One Third of the Way Done

Well, we're at the one third mark of the 2013 season and the Astros find themselves coming off a 3-1 series win over the Rockies bringing their record on the year to 17-37. That puts them on pace to go 51-111 on the year, which doesn't sound great, but it at least isn't going to set any records for futility outside of Houston. Some projections based the first third:

C - Jason Castro .286, 45 2B, 18 HR, 48 RBI, 45 BB, 141 K

1B - Carlos Pena .231, 27 2B, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 87 BB, 165 K

2B - Jose Altuve .302, 33 2B, 6 HR, 63 RBI, 42 BB, 75 K, 24 SB

3B - Matt Dominguez .238, 24 2B, 24 HR, 78 RBI, 18 BB, 96 K

SS - Marwin Gonzalez .237, 21 2B, 9 HR, 33 RBI, 15 BB, 75 K, 12 SB

LF - J.D. Martinez .282, 30 2B, 15 HR, 60 RBI, 15 BB, 99 K

CF - Brandon Barnes .295, 12 2B, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 21 BB, 78 K, 12 SB

RF - Jimmy Paredes .237, 12 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 12 BB, 57 K

DH - Chris Carter .218, 12 2B, 30 HR, 84 RBI, 60 BB, 231 K

BN - Carlos Corporan .311, 9 2B, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 15 BB, 48 K

BN - Ronny Cedeno .288, 12 2B, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 9 BB, 54 K

BN - Trevor Crowe .243, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 9 BB, 24 K

SP - Bud Norris 12-12, 3.71 ERA, 189 IP, 114 K

SP - Lucas Harrell 12-18, 5.37 ERA, 191 IP, 105 K

SP - Erik Bedard 0-6, 5.32 ERA, 132 IP, 126 K

SP - Jordan Lyles 6-3, 4.50 ERA, 96 IP, 69 K

SP - Dallas Keuchel 3-6, 5.53 ERA, 122 IP, 84 K

RP - Hector Ambriz 3-6, 4.68 ERA, 75 IP, 63 K, 27 HLD

RP - Travis Blackley 0-0, 3.66 ERA, 59 IP, 54 K, 21 HLD

RP - Wesley Wright 0-3, 4.22 ERA, 64 IP, 54 K, 12 HLD

RP - Paul Clemens 9-6, 4.13 ERA, 98 IP, 72 K, 15 HLD

RP - Jose Cisnero 3-0, 3.13 ERA, 69 IP, 57 K

RP - Brad Peacock 3-9, 8.51 ERA, 73 IP, 63 K, 3 HLD

CL - Jose Veras 0-12, 4.70 ERA, 69 IP, 72 K, 24 SV

Some of the highlights for the first half as far as numbers go:

*Paul Clemens and Jose Cisnero each earned their first Major League wins.

*Jose Veras already has a career high 8 saves

*Hector Ambriz already has a carer high 9 holds and recorded his first Major League save.

*Carlos Corporan is just one homer shy of tying his career high of 4 set last year.

*Jason Castro's 15 doubles and 6 homers have tied career highs set last year.

*Marwin Gonzalez already has set career highs in homers and steals and needs just 1 more rbi to match last year's total.

*Trevor Crowe's home run was his first at the Major League Level since 2010.

*Erik Bedard is on pace to make 27 starts this year, the most for him since 2007 when he made 28.

*Carlos Pena's .231 average is his highest since he hit .247 in 2008 for the Rays.

The following Astros have made their Major League Debuts this season:

Paul Clemens

Brett Oberholtzer

Jose Cisnero

Robbie Grossman

Josh Fields

Random Thoughts on Things We Can Do Better

1) While I understand Bo Porter wants to settle on a lineup instead of continuing to play musical chairs with his outfielders, I can't say I'm thrilled that he selected J.D. Martinez over Trevor Crowe or Brandon Barnes. While J.D. hits for power, and he's had a good series against Detroit so far (4/7 with 3 doubles in the first two games), he doesn't strike me as someone who's ever going to be anything more than mediocre. He doesn't run well, he's not a plus defender, he doesn't draw many walks... I guess I'm not sure why he opted to go that direction instead of giving more playing time to Barnes (the only outfielder we have hitting over .250), or Crowe (switch-hitter with good speed). The only thing I can think of is that J.D. is getting one last chance to prove he's able to play at this level, and playing him every day is the only real way to assess that. And if that's the case, I'm all right with it as I get that this season is about more than just winning games. Still, I think Barnes and Crowe both deserve a chance to show they're more than role players... And as I write that J.D. hits a 3-run homer off Scherzer. Still not in love with the guy's game though.

2) I get that our pitchers are young, but you CANNOT give up a Grand Slam on an 0-2 pitch. That's horrendous. I pitched through college, and I know nothing would fire up my coach like a bad 0-2 pitch. And by bad, I mean good. That pitch is supposed to be unhittable. It's a pitcher's opportunity to waste a pitch and get a guy to chase. Bud Norris, our ace, giving up a Grand Slam on an 0-2 pitch in a 3-2 game is not good. It put a close game out of reach and as the ace, it's his job to keep us in games like that and give us a chance to win. It's little things like that that separate us from the good teams in the AL, and until we can learn to execute, we're going to continue to struggle.

