Colt 45s Blog

It’s bad when all you can say about your team is that they playing to stay out of last place.  And they needed a seven game losing streak by the Pirates just to lose that distinction.  The Astros are also playing to avoid 90 losses, which they can do if they go 6-3 in their final nine games.  That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen but you never know.

I applaud Craig Biggio for calling it quits.  He’s definitely a Hall of Famer, but at this point he’s kind of reached the end of the road.  A .657 OPS, even for a second baseman, isn’t going to cut it and his .279 OBP is almost 100 points below his career mark.

Hunter Pence was of course the big surprise.  He was contending for the batting title when he went down and while he hasn’t been as good since the injury, he hasn’t been horrible so hopefully this will give Pence a springboard to a solid sophomore campaign.

Lance Berkman also had an off year so you hope he’ll bounce back in 2008.  His OPS is 90 points below his career mark and he’s probably going to set a career mark for strikeouts in a season. 

Roy Oswalt was Roy Oswalt.  Still the ace, he led the team in just about everything and while his win total was down a notch, it wasn’t because he wasn’t throwing well.  Wandy Rodriguez was good but not great but after that, things got pretty spotty.  Probably the most encouraging thing was Brad Lidge’s second half.  His homerun rate was up a notch, but 40 strikeouts in 29 innings is damn good and you hope he’ll be an effective closer next year.

So the Astros have some parts, they just need some more parts to compete in 2008.  It’ll be an interesting offseason and we’ll see how things go with the new GM.

With the trade deadline a couple of weeks and the Astros facing a near insurmountable climb to even contend in the division, it’s time to figure out who to build the team around.  While the Astros definitely have some nice parts, there’s also some holes as well and if you could deal a guy like Brad Lidge and fill some of those, then all the better.

One mistake that may be made is the Astros may trade Roy Oswalt.  I think they should be looking to sign him to a long term deal instead but I don’t know if the Astros have tried and failed or not.  Still, Oswalt has been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball the last few years and you don’t just give that away.  I’d rather have a known commodity like Roy Oswalt then two or three pitching prospects who may never end up panning out.  If Buehlre is worth what he got from the White Sox though, you’re talking about a historically high signing and with a lot of money going into guys like Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman, it may be hard to justify putting even more eggs into a single basket.

Hunter Pence is contending for a batting title and if he keeps this up, he should be a lock for Rookie of the Year.  And that’s even after missing most of April down in the minors.  The kid can hit, and he’s 0 for 2 today but he takes a nine game hitting streak into the game.  And he could also easily belt 40 doubles this year, which is amazing because of that missed month.

And speaking of Oswalt, he got bumped for three runs by the Cubs so now the Astros are down 3-1.  He also just failed to bunt the guy over.  Anyway, Wandy Rodriguez gets the start tomorrow afternoon and if the Astros can’t come back today, it’ll be up to him to avoid the sweep.

Craig Biggio finally did it and what a game it was.  He went five for six and it was just his second five hit game of his career.  It couldn’t have come at a better time because that third hit was the 3,000 of his career.  That game alone boosted his season batting average from .238 to .250.

And what a game this one was.  Carlos Lee belted a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the eleventh and Lance Berkman and Mike Lamb also went yard in the win.  And the win snapped a three game losing streak that pushed the Astros further down in the standings and even with the win, the Astros face a near insurmountable thirteen game deficit.  And with no Roger Clemens to swoop in and help the team, it’s looking like the Astros may be sellers come trade deadline time.

The Astros have game two against the Rockies tonight and it’ll be Chris Sampson going up against Josh Fogg.  Sampson has been solid for the Astros even without the strikeouts.  He doesn’t walk a lot of guys but he’s definitely a guy who, because the ball gets put in play a lot, can get beat up now and then.

This has kind of been a typical Astros start, at least compared to the last few years.  They get off to a slow start and sort of hang back just on the edge of contention.   Then they storm back in the second half and make a run at the division or the Wild Card.  Last year they fell short and this year, I don’t even see it coming because the Astros just don’t seem to have the horses.  I’m not saying we should sell the farm yet, but if we’re ten back at the break, then it might be time to be sellers rather then buyers.

