Yoo-hoo! Has anyone seen the Houston Astros offense? It seems to have gone on holiday a couple of weeks ago and doesn’t seem to want to come back. I mean, I can’t blame it, really. I like to go on holiday, too. But come on! This is now officially ridiculous. The Astros have lost 10 out of their last 11 games.

The team has 9, yes NINE, more road games before they return to Minute Maid Park and I don’t believe any of us want to watch another 9 losses.

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In their defense, I will say this: The San Francisco Giants pitching is unreal. It’s like those guys are pitching machines. Those boys have a team ERA for the season of 3.60, 6th in the majors. But despite the great pitching in the Bay Area, there were all those games before the All-Star break where the pitching wasn’t amazing. The bats have run away and hidden.

Last night in the 5-1 loss, Chris Snyder scored the lone run (a nice long blast over the left field wall) and there were only a total of 3 hits. This ain’t gonna cut it. Add to that mix the fact that Wandy Rodriguez struggled in the first couple of innings and you have a recipe for…well, what’s become typical. Wandy was able to recover and the pitching beyond the second inning was pretty good, but at that point, against the Giants pitching? The damage had already been done.

Now what. Well, there are a couple of things looming in July that could have impact. First, we have the end of month trade deadline. Jeff Luhnow has gotten pretty darn good at shocking us with moves we weren’t expecting so although I don’t anticipate mayhem at the deadline for the Astros, I think that a handful of moves are likely. We know the club would move Wandy and Brett Myers if given the chance, so perhaps moves such as those shake things up a bit.

Secondly, as we’ve all been saying, “Where the hell is Brett Wallace?” After struggling last season and being sent to AAA Oklahoma City, Brett’s found his hitting mojo. He even impressed us all when he came up for a stretch earlier in the season. In just 11 games and 36 at-bats he was hitting .333 with 2 home runs, 3 doubles and 4 runs batted in. So when Carlos Lee was traded to Miami, everyone expected to see that floppy wild hair and massive thighs return to first base in Houston. Well….we’re still waiting. Talk is that he will come up at some point, but when?

WE NEED HIS BAT RIGHT NOW. I know that rebuilding takes losses and patience and time, but come on! You’re killing us here. Watching this team night after night while they do nothing or the wrong thing is painful. Throw the fans a bone. We need something or someone to look forward to and the September call ups are too damn far away.

Meanwhile, there are still those calling for Brad Mills head on a platter. I’ve always been a fan of Millsie. He’s a nice guy and I have always thought that he was dealt an unfair situation when he came to Houston from Boston. But my patience is running thin and more and more I think that perhaps the talent on the field is not the problem….the coaching is. Is it Mike Barnett? After all the team’s not hitting. Is it Doug Brocail? The pitching hasn’t been as good as it could be with this group of guys. Is it Brad Mills? Perhaps the direction from the top just not what this young club needs.

I’m not in the clubhouse and I don’t have a super secret spy decoder ring (although I always wanted one) to figure out this mess. But someone needs to figure it out…and fast or this year will be as disastrous as last.

For now, I’m packing a bag (2 really) and taking the weeone on this year’s ballpark tour. We’re heading to San Diego where we’ll hopefully get to see our boys win a few road games and then we’ll pitstop in Arizona for a couple of games before we head back to Houston. Cross your fingers, hold your breath, wear your lucky shirts. This team needs all the help it can get.

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 begged for the bleeding to stop the other day and with a win against the Brewers last night, the Astros have ended their 9 game losing streak. But will the winning thing stick? I don’t think it’s likely for a lot of reasons.

In my house we’ve been joking that the Astros losing streak was because the weeone was at camp, but truth be told, I think the win yesterday had less to do with my daughter’s return and more to do with the insanity of the first inning and the ejection of Zack Greinke. I’m sure you’ve heard the tale or seen the footage by now, but when Greinke and Jose Altuve raced to first, and Altuve was called safe, Greinke spiked the ball in the dirt and was ejected.

I am certain that ejection was responsible for breaking the Astros losing streak.

