Some news from the home town club today.

The Astros have designated Jason Smith for assignment and called up Alberto Arias. I don’t think anyone saw this one coming…okay, that is sarcasm. Arias is a much needed arm for our ailing bullpen.

On a much more serious note, Astros‘ hitting coach Sean Berry has a tumor on his kidney:

“Astros hitting coach Sean Berry has what doctors believe is a cancerous tumor on his kidney and plans to have it removed in the next few days.

Berry had experienced bleeding for the past few days while Houston was on a road trip and figured he was simply passing kidney stones. The tumor was found on his right kidney during a consultation with a doctor on Wednesday and another visit is set for Thursday to schedule the procedure.

Berry played 11 major league seasons, including three for the Astros. He joined the organization as a minor league coach in 2003.”

Hopefully the surgery will go well for Sean. I wish he and his family the best.

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.”

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.

Here is your Houston Astros Media Round Up for today:

Alyson Footertalks to Houston Astros Pitching Coach Dewie Robinson about what he sees in this years pitching core. “Robinson likes the quality of this group more than the pitchers the Astros had in camp during Spring Training last year.”

There is a nice article on veteran infielder Jason Smith over at Chron.com

Brian McTaggartmakes his projection for Houston’s opening day roster and I gotta say, I think he is pretty much right. I might swap Capellan for Otiz but neither is Brandon Backe which is probably the way it is going to work out. Sorry Brandon.

Astros first round draft pick and catching prospect Max Sapp has suffered two Seizures.  For more info, check out the article at Chron.com.

Finally, Jose de Jesus Ortiz has a few columns you need to check out; De La Vara Impresses, Berkman Hits Road for Game in Sarasota, and Keep Astros Sapp in your Thoughts.

In non Astros related media, there is a good video on spring training autographs that I came across at Big League Stew that will remind you why you love baseball, just in case you forgot.

Houston lost today’s contest to the Cincinnati Reds 8-2. Looks like Berkman taking the road trip wasn’t enough to give the team their second W of the season.

From astros.mlb.com

Stros at the plate: “Brian Bogusevic had two hits. … Lance Berkman was 1-for-3 with a first-inning double. … Hunter Pence was 1-for-3 with a sixth-inning single. … Geoff Blum was 1-for-3. Jason Smith tripled in the eighth and scored on a two-run homer by Drew Sutton. ”

Stros on the mound: “Starter Jeff Fulchino was hit around and gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits over two innings. … Gilbert De La Vera pitched two scoreless innings with one walk. … Fernando Nieve gave up two runs, one earned, with one hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.”

Sounds to me like Nieve and Paulino have eached pitched themselves right out of the picture.  Maybe Houston can trade Nieve?  Teams will probably just wait until he hits the waiver wire and then pick hiim up.

Today make a dozen losses in a row for Houston and fan blogger Chip Bailey from the Houston Chronicle is asking if a manager can lose their job in Spring Training. Really Chip? Gimme a break.

 De La Vara and Arias both pitched two scoreless innings which is good news.  We still have 3 weeks of Spring Training so everyone needs to chill out, especially you Chip.

Also, one thing I have taken from this Spring Training so far is that Houston has a nice core of talent coming up right now.  Not necessarily a large amount of players but a good group of quality players.  Two or three years from now these guys are going to be making impacts at the big league level.

From astros.mlb.com

Stros at the plate : “Jason Smith put the Astros on the board first, driving in Darin Erstad with an RBI triple in the fifth frame. Michael Bourn knocked a double in the sixth to drive in Drew Sutton. Mark Saccomanno tripled to lead off the seventh and scored when center fielder Roger Bernadina overthrew home plate after fielding Humberto Quintero’s fly ball. Reggie Abercrombie drove in two with a double later in that inning, and Chris Johnson knocked a solo homer in the eighth”

Stros on the mound : “Mike Hampton turned a rough beginning into a solid outing, allowing no runs over two scoreless frames. He hit the first batter he faced and walked the next two to load the bases, but he struck out Austin Kearns and coaxed a double play from Jesus Flores to end the inning. Russ Ortiz, a fifth-starter hopeful, allowed one hit over two innings”

Sounds like Hampton got off to a shaky start but settled down.  From JJO of the Houston Chronicle, Hampton on his own performance and Cooper on Hampton:

“My arm felt good,” Hampton said after throwing two hitless innings. “My body felt good. Obviously location wasn’t where it needs to be, but all in all I felt good out there. Pitches and location will come. I got through with no hits, no runs. It wasn’t pretty at times, but I got there.”

“Mike seemed to be just a little bit tentative early, missing the zone a little bit,” Cooper said. “But then after … the first three (guys) he started to pitch a little bit and was real sharp. Russ, I thought, threw the ball really well.”

Apparently Hampton’s start was delayed due to the governor of Florida running late.

Houston’s Spring Training Record 1-0-0

So far so good.

Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence all sat out of today’s game.  Berkman, Tejada, and Lee will all play tomorrow.

Here is the lineup Cooper used for the game today:

Matsui 2b
Bourn cf
Pence rf
Blum 3b
Michaels lf
Erstad dh
Boone 1b
Smith ss
Towles c

Houston will play the Atlanta Braves tomorrow at Disney starting at 1:05 ET.  Roy Oswalt will make the start.