You guys will all be suprised what a healthy Lance Berkman will do for this lineup for the entire year. At the least, they're a middle of the road (not a cellar-dweller) in offense... and that's before you consider any possibly contribution from Preston Wilson (who seems to like hititng in MMP), and the possible improvement of Jason Lane (who hasn't done anything yet... but is a streaky hitter). In the end, I think the only "problems" this lineup will have is when they face dominant pitching... and that's not a new problem (if you follow the Astros back to 1997). Unfortunately, a good team will not become "great" until they can find a way to win some of those games. If Morgan can find his stride, and Preston continues his HR or K ways... this team will be fine offensively. And if Buchholz can duplicate his success he had tonight (and assuming he got the "jitters" out of the way), then you'll be looking at a team that will be in the hunt throughout the season.
Preston Wilson's bat speed seems really high. The ball absolutely jumps off his bat. I'm impressed so far....also made a real nice play in left center last night, tracking one down. 'stros look good so far. They had the Andy stinker...but other than that, they've been right there. The value of good defense and good pitching.
Their OF defense is outstanding. Their C-SS-CF (3 most important positions) defense is the best in baseball. Watching Backe induce groundball after groundball last night was beautiful. Buchholz's curve is wicked good. His FB was sitting in the 90-94 range. Kid's a player. Carlos Hernandez is possibly done...missed his start w/ what they think is a labrum tear. Disappointing end to such a promising career.
i had a dream we were ahead 9-7 and then ended up losing 14-9. backe was pitching as well. as always, this post is extremely relevant.
I just got some free tickets to the Crawford boxes. I haven't sat there before so I am pretty pumped. The other game I went to was the Pettitt debacle so if we get our butts kicked today I may have to take one for the team and turn down any future free tickets.
Here is my recap. Backe grooves a fastball to Vidro who goes yard. The waitress seats us and I make no attempt to find out how bad a night it was for Backe, until this morning.
That and him having a semi-shaky 6th inning were his only troubles. That was the only run given up in the game.
I can't believe I'm not getting another game. Four runs on five hits with one out in the first. Sweet. Edit: Make that five runs on six hits with 2 outs.