3) We're 40 games into the season and Carlos Pena has THREE home runs. That concerns me. I think it's great that he draws walks, and that he's scoring runs, but how's a guy like that only have three homers? Carlos Corporan has three homers. MARWIN GONZALEZ has three homers. If Pena's not going to hit for power, he shouldn't be hitting in those power spots in the lineup. Let him hit #2, we know he can bunt.

4) What's Paul Clemens got to do to get some meaningful innings? Yes, he's been great as the long man in the pen, but why not use his talents at the back end of the bullpen. Let Cisnero and Edgar Gonzalez be the long relievers. Ambriz hasn't been BAD, but he hasn't been good enough that we shouldn't be looking at other options there. I think Clemens has that power arm that could be a game changer for us, and I just feel like we're wasting him on mop-up duty right now.

5) Couple roster decisions looming as Josh Fields continues his rehab and Justin Maxwell gets closer to a return from his broken hand. My gut tells me Cisnero and J.D. are the two on the hot seat. Cisnero hasn't necessarily done any wrong, but he's not getting any work, which means he isn't going to be getting any better. He's young enough that he still needs to get innings so when Fields comes back, it makes sense that he'd go unless Ambriz just completely implodes. For the outfielders, I think it has to be J.D. unless he keeps hitting the way he has in Detroit in which case it probably means Crowe is the odd man out. At least there's competition. It's not much, but it's a start.

10 Reasons to be Optimistic Even Though We Lost the Last Two Games:

1) Chris Carter has struck out just 4 times in his last 7 games after striking out 49 times in his first 28. During this recent stretch, Carter is 6 for 18 with 5 runs batted in.

2) Philip Humber pitched 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen on Thursday night and didn't allow a hit while fanning 3 and walking one. Maybe a move to the pen is just what he needs to turn things around.

3) Trevor Crowe, not known for his power, hit his first home run as an Astro last night off of Alexi Ogando.

4) When Houston faced Ogando in April he fanned 10 hitters in 6 1/3 shutout innings. Last night he didn't make it through six innings and fanned only 3. That, my friends, is progress.

5) Dallas Keuchel turned in a quality start in his first appearance in the Astros rotation this year allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings. Yeah, we didn't get a win, but if you're a realist, you recognize this year isn't about wins, it's about evaluating talent. Keuchel has been a pleasant surprise this year in whatever role he's been asked to fill and could help bolster a shaky rotation if he continues to pitch well.

6) Losing close games is frustrating, but having close games is a step in the right direction. If you think about it, the Astros could have very easily gone 6-2 over the last 8 games. Yeah, we're only 2-6 during that stretch, but that's about learning how to win more than it is learning to play good baseball. We're getting there, and that's reason to be excited.

7) We're two weeks into May and Brandon Barnes is still hitting .327 with an on base percentage of .413. What's more, he's been able to sustain his hot bat despite not playing every day.

8) A day after making an uncharacteristic 3 errors at third, Matty Dominguez was back to his old self again last night. Always nice to see young players with a bad short term memory and able to shake things like that off.

9) Marwin Gonzalez has put together back-to-back multi-hit games after enduring a 1 for 24 slide raising his average back up to .264. Put that together with Ronny Cedeno's .314 clip and suddenly the shortstop position has become fairly productive offensively for us.

10) Lucas Harrell struggled with his control walking 6 in 5 innings on Thursday night, but allowed just 1 earned run. I'd still like to see him work through his control issues, but it was nice to see him battle through a tough lineup despite not having his best stuff.

Week 4 in Review

The week started out well with a series win over the Mariners, but things quickly soured as the Astros franchise stayed winless at Fenway Park. Things aren't going to get any easier next week either with upcoming series against the Yankees and Tigers.

Weekly Results

4/22   L Mariners 7-1
4/23   W Mariners 3-2
4/24   W Mariners 10-3
4/25   L Redsox 7-2
4/26   L Redsox 7-3
4/27   L Redsox 8-4
4/28   L Redsox 6-1

Overall Record: 7-18
Team Batting Average: .247
Runs For: 98
Runs Against: 148
Home Runs: 25
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 248/68
Stolen Bases: 11
Caught Stealing: 4
Team ERA: 5.51
Team WHIP: 1.62
Starters ERA: 6.34
Bullpen ERA: 4.61
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 151/95
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .317 (32/101)
Runs: Carlos Pena 13
Hits: Jose Altuve 32
Doubles: Matt Dominguez 6
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 5
Runs Batted In: Chris Carter/Jose Altuve 12
Walks: Carlos Pena 14
Stolen Bases: Marwin Gonzalez 3

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz/Wesley Wright/Hector Ambriz 12
Innings: Bud Norris 30
Wins: Bud Norris 3
Saves: Jose Veras 2
Holds: Hector Ambriz 3
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 22
Quality Starts: Philip Humber/Bud Norris/Lucas Harrell 2
ERA:  Lucas Harrell 4.08
WHIP: Lucas Harrell 1.57

