, I awoke to the news that the Long Beach Armada weren't done after adding Jose Lima to their pitching staff.  They've followed that signing up by giving him a rotation mate in Hideki Irabu, the oft-maligned Japanese import who played for the Yankees, Expos, and Rangers en route to a career 34-35 record, 5.15 ERA, and 405:135 K:BB ratio in 514.0 IP. 

Admittedly, Irabu's peripherals were not terrible when he was playing, but he hasn't pitched in Major League Baseball since 2002, and will turn 40 years old in May, before the Golden League season begins.


More on Ellsbury's Steal

Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home plate last night showed, among other things, that ESPN's three-man booth is a travesty.  Jon Miller, already beleaguered by being stuck in a booth with professional blowhards Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips, had to use everything he had to interrupt the conversation long enough to shout, "There he goes!" when Ellsbury was already almost to the plate.

You could almost feel Morgan's irritation at having been interrupted.

And readers everywhere weep for the loss of FJM. 


Miguel Tejada

Migiel Tejada shaved a full .062 off of his batting average by going hitless in 13 plate appearances against the Milwaukee Brewers.   The other thing that happened during this stretch is that he was dropped from the #2 spot in the lineup to the #5 spot.

Now, I've said many times that Tejada is best-suited to be a very good #6 hitter at this point in his career, and I believe that that's true.  I definitely don't think that moving a guy who has been in the top three in GIDP every year but once since 2002 into your two hole is the way to go. 

During that period, Tejada had 6 groundouts, 6 flyouts, and one strikeout.  For a player with a career 47.6 GB% according to FanGraphs, and who has been pretty consistent about it overall, I can't help but think that this is just a fluke within a small sample size. 


No Hell's Bells

The Houston Astros were able to get the Brewers out of their home without having to face the All-Time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman.  Which is just as well, because when I lived in San Diego and was a Padres season ticket holder, I really liked the guy, and I'd just as soon not have to root against him.

Though I know the time is coming.

Lance Berkman has played in 1,389 Major League Baseball games; we have a pretty good idea who he is as a hitter.  He's built up a solid-enough sample size that microtrends and patterns generally become just "noise."

In other words, when Jordan Schafer homered in his first major league at-bat, and twice in his first three big league games, with no other experience to compare it to, an observer might think that here was a kid who was going to knock the stuffing out of the ball all season long.  Now, with 68 plate appearances, he hasn't hit any since then.  Given 1,300 more plate appearances, if he hasn't hit any, those numbers get put into a little better context.

With Berkman, we're really at the point where things can be put into context.  And this is the context:

The fine, fine specimens of man over at Red State Blue State have devoted plenty of time to Coco Crisp and Barry Zito, probably my two favorite people to follow at Twitter. 

Who they haven't mentioned - and who I feel is worthy of some amount of attention - Zito's teammate in San Francisco, Brian Wilson.

Specifically, I want to address something that has been puzzling me ever since he Tweeted it:
Now, Brian Wilson is not some schlub saying this.  This is Mr. Wilson:

It's important to remember, in the midst of the 2-0 shutout at the hands of Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton, that the Astros just stole a series win from the hottest team in baseball coming into the series.  After losing three of four to the Reds, it was an important series for us.  We've got the Brewers on tap (see what I did there?), and if we can steal two of three from them, we'll be in good shape going to Cincinnati.

There was some good news in this loss, and there was some bad news.  First, though, I have to say that for the most part, we just ran into some good pitching tonight by Billingsley.  I'm not terribly concerned.  Not terribly.



Magic Wandy - So far this season, Wandy Rodriguez is every bit the pitcher we'd hoped he would be.  He may, in fact, be the best unknown pitcher in baseball right now.  His 1-2 record just goes to show why win-loss records don't mean a whole heck of a lot, as he's pitched well enough to win all four of his starts. 

Unfortunately for Rodriguez, it looks like he'll need to throw shutouts if he wants to win, as the offense seems to take the night off when he's on the mound

Imagine if we'd gotten a legitimate #2 starter in the offseason, and had Wandy in the three hole and Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz throwing fourth and fifth.  Not that Felipe Paulino hasn't looked pretty good so far this season, both in Round Rock and in Houston.

Rodriguez's next start should be in Cincinnati, where we will get another look at Road Wandy, who has thus far been a different beast entirely than Home Wandy.


Rolling Blackouts - The roof was closed today, which may be part of the reason why everyone stayed in the yard tonight.  I mentioned before that Chad Billingsley had yet to give up a home run this season.  What I intentionally omitted was that neither had Rodriguez.

In fact, there were only three extra-base hits all night, each off of a different pitcher. 


Brandon Back...e?

Brandon Backe, the much-maligned starting pitcher of Astros teams past, will pitch on Monday in a rehab assignment with the Round Rock Express.  Which, I guess, is great.  But you have to wonder what will happen to him once he's available.  If Felipe Paulino continues to pitch well, there certainly won't be a place in the big league rotation for him.

Doug Brocail and Brian Moehler will be returning from injuries, as well.  Moehler will pitch for Round Rock on Saturday, and Brocail could be back in the Astros bullpen as early as Sunday, creating a logjam.

Geoff Geary pitched fairly well in relief tonight, despite allowing a run, but after earning the loss in two consecutive games, he's understandably a question mark for some fans.  Jose Valverde is dinged up, and just generally looks like his offseason workout routine involved sangrias and donuts.

Beyond Valverde, the team doesn't have another legitimate closer candidate until Bud Norris is ready, assuming he doesn't become a legitimate starter candidate, which he will if he continues to pitch well (more on that later).  Valverde's contract expires at the end of this season, and there isn't really anyone in the system who can fill that role right now.

Or is there?  Backe has looked exceptional at times during his career, but seems to suffer from a severe lack of focus.  It's rare for him to make a start where he doesn't look completely lost at some point or another.  But when he's locked in, he can be very good.  Which is why I am starting my official Brandon Back For Closer Campaign.  My solution?  Move Brandon to Round Rock and pitch him in late relief.  He doesn't have to be a closer right now (especially since Round Rock rarely has save situations,) but he should be entering the game in high-leverage situations.

Put him out there and see what he can do.  Jonathan Papelbon and Brandon Morrow are #5 starters who have been moved to late relief, and Backe's game is not terribly unlike either of theirs.  It's at least worth a shot.


Feed Me, Seymour... - Kudos to MLBlogs for finally getting RSS feeds up and running!  You can follow me at http://houston.mlblogs.com/atom.xml.  The best thing, as those of you who read me regularly know, is that most RSS readers only show a small portion.  When posts are as long as mine, this is a necessity.

This morning, Mark of Dudley On The Astros asked me my thoughts on a subject near and dear to my heart:

Any ideas on what's eating at Oswalt?

We all know by now that Roy Oswalt is a puzzle at times.  This is a guy who overcame a serious shoulder injury by working on his truck and getting zapped by the spark plug wires.  A guy who, when asked what his goal was, answered by saying he wanted a bulldozer, was awarded a bulldozer for clinching a pennant.  A guy who's said he might want to retire after his current contract because he's not motivated by the Hall of Fame which may well be within his grasp.  A guy who orders a ribeye and fries every day for lunch, and usually gets a soda when he buys gas.  A guy who's building a restaurant in his hometown of Weir, Mississippi, that will only be open on weekends.

He's an eccentric.  If he played in a bigger market, or wasn't quite so quiet (or at least not well-publicized,) he'd be known as a character. 

Because he's an eccentric, it's sometimes hard to determine whether his struggles are real or imagined.  But it doesn't take a long look at his statistics to see that the concern is real this time.  It's a small sample size, but comparing his early starts in 2009 to the rest of his career, we can see some problems emerging:

K/9: The lowest in his career. Despite a bump from 2007-2008, Roy's K/9 has been decreasing ever since his rookie year, and thus far 2009 is no exception - it's at an all-time low of 5.76.

BB/9: The second-highest of his career.  In 2001, Roy walked just 1.52 batters per nine innings.  So far in 2009, he's at 2.29, which is only topped by the 2.55 he threw in 2007. 

K/BB: The worst of his career. In 2007, he struck out 2.57 batters for every one he walked. That had been the worst by a mile (the previous low had been 3.32 in 2004), and so far in 2009, he's at 2.29. 

HR/9: It's not even close. Before this year, the worst he'd ever done in this area is 1.06 in 2003.  Now, he's at 2.16.  He's allowed six home runs in his first four starts - in a slow start in 2008, he'd allowed just five through the same point, and gave up #6 and #7 in his fifth start.  He got torched in May 2008; he didn't pitch a single game in that month where he didn't give up at least one home run.

BAA: Highest of his career at .291; the previous high was .270 in 2007.

WHIP: Highest of his career at 1.44; the previous high was 1.33 in 2007.

And he's doing all of this with a .297 BABIP, which is actually pretty good.

It should be noted, however, that this is a four-start period being compared to full seasons.  Throughout his career, Oswalt has consistently started slowly and gotten better.  Don't believe me?  Here are his career splits:

Apr: 3.54 ERA / 2.72 K-BB / .310 OBPA / 6.7 K9 / 1.248 WHIP
May: 3.44 ERA / 2.93 K-BB / .315 OBPA / 6.9 K9 / 1.274 WHIP
Jun: 3.18 ERA / 4.28 K-BB / .308 OBPA / 7.8 K9 / 1.236 WHIP
Jul: 3.67 ERA / 4.49 K-BB / .306 OBPA / 7.9 K9 / 1.242 WHIP
Aug: 2.59 ERA / 3.53 K-BB / .281 OBPA / 7.4 K9 / 1.072 WHIP
Sep: 2.54 ERA / 4.23 K-BB / .294 OBPA / 7.8 K9 / 1.139 WHIP

Almost across the board, he gets stronger and stronger as he gets farther along into the year.  Here are his career lines after four starts:

As you can see, with the exception of HR and HR/9 (and let's face it, he's never faced Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez in his first four starts before), no one statistic is the worst of his career.  One the whole, it's safe to say that the post-2006 Roy Oswalt isn't as good as the pre-2007 Roy Oswalt, but this year isn't so very terrible, now, is it?

The question is: Why isn't he better?  If it's a given that he's going to eventually be just fine, why is that adjustment coming later, rather than sooner?  Is it the 2009 WBC, in which he struggled?  Is it something else entirely?  Maybe.  And I'll discuss that in a moment.


What About His Mechanics?

Despite it being Earth day, and the Astros wearing their "Play Green" caps, there was plenty of power to be had tonight in Minute Maid Park.  Five balls left the yard tonight, three from the Dodgers in the sixth inning alone, and the Astros beat the Dodgers 6-5 to take the series from the Dodgers.

If Houston continues to hit for extra bases, they will sweep this series, there is little doubt in my mind.  In fact, I'll make a bold prediction: If the home team gets more than three XBH, they will win.

If there's a dark lining to the silver cloud (or something), it's that the entire Dodgers pitching staff finished this game with just 107 pitches thrown.  Roy Oswalt alone threw 108 in 6.0 IP.  If the Astros hitters cannot work deeper into counts - and do it habitually - we will lose more of these close games than we will win.  It's that simple.  Baseball is a game of attrition.  Relief pitchers are worse pitchers than starters are; that's why they're in the bullpen.  If you can't work your way to them early in games, you aren't going to win as many games.  Really.

But we did win this one, and I have to give credit to Ivan Rodriguez.  I was quick to point out a sloppy couple of pitch sequences he called with Mike Hampton on the mound, so it's only fair that I point out one that he called tonight to strike out Casey Blake in the top of the eighth:

Now, what do I love about this sequence?  First, I have to remind you that the pitcher is Chris Sampson, who is - like Blake - right-handed.  Then, I have to explain, in case it's not obvious, that pitches 1, 4, and 5 are sliders; pitches 2 and 3 are fastballs; and pitch 6 is a curveball.    He began this at-bat by getting Blake looking outside... first with the breaking stuff, then with a fastball.  Then, to keep him from getting too comfortable out there, he backs him off of the plate with a slider at his hip that breaks out over the plate.

That's devastating enough, then he throws a couple of chase pitches that Blake doesn't bite at, but they're enough to get him leaning out... and he's wondering when he's going to get the fastball.  Then it comes - a mistake pitch over the heart of the plate.  Or so he thinks.  Instead, it's the curveball he hasn't seen all night, which he flails at as it falls off the table with its 13" break.

Well played, Pudge.  Well played.  I can safely say J.R. Towles would not have called that sequence in a million years.  He's more of an inside-outside guy who prefers the changeup as the out pitch.  Sampson, too, likes the changeup.  Which Blake probably knew, but he never saw one.

Pudge's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth?  I'm far less enthused about that.  But so long as he calls these kinds of sequences behind the plate, I'll be happy.




Tal's Hill

Sometimes we forget what an oddity Tal's Hill is out in centerfield, because we're so used to it.  But the impact it can have on visiting players is very real, as this article about Matt Kemp can attest. 

"You have to really count your steps out there," Kemp said. "There's really no kind of practice for trying to run up a hill and trying to catch a ball. I don't think there is."

Did we mention there's a flagpole sticking out of the middle of Tal's Hill? It's true.

"The flagpole at least has a little padding on it," Kemp said. "It's a little weird. There's a lot of weird things going on out there in center field."

Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar, Tal's Hill is a steep incline in center field that starts behind the warning track and goes until the center fielder is 436 feet away from the plate.  Minute Maid Park is thought of as a band box - and it is - but it's extremely deep to center field, and the hill at the end of the run is no picnic.

It's a sort of an homage to "The Terrace" at the old Crosley Field in Cincinnati.  A lot of parks used to have them, but most (Fenway Park's "Duffy's Cliff" comes to mind) have been leveled out.  Tal's Hill is, I believe, the only one in the major leagues.  

On Jason Michaels' two-run double in the sixth inning that tied the game 4-4, Kemp appeared to be dogging it in center field.  I believe that this can be directly attributed to his confusion over Tal's Hill.

Teaming Up

I wouldn't ordinarily ask you, my dear reader(s), to go to Reds.com to do anything, much less something a Reds blog suggested, but I really do believe that this is a worthy cause.

Reds.com announced a contest for fans to vote on which pitcher's bobblehead they were going to give away.  In addition to the usual suspects - Edinson Volquez, Aaron Harang, et al - they included some minor leaguers, including one Sam LeCure.

The guys over at OMGReds have asked everyone to go over and vote for Sam LeCure to get a bobblehead.  Imagine the look on some poor middle-aged sap's face when he goes through the turnstiles at Great American Ballpark and gets handed a bobblehead for a player he's never heard of in his entire life.

You can vote here.

(For the male member(s) of my reading audience, if shocking a middle-aged Reds fan isn't enough incentive, it would make Mrs. LeCure very happy.  And when a woman looks like Mrs. LeCure, and is willing to date a schlub who looks like Mr. LeCure, isn't that exactly the type of woman you'd like to make happy?)

Kepp Kepp Hooray

Jeff Keppinger continues to impress.  He has hit safely in eight straight games as an Astro - coincidentally, the exact number of games he's played as an Astro.  In addition to that, his throws from third to first look very strong and effortless.  The top of the second was score 5-3/5-3/5-3, and each ball was fielded hard in the pocket, but he easily threw out the runners, who included Russell Martin and Matt Kemp, who are not easy outs in the infield.

His .455/.520/.773 as a Houston Astro are not sustainable, but what a great start to his Houston career.  With righty Chad Billingsley on the mound, Keppinger will probably have the day off tomorrow.

Speaking of Billingsley

He is one of only five starting pitchers yet to surrender a home run, and he's walking into Minute Maid Park tomorrow, where the balls have looked awfully lively lately.  If you play HR Beat The Streak, I'm thinking Lance Berkman has to look like a really good choice, as the only power-hitting lefty in the lineup.  Berkman is 2-for-12 career against Billingsley with no XBH, but that could change tomorrow.

Progressive Fan of the Game

The "Progressive Fan of the Game" during tonight's Fox Sports Houston telecast was former Astro Roger Clemens, who is apparently an Astros season ticket holder.  He was at the game, looking not terribly unlike an oilier version of my older brother Kenneth, watching his friend Roy Oswalt pitch.  He was also completely douched out with his laptop and earpiece so that he could hear his son, Koby, play for the Lancaster Jethawks.

When I go to Jethawks games, am I going to run across the Rocket?

