Astros Projected Stats per ESPN Fantasy Baseball

[Cannonball]

Yeah, this is pretty useless. But it's fun to look at and debate. The W/L for pitchers total 77 wins in 140 games. If you expand that to 162 games, you get 89 wins.

Berkman: .310, 38 HR, 119 RBI, 93 R
Lee: .292, 35 HR, 113 RBI, 98 R, 16 SB
Ensberg: .273, 29 HR, 84 RBI, 85 R
Biggio: .262, 21 HR, 58 RBI, 80 R
Burke: .283, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 76 R, 15 SB
Everett: .247, 8 HR, 53 RBI, 57 R, 13 SB
Ausmus: .240, 3 HR, 40 RBI, 37 R
Scott: .284, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 46 R
Lane: .241, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 36 R
Loretta: .291, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 46 R
Lamb: .286, 13 HR, 50 RBI, 57 R

Oswalt: 17-9, 3.05/1.19, 176 K
Jennings: 13-9, 4.13/1.37, 136 K
Williams: 11-9, 4.03/1.32, 99 K
Rodriguez: 9-10, 4.80/1.48 93 K

Lidge: 3.42/1.26, 111 K, 35 SV
Wheeler: 2.62/1.09, 64 K, 23 HLD
Qualls: 2.94/1.22, 59 K, 26 HLD
Miller: 3.30/1.26, 49 K
Albers: 5.71/1.56, 64 K

http://games.espn.go.com/flb/tools/projections?leagueId=0&start=1&proTeamId=18

[MiniMing]

Man.. our lineup still looks weak to me compared to the elite teams in the NL.

Berkman and Lee, only hitters worth drafting in fantasy.

Oswalt and Lidge, the other players worth drafting.

[kaleidosky]

Man.. our lineup still looks weak to me compared to the elite teams in the NL.

Berkman and Lee, only hitters worth drafting in fantasy.

Oswalt and Lidge, the other players worth drafting.

Ensberg seems more than worth it on the projected stats..

Who do you want on the Cards? An "elite" NL team.. Pujols.. then what? Broken down Rolen/Edmonds? Chris Duncan is as unproven as our young guys pretty much.. I guess it depends on if you're talking fantasy or otherwise.

Otherwise, we have more holes in Everett and Ausmus than others...but I don't see how we're overall that much weaker..

[NJRocket]

put me down for 30 and 85 outta MO right now!

[Mr. Clutch]

I'd take those numbers. And if Burke/Scott/Lane struggle then we can bring up PENCE!

[MiniMing]

Ensberg seems more than worth it on the projected stats..

Who do you want on the Cards? An "elite" NL team.. Pujols.. then what? Broken down Rolen/Edmonds? Chris Duncan is as unproven as our young guys pretty much.. I guess it depends on if you're talking fantasy or otherwise.

Otherwise, we have more holes in Everett and Ausmus than others...but I don't see how we're overall that much weaker..

Well I was refering to the Mets or the Cubs now.. and the Cards do only have Pujols, but still he makes that lineup work.

Philly, LA, and Cincy have pretty good lineups also..

[MadMax]

Jennings will be better than that. this team will win 93 games.

[kaleidosky]

Jennings will be better than that. this team will win 93 games.

i definitely think 90+ is in the cards.. and i wish they had an over/under on games won for next season while i was in vegas last week!

[Blake]

Ensberg: .273, 29 HR, 84 RBI, 85 R

I'll gladly take that

[BigM]

so would you be happy with those numbers from scott? i think he can do better but i'd take that right now if i knew i'd also get those ensberg numbers.

[texanskan]

I think the Asros will win around 85 games.

As far as the numbers go, Berkman and Oswalt should have even better numbers because of Lee (more runs for Oswalt and protection in the lineup for Berkman)

BigM, I agree that Scott wil have better numbers and I would be very, very happy with those numbers from Ensberg.

I really don't think we are better than last years team (82-80) but I think 85 wins is our number.

Vegas has us at 77 or 78 but I think that's a little low we will see.

Max, I like your 93 wins but I don't see any senario that does not involve getting Clemens back and making a deadline trade for speed that will get us over that hump.

[MadMax]

Max, I like your 93 wins but I don't see any senario that does not involve getting Clemens back and making a deadline trade for speed that will get us over that hump.

look at the projections above. look at what they're based on jennings doing. i think he's going to do a lot better than that.

