Houston got the bats out today and defeated the Phillies 6-5.

From the all-mighty astros.mlb.com:

Stros at the plate: “Miguel Tejada logged three hits, including a solo homer in the fourth and an RBI double in the sixth. Geoff Blum’s RBI single off Ryan Madson in the sixth broke a 3-3 tie, and his double in the eighth gave Houston a three-run lead. Lance Berkman doubled in the sixth and scored on Tejada’s double. Hunter Pence logged three singles, marking back-to-back three-hit games.”

Tejada is playing like a free man.  Kazuo Matsui also had three knocks today.

Stros on the bump: “In his first outing since returning from the World Baseball Classic, Oswalt allowed 10 hits and three runs over six innings. He did not issue a walk and struck out six. LaTroy Hawkins (LaHawk!)pitched a scoreless seventh. ”

Roy said his main goal for todays outing was to throw around 100 pitches and he threw 96.  Roy should get one more start before opening day which is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!

Astros’ Grapefruit League Record: 8-16-3.  2 more wins for double digits baby.

Hunter Pence of the Houston Astros and Nate McLouth of the Pittsburgh Pirates are both up and comers in the NL Central.  Each player, though young, is an important piece for their respective teams. 

It is easy to draw comparisons between the two youngsters but which one will develop more and greater help their team in 2009?

Last year was the first full year in the majors for both players so I am going to use their 2008 stats as well as their 2009 Spring Training numbers to this point when making a comparison.

Total at bats:

Nate McLouth 597

Hunter Pence 595

Spot most often slotted in batting order:

Nate McLouth 1^st

Hunter Pence 6th

One of my Astros V. Pirates memories of last season was watching Houston play the Bucs and McLouth hit a double to pass Lance Berkman for the doubles lead at the point.  I think it was his 33^rd double or so. 

That is a pretty big deal considering Lance Berkman, one of the best hitters in the big leagues, nearly doubled his doubles output last season, hitting 46 doubles, 22 more than the previous season.  Although Berkman’s 2007 xtra base hit numbers were down, that is still pretty good company for Nate.

Btw, Nate finished with as many doubles as Lance. Hunter Pence finished the season with twelve less doubles than McLouth with 34.

Another area where McLouth finished higher than Pence is on base percentage.  OBP is important for any player but especially important for those players hitting higher in the lineup.   

McLouth OBP .356

Pence OBP .318

McLouth also out slugged Pence.

McLouth SLG .497

Pence SLG .466

Almost half of McLouth’s hits were for extra bases.  McLouth’s 2^nd most often spot slotted in the batting order was 3^rd.  I think that was where he was batting for the Buc’s that day when they played Houston.

As far as homers go McLouth hit 26 while Pence hit 25, so I’ll call that one a wash.

McLouth stole 23 bases and was caught stealing 3 times while Hunter Pence stole 11 bases and was caught stealing 10 times!  Looks like McLouth was better around the sacs as well.

As an Astros fan, and a Hunter Pence fan, I got to watch Pence go through some struggles at the plate last year.  By the end of the year it seemed as though he was more comfortable and striking out less. 

Pence has got to let that plate discipline carry over into this season if he is going to be successful and progress as a player.

McLouth dominates Pence in the strike out category with Pence striking out 124 times last season and McLouth 93.  McLouth also walked almost 20 more times than Pence last year, hence the edge in OBP.

How is each player doing in spring so far?

Nate McLouth: In 40 at bats 13 hits, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 12 SO, and a .413 OBP.

Hunter Pence: In 54 at bats 15 hits, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 2 RBI, 6BB 12 SO, and a .350 OBP.

Both are showing the same strike out to walk ratio but considering Pence has 14 more AB’s, McLouth again seems to be showing better discipline at the plate with more walks in less at bats.  But, McLouth also has as many strike outs in 14 less at bats.  All in all, they are pretty close this spring.

Who will perform better in 2009?  The numbers say Nate McLouth.  As an Astros’ fan and a Hunter Pence fan, I think he has a chance to bust out this season.  Check back with me at the All Star break and again in October.

Slow day today as Houston as their last day off before the season starts.  A couple of links for today:

Miguel Tejada gets probation.

Aaron Boone’s heart surgery successful!

Houston won todays contest against St. Louis 4-3.

Pudge Rodriguez went yard again today.  Hunter Pence and Jason Smith each went 3 for 4.  Michael Bourn walked twice, K’d once, and had the game winning RBI.

Russ Ortiz pitched well today going 5 innings and giving up 1 earned run while walking 2 ans striking out 4. Wesley Wright pitched a scoreless frame.

Make it six in a row for houston, pushing their Grapefruit wins to 7.

Pudge is named to the all World Baseball Classic team.

Alyson Footer talks about the impressions made by some of the young talent at the big league spring training.

LaTroy Hawkins, or as Astros County likes to refer to him, LaHawk (ahshum) talks about his experience during the WBC.

The more and more eclectic Richard Justice covers Bill James covering the Astros.  Interesting Berkman tidbits in their.