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 13-10
Corpus Christi (AA) - 13-10
Lancaster (AdvA) - 14-9
Quad Cities (LoA) - 13-8

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 21
Hits: Jimmy Paredes (AAA) - 31
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 26
Home Runs: George Springer (AA) - 7
RBIs: Marc Krauss (AAA) - 23
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 9
Wins: Bobby Doran (AA)/Vincent Velasquez (LoA) - 3
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 6
Strikeouts: Nick Tropeano (AA) - 29

Astros Drop Third Straight in Fenway

The Peacock did not fly yesterday and Houston dropped a third straight to the Sox at Fenway. A promising start quickly went up in smoke as a 2-0 lead became a 5-2 deficit that the Astros just never recovered from. Some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Brad Peacock once again struggled to hit his spots, watching his pitch count spiral out of control and failing to get through the 4th inning. When the dust cleared, Boston had drawn 5 walks off of Peacock, 4 of them in the second inning, and the kid's ERA had jumped to 8.44. Peacock has made it through 5 innings just once this year, and it's largely due to his inability to put hitters away early in the count. You can't keep running counts full on every hitter and expecting to pitch deep into games. It's starting to raise questions as to whether or not Peacock projects to be a rotation guy, or someone destined to pitch out of the bullpen. I still think it's too early to make that call, but if he goes another 4-5 starts and things don't start to get better, I think you have to consider making a change.

2) Jose Veras was sharp once again extending his scoreless streak to 5 innings following his blown save against the Angels. He's actually lowered his ERA down to a respectable 4.66 and he's taken a leadership role out in the bullpen which is good to see. Now we just have to figure out how to get him some leads to protect.

3) Houston hitters drew 7 walks, but struck out 12 times and were just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. That makes them 1 for 24 with runners in scoring position over the past two games. Hard to win a lot of games that way. While it's impressive that we've been scoring runs without the benefit of hits (bases loaded walk, rbi groundout, sac fly), the Astros have to do better with runners in scoring position. But that shouldn't come as a surprise seeing as it's been our achilles heel for a couple years now. Not sure what the answer is other than that someone needs to step up.

4) Chris Carter struck out 4 times yesterday, including once with the tying run on first in the 7th inning. Carter now has 43 strikeouts in 24 games, but this marked the first time that he'd fanned four times in a game this year. In case you're keeping track, Carter is now on pace to strike out 290 times. And yes, that'd be a record. I realize he's tied for the team lead in rbis and he's second on the team with 12 runs scored, but can you really keep hitting him in the 3-4-5-6 spots in the order when he's hitting .216 and striking out in practically 50% of his ABs? Would it be so bad to trot out OBP machine Brandon Barnes, Fernando Martinez and Robbie Grossman as our starting outfield for a while?

5) Wesley Wright was bailed out by a line drive double play, but he now hasn't been scored on in 5 straight outings spanning 6 2/3 innings. His ERA has dropped down to 3.00 and he hasn't allowed a home run in 12 innings this season.

6) Two more hits for Marwin Gonzalez last night (two of our FIVE hits) as our 8 hitter raised his average on the year to .321. Marwin, who continues to play stellar defense, clubbed his fourth double, stole third for the second time in the series, and scored a run, continues to do almost every right (minus that bunt he didn't get down last weekend). Not sure what he has to do to hit somewhere higher in the order, but at least he's hitting.

7) As bad as things seemed at times yesterday, Houston had Chris Carter at the plate with the tying run on first in the 7th, and Rick Ankiel at the plate with the bases loaded representing the tying run again in the 8th. So even though we're losing, we're right in these games, which is all you really want. Baseball's one of those games where you just need to be competitive and eventually the law of averages will even out and we'll start winning some. Hey, it's better than losing every game 10-0.

Winning is Way More Fun

VICTORY! The one thing about pulling for a team that isn't very good is that the wins are a lot more fun. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather go back to winning most of the time, but the wins are a little sweeter when they're harder to come by. On a down note, last night's win came at a price as starting centerfielder Justin Maxwell broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch, so he's headed to the DL. Some more thoughts on last night's big win:

1) Bud Norris didn't have his best stuff last night, but pitched out of trouble all game and earned his third win of the season. That means he has 50% of our 6 wins. With lots of speculation that Norris is going to get moved come the trade deadline, it's beneficial to Houston that he continues to perform so if we do end up dealing him, we can justify getting a lot in return. If it comes to that, I'll certainly be sorry to see him go, but if you believe in what the organization is trying to do right now, it makes sense. And if you want proof that we're on the right track, all four of our minor league clubs currently have winning records.

2) The loss of Maxwell is going to hurt, but Houston's got some intriguing options able to take his place. First off, defensive specialist Brandon Barnes who's been solid so far this year off the bench. And then there's newly recalled prospect Robbie Grossman who's been tearing it up in AAA. Grossman is especially enticing because he does something most of the current Astros don’t do: he draws walks!! If he can hit at the big league level, he might even be the leadoff hitter we're looking for which would allow us to drop hit machine Jose Altuve down in the order where he might actually be able to drive in some runs.

3) Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi! Travis Blackley was solid in relief last night retiring the first six hitters he faced before surrendering a mammoth home run to Kendrys Morales. With three long men now on the roster (Blackley, Clemens, Cisnero), it'll be interesting to see how roles evolve as we go forward. I personally think Clemens has the stuff to be a back of the bullpen type guy, but I don't know that his long term role won't be in the starting rotation. Things are going to get even more muddled up when Josh Fields comes off the DL in a little bit. Don't be surprised if Rhiner Cruz draws the short straw and gets sent down. While he has the physical tools, I think he'd benefit from some more time in the minors to hone in his stuff. Plus, everyone else is starting to pitch better: Ambriz has only allowed 1 run over his last 7 outings, Wesley Wright has been pitching better, Veras has 2 straight saves, and all the long men in the bullpen have been delivering. I think the only other real plausible option if it's not Cruz is for it to be Cisnero, but after his performance against Seattle on Monday, he's kinda earned the right to stick around a bit. We'll see though.

4) Speaking of Veras, the closer finally delivered last night making by far his most dominant appearance of 2013 setting down all three hitters he faced, two by strikeout. That makes 4 straight scoreless outings for Veras after his blown save against the Angels including a pair of saves. As a former collegiate closer, I can speak to how important confidence is when you're that guy and it's looking like Veras is starting to grow into the role. Over the past week, Veras has seen his ERA drop from 9.64 to 5.19. Still not great, but getting better. It should also be noted that both of his converted saves were 1-run games with no margin for error.

5) I thought it was kind of funny that twitter was blowing up last night with people dogging Hector Ambriz before he'd even thrown a pitch. Including last night's 1-2-3 8th, over Hector's last 7 appearances, he's thrown 8 1/3 innings and allowed just one run (solo homer to Mark Reynolds) on 6 hits while walking 1 and fanning 5. He's had 3 holds, more than anyone else on the team, and has held hitters to a .207 average during this stretch.

6) "Defensive Specialist" Marwin Gonzalez set a new career high in home runs last night with his 3rd of the young season (and it's till April!). He's also just 5 RBIs shy of the 12 he had in his rookie season. One of Houston's more consistent hitters this year, Marwin's power surge is a pleasant surprise to say the least and while he probably won't stay on this pace and eclipse 20+ homers, he may end up with 10 or 12 which would be great. I'd really like to see Marwin get a shot at hitting higher up in the order instead of sitting down in the 9 hole, but as long as we win, I suppose I can deal. All three of Marwin's homers have come against Seattle, and all of them from the left side of the plate.

7) Lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno was claimed off waivers by the Washington Nationals after being designated for assignment by Houston. The 26 year old Puerto Rican pitched in parts of 3 seasons with the Astros posting an ERA of 6.00 with 1 save and 6 holds over 52 games. In 44 games in 2012 he had a 3.77 ERA striking out 36 in 31 innings.

I Hate Losing...

As much as it sucks being down 2 touchdowns in the second inning, losses like that are almost easier to swallow than what we endured yesterday. I mean, you lose a game 19-6, and there's no doubt that you got beat. You lose a game 5-4 where you had multiple opportunities to tie or win the game and failed to execute, and you're left wondering what might've been. Some more thoughts on yesterday's loss:

1) Erik Bedard fanned a season high 8 in just four innings of work yesterday showing that he's obviously still got it. Bo Porter's still using the kid gloves on him to make sure he's able to make it through the season, which given our current competitive state I'm fine with, so we haven't really seen him get stretched out. But other than the Oakland game in which he couldn't find the plate, he's been really good this year. If he can stay healthy, and build up the arm strength a bit, you have to figure he could at least fetch us SOMEthing at the trade deadline which really has to be the end goal with a veteran guy like him on a team like this.

2) So, per Bo after the game, Marwin's failed bunt attempt with two strikes was something Marwin took upon himself to do, and not a call from the dugout. Now I'm not mad at a young player for pressing to try and make something happen. I am, however, frustrated at our inability to get a bunt down in THREE TRIES. If you're a major league baseball player, there's no excuse for not being able to bunt a ball fair. It's not even like he was trying to bunt for a hit, he was giving himself up to sacrifice. All you do is stand there and bunt the ball. So that was disappointing; even more so when you consider that Marwin's like the only guy we ever have bunt.

3) Chris Carter is in a FUNK. He went from crushing baseballs to the moon to looking the way he did in the Texas series: Just absolutely lost at the plate. I know he has a longer leash than some other hitters in the lineup, but at some point, don't you at least have to drop him down a few spots? It's a bad sign when the bases are loaded in the 9th inning with 1 out, and your "cleanup hitter" steps up to the plate, and your reaction is NOOOOOOOOO! NOT HIM!