A couple of games ago, they profiled two white trash twenty-somethings who'd snuck to the top of the bleachers to "be alone," aka dry hump one another.  I felt less sleazy after that than I did watching Roger Clemens speak for three minutes.

Kudos of the Day

I offer Carlos Lee my sincere admiration for not only managing not to topple after this swing, but for actually turning it into a single.  That's a big load to keep upright, right there:

Awesomeness?

If I'm Joe Torre - and I think it's important to stress that I am not - I know a few things right now.  I know that I'm leading my division, and even if I lose tomorrow and the Padres win, the worst we'll be is tied.  I know I've already lost this series.  I know that I have six games left in my road trip, all against division opponents, immediately followed by an 11-game homestand, all but three of which are against division opponents.

I know I want to keep my guys as fresh as possible so that I can be best-suited for those divisional matchups, and I know that I have a bench player who would get a standing ovation during a road game.  Could we see Brad Ausmus suit up?  I think we could.

What Happened Was...

Houston Astros (MLB) - You all know by now how this one ended, or at least I hope you do.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - As I was watching the Astros on MLB.tv (no Channel 9 feed tonight), I had the Express game on Gameday.  As the Dodgers put up four runs in the sixth, the New Orleans Zephyrs (FLA) put up three in the sixth.  As Hunter Pence hit a Ground Rule Double in the eighth, the Zephyrs' Michael Ryan hit a Ground Rule Double in the eighth.  These were happening nearly simultaneously.  It was creepy.  New Orleans won handily, 8-3.  Of the Express's 10 hits, only 1 - a double by John Gall - was an XBH.  Neal Musser threw two wild pitches.  In the same inning.  The Express used five pitchers, and only two - Casey Daigle and Chad Paronto - didn't allow runs.  Ryan McKeller got five outs, three of them strikeouts, but found time to walk two and allow a hit.  Everyone's favorite Saccomanno, Mark Saccomanno, was 0-for-5 with an RBI, which doesn't sound that spectacular until you realize that he now has 18 RBI in 14 games, which puts him on pace to have 183 in a 142-game season.  He also played another game at third without an error, which is always an accomplishment.  Gall, 2B Matt Kata, and OF Eli Iorg were each 2-for-4 on the night. Neither J.R. Towles nor Chris Johnson played.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks had a scheduled night off.  Tomorrow, they're back at Whataburger Field for a four-game set against the Frisco Roughriders (TEX), who enter the series with an identical 6-6 record. The RoughRiders feature 1B Justin Smoak.  You might remember him as the guy we should have drafted instead of Jason Castro.  It looks like the Hooks won't have to face LHP Kasey Kiker, one of the top pitching prospects in the Rangers system.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The bullpen did their very best to spoil a great start by Christopher Hicks, but in the end, Lancaster ended up pulling out the victory over the Inland Empire 66ers (LAD), 4-3.  Hicks was exceptional, striking out 9 in 5.0 IP, with 2 walks, 5 hits, and no earned runs.  On the opposite side, Chris Withrow struck out 10 in the same period, walked two, and only allowed 3 hits, but a run scored on his watch.  Sometimes there's no justice in this game.  Each successive Jethawks pitcher - Chia-Jen Lo, Reid Kelly, and Jordan Powell - allowed a run, but an RBI walk by Jason Castro in the top of the ninth proved to be the game-winner.  Koby Clemens was behind the plate with Castro at DH, and his night was... well, let's say mixed.  At the plate, Clemens was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.  Behind it, he was 1-for-2 on SB attempts, allowed a passed ball, and had a throwing error.  But he's still new at playing catcher, so this is to be expected.  Castro was 0-for-3, but walked twice, scored a run, and had the aforementioned RBI.  1B Brian Pellegrini hit a solo home run, and SS Chris Minaker was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends got excellent performances from their pitchers as they beat the Hickory Crawdads (TEX), 4-3, on the road. Ross Seaton, a steal at #109 in last year's draft, threw very well to earn the win.  Okay yes, he hit three guys (well, two guys, but one of them twice), had a wild pitch, walked a guy, and allowed four hits and a run in 5.2 IP, but he struck out 6 earned the win.  Henry Villar pitched three innings in relief, giving up two runs but none earned, and Daniel Meszaros recorded a single out to earn the save.  Ross was matched by the Crawdads' Martin Perez, who struck out six through 5.0 IP, but allowed two runs to earn the loss.  It was a sloppy win, what with the HBPs, the WP, a PB, and 0-for-2 on SB attempts, but the Legends were able to string together just enough offense to pull it out.  1B Phil Disher hit a home run, and SS Ronald Ramirez, 2B Albert Cartwright, and OF Brandon Barnes each added a double.  Not surprisingly, they accounted for 3 of the 4 runs (Barnes was erased on a CS). No Legend had more than a single hit.

I make this argument every year.  Every single year.  But I've never made it in this forum, so I guess now's the time.

The MLB All-Star Ballots were released today.  On April 22.  I absolutely hate that ballots are released so early into the year.  What's the point?  There is absolutely no way to ascertain who is All-Star-worthy in April.

Of course, that's of little concern to most voters, because so many people just pick all of the players from their own favorite team.  That's another annoyance of mine.  Maybe it's me, but while I would like all of my favorite players to be in the All-Star Game, I would like for them to make it on merit.  Not because they play for a popular team that gets a lot of coverage on ESPN.

Assuming that every fan only votes 25 times (which is questionable in itself,) a team with 3x the number of fans is going to have more All-Stars.  We see it every year, when the AL East and NL East dominate the rosters, and the majority of the "Manager's Selections" have to go to making up for the poor fan voting.

With the majority of voting moving online, there's absolutely no reason not to push the voting back to late May or early June -- and to qualify the votes.  While I would personally love a statistical qualification, I understand that that would be wildly unpopular; but I don't think there's anything wrong with a games played qualification.  This is feasible, solely because the balloting is mostly online.

What's the matter with a dynamic ballot?  One that changes through the season, so that as players qualify at positions, they get added.  As they get injured and won't be able to play in the ASG, they get dropped.  As their stats increase and they "qualify" (allowing a statistical qualification), they get added or dropped?  I don't think it's so crazy.  No one would get robbed because they've been a great starter all year, but had to be entered as a write-in candidate.  Managers wouldn't have to plug guys in because the fans dropped the ball.  It wouldn't be the Red Sox and Yankees against the Mets and Phillies.  I don't know, I see it as a good thing.

The paper balloting would not suffer, either.  I refuse to believe that Major League Baseball teams can print up new programs for every series, but cannot update their ballots for each home game. 

The sloppy method we have in place makes the All-Star Game popularity-based, and not merit-based.  One of the fixes is to move balloting back.  Simply put, not one ballot placed in April can have any reflection on merit.  Even if someone is voting for the player with the highest Win Shares through two weeks of baseball, that is not a merit-based selection.  Until players get a body of work put together, there's absolutely no sense in voting for All-Stars.

Now, some might argue that other fans have a different point of view.  They want to see their favorite players, so why should I force my views onto them?  That is a fair question, but I don't think moving the voting back infringes on anyone's ability to vote their allotted twenty-five times.

And I also fail to see how limiting the eligible players to those who at least have met some statistical threshold hurts, either.  It's just annoying to me to hear my friends tell me they voted for their home team's roster. 

I got word out of Round Rock this morning that Chris Johnson was moved to the Disabled List retroactive to April 14, but is "doing fine."

J.R. Towles left last night's game with a "very minor head injury" and shouldn't miss any more time.

In other news, the Phillies organization hired David Newhan as a player-coach at the Triple-A level.  You don't see a lot of player-coaches these days, so that's kind of neat.  Good for him; it's too bad Cecil Cooper is crazy and wouldn't give him a chance.  Best of luck, David!

Thomas "Tip" Fairchild signed on with the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League.  They play some high-quality ball there, and are always being scouted, so if he does well there's a chance he may end up back in the majors.

That's it for now, except to say that Mark Mulder's agent, Gregg Clifton, said this morning that "six, seven, or eight teams" are looking at the free agent pitcher.  That's agent-speak, of course, for "The Dodgers are going to sign him."


Slam of the Night

At around the seventh inning last night, I Tweeted: "You know what's sad is that, if we win this, I don't even know what to blog about. Complete lack of snarkiness right now."

Our good friend Susan, over at Astros Fan in Exile, snapped back: "it is hard to fathom that you might not have anything to blog about!"

Ouch (but true.)

Leverage

The big winners in WPA (Win Probability Added) last night are:

1. Miguel Tejada - .214; You know, if he keeps this up and proves me wrong, I'll be so ridiculously happy.  His current pace is unsustainable, but if he's learned how to be a contact hitter, I will be thrilled.
2. Carlos Lee - .207; 2-for-4 with a 2-run home run, with absolutely no defensive opportunities.  That is a perfect scenario for Lee.
3. LaTroy Hawkins - .077; I wish he could have done this in the Cubs series, rather than proving all of the Lovable Losers right, but I'll take it now.

Play Green

I want one of those green Astros Earth Day hats.  I really do.  I have no idea why, but I think they're super sharp.

Houston Astros (MLB) - Somehow, the Astros won one of their most poorly-played game of the year.  Looking ahead, I actually think we can steal 2, if not all 3, from the Dodgers.  Assuming we still have a closer, which I'm not so sure about.  Tomorrow morning, I'll be checking the injury wire.  I have a sneaking suspicion that there's something broken inside of Jose Valverde. If this happens, I urge Cecil Cooper to ignore the impulse to make LaTroy Hawkins the closer.  He has always struggled in this role.  The best short-term answer, in my opinion, would be to call up Bud Norris to close, and then begin the process of moving Brandon Backe into the role.

[UPDATE: Turns out Valverde suffered a bruised right ankle when he was nailed by Orlando Hudson's line drive, then pulled his right calf muscle trying to make the play on Hudson at first base.  He'll be unofficially day-to-day.]

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Astros' old Triple-A farm team, the New Orleans Zephyrs (FLA) waltzed into town to beat the Astros' new Triple-A farm team, the Round Rock Express, 3-1.  Not terribly surprising, Alberto Arias earned the loss, giving up five hits and three walks in just three innings, and allowing 2 runs.  It was good enough to lower his ERA to 10.13, however.  Brian Bogusevic was manning centerfield tonight, and went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot.  Tommy Manzella's triple and John Gall's double were the only XBH for the good guys.  Mark Saccomanno returned to form with an error at third base, and J.R. Towles left the game after a single plate appearance; a walk.  I don't have an injury report, but I'll be watching.  Speaking of injuries, the Chris Johnson watch continues.  It has now been two and a half weeks since he last appeared in a game and was hit on the hand by a pitch.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks mounted a four-run rally in the top of the ninth inning, but still dropped the 9-7 decision to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KCR).  Polin Trinidad fell to 1-2 with four earned runs on seven hits in five innings.  However, he struck out 6 and walked none.  He also hit a batter and gave up a run-scoring balk.  Which, really, is remarkable.  Astros Rule 5 pick-and-returnee, Gilbert De La Vara, allowed four runs - none earned - in just a third of an inning for the Naturals.  OF Collin DeLome was 2-for-5 with a home run, only to be bested by OF Mitch Einertson, who was 3-for-4 with a home run of his own.  Show-off.  2B Drew Meyer was 0-for-2, but managed 3 bases on balls.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - While the big leaguers were busy holding on for their dear lives to preserve a victory against the Dodgers, their California League affiliates were busy destroying ours.  The Inland Empire 66ers (LAD) beat the Jethawks 11-4, handing Lancaster their sixth-straight loss.  There was plenty of ineptitude to go around the Jethawks' pitching staff, but the big winners were starter Jeff Icenogle's 5 ER in 3.1 IP and Sergio Severino's 4 ER in 0.0 IP.  All four batters he faced got hits and came around to score.  I suppose if you need a silver lining, Jason Dominguez pitched 1.1 shutout innings in relief to lower his season ERA to 15.88.  So that was good.  Three Jethawks - CF Jack Shuck, DH Marco Cabral, and RF Nicholas Moresi - went 2-for-4; Moresi had a double and Cabral a home run.  Koby Clemens had the night off, and Jason Castro was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

Lexington Legends (A) - Oh boy, this one got ugly.  The Hickory Crawdads (TEX) did not exactly lay the welcome mat out when the Legends came into town.  They began this four-game set with a 12-0 victory in which the Legends had as many errors (2) as hits.  LF Brandon Barnes had one of the two hits, and was promptly picked off.  Then he had a throwing error, which let's face it, is fairly hard for an outfielder to do.  The only good news, offensively, was OF Jay Austin, the Astros' #10 prospect, who is slowly turning his season  around.  He went 1-for-3 and drew a walk.  #6 prospect Jordan Lyles actually pitched decently in his loss, striking out 6 in his 4.1 IP, but allowed 9 hits, a walk, and 4 earned runs.  He was outclassed by the Crawdads' Wilfredo Boscan, who threw 7.0 shutout innings, striking out 8 Astros Tradebaits in the process.  In the Good News column, though, Jack Tilgman threw two shutout innings in relief to lower his season ERA to 0.96 with 9.1 IP. 



And Now For The Miscellany

It's a sort of an odd thing to want, but I've decided that for my next birthday, I'd like to finally attend my very first Astros home game.  Now, obviously I don't even know if they'll be playing at home yet, but I think it's time I finally saw the Juice Box up close and personal, don't you? 

My birthday will fall on a Thursday, so I'm thinking I'd fly in on the Wednesday, catch the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games (assuming they exist), and fly out on Sunday morning.  So, then, I turn to my wonderful reader(s) with all the pertinent questions.

Where is the best place to stay?  I'm not rich, but I'd like a nice experience - preferably either close to the park or with good public transportation there and back.  Something in the $75-$150/night range.  I've already heard about the Inn at the Ballpark and the Magnolia Hotel.  Does anyone have any experiences with those?

Bearing in mind that this is almost an entire year away, I know not everything can be planned for, but what sorts of things in Houston are both "can't-miss" and relatively accessible?  I haven't been there since I was ten years old (at least not for longer than a layover)... all I remember is the Astrodome, the Sam Houston Memorial, my dad letting me eat a one-pound bag of Skittles and call it dinner, watching "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles" in an empty theatre and laughing my freaking ten-year-old face off, and wearing a cowboy hat to the company that had hired my dad as a consultant. 

What I'm saying, basically, is that anything goes.


Wolf in Wolf's Clothing

I find it odd that moments after the conclusion of an exciting, hold-your-breath game like tonight's, the lead story on dodgers.com should be something titled "Wolf doesn't hold grudge against Astros."  Why would he?  Because we shelved a 3-year, $28.5m offer to him as we saw the economy tumble? 

It's just sort of a weird lead after the game.  Had it appeared this morning, I wouldn't have thought much of it.  I wonder if, had the Dodgers won, he would have held a grudge against the Astros?  And honestly, grudge or not, tomorrow's matchup between him and Roy Oswalt is going to be a Pridge Game for him.


That's it for today, gang.  I'm letting you all off easy.

I don't know how he did it; I really don't.  But when starter Russ Ortiz went to the mound and found his stuff missing, he got through 5.0 innings on sheer guts.

Ortiz took 33 pitches just to get out of the first inning, down 3 runs after walking the first two batters he faced and giving up two singles.  Luckily, the offense decided that this was the day they'd show up this week, and bailed him out.  By the time he left after the fifth inning, he had a 4-3 lead, had thrown 113 pitches, allowed 3 hits and five walks, hit a batter, and had struck out just two.  Twice, he induced double plays. 

Only twice did he have an at-bat fewer than three pitches long: Once when he hit Casey Blake with the first pitch he threw to him; and his final batter, James, Loney, who hit into a 4-3 groundout to end the fifth inning.  Prior to Loney, he'd thrown seven pitches to Manny Ramirez, who struck out looking in an uncharacteristically sloppy plate appearance; and he'd thrown ten pitches before walking Andre Ethier.  17 pitches on just two batters.

The Dodgers lineup saw an average of 4.913 pitches per at-bat against Ortiz.

But somehow, he held them scoreless after the first frame.

After four innings, he looked worn, but the Astros offense came through with 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth to give him a 4-3 lead, and he gutted out the fifth inning, despite a pitch count already hovering near a hundred.  He gutted through the final inning and earned the win - his first in over two years.  His last major league win was on April 20, 2007.