Craig Biggio is eight hits away from 3,000 although he’s kind of been part of the problem.  With a .660 OPS, he’s been an anchor in the lineup and you wonder how much this 3,000 hit thing is a distraction.  I know Biggio should be given his due because he’s done a ton for the team but once 3,000 hits comes and goes, it might be time to start looking at other options at second base.  Oddly, he’s gotten his share of doubles and he’s actually on pace for another 40 double season if they stick with him through the rest of the season.

Carlos Lee has lived up to his contract, but without the Astros in contention, it’s hard to justify that price tag.  He’ll probably get the nod in the All Star game although Roy Oswalt is definitely deserving as well. 

And what about Hunter Pence.  His strikeout to walk ratio portends a drop off soon but he’s sporting a .351 batting average and a .971 OPS.  This kid is definitely a keeper and with Lee out there as well, you have to guys to begin building around going forward.

The Astros sit ten games back of the Brewers and ten games below .500.  Right now, nobody in the division is making waves but the Astros are almost as close to the Reds in last place as they are of pushing up to the top of the second tier in the division.  They do have a three game set with the pretty poor Rangers so maybe they can use this to make a push and I’m wrong about the Astros not contending this year.

Wandy Rodriguez, despite the 4-6 record, has been another story this year.  He sports an impressive 73/19 strikeout to walk ratio and I’d put him as the Astros second best starter.  He’s just been pretty erratic.  He’s either on, or off and when he’s off, there’s nothing the offense can do to help out.   Still, if he keeps up those rock solid numbers into the second half he could turn that record around.

It’s the disappointing Woody Williams throwing against Jamey Wright in the opener tomorrow.   This one could go either way and it’ll depend on who’s bats get hot.  I like all of the matchups in this series so though so I like our chances.

I apologize for the lack of content.  The network had some system wide Wordpress problems that prevented me from posting so I had a couple of weeks off.  In the meantime, the Astros have picked themselves up, won four straight and seven out of eight and they now just sit 4 1/2 games back of the first place Brewers.  Not a bad run for a team that’s struggled at times.

And you can’t talk about the Astros without talking about Carlos Lee, who’s shown he deserved the paycheck he’s getting.  He leads the team in just about everything and until Lance Berkman heats up, the Astros have needed his stick.  The offense has struggled at times though and the Astros third best hitter is Craig Biggio, who’s hitting just .242.  He’s just 34 hits away from 3,000 and it’d be nice to get that monkey off his back.  He’s only just one run away from 1,800 so Biggio hit some really nice milestones this year.

And then Hunter Pence has caught fire of late.  The rookie is seven for seven his last two games and he’s the front page story over at ESPN.com.

The pitching hasn’t been all that bad, although missing out on Roger Clemens hurts.  Roy Oswalt has done his usual great job but both Wandy Rodriguez and Chris Sampson have gotten it done as well. 

The Astros go for the sweep tonight against the Giants and then it’s three against the struggling Ranges s interleague play fires up.  It’d be nice if the Brewers kept on losing as well.  Maybe by this time next week, the Astros will have shaved down that lead even more.

I know the Pirates are a bit better, but this is a little ridiculous.  And the Astros were doing so well there for a while and now they’ve lost six straight and the only thing keeping them out of the cellar are the Cubs.  Oy.

Tuesday’s game was probably the worst because the Astros were shutout.  Craig Biggio had two of the Astros three hits and a pretty good start by Woody Williams was wasted.  He gave up three runs on nine hits with two strikeouts in seven innings of work.

The Astros scored a few runs yesterday but it wasn’t enough in a 4-3 marathon sixteen inning loss.  Craig Biggio singled home a run in the ninth to tie it but Brian Mohler gave up a run in the sixteenth to lose it.  He had been pretty solid up until then and the pen held the Pirates scoreless until the sixteenth from the six inning on.  Biggio was the hitting star and he finished with three hits.

This afternoon was more of the same, although the scored doesn’t reflect how bad the Astros lost.  Only two ninth inning runs made it look close this time it was Mark Loretta getting it done at the plate.  He went four for four with a run while Chris Burke scored twice.  Wandy Rodrgiuez dropped to 0-3 and he gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Hopefully the Astros can figure out a way to win this weekend because the first place Brewers roll into town.  A bad series here will bury us, while two of three should mean we keep up with the rest of the pack.  It’ll be Roy Oswalt on the mound tomorrow and hopefully he can right the ship.

