Well, (and sorry to repeat this), they were 12-4 in their last 16. Unbelievable when you think about April and May. If they go 12-4 in their next 16 (much more difficult with the Dodger and Reds 7 of those games), they will be 77-77 with eight games to go. Now, that would be unbelievable.
I'd argue that 7 against the Phillies (on the road) and Cardinals in the midst of essentially a 17 game road trip is a much tougher stretch than 7 at home against the Dodgers and Reds during a 10 game homestand.
It's all about pitching, if the starters and bullpen keep doing what they do then we have a good shot at the .500 mark.
Yeah, I was thinking more of our record against. Also, the last couple weeks of the season we have a ten-game roadie. Ouch.
With Figueroa, Wandy, Myers & Happ pitching, I don't see how the Astros could lose a game the rest of the season. Is this the best rotation in baseball? :grin:
Not sure how much of a joke that is conisdering their future potential. Wandy's the oldest at 31 and they are looking great. I am so happy with how fast we are rebuilding. I think Myers will eventually be the ace, Happ is showing us all something. Wandy will be Wandy and I hope we can keep him. Fig's still a ? but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. This young team needs his competiveness and intensity he brings every start. Right now it looks like the 5th spot is Norris and if you look around the league at other 5's, Norris aint too bad to have there. Not the best rotation in baseball right now but give it a couple years, maybe next year, and we could be up there with the best rotations in baseball. 16-8 the rest of the way will put us at .500 and we have young guns at every position but left field. I'm not saying that Kepp/Hernandez (2b), C. Johnson (3b), Castro (c), Manzella/Angel (ss) and esp Wallace (1b) are guaranteed to make it but we have a huge jump start to rebuilding with them. Plus, Bourn and Pence are now the leaders of this team! They will keep that outfield and the young guns from falling apart and will hopefully weed out anyone that isn't working out. I'm already ready for next season but am still watching and hoping for 16-8 or better the rest of the way this season. .500 or better is way above the expectations any of us had back in March. Go 'Stros!
When he originally signed with the Astros, he assumed the identity of Eny Cabreja who was 2 years younger. After a couple of years the truth came out and he was back to his real name and real age.
JD Martinez will be the "NEXT" big thing to come up as far as position players. I know most think it's impossible to move Lee but with his play at 1st and revival since the break, I think we have a decent shot of moving Lee and opening up LF for Martinez or even Bogey. Keppinger is fine at 2nd but I would love for him to be the SUPER-utility guy ala Bill Spiers and move someone like Matt Downs to 2nd. Sanchez and Manzella can share short till Villar or Mier are ready. My ideal lineup for 2011 would be... Bourn Downs Pence CJ Wallace Martinez Castro Manzella/Sanchez I mentioned this before but with the Cubs trading away DLee and their willingness to move Zambrano, I'd inquire about a Caballo for Big Z trade since both contracts are about equal. Myers Big Z Wandy Happ Norris/Paulino/Lyles
Fig's is 36?! Just looked up his stats, never heard of this man. Really thought he was in late 20's at worst. Oh well, he's pitchin good now. Hope he keeps it up, get another 2-3 good years, maybe. Still looks positive for the future with all the other youngin's
They need a guy like Figueroa to either handle the 5th spot or (preferably) be a long reliever/spot starter. A guy that won't complain as to how he is being used and a guy they can let throw a lot of pitches in cases of emergencies.
Figueroa has pitched everywhere from Chihuahua to Buffalo. He has been on a looooong journey. Even though he always seems to alternate between AAA and the bigs, his mlb numbers are actually pretty good and he always dominates AAA ball. Must be a pretty cool guy. He's from Brooklyn and spent the better part of 15 years as a journeyman pitcher all over North America.
Speaking of .500: The Astros are... 10 games over .500 since July 1st; 1 game under .500 since May 1st; 1 game over .500 since April 15th -- day nine of the season, after beginning on an 8-game losing streak. So, the Astros have been playing .500 ball or better (in the bigger picture) since the second week of the season, believe it or not. :grin: Right now the Astros are 7 games under .500 on the season; since being 1-8 on April 15th they've only been that close to .500 twice: April 17th and May 1st.<br /> <br />
Correction -- they hovered between 2 and 7 games under .500 the last half of April. The point is, however, they haven't been this close in a looooooooong time.
I think the statement that we might have the best starting pitching since trade deadline is far from being a joke.. 1 through 5 I feel like we have one of the lowest if not the lowest ERA in the majors since that time period. Now I am talking about current not future or past .. no one can really predict the future in baseball.. remember when the cubs were supposed to have the best starting pitching for years to come with woods, prior, and zambrano?