Hunter Pence was the only starting position player to not reach base, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and never getting the ball out of the infield.  Carlos Lee went 2-for-4 with a 2-run home run, but with all respect to El Caballo, it was Kazuo Matsui who looked every bit the hero tonight.  Matsui went 1-for-2 with 2 walks, a stolen base, a sacrifice fly, 2 RBI, and 2 runs.  And he flashed a nice glove, turning a beautiful pivot on a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play on a Casey Blake one-hopper. 

Jeff Keppinger had another great night at the plate, extending his hitting streak to his entire Astros career by going 2-for-3, getting hit by a pitch, and scoring a run.

Jose Valverde looked flat in the ninth inning, but managed to earn the save despite an error, a blown call at first by umpire Jerry Layne on a gorgeous play by Lance Berkman to save yet another error, and a walk.  He was limping at the end, and had trouble throwing strikes, but he gutted through the final two batters, James Loney and Russell Martin, striking them both out.

Cecil Cooper did his very best to blow the game, inexplicably bunting once again after Jason Michaels opened an inning with a double - this time of the ground rule variety.  A poor decision by Guillermo Mota, however, put runners on the corners after a Fielder's Choice failed to nab Michaels at third.  The Astros, as a team, were still just 4-for-12 with RISP, but a .333 clip is far better than the past few games, so I won't complain too much.

How we managed to pull out the victory in this one is a mystery, but we did.  And though Russ Ortiz may not get much credit for his performance tonight, it was one of sheer guts and determination.  And that goes a long way, because you won't have your stuff every night.

It's nice when, every once in a while, it doesn't matter.

Tomorrow, I begin my Brandon Backe for Closer Campaign in earnest.  Backe is expected to pitch for the Express on Monday in a rehab start after suffering a "strained left side."  I really have no idea what that means.

Houston Astros (MLB) - I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - Boy, remember when we thought Jose Capellan should be the fifth starter for the Astros, and how we were all at least a little upset that Russ Ortiz's contract situation had made him the better candidate?  Well thank goodness for Russ Ortiz's agent, because Capellan has stunk so far this year, and he stunk tonight in the Express's 7-5 loss to the Iowa Cubs (CHC).  Jose made it 5.1 innings, allowed 8 hits and 3 walks, 6 earned runs, and struck out just two.  The only good news, pitching-wise, was Clay Hensley, who pitched 2.0 innings in relief and allowed just a single hit.  The Chris Johnson watch continues, with Mark Saccomanno manning third base today. Saccy went 3-for-4 with two doubles and 2 RBI, though, so that softens the blow.  He also made it a whole game at 3B without an error, which is an accomplishment.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Not only did the Hooks beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KCR) 12-6, but one of my favorite people, Old Man Van Hekken, got the win.  Starter Sergio Perez went just 4.0 innings, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and a solitary strikeout.  Chad Wagler pitched 3.0 innings to earn the save.  Every single Hook had a hit in this one, and all but one - #9 hitter SS Wladimir Sutil - had two hits.  2B Drew Meyer hit his first home run of the year, and RF Andrew Locke hit his second.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - CF Jack Shuck did everything in his power to win this game single-handedly, but Lancaster fell to the Inland Empire 66ers (LAD) 3-1.  Shuck went 3-for-4 with a run, a triple, and a stolen base in the losing effort.  Jason Castro and Koby Clemens each went 0-for-4.  Starter Jose Duran went 6.0 innings, allowing all three runs on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 3, and earning the loss.  Fernando Abad pitched 1.1 innings in relief, but was pulled after giving up a triple with one out in the bottom of the eighth.  Reid Kelly came in and retired the next two batters to keep the Jethawks in the game, though they couldn't pull it out.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends had a pair of seven-inning games today to make up for their postponement yesterday, and won the first one against the West Virginia Power (PIT), 3-0.  Kyle Greenwalt (1-1) looked awfully solid on the mound, pitching 6.0 shutout innings to lower his ERA to 0.82 on the season.  Daniel Meszaros retired the side in order in the seventh, including two strikeouts, to earn his fourth save of the year.  2B Albert Cartwright went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double to lead the offense from the nine hole.  3B Ebert Rosario went 0-for-2 and had his fifth error in ten games.  Which is really impressive, if you ask me.

Lexington Legends (A) - The second game of the Legends-Power doubleheader didn't go quite as well for the organization, as the Power won 6-3.  Jose Trinidad earned the loss in relief, but no pitcher was really safe in this one.  Not even Brian Wabick, who didn't allow any runs in his 2.0 relief innings, but he did allow three hits and a walk.  Luckily, he struck out three to keep it from getting too ugly.  All three of the Legends' runs came on a Federico Hernandez homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, temporarily tying the game before the Power scored three in the following frame. 


You Can Ring My Bell

I was flipping through channels, and passed ESPN just as Karl Ravech was saying, "Lots of talk about the Red Sox and Yankees.  We do other teams, other shows on this network."

This was in a promo for a Cardinals game, and is undoubtedly a response to Heath Bell's comments earlier this week.  It reeks of desperation; Ravech insisting beyond all evidence that they do recognize that there are 28 other teams in Major League Baseball.


For Whom The Bell Towles

I've been very vocal about my preference for J.R. Towles to be the starting catcher in Houston this year.  Towles had a hot callup in 2007, and began 2008 as the "catcher of the future."  A horrible 171 major league plate appearances in 2008 got him sent down to Round Rock.  During that stretch, Jason Castro was also drafted.

Many people question how I can think that Towles is "ready" to be a major leaguer.  They say that he was lost at the plate last season, and that they see little or no evidence to support his being a starter at the top level.

In a way, that's fair.  He showed very little to enthuse anyone at the major league level last year.  But I say his situation has changed drastically, for a few reasons:

1) When he began the season last year as the Astros' starting catcher, he had just fifty Triple-A plate appearances to his name.  In those 50 PA, at the age of 23, he'd gone .279/.354/.279.  Not good numbers.  At the time he was named the starting major league catcher, he had failed to establish himself against even Triple-A talent.

2) After getting sent down last year, he put together 192 PA at Round Rock.  In that time - after the most humiliating months of his professional career while he struggled in the Show - he showed his resiliency by bouncing back and going .304/.370/.500 in the Pacific Coast League. 

3) He's now 25, traditionally a breakthrough year for catchers.  He was thrust into the major league position too early and now he's been sent down and forgotten, it seems.  Everyone points to how overmatched he had been at the big league level.  And, yes, he had been.  But that was largely because he'd gone pretty much straight from AA to the majors... and he'd actually begun 2007 in High-A ball before his promotion to Corpus Christi.  In less than a season, he went up four divisions.

4) Towles is .357/.379/.571 to this point in the 2009 season.  This is in a very small sample size, but these numbers are absolutely on course with his career minor league numbers, minus the brief 2007 stretch in Round Rock.  Since being sent down in 2008, his combined Major League Equivalency is .258/.307/.406.  Now, I'm the first to admit that that's not great, but Ivan Rodriguez is currently getting paid more money to hit .227/.261/.341. 

It's pretty obvious to me that Towles is at least as good an offensive option as Rodriguez, though I won't go so far as to vouch for his defensive skillset.  And he's far and away better than Humberto Quintero.  But many think back to the time he spent in the majors in 2008, and are content to keep him down on the farm and forget about him, sure that he can't compete because he hit so poorly during a meager 146 at-bats after jumping more or less straight from High-A ball into the big leagues.

I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to pin this loss on Geoff Geary, who earned his second loss in as many games as the Astros fell, 4-3, to the Cincinnati Reds.

I don't think it's fair to do that.  Geary did not pitch well, giving up a walk and a hit to the only two batters he faced, but it was one of the few moves Cecil Cooper has made this season that I liked.  After last night's loss, Geary needed his confidence back.  You can't leave him hanging around the bullpen thinking about it.  You have to give him the chance to succeed.

Of course, that's sounder logic if he doesn't then turn around and fail.

I suspect we'll also be hearing a lot about Hunter Pence striking out looking to end the eighth inning with the bases loaded.  Also not entirely fair.  As you can see from the Gameday data below, this was a very smart strikeout by Arthur Rhodes.  He stayed inside, letting Hunter foul off tough fastball after tough fastball, and then put a 93mph fastball over the outside of the plate.
That's tough.  You know they've been staying inside.  You know the outside pitch is coming.  You just don't know when.  And the more they throw high and tight, the more you're fighting for your own survival.  And it froze him when they threw the pitch he knew was coming.  Of course Pence knew it was coming.  Everyone knew it was coming.  We just didn't know when.

A lot of people are saying one (or both) of two things: A) That Hunter was called out on ball 4, and B) That the same pitch location which resulted in the called third strike was called for a ball twice during Carlos Lee's walk in the previous PA.  Looking at the pitchFX data, I don't see it.  Here is Lee's plate appearance:
If anything, you could argue that Lee got a call in this one.  Compare this to Pence's strikeout:

Looks like a very legitimate call to me.  I really think it was just an excellent pitch called by Ramon Hernandez and thrown by Arthur Rhodes.  They had Pence locked inside, mostly up, and then went down and away.  Good call.

The Astros struggled again at the plate tonight.  Despite 11 hits, once again none of them came with runners in scoring position.  As a team, they were 0-for-5 with RISP.  One of their three runs came on one of the biggest mistake pitches I've ever seen... a curveball over the heart of the plate to a lefty-hitting Lance Berkman.  Gone.  436 feet, the longest home run at Minute Maid Park yet this year, according to Hit Tracker.

No, I think three very specific things (other than the inexplicable inability to hit with RISP) spoiled this game for Houston.

1) Ivan Rodriguez.  He may be working very well with Wandy Rodriguez (or at least that's what the PR department tells us), but his preparation for this game was abysmal.  There was a string where he called seven consecutive changeups from Mike Hampton (who pitched great, by the way, and was probably pulled too early, but that's understandable with his history).  I should not know the Reds hitters better than he does, and tonight I felt that I did.  He called three consecutive sliders to Joey Votto, who loves sliders, and I the only reason the first one didn't end up out of the park is probably because Votto was as surprised as I was to see a meaty slider breaking across the plate.  As it was, thankfully, he only got a two-run, game-winning double when Pudge decided to follow a chase pitch with a fastball middle-in with Tim Byrdak on the mound, whose fastball is routinely around 90mph.  If Pudge is going to struggle at the plate, he'd darn well better prepare better behind it.

2) Cecil Cooper.  Cecil, Cecil, Cecil.  The Astros, down 4-3, pinch-hit Jason Michaels to lead off the eighth inning.  He promptly doubled to center field, giving us the dreaded RISP with no outs (I wonder if we'd have done better if he'd just stayed at first?)  Then, rather than ask leadoff hitter Kazuo Matsui to simply hit a grounder to the right side, he ordered a sacrifice hit.  Like a good little soldier, Matsui did just that.  He bunted Michaels to third, sacrificing an out in the process.  Now, the problem with that is that we now have a runner at third with one out.  This isn't a double-play situation - almost any ball hit to the right side advances the runner, and gives you the chance for runners at the corners with no outs with Miguel Tejada, Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Hunter Pence due up.  Instead, you've now sacrificed an out, and have a man on third with one out.  Tejada draws a walk, putting the struggling Berkman at the plate with a double-play situation.  He gets greedy, tries to elevate the first pitch he sees, and pops out to right field.  No sacrifice fly, and now because we sacrificed Michaels over, there are two outs.  Pence actually fought a hell of a fight after Lee got walked, but couldn't overcome the sloppy managing.

3) Still Cecil Cooper.  Miguel Tejada is not a #2 hitter, and here's why: Since 2002, only once has Miguel Tejada not been among the top three hitters at grounding into double plays.  That year was 2003, when coincidentally he also had his lowest BA, OBP, and SLG in that time.  In other words, only one time was he not in the top three, and that was the year he was just failing to make contact at all.  We lack an ideal #2 hitter, but Geoff Blum is .297/.366/.351 so far this season.  He's getting on base and doing it with a 22.9 GB%, which is great for staying out of double plays.  Compare that to Tejada, who has a 48.8 GB% so far in this young season.  Matsui opened the sixth inning with a single, but was promptly erased on - surprise, surprise - a Tejada GIDP.  Because of this, Berkman hit a solo homerun, rather than a two-run or three-run shot.  We lost the game by one run.

This one was a heartbreaker, and a lot of it came down to Cecil Cooper's ineptitude.  Which ordinarily, I wouldn't harp on this much, but on the heels of the announcement that he had been re-signed through 2010, it makes it sting that much more.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Cooper won't be fired.  Phil Garner was released with a year and a half left on his contract.  The announcement seemed more like a way to get Cooper some respect from the veteran players than it did to reward him for anything in particular.

My solution?  Tim Bogar.  I was having this discussion yesterday, and all the pieces fell into place for me. 

Bogar won the Appalachian League with the Greeneville Astros in his first year as a manager; was named Manager of the Year there, and moved up to the Sally League, and was Manager of the Year there.

He took the Akron Aeros to within a game of the Eastern League title in his first year managing; he was the Eastern League manager of the year and Baseball America's "Best Manager Prospect;" he was selected to coach the Futures game twice.

His career managerial record is 250-168 (.601). Now he's up with the Red Sox as their first base coach. Seems pretty ready, and he's got the bloodlines. He was in our system as a player and as a manager. He also knows the team pretty well - he played with Mike Hampton and Lance Berkman in Houston, and he's already managed guys like Felipe Paulino, J.R. Towles, and Brad James in Greeneville and Lexington.

Makes a lot of sense to me.

Back-To-Back

The Houston Astros are suffering from a string of bad backs.  Kazuo Matsui and Jeff Keppinger, the two primary options at second base, are both out with bad backs, though he was able to pinch-hit yesterday.

Also, Jose Valverde has been suffering from some back woes.

I have a bad back, so I know how awful it can be when it tightens up.  I can't even imagine playing baseball like that.

So it came as good news when the reports started coming in that guys were starting to feel better.  Matsui said, "I feel fine... I want to start (today)." 

Keppinger, who has ridiculous splits, will be available for the Dodgers series, with lefties Clayton Kershaw, Eric Stults, and Randy Wolf set to pitch.  "I will be ready for the Dodgers," he said.  "Even if I'm not ready, I'll be ready."

This is good, because Cecil Cooper was beginning to sound crazy again.

"Pudge Rodriguez has played some third base, which gives me an option of moving Blum around a little bit," Cooper said. "As funny as it might sound, Darin Erstad has played a little bit of infield.

"And, heck, I might even have to stick him in some place. He's lefthanded, but I have to think of someplace.

"Michael Bourn has played second base before and shortstop. Carlos Lee's a third baseman.

"There's some options. I got some things. If we get to the point we need to, we can get creative. Jason Michaels told me he played third base one inning in this place, this ballpark. So we got options. Did I say they were (good) options? But we got options. "

Could you imagine this starting lineup trotting out for the Astros?

2B Michael Bourn
CF Darin Erstad
RF Hunter Pence
3B Carlos Lee
1B Geoff Blum
C Ivan Rodriguez
LF Jason Michaels
SS Jason Smith

I would quit.  Seriously, I would quit baseball.

Tweet Me

You should add me on Twitter and get brilliant in-game insight from my twisted mind.  Okay, well that's not entirely true.  But you should add me anyway.

Heath Bell

I've loved Heath Bell ever since he got to the San Diego Padres.  I don't know why; maybe I like fat guys with facial hair, since I happen to be a fat guy with facial hair.  Maybe it's because he always reminded me of former Astro, and his teammate in San Diego, Scott Linebrink.

Another fat guy with facial hair.

But anyone who says that he lost 25 pounds in the offseason because the Wii Fit told him was obese is okay in my book.

He recently became, I believe, the first actual player to come out and say what many of us have been saying about ESPN for years:

"I saw ESPN's promo for tonight's game. They mention the Mets are opening Citi Field, they mentioned the starting time, but nowhere did they mention the Padres. . . .

"I truly believe ESPN only cares about promoting the Red Sox and Yankees and Mets - and nobody else," said the closer, a former Met. "That's why I like the MLB Network, because they promote everybody. I'm really turned off by ESPN and 'Baseball Tonight.' When Jake Peavy threw 8 1/3 innings on Saturday, they showed one pitch in the third inning and that was it. It's all about the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets."