[NJRocket]

in Stark's column today, he has a one liner that says "The astros seem more and more confident everyday that Clemens is coming back to Houston"....no explanation...nothing....figured it was worth mentioning

[rezdawg]

Current lines from sportsbook.com...

NL central division winner:
STL 3-2
CHI 3-2
MIL 4-1
HOU 5-1
CIN 15-1
PIT 40-1

Over/Under wins for Houston is currently at 78.5...LOLOLOLOL. Wow, someone can make a killing off of this.

NL Pennant...HOU at 20-1. They have 10 teams listed at better odds to win the NL.

[MadMax]

Current lines from sportsbook.com...

NL central division winner:
STL 3-2
CHI 3-2
MIL 4-1
HOU 5-1
CIN 15-1
PIT 40-1

Over/Under wins for Houston is currently at 78.5...LOLOLOLOL. Wow, someone can make a killing off of this.

NL Pennant...HOU at 20-1. They have 10 teams listed at better odds to win the NL.

alright, who is heading to Vegas and wants to stop by a sports book for me?

[rezdawg]

alright, who is heading to Vegas and wants to stop by a sports book for me?

It seriously looks like a joke...78.5 wins??? haha, those dumb bastards.

[texanskan]

It seriously looks like a joke...78.5 wins??? haha, those dumb bastards.

I think it's a little low but it's not like it way off.

They were 82-80 last year and it took a crazy late season run to get over 500.

I would take the over bet (for wins) but would never waste money on either the 5-1 division bet or the 20-1 NL bet

[texanskan]

look at the projections above. look at what they're based on jennings doing. i think he's going to do a lot better than that.

Well I think it's about right from what I have seen from Jennings, Oswalt should win 20+ with the Lee addition IMO

[MadMax]

Well I think it's about right from what I have seen from Jennings, Oswalt should win 20+ with the Lee addition IMO

i think jennings wins about 17-18 games this season. and i think his ERA is closer to 3.50 than 4.00

[texanskan]

i think jennings wins about 17-18 games this season. and i think his ERA is closer to 3.50 than 4.00

I sure hope so, I also sure hope they can sign him or else we will be without the three players we gave up plus our number 2 starter

[Buck Turgidson]

i think jennings wins about 17-18 games this season. and i think his ERA is closer to 3.50 than 4.00
But you're just an Astr...err...Drayt...err...Baylor apologist.

[jakedasnake]

so would you be happy with those numbers from scott? i think he can do better but i'd take that right now if i knew i'd also get those ensberg numbers.

I think I would take those because it seems like they assume a platoon of Scott and Lane is going to happen. I would be ok with it if both produced those stats. It is Burke whose stats I don't really believe. Only 10 home runs? Burke should hit at least 15 homers if given 500+ AB's and get between 60-70 RBI's if he stays in the 2 hole most of the year. Everyone elses stats look pretty good I think but I don't know how accurate they are, especially Wandy having a sub 5 era.

[MiniMing]

Current lines from sportsbook.com...

NL central division winner:
STL 3-2
CHI 3-2
MIL 4-1
HOU 5-1
CIN 15-1
PIT 40-1

Over/Under wins for Houston is currently at 78.5...LOLOLOLOL. Wow, someone can make a killing off of this.

NL Pennant...HOU at 20-1. They have 10 teams listed at better odds to win the NL.

How is this off?

I'd say that is about right.

Our offense struggles every year, and the pitching steps up.

This year will be different. We only have one ace in the rotation with Roy O, and a pretty good bullpen.

And the addition of Lee is not guranteed that our lineup will produce.

Cards win division, Cubs win wild card. We won't be anywhere near the playoff race.

Without Andy and Roger, I don't think our pitchers will get the job done.

Only chance I think we get close to going over 78 wins is if Roger plays the whole season.

[rezdawg]

How is this off?

I'd say that is about right.

Our offense struggles every year, and the pitching steps up.

This year will be different. We only have one ace in the rotation with Roy O, and a pretty good bullpen.

And the addition of Lee is not guranteed that our lineup will produce.

Cards win division, Cubs win wild card. We won't be anywhere near the playoff race.

Without Andy and Roger, I don't think our pitchers will get the job done.

Only chance I think we get close to going over 78 wins is if Roger plays the whole season.

