How could I not come talk to you about that ridiculousness of a baseball game last night? I mean, really. It started off like any normal game and then J.A. struggled big time from the third inning on. I kept glancing over at the bullpen thinking certainly they’d kick him to the curb soon, but, nope…he stayed put a lot longer than I expected.

As the game spiraled out of control a few notable things happened that are worth mentioning and commenting on.

#1 – David Carpenter got his first major league hit of his career. It was a single hit with one of Bud Norris’ bat. We had a good time with the whole “Carpenter is batting 1.000″ in my group last night. It’s the little things that keep me smiling in a blow out like that one!

#2 – Carlos Correa was introduced to the crowd at Minute Maid Park after signing on the dotted line to come play in the Astros organization earlier in the day. He walked by me a couple of times and from what I could tell, he was joined by his parents, brother, sister (who is cute as a button!), grandparents and all the pomp and circumstance of the Astros front office. He was greeted with a standing ovation by the crowd at MMP, Astros and Cards fans alike. You can’t help but cheer for a 17 year old kid that worked his ass off to make a dream come true. It’s the stuff Disney films are made of. Welcome, Carlos….and best of luck to you.

#3 – In the top of the ninth there were some…um…changes to the positions being played. Jason Castro was brought in to catch because Chris Snyder was moved to first because Brett Wallace was moved to third because Chris Johnson was moved to right field because….well, because Brian Bogusevic was going to pitch.

Yep, you read it right. Makes sense – why should Mills burn a reliever’s arm when the game’s a blow out? He has a great right fielder who happened to be drafted out of Tulane as….a pitcher. And frankly, Bogie didn’t do too shabby. His first fastball? 88mph. For a guy who hasn’t been throwing bullpens, I was impressed. Of course, so were the Cards batters who knocked in a couple more including a homer off of him. Meh…at that point – who cared? It was a novelty little league game being played at a big league park.

So, the Astros lost this series to the Cards, but that just evened the season series up since the Astros took the last one. There are a couple more meetings of these two teams while they’re in the same division….should be fun. I doubt we’ll see Bogie pitch in any of those games though!

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.

The Houston Astros dropped both games yesterday against the Colorado Rockies. They weren’t blowouts by any means and to steal the words so often used by Skipper Brad Mills, “They battled.” And battle they did.

Regardless of how close or entertaining or exciting any of the Astros road games have been (and they have been), this team is finding the road to be a hard and cruel place to be this season.

Just some comparisons of home and road stats (keep in mind they’ve played 3 fewer games on the road than at home)

STAT        HOME       AWAY

W/L            16-10            6-17
BA                .243              .246
OBP             .320             .306
SLG              .389             .358
OPS              .709             .664
Runs             115                87
HR                  27                12
BB                   90                66
SO                 179              185
SB                   20                14
ERA              2.85           4.34

Yes, the road has been a cruel place, indeed.

They’ll play two more in Colorado before jetting home to face their division leaders, the Reds and the Cardinals, later this week and next. If they can string together some wins perhaps it will give them momentum for the next road trip? I sure hope so.

In the meantime…I hope they find a way to pretend we’re all there cheering for them on the road. I know if they could see Astros fans twitter feeds during games it would show them we’re all still watching….no matter what stadium they’re in.

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.

Last night I walked into Minute Maid Park to watch the first of three games between the Astros and the Cardinals excited, but nervous. There’s the deep seated rivalry that makes me yearn for a win when the red birds are the opposing team, but there was also the great desire for this Astros team to earn a little respect.

Prior to first pitch, I said to my friends sitting with me, “If we can just get through this game without embarrassing ourselves against Lohse on the mound, I’ll consider it a success.”

Turns out, even I was selling this Astros team a bit short.

In a  game full of ups and downs, home runs and errors, Jose Altuve stood out as the leader and superstar. Many will say that he won the game with his game saving double play. Many a second baseman would have just caught that ball, but not Altuve. He let it drop. Yes, let it. By letting that ball hit the ground he set up and executed the double play that set up Brett Myers to get one strike out to finish off their long time rivals.