ESPN jumped the shark years ago, and in some ways I empathize.  Yankees-Sox is sexy.  The Cubs are an easy team to write about - they have a backstory that lazy journalists only need to recite, and it creates drama.  The Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox are in ESPN's backyard.  And yes, these teams sell.  They have huge national followings, and casual sports fans care about them.

The network is not a leader in the world of analysis or real sports news, and shouldn't be counted on as such.  I can't watch ESPN anymore, at least not for baseball.  This isn't really news, but good for Heath Bell for stepping up and saying it, anyway.

Salary Caps

No, this isn't about what you think it's about.  It's just a clever title.  Over at The Hardball Times, Craig Calcaterra tells a very cool story (albeit it one with a very sad ending.)  He recently took his son to Lids to allow him to choose his favorite baseball cap, rather than force his own favorite team onto his son.

Now, I appreciate this, as I'm not a huge fan of parents who basically make their kids fans of their own favorite teams.  My dad tried that with Ohio State University, and now I'm about the biggest Michigan fan you'll meet.

I love the idea of letting your kid pick a team based on their favorite hat (even though the worst possible scenario happened in this case, when his son picked a Chicago Cubs hat), and it got me to wondering: What team would I pick now if I had to do it all over again, knowing nothing about the teams, looking solely at the caps.

I have to say, looking through a large block of caps, I probably would choose the Detroit Tigers.  I like the classic look, with the old-English style D.  Of course, a big part of how I chose my favorite team was that they had some of my favorite players at the time.  When I was ten, Alan Trammell was one of my favorite players.  So I could easily have become a fan of a 104-58 team in 1984; and then been a fan of a 43-119 team in 2003.

If I was choosing a team now based on my favorite players, though, I wonder who I would pick.  I can't really say that there's one team with a chunk of players I like the way I liked Jose Cruz, Kevin Bass, Bill Doran, Terry Puhl, Dickie Thon, Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan, and Jim DeShaies back in 1987.

I certainly like a lot of the current Astros players, but that's largely because I'm already an Astros fan.  Honestly, I would probably end up choosing - of all teams - the San Francisco Giants.  Tim Lincecum, Rich Aurilia, Randy Johnson, Bengie Molina, Pablo Sandoval, Randy Winn, Matt Cain... these are all players I really like.  I can't think of another large group of guys I like that much.

So I could have been a fan of the Giants or Tigers.  Fantastic.  I sure can pick 'em.

Astros fans everywhere should all thank Collin DeLome.  DeLome, an outfielder with the Hooks and one of my favorite players in all of Astroland, hit a single in the top of the seventh to score Mitch Einertson from third base.  That run put the Hooks up 3-2 and was the only thing that prevented the Astros organization from getting completely shutout on Sunday.

Well, that and the rain that postponed the game between Lexington and West Virginia.

Houston Astros (MLB) - Lance Berkman, Geoff Geary, Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, and Geoff Blum combined to beat the Houston Astros and recent callup Felipe Paulino, who pitched 6.0 very good innings.  Little Leaguers from all around the Houston area were invited to today's game, and some even got to play.  Some of them were lucky enough to get to wear Jason Michaels, Humberto Quintero, Kazuo Matsui, Jason Smith, Darin Erstad, and Ivan Rodriguez jerseys and be inserted into the lineup.  Oh, and the Astros lost 4-2 to the Redstockings.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Iowa Cubs (CHC) beat the Express 8-2.  Yorman Bazardo pitched 3.0 innings and took the loss, though he had plenty of help from his bullpen.  Ryan McKeller worked hard to allow 4 runs in 3.0 innings, raising his ERA to 11.25, though I'm relatively sure he can work it even higher with just a little extra work.  The only thing resembling a bright spot was Casey Daigle, who pitched an inning in relief and miraculously didn't allow a run, despite allowing a single, a double, and a walk.  Chris Johnson, whose hand that got hit by a pitch over two weeks ago, was still out of the lineup, and is still listed as day-to-day.  Brian Bogusevic went 2-for-4 to lead the offense.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Despite their best efforts, the Hooks could not seem to lose this one, squeaking by the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KCR) 3-2.  Brad James threw 6.0 mediocre innings, allowing two runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts.  He also had a throwing error, just like the big leaguers! Rob Semerano earned his second save by pitching 3.0 shutout innings, striking out 3 and allowing just a single.  1B Mark Ori continued to look very good in the cleanup spot, going 3-for-4, all singles. 

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The High Desert Mavericks (SEA) beat the tar out of Lancaster, 7-3.  Big Michael Pineda struck out 8 over 7.0 innings, while little Shane Wolf made it just 3.2 innings.  He made them count, though, managing to squeeze in 10 hits and five earned runs in such a short time.  No wonder he got the loss; he worked hard for it.  The bullpen actually pitched fairly decently, though Jordan Powell allowed one earned and Reid Kelly allowed one unearned.  Castro and Clemens combined to go 1-for-8 (Clemens had a single), and the offense was paced (if you want to call it that) by 3B David Flores, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI double; and OF Brian Pellegrini, who who went 1-for-3 with a 2-run home run.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends' game against the West Virginia Power (PIT) was rained out.  They'll play two on Monday, which theoretically gives the Astros organization more chances to win.

My bold prediction for Monday: Astros 10, Reds 3.  Goodnight, everybody!

Ornithophobia: The fear of ducks.

Ducks on the Pond: Runners on base.

I am becoming certain that the Houston Astros suffer from a clubhouse-wide case of ornithophobia.  When there are "ducks on the pond," they can no longer hit.  They become overly sensitive to sliders out of the zone, changeups in the dirt, and pop-ups.

We can talk all we'd like about how the umpires botched calls, and they did.  Cowboy Joe West, who remains convinced that Josh Becket meant no harm when he walked to the plate after nearly beaning Bobby Abreu, thinks that this was a tag:

He also thinks that the strike zone is approximately the size of a nickel.  But this game wasn't won or lost by the umpires.  The rebuilt, 2009 version of Felipe Paulino pitched well.  Well enough to earn the win, certainly.  He went 6.0 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6.  He didn't allow a single run.

He left that up to Geoff Geary, who allowed 2 of the Reds' 4 runs in the Astros' 4-2 loss.  I would give him the benefit of the doubt and say that only one of those runs was earned, but that was because of his own throwing error, so I'm not feeling particularly generous.

But even with the bullpen's spotty performance, the Astros should have won this handily.  Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez certainly gave them plenty of opportunities, but the Astros hitters went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners total.

Thirteen runners stranded.

The only two runs came when Michael Bourn scored from first on a Miguel Tejada single (that was actually a double, but in typical Astros fashion, Tejada had to stop at first because he missed the base); and when Bourn scored again from third base on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Lee with one out in the ninth.

The Astros are now hitting .248/.333/.355 with runners on.  When those runners are in scoring position, it drops to .238/.313/.345.  When that includes any combination of runners with at least one man standing on third base - 90 feet from scoring - it plummets to .233/.325/.333.

0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.  I think it might be time to call a doctor.  One who specializes in duck phobias.

The infield.

One of the few competitions in Spring Training was for the fifth infielder position.  Manager Cecil Cooper decided that he wanted a backup shortstop who could play other positions, so that he could give Miguel Tejada more rest.

That decision - instead of getting a second baseman who could handle other positions, thereby allowing the Astros to plug someone in when Kazuo Matsui inevitably went down to injury - led to a severe mishandling of David Newhan.  Newhan, a second baseman by trade, was never really given a chance to fail, despite being better than most of the other candidates.

Jason Smith had a torrid Spring and earned the spot.  He is now 0-for-2009, and is exhibiting his massively-limited range at second base.  Why?  Because, surprise of surprises, Kazuo Matsui went down with a bad back.  Jeff Keppinger, who is slated to fill in all over the infield, is also out with back woes.

Though Drew Sutton might not have been ready to come up anyway, he is certainly not an option now that he has been named as the PTBN in the Keppinger deal.  There are no other legitimate second-base options in the system.

That leaves Smith, struggling.  Exactly as everyone predicted.

Oh, and Tejada?  No days off yet.

Gee, who would have predicted any of that?  Oh, right.  Everyone.  Well, everyone but Cecil Cooper.

And for all of this horrible mishandling of such a basic position battle, it was announced today that Cooper would be retained through the 2010 season.  Perfect.

What Happened Was...

Houston Astros (MLB) - We all know Wandy Rodriguez can pitch at Minute Maid Park.  He had his curveball working today, and allowed just two hits, striking out 10 (including five consecutive) in 7.0 innings and earning his first win of the season.  Carlos Lee was 3-for-3 with an RBI, 2 runs, and a walk.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express tried their hardest to lose, giving up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but luckily they'd just scored three in the top of the eighth, as well, and beat the Iowa Cubs (CHC) 7-5.  2 home runs from Reggie Abercrombie and another from Mark Saccomanno paced the offense.  Abercrombie went 2-for-3 with 4 RBI, and Saccomanno went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI.  Bud Norris made it 5.1 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks to go with his 6 strikeouts.  Chad Paronto earned his second save, giving up just one hit and striking out two in as many innings.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning, and ended up losing to the Tulsa Drillers (COL) 6-5.  Douglas Arguello pitched well, going 5.2 innings with 7 strikeouts, allowing 3 runs on as many hits, along with 2 walks.  Paul Estrada made it just 0.2 innings before giving up 3 runs to lose the game.  SS Wladimir Sutil had a career night, going 2-for-2 with 2 walks, stole 3 bases, and scored 2 runs.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The Jethawks allowed 3 runs in the fifth inning, falling to the High Desert Mavericks (SEA), 4-2.  David "The Other David Duncan" Duncan continued to struggle on the mound, with 4.2 IP and 3 ER, raising his ERA on the season to 14.85.  Offseason acquisition Chia-Jen Lo threw 1.1 perfect innings in relief, striking out three.  The offense sputtered; Jason Castro went 1-for-4 and Koby Clemens went 0-for-1 off the bench.  Jack Shuck was the only Jethawk with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 and stealing a base.  Phillipe Aumont, who I got on Wednesday throwing a bullpen, threw a perfect 1.1 innings in relief.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends continued to own the West Virginia Power (PIT), 4-0.  Starter Robert Bono didn't blow anyone away, but allowed just 5 hits and no walks through 6.0 innings to get the win.  He's now thrown 11.0 shutout innings and stands at 2-0.  Jack Tilghman pitched the final three innings to earn the save, striking out 4 innings and allowing three hits and no walks.  1B Kody Hinze went 1-for-2 with a home run and a walk.  OF Jay Austin finally had a good night, as well, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run, and an RBI.  He also stole his first base of the season, but also got caught on an attempt. 

Two.

Ten.

Seven.

Those are the magic numbers today.  Wandy Rodriguez, the Astros' number two starter, allowed just two hits in game number two with the Reds.  It took two other pitchers to finish the game after Wandy pitched seven innings, striking out ten Reds in the process. 

Seven is also the number of runs the Astros scored, which is seven more than the Reds.  Jason Lane, playing second base, continues to be 0-for-2009.

Seven different Astros had hits in the game, and only two in the starting eight - Lance Berkman and Smith - didn't have hits. 

Miguel Tejada (who wears number ten) stole a base, and two other Astros - Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn - each got stolen base number two for the season.

Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman sure must be good friends.

As far as I can tell, they are the only two members of the Washington Natinals.  Though there are, in fact, 40 people signed to contracts with the Nationals, only Adam and Ryan play for the Natinals.

Or so I'm guessing, based on their uniforms in yesterday's action.

Houston Astros (MLB): Jose Valverde.

It's a name I expect to pop up a lot in conversation tomorrow.  The Astros held a 1-0 lead going into the 9th inning after a decent performance by ace Roy Oswalt, and in their tenth game of the season, they were finally able to hand the ball to Valverde for his first save situation of the year.

He promptly gave up a two-run, game-winning home run to Ramon Hernandez.  The Houston Astros, desperate to avoid a three-game winning streak, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by losing 2-1 to the Cincinnati Reds.

Valverde is going to be fine, though I am worried that maybe his back hurts worse than he's letting on.  Avoid the bandwagon, friends.  Jose is going to blow a few more saves before the season's up, and allowing one walk and one hit - albeit a two-run shot - is not the end of the world.  As with all things Astros, we just have to be extra-special patient on this one.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express fell to 3-6 on the season after dropping the first of their four game road series to the the Iowa Cubs (CHC), 8-3.  Starter Josh Muecke allowed 7 earned runs on 11 hits and 4 walks, somehow managing to make it 5.0 innings before getting pulled.  Edwin Maysonet led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  My boy J.R. Towles went 2-for-4 to raise himself to .435/.458/.696 on the season.

Yeah, I see now why he couldn't be the starting big-league catcher.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - If only the Hooks could have saved some of their 15 runs from yesterday, they might have avoided getting blanked 9-0 today by the Tulsa Drillers (COL).  Starter Casey Hudspeth looked abysmal in his 2.2 IP, giving up 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out just 1.  Chad Wagler continues to look pretty good in relief, though, striking out 4 in 2.1 IP, and allowing 4 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run.  Andy "Grandpa" Van Hekken continues his romp through the Texas League, pitching a perfect eighth with a strikeout.  It's hard to pick a favorite at the plate, since the team was so abysmal, but I'll give the nod to 2B Drew Mayer for his 1-for-4 performance, because his double was the Hooks' only XBH.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - We've come to expect certain things from the Jethawks, and today's 9-1 loss to the High Desert Mavericks (SEA) summed them up: A terrible starting pitching performance (Christopher Hicks - 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 K, 6 H, 2 BB); and a decent performance at the plate from the Jason Castro-Koby Clemens catching duet (Castro had the day off, but Clemens went 1-for-4 with the team's only RBI.)  3B Marcos Cabral went 2-for-3 with a double to lead the offense.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends squared off against the West Virginia Power (PIT) in a doubleheader tonight, and dropped the first game 3-2.  Brad Dydalewicz, one of our better pitching prospects, pitched 5.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run, before handing it off to Jose "the other Trinidad" Trinidad.  Jose didn't dominate in his 2.0 IP, but he didn't pitch that poorly, either, as he allowed two runs - one earned - and was handed the loss. 

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends were the only team in the organization to win on Friday, and even they didn't do a very good job of it, besting the West Virginia Power (PIT) 1-0 in game 2 of their doubleheader.  In fact, they strung together just two hits: 3B Ebert Rosario's double in the bottom of the eighth inning,  and SS Ricardo Bonfante's single to score him.  Yes, you read that correctly.  West Virginia's pitchers, Ramon Aguero and Brian Leach combined to no-hit the Legends through a complete seven innings, and their team still lost 1-0 in the extra frame.  Henry Villar (3.1 IP), Patrick Urckfitz (2.2 IP), Daniel Meszaros (1.0 IP), and Jack Tilghman (1.0 IP) combined to hold the Power off of the board.  I guess after three straight shutouts, they realized that the only way to win right now is to shut out the other team and hope for the best.

Consider this: Since April 12, only one day has gone by in which a team in the Astros' system was not shut out.  That day was April 13, and the following day, they made up for it when two teams got shut out.

04/12/09: Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Houston Astros 0
04/14/09: Pittsburgh Pirates 7, Houston Astros 0
04/14/09: Kannapolis Intimidators 2, Lexington Legends 0
04/15/09: Kannapolis Intimidators 6, Lexington Legends 0
04/16/09: Kannapolis Intimidators 1, Lexington Legends 0
04/17/09: Tulsa Drillers 9, Corpus Christi Hooks 0

I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to talk about at least one story that affects the Astros - or could have, at any rate.  On the heels of the announcement that Drew Sutton is the PTBN in the Jeff Keppinger trade, it seems fitting that Troy Patton would take the mound for the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League.

Astros fans will remember Patton as the cornerstone of the trade that brought Miguel Tejada to Houston.  The trade sent Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Mike Costanzo, and Dennis Sarfate to the Orioles; along with Patton, the Astros' top-ranked prospect.  He missed the 2008 season due to injury, but he's back now.

Patton threw 6.0 shutout innings against the Akron Aeros (CLE), allowing 3 hits, striking out 6 and walking none before emerging with the win in Bowie's 2-0 victory.  Previously, Patton (2-0) threw 5.0 shutout innings, also against Akron.  So his Orioles career - albeit a young one - has consisted of 11.0 shutout innings, 9 K, 3 BB, and a .162 BAA.

