Bourn's OPS is down below .650 on the season. He strikes out quite a bit for a guy that doesn't hit for power. His walk rate is way up from 2008 though when he had a very bad year offensively.
I don't really like using OPS to judge Bourn though. Really what matters for the most part is his ability to get on base at a good clip. For him, slugging isn't a big deal. Plus, he'll turn a lot of singles into doubles with his legs. Having said that, his OBP isn't very good right now and the strikeout rate is still pretty high for his type of hitter.
Bourn a good defensive player, gold glover last year iirc. However, I wont/dont expect much from his bat. Though, should he get on base, always a threat to steal. Not exactly breakings news there about him but just my thoughts.
It looks like they have a new video to replace the agonizing "My Town." These commercials really fail to deliver when the Astros suck.
No doubt about his D. That's a given. To be a leadoff hitter though and a legit everyday player, he needs to bring some value offensively. I'm not seeing he can't do that, just pointing out some numbers. Let's face it, there is nobody on this team that was expected to produce that is doing so right now. At least Bourn is a constant on defense. And he's probably closer to where he should be offensively than even Berkman and Pence.
Yeah, hard to capitalize on the commercials when the team sucks, heh. Off-topic but I heard the fans groups for Carloss Lee(the Los Cabalitos) and Lance Berkman(Lil' Pumas) are that no more. Coincidence? Yeah, agree on the leadoff/needing to bring something offensively. However, I'm not sure it will come around. Not saying it can't but... And agree on the last part as well.
I think the reason that our hitters are down is because quite frankly they stopped caring about this season a long time ago. This team is just going through the motions right now. I'm sure if they had more on the line in terms of contention, our players would be more focused and hitting better.
Spoiler rant coming Spoiler Maybe, maybe not. Not sure I believe that's the case for the whole team but who knows. If they cared, maybe that gets you a few more wins, averages are up, etc. but I don't know. It's just not a very good team to begin with. The major league team isn't good, and well who are you going to promote from the minors that hasnt been already? We're basically stuck. Lee is simply collecting a paycheck and nothing else. You're stuck with him, he's not going anywhere until his deal is up, in which he retires or moves on elsewhere. As for Berkman, maybe it's age catching up to him, maybe it's the injury he had at the beginning of the season, maybe a mixture of the two, or maybe something totally different. Who knows, but he is on the downside. He has an option that the team can decline after the season, which they could/should decline. He is then off the books. And as for Pence, well I dont know what to really say. It seems the consensus by some here and those on sports radio feel this is as good as he'll get and wouldn't mind moving him if they could. Obviously doubtful that happens. Those are your "big 3" hitters. Not getting much from them. You then have Bourn and Castro, who leave much to be desired offensively. Defensively, they're good for the most part. The rest of the team is basically stop-gaps/fill-ins/unknowns. If they move Roy, really gotta hope they get at least one or two top prospects because no one else on this team imo is going to get you anything close to what you may get for him(Roy).
That doesn't help explain the historically bad first month of the season. Sorry, I don't buy it. We are simply a bad hitting team. Lack of overall OBP skills and slugging aren't new to this team but we reached a new level this season. Even if Berkman and Lee were hitting at their career norms, we'd be one of the worst offenses in the NL, as was the case in previous seasons.
I missed the game. Looks like Wandy was in the zone. Good to see Bourn put some hits together. Puma not hitting well again recently.