Andy was 14-13 with a 4.20 ERA last year. Batters hit .284 against him...not exactly numbers that cant be replaced.

We finished 1 game behind the Cards...we stocked up with some good talent...and what has STL done? They lost Marquis, Weaver, and Suppan from their starting rotation (signed Kip Wells, but still...).

I dont see how you can say that we wont be competitive in the central division. Yes, it would help to have Clemens back, but this team is still going to be solid.

[Jugdish]

Baseball Prospectus has the Astros 4th in the division, allowing 64 more runs than last year, and finishing behind the 81-win Cardinals. I'm not a subscriber, so that's all I know.

[rezdawg]

Whats funny is that I dont recall a season in which we were projected to be 1st or 2nd in the division...yet, year after year, we do just that. What kind of track record do you need to actually get some respect from the media...jeez.

[MadMax]

How is this off?

I'd say that is about right.

Our offense struggles every year, and the pitching steps up.

This year will be different. We only have one ace in the rotation with Roy O, and a pretty good bullpen.

And the addition of Lee is not guranteed that our lineup will produce.

Cards win division, Cubs win wild card. We won't be anywhere near the playoff race.

Without Andy and Roger, I don't think our pitchers will get the job done.

Only chance I think we get close to going over 78 wins is if Roger plays the whole season.

nothing is guaranteed. but you have to think we'll score more runs WITH carlos lee than without him.

what in the world has you thinking the cards will win the division?

there are so many Rocket fan/Astro haters. is it jealousy? is it dislike of baseball? what is it?

[Buck Turgidson]

Baseball Prospectus has the Astros 4th in the division, allowing 64 more runs than last year, and finishing behind the 81-win Cardinals. I'm not a subscriber, so that's all I know.
"This is not a contending team." -- Will Carroll (iirc), BP, season preview of the 2005 Astros.

I could pull numerous similar blurbs. BP is largely full of ****. Occasionally funny (even sometimes intentionally), but very light on actual on-the-field, or even statistically useful, insight. They've fallen in love with their particular brand of snark, and they have their sacred cows/dead horses that they continue to alternately worship & beat with reckless abandon.

Maybe I've been reading them for too long, but I haven't seen much new or particularly interesting out of them in the past few years.

[The Cat]

How is this off?

I'd say that is about right.

Our offense struggles every year, and the pitching steps up.

This year will be different. We only have one ace in the rotation with Roy O, and a pretty good bullpen.

And the addition of Lee is not guranteed that our lineup will produce.

Cards win division, Cubs win wild card. We won't be anywhere near the playoff race.

Without Andy and Roger, I don't think our pitchers will get the job done.

Only chance I think we get close to going over 78 wins is if Roger plays the whole season.

What in the world have the Cubs done to make you think they're better than the Astros, Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Dodgers and other teams? Talk about media hype influencing predictions... my goodness.

As for the Astros, replacing Aubrey Huff's bat with Carlos Lee's adds more than what you lose from replacing Andy Pettitte with Jason Jennings in the rotation. A Luke Scott/Jason Lane platoon for a full season is better than Luke Scott for two months and four months of mediocrity from Preston Wilson. Chris Burke, while worse than Taveras defensively, is an offensive upgrade on Taveras. Loretta is an upgrade offensively in the middle infield, where he will take many at-bats that went to Biggio/Everett/Bruntlett last season. Ensberg played about as poorly as he can possibly play last year, and seems primed for a reasonable bounce-back in production.

Even if Clemens doesn't return and you replace him with Woody Williams, worst case you're looking at breaking even (roughly 82 games) when you factor in the rotation downgrade and the clear offensive upgrades. With Clemens, the team is significantly better and it's not even debatable.

To expect this team to not even approach 78 wins is either completely illogical or simply excessive whining and negativity to try and get attention.

[Buck Turgidson]

there are so many Rocket fan/Astro haters. is it jealousy? is it dislike of baseball? what is it?
"Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand." -- Leo Durocher

[rezdawg]

"Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand." -- Leo Durocher

Damn, thats fu**ing bad ass.

[Buck Turgidson]

Damn, thats fu**ing bad ass.
Max needs an addition to his sig anyways.
"If I were playing 3B and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, sure, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me."

"God watches over drunks and third basemen."

Durocher was a character. Don't agree with all the "winning is the only thing", doesn't matter how you play the game, stuff, but nobody's perfect. He and Yogi might be the two greatest quotes in the history of MLB.

