The Houston Astros lost 7-4 to the Atlanta Braves today making today their tenth loss in a row putting their Grapefruit League record at 1-10-1.

Cecil Cooper isnt’t happy and who can blame him?

From Alyson’s Footnotes: “The lineup looked largely like the one projected for Opening day: Matsui, Bourn, Berkman, Lee, Pence, Boone…with one of the projected starting pitchers, Brian Moehler, on the mound. And still, the Astros just weren’t very good.

“This was veterans today,” Cooper said. “We didn’t hit, and we didn’t execute our pitches. I don’t have any answers about why this is happening, unless someone put the hex on us.”

Cooper concluded with, “this is bordering on ridiculous.”"

What can you be excited about if you are an Astros fan right now? Bullpen performance: Today Valverde, Brocail, and Byrdak all pitched a scoreless frame.  Woohoo…

Because of the clubs recent performance, Lance Berkman is going to be making a road trip for the next game tomorrow.  Maybe he’ll go 4-4 with 8 RBI and he’ll pitch 4 scoreless innings.

It’s only Spring Training and 10 wins in a row wouldn’t count either but you can understand the frustration of Cecil Cooper.

Your Houston Astros media round up for today:

Brian McTaggart of chron.com reports on Jason Castro and his experiences in big league camp so far.

Astros.com’s Alyson Footer, talks to hitting coach Sean Berry about what he expects from Hunter Pence in 2009.

Finally, Brian McTaggart checks in on some of the injured players and prospects in his Astros notes.

So far Houston has only won one game in the Grapefruit League this Spring Training and people are wondering if it is time to hit the panic button. 

Before I get into what I think here is the opinion of a few Houston Astros’ sports writers:

Alyson Footer, Houston’s MLB.com beat writer, says she is “worried” in a recent post on her blog, Alyson’s Footnotes.

The fashionably negative Brian McTaggart, one of the Houston Astros beat writers from chron.com, surprisingly says it’s not time to hit the panic button…yet.

And chron.com fan blogger Chip Bailey needs Astros’ fans to tell him why he shouldn’t panic, because he is ready to.

I don’t think it is near time to panic.  Caution? maybe. Worried? sure. But definitely not time to panic. 

Houston has been outscored 31-78.  Pretty bad right? No.

This is without Carlos Lee (although he is on his way back to Florida after Panama was the first team to be eliminated in the WBC), Miguel Tejada, and Lance Berkman.  Wait, Berkman is still at Spring Training isn’t he? Well yeah, but he hasn’t traveled to hardly any of the road games.  So the potency of our line up is well…missing. 

So far, this Spring Training has been an opportunity for Houston to get a good look at their prospects and try to get their pitchers some work in. Btw, no Roy-O either.

Check back with me when Houston gets their big bats back in the lineup.  Until then, I am more concerned with Roy’s work load on team USA for the WBC.  He should have been out of that game a little earlier.

Panic time? No way.  Maybe if it were April.

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.

From astros.mlb.com:

Stros at the plate: “Brian Bogusevic hit an RBI single and Kazuo Matsui an RBI triple, providing all the early offense. Tommy Manzella then gave them a lead in the seventh inning, when he hit a sacrifice fly to center, driving in pinch-runner Michael Bourn. First baseman John Gall tied the game in the eighth with an RBI single.”

Today was Brian Bogusevic’s first start.  Ed Wade said we may not have a lot of quantity in our minor league system but we do have some quality prospects.  I am starting to agree with Wade after seeing Johnson, Sutton, Bogusevic, and Castro.

Stros on the mound: “A non-roster invitee with only a slight chance to make the team, Jose Capellan nonetheless impressed, firing three shutout innings against a strong Venezuelan lineup. Capellan walked one, allowed one hit and struck out none. But Felipe Paulino, a product of the Astros’ Venezuelan Academy, allowed two runs in his two innings”

More on the Stros on the mound from Brian McTaggart from Chron.com:

On Paulino and De La Vara: “The good news for Felipe Paulino is the fact he says his arm and body felt good. But he didn’t pitch so well today against Venezuela, giving up five hits and two runs and one walk in two innings.