The Astros won 5-4 and I screamed like I haven’t screamed at an Astros game in year.

Today Bud Norris takes the mound in an attempt to lead this club to their second series win in a row and a most meaningful series win against this long time rival. The Astros keep proving they have all the pieces they need to get it done, including a very intuitive infielder named Jose Altuve.

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.

Most of the city has tuned out on the Astros this season. They are still licking their wounds from 2011 and weren’t ready to put their full heart into the team this year. Well, if you are part of that group, it’s time to tune in. While you weren’t paying attention, the Astros have gotten themselves off to a decent start.

I think what I love about Houston baseball so far this season is that it’s been impossible to predict what these Astros will do. One day I have them pegged as completely unable to hit for power and then the next….well, they’re out homering the Mets 5-0 to sweep a series. At least we can’t say they’re boring!

When 2012 kicked off its season, I said the Astros wouldn’t be dead last in the NL Central. I felt certain that the Cubs or maybe the Pirates would implode and the little team that could from H-town would sail past them.

I was wrong.

I know it’s only May 3rd, but that “little team that could?” They’re now tied for 3rd in the NL Central behind only the Cardinals and the Reds. Who would’ve guessed? I suppose Jeff Luhnow. He said early on that he thought this ball club had enough talent to win a decent amount of ball games. Looks like the hashtag #inluhnowwetrust will become a regular on twitter.

It’s only May, but this group of guys is demanding the city pay attention. The Astros, 25 games in to a 162 game season are 11-14 and seem to be gaining ground.

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.

The other Aerys Sports MLB writers and I decided to share the “3 things” we thought fans within the division should know /care about / consider regarding opposing team. I gave them my thoughts on the Astros and below you’ll find what they think you should keep your eye on in the rest of the NL Central.

Cherish it, this is the last time we look at these teams at the start of season while the Astros are with them in the National League.

St. Louis Cardinals, Christine Coleman – Aaron Miles Fastball
1: It seems trite already since the question’s been asked so many times, but it really is No. 1: how will the World Champions fare without Albert Pujols, Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan?
2: How will Mike Matheny handle his first-ever managing job?
3: With Chris Carpenter, Allen Craig and Skip Schumaker starting the season on the DL and with several players with long injury histories, how will health affect the 2012 Cardinals?

Chicago Cubs, Julie DiCaro – A League of Her Own
1. Will this team lose 100 games?
2. Will Brett Jackson and Anthony Rizzo be left to rot in the minors all season? Or will they be called up ro the big club sooner rather than later?
3. How long will Matt Garza and Geo Soto be on this team? Are they part of the rebuilding process? Or merely chips to be traded to bring in more prospects?

Cincinnati Reds, Tara Franey – C-ing Red
1: “The Win Sometime ” approach. This offseason, GM Walt Jocketty made a lot of proactive, arguably aggressive moves, aimed at making real improvements. While the Madson injury and extensions for Joey Votto and Sean Marshall temper the previous “win now” message of this club, it seems clear that Jocketty’s not keen on waiting around when problems present themselves. This could lead to a quick trigger on personnel issues this summer, but the long term Votto deal probably means no fire sale even if the team struggles in the first half.
2. “Pitching wins championships”. The addition of Mat Latos was costly, but adding a number two starter without a 10 million dollar salary is always good, and for this team, it’s essential. The Reds scored plenty of runs last season, and gave up a bunch, too. Maybe we need better luck, or more clutch-hitting, but we’re going to answer a lot of our prayers simply by improving the pitching. A little regression to the mean by Bronson Arroyo, a tiny amount of improvement by 26 year old Homer Bailey, and adding Mat Latos could totally change the look of this rotation. Remember, with guys like Votto and Bruce in the lineup, we don’t the creme de la creme of rotations, but we do have to be at least mediocre.
 3. “Revolving Chapmania”. A few years ago, we signed Aroldis Chapman as a flame-throwing lefty starter, which we held to for about three months, before deciding we’d like him in our bullpen. This spring, Chapman was given a chance to start, and was pretty good at it, but was still placed in the bullpen to fill in some injury gaps, but it’s still not clear whether this is a short-term or a mid-term stint. If Bill Bray (left handed reliever) returns to form, will Chapman return to the rotation? Will he go to AAA to get stretched out again? If he starts this season at the MLB level, it’ll be something to watch.

