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.
]]>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.
]]>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!
]]>Ed Wade said on more than one occasion that the teams main objective for the off-season was to retain Randy Wolf, Doug Brocail, and LaTroy Hawkins.
It was reported that the Astros made Randy Wolf an offer of $28.5 million and three years. Before Wolf had time to make a decision Houston was forced to pull their offer from the table due to economic reasons. Wolf has since been pursued by many MLB teams and landed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $5 million.
However, Wade was successful in retaining both Hawkins and Brocail who will both play a pivotal roles in the Astros bullpen, which is probably the strongest aspect of their team.
Once Drayton McLane put away his wallet the Astros priorities shifted. The team was still looking to add a starting pitcher, especially with Wolf no longer an option. But, for that to happen Wade was going to have to move some payroll through trades. Ed Wade went into the winter meetings shopping Ty Wigginton and Miguel Tejada. Wigginton garnered significant interest while teams showed virtually no interest in Tejada.
Wade came away from the Winter Meetings with a catcher, Lou Palmisano, via the rule 5 draft, and both Wigginton and Tejada still in a Houston uniform. Shortly after the Winter Meetings the Astros non-tendered Ty Wigginton, again for financial reasons and much to the dismay of Houston fans. Wigginton has since signed a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, also known as Houston Astros American League team. (see former Astros on Baltimore Orioles)
The biggest signing the club made this off-season was when they picked up Mike Hampton. Hampton, a former Astro and Cy-Young winner, signed with the club for 1 year and $2 million dollars plus incentives.
The rest of the off-season was peppered with minor league contracts, (including David Newhan and Russ Ortiz) and veteran signings (Aaron Boone and Jason Michaels).
Houston managed to avoid arbitration with all eligible candidates:
Jose Valverde signed for $8 million, Brandon Backe $1.55 million, Tim Byrdak $1 million, and Humberto Quintero for $610,000. All for 1 year contracts. The club also signed Wandy Rodriguez to a $2.6 Million dollar contract with incentives, as well as Geoff Geary for $1.7 million, both one year contracts.
After the dust settled the Astros are a very similar team to the team that hit the field last season. Going into Spring Training they are without Wolf and Wigginton but they have added Mike Hampton whowill be key in Houston’s success this season if he can stay healthy. Houston is also counting on a Geoff Blum/Aaron Boone platoon (or Georran Blooney as a few people have started to refer to the duo) to fill in for Wigginton.
The starting rotation is the most glaring issue for the club in that there are a lot of questions to be answered. Can Hampton stay healthy? Will Backe pitch better or will he give up the most dingers in MLB again? Wandy Rodriguez had a pretty good season last year but he has to stay healthy and develop more consistency. (see Wandy’s home-road ERA the past two seasons.) One thing the team and Houston’s fans can count on is Roy Oswalt. Oswalt started off a little rough last season but finished strong.
The Houston Bullpen is possibly the best in the NL Central. With Jose Valverde, or Papa Grande, anchoring and with Doug Brocail/LatroyHawkins as set-up men, the Houston Pen should fare well this season if they can stay healthy. Chris Sampson is coming off of elbow surgery and is said to be pitching without pain for the first time since his original stint with the team. Sampson came to life after being moved to the Houston pen last season. Geoff Geary and the two left handed relievers Wesley Wright and Tim Byrdak give Cecil Cooper plenty of options coming out of the pen.
The Houston line-up will feature much of the same players as last season, except for Ty Wigginton. Aside from Blum/Boone filling Wiggy’s spot, I would also look for Michael Bourn to hit lower in the line-up. If Bourn does well and is moved up to the lead-off or two spot look for Miguel Tejada to drop a spot and Hunter Pence to drop in his spot, probably the 5-hole.
This is all before Spring Training even begins so who knows what will happen. Houston didn’t have the most successful off-season but they managed to keep a team together and add a few pieces that will give them the chance to contend in a division that has somewhat weakened since last year.
Spring Training ‘officialy’ begins for Houston tomorrow although Jose Valverde and Felipe Paulino threw bullpen sessions today and Brian Moehler, Doug Brocail, Humberto Quintero, Lou Palmisano, LaTroy Hawkins, Brandon Backe, Geoff Geary, and Chris Sampson all worked out.
I will be celebrating tomorrows holday (No, not Valentine’s Day) with a chili dog and a beer. Thanks to baseball, all things are right again in the universe.
]]>The two runs that the Pirates did score came off of Wesley Wright in the sixth inning. He gave up rbi singles in the inning. Other then Wright’s two runs, the rest of the pitching staff pitched great. Doug Brocail, Chris Sampson, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde all threw out of the bullpen after Wrigth was taken out. Valverde finished things up in the ninth inning for his 41st save of the season.
All three of the Astros runs came in the fifth inning when they were finally able to get to Pirates starting pitcher Ian Snell. Snell gave up a solo home run to Saccomanno and then Miguel Tejada and and Lance Berkman knocked in a run each with rbi singles.
The offense was lucky that the pitching staff threw the ball so well as they struggled against the Pirates pitchers. A win is a win however, and right now the the Astros need every win they can get.
]]>Brad Backe earned the win after throwing 6 2/3 innings. Backe gave up six hits and two runs while picking up his ninth win of the season. The Astros bullpen did a great job to hold the Reds to the two runs that Backe gave up. Doug Brocail, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde all threw out of the pen for the Astros. Valverde finished the game up and picked up his 35th save.
All three of the Astros runs in the game via the home run ball as they hit three solo shots off the Reds pitchers. Ty Wigginton got things started with his homerun in the first inning and then in the fifth it was Humberto Quintero’s turn to go deep. The third home run came from Wigginton in the sixth inning as he finished with two home runs and two rbi. Great day for Ty at the plate!
]]>Darin Erstad had tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with a rbi single. Berkman finished the game with three rbi while Erstad and Geoff Blum both chipped in with one rbi each. It was nice to see more then one player contributing at the plate and that is exactly what the team has been doing during this winning streak.
Brian Moehler was the starting pitcher and he pitched into the sixth inning but was taken out after throwing 5 1/3 innings. Moehler allowed eight hits and four runs including one home run his outing as he received a no decision. LaTroy Hawkins earned the victory and is now 1-0 since coming to the Astros. Jose Valverde had no problems in the ninth inning as he recorded his 30th save of the season.
The Astros will now have a tough six game stretch as they play the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers. How do you think they will do over the next six games? I’m thinking 2-4.
]]>