By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on June 7, 2000.
Second installment of a six part Breedlove series evaluating the 2000 Astros.
The Astros outfield has succumbed to injuries and defensive reality checks that have demanded everyone trying every piece of ground, so we’ll skip the positional slots and just go player by player.
Richard Hidalgo
The Good – No one, I repeat, no one has benefited as much from the cozy Crawford porch at Enron. The Bad One is busting loose to the tune of .291/.397/.648 with 18 longballs and 51 RBI. Just a few years – and a stadium – ago we would have loved those numbers for an entire season from an Astro outfielder, but La Mala’s only a third of the way through. Dude has such a cannon for an arm (it’s hereditary in Venezuela apparently) no one is willing to test him on the bases. He’s come back strong from knee surgery and it looks like the Most Improved Player could be going his way. He’s shown patience at the plate, doesn’t throw a fit when he gets plunked, and will run through walls to catch the ball. He lacks quickness in center, but good instincts, nice reads, and a steady gait allow him to get to just about everything. Just for kicks… OPS: 1.045-1.099, HR: 18-20, RBI: 51-56, BB/K: 26/39-17/42. Despite the unconscious start of Carl Everett, on the right, Hidalgo is hanging tough.
The Bad – No one, I repeat, no one has benefited as much from the cozy Crawford porch at Enron. Look for the Tweety shift before the season is out, because Hidalgo is early on everything. The last time I saw wrists roll over that much was on the Spice Channel. Reeshard is often patient to a fault, watching fantastic hitter’s pitches fly by only to swing at outside junk and pull it to short. He’s come through with some big hits and sac flies, but thus far Hidalgo seems incapable of advancing runners. It may be that the brain trust has told him not to waste outs, but whatever the case he’s failed in some important situations. Despite stellar instincts in the outfield, Hidalgo has yet to adapt to the nooks and crannies of Enron. He’s also been a slight liability on the base paths, despite his aggressiveness; for instance, he’s been caught stealing as often as he’s succeeded – in this category, .500 sucks.
The Ugly – Did I really just see a player who came up through the Astros’ system do a little Olympic walking to first base whilst admiring his homerun? Oops, make that a double, thrown out at third on what should have been a triple. Not as embarrassing as the Superbowl Shuffle the Rockies’ outfielders went into in center at Coors, and certainly not the ridiculous pirouette the Messiah lays out, but far from a proud moment for one of the man’s fans.
Moises Alou
The Good – After shaking off the rust that goes hand-in-hand with turning his ’99 season into a “The More You Know…” spot for protective gear and recreational caution, Mo has come back strong. He’s hitting a cool .330/.408/.602 and has got to be the only guy on the Astros with more walks than K’s. A consistent ability to aim his liners at the first row of the Crawford Boxes has helped immensely.
The Bad – Moises who? It’d be easy to forget he’s an Astro but for all the trade talk. Perusing my Taber’s CMD has led me to conclude that Mo suffers all the indications of postpartum psychosis, which helps explain his consistent absence from the starting lineup. Oh yeah, and this guy can’t field anymore. Before the season there was lots of concern over Mo in right. So some idiots dragged up his numbers there from several seasons ago and pronounced that he’d probably be okay. Brrrmp. By the way, I was idiot number three, if anyone’s counting.
The Ugly – Absence does not make the heart grow fonder, Mo. After losing Carl Everett because of your no-trade clause, no fan of the Astros has any patience for your suckling at the Grocer’s money teat for two years. Play freaking ball. And while we’re here, what would it take for you to look like you care about this team’s destiny? Fake it for us if you have to.
Roger Cedeno
The Good – Dude may turn out to be the best pure average hitter on the Astros, despite this slow start: .258/.365/.393. He hits liners to all fields and legs out grounders, and exhibits excellent judgement at the plate. Through just 44 games he hit as many taters as he did all of last year, vastly improved his BB/K ratio, stole 17 bases, and tallied 31 runs. And make no mistake about it — Roger Rabbit can flat out fly.