Milwaukee Brewers-
1.  How will the recent steroid “scandal” effect Ryan Braun’s performance and will it have any impact on the team as a whole?
2.  With the loss of Prince Fielder, will the team be able to compete for the division again?
3.  With this being Zack Greinke’s contract year, will he be the pitcher he was from 2009 or will he continue to struggle and will he sign an extension with the Brewers or hit free agency?

Pittsburgh Pirates
1) Pitching: The Pirates’ rotation excelled in the first half of 2011, and cratered in the second half. Will they even out this year? Can AJ Burnett lend a helping hand, once he recovers from breaking his face?
2) Andrew McCutchen: The center fielder finally got a well-deserved All-Star nod last season, and became the eighth Pirate to join the 20-20 club. There’s no reason to believe McCutchen, only 25, can’t repeat his elite performance.
3) The record: Pittsburgh has had 19 straight under-.500 seasons. Last year, they led the division as late as 100 games in before slipping to fourth place. A shiny new starting roster with free agent additions like Clint Barmes and Erik Bedard could finally push them into the black.

Want to know what I said about the Astros?

#1 – The Breakout Star(s): General Manager, Jeff Luhnow, has said it and I will too: with a team comprised of so many young and sophomore/rookie players, someone is going to have a breakout year and it’s going to be oh-so-fun to watch. I’d go so far as to say 2 players will. My money? Brian Bogusevic and JD Martinez.
#2 – Bud Norris: Once the youngun’ in the rotation, Studly Cuddly Budly is now one of the veterans on the mound for the Astros. He had a strong Spring start and has set the goal of going at least 200 innings this season. He’s in excellent shape and could become the Astros next Ace.
#3 – The Rising Phoenix: There’s no doubt that the Astros finished last season in the ashes, but with new ownership, a new team President/CEO, a new General Manager, and a crop of players begging for the chance to prove their ability, this team will begin its rise from the ashes this year. It won’t always be pretty and there will still be plenty of losses, but the difference between 2011 and 2012 is palpable, off the field…and on.

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.

In what has been a quiet offseason for the Houston Astros things are starting to happen. Since Jeff Luhnow came to town several moves have been made to the Htown roster. None of those moves were mega-deals, but each has brought a little something to the table with a side serving of a glimmer of hope.

The latest of these moves is the signing of Zach Duke to a minor league with an invitation to Astros Spring Training in Kissimmee, Florida.

Duke, who is a native Texan, is a left-handed pitcher whose career started off very promising with the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, his numbers have climbed where they shouldn’t and have sunk in places you’d rather not see. He has a relatively low walk rate (2.4/9 career) but also a relatively low strike out rate (4.6/9 career). His fastball hovers around 87mph so it isn’t his bread and butter, but rather a changeup and curveball that get him through.

Despite an All-Star appearance in 2009 representing the Pirates, Duke hasn’t had much success in the majors. Last season in 9 starts with the Diamonbacks he put up and 4.93 ERA and went 3-4.  Interesting note: Duke hit his first career homer last season with the Diamondbacks…..against Houston’s own Bud Norris.

I’m not expecting much to come from this trade. Luhnow could have been thinking that this veteran presence and nice guy would make a good clubhouse addition if Wandy were to be gone and they needed another middle to late rotation guy. Spring Training will likely tell the story.

