In spite of saying he didn’t need it Doug Brocail is scheduled to make a rehab appearance for Triple-A Round Rock on Friday. The Express will play at home.

Brandon Backe may also be ready for a assignment by the weekend.
“That will be one more test before I go out in a real game situation in the Minor Leagues,” he said, referring to the simulated game on Wednesday.

“If I can get out from under the wing of the Astros babyness —

I’m not saying that in a bad way, but it’s time for me to go off and leave my mother, so to speak.”  Link

Oh you might be going farther than you think Brandon.

Sampson may not be available either, Footer blogged, “I’m guessing Sampson is still not recovered from that hip problem he encountered while executing an out at first base the other night. ” Link

Somebody is positive at least
“Despite what their record may indicate, the Astros aren’t really playing that horribly and are ranked in or near the middle of the pack in nearly all respectable statistic categories. In the end, though, it matters more what your record says than whereabouts you’re ranked. Even though they are so close to the bottom, consider the Astros a victim of a slow start and expect them to make a somewhat respectable turnaround in the short future.”

That’s  Josh Galligan, he writes for the fan site Sports Central

Link

But Kenny Rosenthal isn’t so positive, but he does admits he was wrong regarding Cooper and Mclane, sorta,

(Regarding picking up Cooper’s option) Hey, it’s McLane’s team; he can do what he wants. Much as critics like myself might quibble, the Astros’ record is the fifth best in the majors since McLane became owner in 1993.

Still, McLane sure picked a funny time to pick up the option of a manager whose team started the season 1-7 and finished 1-16-3 in the spring.

of course he’s a “professional writer” and wouldn’t be caught dead writing anything positive about the Astros, like our friend Josh, he also can’t quite just admit he was wrong and has to stick these two quips,

“… (Mclane) might only have delayed the inevitable.”

and he thinks some owners do stuff just to prove reporters wrong, he compares Mclane to Angelos, “It was as if he wanted to defy certain reporters and columnists whom he perceived as boogeymen, even if his stubbornness hurt the team.” Link

Right Ken, Drayton has a 200+ million dollar toy just so he can thwart you.  2 wins in Pittsburgh gave the Astros the window, as Wade implied.

Berkman joins the early birds at bp

“Hitting is a feel and, like I was saying, just working trying to get a feel,” said Berkman. “There’s nothing in particular where you can say it’s this or that.  I just want to try to just feel good about the swing.” Link

“I feel fine,” said Kazuo Matsui, . “I want to start (today).”
Cooper “He’ll be in there [Monday], and we’ll go with it from there, just monitor it from there.”

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“It just never got to a point where Tal and Drayton were there [in Kissimmee, Fla.] at the same time, although they were there at different times. We were playing lousy, and you try to hit the right opportunity to make an announcement like this.

Read More

Astros signed the option, Link

Paulino to start Sunday, no details on which of Arias or Fulchino gets sent back. Footer says they’ll tell us just prior to the game.
link

Also, check her blog entry for her reaction to Sutton being traded.
link

No problem

Valverde struck out his first hitter, Jay Bruce, (then walked) Encarnacion on four pitches

The back may have played a role during Encarnacion’s plate appearance.

“It’s the same problem with my back — not too much, a little bit,” Valverde said. “Everything was fine after that.”

He’s fine,” Cooper said. “He was hitting 94, 95 [mph]. That tells me he’s fine.”

Fine, fine, just fine…except for the 2 run homer. Which would have been a 1 run homer if not for the walk.

Roy is kinda pissy

“I thought they made me throw the ball over the plate,” Oswalt said. “We [the offense] had some quick innings. A lot of times I felt like I put my hat down and I had to go back out. It was a battle. I threw some quality pitches when I needed it. I don’t know what else you want.”

Pressed for more, Oswalt said simply, “I battled. You throw as much as you can throw, and then answer questions after.”
Link