Did I mention we also gave the Orioles five other guys, on top of him, for Tejada?

Houston Astros (MLB) - Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3 for their first series win of the year.  Now it's back to Houston for a ten-game homestand, beginning with four against the reds.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - Another bad outing by Clay Hensley, but the Express managed to rally and beat the Omaha Royals (KCR) 6-5 on the strength of big home runs from John Gall and Lou "Don't Forget About Me" Santangelo.  A friend of the blog was on the ground at Round Rock, and while he was unimpressed that Lenny DiNardo was able to strike out two of the first three Express batters he saw with his 83-mph fastball, he was impressed by Yorman Bazardo, who was throwing 91-92 at the knees in his 3.0 IP, striking out 2 and allowing 4 hits and no runs.  4 of the Royals' 5 runs were charged to Hensley in his 3.0 inning start, and Chad Paronto allowed the final run, but still earned the save.  Chris Johnson is still not in the Express lineup, and Brian Bogusevic had the night off, as well.  DH J.R. Towles went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks throttled the Tulsa Drillers (COL) 15-4, including a 6-run inning in the 6th.  Only one of the 4 runs put on Polin Trinidad was earned, but all five of his strikeouts were.  Only one of the Hooks' 15 runs came on a homerun, that off the bat of Collin DeLome, and in fact Corpus Christi only had 5 extra-base hits all night, but 14 hits and 8 walks were strung together for 15 runs.  1B Mark Ori went 3-for-4 and walked twice, with two doubles and 5 RBI.  Not a bad night.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The Jethawks had control of this game until a 4-run sixth became the difference in a 5-4 loss to the High Desert Mavericks (SEA).  The Castro-Clemens show continues, with Jason going 2-for-4 and Koby drawing 2 walks.  Marcos Cabral was 3-for-4 with a double, Lancaster's only XBH of the night.

Lexington Legends (A) - For the second straight night, the Legends were blanked by the Kannapolis Intimidators (CWS), this time 1-0.  This time, it was Charles Leesman doing the honors for Kannapolis, and Ross Seaton pitching well for Lexington, but earning a loss.  He struck out four and allowed three hits through six innings, but gave up one run, and that was the decider.  Jay Austin continues to struggle at the plate, going 0-for-4; but to be fair, the entire team struggled at the plate yesterday.  C Federico Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a double to "lead" the offense. 

For those Astros fans out there who haven't checked out Dan's blog "Hooked on the Hooks," about the Astros' Texas League affiliates, Corpus Christi, I recommend you check it out periodically, as he updates it on more or less a per-series basis.

It's great to get opinions from someone who is actually at the games, and he often has great video.  Today is no exception, as he has posted video of the Jordan Parraz-Brian Esposito collision at the plate.  Reading the papers, it seemed rather similar to the Darin Erstad-Johnny Estrada play years ago.  A little excessive, but hard-nosed and ultimately forgivable.

Go check out the video at his page, though, and you'll see that it was just pretty brutal.  Ouch.  Thank God Esposito is okay, is all I can say, and Parraz definitely deserved to get beaned at his next trip to the plate.

When I found out that my blog had been listed as #42 in the MLBlogs Latest Leaders list, my first instinct was disappointment.  Though I don't really write a blog to get a ton of readers, I was #20 the last time the list was updated, and dropped 22 spots.  It's hard not to be a little dismayed by that, even though the reasons are many.  I haven't had as much time to post; the season has now begun, and the Astros are not a sexy big-ticket item; there are many other high-quality writers on the MLBlog roster.

But #42 is still very humbling, and I'm honored that I have the number of readers necessary to do even that well.

Also, it's a tremendous honor to be named #42 on Jackie Robinson Day.

There's not a lot to say about Robinson that hasn't been said elsewhere, and far more eloquently than I could ever put it.

My birthday, April 15th, is not the best birthday to have.  Most U.S. Americans associate it with Tax Day.  It's also the day the Titanic sank; the day Abraham Lincoln died.  Kind of a bummer of a day.  But I'm very proud to know that my birthday - April 15 - will always be known across the sport I love as the day when the dreams of so many became a reality.

Because on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson put on the #42 jersey and broke the color barrier. 

So I welcome the honor to represent Jackie with the number 42 on the Latest Leaders list, announced on my birthday; and on the day he played his first big league game.

There aren't many guys in the California League who are signed to a Major League contract.  The players don't make a ton of money, and many have off-season jobs to supplement their income.

So on the one hand, giving them a little financial incentive to play well makes a lot of sense.  On the other hand, though, the California League has teams who play their home games in places like Adelanto, Lake Elsinore, and Lancaster (the home of the Jethawks, Houston's High-A affiliate).  Towns that were never on great financial footing, and are feeling a lot of pressure as California's economy takes a tumble.

When Corey Kluber, the starting pitcher for the Lake Elsinore Storm, struck out the side against the High Desert Mavericks on Tuesday, I was surprised to hear the announcement that they would be taking a collection.  Sure enough, Storm employees were passing through the audience of 1,414 with buckets, collecting "tips" to give the pitcher for striking out the side.

I was torn, because while I thought it was remarkably quaint and a wonderful gesture, I couldn't help but wonder how the $74 that the team collected for their pitcher represented a significant sacrifice for the fans, who had already paid $13 each to go to the game, plus the cost of merchandise and concessions (the game was an All-You-Can-Eat affair, but beverages were not included; neither were some food items such as churros, pretzels, and peanuts).

Certainly, no one held a gun to the fans' heads to make them give money, but I thought it a bit unsettling that Kluber - who stands a legitimate chance at a major league contract - would need "tips" to pitch well, considering that it's pitching well that would earn him that major league contract.

When the Astros traded a Player To Be Named (PTBN) to the Cincinnati Reds for infielder Jeff Keppinger, it was widely considered to be a pretty darned good move.  We'd filled a need at third base, as well as adding a bench player who could fill in at several positions on an as-needed basis.

And though we didn't know who we'd be giving up to get him, the understanding was that it would be a minor leaguer; perhaps one with a little upside, but since the Astros were making the deal with a position of power - since Keppinger was out of options, the Reds would have to expose him to waivers before they sent him down.  At least by making this trade, they were going to get something for the loss of Keppinger.

Today, that "something" was announced, in the form of Drew Sutton.

With a farm system ranked #30 out of 30, the Astros don't have a lot of top-end prospects to build the future of the club around.  Tommy Manzella, Sutton, Chris Johnson, Bud Norris, and Brian Bogusevic are pretty much the only prospects currently in the system with immediate major league-ready talent.

Losing Sutton makes a significant dent in that limited talent pool.  Though Keppinger has been very hot in his Astros career, his long-term value is not great.  Once Johnson is promoted to the Majors, Geoff Blum will be moved to the bench, leaving Jason Smith and Keppinger as the options for utility infielder.  Even assuming Kazuo Matsui has to miss extended time, as usual, making Keppinger the starting second baseman; beyond this season, it's hard to see where he fits in.

Sutton, on the other hand, is the team's second baseman of the future.  One of the major reasons the Astros organizations is in the shape it's currently in is that we've given up too much value for too little a return.  Five players for Miguel Tejada, for instance.  Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz, and Jason Hirsh for Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio. I'm sure I don't need to go on.

I appreciate what Jeff Keppinger brings to the table this season, but to give up one of the very few top-end prospects we've got in the system is, once again, overpaying.

Yesterday, it was Carlos Lee, who went 1-for-3 and knocked in 3 runs as the Astros topped the Pirates, 4-1.  Today, it was Lance Berkman, who had 3 RBI of his own as he went 1-for-4 with a home run as the Astros rallied to beat the Pirates 6-3.

One of the more glaring issues in the Astros' 1-6 start was Berkman and Lee, the #3 and #4 hitters respectively, going a combined .180/.268/.340 with 3 RBI.  In the past two days, they have combined to go .333/.353/.733 with 7 RBI.

Russ Ortiz got a little battered in his first start as an Astro, giving up three earned runs in his 4.2 innings.  Wesley Wright entered, got the last out in the fifth inning, and called it a day with his first win of the season. 

Jeff Keppinger went 1-for-2 with a walk, extending his hit streak to 6 games, or every game he's played in his Astros career.  Kepp hit a triple and was knocked in by Ortiz.

I predicted a 2-1 win in this series, and despite the embarrassing shutout on Monday, and head home to Houston now to begin a 10-game homestand with 4 games against Cincinnati.  I've got a series split, 2-2. 

The Houston Astros organization went 2-2 in action on Jackie Robinson Day, also known as my birthday, mostly while I was waiting in line at Space Mountain.

Houston Astros (MLB) - The Astros beat the Pirates 4-1, which was a really nice thing to hear on the other end of the phone.  I haven't watched the game yet, but I will soon.  It sounds like the big guys are starting to step up, and Mike Hampton pitched like it was 1999 instead of 2009, striking out 8 over 6.0 innings.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Omaha Royals (KCR) crushed the Express, 14-7, with another poor pitching performance from Jose Capellan.  Capellan made it just 3.2 innings, giving up 10 hits, 5 hits, and 9 runs (8 earned).  Tyler Lumsden and Ryan McKeller were pretty sloppy in their relief appearances, as well.  Outfielder Yordany Ramirez paced the offense, which did after all score 7 runs, by going 3-for-3 with a double, a sacrifice fly, and a solo home run.

Lancaster Jethawks (AA) - The Lancaster Jethawks were up 4-0 over the Inland Empire 66ers (LAD) after two innings, and though they wouldn't need more than that, they continued to pile on for a 14-3 victory.  Two different Jethawks had three home runs each in this game: Outfielders Jonathan Gaston and Brian Pellegrini.  Last year's first round pick Jason Castro went 2-for-5 with a triple and an RBI. 

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends couldn't score a single run as the Kannapolis Intimidators (CWS) rolled them, 6-0.  Outfielder Jay Austin, the Legends' leadoff hitter, is beginning to concern me.  He's .105/.150/.105 through the first five games, and is 0-3 on stolen base attempts.  Starter Jordan Lyles picked up the loss despite allowing just one run in 3.2 innings.  He was in control, striking out 8 in that time, with just 2 walks and 3 hits allowed, but the offense's lack of ability to score a single run scuttled his day. 

The first thing I do when I wake up is generally check out Google Reader, and today it brought me a very interesting story.

When the Astros traded for Tyler Lumsden from the Royals' organization, they gave up a speedy young outfielder named Jordan Parraz.  Last night's Hooks-Naturals game was his first matchup against his former teammates, and it did not come without its share of fireworks.

In the eighth inning, Parraz came in hard and bowled over catcher Brian Esposito.  Which is not that unusual, except that it was on a 6-3 groundball. In other words, there was no play at the plate.

"I was clearly giving him the plate and didn't even see it coming," said Esposito. I was looking down the first-base line toward the play and the next thing you know, I'm pulling myself off the ground. That's the first time I've ever had that happen.

Esposito came to bat again in the ninth, and Chris Salamida plunked him.  That led to the ejections of Salamida, Esposito, and manager Luis Pujols.  

"The problem I have about the ejection is that it was without warning," Pujols said. "If the umpire knew that something could happen and you want to avoid people getting hurt, that's what the warning is for.

"If (Myers) had any doubt, he could call me (over) and give the warning and stop the thing right there. Don't let things happen and then run the manager, pitcher and catcher out. I don't understand that."

At least it's nice to see a little fire in our boys.

The Astros organization went 1-4 in today's action.  Once again, the Lexington Legends won their game, while the higher teams all dropped their decisions.

Houston Astros (MLB) - As we all know by now, the Astros were shut out by Zach Duke and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express dropped the first game of their series against the Omaha Royals (KCR), 8-4.  Starter Bud Norris exited after allowing two unearned runs in 4.1 inings, striking out 4 and walking 3.  Ryan McKeller gave up 3 runs in .2 innings, and Tyler Lumsden was credited with the loss by alloing a run in his one inning in relief.  Our old friend Mark Saccomanno hit a home run and paced the offense with 3 RBI; and outfielder Yordany Ramirez went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.  Former Astros prospect J.R. House went 2-for-5 for Omaha.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks dropped their second game to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KCR), 8-4.  No, that's not a misprint; the Hooks and Express really did lose by the exact same score. To Royals farm teams.  Starter Brad James allowed 4 runs (2 earned) in 4.0 innings, striking out just one and allowing 4 runs and 5 walks. Old Man Andy Van Hekken earned the loss by allowing 4 earned runs in 3.2 innings on 6 his; he struck out 4.  One of my favorite Hooks, OF Collin DeLome, went 1-for-5 with a 2-run home run.  Shortstop Wladimir Sutil and DH Mark Ori each went 2-for-4.  Sutil also stole a base.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The good news is that the Jethawks scored a run; Jason Castro went 2-for-5 with 2 doubles, and 2B Christopher Minaker went 2-for-4.  C Koby Clemens was the DH, going 1-for-2 and drawing two walks, raising his OBP to .615 on the season.  The bad news is that David Duncan, Jordan Powell, Jason Dominguez, Jay Pacella, and Fernando Abad combined to allow 16 runs to the Inland Empire 66ers (LAD), including 5 home runs.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends continued their undefeated season, beating the Kannapolis Intimidators (CWS), 2-1.  Robert Bono struck out 3 in 5.0 scoreless innings, and the shutout continued until the ninth, when Henry Villar allowed a run in his second inning of work.  Daniel Meszaros pitched the final three batters, striking two of them out and allowing one hit to earn the save.  OF Brandon Barnes raised his batting average to .538, going 2-for-3 with a double.  Steve Brown continued his hot start, as well, going 1-for-3 and stealing his second base of the season.

I officially don't know what to say after today's 7-0 debacle in Pittsburgh, except thank goodness there's a day off tomorrow.

I'll hand it off to MusicMan at SpikesnStars.com:

I will hereby put more effort into this recap than the Astros appeared to put into today's game:

Moehler left with a sprained knee, Matsui left with a stiff back, the team's best non-Oswalt pitcher was burned in mop-up duty, Cooper threw out a panic-induced lineup (again), Berkman struck out with aplomb, Pence was the most patient hitter on the team, Cooper completely mismanaged the only scoring opportunity in the game, and through 7 games, the Astros have been outscored 43-16.

I will only add that at least Jeff Keppinger continues to hit.  He started at third and moved to second when Matsui had his annual "fissure," and went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.

Zach Duke and Kyle Lohse have pitched consecutive complete game shutouts of the Astros, and both were the best games of their respective careers.

As a certain Astros Fan in Exile has pointed out:

There was a time at the beginning of last season when it seemed like every opposing pitcher was an ace. Game after game, their pitcher was having a big game, and our guys just couldn't figure him out. Unfortunately, this pattern seems to be recurring in the early days this spring.

I'm sure that, by now, you all know Julia over at Julia's Rants.  I have a lot of admiration for her, for many reasons.  First, she's the MLBloggers' team captain.  She takes a lot of time to not only craft entries every day - and often more than once a day - along with trivia questions, but she takes the time to read and respond to everyone else's entries, as well.  I can't even begin to imagine the effort she's taken to read and to reply thoughtfully to all of these entries by fans of so many teams while running her own life and raising a family.  Sometimes it's a struggle for me to post every day, much less devote the time necessary to reading all of the wonderful bloggers on here - even my favorites, like Red State Blue State and Statistician Magician.

Second, though she's a fan of a team I dislike and though we frequently disagree, she doesn't take it personally when someone disagrees with her.  She considers their response, and either changes her mind or (more often) doesn't, but handles it with class and respect.  I think most people recognize this, and I've yet to see anyone push her.  Sure, they may tease her about her pink Red Sox cap from time to time, but I think people understand that she has at least put cogent thought into her decisions, and most folks will respect that nine times out of ten.

With the recent "brawl" (which wasn't really) between the Red Sox and Angels, as well as the asinine comments by some of her team's key players, she's been put in a bit of an unenviable position.  She's been asked, at times, to defend the actions of her team's players.  Sometimes, as with the Beckett-Abreu incident, she has.  Other times, as with Pedroia's and Papelbon's comments, she hasn't. 

But it got me to thinking about our role as fans of these teams.  On one hand, we are ambassadors.  We want people to respect our team; to afford them the benefit of the doubt.  We don't go out of our way to insult people who aren't Cubs fans.  On the other hand, we are fans.