Now, I’ll give credit where credit is due – the Astros offense was better yesterday than it’s been in a while. They put up 13 hits and attacked the bases full on, giving themselves every possible opportunity to get across home plate  and we hadn’t seen that in a while. Jordan Schafer was 2-4, Altuve 3-4, JD Martinez 3-4, Jed Lowrie 2-4 and Scott Moore hit his 3rd homer in 8 games. The bats were definitely alive. Add to that the 2 stolen bases – one each from Schafer and Altuve and the 2 sac flies from Jason Castro, and you’ve got an offense. Wandy Rodriguez put up another solid starting performance, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 in the 5.1 innings he spent on the bump.

But can the bandaid hold? With today’s series finale against the Brewers being the last game before the break for the All-Star Game, I’ve got to wonder if the turn in the tide yesterday was enough momentum to carry over to a second game? Add to that concern the fact that the Brewers will send Zack Greinke back to the mound today since he only threw 4 pitches yesterday. They’re trying to showcase him before the trade deadline and there was a decent crowd of scouts at Minute Maid Park yesterday who saw much less Greinke than they expected.

I applaud the Astros for taking advantage of yesterday’s events and riding the momentum they were handed in the first inning, but good baseball teams create their own momentum and that’s something this young club hasn’t figured out quite yet. So how long will the bandaid hold? Hopefully at least another game.

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.

If you were watching last night, you were probably as nervous as I was in the top of the ninth. Here we were only four days since Dallas Keuchel pitched the Astros’ first complete game of the season, and Lucas Harrell was coming back out onto the mound to finish what he’d started against the San Diego Padres. Did I mention the score was only 1-0?

The 9th inning would prove to be the most batters that Harrell would face in one inning all night – 6. Six batters to get those three outs to claim a complete game shut out. He put the first two hitters to rest easily with ground ball outs (well, one was actually an amazing 7-2 out), but would then find himself with the bags loaded thanks to a walk, a single and another walk.

Did I mention nail-biting?

That 6th hitter of the inning? The Padres catcher, Nick Hundley, who was 0-3 at the plate at that point. I looked at my dad and said, “This will be a strikeout.” I’ve never been so glad to to be right, as Harrell threw two balls and three strikes to finish the game, 1-0. Chris Snyder walked immediately to the bump to hug Harrell and congratulate him on his first complete game…a shut out, no less.

This is the second complete game by an Astros pitcher in only five days, as Dallas Keuchel put the Cleveland Indians to rest on Saturday with a 8-1 victory while pitching the Astros first complete game of the season. What does this mean for the Astros as a ball club? Well, it means you can’t blame the pitching.

In the last 7 days, the pitching staff has managed a 2.45 ERA and the starters by themselves have put up a 1.83. And yes, that’s with Wandy’s start on Monday where he allowed 5 hits and 5 ERs. You get that, right? You know that means that the rest of the starters have been damn near perfect, right? Even if you look at Lucas Harrell’s start last week that he lost – it wasn’t the pitching.

So if it’s not the pitching….it’s the offense. The defensive, although not exceptional, hasn’t been awful. I mean, we’ve seen Carlos Lee dive for (or fall for) balls twice this week. But the offense? Not so much. When the bats kick in they’re great, but there’s no consistency or dependability in this lineup at the moment. Hell, without Matt Downs home run last night? We’d have ended up in extras and we all know that the Astros aren’t very good at playing free baseball.

If this pitching continues (and we’ll get to see all SIX starters through the All-Star break with Bud Norris coming back) all this team needs is for the offense to find some consistency and the Astros may just win more ball games than they lose.

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 called it. Okay, all of baseball called it, but the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs last night 5-1. You know what I liked the best about it? In each of the three games in this series the Astros were out hit by the Cubs…and they still won.

In fact, in the series, the Cubs had a total of 27 hits to the Astros 21 and the run count? Cubs scored 6 and the Astros scored 15. Doing more with less? Perhaps, or perhaps it’s just improving plate discipline for the Astros. In total Houston drew 11 walks during this series while Chicago only drew 5. Was that the difference? Maybe.

Regardless, the Astros did, in general, play pretty good baseball through this series. JD Martinez hopefully got his mojo back between he game winning RBI on Tuesday and the triple and three RBIs last night. I hope he’s turned the corner because when he’s on, he’s a lot of fun to watch swing a bat.

The pitching was outstanding, both starting and bullpen. Let’s hope that trend continues as they head out on the road tomorrow to face the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Root! Root! Root!

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.

Jed Lowrie's been spending a nice amount of time on base for the Astros.

