Er, something like that. Anyway, a few things I thought worth noting (I assume there's a Series Preview that's gonna be posted any minute now, likely making most of this redundant, but ah well).
I hope Michael Bourn gets a big huge ovation from the 2,000 or so fans who bother to show up, because he was a hell of a player and a joy to watch during his all-too-brief time in Houston. And, while he did hire Satan as his agent (sending the silent preemptive message that when the time came he wouldn't give a hometown discount), he didn't otherwise do or say anything embarrassing or throw his teammates under the bus or any lame shit like that to hasten his departure out of town. In fact, I thought he was on his way to becoming a team leader of sorts, and I still regret that they felt it was necessary to trade him last July (for something less than a clear, no-doubt, Grand-Slam package).
I'm really enjoying watching this team so far. Not just because they've avoided starting 0-9 or whatever, but... I think it's that there's this pronounced element of the unknown with this team- you just really don't know what you're going to get on any given night. Schafer with a leadoff HR? Lee and Bogusevic back-to-back? Wow, OK. Altuve drawing 2 walks in 2 games? WTF?
Plus, there's this deep satisfaction that I get when almost any of these guys does something good. I think it's because you're not really expecting them to. Somebody besides Carlos Lee will likely rack up 80-90 RBI this year. But, can you say that you "expect" any particular player other than Lee to do that? Even JD, yeah he had the good August, and the great minor league numbers... but I can easily see him falling on his face this year, ala Chris Johnson 2011. Ditto Altuve, and on down the line to the guys with even less track record. So, basically, I don't have high expectations for any individual players, so everything good that they do is a pleasant surprise.
Speaking of JD, McTaggart posted the lineups, and Buck is starting in his place in LF today, batting 3rd. This Beachy kid is a RHP, but in his career, righties have hit .238, lefties .241. He sure put up damn good numbers last year- 1.20 WHIP, 7.9 H/9, 169 K in 141 IP, 3.68 ERA which probably should've been lower.
Full lineups
here. And here's hoping we get Good Happ and not Nibbler Happ tonight.