4) Fernando Martinez made his 2013 debut yesterday and greeted Ubaldo Jimenez with a 2-run homer in his first at bat. This is EXACTLY what we need out of F-Mart as he tries to prove himself. He's out of options, so if we try and send him down, someone else will likely take a flyer on him, so it's in everyone's best interest that he perform. Hopefully yesterday was just a sign of things to come.

5) Brett Oberholtzer made his Major League debut and surrendered a pair of solo home runs in two innings of work. Obie hadn't exactly been lighting it up in AAA, so all things considered it wasn't a TERRIBLE debut. If he can get some of his command issues worked out, there's a good chance he makes it back to the show at some point. In the meantime, he's headed back to OKC as Jose Cisnero is the next man up through the revolving door of long relievers. And on that note, someone in the starting rotation has to bear down and get us some innings. It's been over a week since someone got through 6.

6) Jose Altuve drew his first intentional walk of the season yesterday. You figure it was going to happen eventually. Why would you pitch to him when no one else in the lineup is hitting? On a semi-related note, this is how I'd like to shake up the batting order:

vs Righties                   vs Lefties

SS Marwin Gonzalez            RF Brandon Barnes

C Jason Castro                SS Marwin Gonzalez

2B Jose Altuve                2B Jose Altuve

LF Fernando Martinez          LF Chris Carter

1B Carlos Pena                CF Justin Maxwell

CF Justin Maxwell             DH Carlos Pena

DH Chris Carter               1B Brandon Laird

RF Rick Ankiel                C Jason Castro

3B Matt Dominguez             3B Matt Dominguez

Thoughts?

Astros Swept By A's Again

Another sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. At least we were in a couple of the games this time around. Heck, if J.D. Martinez doesn't strike out with the bases loaded and one out in the second game, or Rick Ankiel's rocket line drive down the first base line doesn't miraculously find the first baseman's mitt, we probably come away with a win. We knew the 'Stros weren't going to be great this year, all you can really ask is for them to be competitive. Some more thoughts on the past two games:

1) I love Brad Peacock's stuff. I'd love it more if he'd pitch deeper into games, but he's showing more and more every outing. I know he's failed to get out of the fifth in two of three starts, but his 7 strikeouts were a team-high this year. I look forward to seeing him develop over the course of the season.

2) Nice to finally see Carlos Pena start hitting the long ball. Two home runs in two days after none in the first 13 games of the season. And now he's back to where he should be, with more home runs than bunt singles. I would like to see a few more rbis from him though as he only has 6 through 15 games, but I could say that about almost anyone on the team. Like I said the other day, it's not like anyone other than Jose Altuve is a really tough out right now.

3) What's up with our starters not getting out of the first inning? Twice in the same series? I read that this was like only the third time since 1900 that pitchers on the same team had allowed at least six runs in a start while pitching less than an inning in the same series. Awesome! Of course one of the guys involved in the most recent time prior to this one was a former Astro. Hooray Jim Clancy! Anyhow, if there's a silver lining to the poor starting pitching it's that our long relief was terrific. In this series we got 5 1/3 scoreless innings from Paul Clemens, 3 scoreless innings from Dallas Keuchel, 2 1/3 scoreless innings from Wesley Wright, and 2 2/3 innings of one run ball from Xavier Cedeno. Now we just need to figure out how to translate those performances into games when we NEED them!

4) Nice to see the Astros FINALLY start stealing some bases. After just 1 steal (and 3 caught stealings) in the first 14 games, the Astros stole three bases on Wednesday afternoon (Brandon Barnes, Marwin Gonzalez and Jose Altuve). I really think this is a MUST for this team. If you're not going to hit for a high average, you have to be proficient on the basepaths. Get 'em over, get 'em in. Hopefully we'll see more of that moving forward. And yes, its helps if you have guys on base to start with.

5) Brett Wallace is headed back to Oklahoma City to get some more playing time and figure out what's going on with his swing. As a result Brandon Laird got the call, but it wasn't thanks to John Ely going on the 60 Day DL like I'd initially thought. Instead, Xavier Cedeno and his 11.37 ERA was designated for assignment which means he's off the 40-man roster. I'll be the first to admit, I'm somewhat surprised that that was the route that took. But then again, you can't average 3 baserunners an inning, and pitch at the Major League Level. Plus, we do still have to lefties in the pen with Keuchel and Wright. And another one starting a rehab assignment in Oklahoma City in Travis Blackley. So maybe having that lefty specialist isn't all that valuable. You could probably also argue that having a closer on this team isn't very valuable, but that's another story. Anyhow, Brandon Laird, who was hitting .353 for the RedHawks with 5 doubles, 2 homers and a team high 14 runs batted in is going to get his shot. Now 25 years old, Laird was 9 for 35 over 17 games for the Astros late last year with a homer, a double and 4 runs batted in. He was absolutely smoking the ball this spring though, and has continued to play well in AAA. He certainly deserves the opportunity. But now with Wallace gone, it will be interesting to see who goes down if/when Fernando Martinez finishes his rehab. My money is on J.D. Martinez (.227 1 HR), especially with Laird (a righty) replacing Wallace (a lefty). We'll see though. I've been wrong many times before.

