Shall we discuss the Brett Wallace taking a turn at 3rd base thing? I suppose I wouldn’t be your friendly neighborhood Astros blogger if I just let it go without comment. I mean, every other site, traditional media or blog, took it on immediately yesterday. I needed time to marinate on it.

To begin with, let’s talk about what we already have available at third. There’s Chris Johnson. CJ had a tremendous rookie season in 2010 with a .303 BA / .337 OBP / .481 SLG / .881 OPS. Be still my heart, I liked that OPS from a rookie. And then 2011 came.

Last season CJ struggled with his hitting line dropping to .251 / .291 / .378 / .670. Not only was his bat just mediocre, but he struggled defensively, ultimately landing him down to AAA. It’s not uncommon to see a sophomore slump in the Majors and perhaps a trip back to minors was just the inspiration that the 27 year old needed.

CJ seems to be of a mindset to arrive in Kissimmee ready to do battle. He’s tweeting about workouts, tweeting excitement about the upcoming Spring Training and interacting with fans. I think the spark we all saw in Chris Johnson, the rookie, has been reignited.

And then there’s the kid. When CJ headed to OKC last season that corner spot was filled with one Jimmy Paredes. The 23 year old put on a good showing last year for the second half. Paredes is a tough one for me to talk about since he was part of the package the Astros received from the Yankees in exchange for Lance Berkman. I was poised to not like him.

The problem is…he came up, played well and I DO like him. He isn’t a power hitter, per se, but a hitting line of .286 / .320 / .393 / .713 wasn’t too shabby for a guy who jumped from AA Corpus to the big club all in one swoop. I think Paredes has a future and a big one in the majors, but I also think he needs some more development time. To crown him the everyday third baseman is a bit premature in my eyes.

Then there’s Matt Downs, the current Prince of infield utility for Houston. I think they’d rather float him around than give him a starting spot so I expect him to be a nice bat off the bench for 2012 as well as being a mentor to the young guys.

So that brings us back to Brett Wallace and Brad Mills’ comments yesterday about giving him some time at third base. When I heard it, I took it to mean that the club would give him a go a few times during Spring Training and perhaps play him at third from time to time come the 2012 season if at all. Wallace used to be a third base guy, but with his size, it’s really not a good fit.

What B-Dub could be perfect for is the club’s 2013 DH. Yep, I said it. the dirty word. The thing is, he’s built for it. The problem is, he hasn’t figured out yet how to harness the power in those massive thighs and use them to drive balls into the seats. With only 5 homers in 2011 and a .339 SLG he’s got work to do.

Wallace absolutely has potential to be a big power hitter, he just has to figure out what adjustments it will take to get him hitting that way regularly. Remember the home run last season that was the longest hit by an Astro at MMP who isn’t named Lance Berkman? That doozy was a B Dub special. I’d like to see him start clocking those on a regular basis. What do you think, Brett? Can you and Barnett cozy up and work on that for me.

Yes, the Astros will give Wallace some time at third base, but I think the focus for him will be on fine tuning that stance and swing to get more balls out into fans hands.

Of course, a lot can change in the sunshine of Kissimmee, Florida and every spot is up for grabs, but for now, my money ‘s on Chris Johnson for the 3B starting job.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Apparently if Jim Deshaies was in charge of what the Houston Astros were known as, they’d be the Houston Screaming Yellow Parakeets. I like it.

Last week’s online chat was with Astros broadcaster, Jim Deshaies. JD, as always, brought his opinion and the funny. In case you didn’t get to participate, here’s what Brownie’s sidekick had to say.

Bill Brown "Brownie" and Jim Deshaies "JD" - In my opinion, the best the on-air team in Major League Baseball.

johnny14k: A lot of fans are concerned about a possible name change; where do you stand?

Jim Deshaies: Hi, everybody, hope all is well. Fire away! As for the name change, I like Astros, but if forced to change, how about Screaming Yellow Parakeets?

As a Houston Astros fan during the 2011 season there were two ways you could behave. You could be a realist, know the team was not a good baseball team and enjoy the season for the love of the game or you could be an idealist hoping things would get better, but be constantly disappointed. I chose to be a realist.

