How did they do?
The Astros streaked out of the gate 8-3 but went 4-9 the rest of the way. The differences between the two halves of the month, particularly on the mound, are stark:
Dates R/G ERA --------------------- 4/03-4/15 5.64 3.83 4/16-4/30 5.15 6.47
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
One of baseball’s classic sayings is “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.” For those of you too lazy to look it up, it refers to the 1947 Boston Braves and the deficit they had in starting pitching. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with some catchy saying to include Wade Miller and Scott Elarton, but they all pretty much sucked. But with Shane Reynolds being about as effective in his two starts as the XFL was in getting anyone with 22 chromosome pairs to watch, Octavio Dotel being a base on balls machine (in the bad way) and El Burro Lima being… well a steaming pile of feces, something needs to be done.Read More
The basepaths have treated the Astros unkindly so far this season. Through Sunday’s win against St. Louis the Astros had stolen seven bases in 14 attempts. Only time will tell whether they continue their lead-footedness, but last year indicated that the Astros no longer possessed the fleetness of past seasons.
By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 23, 2001.
Clearly Astros pitching has improved tremendously. Right now the staff sits at 9-6 with a smooth 4.03 ERA. That falls in the middle of the NL pack – excellent coupled with the team’s potent offense and a half-run better than the next best team. In 2000, their ERA of 5.41 was dead last in the National League, and the biggest culprit in the rotation was Jose Lima. So why is El Loco still a Stro when given Brad Ausmus, winter-ball, and time for an attitude adjustment he has shown no improvement?Read More
By Breedlove
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on April 20, 2001.
The Astros started the season with a 4-2 homestand, then followed that up with a 4-4 showing on about as long a road trip as they will have all season. That puts them at 8-6, good for second place in the NL Central. An 8-6 record doesn’t sound very special, but if they were to go 8-6 every 14 games all season, the Astros would end with over 90 wins. Read More
You’d think having a surplus sweet-swinging outfielder would be a blessing, not a blight. Nonetheless, rightfielder Moises Alou’s return from the disabled list has raised discussion of how to solve the Astros’ “problem” of having too many corner outfielders of major-league caliber.
