Yep...That's 100 baseballs. When will the Astros get loss #100?

I spent yesterday with a lot of old friends. They know my obsession with baseball and once they’d all gotten the details straight about the Pence and Bourne trades and vented adequately, swearing they were “done with the Astros” a voice of reason and fun came out of the crowd. My good friend, Ellen’s husband, Sean spoke up to say, “I think we should make a game out of when the Astros will get to 100 losses. It would be the best office pool ever!”

Great idea, Sean. So great that I’m stealing it! I hope you don’t mind, Seanie, but you’ve known me long enough to know that I was going to snag that one!

Now, yesterday there were lots of roster moves as Chris Johnson and Brett Wallace were sent back down to the minors to see if they could locate their lost swings. Jimmy Paredes is coming up from AA Corpus Christi and Brian Bogusevic will once again be brought up from AAA OKC. The kids are playing ball the rest of the season at Minute Maid Park. It should be fun to see these guys start to stretch their legs in the Majors. So we’re going to have a little fun with it!

As of this morning the Houston Astros are 35-73. They are 27 losses away from hitting the magic number. When do you think they will get to 100?

Reply in the comments by Friday, August 5th, giving me your best guess as to when they’ll suffer their 100th loss and the person who answers correctly or most closely to the actual date will win 2 seats to one of the remaining Astros games this season, or if the 100th loss is late enough, the tickets will be provided for next season. You’ll also get dinner for 2 before the game courtesy of me! The best prize of all is that you’ll start having fun watching the Astros lose because you’ve got a reason to cheer either way! Go ‘Stros….er…that other team!

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.

The lashing out by fans this weekend has been much more intense than I expected. I knew people would be upset when Hunter Pence was traded. Heck – I was a little teary-eyed over that one, but I didn’t think the anger would go so deep. And now with this morning’s announcement that Michael Bourn will be playing in Atlanta in exchange for four players, the outrage hit a new height.

I’ve been reading Facebook statuses, twitter posts, Google + comments and the thoughts and words being directed towards Ed Wade and the Astros organization are scathing. It seems people feel that the team gets talent and immediately ships them off in the lead up to the trade deadline. I get why it feels that way. I get why it seems all our good players end up on other teams. Plus, we’ve become attached to these guys.

The Astros are increasing the talent with their Minor League Affliliates

Players like Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn are friendly, good guys who contribute to the community and are generous with time and attention to fans. They’re fans’ ball players. Oh, and they’re pretty darn good ball players. They’re the hardest kind to lose. We had been spoiled in Houston for a long time, though. We had a core group of guys who were with the Astros for long, long stretches. They were “career Astros”. The team’s not like that anymore.

BUT – and this is a big but – we needed to lose some talent this year. Let’s face it folks, it’s not about winning this season. It probably won’t really be about winning next season. The Astros have used the term rebuilding for a couple of years, but haven’t fully committed to it. This year, it appears they’re committing. The next couple of years will be all rebuilding. I think I’ll custom  make a shirt that says “Astros 2014″ because I think that season will be their true rebirth.

Until then, the name of the game is to trade for the best prospects that they can. The Astros’ farm system was neglected and the talent pool was starting to resemble a dust bowl. Without a strong farm system feeding talent up to the majors, a team is going to stink. That’s what had been happening. The good news? There’s some real potential in the kids that the Astros have acquired this season. Will they all pan out? Only time will tell.

So, yes, there’s some risk involved in these trades, but it’s risk that HAD to be taken. The Astros were not going to win more often with aging players and no one to pull from in the system when they needed help or depth. It’s been time to strip the major league club and rebuild the farm for a while now. They’d dipped a toe in previously. Now it appears they’ve really jumped in with both feet.

I know you’re mad. I know you’re sad. I know you’re upset. I also know that if you’re reading this, odds are you’re a true fan. True fans stick with the team through the good, the bad and the ugly. Hang in there, Houston. I know you’re mad about the trades, but think about it and I’d bet deep down you’ll agree…it’s about time.

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.

When your team is having the year that the Astros are having, you never know what to expect come All-Star voting. There are a handful of players who are playing well enough – Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, Wandy Rodriguez – but who would it be was the big question. By players vote fan favorite Hunter Pence will represent the Astros for the second time in his three year big league career.