I decided in mid to late June that baseball in October wouldn’t be happening in Houston for a few years, so it was time for me to love the game for the game itself and not get caught up in the wins and losses of my favorite team. It wasn’t always easy. As fans we get personally attached to these teams and to their records.

But what this attitude shift did do for me was allow me to celebrate the little things in the game. I was overjoyed to watch so many rookies take the field for the first time as an MLB player, to get their first hit, to make their first big defensive play. Maybe it’s the mother in me, but it was a lot of fun to see the guys having fun.

And that brings me to favorite moment #9. For a guy who just came up from the minors in a year that no one expected to see him any earlier than September, Jimmy Paredes put on quite a show for his first Major League hit. I was sitting in section 215 at Minute Maid Park and found myself quickly on my feet celebrating not just any old hit, but a two run triple for the rookie.

Click the photo to watch the video…and watch him run. Jimmy’s fast!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

As I collect and share these favorite Houston Astros moments of the 2011 season, there’s no denying that a great deal of the excitement around baseball this year came from a crop of kids that saw the Majors long before anyone expected.

When Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes, JD Martinez, Jordan Lyles and the gang (The J’s) all arrived at Minute Maid Park, there was a definite buzz in the air. But what was in the air on Saturday, August 20th was a little different.

In the very first inning against the San Francisco Giants, Jose Altuve not only hit his first big league homer, but he made it a memorable one by doing it while keeping that ball in the park. In a hit that quite likely would have been a triple, Altuve ran through the stop sign at third to give us all a little show that night.

The Astros would go on to win, 7-5, over the Giants, but Altuve’s in-the-park home run was without a doubt the highlight of the game.

To watch the video, click the photo below.

I was sitting with my mother, the weeone and a family friend at Minute Maid Park when Altuve hit this one. Excitement is not a strong enough word.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

With a comeback against the Reds tonight, the Houston Astros find themselves 53-100 with 9 games left to play in the season. Can they hit 60? It’s the mark I thought early on that they could reach and although it’s still possible, is it likely? Probably not, but I’ll still hope.

Tonight saw David Carpenter get his first Major League win, it saw Matt Downs (2-3 with 1 HR and 1 walk) start in right field and come up with a big clutch hit in the eighth when he homered and lifted the Astros to a 3-2 lead that they hung onto to take the win. It was also a night in which we saw Jimmy Paredes make 2 throwing errors, making fans nervous.

JA Happ was agressive on the mound, as he has been since his return from AAA OKC. He was throwing strong into the strike zone and the result was 6 innings in which he allowed 3 hits, 2 earned runs, had 3 walks, but struck out 9, yep, nine batters. And it’s worth mentioning that two of those strikeouts were Joey Votto.

Stats don’t really seem to matter anymore this season. Each game seems to be more about keeping the loss count down and giving players a chance in different spots around the field. The kids are starting to see the reality of the big leagues. They’re struggling while pitchers have started to figure them out. We’re in an odd place in the season with the rookies no longer really “new” and the veterans still producing

Even though the win-loss record doesn’t really matter for this team anymore, getting wins still matters to those of us who are left watching and to the guys on the field. No one wants to end the season on a loss; not them, not me and not you. Some well timed hits have kept hope alive tonight. There’s no changing the fact that they’ll still be the worst team in baseball in 2012 and there’s no changing that they’ll likely be the only team to cross the 100 loss threshold.

So what is there to look forward to still? These last nine games give this team a chance to hit the 60 win mark. I’ll be watching with my fingers, arms, legs and anything else I can manage crossed.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

For the second straight day at PNC Park in Pittsburgh the Astros and the Pirates battled in the rain. Yesterday, the Pirates came out on top 3-1, but today roles were reversed as the Astros took the game 4-1…in the rain.

After both teams retired batters 1, 2, 3 in the first, the second inning saw Carlos Lee single to right field and then *gasp* steal second base. Really? What has gotten into Carlos these days? Can we bottle it and make him drink it again before next season? That was his fourth steal this year for those keeping count. So then Brian Bogusevic singled to right getting Carlos to third. Next up? My favorite – Jimmy Paredes, who grounded into a force that found Bogie out at second, but allowed Carlos to score. The Astros were on the board.

