Apparently Backe and Wandy have been taking fungo bats to each others rib cages for fun.

From chron.com:

“Backe could miss at least one start after suffering a strain of the left posterior intercostal muscle, commonly referred to as a strained rib cage muscle.

“The injury occurred during the first inning of Backe’s third spring training outing (second start) Sunday against Pittsburgh when his left foot slipped while he was delivering his final pitch of the inning.

“The last pitch of the first inning, my front foot, my landing foot, slipped on me a little bit and caused me to basically collapse on that side,” Backe said. “I guess what caused it was the ribs pushed together or whatever.”

Backe stayed in the game but was pulled after two innings, one shy of his target goal of three. He allowed two hits and one walk.”

This is a real bummer for Brandon as he isn’t in the position where he can afford to miss a lot of time.  Sounds like he was actually pitching well before he got injured.

“Russ Ortiz, Jose Capellan and Felipe Paulino are among his competition, and they could get a leg up if Backe is on the shelf for a long period of time.

“I don’t need to miss any time,” he said. “Missing time is only hurting my situation.

“But I’m going to work as hard as I can to get back and get this thing ready for me to get back on the mound.””

Are you listening Russ Ortiz?  This injury is definitely not going to help Backe’s bid for the 5th spot.

Anthony DiComo from mlb.com has an article on the recovery progress of Wandy Rodriguez.  Wandy has a “strained intercostal muscle” on his left side.

Wandy thew for 6 minutes yesterday and 8 minutes today.  He said he hasn’t experienced pain after each workout.

Wandy is still scheduled to miss two starts.  Cecil Cooper had this to say: “All we can do is keep progressing,” Cooper said. “No setbacks, and that’s a good thing.”

Personally, I think Wandy is the second most important pitcher on this staff behind Roy Oswalt.  Wandy has improved every year but was hindered by injury.  People note Wandy’s home road split and that is definitely something he has to work on.

If Wandy can stay healthy, he has a great curve and can thrown the inside fastball.  He deserves to be our number 2, he just has to step up, be aggressive, keep his cool, and stay healthy.

Today’s game  against the Yankees ended with a 5-5 tie after the New York Yankees ran out of pitchers.

From astros.mlb.com

Astros at the plate: “Geoff Blum drove in Houston’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, plating Lance Berkman. Matt Kata knocked a solo homer off Anthony Clagett in the fifth, and Chris Johnson drove in two more runs with a hit in the eighth. Brian Bogusevic knocked in the game-tying run with an infield hit later in the inning. ”

Astros on the mound: “Hampton was slated to throw three innings, but a high pitch count limited him to just two. Hampton yielded four runs on six hits, including an RBI triple by Cabrera that contributed to a three-run first. Jose Valverde struck out two in one inning, and Ortiz allowed one run over three frames.”

Astros Grapefruit League Record : 1-4-1

I’ve had the chance to watch a little Houston Baseball over the weekend and last week thanks to ESPN and the MLB Network.  Chris Johnson is a good looking prospect.  I think the kid contributes to the club sometime this year. 

In other news, Miguel Tejada has decided to pitch for the Japanese squad in the World Baseball Classic and Wandy Rodriguez has a rib-cage injury.  He is expected to miss two starts.

Some media links for today:

Richard Justice makes 15 “rock-solid” predictions for the Astros’ 2009 season including Roy Oswalt winning the Cy Young and Lance Berkman winning the MVP.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz gives a look-in to Houston’s intra-squad game today.

Alyson Footer writes in her Spring Training blog about her day today at Spring Training, including her having to ask Darin Erstad about his face injury.

Finally, former star of Teen Wolf Tim Kurkjian posts an Astros video on his Spring Training blog.  The way the video finishes will make any Stros fan smile.

Toby Hall was considering rehab to treat his torn labrum but has decided on shoulder surgery instead.  According to Alyson Footer of astros.mlb.com  Houston has voided Hall’s contract and are looking to pin the surgery bill on the White Sox, where Hall injured the shoulder initially.

Hall’s plans for now?

“Now it gives me peace of mind, after seeing the MRI and seeing what I’ve been dealing with for the last couple of years, puts me at ease about getting it fixed,” he said. “I’m going to fly around this week and meet with a few doctors and try to narrow it down to see who’s going to give me my future.”

That narrows it down to  J.R. Towles, Humberto Quintero, and Lou Palmisano for the Astros catching job.

According to Alyson Footer of astros.mlb.com Toby Hall has a torn labrum. 

“Catcher Toby Hall received bad news Saturday morning when the MRI taken on his right shoulder revealed “an unstable shoulder and a torn labrum.”"

Hall was one of the many catchers vying for a spot on the roster out of Spring Training.  Hall will be sidelined for at least a month.