The Bad – Cedeno has terrible judgement in the outfield. He starts back on liners and in on pop flies. Fantastic foot speed usually allows him to recover in time, but usually doesn’t often cut it in the big leagues. He needs fungo time, but more importantly, he needs to care about something besides stealing 100 bases before his arbitration date. His demeanor and work ethic were the main reasons the Dodgers were willing to part with him – he blames their coaches, but that alone says a mouthful about his attitude.
The Ugly – Will any Astro outfielder play a full season again? The ghosts of the Judge and his 8th Wonder of the World seem determined to waylay the outfield that abandoned the spacious turf pastures on Kirby. Ceden-Uh-Oh is out another six weeks or so with the grisly results of running his hand through the meat grinder we call a headfirst slide. Maybe he’ll be able to take some right-handed BP in a month or so?
Daryle Lamar Ward
The Good – Babe Ruth, watch out. Here’s a lefty with some pop. Twelve yard jobs in 121 at-bats (lets see, carry the 7, remainder there… I’m getting 1/10 AB’s or so) is just plain disgusting, and your eyes tell you his average will not remain .231 forever — that swing is just too pretty. He’s also improved his BB/K ratio significantly from last season.
The Bad – He may not be a FOO, but he’s got about as much range in the outfield as Mr. T has as an actor. D-Dub’s made a few mistakes of inexperience that can be forgiven, and the effort’s definitely there, but at a generously slight list weight of 230 he does not belong in the field. Many say he should be moved to first, but he won’t be exactly nimble there either. He’s simply got to find a way to lose some weight.
The Ugly – If only pinch-runners didn’t have to replace the hitter. To give you some idea of just how ineffective our man Ward is on the bases, check this out: last season Ward scored 11 runs. He hit 8 homers. That means he scored after reaching safely exactly three times in 150 at-bats. But so far this year he’s improved. He’s scored 18 times and has 12 homers, so has already scored six times after reaching in 121 at-bats. Career stolen bases: 0.
Lance Berkman
The Good – Lance Berkman is the total package at the plate, currently at .306/.354/.569. Berk’s still getting fooled by the Major League offspeed stuff away, but he’s learning fast. This guy has power to all fields, and it seems every time he makes contact it’s a line drive. His defensive skills have developed so quickly that it’s tough to consider him a liability anymore.
The Bad – He’s overly aggressive in the outfield. It’s been nice to see an Astro trying to nail runners, but Lance is skipping that little thing called the cutoff man way too often. He’s no speed merchant either, but he does have Bagwellian instincts for taking the extra base.
The Ugly – I don’t see it. Strikes out too much? Maybe, for now. Slower bat from the right side? A little, but not as much as a young Chipper. This guy’s the real deal.
Matt Mieske
The Good: He’s breathing.
The Bad: Matt Mieske.
The Ugly: Porn star moustache. He’s just so… well, Mieske.
Glen Barker
The Good: A beautiful combination of speed, defense, and a nose for first base combine to make this guy an excellent utility outfielder/pinch-runner.
The Bad: A mediocre arm and the equivalent power of a 9-volt battery combine to ensure that the Albany Twilight League’s Man of the Year will never be a starter in the Majors by design.
The Ugly: “Feets don’t fail me now.” A little too proud of that incredible foot speed, and every catcher in baseball knows it.
In a general sense the Astros outfield is very good. Lots of power and high averages at the plate theoretically make up for poor defense over the course of a season, especially with such cozy dimensions for half their games. But it seems that every error (and unscored error) made out there has come back to bite the Astros on the cheeks. The ability level looks bad without Cedeno and Alou, but those are the two biggest culprits of sloppy play. Add in the overall slow adaptation to the nuances of Enron and it’s a train wreck you’ve witnessed out there. But nothing suggests to me that these problems can’t be addressed within the organization. Everyone but Alou is under 30 and the only pressing need is to step up the defense, and that should improve with time.