6) The A's have now swept us twice this month. The good news for Astros fans? We get THIRTEEN MORE SHOTS AT THEM! We're bound to win at least ONE, right?

7) Jose Veras pitched a scoreless inning on Wednesday, but he still has yet to put together a 1-2-3 inning this season now allowing baserunners in each of his first six outings.

8) Next up, the Cleveland Indians and a return to Houston for Brett Myers and Brad Mills. It'd be a homecoming for Michael Bourn as well, but he's on 15-Day DL right now. Cleveland was 5-8 heading into today, so let's see if we can snap this skid and get Win number FIVE!

Albert Pujols is a Bad Man

Losses like that one are always hard to swallow. You can't help but look at missed opportunities, and wonder about what might've been. That said, it's one game, and if you're going to get beaten by someone in the bottom of the 9th, it might as well be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Hats off to Albert, once again he beat us. Some more thoughts on last night's game:

1) I've mentioned before how I'm not sure Jose Veras is the answer at closer. But when you look at our bullpen right now, I don't know who is. Wesley Wright hasn't been as effective in 2013, Rhiner Cruz is still learning the finer points of pitching, Hector Ambriz has allowed more than 2 hits an inning, Xavier Cedeno has control issues, Paul Clemens has pitched in exactly one major league game, and Dallas Keuchel is, at best, a serviceable long reliever. Now last night wasn't exactly an easy save situation, but Veras has yet to put together a 1-2-3 inning and any of his 5 outings now. You can't put that many runners on base and expect to be effective in the late innings. Plus, you can't walk the #9 hitter. Make him put the ball in play! We'll see how Veras bounces back. Hopefully his next opportunity involves a three run lead so he has more of a margin for error and can gain some confidence.

2) I probably should have led with this, but Brett Wallace had 4 at-bats last night and struck out exactly ZERO times! He even battled for a walk which helped facilitate Houston's 2-run 7th. I don't want to say he's on the verge of breaking out of his season long slump, but last night was a good step in the right direction. We'll see if he can build on that moving forward.

3) J.D. Martinez's error proved to be pretty costly. And let's face it, errors in close games usually are. You've got to make that play though if you're a Major League outfielder. Now I realize J.D.'s game is probably better suited for left field, but still... If he's going to be out there, he needs to make those types of plays.

4) Chris Carter is a beast. Trogdor bashed his 4th home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to 6 games. He's still managed to strike out in 11 straight games passing Wallace for the team lead with 18, but so long as he's producing, I can live with the occasional (or more than occasional) strikeout. After starting the season 1 for 19, Carter has raised his average up to .289 during the streak.

5) Lucas Harrell pitched much better this time out. After getting roughed up pretty good by Oakland, he continued the trend of solid starting pitching for the Astros allowing just 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. Houston starters have allowed more than 3 earned runs just once this season and have a 3.49 ERA through 11 starts.

6) Marwin Gonzalez executed a perfect bases loaded squeeze play in the 7th inning to bring home Houston's 4th and final run. It's nice to see us able to bring that runner home from third base this season. Houston stranded just 3 runners last night and was 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Houston sends Philip Humber to the mound today in an effort to win their second straight series. The Astros have not scored a single run in either of Humber's two previous starts this year.

Offense Erupts Again as Astros Win 2nd Straight

For the first time this year, the Astros have strung two wins together thanks to an offense that has finally shown some signs of life. After 7 games in which they scored a total of 17 runs, the Astros have scored 24 in their last 2 games against the Mariners, and took home their first series win of the season behind last night's 8-3 effort. Some thoughts on last night's game:

1) Chris Carter, aka Trogdor the Bombinator, is finally locked in. Carter crushed his third home run of the series last night, and is 9 for his last 18 effectively rebounding from his 1 for 19 start. I'd still like to see the big man draw some more walks (he has 1 through the first 9 games), but I'm not going to complain when he's just hitting absolute moonshots.

2) J.D. Martinez is going to create some interesting discussions when Fernando Martinez gets healthy again. J.D. has been swinging a hot bat lately driving in 5 runs over the last two games, homering, stealing a base, playing decent defense... Honestly he's playing well enough that he should keep his roster spot. So what do you do when F-Mart, who was on track to make the team out of spring training before his injury comes back? Send him to AAA? Send J.D. to AAA? Send someone else to AAA? Now I don't think Fernando is going to be back TOMORROW or anything that drastic, but he's going to be back at some point. I think the player that makes the most sense to send down right now is Wallace. Carter can play first and DH basically alternating with Carlos Pena and then F-Mart can fill in one of the corner outfield spots against righties. But it's possible that different players could heat up or cool down in the coming weeks and that could always change the whole complexion of the discussion. Needless to say, it's a good problem to have.