And finally, Baseball Musings gives their projection on the 2009 Astros offense, with and with out Magnum P.I. Rod.

Alyson Footer from astros.mlb.com reports that all is well for the Magic Wandy and Chad Paronto:

“By the end of the workday Wednesday, two Astros pitchers had breathed sighs of relief — Chad Paronto, after discovering his shoulder injury isn’t as serious as he first thought, and Wandy Rodriguez, after pitching four innings without feeling any lingering effects from a fingernail issue that hampered him in his last outing.”

Although Coop wont come right out and say it, it looks like Wandy will be the clubs number 2 starter while Paronto will probably start the year in Round Rock.

JJO on Wandy at chon.com: “Although Cecil Cooper has been coy about how he will line up his rotation, it appears evident that the Astros want to at least have Rodriguez lined up as an option to start the second game of the season.

Barring a setback, Rodriguez will start Saturday on three days of rest instead of the usual four. That would put him in line to start an exhibition game again on April 2 and then April 7 against the Chicago Cubs on the second day of the season.

“We’re going to bring him back a little sooner so we can try to line him up a little bit,” Cooper said.

Asked what he was lining Rodriguez up for, Cooper retreated back into his recent stance.

“I’m lining it up,” he said with a chuckle. “You can figure it and fumble all you want.”

Cooper was pleased after watching Rodriguez throw four scoreless innings to beat the Mets 8-0 Tuesday at Osceola County Stadium.”

Houston blanked the Mets today while their offense produced 8 runs.  Here are the details from astros.mlb.com:

Stros at the plate: “Ivan Rodriguez hit his first spring homer, a solo shot in the fifth inning. The Astros scored six in that frame, with a timely contribution from Geoff Blum, who drove in three with a double. Michael Bourn singled and came all the way around to score on an error by Bobby Kielty.”

I-Rod goes yard and Blum is starting to show signs of life.  I could get used to this whole winning thing.  Hopefully come April it won’t be out of the ordinary.

Stros on the bump: “Wandy Rodriguez allowed two hits over four innings, walking two and striking out two. LaTroy Hawkins pitched one scoreless inning, as did Doug Brocail. ”

Glad to see Wandy, the rumored SP2, pitching and feeling well.

Houston’s Grapefruit League Record currently stands at 6-16-3.  Keep shooting for the double digits in the win column H-town!

According the Jason Stark of ESPN.com Geoff Geary is on the market.

“ATTENTION SHOPPERS: A few extra parts who are being made available right now: Blue Jays reliever Shawn Camp, Astros reliever Geoff Geary, Royals catcher John Buck, Phillies outfielder Geoff Jenkins. Counting Jenkins’ $1.25 million buyout of his 2010 option, he’s still owed $8 million. The Phillies have offered to pay “almost all of it,” according to one club, but still haven’t found a taker.”

The club could be looking to ship Geary and perhaps replace him with Dilbert De La Vara in hopes of getting someone to play 3rd.

Stark also covers a few more Astros tid bits in the article, including possibles for third base.

Houston scored 10 runs today to out slug the Florida Fish 10-8.

From astros.mlb.com:

Stros at the plate: “Lance Berkman homered in the third and the fifth, driving in three runs. Michael Bourn drove in a run in the fifth with an RBI double. Miguel Tejada drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the seventh. ”

Good games today from both Berkman and Bourn.  Killer B’s anyone?

Stros on the mound: “Mike Hampton allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out four. Chad Paronto left the game after one-third of an inning with a right shoulder muscle strain, and Gilbert De La Vara yielded two runs over two-thirds of an inning. ”

Hampton got hit a little but looked good on the mound as he kept the ball down for the most part.  Sampson pitched a scoreless inning, keep up the good work Samp.

From chron.com:

Cooper on the bats: “Lance put some good swings up,” Cecil Cooper said. “Lance had some great swings today. Every at-bat was good swings. It was good to see that. Kaz had some good swings today. Tejada had some good swings. They all did. There were quite a few. It was nice to see J.R. swing the bat like that. Today was probably our best day swinging the bats.”

Cooper on the arms: “Hampton was very good, got his pitch count up to the high 80s, so that’s good,” Cooper said. “He pitched down. I liked the way he pitched today. Bud (Norris) I thought was very good. His fastball was exploding out of his hand today.”

You can now add 9 for 15 with two homers to the numbers of the Houston Astros catchers this spring with the soon-to-be signing of Pudge Rodriguez.

Here’s the news from Astros.mlb.com:”Ivan Rodriguez is expected to sign with the Astros, pending a physical exam that will be taken upon the completion of Puerto Rico’s participation in the World Baseball Classic.”

So let’s all hope Pudge doesn’t hurt himself in the classic.

Here are the specs for the deal:”The contract will be for one year at $1.5 million with another $1.5 million possible in incentive bonuses, ESPN.com reported. “  

Good acquisition for a good price.  Pudge doesn’t deserve to make more than that and Houston doesn’t have to concern themselves with the offensive hole at the catchers position…unless the Pudge from the New York Yankees shows up.

Thanks Uncle D-Mac.