Going into Sunday’s game against the Red Sox, Pence  leads the Astros in many hitting categories including batting average (.323), home runs (10), and RBIs (57). He also leads the team and is tied for the lead in the National League for doubles (23). His batting average puts him 3rd in the NL as well. So, he’s not there as someone undeserving. Hunter’s earned his spot.

Pence will be on the reserve team and not starting. The starting outfield will be covered by Ryan Braun (Brewers), Lance Berkman (Cardinals), and Matt Kemp (Dodgers).

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's time for Astros' GM, Ed Wade, to start wheeling and dealing.

As the trade deadline looms – it’s less than six weeks away – I’ve been thinking about what I’d do if I were Ed Wade. Eddie, are you listening? Now, the Astros are in an interesting situation since we’re not sure who the technical owner of the team will be at that point and whether Jim Crane will be calling the shots or if Drayton McLane will still be looming in the hallways. I’m going to assume for the sake of my sanity that Crane’s in charge when the decisions are made.

The Astros have only a few players that would bring any real value in a trade right now. I figure the most worthwhile, in no particular order, are Wandy Rodriguez, Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, Jeff Keppinger, Clint Barmes, and possibly Brett Myers. So who would I keep and who would I trade? The decision is quite easy for me.

KEEP

I wouldn’t mess with Hunter Pence. Yes, he’s worth a lot in a trade deal especially with how he’s played lately, but the thing is, the young guy you know is better than the young guy(s) you don’t know. Pence is only 28 and we know he’s good, so why would they trade away good future performance for the hope of prospects who may or may not perform someday? Hunter’s a crowd favorite, a leader on the team, and invaluable to this club right now. The smart thing for the Astros to do is to offer Pence a hefty long term contract. Lock him in. They should make Hunter one of the players they build the future team around.

» Continue reading “Eddie Can You Hear Me? What Astros I’d Trade.”

It took four games, but the Astros finally pulled off a win against the Atlanta Braves tonight. It was a nail biter in the ninth as Brandon Lyon entered the game with an eight run lead. We all know that this season, an eight run lead isn’t enough to keep Astros fans from getting nervous when Lyon takes the mound. Sad, yes, but very true. Tonight he gave up a 3 run homer to end the shut out and finish the game with an Astros win 8-3.

It took until tonight for the Astros to find their offense in this series and what a great offense it was! Hunter Pence , who is still sporting the very attractive facial scruff, went 3-4 including a 2 run homer and a walk in that fourth at bat. That extends his hitting streak to 23 games and his RBI count to 50. I’m hopeful that he can reach Willy Taveras’ 2006 Astros record of a 30 game streak. I think the scruff is helping him hit.*wink*

Brett Wallace bounced back from a 0-4 Sunday to go 2-2 with 2 runs and 2 walks. We got to see some power out of him tonight when he doubled  with a long hit to center to send Jeff Keppinger home. At the plate, the Astros as a whole looked great with the whole batting order, bar Wandy

, getting on base. Once on base the baserunning was strong as well. Michael Bourn, in typical fashion, added to his stolen base count (27).

Magic Wandy Rodriguez was spot on tonight. He came back from the DL in excellent form, pitching six innings while allowing only two hits and no runs. He got the win, taking his record to 4-3 on the season. Lopez and Escalona both came in for an inning and efficiently did their job of holding the 8 run lead. It’s only when Lyon gets into the game that Astros fans start biting their nails. » Continue reading “The Astros – A Win, But Ninth Inning Nerves”

YES, I said SWEEP! It doesn’t get much better than the past three days for Astros fans. Once the club won game one against the Cubs the buzz became, “Can they win the series?” and “Will Lyles live up to the hype.” Because, let’s face it, Jordan Lyles MLB debut was anticipated as if it was the second coming of Jesus. There were high expectations. And there were nerves – well, my nerves.

