The question on alot of Astros fans’ minds is: Can they keep up this pace?
The answer? Probaly not. But everytime I try to predict a game on this blog, they prove me wrong, so I don’t know what to think anymore.
They have a first baseman who is starting to match some 50-year-old records in offense. They have a starting pitcher who tied a 46-year-old record yesterday by going 8 starts with no decision. They have an infield that speaks 3 different languages, yet still manages to make outs. The have a team that has gone 18-9 in the last 27 games. And they have a starting pitching staff where one could argue that the ace should be the #5 pitcher and vice-versa.
It’s been a crazy year and that’s what has made it so much fun. It’s getting to the point where you can’t turn off the game in the 8th inning if the Astros are down by a couple of runs. Just take your heart medicine and keep watching. Odds are they are going to pull out a come from behind win and that means that they keep gaining confidence and the next come from behind win is going to be even easier.
Lance Berkman
Yesterday, Vin Scully, one of the most knowledgeable minds in the game, was heaping praise on Lance Berkman like you wouldn’t believe. He was pulling out statistics that nobody else had found and they were impressive. Lance is impressive this year. He should be the starter in the All-Star Game (but won’t because he plays in Houston and his last name doesn’t start with a P.) If he can keep this up, (a BIG if), then he will win MVP. Nobody will be able to touch him. Everybody keeps talking about how great Chase Utley is playing in Philadelphia and Chipper looks like he drank from the fountain of youth. Here is a comparison of their numbers.
| Berkman | Jones |
Utley |
|
| AVG | .303 | .400 | .327 |
| RBI | 36 | 29 | 28 |
| Hits | 52 | 52 | 49 |
| Runs | 40 | 25 | 31 |
| HR | 12 | 10 | 13 |
| SLUG | .772 | .685 | .533 |
| OBP | .463 | .459 | .376 |
Utley is first in one category (homeruns) and Lance is 1 behind. Jones is first in two categories and one of those is a tie with Lance (hits). Lance is ahead of the other two in the remaining five categories. If the season ended now and they gave the MVP to Utley or Jones, it would be a travesty.
Kaz Matsui
I’ve had my doubts about Kaz, but he is coming around and Erin Hogan on 1530 AM ESPN Austin this morning reminded me of something. Kaz missed most of Spring Training and the beginning of the season so Kaz is about a month behind everyone. At the moment, we are seeing him after a full month of Spring Training. Keep that in mind as the season progresses. He’s just starting to come around. I do enjoy watching him on the field. He is a quiet player who lets his glove do the talking and he looks like the kind of guy who works hard off the field and berates himself if he makes a mistake.
Hunter Pence
How many teams would have Hunter hitting #6 in the lineup? The kid looks great at the plate and solid in the outfield. The opposing pitcher can’t take a breather when they get through the killer BLT. They have the predator to face next. Scully was mentioning how the Astros have the best 3, 4, 5 hitters in the game. I will go one step further and mention that they have the best 3, 4, 5, 6 hitters in the game.
The Defense
Lately, this has become my one concern. In the first month of the season, the Astros had the best defense in the league. As of late, they have had a questionable performance on the field. Tejada made a boneheaded play Saturday by calling off Carlos Lee on a pop-up in left field. Carlos had the better angle. I know he struggles on defense, but that was his ball. If we start making excuses for him, then you go down a slippery slope and guys are going to start making mistakes. Tejada should not have called off Lee. He missed it and they looked like idiots on the field.
The Astros seem to be making pretty idiotic fielding mistakes. This needs to stop now. They aren’t going to always recover from them and they are unnecessary. My guess is that Cooper is not too happy with these errors. The one caveat to this is Michael Bourn. He made a play on Sunday that was phenomenal. That guy can straight fly.
Preview
Today should be interesting. Roy Oswalt (who is not having a typical year) is facing Barry Zito (who might go down in history as the worst signing of all time). My worry is that Zito will use the Astros to finally get back into form and bounce back from his terrible start.
Hopefully my prediction will be wrong again.
Posted by lisa on May 13, 2008 at 10:13 pm
miggy looks better than he is because lance has picked up and out a ton of lousy throws
in fact, lance is fielding better than i have EVER seen him – it isn’t just his hitting he’s elevated…