Clint Barmes would then strike out, followed by Humberto Quintero doubling on a fly ball to center to send Jimmy home to put the Astros up 2-0 halfway through the second. Brett Myers finished the inning striking out.

The Pirates response? Neil Walker singled, but was caught stealing second base. Why haven’t runners learned that when Q is behind the plate, stealing is not wise? Ryan Doumit hit his 8th homer of the year, this one to right center field. to put the Pirates on the board, 2-1. That would be all the run productiont his game would see from the Bucs.

There was hope for another run for Houston in the top of the seventh when Paredes singled, and Barmes singled sending Paredes to 2nd and Q ground into a force out for Barmes but sending Parendes to 3rd. Myers came up next and managed to reach on a fielder’s choice with Paredes attempting the squeeze play and failing. It was painful to watch!

There would be more runs…and they all came in the 9th. Bogie walked, Jimmy doubled, Barmes struck out, Q singled allowing Bogie and Jimmy to both score. 4-1 Astros. Then it was just wait, play good defense and pray. Mark Melancon came in and got the save, his 17th of the season, preserving Myers 4th win.

I liked Brett Myers tonight, and there haven’t been many games I could say that this season. In his 7.2 innings pitched, he allowed 4 hits, 1 earned run (a home run) and threw 6 strikeouts. He threw 92 pitches in those 7.2 innings and 65 of them were strikes. I like that. Maybe missing a start was his key? Or maybe baby Kace is a good luck charm for him? Coming after him in relief was Wesley Wright. I like this kid. I like him a LOT. Tonight it was one batter and he walked him, but still, I think the kid’s got good stuff.

I’m not complaining about tonight’s win at all, although I thought it was a boring game. Boring games can be good sometimes. I think the 9,000+ people at PNC park tonight were just glad it wasn’t a marathon game. I’m sure they were ready to get out of the rain.

So, my standout of the night? Jimmy Paredes. He was 3-4 with 2 runs, and an RBI. He was pretty much half of the offense tonight. There wasn’t a lot of offense from the Astros in this game, but it was just enough to get the W. Along with Paredes, Barmes and Q contributed a great deal as they each were 2-4 at the plate.

The Astros are now 48-94 on the season and still chasing 100 losses with 20 games left to play.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

It was just a week ago that the Astros beat the San Francisco Giants two out of three games in Houston. So when the battle moved to the West coast many assumed the hometown Giants would easily handle the last place ‘Stros in four games. Not so fast. In a series where runs were sparce and pitching was immaculate, the Houston Astros managed to take two of four games, splitting this series, but taking the season series, 4 games to 3.

If there’s anything that fans can be proud of (other than the winning itself) it’s the pitching in this series. We saw a great outing from Henry Sosa on admittedly little rest. We saw JA Happ come back up from AAA OKC and put together one of the best outings we’ve seen from him this season. We saw Brett Myers look like the Brett of late last season. And finally today, we saw Bud Norris pitch against his childhood team with fantastic efficiency and a crazy number of strikes. It was a pitching-palooza for Houston.

Unfortunatly, the Giants pitching was spot on as well, hence the low scoring games and close finishes. Despite the two losses in San Francisco, Houston proved it can hang with the best when they’re playing their best. Not once did this team roll over and give up. Not once did this team look defeated. They battled all the way through.

Today especially, there were surprises for me in the offensive victories. Carlos Lee had more hustle than I’ve come to expect from him as he managed to stretch 2 hits both into doubles – the second resulting in a slide that led to a mild right ankle sprain. He’s not expected to miss any playing time as a result. In addition, in the 10th inning Jason Michaels clocked one into left center for an RBI double that let Houston take the lead 3-2. The Giants would counter back at the bottom of the 10th, but still an outstanding hit from JMike.

There was also help from the offense that I’ve come to expect. Jimmy Paredes (who is one of my favorites of the new kids) was 3-4 scoring 2 of the Astros 4 runs. Jordan Schafer is making himself known on his new team as well, as he went 1-4 today with 1 run, 1 RBI and 1 walk. A big day for him, indeed. And Jose Altuve, pinch hitting for Lee, was 1-1 (2B) with a run. That run came on a single from former Giant, Matt Downs, proved to be the game winner.

