2010 Preview: Houston Astros

This is a preview of the 2010 season. We will look at the different divisions, teams, and players. This is also featured on Phillies Nation, as part of their 2010 preview.

In 2009, the Houston Astros went 74-88, placing fifth in NL Central.

Five years ago, the Houston Astros painfully knocked the Phillies out of playoff contention. Time flies. No more Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, or Roger Clemens. Despite having an entirely different core, the Astros have plenty of experienced players. In 2009, the Astros relied on Lance Berkman, Hunter Pence, and Carlos Lee.

Although they had power hitters like Berkman and Lee, the Astros finished towards the bottom in runs scored. Their pitching was not much better, collecting a 4.54 team earned run average. Roy Oswalt, who was once a Cy Young candidate, had a poor year that was plagued with injuries. The only consistent pitcher was Wandy Rodriguez, who surprised us all with 14 wins and a 3.02 ERA.

The Astros made several moves this off-season, giving them a familiar look. Ed Wade, the Phillies former general manager, signed Pedro Feliz and Brett Myers, who join former teammates Michael Bourn and Jason Michaels.

The Astros weren’t done. With the departure of Jose Valverde, the Astros traded for Matt Lindstrom and found a new closer in Brandon Lyon. Lyon was given a very pricey three-year, $15 million contract.

The Astros made a significant amount of changes, but still have plenty of question marks. Does anybody know who Tommy Manzella is? He’s their shortstop. J.R Towels was once a highly touted prospect and will be given the opportunity to catch everyday. However, the 25-year old’s hasn’t been able to reach the Mendoza line during his time in the majors.

Berkman and Oswalt have both been bothered with injuries this spring. In addition, Wandy Rodriguez will have to prove that 2009 was not a fluke.

The outfield is set with Lee, Bourn, and the emerging star Pence, but they will not be enough to carry the Astros towards playoff contention.

Prediction: 79-83

Good News Turned Bad

As seen on Phillies Nation.

From the get-go, it was a game of good news and bad news. The good news: Chase Utley returned to the lineup after missing Saturday’s game with a bruised foot. The bad news: Shane Victorino (knee) and Ryan Madson were unavailable due to injuries.

Jimmy Rollins greeted Bud Norris with a lead-off home run. After Lance Berkman’s RBI single, Ben Francisco homered. The Phillies regained the lead, 2-1. Good news.

There was more good news. Cole Hamels carried in a 19 consecutive scoreless inning streak. All good things come to an end, and for Hamels his streak halted at 21.1 innings. In the fifth, the ‘Stros took a 3-2 lead on Carlos Lee’s two-run double. Miguel Tejada followed with a RBI double of own.

Hamels didn’t pitch poorly. He pitched six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. Despite Michael Bourn’s blazing speed, Hamels did not get help from his defense. Twice, Hamels had Bourn picked off. Even with a strong throw from Ryan Howard, Rollins was unable to apply the tag. Bourn scored both times, proving costly for the Phillies.

A fan reached out and snagged Jayson Werth’s 31st home run of the year, putting the Phillies within one. The late rally wasn’t in them. Rollins popped up the offering from Jose Valverde. He immediately put his head down and trotted to first base. That summed up the Phillies struggles. Berkman squeezed his glove for the final out, securing the Astros third win of the series. In eight of their last ten games, the Phillies have scored three runs or less.

The Phillies homered three times, but they were each solo shots. Their troubles have been with runners in scoring position, but they had only one runner beyond first base. While every bleeder fell the Astros way, the Phillies couldn’t find any holes.

The bad news was that the Phillies lost 4-3. However, the good news is that their magic number decreases to 21 thanks to Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off home run against the Florida Marlins. So take the good news with the bad.

Tejada Charged

In 2002, he won the American League MVP. About a year ago, he was mentioned on the Mitchell Report. Now, Miguel Tejada could face a maximum of one year in jail.

Tejada was charged of lying to Congress about steroids. Tejada will meet in court on Wednesday, expecting to plead guilty.

In 2005, Tejada admitted he provided a vitamin B-12 injection to the positive tested Rafeal Palmero and two other Orioles players. Later that year, he claimed he had no knowledge of the use of steroids by other baseball players.

However, Adam Piatt was quoted in the Mitchell report to have had a conversation with Tejada about steroids. Included were checks written by Tejada to Piatt. Tejada claimed he had no knowledge of Piatt's use of steroids, giving false allegations.

Quotable: The steroid issue has brought up a lot of conversation over the last few days. Lance Berkman, a teammate of Tejada, stated he'd give blood weekly to prove he's clean.

"I want an honest evaluation of me as a player," he said. "I don't want to
compete against guys who are artificially enhancing. Are they physically gifted
above and beyond what I am? If they are, that's fine. If not, it makes me angry,
quite frankly."

Berkman also talked about his teammate:

"The thought definitely crosses your mind," Berkman said. "You hope whatever
plea agreement he worked out means he can continue to play shortstop for us."

Came Out of Nowhere

Don't look now, but the Houston Astros have pulled themselves to within 4 games back of the Wild Card.

They have a huge series with the Cubs coming up, however 2 games have been rained out due to Hurricane Ike.

The Astros are on a tear. They are 9-1 in their last 10 games, and have won 13 of their last 14. Could they pull a 2007 Colarado Rockies? Unlikely, but possible.

Roy Oswalt, who hasn't had the type of year that was expected of him, has picked it up lately. He has pitched 17.1 scoreless innings. In his last 10 starts, 66.1 innings, Oswalt has an ERA of just 2.17.

Lance Berkman is having an MVP type year. At this point, he is my runner up to Albert Pujols. Berkman is hitting .330 this year with 28 HR and 100 RBI. His OBP is .433 and his SLG is .601. with a 1.034 OPS.

Despite losing RBI machine Carlos Lee for the remainder of the year, and a retired Craig Biggio, the Astros have hung in there.

The Astros have a lot of former Phillies thanks to the Brad Lidge trade. It has worked out quite nice for the Phillies. Michael Bourn, Randy Wolf, and Geoff Geary are all current Astros. You can find out how they are doing in my previous post, "Where are They Now". Of the three, Geary has been the best. In 59 IP, he is 3-3 with an ERA of 2.44 with a WHIP of 1.14.

Ty Wiggington and Hunter Pence also provided some power for the Astros with 22 homeruns each.