So I gave it some thought this morning, and decided to write down my Fan's Creed.

1. I am a fan, first and foremost.  When I was eight years old, I didn't know about OPS or ISO or wOBA, and I didn't care.  I simply wanted my team to win every game.  Now, I am a fan of baseball on the whole and am able to objectively measure players and teams, but at the end of the day I'm still a fan and want my team to win every game.

2. I reserve the right to defend my favorite team's players, even when they do something very stupid.  Though I hear fans of other teams defend things, and frequently think to myself that they would feel differently if the player in question were in a different uniform, I am just as guilty as they are at times.

3. I understand that fans of other teams are not going to see my team the way I see them.  I also understand that, whether or not they're wrong, I will convince myself that they are wrong exactly as long as I need/want to convince myself of it.  And this is okay.

4. My team is the best thing since sliced bread.  They are also the worst thing since unsliced bread.  I will waffle back and forth on thinking they're horrible and thinking they're wonderful, depending on what is going on with them from season to season, week to week, day to day, and even pitch to pitch.  I reserve the right to criticize every decision and to change my mind on an hourly basis where my team is concerned.

5. If my team ever wins it all, I will be a pure and unabashed jerk to the fans of every other team in the known universe.  Until that time, I will continue to roll my eyes in annoyance at the fans of teams who have won it all while they are being pure and unabashed jerks.

6. The other fans of my team are the greatest people in the entire world.  Their opinions are much more valid than the opinions of any other baseball fan, up to and including Bill James.  I may disagree with them from time to time, but at the end of the day they are right because they are also fans of my favorite team.  I automatically like them more, even though they may be horrible human beings, because we root for the same team.

7. As a fan, I am allowed to criticize my team as much as I'd like.  But when anyone else - fan or not - criticizes my team, even if it's in the exact same way that I just criticized them, they are wrong.  Not only wrong, but frequently worthy of scorn and ridicule.

8. I will do my best to stay objective when it comes to my team and its players, but I will probably fail from time to time.  I reserve the right to insist that a slider in the dirt was actually a meaty BP fastball over the heart of the plate.  I reserve the right to say that a runner was clearly safe, even if he was out by a mile.  I reserve the right to think that every time an opposing team's pitcher steps off of the rubber, it's a balk.

9. Though I will attempt to treat the fans of other teams respectfully, provided they are not Cubs fans, they are all awful human beings who clearly do not know anything.  In fact, I probably know more about their own team than they do, because my knowledge is vastly superior in all areas. 

10. I expect fans of every other team to feel exactly this way.  I will be annoyed when they do it, as I expect them to be equally as annoyed when I do it.  In this way, and in this way only, we can achieve balance.

I mentioned earlier that third-base prospect Chris Johnson had been pulled after one at-bat in Friday's game against Iowa and hadn't played since.

I just spoke with Round Rock's Director of Communications, Avery Johnson, who informed me that Johnson was hit on the hand by a pitch in Friday's game, and is listed as day-to-day with no significant injury.

The Astros' organization didn't have a great day on Sunday, going 1-3.  The undefeated Class-A Lexington Legends had the day off.

Houston Astros (MLB) - I've written enough about this one already.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - I'm worried by what's happening in Round Rock.  Not that they're 1-3 after losing 6-3 tonight to Iowa (CHC), as anyone and everyone should expect an epically-bad year from the Express.  Rather, that third baseman Chris Johnson left Friday's game after one at-bat, and hasn't played in either of the two games since.  I haven't gotten any news on injury, but am inquiring.  The whole point of him going to Round Rock was to play every day.  Josh Muecke had a decent game in this one, striking out 3 in 6.0 innings, but giving up 5 hits and 6 walks. Still, he left with the game tied 2-2 before Samuel Gervacio and Tyler Lumsden gave up 4 earned in a combined 2 innings.  Muecke also went 2-for-2 at the plate, but the offense was once again paced by Tommy Manzella, who went 3-for-5. 

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks were up 5-4 after 8 innings, but gave up a run in each the ninth and the tenth to lose to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (KCR) 6-5.  T.J. Burton got saddled with the blown save, erasing Douglas Arguella's would-be win.  Gilbert De La Vara, who spent Spring Training with the Astros after being selected in the Rule 5 draft, pitched an inning for Northwest Arkansas in relief.  Andrew Locke paced the offense, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI. The Hooks had a chance to come back in the bottom of the tenth after consecutive two-out singles by Mark Ori and Jimmy Van Ostrand, but a nice barehanded play by Jordan Parraz kept the runner at third on the second hit. The worst part?  Parraz was the player the Astros sent to Kansas City for Tyler Lumsden.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The Jethawks were the sole winner in the Astros organization, beating the High Desert Mavericks (SEA) 7-4.  The catchers, Koby Clemens and Jason Castro (who was the DH for the game) each went 2-for-4.  Clemens had a double and a triple, and is now batting .429 for the young season.  Outfielder Brian Pellegrini was 1-for-3 with a walk, 3 RBI, and a home run.  Taiwanese acquisition Chia-Jen Lo pitched 1.2 innings in relief, giving up a walk and two hits, striking out 1 and allowing a run on a home run to Alex Liddi.  Christopher Hicks earned the win by striking out 6 through 5.0 innings, with a run, 4 hits, and 3 runs (2 earned) allowed.  Reid Kelly earned the save despite walking two and allowing a hit in his 1.1 innings.

The Astros will be limping out of St. Louis after getting swept by the Cardinals in a three-game set to drop our overall record to 1-5, with the only win coming in extra innings against the Chicago Cubs.

The good news in this young season is that, despite their combined 0-3 record, Roy Oswalt and Wandy Rodriguez have pitched pretty well.  They would have pitched better if Roy would ignore his innate need to challenge Albert Pujols.

Russ Ortiz also looked mostly good in his sole appearance, pitching in relief. We'll see this week how he does as a starter.

It's hard to imagine a scenario in which the Astros can be competitive without Rodriguez continuing to develop as a pitcher.  He's thirty years old now, and needs to be effective right now if the Astros have any chance at all this year.

Oddly, Geoff Blum (.353/.421/.412), Hunter Pence (.318/.348/.409), Jeff Keppinger (.571/.571/1.000), and Michael Bourn are currently pacing the hitters.

Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Miguel Tejada have yet to heat up, but at least two of the three can be counted on, so I'm not overly worried. 

Ivan Rodriguez looks completely lost at times.  While he's working deep into counts, he can't finish the job.  Like Tejada, he looks like he hasn't quite come to terms with his loss of bat speed.

The best news of all is that we're off to Pittsburgh to face the 3-3 Pirates.  If we can't get out of PNC Park with at least two of three games, we're in serious trouble.

I was able to watch most of the Red Sox-Angels game on Channel 13 out here in Los Angeles, and I did see the bench-clearing brawl.  A few things came immediately to mind.  One: How in the world does Josh Beckett throw at a guy, then come that far off the mound towards the plate and not get ejected? 

If Bobby Abreu had advanced even half that far towards the mound, he would have been sent to the showers.  Beckett should have been tossed - no question about it. 

Second, when was the last time Torii Hunter was ejected from the game?  Seriously, this is a guy who commands the respect of teammates and opponents alike.  From all indications, a true class act.  I wonder if he's ever been tossed before.

Third, during the altercation, I noticed a Red Sox jersey that said "BOGAR."  Naturally, I was curious, so I looked it up.  Sure enough, it's former Astros shortstop Tim Bogar.  After a pretty good minor league managerial career - which saw him coach two MLB Futures games and get named the 2006 Best Manager Prospect in the Eastern League with the Akron Aeros (CLE), he's now the Red Sox first base coach.

Astros fans will remember the Bogar/Ricky Gutierrez years at shortstop from 1997-2000 (come to think of it, Bobby Abreu was on that 1997 team, too), where it seemed neither could establish himself as Larry Dierker's starter, so they continued to split time until the emergence of Julio Lugo as our everyday shortstop.

I've got one game left in me - Monday's matchup with the Bucs - before my posting becomes sporadic.  Tuesday, I'll be in Lake Elsinore for the California League game between the Lake Elsinore Storm (SDP) and the High Desert Mavericks (SEA).  The game is an All-You-Can-Eat affair, sponsored by Subtle Butt.

Subtle Butt is a charcoal liner with adhesive strips that you can affix to the inside of your underwear to negate the smell of "emissions" caused by things like All-You-Can-Eat days at a minor league baseball game.

I should have Internet access in my hotel, which will allow me to post an entry on the bizarre off-day between the first and second games of the Pirates series.  Then, on Wednesday, I'll be off to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday -- and the Astros' first series win of the season (fingers crossed).  That begins a fifteen-game marathon without a day off, including ten straight at Minute Maid Park.

I watched part of today's game on the St. Louis Cardinals feed on KSDK.  They highlighted some of the young Cardinals - David Freese, Joe Thurston, and Colby Rasmus.

It made me a bit wistful.  Remember when the Astros had rookies?  Those were the days.

I'll do my organizational wrap-up after the minor league games are concluded, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about today's 3-0 loss to the Cardinals.

It marked the best start of Kyle Lohse's career - he'd never allowed fewer than four hits in a game, until today when he only allowed three in his complete-game shutout.  After Kazuo Matsui turned the first pitch of the game into a single, Lohse got 24 straight Astros out before the top of the ninth, when Michael Bourn turned Lohse's 97th pitch of the game into another single.

Ninety-five straight pitches with neither a walk nor a hit.  It was almost as if the Astros didn't want to repeat yesterday's effort, in which they hit the ball all over the place and stranded almost a dozen runners.  This is one way to avoid that. 

Wandy Rodriguez got the loss despite a pretty good pitching performance.  He struck out four and walked three in 6.0 innings, giving up 5 hits and 3 runs.

Ivan Rodriguez was the only Astro putting together consistently-good at-bats, but was only able to foul off several sliders that Lohse left middle-in over the plate, making me question Pudge's bat speed.  Bourn also had a couple of good at-bats, going deep into counts.  He worked the count full twice in his 1-for-3 performance, and flew out on a well-hit ball to seventh on a 2-1 count in the third.

I'm beginning to be concerned about Lance Berkman.  Not terribly concerned, as he's still Lance Berkman, but between his sluggish start and his one-hop throws to home plate this season, I'm worried about the strength of his shoulder.  The final out, a fly-out to right off of his bat, was a good pitch to hit.  As was the previous pitch, a 3-0, 81-mph changeup over the heart of the plate that Lance just watched.  Had he jacked it, it would have been a tie game.  Had he simply made contact, it would have brought up Carlos Lee as the go-ahead run.

It's still early, it's still early, it's still early.  That's the mantra.  A 1-5 run is not the end of the world in baseball, but it looks a whole lot worse on paper in April than it does in July.  We travel to Pittsburgh now to begin our series with the Pirates, where we'll get our first look at Russ Ortiz as an Astros starter, as well as second-chance games for Mike Hampton and Brian Moehler.

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In completely unrelated news, I just watched David Ortiz try to steal a base.  Wow. You don't see that every day.

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, AL MVP Dustin Pedroia was quoted as saying that his hometown of Woodland, California, is a "dump."  He later back-pedaled, claiming that his quotes were taken out of context.  Frankly, given the way the material was laid out in the original story I read, I have very little doubt that he's correct.

Not everyone was willing to cut the dump's native son a break, however, as this article in the Woodland, CA Daily Democrat proves.  A 47-year-old man (really?) took it a little personally, and made death threats to male members of the Pedroia family.

His brother, Brett, is currently awaiting trial on charges of child molestation; and his parents own a tire store in Woodland.

A few things come to mind upon reading the article, not the least of which is that the Rhodes Scholar who made the threats hasn't exactly proven Woodland to be a wonderful little sleep burg, now has he?

Second, the article refers to Pedroia as the 2007 Rookie of the Year, not as the 2008 American League Most Valuable Player.  I found that a bit odd, since the latter is a much more prestigious - and recent - award.

Also -- is the Sergeant's name Health?  Health?

I'm mostly confused by this paragraph, though:

"On Friday at about 12:29 p.m., Sgt. Health Parson said Woodland Police responded to Valley Tire Center, located at 179 W. Main St., for a threats report.

When the officer arrived, they spoke with the caller and one of the victims in the case."

I'm trying to figure out... was the caller at the store?  Was he hanging out on the phone while the cops came?  No wonder Dustin doesn't "really get along with" the newspaper.  It's unintelligible

There were plenty of good things happening in the Houston Astros' system yesterday, as we went 3-3 as an organization.  But there was certainly some bad, too, as well as some just plain ugly.

The Good

Lexington Legends (A): Lexington had a doubleheader today to make up for Friday's postponed game against the West Virginia Power (PIT).  Some surprising names stepped up in Game 1, which the Legends won 6-3.  Most notably, outfielders Steve Brown (2-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB) and Brandon Barnes (2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI).  But overshadowing them both was catcher Federico Hernandez, whose three-run homer with two out in the fifth proved to be the game-winner.  The performance of prospect Ross Seaton was encouraging, if not overwhelmingly so.  Seaton earned the win by throwing 5.0 innings, striking out two and walking as many, with three hits and two runs allowed, one of them earned.  West Virginia's 1B Calvin Anderson had a great game, going 3-for-3 with all three of West Virginia's RBI, on two home runs, including a two-run shot off of Seaton, in the losing effort.

Lexington Legends (A): In the second game of the doubleheader, everything went Lexington's way en route to a 13-2 drubbing of West Virginia.  Too many Legends to mention had multi-hit games.  It was every bit a team effort - though 13 runs were plated, no single hitter had more than 2 RBI.  Shorstop Ronald Ramirez seemed to be the only guy struggling, adding two fielding errors to his 0-for-3 night, but even he had a walk and an RBI to help soften the blow. Lefty Brad Dydalewicz threw five innings of scoreless ball with four walks and a strikeout.  One of my favorite prospects, Jose "the other" Trinidad, threw a fairly ugly inning in relief, striking out one and issuing a walk, a hit, and a run.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA): The Hooks scored an early run on a Jhon Florentino home run with two out in the first inning.  It was the only one they'd get all night, but it was also the only one they'd need, as they downed the Tulsa Drillers (COL) 1-0.  Casey Hudspeth shut the Drillers down (with a little help from his 'pen), allowing just two hits and three walks in five innings, with three strikeouts.  Another favorite of mine, old man Andy Van Hekken (he will turn 30 in July, which is pretty much the Texas League equivalent of 100), allowed just a hit in two innings in relief, and Paul Estrada got the save with a perfect ninth.  It was a bit of an unlucky night for Tulsa's starter, Keith Weiser, who allowed just one hit and one run - Florentino's tater - while striking out 8 in 5 and a third, proving once again that win-loss records for pitchers don't tell much of a story.


The Bad

Lancaster Jethawks (A+): It's pretty bad when your team's lone highlight is an outfield assist.  On the way to a 6-1 beat-down at the hands of the High Desert Mavericks (SEA), outfielder Jack Shuck gunned down Kuo Hui Lo at third base.  All three Jethawks pitchers who made an appearance - Jeff Icenogle, Fernando Abad, and Jordan Powell - had their bad moments, but starter Icenogle really put the icing on the cake, as he beaned three Maverick hitters to go with his five hits and one walk over 4.0 innings.  The good news is that he did manage to fan 7 in that time.  Koby "Yes, He's My Dad" Clemens was the DH for the Jethawks tonight, and his 1-for-2 performance, with a double and two walks, was the offensive highlight.

The Ugly

Round Rock Express (AAA): Our good friend Mike, over at Astro-nomical, was at the Express game against the Iowa Cubs (CHC), which the Express dropped 6-1.  Starter Jeff Fulchino only went two games before being spelled by Alberto Arias, who was a mess.  Arias went 2.1 innings, giving up 6 runs (4 earned... the others courtesy of the fantastic glovework of Mark Saccomanno) on just 2 hits.  How is that possible, you ask?  Well, walking four people sure helps.  Clay Hensley threw 1.2 innings in relief, allowing no hits and just one walk to lower his ERA to a razor-thin 12.00.  Mike pointed out to me, in-game, that prospect Eli Iorg (on the Inactive list) was the team's first-base coach.  Chris Johnson, sent down to Round Rock specifically so that he could play every day, did not play.  Tommy Manzella was the hitter of the night for the Express, going 3-for-5.  Like their big league counterparts, the Express left a lot of guys on base - 11, as a matter of fact, en route to their 0-for-8 night with RISP.