I love when the Cubs come to Minute Maid Park. There’s a few things that I adore about it. First, the Cubs fans come out in droves. Generally that annoys me at a game, but this year in particular, the opportunity to watch Cubs fans cry at MMP is more than I can resist smiling at. Yep, I know, I’m a bit evil.

But the Cubs are the “Astros of last season” sitting in the bottom of the NL Central standings and that’s just a whole lot of fun for an Astros fan, right? Admit it…you love it too.

The match-ups for this series aren’t too shabby either. The timing in the starting rotations means we’ll see some fun baseball. But when push comes to shove, I expect the Astros to take 2 of these 3 games and really in my heart of hearts I think they should sweep this team of baby bears.

JA Happ’s coming in with momentum after his last start, the same for Cudly Studly Budly Norris and Wandy Rodriguez has to want to come out and prove that the hit parade by the Rangers last Friday was a fluke and he’s still the pitcher we all know he is. After all, at home, Wandy’s ERA is a very impressive 1.52. Come on, Wandy, we know you want to kick some ass this week.

Jordan Schafer will still be sitting out and isn’t expected to play on Monday thanks to that lower leg strain, but Jose Altuve once again proved Sunday he can hit in any spot you stick him and did a fine job as the leadoff hitter. If Schafer was missed anywhere it was in centerfield where Justin Maxwell isn’t quite as quick (or used to Tal’s hill) defensively. That should only affect Monday and possibly Tuesday.

But on the other hand….let me tell ya’ story ’bout a man named Jed…yep, that SS is finding a nice groove at the plate (.273/.354/.461) and I look for him to continue to hit well and make the plays down the middle.

In the meantime, I’ll be waiting on JD Martinez to lose the “lost” look he’s been sporting at the plate and find his swing again. And I’ll be waiting for Brian Bogusevic to fix the little things that seem to be keeping him off-balance from time to time at the plate as well. If the Astros can get those two kicking it old school, I think the Astros will continue to be the scrappy little brother who just won’t give up.

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.

A new face for many fans, Kyle Weiland will be a part of the starting rotation.

During tonight’s game between the Houston Astros and their AA affiliate Corpus Christi Hooks some pitching information was released. By the way, the Astros won, 6-2.

Jordan Lyles has been optioned to AAA Oklahoma City. I think this is for the best. He needs some time to marinate, work on that curveball and just mature in his talent. Fear not, Astros fans, it won’t be long before we see Jordan in an Astros jersey on a regular basis. With the use of another option, the Astros have one remaining on Lyles.

On the side of who’s staying? The Astros announced some guys who will make their first MLB Opening Day roster – David Carpenter, Rhiner Cruz, Lucas Harrell, Fernando (Fernie – I swear it’s what his wife calls him) Rodriguez & Kyle Weiland. Congratulations all around. I’m pleased to see several of those names on the list.

So if everyone keeps their current pitching schedule the starting rotation would be Wandy Rodriguez, Harrell, Bud Norris, JA Happ, and Weiland.

So there we have it, folks. Houston has a starting rotation. Play ball!

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.

It’s Monday morning and what else do I have to do, but wonder about the Houston Astros 2012 starting lineup? Well, plenty, but it seems like a good use of my time at the moment. I mean, we’re days away from the Home Opener and these are pressing issues in my little brain.

Every time I think I have the starting rotation solidified in my head, someone has a shaky start or a flat out bad one, calling into question everything I thought I knew to be true. So let’s take a look at who the contenders likely still are what this Houston chick thinks the rotation could look like.

The Contenders:

Wandy Rodriguez – RHP – Wandy’s a definite and is likely to be the start of the rotation. He’s been nothing short of consistent for this club in recent years. His W/L record, like anyone pitching for Houston lately is not impressive, but he’s had little defensive and run support to back him up. He’ll likely be the Opening Day pitcher (despite the fact that I think Bud Norris deserves a shot) and there’s plenty of reasons to state emphatically that he deserves it. His ST hasn’t been ideal, but Wandy typically turns it on when he needs to and will be a reliable top of the rotation guy for 2012.

Bud Norris - RHP – Studly Cuddly Budly is the guy that the Astros are hoping to build their pitching around in the future, and he’s taken that seriously so far in ST. He’s 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA thus far, walking a few more than he’d probably like, but still managing to strike out 5 in 9 innings pitched. Bud’s made no secret of his desire to go deeper into games this season and is working up to being a 200 inning pitcher. I look for Bud to be the number 2 guy in the rotation this year.