In the meantime, there are rumors flying about former Astro, Roy Oswalt. There’ve been whispers about offers for him from Boston, St. Louis and even Houston. Don’t get all aflutter on this one. Roy is most likely to land in St. Louis.

And finally, congratulations and best wishes to Jeff Luhnow and the soon-to-be Mrs. Luhnow who are getting married today! I love a good wedding…almost as much as a good trade.

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.

While I was sleeping, and probably while you were sleeping, the Houston Astros hired themselves a new General Manager and it’s not the guy I thought it would be. It’s the guy I thought this organization would never hire. It’s Jeff Luhnow, the Vice President of player procurement from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Houston will have a press conference later today to formally announce Mr. Luhnow, but in the meantime, let’s poke around in his career and see what we can see. Wanna?

Why didn’t I think the Astros would hire this guy? Well, because he’s part of what I consider the “new regime” in baseball. Luhow’s a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. He’s an Ivy League boy. He’s not a part of baseball’s good old boy network.

The Astros have held on to the old ways of baseball and that’s not all bad, but they’ve often sidestepped newer methods of scouting and rating players. With Luhnow as the GM it appears the good old Astros are doing a 180. And it was effective in St. Louis.

Luhow has been with the Cards since 2003 so he knows what it feels like to be a part of a winning organization and to have contributed to those wins. He’s overseen the amateur player draft since 2005 and is the guy responsible for signing players like Jon Jay, Jaime Garcia, Allen Craig and Lance Lynn. Luhnow fits the profile outlined by Jim Crane and George Postolos as what they were looking for in a new General Manager.

“We are very pleased to have Jeff as the new General Manager of the Houston Astros,” Postolos said in a prepared statement. “Jeff is the perfect fit for the Astros because of his track record in scouting and player development during his eight-plus seasons with the Cardinals.”

“The Astros strive to develop one of the best systems in baseball and create a consistent winner at the Major League level. Jeff has the knowledge, skills and experience to lead the baseball operations efforts at all levels and help the Astros achieve this vision. Jeff has a demonstrated the ability to inspire and motivate staff in the front office and out in the field. He was born and raised in Mexico and his bicultural background will be an asset in recruiting players from Latin America and developing the Hispanic market for Los Astros.” via Ultimate Astros

 

I’m cautiously optimistic this morning. Merry Christmas to me.

There will be a press conference at Minute Maid Park at 1:00pm today to formally introduce Luhnow as the new Astros General Manager. In the meantime, I’ll be comforted by the fact that the Astros HAVE a GM. In Dallas, Dave Gottfried and Bobby Heck will be overseeing the Rule 5 Draft that starts this morning. What will you be doing?

PS. Jeff Luhnow tweets and I love that. You can follow him – @jluhnow

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.

I want this logo back!

The Houston Astros are continuing to make their way through the list of General Manager Candidates while at the Winter Meetings in Dallas.

The latest on the list? LA Dodgers Assistant GM, Logan White. White’s been around baseball for a long time (10 years alone with the Dodgers) and actually interviewed for the Houston GM job once before back in 2007 when the winning candidate ended up being Ed Wade.

We’re told they’ve interviewed a half dozen candidates so far, but the only ones that have been openly named and recognized have been Bill Geivett of the Rockies, Jeff Luhnow of the Cardinals, JJ Picollo of the Royals and now White. These candidates all have one big trait in common and that’s their experience working with either bringing in new players or developing new players.  It seems the rebuilding process is finally in full commited swing.

Late last night Danny Knobler of CBSSports tweeted “Rival execs think Colo’s Geivett is favorite for Astros GM job. Could be done soon.” Oh Danny, how I hope you’re right on the last part of that tweet. So it could be soon and if the Winter Meeting chatter is to be believed, it’s likely to be Geivett.

Finally, Brad Mills spent some time with the media yesterday afternoon in Dallas. He spoke on his thoughts about the new ownership as well as the rebuilding process that’s going on,specifically about those dynamic young kids we saw play last season. Read more and see the video HERE.