This is why I love Carlos Lee.

From Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle:

“Just days after several New York Yankees attended Alex Rodriguez’s press conference to support the disgraced steroids user, Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt parodied the Yankees as Lee held a brief press conference after his first workout of the spring Thursday.

After the Panamanian missed the club’s first full-squad workout Tuesday at Osceola County Stadium because he thought the reporting date was Thursday, Berkman chastised the slugger and Oswalt ridiculed Lee’s excuse. Once Lee was in camp, though, they all had fun with the misunderstanding.

Oswalt even suggested the gesture of mocking the infamous A-Rod press conference that was held last Tuesday afternoon in Tampa. Once practice was over, Berkman hugged Lee and sat at his side.

“We got to have one other person,” Lee said.

A few seconds later, and long after he had showered and dressed to go home, Oswalt sat nearby because he had waited for nearly an hour just to participate in the skit.

“He’s 100 percent backing me up,” Lee said as the sluggers declared love for each other.

“Let’s get through this together, Carlos,” Berkman said.

“I got confused with the reporting date,” Lee said. “I really thought it was on Thursday. It was on Tuesday, but I take full responsibility of it. There’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is catch up with all the conditioning Lance got in the last two days.”

Berkman quickly chirped in: There’s no doubt. … It’s going to take you a lot longer than that to catch me.”

Lee has such a good relationship with his teammates and he consistently produces on the field.  What more can you ask for?  How about mocking Alex Rodriguez? That’s what I’m talking about.

In other Spring Training news, Astros non-roster invitee and veteran catcher hopeful Toby Hall is feeling discomfort in his throwing arm.  An MRI is scheduled to try and diagnose the problem.

Chris Sampson is scheduled to throw his first bullpen session Monday.

Roy Oswalt and Mike Hampton each threw batting practice today.  Oswalt is ahead of schedule relative to the other pitchers at Spring Training due to his preparation for the World Baseball Classic.

Today was the date for the first full squad workout, that means everyone…unless you’re Carlos Lee.  According to Alyson Footer of Astros.mlb.com, Lee didn’t report today because he had the “report for Spring Training” date mixed up.  Lee is now scheduled to arrive in camp on the 19th.  Fortunately for Stros fans and the media, Lance Berkman did show up and he wasn’t real happy with Lee:

“On one hand, it’s Carlos, Berkman said. “That’s just the way he is. He’s a great teammate, we love having him in here and obviously he’s a tremendous RBI guy. But part of you certainly is like…he and myself and Miggy and may be a couple other guys, we’re going to be looked to to carry the load. I think it’s a good example for the young guys and everybody else to be here when everybody gets here.”

Miguel Tejada DID arrive today and temporarily addressed his teammates and the media.  Nothing new however.

Finally, some good news from the camp, Mike Hampton’s heart “glitch” worked itself out and he should be back in camp Thursday at the latest.

For more on Berkman and what he thinks about Drayton McLane among other things, visit Alyson Footers Spring Training blog.  Pretty interesting stuff.

Baseball is a game of ups and downs.  Baseball is back and things are looking up and BAM, Mike Hampton has an irregular heartbeat and Jose Valverde has a forearm infection.

Astros.mlb.com’s Alyson Footer is reporting that a EKG on Mike Hampton earlier today revealed an irregular heartbeat.  Hampton flew back to Houston to undergo a procedure to correct his heartbeat with the application of electrical current. (yikes)

According to Footer, Wade appeared unalarmed by Hampton’s condition.  Wade had this to say:

“From what I understand, it’s not an uncommon condition and it’s not an uncommon procedure he’s going to go through.  They cleared him to work out today without problems. Other than travel time back and forth between here and Houston, we don’t expect him to miss any time.”  Sounds like Hampton should be fine.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle  also reported from the Astros Spring Training home in Kissimmee, Fl.  Jose touched on Astros closer Jose Valverde and his condition as of today: “Dr. Michael Link examined Valverde on Monday and prescribed antibiotics to fight an infection that caused severe irritation, swelling and bruising on his forearm.”

Valverde: “I was a little nervous because I wake up in the morning and I see my arm like this and I said, ‘I have to go check with the doctor or trainer (so they can) let me know what happened, what happened.  And the doctor said everything’s good.”

According to both Footer and Ortiz, both players should both be fine and continue their spring training regiment as planned.

AstrosHomePlate is a brand new Houston Astros Baseball blog.  We will be blogging about everything involving the Houston Astros.  From daily game reviews, to Astros draft and trade rumors, we will have it all here at Astroshomeplate.

We hope you take part in our discussions and leave comments voicing your opinions.  It should be another exciting year for the Houston Astros as well.  Can the Astros get back on top of the Central Division in the Nationall League and compete with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs?  Lets us ks know what you think!