The Astros had a very nice run and with five straight wins, the showed they might contend in the Central this year.  The bad news is, after the five wins, the Astros lost two straight and dropped their three game series with the first place Brewers.  So the Astros are in second place, which is better then before, but they’re a game and a half back of first when they could have been closer had they pulled out another win.

Craig Biggio hit a huge grand slam homer in the ninth inning on Friday to put the Astros up 6-2.  They ended up needing each of those runs because Bill Hall hit a three run shot in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 6-5 ball game. Fortunately, that’s as far as the Brewers got as the Astros won their only gave up the series.  Matt Albers had a nice start and he gave up two runs in six innings and it was Brad Lidge who gave up the three run shot in the ninth.

It went downhill from there as Wandy Rodriguez was hit hard in Saturday’s game.  He gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in six innings and the loss dropped him to 0-2 on the season.  Lance Berkman drew three walks and Morgan Ensberg went yard in the 6-4 loss.

Yesterday’s game was another close and while the Astros scored three in the ninth, that just made it 4-3 as they came a run short.  Ensberg had two hits and an RBI and Lance Berkman doubled, scored a run and drove in one.  Roy Oswalt lost his first game of the season and he gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in seven innings.

The Astros have a makeup game against the Phillies this evening and then they head across the state for three games against the Pirates.  Chris Sampson will try to improve on his 2-0 record and the Astros will try to knock around Adam Eaton.

Alright, after the poor start, the Astros are heating up and they’ve done it with four straight wins.  They did it by scoring a bunch of late runs off of a mediocre Reds pen to steal two games.  On Wednesday, the Astros were down most of the game until they scored five in the eighth.  Jason Lane had the big hit with a three run homer and Mike Lamb had a good game in the 7-2 win with two hits and a run.  Chris Sampson threw a nice game and he improved to 2-0.  He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Yesterday was more of the same.  Down by as much as 6-1, the Astros scored five more runs in the eighth to win this one 8-6.  Jason Lane went yard again as did Luke Scott.  Scott finished the game with an impressive four RBIs and Lance Berkman had two hits, a run and an RBI.  Woody Williams was hit hard in his start but since the hitters picked him up, he didn’t take a loss.  Brad Lidge threw a shutout inning and he picked up the win while Dan Wheeler saved it.

Next up is three against the first place Brewers in a pretty big early series.  Matt Albers will make his season debut in a tough matchup against Ben Sheets.  Then again, Sheets was hammered last time around so maybe we can pick on up early.

The Astros are getting back on track and they won two more games this week in their sweep over the Marlins to push their record up to an even 6-6.  In the first game, Mark Loretta got it done with two hits, two RBIs and a run while Wandy Rodriguez threw a nice game.  He gave up one run on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six innings of work.  Chad Qualls ended up with the win though as he threw 1 2/3 innings and struck out three.

Last night, it was all Roy Oswalt and Carlos Lee.  Oswalt improved to 3-0 on the season and he gave up just one run on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.  Carlos Lee went three for four with a homerun, four RBIs and two runs in the 6-1 win.

The Astros are tied in the loss column with the first place Reds with the Cardinals sandwiched between the two teams.  And we can make that up as the Astros host the Reds for two games.  Chris Sampson will have his hands full though as he not only has to take on a tough Reds lineup, but he also has to keep pace with Reds’ ace Aaron Harang.

More nasty weather rolled in and it turned a three game series into a two game series this weekend.  The end result was a split and the Astros once again fell short of hitting the .500 mark.

In Friday’s game, it was all Carlos Lee.  He homered three times and he drove in six runs in the Astros 9-6 win.  Morgan Ensberg accounted for the other three runs with a three run homerun.  Roy Oswalt improved to 2-0 despite getting hammered for six runs.  A wins a win though.

Then on Saturday, Woody Williams was hammered.  He gave up six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings in the 8-5 loss.  Jason Lane had the big hit with a three run homer and he finished with four RBIs.

The Marlins roll into town for two games beginning today.  Wandy Rodriguez gets the start tonight and then Roy Oswalt will throw on Tuesday.  A sweep would mean .500 and that’s the goal for the moment.