[MadMax]

Max needs an addition to his sig anyways.
"If I were playing 3B and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, sure, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me."

"God watches over drunks and third basemen."

Durocher was a character. Don't agree with all the "winning is the only thing", doesn't matter how you play the game, stuff, but nobody's perfect. He and Yogi might be the two greatest quotes in the history of MLB.

done. :) thanks!

[BrieflySpeaking]

if Scott plays the whole season he'll be .283 27HR 97RBI

[Jugdish]

"This is not a contending team." -- Will Carroll (iirc), BP, season preview of the 2005 Astros.

I could pull numerous similar blurbs. BP is largely full of ****. Occasionally funny (even sometimes intentionally), but very light on actual on-the-field, or even statistically useful, insight. They've fallen in love with their particular brand of snark, and they have their sacred cows/dead horses that they continue to alternately worship & beat with reckless abandon.

Maybe I've been reading them for too long, but I haven't seen much new or particularly interesting out of them in the past few years.

No one predicted career years from Ensberg and Pettitte, as well as a Clemens season that blew 2004 away.

[MiniMing]

nothing is guaranteed. but you have to think we'll score more runs WITH carlos lee than without him.

what in the world has you thinking the cards will win the division?

there are so many Rocket fan/Astro haters. is it jealousy? is it dislike of baseball? what is it?

Yeah we may score more runs but we're also will be giving up more runs.

I think the Cards will win the division cause they are more consistent unlike the Astros.

The Astros get themselves into a hole every year and have to going on ridiculous win streaks just to break .500, one of these years it will catch up to them and I believe it is this year.

That's what the Stros are, a mediocre team, we're not a dominate team, we're not elite. We don't have the players to be elite.

Only reason the Cards finished only one game and half ahead of us was because Pujols was out for awhile.. it would of been more if he had played the whole year.

And for the Rocket Fan/Astro Hater, I'm not a hater, I'm just not a homer and I'm a realist. I don't praise the home team just because they're the home team. Jealous of what? I don't know what your talking about, and yeah I love baseball.

What in the world have the Cubs done to make you think they're better than the Astros, Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Dodgers and other teams? Talk about media hype influencing predictions... my goodness.

As for the Astros, replacing Aubrey Huff's bat with Carlos Lee's adds more than what you lose from replacing Andy Pettitte with Jason Jennings in the rotation. A Luke Scott/Jason Lane platoon for a full season is better than Luke Scott for two months and four months of mediocrity from Preston Wilson. Chris Burke, while worse than Taveras defensively, is an offensive upgrade on Taveras. Loretta is an upgrade offensively in the middle infield, where he will take many at-bats that went to Biggio/Everett/Bruntlett last season. Ensberg played about as poorly as he can possibly play last year, and seems primed for a reasonable bounce-back in production.

Even if Clemens doesn't return and you replace him with Woody Williams, worst case you're looking at breaking even (roughly 82 games) when you factor in the rotation downgrade and the clear offensive upgrades. With Clemens, the team is significantly better and it's not even debatable.

To expect this team to not even approach 78 wins is either completely illogical or simply excessive whining and negativity to try and get attention.

It's not about the hype, the Cubs have made moves. Have you not seen the Cubs lineup or roster?

Your telling me you rather the Astro's team over the Cubs right now? Garner over Lou?

On paper, just on paper.. look at it, and you can easily see who has the better team. The Cubs will win, and they will be better than the Astros, it's going to happen, they've had a couple losing seasons now, but it's all will change, they're due to make their run. The Astro's magic will run out.

And how is it completely illogical to not expect this team to approach 78 wins? They only won 82 games last season, and that was cause of the crazy win streaks they put together at the end of the season.

I don't need attention, I'm giving my opinion.

[Buck Turgidson]

No one predicted career years from Ensberg and Pettitte, as well as a Clemens season that blew 2004 away.
Nope, BP sure didn't. You can add that to the laundry list of things they've gotten wrong.

PECOTA is largely crapola. In any useful sense, anyway.

[Buck Turgidson]

done. :) thanks!
No worries, man. I was just reading other bizarre conversations in other bizarre forums and it all seemed to fit.

I do know that my first child, may he be a masculine child, very well may be named Jesus Alou Box, Esq.

[The Cat]

It's not about the hype, the Cubs have made moves. Have you not seen the Cubs lineup or roster?

