As I sit down to write, the Astros have just completed a piss-poor week. The 2-4 record on the road doesn’t really do justice to the frustration this trip has induced thus far. It started off well, with Biggio hitting for the cycle behind an effective Oswalt in the Astro-Graveyard one mile in the sky. Although things have gone better for this club in recent years in Coors, coming away with a split is nothing to be sniffed at.

However, the manner of the defeats in games #2 and #3 caused concern. Reynolds served up a 2-on meatball to scrub catcher Burnett, and blew a winnable game. Much mileage was made by the TV mediots of how one bad pitch can kill you in Coors. Really? I’m still trying to work out how one bad pitch managed to get runners at the corners in addition to the homer. Then, the much vaunted offense failed to capitalize on an unexpectedly solid performance from Super Dave Mlicki. Instead they scattered mostly singles, managing only one run which came on Doggie’s second solo ya-ya of the series.Read More

After an opening day aberration that raised some eyebrows and had frontrunners grabbing their ankles and running for the latrines (not an easy feat, you should try it sometime), the Astros settled into what’s hopefully a routine for the year. Pounding on the also-rans. It appears that, aside from Ben Sheets, the Brew Crew have little or no pitching. They have (so far) cut down on the strikeouts but still make outs anyway which is a very Chip Carey / Alan Ashby kind of improvement.

The ship was righted very quickly and with some style in the remaining games to record an acceptable home series win. I still don’t think that the Brewers have given us an adequate read on the 2002 Astros, but that will come this weekend and next weekend against the Cardinals. One thing I like from next week’s schedule is that, after an arm-sapping, bull-pen draining trip to the Rocky Mountains, the Astros have an off day before they roll into St. Louis. That’s a nice bonus for the good guys.

Yoinks and Away!

I was at the Game #2 romp. Here are some observations:-Read More

With one more day of Grapefruit League and a couple more warm-ups at the AFUS to go, things are pretty well set with the Astros. As I type, the only decision left to be made by the club is between Linebrink and Stone for the final bullpen slot. But wait! What’s that noise? That’s the clamoring of minor league scrubs all over Florida: begging for one shot at “Set it up on a” Tee J. Mathews. They want to earn slots on their clubs too, and an at-bat against Tee J. is the quickest way to impress a manager.

This guy is only earmarked for the Astros because of his guaranteed money. He’s now pitching worse than C.J., has been doing so for longer, and he doesn’t even have the benefit of C.J’s left-handedness. He flat out sucks. I know we’ve only seen him in Spring Training, but how much more do we need to see? He’s pitched 14 innings and given up a very symmetrical 14 earned runs. His latest disaster occurred when he gave up a titanic, three-run stinker to a Bravo prospect who is the size of Gary Coleman and makes DB’s spring output (’til now) look positively studley. Cut him! Rip! Rend! Tear!Read More