“My body and arm feel good, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable today and was pitching behind the count a lot,” he said. “I’m not happy. I just come here to do my job and that happened. I’m going to keep working and get ready for my next game.”

“Meanwhile, Rule 5 pick Gilbert De La Vara pitched excellent. He went two innings and gave up one hit and struck out one batter in two crisp innings. De La Vara, 24, has a 19-16 record and a 3.40 ERA in 145 career games in the minors, including 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA last year at Class AA Northwest Arkansas.”

“I try to take the same approach no matter what, whether it’s those guys, the veteran on the Venezuelan team, or the ‘B’ team,” he said. “My approach towards hitters is pound the ball down with quality pitches and throw strikes.”

De La Vara is a native of Arizona who was drafted in the 15th round of the 2004 draft. ”

On Capellan: “Astros starting pitcher Jose Capellan, a non-roster invitee to spring training, had an excellent outing today against a strong Venezuelan lineup. He pitched three innings and allowed a two-out single in the first and a two-out walk in the third, but no batters reached second base.

“I felt happy today. My fastball was working, but the curveballs weren’t working,” he said. “Some days you throw a good curveball, but today it was too high. I have to time to work on it.”

Capellan, 28, has a 5-7, 4.89 ERA in 99 career major league games with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies. He was signed to a one-year minor league contract on Jan. 14 of last year.

He’s probably a longshot to make the team, but he could put pressure on Russ Ortiz and Brandon Backe if he pitches like he did today in his next few outings.

“I’m competing to stay here on the team and working (on pitches), too,” he said. ”

Good news on Capellan and not so much for Paulino.  I really want Paulino to succeed in that I have been waiting for him to impact the club for the last three years.  However, I will gladly take a capable Capellan or Russ Ortiz over a mediocre Brandon Backe. Sorry Brandon.

Astros GFL Record: 1-5-2

Houston loses 12-2 to Tampa in today’s game at Port Charlotte, Fla.

From astros.mlb.com:

Stros at the plate: “Michael Bourn displayed the speed that enabled him to steal 41 bases in 2008 when he legged out an infield hit in the first inning. He then walked in his second at-bat and stole his third base of the spring before scoring Houston’s first run when Edwin Maysonet doubled to left in the third inning.”

Hopefully Bourn can get on base more this season.  If he can, he has a great chance to to lead the NL in steals.

Stros on the mound: “Right-hander Brandon Backe made his first start and second appearance of the spring and allowed four earned runs in two innings before leaving the game in the third with no outs and the bases loaded. Righty Samuel Gervacio took over for Backe and walked in three runs by issuing consecutive free passes to Pat Burrell, Gabe Kapler and Dioner Navarro. Polin Trinidad relieved Gervacio, and the wildness continued, as the left-hander walked Adam Kennedy to bring in the Rays’ fifth run.”

The pitching getting hit like this today isn’t as big of a deal as it seems.  The only real downer is Backe’s performance.  With Russ Ortiz pitching well in his last outing, Backe is going to pick it up to keep his spot on this rotation.

Astros Grapefruit League Record 1-5-1

The Astros fell to the Braves today 8-7 after their bullpen coughed up the lead.

From Astros.com

Stros at the plate: “Jason Michaels and Miguel Tejada recorded doubles off Jorge Campillo in a three-run first inning. Chris Johnson produced a third-inning sacrifice fly and then added an RBI double off Mike Gonzalez in the fifth inning”

Stros on the mound: Pretty much, Roy: “Oswalt made a successful exhibition season debut, allowing two runs and one hit in three innings. Two of the four strikeouts he recorded came at the expense of reigning National League batting champion Chipper Jones. ”

I caught some of this game in between classes at school today.  When I tuned in, the bottom of the 7th or top of the 8th, Houston was up 7-2 and Arias was on the mound.  He pitched really well and had a 1-2-3 inning.  Apparently after that Atlanta scored four off of Sergio Perez and two off of Gilbert De La Vara.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz has some nice insight to Roy and Brandon Backe’s performance: ”

“Oswaltstruck out the side in the first inning and gave up two runs over three innings with four strikeouts Thursday against the Braves. At a time in camp when starters are limited to one or maybe two innings, the veteran righthander tossed three innings and 53 pitches.