Your telling me you rather the Astro's team over the Cubs right now? Garner over Lou?

On paper, just on paper.. look at it, and you can easily see who has the better team. The Cubs will win, and they will be better than the Astros, it's going to happen, they've had a couple losing seasons now, but it's all will change, they're due to make their run. The Astro's magic will run out.

And how is it completely illogical to not expect this team to approach 78 wins? They only won 82 games last season, and that was cause of the crazy win streaks they put together at the end of the season.

I don't need attention, I'm giving my opinion.

See, you have to look at both sides. Just like they had great luck at the end of the season, they had similarly bad luck at times before that. You can't just dismiss a team's win streak as "crazy" but act like everything else is routine. It's all part of it.

The Cubs made moves. Guess what? So did we. They added Soriano, Mark DeRosa, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, and Cliff Floyd. The Astros two pitching additions - Jennings and Williams - are clearly better than Lilly and Marquis, and it's not even close. Lee is comparable to Soriano, and possibly better depending on how you value strikeouts. Loretta, for his career, is roughly equivalent to DeRosa.

Yes, the Astros lost Pettitte, but a 4.20 ERA pitcher wasn't the only difference between the 'Stros and Cubs last season. Aside from that, the Astros improved more than the Cubs. Actually, for all you complain about the Astros rotation, the Cubs are starting Jason Marquis — he of the above 6 ERA — in the 3 spot in their rotation. The Astros' rotation looks like a group of All-Stars relative to their Cubs counterparts.

The bullpens aren't even comparable... whatever you think of Lidge, Wheeler and Qualls are superior and more durable than almost anyone the Cubs have. And if Lidge returns to form, the difference is ridiculous.

The lineups are similar... Astros have the advantages at first, left, and right, while the Cubs have advantages in center, catcher and third. Second and shortstop are tossups.

I'm willing to bet I follow baseball and know the moves and lineups as well as anyone here, and to say the Cubs have superior big league talent to the Astros is hysterical and ridiculously illogical. Difference is, Cubs are more followed on a national level, so you hear a lot more about their moves (and the impact they might make) if you believe everything ESPN tells you.

Given injuries, anything can happen, but the odds of the Cubs being better than the Astros this season are very low.

[The Cat]

Yeah we may score more runs but we're also will be giving up more runs.

I think the Cards will win the division cause they are more consistent unlike the Astros.

The Astros get themselves into a hole every year and have to going on ridiculous win streaks just to break .500, one of these years it will catch up to them and I believe it is this year.

That's what the Stros are, a mediocre team, we're not a dominate team, we're not elite. We don't have the players to be elite.

Only reason the Cards finished only one game and half ahead of us was because Pujols was out for awhile.. it would of been more if he had played the whole year.

And for the Rocket Fan/Astro Hater, I'm not a hater, I'm just not a homer and I'm a realist. I don't praise the home team just because they're the home team. Jealous of what? I don't know what your talking about, and yeah I love baseball.

See, you're doing it again. You're counting the injuries to the Cardinals, but you're not counting injuries to Ensberg and other key members to the Astros. You're not factoring in Scott playing a full season vs. two months.

The Cards are more consistent? Tell that to their fans who watched their collapse the final two weeks of the regular season. They had three seperate losing streaks during last season of 8 games or more... consistent? Please.

Also, you seem to believe it's likely that the Astros won't have a late-season run, yet you act as though it's all but a given their early-season struggles will resume. See, that's where you come off as a whiner and a hater as opposed to an objective fan. You seem to emphasize the law of averages when it comes to things that are exceedingly positive (late-season win streaks, Cardinals' injuries, etc.), but when you're negative, you take it as a given that it's going to happen again. You can't do that. You're right in that the law of averages tells you the Astros might not have another great late-season rally, but the law of averages also says the Astros might not have as slow of a start. It goes both ways, yet you only examine one, and that's how you come off lacking objectivity.

[rezdawg]

Well said my friend, well said.

Im gonna go ahead and read those two previous posts over again as my bed time story...

[BigM]

the cat layed a beat down....


how many spring trainings have i heard how good the cubs are going to be? lmao, i'll believe it if i ever see it.

[MiniMing]

See, you're doing it again. You're counting the injuries to the Cardinals, but you're not counting injuries to Ensberg and other key members to the Astros. You're not factoring in Scott playing a full season vs. two months.

