After today’s game against the Red Legs, Chris Johnson was informed that he will be sent down to AAA Round Rock following the Astros contest against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

“He took it well — it wouldn’t be fair to leave him wondering about all of this,” Cooper said. “This kid’s handled himself like a big leaguer. He’s handled himself well, he’s held his own here. He handled his business in a professional manner. I could tell he was all ears — not as much talking, just listening. His work habits were great.”" – astros.com

Although Johnson didn’t make the club out of Spring Training, he did open up a lot of eyes and turn a lot of heads.  It wont be long until we see him in an Astros uniform.  It is nice to know that if and when Houston suffers injuries this season, they have some capable players who can come up and fill in.

Roy tossed 4 innings in his last start before the season opener, woohoo!, and Chris Johnson isn’t going out without a fight…even though, in reality, he doesn’t have a chance.

Stros at the plate: “Michael Bourn led off the third with a double, stole third and scored on a base hit by Kazuo Matsui. Darin Erstad knocked a solo homer in the sixth. Chris Johnson drove in a run with a triple in the seventh and scored on a Reggie Abercrombie sacrifice fly. ”

After looking at the box score for today’s game, it looks like Bourn was3-3 with a walk. If you are counting that is an OBP of awesomeness.  Keep it up Michael! J-Kepp was 0-2.

Stros on the bump: “Roy Oswalt pitched four innings in his final spring tuneup before Opening Day. He allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts. Tim Byrdak followed with two innings, during which he allowed one run on three hits. ”

Jose Valverde, Doug Brocail, and Geoff Geary all tossed scoreless frames.

Houston Astros Grapefruit Leage record: 11-17-3

From more on the game visit astros.com

The Astros returned Gilibert De La Vara back to the Royals today per the Rule 5 Draft:

“After De La Vara, 24, cleared waivers, general manager Ed Wade offered him back to the Royals for $25,000, half of what the Astros paid when they selected him during the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings last December. ”

The team also sent down Edwin Maysonet after acquiring Jeff Keppinger (J-Kepp!), pretty much giving the back up infielder position to Jason Smith.

Here is Footer on Edwin, Jason, and the rest of the prospects:

“The Astros roster is pretty much set. Edwin Maysonet was sent down today, which means Jason Smith probably has locked up the utility infielder job. Chris Johnson is still in big league camp, but now that Jeff Keppinger is joining the club, it’s likely Johnson will start the year at Triple-A. I would expect Johnson to accompany the team home to Houston this weekend and then head to Round Rock after Saturday’s game. ”

Also from Footer’s blog, Ed Wade on Maysonet:

“He’s going to play in the big leagues for a long time. At some point, he’s going to get the opportunity to do it. I just told him, when I got here before last season, people like Tal [Smith] and David [Gottfried] and Ricky [Bennett] and others talked about Maysonet and his ability to play defense all over the place, and his bat was coming, and that’s exaclty what we saw when he was here.”

“He had a few rough spots in Spring Training defensively, but he has exceptional hands and a strong arm and great instincts. He’s going to hit enough to play a lot of games in the big leagues. Right now, with the ability to get a guy like Keppinger, I think it’s more appropriate for Edwin to go back and get those at-bats at Triple-A.”

Bad day on the mound today for the Stros. From astros.com:

Stros at the plate: “Kazuo Matsui went 3-for-3 with a double, run scored and RBI and Hunter Pence went 1-for-3 with a double and RBI. Edwin Maysonet hit a solo home run to left field off right-hander Chad Durbin in the sixth inning.”

That’s two 3-3 days for Kaz in the past 3 games.  Maysonet showing some pop while vying for that back up infield position, making the decision even tougher for Coop. 

Stros on the bump: “Left-hander Mike Hampton allowed seven hits, seven runs, three walks and three home runs in five innings. He struck out three” From Brian McTaggart of the Houston Chronicle: “The Phillies hit four homers off the Astros, with Wesley Wright giving up four runs, a homer and two walks in one inning to raise his ERA to 3.60. Chris Sampson pitched two innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs. ”

Tough day on the mound for Hampton and Houston but, those days are gonna happen, just ask Mike Hampton:

“”I’ll have one during the season, too, probably more than just one,” he said. “That’s just part of it. You try to minimize the damage as much as you can, but I made some good pitches at times and there were some times I left the ball over the plate and got hit.” ”

In Hampy’s defense, Coop says he got squeezed a little.

Houston’s Grapefruit League record: Astros 9-18-3

In an article on astros.com Alyson Footer discusses Bud Norris’ and J.R. Towles’ demotion to minor league camp.  However, much of the article is spent in praise of Norris:

“Norris didn’t pitch his way onto the team this spring, but he accomplished something just as important — he flew up the depth chart, and as soon as a need arises on the Major League level, the 24-year-old right-hander is going to be the first considered.”

Sounds like things are going well for Air-Bud.

On the drive to the town where I grew up today (liberty, tx) I went through Houston and caught an interview on 1560 with Alyson Footer. (apparently her nickname is scrunci?)  In her interview she discussed the demotion of the two prospects and went further in to detail on Towles. 

She basically said that Towles did not help himself at all with his spring performance and with Pudge on the club this year and Castro on his way J.R. may have missed his window of opportunity. 

Tough news for J.R. especially since it isn’t his fault the club handled him so poorly last season. 

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.

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.”