The Astros and Co-ards are right there at the top of the NL batting table. The Astros lead the league in average and are second in slugging (to Arizona who’ve pounded an amazing 40 homers already) and only the freakish Montreal tops them in OBP. However, once you look past the two fancied Central division power-houses, you have to go a long way down the list to find the next NL Central club.
All the way to the bottom, actually.
Cincy (.238 Team BA), Chicago (.235), Milwaukee (.234) and Pittsburgh (.232) occupy the last 4 places on the hitting table. Chicago, presumably thanks to Skippin’ Sammy, shows some life in the slugging category, but otherwise it’s lights out for these clubs – in the bad sense of the phrase.
So how come the Astros and Co-ards aren’t running away with this thing? Well, for the answer to that question, you need to look no further than team pitching stats. One has to pass the Reds (3.43 ERA), Pirates (3.66), Cubs (4.04) and Brewers (4.08) before the Co-ards (4.39) appear at 13th and the Astros (a half a run drop to 4.89) at 14th.
The bottom line is that this division is shit. The fact that the Astros languish 3 games out of first place is a testament to their play so far, which can be described as patchy at best. In reality, they’ve simply been sloppy and therefore undeserving of a higher slot.
A Shot in the Arm
Things are no where near so bleak for the Astros going forward though. Oswalt and Hernandez have flat-out dominated some of the more potent line ups in the league. Redding has shown a glimpse of mental fortitude to go along with his undoubted physical talent. Mlicki has shown that he can be effective, but will always be susceptible to a shelling if his accuracy is off. Shane is, and will continue to be, Shane.
Where I see the big improve coming is from the bull pen. Both Dotel and Wagner struggled mightily in the early going, and were scaring the bejeezus out of everyone. Late inning mound meltdowns were costing this team dearly, and suggested that we were going to enjoy a season more like 2000 than 2001. However, both these fireballers have been extremely effective in recent outings, and delivering the 7 inning games we’ve been expecting. Couple this with Jimy letting the starters go longer, and the Astros’ team pitching performance should start to climb steadily from now on.
A Shot in the Dark
These longer outings by the starters has taken a lot of pressure off the bull pen. I don’t know about you, but I was getting a little tired of seeing two innings from Ricky Stone almost every single day. Other than T.J., who appeared to have injected his arm with Viagra after Spring Training, the pen was horribly inconsistent. Although Matthews has gone on the DL, we can expect things to improve with the return to form of Cruz, and the return from retirement of Pichardo.
HP (a brand of tangy vegetable sauce in Limeyland) has reportedly impressed those who’ve seen him with his stuff. It will be innuresting to see how this practice ability translates into the majors. A wily veteran can be quite a weapon to have. The pen is currently occupied by Wagner, Dotel, Cruz, Pichardo, Stone, Linebrink and Puffer. The extra pitcher hasn’t impeded the offense any, but the improvement in starting and relief pitching means that this is becoming an unnecessary luxury, and it shouldn’t continue for much longer.
Casino Royale
In fact, with Miller well on the way to recovery, the Astros will be forced into some tough decisions. Redding and Mlicki are once again locked in a battle for a starting job. The pendulum swung Dr. Kellogg’s way this week, but Mlicki has the upper hand of seniority that Timmah will have to work very hard to overcome. But this isn’t just about starting slots. Just as in Spring Training, the Astros may decide to keep the runner up in this race in the pen. So this gives us a secondary competition amongst the relieving corps.
More pressure on those in the pen may come from an unlikely source. Adam Everett is still stewing down in AAA, and I have made no bones about the fact that I think this is a really bad idea. The rationale for sending him down was the need for an extra reliever to allow a horribly overworked pen some much needed rest. Well, his replacement – Lidge – didn’t even get into a game for about a week and has thrown an arm-shredding 2.2 innings since his call up.
This situation is bad for both Everett and Lidge. There’s plenty of work for Everett to do in the majors, and no one will ever know for sure whether he can hit major league pitching while he’s cooling his heels in the minors. Lidge, on the other hand, desperately needs to work to show that he can actually stay healthy for more than a week and a half. A swap of these two is long overdue. I’m getting more and more annoyed about it with each passing day.
Fashion Tip: This week, I shall be mostly wearing Manolo Blahnik.
Royale with Cheese
The flipside of the great SS debate is Lugo. He continues to be a lesser defensive player than Everett. Of course, Everett is quite special in the field so this is not any great knock on Lugo. However, Julio (we’ve got to get this bloke a nickname!) still scares the crap out of me every time he makes a play, and he doesn’t have the range of AE. Lugo’s totally unnecessary Exocet to 1B on Sunday is just the latest example of the randomness of his play at SS.
However, Lugo is putting together some nice numbers with the bat and is even taking some walks – he now has more passes than Heavy D in half the at-bats (but then, I suspect, so would I). To me, what’s impressive about his hitting is that all but one of his hits have been singles. This is exactly what he should’ve been doing last year, but he got caught up in his own personal home run chase and his averages went down the toilet. His .357 OBP is quite respectable, and may even engender some thoughts about pushing him up the order. Biggio’s OBP is .350, and a move to #2 with Lugo leading off might be a catalyst for him and the Astros. It could also be an unmitigated disaster like it was last year, but it’s an experiment that has merit this year.
I have been very critical of the way the Astros have used Lugo and Everett. I think that both have roles to play on the big club. A platoon at SS (does Jimy have any positions other than 1B which aren’t platoons?) can be very effective. Even when Lugo starts, Everett is a nice pinch-running, double switch or defensive option to have on the bench. When Everett starts, I think he’ll do fine batting #8 once he’s allowed to actually get some extended playing time, and the pitchers will love having him back there (NTTAWWT).
Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!
The Astros are about to embark upon a very important stretch. They get to tackle the hapless Phillies, banged up Co-ards, scuffling Cubs and a Pittsburgh team that is falling back to reality. In the meantime, the Astros seem poised to kick it up a notch. Let’s hope that their play over the next month can be summed up in one word: “Bam!”.