Last night at Wrigley field, Lyles became the youngest Astros’ starter since Cesar Cedeno in 1970. Unlike me, Lyles didn’t seem nervous at all. So I eat all the words I said yesterday. I swallow the doubt I had in him. I was worried about nerves? He was cool as a cucumber. It was like a veteran was on the mound as he pitched an amazing 7 innings in which he threw an efficient 92 pitches, 62 of which were strikes. He didn’t get a win but he managed to allow only 5 hits and 2 earned runs giving him an ERA of 2.57. He moves amazingly well on that mound. I think I’m in love. He’ll start again on Sunday afternoon in an untelevised game against the Padres.

The Astros’ bats were definitely nocturnal and came alive late with a 6 run ninth to win the game 7-3. The winning pitcher was indeed a rookie, just not the one that was being hyped all day. Fernando Rodriguez got his first big league start and win by pitching to only one hitter. A big night for young Astros. » Continue reading “A Rookie Gets a Win and the Astros Get a Sweep”

Friday night the Astros fell apart against the Diamondbacks leaving hope-filled fans devastated. Losing a 6 run lead was a painful thing to watch and losing that 7-6 crushing. Follow that with a painful beating where the fans had no hope from almost the very start. Saturday night’s final score? Diamondbacks 11 and Astros 3. Yep, painful.

Is Sunday the day that the Houston Astros find a little balance? After going out Friday night with guns blazing they fell apart. On Saturday they were stagnant until a too-little-too-late rally in the ninth. I’m hoping that today is the day they figure out that slow and steady wins the race. Pitch like we know you can, hit consistently, stop ground balls when they come right to you, make good throws, run the bases aggressively, and please-oh-please could someone hit a long ball? » Continue reading “Astros Sunday – Is this the day?”

I could have imagined the Astros getting a win thanks to several batters, but J.R. Towles would not have been on that list at gametime today. After a 0-32 slump, Towles proved to everyone today that the slump is over. He went 3-4 at the plate this afternoon at Minute Maid Park, the final hit being a walk-off  single to lead Houston to it’s first back to back series win. Congratulations, J.R. Your timing is impeccable!

My favorite part of the scene at the end of the game was that the first person to reach Towles on the field was Batting Coach, Mike Barnett. I’m sure the encouragement and excitement in that exchange was fierce!

There were other great plays in the game – » Continue reading “0-32? Not Anymore! JR Towles Comes Alive to Give the Astros Another W”

*whispers*

Shhhhhh….there is no game as superstitious as baseball. That doesn’t just go for the players, but the fans as well. I might be a wee bit guilty of that myself. Because of my superstitious nature, I’m a little afraid to post this today. You see, since my last post on Friday, the Astros have gone 3-1. In case you haven’t been paying attention, that’s a whole lot better than the four games prior in which they had no wins.

Do I really think they won because I didn’t come chat with you guys? Nope. Am I scared that you’re all going to blame me now if they don’t beat the Dodgers again tonight? Yep.

I really think that perhaps a bit of Interleague Play might have been just what the doctor ordered for the Astros. Perhaps they needed to get away from division rivalries and thinking about standings in regard to the teams they were facing. After all, sports is half physical talent and half a mind game, right? They managed to win their series with the Bluejays in their first trip to Toronto and now they’re off to a great start against the LA Dodgers.

So who’s impressing me right now? » Continue reading “Shhhhh….Because I’m Superstitious and the Astros Won a Few”

It’s been about eighteen hours since the devastation the Astros experienced in Atlanta yesterday afternoon. I’m still not over it, but I’ve calmed down enough to at least talk about it. Okay, scream about it really. If nothing else came out of that game we learned one thing, this club has problems top to bottom.

I propose that with all areas falling apart that the Houston Astros get back to basics. Perhaps we should all start at page one in Baseball for Dummies? Don’t worry, skipper, there’s a book for you, too- Baseball Coaching for Dummies is also available. Now, I don’t really think these guys are dummies, but I do think it’s time to revisit the basics.

Wandy pitched a beauty yesterday, proving that he’s settling into this season and is becoming a dependable guy to start games. In 8 innings pitched he allowed 5 hits and no runs, walking two. Wandy deserved a win.

A win was not to be, however. Everyone’s been blaming the bullpen, and they have often deserved the blame. You can make an argument that Melancon let the game slip when he was one strike away from ending it and instead took a homer off the bat of McCann. But I think the offense blew the game. » Continue reading “Astros Bookclub? A little light reading.”