The Cards are more consistent? Tell that to their fans who watched their collapse the final two weeks of the regular season. They had three seperate losing streaks during last season of 8 games or more... consistent? Please.

Also, you seem to believe it's likely that the Astros won't have a late-season run, yet you act as though it's all but a given their early-season struggles will resume. See, that's where you come off as a whiner and a hater as opposed to an objective fan. You seem to emphasize the law of averages when it comes to things that are exceedingly positive (late-season win streaks, Cardinals' injuries, etc.), but when you're negative, you take it as a given that it's going to happen again. You can't do that. You're right in that the law of averages tells you the Astros might not have another great late-season rally, but the law of averages also says the Astros might not have as slow of a start. It goes both ways, yet you only examine one, and that's how you come off lacking objectivity.

I can't type as much as you.

Cards and Cubs will have a better season.

It's my opinion, bring this thread back up at the end of the season if I'm wrong.

[Cannonball]

Thread Now Bookmarked. :D

[msn]

Cards and Cubs will have a better season.

It's my opinion, bring this thread back up at the end of the season if I'm wrong.
Kudos to you for presenting your opinion as such: an opinion.

I disagree with you as well, and I'm convinced I'm right :D, but mine is just as much opinion as yours.

[kaleidosky]

If anyone is headed to Vegas, please put a bet down for me too! I can't believe I didn't search a sportsbook out that had these odds listed (I swung by 3...none of them were doing season games over/unders)

[Jugdish]

Nope, BP sure didn't. You can add that to the laundry list of things they've gotten wrong.

As I said, no one predicted those things. Because they're anomolies.

[Buck Turgidson]

Because they're anomolies.
Right. Anomalies. There's a bunch of 'em every year.

Which is why predictions of their type are not functionally useful. They're interesing or fun, I guess, but not useful. Way too many variables.

[dharocks]

i think jennings wins about 17-18 games this season. and i think his ERA is closer to 3.50 than 4.00

If you don't mind my asking, what are you baseing this projection on?

Jennings posted a career-best 3.78 ERA last year, and his peripherals really weren't very impressive (low K-rate, mediocre WHIP, 1.67 K/BB). It's not like he was hurt by pitching in Coors either, his ERA was lower at home (3.56) than it was on the road (3.97) and he probably benefitted from the tall infield grass in Colorado.

Even if he duplicates the year he had last year (and I think it's probably more likely he'll regress a bit), I'm not so sure the Astros' lineup will give him enough run support to win 17+ games.

If your predictions is based on optimism, that's fine, everyone's entitled to it in Spring Training.. I was just wondering if there was evidence of a big improvement from Jennings that I wasn't aware of.

[msn]

Right. Anomalies. There's a bunch of 'em every year.

Which is why predictions of their type are not functionally useful. They're interesing or fun, I guess, but not useful. Way too many variables.
One of the things that makes baseball so wonderful is it's so human. Anomalies are almost the norm.

[MadMax]

If you don't mind my asking, what are you baseing this projection on?

Jennings posted a career-best 3.78 ERA last year, and his peripherals really weren't very impressive (low K-rate, mediocre WHIP, 1.67 K/BB). It's not like he was hurt by pitching in Coors either, his ERA was lower at home (3.56) than it was on the road (3.97) and he probably benefitted from the tall infield grass in Colorado.

Even if he duplicates the year he had last year (and I think it's probably more likely he'll regress a bit), I'm not so sure the Astros' lineup will give him enough run support to win 17+ games.

If your predictions is based on optimism, that's fine, everyone's entitled to it in Spring Training.. I was just wondering if there was evidence of a big improvement from Jennings that I wasn't aware of.

i realize his splits were better at home. he's a sinker-ball pitcher. pitching in Houston REGULARLY is going to help him.

and definitely "hope springs eternal" is part of it! :D

[rezdawg]

I was just wondering if there was evidence of a big improvement from Jennings that I wasn't aware of.

That Houston weather will do wonders for that sinker of his...cant wait.

[Cannonball]

I do think pitching full time away from Colorado will help him. I'm just not sure to what degree. Having the break on your pitches change half the time is bound to disrupt some things. Whenever you went on the road you'd have to adjust your release point to locate the pitch where you want it. At least Coors was consistent 'cause you're playing half your games there. Although somewhat unexpected, it's not entirely that surprising he pitched better at home.