Houston Astros (MLB): I don't need to tell you how bad the Astros were yesterday, losing to the Cardinals 11-2.  You know all the numbers: 8 runners left on base, 1-for-7 with RISP.  The boys were finally patient at the plate - making St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright lumber through 86 pitches in four innings - but they still couldn't get the hit when it counted, as they didn't score a run at all in those first four frames.  Roy Oswalt loves to challenge Albert Pujols, apparently forgetting that the latter is better than all of baseball combined, and Pujols responded with a grand slam and a three-run shot.  It's legitimately hard to find a bright spot for the Astros' offense.  Sadly, it almost has to be Michael Bourn, the much-maligned eighth hitter, who went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and a walk.  He saw 6.5 pitches per at-bat... is it just me, or is he alternating games where he's going 1-2 pitches per at-bat and games where he's seeing 6-8?  Like he has to go home and remind himself.

I wasn't aware when I signed up for MLB.tv, but apparently there are national blackouts on Saturday games which start after 1:10 PM ET and before 7:05 PM ET, which means I can't watch the Astros game until 45 minutes after it's over.

To know when it ends, though, I'd have to look at a page that would presumably have the score on it.  Which, I guess, is fine.

So that leaves my Saturday afternoon free, and I'm spending it watching the Red Sox-Angels game and surfing the Internet, which turned out to be great, because I caught this article about Woody Harrelson, who says that he only assaulted a TMZ photographer at La Guardia because he mistook him for a zombie.

It may actually be the best story ever written.

The Astros organization went 0-4 yesterday, thanks to bad pitching from returnee Mike Hampton, veteran Jose Capellan, Jose Duran, and prospect Polin Trinidad.

Houston Astros - The Astros lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3.  Hampton's return to the Astros rotation didn't go exactly as planned.  It took him 33 pitches to get out of the first inning alone. He walked four, allowed 4 hits and 3 earned runs in 5.0 innings.  The good news is he struck out one per inning.  The Astros continue to show bad discipline at the plate.  Ivan Rodriguez is swinging at 44.4% of the pitches he's seeing off the plate (he swung at 36.6% in 2009), and making contact 56.3% of the time (65.1% last season.)  It doesn't take a genius to see that if you're swinging at more balls, and making contact with fewer of them, maybe you need to slow things down.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express dropped a 6-2 decision to the Iowa Cubs (CHC).  Capellan went five innings, striking out just one while walking 3, giving up 9 hits, and allowing 5 earned runs.  Samuel Gervacio didn't fare a whole lot better in relief, owing largely to his own throwing error and a Lou Santangelo passed ball.  Reggie Abercrombie was Reggie Abercrombie - 1-for-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Leadoff man Brian Bogusevic had the best night at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Corpus lost 4-2 to the Tulsa Drillers (COL).  Trinidad ran hot and cold, striking out 6 batters in 6 innings, but also issuing a walk with 7 hits and 4 earned runs, including 2 home rus.  Altogether, though, not really a terrible outing from Polin.

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - Lancaster lost to the High Desert Mavericks (SEA) 9-7.  Held scoreless through five innings, the Jethawks took off in the sixth.  They'd score in each of the final 4 frames, including a 4-run eighth, but it wasn't enough to overcome Duran's terrible start.  He went 2.0 innings, allowing 8 hits, 7 earned runs, a walk, and 2 strikeouts.  Chia-Jen Lo made his U.S. debut, going two innings in relief, striking out two, walking two, and giving up no hits or runs.  The offense was paced by the "Killer Js": Jason Castro went 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season; OF Jack Shuck went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI; and OF Jonathan Gaston went 2-for-3 and drew a walk.  3B David Flores also had two hits, both doubles.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends' game against the West Virginia Power (PIT) was rained out.  They will make it up with a doubleheader today.

I've been meaning to start a feature on my blog called What Happened Was...  Eventually, I'd like to do nibs on all of the Major League games, but for now, I'll focus on the previous day's games among the Astros organization.

Obviously, the opening Astros-Cubs series escaped my scrutiny.  Lucky for everyone involved, really, because it wasn't pretty.  Not even the game we somehow won.

Houston Astros - The Astros had a day off before beginning their series tonight in St. Louis.

Round Rock Express (AAA) - The Express got their 2009 season off on the right foot, beating the Iowa Cubs (CHC) 10-4 behind home runs by Reggie Abercrombie, Mark Saccomanno, J.R. Towles, and Brian Bogusevic - four players who can expect to see time in the majors this season.  John Gall went 1-for-1 with 3 walks. Chris Johnson was the only starter without a hit, but he still got in on the act with a sacrifice fly.  Felipe Paulino pitched five scoreless innings with six strikeouts, which is great news, but all four Iowa runs came off of Clay Hensley, who threw just an inning and a third, which is not great news.

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks bested the Tulsa Drillers (COL) in their first action of the year, 9-3.  Brian Esposito had a home run, as did Collin DeLome, one of my favorite Astros prospects.  Sergio Perez, one of the Astros' few legitimate pitching prospects, allowed a run in five innings of work, struck out just one, and walked three on the way to the win. 

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - The Jethawks lost to the High Desert Mavericks (SEA) 9-3, but let's be honest.  There are only a few names most Astros fans care about in Lancaster, and only one of them played in this game: Jason Castro went 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout. Shane Wolf only made it four and a third, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 4.  I'll take the K/9 rate right - just under 9 - for right now, but the 2.00 K/BB isn't promising.  Michael Pineda for the Mavericks, on the other hand, struck out 7 in 5 innings, and Phillipe Aumont - who we last saw in the World Baseball Classic - threw a fairly clean inning in relief with a strikeout and a hit.

Lexington Legends (A) - The Legends beat the West Virginia Power (PIT) 5-4 in their Opening Day matchup.  There's one name you need to know above all others on this team: Jay Austin.  Austin is a Michael Bourn type - a speedy, athletic, rangy outfielder.  He's even less polished at the plate than Bourn, but shows a lot of promise.  Austin went 1-for-5 as the leadoff man against West Virginia.  The hero of the night was third baseman Ebert Rosario, who went 3-for-4 with a single, double, triple, and 2 RBI.  Top prospect Jordan Lyles earned the win despite a fairly lackluster 3 K in 5 innings, giving up 5 hits, a walk, and 2 runs. Surprisingly effective was Henry Villar, who struck out 5 in 2 relief innings. He did give up 3 hits, 2 walks, and a run, but a very promising start for the 22-year-old righty. 

Of course, Tri-City and Greeneville don't begin their seasons for quite a while.  All in all, the Houston organization went 3-1 yesterday.  Not a bad start to the season for the worst minor league system in baseball.

There's a clever commercial for "MLB '09: The Show," in which cover boy and reigning AL MVP winner Dustin Pedroia complains to the designers of the game that they put a hole in his swing.

When they remark that it was intentional, and that they're going to keep it for the sake of realism, the camera cuts back to Pedroia, who is polishing his MVP trophy.  "How many MVPs do you know who can't hit that pitch?"

"Aside from you?" the game designer asks, and then thinks hard in silence.

It's a great little commercial.  Upon first viewing, it seems Pedroia is willing to poke a little bit of fun at himself, which is always a good thing.

Then again, we don't know Dustin Pedroia all that well.  The little big man has always appeared to be a little smug; perhaps it was a byproduct of his diminutive stature, we reasoned.  Or maybe something really was there.  Maybe the persona of the spoiled athlete that he used to make the commercial so funny wasn't so far from the truth, after all.

An interview Pedroia did with Boston Magazine recently quoted him as calling his hometown of Woodland, California - where his parents own a tire store - a "dump." 

The dump's native son admitted he was angry with the town for an unspecified reason.  His brother, Brett, has pleaded not guilty on child molestation charges in Woodland for inappropriate behavior with a boy under the age of 14.

I have no problem with players venting, or even with disliking their hometown.  I'm not that crazy about my own, and if I achieved some amount of celebrity, I wouldn't hide that fact.  What concerned me was this line:

"I come from your town. You should embrace me. I play for the Boston Red Sox. You haven't had a lot of major leaguers come out of your city."

Yeesh.  Really, Dustin Pedroia?  Because you happened to get a job in Major League Baseball, you deserve deference from the city of Woodland, California?   They should embrace you because you're able to get on-base at a nearly 40% clip? 

Pedroia finds himself slowly sliding into Spoiled Athlete territory, along with his teammate Jonathan Papelbon. 

Papelbon made some comments in an interview with Esquire Magazine about former teammate Manny Ramirez.  Like a jilted lover, he continues to talk about Manny.  To wonder if Manny's talking about him.  If they're looking at the same moon.  Is Manny wearing a new cologne?  Do you ever see him out?  Does he ever talk about me?

The interview, in Papelbon insensitively called Ramirez a "cancer" and compared a baseball season to a war a la Kellen Winslow, by saying that, "if you're not in that same cubbyhole with the rest of the guys going to war with you, you're all going to die. That almost happened."

Now, re-read that last quote in the light of the Nick Adenhart story, and tell me why it's an awful thing for Papelbon to say.

Given the chance to soften his stance in March, three months after his interview (which had come on the heels of the frustrating season and loss in the ALCS), Papelbon refused.  When asked if he'd heard anything from his teammates, he said no... "they all know that's the truth," he said.

Terry Francona, his manager, simply shrugged and said, "That's his personality."

Yep, spoiled malcontent.  That's his personality.  Whatcha gonna do?

If that was the worst of it, then I wouldn't be so angry.  But this morning, I woke up to another Papelbon interview - is this guy trying to make up for the loss of Curt Schilling? 

In the debut of his weekly web-only interview segment on Comcast SportsNet, Papelbon complained about being asked to walk through the Fenway Park stands in a symbolic gesture to thank the fans for their loyalty and support.

Not Cinco Ocho's style.  "I know the fans probably loved it," he said, but "you do have to be safe, especially walking down the steps and stuff like that."

I thought he was a war-fighting soldier?  Now he's afraid of steps?  Seriously?  Especially walking down the steps?   The steps?

He then ended with "Just a terrible idea by [Red Sox senior vice president] Sarah McKenna, that was the person who came up with this idea, very stupid of her," Papelbon said. "And if she pulls another act like that, she can go down to Pawtucket."

I'm sorry, but I cannot read that last quote without seeing red.  What a completely self-important thing to say.  That's your boss, skippy.  She's also your teammate, by the way.  You wouldn't want anyone to think you're not supporting a teammate, now, would you?

Oh, right.  Never mind, that's just your personality.  Cue Francona.

My heart goes out to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Last night, I went to bed with the news that one of their fans had been killed in a fight at the stadium.  Someone had come up from behind and punched him, causing him to fall and hit his head.

When I got to work this morning, I was greeted with the local news report that pitcher Nick Adenhart, and another member of the Angels' organization, had been killed in an alcohol-related car accident. 

There's simply nothing profound you can say at a time like this.  Adenhart had a very bright future in baseball, and in the world.  And it was a senseless act that brought his end.

So instead, all I can do is offer my prayers on this Passover.

I was very glad when the Astros announced that the Lancaster Jethawks of the California League would be their new A-Advanced affiliate.  Lancaster's just an hour away from my house, and I will finally be able to get out and see some Astros farmhands in person on a somewhat regular basis.

The one player I'd hoped for was Chia-Jen Lo, the Astros' first Taiwanese player.  Many have said he may well be the closer of the future.  Well, the assignments were announced today and I got my wish.  Along with Lo, there are several other Jethawks I'm looking forward to seeing in person:

C Koby Clemens: Yes, the former third baseman.  Yes, the son of that Clemens.
C Jason Castro: Last year's #10 overall pick and the savior of choice for many desperate Astros fans
2B Marcos Cabral: Make-or-break season. Cabral went .289/.374/.402 in 2007 in Class A Hagerstown for Florida; last year, mixed results in the Toronto system
LHP Shane Wolf: 1.328 WHIP and 7.4 K/9 last year with Tri-City
LHP David Duncan: No, not that Dave Duncan...
OF T.J. Steele: One of the top ten names in baseball, right behind Hiram Bocachica (is he still around?)
OF Brian Pellegrini: Showed really good power in Lexington last year (.226/.331/.503).

When the Astros traded the Reds for utilityman Jeff Keppinger, not everyone was as enthused as I am.  But tonight, he introduced himself to Houston in his very first at-bat as an Astro.  In the bottom of the tenth inning with men on the corners, the Cubs decided to ask their new closer, Kevin Gregg, to walk Miguel Tejada to get to Keppinger. 

Then, with the bases loaded, Gregg fell behind 2-1.  With the bases loaded and the count in his favor, Kepp knew he could sit on a fastball, and that's exactly what he did.  He got the fastball and knocked it through the infield, breaking his bat in the process, but scoring Ivan Rodriguez to win the game 3-2, evening the series with Chicago.

A great finish to a good game that featured bad calls on both sides (Reed Johnson beat out an acrobatic play by Tejada, but was called out at first anyway to end an inning; Geoff Blum reached third on a Michael Bourn slap bunt that left Cubs shortstop Aaron Miles off the bag, but Blum was called out.)  LaTroy Hawkins proved that he is not invincible when he dons the Astros uniform, blowing a save in the eighth by giving up a monster home run to Alfonso Soriano.

I was happy to see the Astros working the count, something they didn't do terribly well last year.  They pushed Cubs starter Ryan Dempster up to 95 pitches before he departed after 6.0 innings.  Cubs reliever Aaron Heilman threw 30 pitches.  If baseball is a war of attrition, the Astros are making early work of the Cubs' arms.

I ran the numbers during the game, and the Astros hit .316 against Dempster during plate appearances that lasted 4 pitches or less.  They went 0-4 with 3 walks (.429 OBP) on at-bats that lasted 5 pitches or more.

Against the bullpen, they went 0-for-3 during at-bats that lasted less than 4 pitches; 4-for-10 with 3 walks (.538 OBP) on at-bats going 4 pitches or more.

That's not a coincidence.  They worked the count early against Dempster, despite limited results, which allowed them to get to the weaker arms in the bullpen, who they then took advantage of.  Now, it's no surprise that they hit .200 during one-pitch at-bats.  A 1.600 SLG on two-pitch at-bats is a bit surprising, though.

Former Astro Randy Johnson stands on the verge -- just 5 wins away from his 300th victory.

And, as always seems to happen whenever there's a 300-game winner, he is being heralded as the last of a dying breed.

You know the drill: Before Johnson, Tom Glavine was supposed to be the last 300-game winner.  Before him, Greg Maddux was supposed to be the last.  Before him, it was Roger Clemens.  The death of the 300-game winner, it seems, has been greatly overstated.

True, the gap between Johnson and the next legitimate candidate is pretty wide.  And true, innings pitched and games started are down.

And true -- perhaps the most important part -- we're starting to realize that the Win is an overrated stat.  The pitcher with the most wins is not necessarily the best pitcher, but 300 of them is a significant accomplishment.  A pitcher can throw an amazing game and not get a win.  Likewise, he can throw a terrible game and get a win.

Let's take a look at Glavine and Maddux, the last 300-game winners, Johnson, probably the next 300-game winner, and some of the top candidates to be the one after that.

Johnson was a steady performer, but his numbers didn't really begin to skyrocket until his age 29 year, at which point he won 17 or more games 8 out of the next 9 seasons.  He didn't have his first 10-win season until he was 26 - just a year younger than Zambrano and Sabathia are right now.

What does it take to be a 300-game winner?  You'd have to be a 20-game winner fifteen times to get to 300, or a fifteen-game winner twenty times.  A single-digit win season puts a pitcher off of the mark - but you can see now that Glavine, Maddux, and Johnson all had single-digit seasons, but their longevity helped them make up for it. 

We're probably never going to see another "Kid Nichols," who became a 300-game winner at the age of thirty.  He had seven thirty-plus win seasons - not likely for any other pitcher to accomplish without a drastic change in the way the game is played.  At the age of 20, he won twenty-seven.

Sabathia won seventeen at the age of twenty.

I'm not ready to say that none of these guys is going to reach three hundred.  After the 2008 season, C.C. Sabathia had 117 wins at the age of 27 - more than either Glavine, Maddux, or Johnson had at that age.  He's also thrown more innings (253) than Glavine (267) or Maddux (265) at that point.

