The Young Astros are Almost There

Last season, Brad Mills got off to a horrible start to the 2010 season as the new manager of the Houston Astros.  The club ended the first half of the season with a 36-53 record including a combined 17-34 during the first two months of the season.  Somehow, the Astros made a nice turnaround and finished the second half with a 40-33 record.  Against their division rivals, the Astros posted a record of 45-33 including winning records against the Cubs (11-7), Brewers (8-7), Pirates (11-4), and Cardinals (10-5).  The 2010 Astros were full of ups and downs but managed to finish at a reasonable 76-86 record.  During the season, the Astros did part ways with starting pitcher Roy Oswalt and first baseman Lance Berkman.  In return for these iconic Astros, the team received left-handed starter J.A. Happ from Phillies and reliever Mark Melancon from the Yankees.

Brett Myers throwing a pitch against the Nats.

The strength of the Astros ball club in 2011 will be the starting rotation.  Former Phillies starter Brett Myers will get the opening day nod on Friday against the Phillies.  Last year with the Astros, Myers had a great bounce back year going 14-8 while posting an ERA of 3.14 in 33 starts and pitched a career-high 223.2 innings.  Myers definitely showed that he could still get it done at the major league level.  After Myers, the rotation follows with Wandy Rodriguez, Happ, Bud Norris, and Nelson Figueroa.  Rodriguez got off to rough start with the Astros last season, posting a record of 6-11 with an ERA of 4.97 in 18 first half starts.  In the second half of the season, Rodriguez was a completely different pitcher.  The lefty finished the second half with a 5-1 record and an ERA 2.11 in 14 starts.  The aforementioned Happ arrived to Houston in late July and hit the ground running.  Happ, who finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2009, finished his season with the Astros at 5-4 with an ERA of 3.75 in 13 starts.  The fourth starter in the rotation, Bud Norris, had a mediocre sophomore season in 2010.  The six-foot, 220-pound right-hander finished his 2010 campaign with a 9-10 record and an ERA of 4.92 in 27 starts.  In 153.2 innings last season, Norris recorded 158 strikeouts.  After watching Norris pitch for the last two seasons, chances are that his ERA will be over four runs, but he’ll strikeout his fair share of hitters.  The final spot of the rotation was awarded to Nelson Figueroa.  Figueroa joined the Astros last year after being released by the Phillies.  In 10 starts with the Astros last season, Figueroa went 5-3 with an ERA of 3.23 in 55.2 innings.

The Houston offense did not have a great 2010 season.  The club finished dead last in the National League in home runs with 108 and 15^th in RBI with 577.  The team also finished last in walks with 415 and 14^th in batting average at .247.  Despite such poor offensive production, the Astros were active on the bases.  The team combined to steal 100 bases, which ranked fifth amongst National League teams.  The Astros made a couple of additions to the everyday lineup with the additions of Clint Barmes and Bill Hall.  Unfortunately, Barmes broke a bone in his hand last week and will miss four to six weeks.  The Astros still have speedster Michael Bourn and run-producers Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee.  Lee, also known as “El Caballo,” did play in 157 games last season, but his numbers did not show it.  The outfielder hit .246 with 24 home runs and 89 RBI.  The decline in his numbers is a cause for concern for the 2011 season.  It seems as though Lee’s better days are way behind him. 

Luckily for the organization, there are some younger players on the team that will be contributing this season.  Third baseman Chris Johnson and first baseman Brett Wallace will get a chance to play every day for an entire season in 2011.  In 94 games last season, Johnson hit .308 with 11 home runs, and 52 RBI.  The only knock on Johnson however is that he struck out 91 times in the 94 games that he played in.  Brett Wallace had been traded on three separate occasions before even having an at-bat at the major league level.  Wallace was last traded by the Blue Jays to the Astros for a minor league outfielder.  The first baseman got his feet wet at the major leagues for 51 games.  In 144 at-bats, the left-handed hitting first baseman hit .222 with two home runs and knocked in 13 RBI.  In 66 spring training at-bats this year, Wallace is hitting .379 with a home run and 18 RBI.  Hopefully, with consistent playing time in 2011, both Johnson and Wallace will help out Houston’s pedestrian offense.

The Astros have a lot of promise going into the 2011 season.  Realistically, however, it may take more than just this season to return to the postseason.  If fact, the Astros may finish below .500 again.  Regardless of where this team will finish this year, they will definitely be a thorn on the side of many teams in the National League.  The organization as well as the fans should just sit back, relax, and watch their young Astros play competitive baseball in 2011.  Hopefully, we will see this club lift off soon enough.