Interestingly enough, lately I’ve come to expect the new guys, the kids, to be the hotshots in any Houston game. That was not the case today. It was most definitely a team effort. Without Study, Cudly Budly pitching an amazing game, without Lee’s obvious efforts, without Paredes hitting or without Down’s and JMike’s well-placed hits this game would have ended much differently. It was great to see the plays come from all parts of the team.

It’s too little too late in this season, but still, I’m happy to see the Astros come together a bit. Now if only we could see some consistency in the lineup that Brad Mills puts together perhaps we could see this sort of success a bit more often down the stretch. I don’t know about you but for me the “guess the lineup” game is getting old. I understand that the rookies can’t start each and every game, but a little consistency would go a long way to the team getting into a groove. Consider it, Brad, will ya?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Despite a 9th inning rally where they batted around, the Astros fell in game one to Colorado at Coors field tonight. The Astros got plenty of hits, but couldn’t string them together into scores and Brett Myers had some major struggles at the mound combining for a disappointing loss.

The first inning all but shut the door to hope when the Rockies batted around racking up 6 runs against Myers. After a second inning homer by Carlos Gonzalez putting the lead at 7, Myers finally settled in and started pitching more like himself. He then put away 10 of the next 13 batters. Unfortunately, it would be too little too late.

Too little too late was a theme last night. The bats were alive for Houston, out hitting Colorado 15 to 11, but the timing of the those hits didn’t allow them to be as productive as the Rockies’ were. The entire starting lineup, except for new Astro, Jordan Schafer, managed hits and the team would bat the full order in a ninth inning surge that made us all wonder if they could somehow pull this one out.

Brian Bogusevic was a standout at the plate. He was 4-3 with 1 run, 1 RBI and a walk. He was a triple shy of a cycle last night as once again he managed a single, double and home run in the same game. This kid just keeps looking better and better. Between the rocket arm that can throw a strike from right field to the hitting bonanaza he’s been having, it seems there was a gem hiding behind that previous right fielder. Word is Mills is planning on platooning him with Jason Michaels and JB Shuck and I’m not sure I agree with that when he’s this hot. I’d like to see him get starting play time on most days.

As for other batting standouts, no one will be surprised that Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes, and JD Martinez all landed doubles last night as well. And Matt Downs hit an eye-opening 3 run homer in the ninth. 2-9 with runners in scoring position is not the worst they’ve done this season, but it’s not the best either. If these guys can just find a way to make all those hits mean something, they will win more ballgames and possible catch those Baltimore Orioles.

They’ve got two more chance in Colorado to see if they can put it all together. Tonight we’ll see Studly, Cudly, Budly Norris take the mound. His 6-8 record belies his 3.61 ERA. If the Bud we all adore comes out to play tonight and the Astros’ bats are as hot as last night, we stand a chance in this series. Maybe we can catch at least one Rocky Mountain High while in Colorado!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Last night was exactly why I love baseball. When the odds are against you, when your fans have already assumed a loss and left the ballpark, when no one thinks the last place team will come back from trailing 5-2 anything is possible. Brian Bogusevic made Astros fans believe just a wee bit more that this team can be good again.

After Brett Myers struggled early on against the Cubs (7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 SOs, 1HR), it didn’t look very promising. Despite excellent bat swinging by Jimmy Paredes (2-4, 1RBI), JB Shuck (2-4, 2R), and Clint Barmes (2-3, 1R) my hopes weren’t high. In fact, the most exciting part of the game through 8 innings was Fox Sports Houston Announcer and former Astros pitcher, Jim Deshaies catching a foul ball in the 2nd, off the bat of Ryan Dempster. It was really not that exciting of a game.

The energy level drastically changed in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the Cubs leading 5-2 and historical “Astros Killer” Carlos Marmol on the mound, Jimmy Paredes lined out to left field. Shuck followed with a single to right field. It was at this point that many Houston fans rolled their eyes at the thought of hope. After all, how many times have the Astros had a chance this season only to watch it fly past?

