I went out with some friends to Third Base to watch the LSU vs. Texas game last night.  My beloved Longhorns lost 11-4, but LSU fought a good fight and it was a good series overall.  I am looking forward to seeing the Horns play next year as most of the team is returning.  I fully expect them to go back to Omaha.

I came back home in the 6th inning of that game to find the Astros ahead 2-1.  Roy Oswalt had a great game and it looked like they would win.  Then, Valverde dropped the lead and Houston eventually lost the game 4-3 in the 11th inning.

Ugh.

Last night was not a great night in my mind, household or state.  I almost felt like God had to take the losses from the Astros and the Longhorns so that the US soccer team could beat Spain, but I really could care less about soccer.  My only thought is that a bunch of people’s dream had to be crushed last night to give the US soccer team the miraculous win.

Everyone except LSU Tiger and Royals fans, of course.

Seriously a down day in my life and I only have one bit of good news.  The Astros have now signed 33 of their 51 draft picks.  We have signed 1 catcher, 2 first basemen, 1 second basemen, 1 shortstop, 3 third basemen, 1 leftfielders, 4 centerfielders, 1 rightfielders, 2 all-purpose outfielders, 10 right-handed pitchers and 4 left-handed pitchers.

We only have three high picks who haven’t signed: Jiovanni Mier (SS), Dallas Keuchel (LHP) and Geoffery Thomas (RHP).  Hopefully, those players will be signed soon.  It seems to me like the Astros are way ahead of schedule on signings that they were last year.

I updated the 2009 Draft page and added links to the players’ minor league pages.  Use those links to keep track of the draft picks throughout their first minor league contracts with the Astros.

The astros return home from a 9-game road trip today having gone 5-and-4 against some quality teams.  While it wasn’t a huge success, Houston appears to be performing better this year in inter league play than they have in the past few years.

I was especially happy going 2-and-1 against the Twins who I feel are a really solid and will take the battle for first place to the end of the season in the AL Central.  However, even though the Astros have six games at home against two more teams from the AL Central, don’t expect it to be a cake walk.

First, they face Zach Grienke and the Royals.  Alot of people have been surprised by the Royals, but they haven’t shocked me.  I saw them coming along the last few years.  They have made some good trades and built up their minor leagues.  I picked up Grienke last year off of waivers on my fantasy team and I wasn’t pleasantly pleased with how good he was.  His stuff is Filthy with a capital F.

Their offense has dropped off the past month and that has been the main reason for their decline.  The team is only hitting .252 with a .404 slugging and that is even lower on the road.  The stats say that this should be easy for the Astros, but my gut tells me that they are going to struggle especially since the majority of them haven’t faced Grienke before.

Tonight’s game is going to be ugly.

After that, they have to face the Detroit Tigers who have quietly snuck into first place.  (Maybe not quietly for Tigers fans, but very quietly for those of us in Texas.)   They have the second best record in the AL (38-31 tied with the Yankees and two losses better than the Blue Jays) and really only have one bust on their starters in Dontrelle Willis and I do think it was worth taking a chance on.  With Dontrelle’s complex delivery, he needed to be brought up a little slower early on and the Marlins did not do that.  His arm is shot and his current stint on the DL appears to be a common appearance for the future.

Galarraga hasn’t had a great season either, but the other three pitchers (Verlander, Jackson and Porcello) have been really good even with a shaky start to the season for Verlander.

Flip over to the offense and it doesn’t look like they have a real solid team (.262 average with a .420 slugging), but it is good enough to support their starting pitchers and make close games into wins.  Plus, they have a good coach in Jim Leyland.  I don’t like the guy, but he has a good baseball mind and he has proven that you can rebuild a team that was a laughing stock five years ago.  Maybe the Lions should look into hiring him.

Prediction?  I would expect the Astros to go 2-and-4 on this homestand and I would be happy if they break even.  I do not expect them to be on the positive side.

Draft Update

Ed Wade, Billy Heck and their scouting staff have been busy signing the Astros 2009 draft picks and they seem to be having good success. The highest signing so far was their second pick, Tanner Bushue, an RHP out of South Central HS in Illinois who had a chance to visit Minute Maid before the draft and has links to his visit and draft day party on his high school team’s web page. Everything I have heard on this kid is that he is a good guy, smart as a whip and has some incredible movement on his pitches.

The first pick, Jiovanni Mier, is still in negotiations with Houston, but they have also signed their third and fourth picks in Telvin Nash and Jonathan Meyer. Gone are the days when Houston couldn’t get these guys’ signatures on the dotted line. Of course, I think that is a big reason they are going after high schoolers now, but the more I am reading about the top four players, the more I am hearing that they are bona fide talents and worth taking a chance on.

To date, Houston has signed 25 players.  Keep track of the signings on the 2009 Draft page.