3) Marwin Gonzalez's home run last night gave him homers in back-to-back games and matched his home run total for ALL of 2012. The second year infielder and former Rule 5 Draft Pick is 8 for 18 on the season with a double, a pair of homers, a perfect-game wrecking single off of Yu Darvish and a team-high 4 walks. It's clear he's got the hot bat right now, and hopefully Bo Porter rides him until he cools off. I love the left side of our infield with Marwin in the game too. Between him and Sweet Matty D over on the hot corner, not much gets through and that's a huge boost to our starting pitching.

4) I really like what Brad Peacock brings to the table, but he's got to become more efficient with his pitches. Peacock faced just one hitter in the 6th inning and finished his night having thrown 95 pitches. Granted, this was only the fourth start of his Major League career, and you have to figure he'll get better as he gains experience, but he's not really going to blossom until he can go deeper into games.

5) Dallas Keuchel has been something of a pleasant surprise working out of the Astros bullpen so far this season. In 5 innings of work, he's allowed just one run, and he tossed two scoreless innings last night preserving a 5-3 lead to earn the Astros first hold of the season. Keuchel got off to a fast start last year too though allowing just 3 runs in his first 20 innings of work before going 0-7 in his next 9 starts with an ERA of 7.33. Hopefully he doesn't fall into a similar rut this year, because having an effective long reliever could really save the bullpen some work.

6) Rick Ankiel now has two hits on the season, and both of them are home runs. Because of that, despite his .111 average and the fact that he's struck out in 14 of his 18 plate appearances, he's actually second on the team with 5 runs batted in right now.

7) Every Astro in the starting lineup last night got at least one hit, the first time this season that that feat was accomplished. I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise though considering they were hitting around .200 before Tuesday night's game. After their last two wins though? .263.

Holy Hits, Batman!

After scoring just 9 runs in their previous 6 games, the Astros offense erupted matching that total in the first two innings of their game with Seattle last night. When the dust had finally settled, Houston had scored 16 runs, banged out 22 hits, homered 5 times and walked away with a 16-9 win that wasn't as close as the score would suggest. Some notes on last night's contest:

1) Chris Carter finally started to look like the player Houston thought they were trading for last night. Carter crushed a pair of home runs and finished with 4 hits. He's now gotten a hit in 3 straight games and his average is now above .200 after starting the season 1 for 19. If he hits like this I won't even really mind that fact that he's still striking out at a ridiculous rate (15 times in 8 starts).

2) I'm a believer in Brett Wallace, but with that being said, I think he's gotta get sent down to figure things out. He's all up in his head right now and even last night, when every other Astros starter had at least one hit, Wallace struck out in all 4 of his plate appearances. He's not even hitting hard foul balls, he's just got a horrible approach at the plate right now. I'd almost say send him all the way back to A-Ball just to get his confidence back. I mean the guy's 1 for 21 with 17 strikeouts. He hasn't struck out fewer than two times in any one game that he's played in this year. He's basically turned into the offensive equivalent of Chuck Knoblauch. Brandon Laird is still crushing the ball in AAA, BUT he's not on the 40-man roster so it's not as simple as just brining him up. Jake Elmore is certainly an option though. The utility infielder is 9 for his last 13 in AAA and hitting .478 through 6 games. Pena could always shift over to first and split time there with Chris Carter. And then Elmore or Marwin could spell Dominguez at third. I dunno, I just don't see Wallace snapping out of this funk he's in any time soon so something's got to be done.

3) Speaking of Marwin Gonzalez, I'd like to see Bo Porter hand him the starting shortstop gig. Marwin's solid defensively whereas Cedeno has had some issues, and Marwin's swinging the hot bat right now. He's also tied for the team-lead in walks which is something we could use more of. When you consider that Ronny Cedeno doesn't factor into the team's long term plans, whereas Marwin might, I think he should be getting a longer look instead of alternating starts with the veteran Cedeno. At the very least, let him keep playing until he cools off.

4) Erik Bedard turned in another solid, if abbreviated, outing tossing 4 scoreless innings and allowing just 1 hit. Bedard retired the first 10 Seattle hitters he faced and looked sharp once again. Granted, it's a lot easier to pitch when you're up six runs before you ever toe the rubber, but it's good to see him doing well and staying healthy.

5) Paul Clemens made his major league debut last night and was credited with the win since starter Erik Bedard didn't come out for the 5th inning. Clemens wasn't GREAT, allowing 5 runs in 4 innings - including three home runs (Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez, Michael Morse), but you can chalk some of that up to jitters given that it was his debut. We'll see how he does his next time out.

6) Who had J.D. Martinez in the pool for which Astro is going to steal a base first in 2013? Anybody? Bueller?

7) Some fun numbers stuff comparing last night's game with the previous seven:

           Games 1-7    Game 8

Runs           17         16

Hits           46         22

XBH            10         8

Home Runs       2         5

Stolen Bases    0         1

Walks          10         6

Average       .201       .468

We Scored!

Another loss for the Astros as a missed opportunity on a potential double play ball turned what could've been a scoreless inning into a 7-run 5th. The 8 run deficit was too much to overcome, but at least the Astros managed to score this time. Some observations from Game 4:

1) Houston middle infielders are pulling their weight, but that's about it. Jose Altuve and the shortstop platoon of Marwin Gonzalez and Ronny Cedeno are a combined 13 for 29 (.448) while all other Astros are 12 for 100 (.120).