Then Marmol threw a wild pitch allowing Shuck to head to 2nd and Barmes connected for a line drive to left sending him to 1st. Then Matt Downs, pinch hitting for Quintero walked. The adrenaline was rising at this point. The chat on twitter was feverish as fans could taste hope. The bases were loaded. Up next in the order? Pitcher Aneury Rodriguez.

Now Brad Mills makes some odd decisions from time to time that we all question, but his putting Brian Bogusevic in to pinch hit for the pitcher was what anyone would have done at that point. Then the unthinkable happened to the worst team in baseball. With the count at 2-2 and 1 out on the board, Brian Bogusevic hit only his 2nd home run of his major league career, but the most exciting one so far. A pinch hit walk-off grand slam. Astros win 6-5. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Wow, was all I could think, speak or write. It was quite the moment. It epitomized why I love baseball. One half inning of ball changed the whole game. One batter made all the difference. One ball hit 423 feet and an unexpected team wins. Man, I love this game. Bogie himself said it beautifully on twitter -

Perfectly stated.

Now, I would be remiss not to point out that Aneury Rodriguez got his first major league win last night. And he did it by retiring only 2 pitchers. Congratulations, Aneury, but I think you got upstaged last night and I would guess, you’re probably okay with that!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

JD Martinez, Jordan Lyles and Jose Altuve pose for a Rookie Photo shoot earlier this week. Photo from Alyson Footer via Twitter

Last night in Arizona the Astros five starting rookies definitely showed their stuff as they lead the team to a 9-1 victory over a stunned Arizona Diamondbacks team. The  Astos combined for a season tying 16 hits in total, 10 of those coming from the rookies (Jose Altuve, Jimmey Paredes, JB Shuck, JD Martinez and Carlos Coporan).

In the first inning, the Dbacks Daniel Hudson struggled as the Astros were hitting everything he threw. The inning was nothing short of exciting as Altuve doubled and Jason Bourgeois reached first on a fielding error by Cody Ransom. The energy level was already off the charts when JD Martinez went long over the right field wall to send all three runners home.

The fun didn’t end there as Paredes and Clint Barmes both followed up with singles, setting up the Coporan RBI double that sent them both home. By the end of the first inning the Astros were already ahead 5-0.

The Astros would continue to add to that hit count and run total. In the 4th we saw hits from Altuve, Downs and Barmes to put the Astos up 7-0. And they didn’t stop there. In the 6th Altuve singled, Martinez drew a walk and Matt Downs singled. That brought up Paredes with bases loaded who singled to send both Altuve and Martinez home bringing the run total to 9.

Although the hitting ran away with the night, I would be remiss not to mention the great start by Wandy Rodriguez who grabbed his 8th win of the season. Wandy threw six scoreless innings allowing only 2 hits and walking 4 batters.  His pitch count went a bit high (105 pitches, only 59 for strikes), but he was able to get himself out of several possible scoring situations to keep the Dbacks in check.

In fact the Dbacks would struggle at the plate all night, only getting 4 hits. Their one run of the night was a one run homer off the bat of Henry Blanco on a Jeff Fulchino pitch.

So yes, the kids are definitely alright. Arizona fans were surprised by what they saw. I received a text message from my good friend, Sally Coleman (a Houston native living in San Diego, who was at the game, conveying just that. When a Diamondback fan sitting next to her commented that the Astros are the worst team in baseball, how could they possibly be up 7-0? Sally replied, “We got rid of that team. These are the new kids.”

She was absolutely right. This is a new team. And with 11 rookies on the 25 man roster there are going to be nights like this. Give a AA or AAA ballplayer a chance to rise up to the bigs and show you what they’ve got and you’ll see some spectacular stuff. I’m not saying every night will be like this. In time, pitchers will learn how to throw to these kids and things will get tougher, not to mention that with the young ages comes inexperience and silly mistakes. But for now, I’m enjoying the sights of their successes.

When the Astros have talked about rebuilding over the past couple of years they’ve made small and somewhat safe moves that didn’t get the job done. The overhaul that’s happened in the past 12 months and promises to continue over the next twelve is like starting from scratch. Did you feel that? It’s the breath of fresh air these kids are providing.

So take note, the Astros are fielding a team of kids, bu the kids are alright. Astros 2013!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @agirlinthesouth.