Colt 45s Blog

Lisa Grey previewed the Astros at the Hardball Times today.  In the column, she asks and answers five questions that talk about everything from the starting rotation to what effect Craig Biggio’s quest for his 3,000 hit will have on the team.  She even throws in a bonus question on Roger Clemens.

MiLB.com takes a look at the Astros spring training season with a slant towards the minor leagues today.  Their big question is when Hunter Pence will join the team and there’s a Q&A with Beau Torbert.  The column closes with some general comments that the Astros system isn’t as deep as it once was but that the Astros might want to spend their money on international signings as opposed to part of a season of Roger Clemens.

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney posted an interview with Astros’ closer Brad Lidge today.  They talk about closers entrance music and how Brad Lidge picked up the number 54.  It’s a pretty casual Q&A but it’s interesting to get the know the guy behind the mitt.

This is only temporary, but Hunter Pence was sent down to the minors yesterday and he’ll report to the Astros Triple A affiliate in Round Rock when the season kicks off.  He was having a great spring but Phil Garner just must have thought there wasn’t room for him in Houston and that he’ll get a more consistent set of at bats at Triple A.  Regardless though, Astros fans hope that this spring was a microcosm of what we can expect from Pence in the future and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s with the big league club by the All Star break.

Beyond the Boxscore previewed the Astros today and the prognosis isn’t good.  The question marks in in the rotation are troubling and while they do seem to think the Carlos Lee signing will help, they fall short of predicting a playoff appearance for the team.  This is a nice look at the team though.  They touch on just about every player and you get a more sabermetric look at the team.

Will Carroll took on the task of examining what the Astros need to do to win the World Series, and he does it in tragedy form. Interesting read.

In a great article at Baseball Prospectus, Joe Sheehan talks about how Craig Biggio’s quest for his 3,000 hit could potentially hurt the team because he’s not the best option at second base.  Chris Burke is.  He discusses the Astros projected lineup and then goes into what the lineup would be based on who’s projected to do the best and there’s quite a difference. 

John Sickels recently threw up his projections on what he thinks Chris Burke might do with his career.  2007 looks like it could be the best year of his career based on this and I could live with that.

The Astros got some timely homeruns from two of their big bats today and Roy Oswalt pitched through a rough few innings as the Astros picked up the win. Craig Biggio hit a solo homerun and he scored twice and Morgan Ensberg had a huge three run shot sixth inning that ended up being the difference maker in the game.

Roy Oswalt gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits in three innings but he also gunned down four batters.  Brad Lidge threw a shutout inning and Matt Albers pitched two scoreless frames.  The Astros will square off against the Nationals again tomorow with Jason Jennings getting the ball for Houston.

The Astros were beat up today by the defending AL champs, the Detroit Tigers and some of their better pitchers took it on the chin.  Roy Oswalt was hardly sharp and he gave up three runs while Brad Lidge and Scott Sauerbeck were both drilled for four.  Journeyman Rick White did throw two shutout innings while Trever Miller struck out the side in the ninth.

On the hitting side, Hunter Pence was the star.  He went three for three with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.  Morgan Ensberg went yard with a solo shot while Eric Bruntlett scored twice.

Tomorrow, the Astros take on the Braves.  Hopefully the Astros can get on a better track (i.e. winning).