“I’m ahead of last year by a lot,” he said. “Everything feels pretty good. The ball was a little slick today. But everything felt pretty well. I’m way ahead of schedule from last year, for sure. I think I started earlier and it helped out a lot.

“To go out and throw 50 pitches your first outing is pretty good, especially getting up and down. That’s the biggest thing. You can throw 50 pitches before you come, but if you do it consistently it’s a little different than getting up and down, getting up and down, getting up and down. Today was good. You get to go out there three different times and get loose. I felt pretty well.”

In his only start before heading to the World Baseball Classic, Oswalt held the Braves to one hit, a two-run home run by David Ross in the second inning.

He walked one batter, hit another and threw 34 of his 53 pitches for strikes, finishing with a 94-mph fastball for a called third strike on Chipper Jones. He also struck out Jones in the first inning on a changeup, a pitch he has worked on this spring.

“It’s feeling better,” he said. “I’m getting a little more confidence in it.”

Jones was impressed with the changeup, saying, “The bottom fell out of it.”

That is exciting stuff about Roy.

Coop on Roy, Backe, and Arias: “Roy and Brandon both looked very, very sharp,” Cecil Cooper said. “Roy in particular was crisp. I saw a lot of life on his fastball. He actually threw some very good breaking balls too. He had some pretty good motion. And he looked like he was pretty close to midseason form.

“I thought Brandon pitched pretty well. He kept the ball down and he used his changeup. He was just going to throw fastball, changeups today. I thought Brandon threw the ball pretty well too. I was impressed with Arias too.”"

According to Alyson Footer of astros.mlb.com Miguel Tejada will not play in the World Baseball Classic.

“Tejada is apparently low on the shortstop depth chart for the Dominican team, behind Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. It’s likely he would have been asked to play first base, a position he has never played in the big leagues.

“I heard from somebody that they’re going to make me play first base or another position,” Tejada said. “I don’t want to do that. I feel I’m a good enough shortstop for me to be playing my position. If they think that I’m not, it’s good to let somebody else play.

“I love my country and I respect my country. I don’t want to do something where I can hurt my country. If I play another position that I’ve never played, I might hurt my country. I might make an error, because I don’t know how to play first base. I don’t know how to play another position. I could do something wrong, and I don’t want to do that.”

Cecil Cooper had this to say about Tejada:

“He’s a key component to what we do defensively,” Cooper said. “He’s got to do his work. You take a person out of that comfort zone, it makes it tough for him. He’s not 22 anymore. He needs to work on things he needs to work on.”

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.

According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, Miguel Tejada may reconsider his bid to play in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic.

“At the same time, I have to realize that this is the last year in my contract and I need to work hard because I want to show all the other teams that there’s still a lot left in me. God willing, I want to start the season well to see if Houston wants me to stay here, which would be my desire.”

With Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets playing for the Dominican squad, Tejada is looking like the odd man out at short.  Because he may have to play a different position than that of the one he plays for Houston, Tejada is reconsidering. 

“I think it’s more important for me to prepare to play short, because that’s what I’ll play here,” he said. “But as I’ve said, I’ve always been honored to represent my country. It doesn’t matter how I represent it, I have always loved to wear my country’s jersey and hold my country’s flag.”

Tejada said that with the Astros’ approval, he would still play in the WBC at a different position, but only if they OK’d it.

“I can’t go to the Classic to play another position when I have a team where I work and then I’d go play another position. I think for Houston it would be an honor for me to go there and play my position. Even if it wasn’t every day, but at least I’d be playing the position I’d be playing here the whole season.

“If the team accepts that I go and play another position, I’d even be a catcher. I’d play any position they’d tell me to play. But first I have to check with the team. I don’t know what decision the team will make.”