2) Astro hitters struck out 13 more times last night giving them 56 through 4 games (an average of 14 per night). Brett Wallace notched his third hat trick of the season giving him a team high 11 strikeouts through the first four games. He wasn't even the worst offender last night though as Rick Ankiel managed to strike out in all four of his appearances. After slugging a pinch hit three-run homer in his first at-bat as an Astro, Ankiel is 0 for 10 with 9 strikeouts. If you play fantasy baseball, you may want to consider starting whatever pitcher is throwing against the Astros. Even Bartolo Colon.

3) Chris Carter and Jason Castro finally notched their first hits of the season. Houston now has only three players still looking for their first hit of 2013: Carlos Corporan (0/3), Brandon Barnes (0/1) and J.D. Martinez (0/3).

4) Brad Peacock has good stuff, but he needs to be more efficient. Peacock threw 89 pitches in 4 1/3 innings of work causing the bullpen to be forced into action early once again. And considering Houston's bullpen has an ERA of 7.53 (and that's including 3 1/3 scoreless innings from Erik Bedard), that's not a good thing. On a brighter note, the Astros starting 5 have a collective ERA of 2.16 through 4 games.

5) Having to get extra outs will kill a bad team. Marwin Gonzalez's misplay of a groundball in the 5th led to 7 runs, 3 of them unearned. If Houston gets out of that inning without yielding a run, maybe it's a different ballgame. You can come back from 1-0 down. 8-0? Not so much.

6) Brandon Laird went 3 for 5 with a home run and 4 runs batted in during a AAA double header yesterday. Keep an eye on his production in Oklahoma City, especially if Brett Wallace continues to struggle.

Hard to Win if You Can't Score

The bats were lifeless for a second straight game as the Astros fell to the Rangers 4-0. The Astros racked up double digit strike-outs for a third straight game to start the year and wasted another strong pitching performance, this time from newcomer Philip Humber. Some more observations from Game 3:

1) The inability to put balls in play is killing the Astros right now. They have ten times as many strikeouts (43) as walks (4), and hit just .172 in the series while fanning in 46% of their at bats. You can point your finger in any number of directions too as every Astro with the exception of Carlos Corporan struck out at least once in the three game series. Top offenders: Brett Wallace (8), Chris Carter (7), Carlos Pena (6), Justin Maxwell (5), and Rick Ankiel (5). Even pitchers don't strike out at that rate, so you have to figure things will get better and average out, but still...

2) Jason Castro and Chris Carter both went 0 for 11 in the Rangers series. Have faith, both will break out of their mini slumps. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

3) Lance Berkman is not welcome in Houston any more. The Big Puma reached base in 9 of his 13 at bats and drove in 3. His "replacement" Carlos Pena was just 2 for 11 and as previously noted struck out six times. I say the word replacement loosely because Pena didn't really "replace" Berkman, we just opted to sign him instead. Any regrets yet?

Whirling Darvish Dazzles Astros

Not quite the follow-up to the season opener we were all hoping for, but hey, at least we didn't get no hit. Thank you, Marwin Gonzalez. Some observations on the loss:

1) Yu Darvish made our lineup look silly. I made a comment the other day that there are going to be days where this team resembles a minor league ball club at the plate, and this was one of those days. Yu Darvish cruised through the Astros lineup retiring 26 in a row - 14 of them via the strike out - as the Rangers evened the series at one game apiece. In fact, the only Astro not to strike out last night was backup catcher Carlos Corporan. Now it's not like Darvish is a slouch. As we saw last year, he's a legitimate ace. But even as good as he is, you expect to hit more than one ball out of the infield. It's not going to get much easier today when the Astros get Alexi Ogando, but I don't think anyone will miss Darvish.

2) One of the many, many questions surrounding this year's Astros team is their bullpen. And the bullpen looked REALLY shaky last night. Yes, it's a small sample size, but it wasn't pretty. The pen inherited a 1-0 deficit in the 7th inning last night, and between Xavier Cedeno, Rhiner Cruz, Wesley Wright, Josh Fields, and Jose Veras, they surrendered 6 runs turning a close game into a rout. Only Fields managed to get through the game without giving up a run, and he pitched just 1/3 of an inning.

Fun Facts - 3/31/13

Here's 10 bits of trivia worth noting before the Season Opener:

*Bud Norris has fared significantly better at home than on the road in his 4 year career. In the confines of Minute Maid Park, Norris is 17-14 with a 3.51 ERA. Everywhere else he is 11-23 and his ERA is 5.39. Norris has never faced the Rangers.

*Rick Ankiel is a career .244 hitter, but has hit .300 (18/60) in 21 games at Minute Maid Park.

*Carlos Pena has 277 home runs in his Major League career, but none of them have been hit in Minute Maid Park.

*Jason Castro slugged 6 home runs in 49 plate appearances this spring. He homered only 6 times the entire 2012 season while making 295 plate appearances.