All 11 on-field logos from yesterday's games.  Thanks to Dan Chichalski for the compilation.

Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs came into Houston and took Opening Day from Roy Oswalt and the Astros.

I was at work during the game, and I'm still waiting on MLB.tv to post the archive so I can watch the game, but I do have a few thoughts.

Before I ever started this blog, I lobbied hard on the Astros.com boards this offseason for Felipe Lopez to be our starting shortstop, moving Tejada to third base.  We didn't sign the switch-hitting Lopez, obviously, and today he homered from both sides of the plate for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

When the Marlins traded Scott Olsen for Emilio Bonifacio, I thought it was a pretty ridiculous trade.  It's still only the first game, but his inside-the-park home run today was unexpected, to say the least.

Less unexpected was Jordan Schafer's Opening Night home run.  Schafer, who should hit 12-15 home runs this year, will never be able to hit one of them without his HGH issues coming up. 

The Rays-Red Sox game was postponed.  Judging from the World Series and Opening Day, one has to wonder if the Rays have cursed weather following them around these days.

From everything I've heard, Michael Bourn looked very comfortable at the plate today.  If he can put together good at-bats, the Astros will strongly benefit.  Ivan Rodriguez, from all reports, looked lost.  I'm not terribly concerned; his spring was good, and it's just one game.  I still don't like him hitting second in the order.

It's great to have baseball back.  The world feels right again.

Now, I'm pretty good at keeping up with all of the Astros' roster moves, even in the minor leagues.  I don't like being surprised when a guy comes up through the pipeline, like Runelvys Hernandez or Tomas Perez. 

And, usually, I don't.

But while looking at Round Rock's roster tonight, I came across a familiar name that I hadn't realized was still with the Astros organization: Micah Bowie. 

Bowie, a left-handed pitcher, has been with everyone: The Cubs, Braves, Athletics, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Rockies, and Astros.  We signed him as a minor league free agent on July 3, 2008 when he became a free agent rather than accept a Triple-A assignment with the Rockies.

So did we re-sign him, or is that simply a misprint on MiLB.com, which is rarely the most up-to-date source of information?  Color me puzzled.

My favorite part of baseball is the numbers.  The numbers dictate everything, and everything can be quantified.

It's simple economics.  At the beginning of each game, each team has the same amount of currency, Outs.  They must find a way to spend their twenty-seven allotted outs to get as many Runs as possible.  They can spend them on sacrifices.  They can spend them on strikeouts.  They can spend them productively or non-productively.

The team that comes back with the most Runs after expending their Outs wins.  If they have the same number, each team gets three more Outs until there's a winner.

Unlike any other sport, each team is given the same number of opportunities.  It's up to them to build a roster that capitalizes the most on their own opportunities, while preventing their opponents from capitalizing on theirs.

A home run is a bargain.  A strikeout is a lemon.  A double-play is defective.  A sacrifice fly is equitable - one run for one out, thank you very much.

4,374.  27 outs in each of 162 games.  Let's play ball.

I'll admit, I've been back and forth and round on round on whether or not to throw my own predictions out into the wilderness.  Every year, everyone feels the need to voice their opinion, before a single game has been played, until it becomes as so much white noise.

But what the hey, everyone else is doing it.  My own system uses statistical models based on the career paths of players with high similarity scores, much like PECOTA, but mine is influenced more by the depth of individual teams' farm systems.  Therefore, teams with shallow systems tend to fare worse than teams with stronger systems.

The methodology is still being tweaked, but here we go:

Phil Nevin was a great Padre.  So why was he so bad everywhere else?

Phil Nevin's worst season in San Diego (min. 150 AB): .279/.339/.487 in 2003
Phil Nevin's best season outside of San Diego (min. 150 AB): .239/.323/.438 in 2006, split between the Rangers, Cubs, and Brewers

So why was he so successful with one club, but not with any others?

Nevin, who was selected #1 overall in the 1992 draft by the Houston Astros, played in 12 seasons.  6.5 of them were with the San Diego Padres, where he hit .288/.359/.503, and 156 of his 208 career home runs.

The other 6.5 were spent between the Astros, Tigers, Angels, Rangers, Cubs, and Brewers, he hit .229/.303/.398. 

Nevin played in San Diego from the ages of 28-34.  By the time he left, he was well into his natural decline.  Still, 504 of his final 558 at-bats were in hitter-friendly parks: Wrigley and Ameriquest Fields. 

He played in two different parks in San Diego, Qualcomm and Petco, both pitchers' parks.  But that didn't seem to deter him, and he certainly seemed to play well in NL West parks.  Of all stadiums where he had at least 50 at-bats, five of the ten where he was most productive were in the NL West:

1. Coors Field: .364/.462/.705, 184 tOPS+
5. AT&T Park: .321/.387/.511, 121 tOPS+
8. Qualcomm Stadium: .390/.359/.502, 111 tOPS+
9. Dodger Stadium: .282/.352/.509, 110 tOPS+
10. Chase Field: .284/.330/.521, 107 tOPS+

He didn't fare as well at his own home parks, outside of Qualcomm:

12. Petco Park: .264/.346/.438, 94 tOPS+
14. Ameriquest Field: .246/.309/.469, 90 tOPS+
17. Tiger Stadium: .241/.325/.418, 83 tOPS+
17. HHH Metrodome: .259/.338/.397, 83 tOPS+

Though he only had 44 plate appearances at the Astrodome, he did worse there than at any stadium where he did have 50 at-bats:

24. Astrodome: .079/.205/.158, -7 tOPS+

The only other home park in which he performed well was Wrigley Field, which was his home park for just 67 games:

6. Wrigley Field: .288/.360/.540, 119 tOPS+

Nevin was a groundball hitter (43.1%), which goes a long way towards his success in traditional pitchers' parks.  He also showed a tremendous ability to hit with Ducks On The Pond:

Bases Empty: .267/.331/.462, 94 tOPS+
Runner on 1: .274/.339/.493, 103 tOPS+
Runner on 2: .262/.377/.445, 104 tOPS+
Runner on 3: .236/.355/.382, 85 tOPS+
Runners on 1,2: .226/.320/.478, 95 tOPS+
Runners on 1,3: .333/.343/.497, 105 tOPS+
Runners on 2,3: .301/.438/.534, 141 tOPS+
Bases Loaded: .397/.422/.621, 155 tOPS+

That's a .422 OBP with bases loaded.  Compared to other third NL third basemen during this time, this is pretty good.  For instance:

Chipper Jones: .313/.361/.527, 85 tOPS+
Robin Ventura: .340/.370/.676, 154 tOPS+
Adrian Beltre: .267/.303/.453, 91 tOPS+

During his seasons in San Diego, Nevin averaged 2.05 BtWins, compared to an average of -5.78 with his other clubs.  It seems that he was simply a player who fit his own park very well, as well as the parks within his division. 

This time of year, it can get confusing when we constantly hear that players are being "waived."  I remember, not too long ago, hearing this and assuming that it meant that the player wouldn't be around much longer.  I learned that, while sometimes that's true, sometimes it isn't.

What fun would any of this be if there were direct answers?

Since I was the guy who essentially began a blog to describe the Rule 4 draft, I figured I would make it my duty to explain to my outstanding readership about waivers.

Basically, a "waiver" means that a player's contract is available to be claimed by any of 29 Major League Baseball organizations.  There are four types of waivers: Outright, Optional, Unconditional Release, and Trade.

Outright - If a team wants to remove a player from their 40-man roster and place him on a minor league team within their own organization, they must first send him through Outright waivers.

Optional - Occasionally, even a player with options can't be optioned to the minors without being placed on waivers.  If a team wants to move a player from their active roster to their minor leagues, but keep him on their 40-man roster, they must first place him on Optional waivers.

Unconditional Release - Pretty simple stuff here.  If a team wants to release a player from their organization entirely, he is placed on Unconditional Release waivers.

Trade - Trade waivers are the most popular, I suppose.  After the "non-waiver" trading deadline (July 31), players must be placed on Trade waivers before they can be sent from one team to another. 

No matter the waiver type, when a club wants to place a player on waivers, they enter his name into a system called eBIS, which sends a notice to all 30 clubs once a day.  Clubs then have until 2:00 PM on the second business day thereafter to place a claim for the player.  During Spring Training, all days are considered business days. 

If no one makes a claim, the waiver is considered "secured" and the club can make the roster move (trade, release, or demotion).  They do not have to make the move (except on Unconditional Release Waivers), but they now have permission to make it. 

If an organization makes, and is awarded, a claim (and they cannot be retracted), then the following occurs:

Outright - The player must be placed on the 25-man roster of the claiming club, if the claim was made in-season.  If it's the offseason, he must be placed on the 40-man roster of the claiming club.  The player's new team must pay his old team a sum of $20,000 ($25,000 for a Rule 5 pick.)

Optional - A player who is claimed from Optional waivers, he can't be moved by his current club to the minor leagues.  This kind of waiver claim is never made - I don't know of a single example of it being exercised, and can't really imagine a reason why it would be.

Trade - A player who is claimed off of Trade waivers must be traded to the team who made the claim.  If they can't work out a trade, he can be given back to his original club or given to the claiming club for a $20,000 waiver price. 

In 2007, Oakland placed Esteban Loaiza on Trade waivers and the Dodgers claimed him.  The two teams couldn't reach a trade agreement, so the A's decided to just send Loaiza and his albatross contract to the Dodgers, also getting some $20K in the process.

Bart Given, former Blue Jays Assistant General Manager, estimates that 75-80% of players are placed on Trade waivers in August or September,  though most are pulled back immediately without any discussion between teams. 

Unconditional Release - It costs a team $1.00 to claim a player off of URs, but most players clear these waivers easily.  Take Gary Sheffield, for instance.  Why would you claim him off of waivers, essentially telling the Tigers you'll take his full salary, when you can wait for him to clear, at which point they're on the hook for his full salary, and your club can sign him at the league minimum?

It's difficult to get away from the economic woes rending their way through the United States and beyond.  Baseball, which commissioner Bud Selig used to think of as recession-proof, no longer is.

The wacky free agent market, which saw Ivan Rodriguez go from a 4-year/$40 million contract to a 1-year/$1.5 million contract with incentives, was either a much-needed market correction, or a sign of the times to come.

Cactus League attendance was down, and those that did attend games aren't spending as much on concessions as they have in the past.  Area hotels are reporting losses up to 30 percent.  The Team Marketing Report came out today, and it shows that besides the Mets and Yankees, who have raised prices to help open their new ballparks, the other 28 teams have either held even or reduced their average ticket prices.

Several teams, including the Cincinnati Reds and the ever-cost-conscious San Diego Padres, are offering great deals on concessions for fans to come to the games.  MLB.com has a Fan Value Corner, which highlights some of these great deals, designed to get fans to spend what precious few dollars they may have at the ballpark.

Still, even with the great deals, attendance is expected to be down, maybe by as much as 17-20%.  What does all of this mean for baseball?

It seems reasonable to expect that fans, eager to get to the ballpark, may start shifting their attention to local minor league affiliates, who generally have much greater deals, and really great promotions.  The Buffalo Bisons, the Mets' Triple-A International League affiliate, has announced that they will be giving free Opening Day tickets to unemployed fans. 

Will more minor league teams begin to see the success the Cincinnati Reds' Single-A Midwest League affiliate Dayton Dragons have seen in the past two decades?  It's possible.  Another option for economically-strapped baseball fans are the many independent leagues: The American Association, Atlantic League, Can-Am League, Continental Baseball League, Frontier League, Golden Baseball League, Northern League, and United League all provide reasonably-priced entertainment for baseball fans.

Many experts have pointed to the fact that Major League Baseball survived the Depression, and while I have no doubt that it will be just fine through this recession, that was a much different league than it is today.

I'll keep today's entry short and sweet, as I have to prepare for a rather important meeting.

The Astros organization released twenty minor leaguers yesterday.  Very few surprises in the mix:

The Pitchers

Eduin Ciriaco, LHP (23): Undrafted free agent from the Dominican Republic.  Ciriaco spent two years in the Houston organization, with a combined 3-2 record in 33 games (3 starts), 3.82 ERA, 1.13 WHIP between Greeneville and Tri-City.  Those are very good numbers, and and thebest ones came in 2008 with Tri-City, where he went 2-0 in 37.1 relief innings, with a 1.13 WHIP, and led the team with a 2.65 ERA. 
Colt Adams, RHP (23): 18th Round (549th Overall), 2006 draft.  After a forgettable three seasons in the Houston organization, this Dixie State College of Utah product has been released.  In those three seasons in Greeneville, Tri-City, and Lexington, he put together a 3-6 line in 24 games (13 starts), 66.1 innings, 8.41 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, and just 39 strikeouts.
Corey Bass, RHP (24): 47th Round (1,408th Overall), 2004 draft from Pearl River Community College.
Anthony Bello, LHP (23): 21st Round (639th Overall), 2006 draft from Nova Southeastern University. 
Pascual Juan, LHP (24): Undrafted free agent from the Dominican Republic.  Most recently pitched in the San Diego organization; he went 1-2 with a 12.71 ERA and 2.12 WHIP in Short Season Eugene.
Michael Koons, RHP (23): Undrafted free agent from Arizona State University.
Sean Walker, RHP (26): Undrafted free agent from George Mason University. 
David Qualben, LHP (23): 7th Round (219th Overall), 2006 draft from Pace University. 
Brett Robinson, RHP (24): Undrafted free agent from University of North Carolina - Asheville.  Robinson had a great year in 2007, going 1-2 in 21 games with 6 saves, 25 strikeouts to just a single walk, a 3.38 ERA, and a 1.16 WHIP.  The promotion to Salem in 2008 did not agree with him.
Tom Vessella, LHP (23): 11th Round (339th Overall), 2006 draft from Whittier College. 

The Position Players

Billy Hart, OF (26): 5th Round (164th Overall), 2005 draft from USC.  Hart spent three seasons in Single-A ball between Tri-City and Salem, so I suppose it's no surprise that by the end, he was very good at it.  After going .305/.385/.451 in 2007 against players three years younger than he, he faltered slightly in 2008 with a .349 OBP and a .404 SLG.  At 26 years old, however, he's falling far behind, and is getting too old to be in AA, even for the Astros.
Jeff Eure, 1B/3B (28): 18th Round (538th Overall), 2001 draft from Old Dominion University by the Brewers.  28 years old and having never played above Double-A ball, Eure hasn't played since 2007. 
Cat Everett, SS (23): 44th Round (1,312nd Overall), 2007 draft from Tulane University.  After a puzzling .229/.367/.253, in which Everett drew 38 walks in 211 plate appearances, he regressed both offensively and defensively at Salem.
Jimmy Goethals, C (26): Undrafted free agent from Menlo College.  A career .154 batting average through four minor league seasons.  'Nuff said.
Josh Pressley, 1B (29): 4th Round (132nd Overall), 1998 from Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  The bad news is that Pressley has spent time in the Devil Rays, Mets, Royals, Marlins, Cardinals, Red Sox, and Astros organizations from 1998-2006, never breaking into the minors for a single at-bat.  The good news is he can now return to the Somerset Patriots, where he was the Atlantic League Player of the Year in 2008.
Jason Romano, OF (29): 1st Round (39th Overall), 1997 draft from Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida, by the Texas Rangers.  Particularly astute fans will recognize Romano, who played in parts of 4 major league seasons, splitting 190 at-bats between the Reds, Devil Rays, Dodgers, Rangers, and Rockies.  He hasn't played in the majors since 2005, or the minors since 2006.
Ole Sheldon, 1B (26): 14th Round (424th Overall), 2004 draft from the University of Oklahoma.  Had a great year in 2008 (.282/.383/.820), which was actually something of a regression, but a 26-year-old in AA raises some red flags.  Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see him catch on somewhere.
Jason Tyner, OF (31): 1st Round (21st Overall), 1998 draft from Texas A&M University, by the New York Mets.  Easily the most recognizable name on this list.  Tyner has played parts of 8 seasons in the majors for the Mets, Devil Rays, Twins, and Indians.  He's also spent time in the minors with the the Mets, Devil Rays, Indians, Braves, Brewers, and White Sox.  He was promptly signed by the Milwaukee Brewers organization today upon his release from the Astros organization.