I hope whatever announcement comes in the hopefully-not-too-distant-future regarding a new GM, that Brad Mills sticks around a little longer. I want to see what he does under a different GM who plays by different rules. I know that some of you won’t agree, but I just wonder…

It probably won’t be a pretty year in 2012, but it’s looking like it will at least be a productive one.

One final note: Tonight at 7pm on 740KTRH is the Astro’s offseason radio show, Astroline. The guest this week is none other than my favorite, Studly Cudly Budly, Bud Norris. You can tune in or join us at Buffalo Wild Wings at 510 West Grey in Midtown to see what Milo and Bud chat about.

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.

Craig Tatum...let's get that boy an Astros uni

Yes, there’s news. No, it’s not about the sale of the team or the possible move to the American League.

-Ricky Adams, the former infielder for the Angels, passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer, reports the Washington Post. Adams was 52 years old. Although he spent his MLB career with the Angels, Adams was the first-round draft pick of the Houston Astros in 1977. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Adams’ family and friends.

-If you thought the Houston Astros were a bit thin at catcher this past season, well, you’d be right and it looks like they’re working on that. The ‘Stros claimed 28 year old Craig Tatum off waivers yesterday from the Baltimore Orioles. He will join Jason Castro, Humberto Quintero and Carlos Corporan on the 40 man roster.

-It’s no secret that Roy Oswalt is a free agent this year. It’s also no secret that many Astros fans have much love for the pitcher. Over at The Crawfish Boxes, David Coleman takes a look at whether Houston should make an attempt to welcome him back with open arms….or should it be Brad Lidge?

- I begrudgingly offer Lance Berkman congratulations on the Cardinals World Series win. I’m still a bit heartbroken that he’s not an Astro anymore, frankly. He proved that you can come back and play the best ball of your career when no one expects it. Not only that, but he helped block the Texas Rangers from a WS win which is a big plus in my book. Okay, now can we pretend I didn’t say anything nice about the St. Louis Cardinals?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured 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 ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

These 2 teams have been rivals since the inception of the NL Central in 1994.

The NL Central has been in existence for seventeen years. And in all of those years it’s been dominated by two teams: The St.Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros. The Cards have won 8/17 Division Championships and they’ve been the Wild Card twice and the Astros have won the Division Championship four times and been the WC twice.

If you’re new as an Astros fan (and frankly, if you’ve recently come on board I’d have to question your sanity or your ability to think rationally), you probably don’t understand the deep-seated need for an Astros fan to see the Cardinals lose. But there it is. So it is physically impossible to for me to cheer for the Cardinals. Just. Can’t. Do. It.

As the NLCS begins today I’m stuck as a fan without team, in a way. I want to cheer in this postseason race. I want to have someone that I’m invested in. But you see how it can’t be the Cardinals. There’s just no way I can do that and still call myself an Astros fan.

So what’s a girl to do?

The obvious answer would be to cheer for the Brewers, since they’re the “non-Cardinals” of this series. And in truth, up until recently, I had nothing against the Brewers. I’m actually a fan of Prince Fielder, I mean, how can you not like that guy?

But I don’t think I’m going to be able to cheer for the Brewers either. You see, this season when the Astros were having the worst season in the history of the franchise, the Brewers fans were so impressed at their team’s ability to beat the very worst team in baseball, that they yelled in the faces of Astros fans, screaming and carrying on as if they had just won the World Series. It was a poor display of fandom. I lost all respect.

I don’t think I can cheer for a team like that. I really dislike the Cardinals, but their fans have always been reasonable and respectful, at least.

Now I have a decision to make. Who will I cheer for? Or will I just ignore this half of the playoffs as if it doesn’t exist?

I need to have someone to cheer for and I figure at this point it’s either the Beer Guys or the Umpires, but it’s definitely not the Cards or the Brewers.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured 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 ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.