JA Happ – LHP – Happ struggled at times last season, spending a little time in AAA getting the Burt Hooten treatment in OKC. He came back at the end of the season to wow us all with vast improvements. I’m not sure that what we’ve seen of him in ST this year has been as good as he was at the end of 2011, but it’s vastly better than he was at the start of 2011. I’ll take it. He’s 1-1 with a 6.59 ERA in Spring Training and despite walking 7 in 13.2 innings, I believe his control is better that it was in 2011. He’ll be a middle of the rotation starter and I look for him to regain his late-2011 stride when the season starts.

Kyle Weiland – RHP- In my humble opinion, Weiland has earned a spot in the starting rotation. With a 2-0 record for Spring Training and a mere 2.25 ERA he’s shown he’s got the stuff to lead this team from the mound. He had a few issues with command in one of his starts, but he still managed to pull out decants outings in those situations. In my mind, he’s the 4th piece of the rotation puzzle.

So who is the 5th starter? It comes down to Livan Hernandez, Jordan Lyles and Zach Duke.

Livan Hernandez - RHP – The “old man” of the contenders, Livan Hernandez has made a name for himself in the MLB for being able to go the distance in games. His ability to eat innings alone makes him an attractive pitcher. He’s 4-4 with a 4.38 ERA in Spring Training and I believe he’ll be the 5th guy in the Astros rotation. His pitching thus far in camp has been consistent with what he’s done historically in the majors and there’s a lot to be said for consistency in the rotation, especially where the Astros are concerned.

Jordan Lyles – RHP – I’ve made no secret of the fact that despite his incredible maturity, I think Lyles needs a bit more time down in the minors. Despite the fact that I think he’ll start the season in AAA, I’d take him over Zach Duke at this point. For one, he’s a future star for the Astros if he’s properly mentored and developed, but also his command seems to be a bit better. He’ll likely start in the minors, but I also think we’re likely to see him pitch at Minute Maid Park sometime this season.

Zach Duke – LHP – Duke has struggled in Spring Training, going 4-3 with an 11.30 ERA. In 14 innings he’s walked 6 while striking out 8. But that ERA shows just how hittable he is. I think with some time in AAA, he could prove to be a great back up for when someone in the rotation is injured or traded. Is it possible he could spend some time in the bullpen? Absolutely.

Like any of my predictions (or guesses) it remains to be seen what the front office and Brad Mills will do prior to Opening Day. Regardless of their choices, what we are seeing in the options of pitchers is far better than what we have seen. There is hope and potential in this crop and I’m banking on the organization to be forward thinking as they make these decisions.

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!

This week there was an awful lot going on in the world of Houston Astros Baseball. Here’s the wrap:

The CAREavan continued around the state (and even into Oklahoma). Former and current players as well as owner, Jim Crane, and GM, Jeff Luhnow, participated in bringing some Astros joy to many fans this past week.

Over on Footnotes, Alyson Footer’s blog, you can find tips for Spring Training attendees, so check that out if you’re planning to attend!

Jessica, the caption contest winner, and me at the reception before the Baseball Dinner.

The Astros in Action Foundation hosted the Annual Baseball dinner benefitting Grand Slam For Youth Baseball last night. I was there along with Jessica (@mamu30) who won my caption contest. It was a who’s who of baseball history for Houston celebrating the 49 years of baseball in this great city and looking forward to the 50th season.

Jayne Hansen, who writes What the Heck, Bobby, a blog about the Astros minor league system, had an entertaining run in with JR Richards last night. Head over to her blog and give it a read.

Lance Berkman was there and stole the show, on his birthday no less. After taking the stage to be honored as the Houston Chapter of the BBWAA’s MLB Player of the Year he solemnly stated how touched he was to be onstage with a host of historical Astros baseball figures. He leaned over, head in hand as if to collect himself then popped up smiling and said, “Just kidding!” And then went on to tease the audience about how that probably felt as awkward for us as walking into Minute Maid Park in a Cardinals uniform was for him!

Lance was his ever-charming self when he thanked the “Houston Lonestars” for the award and then looked over his shoulder at players and front office peeps to confirm, “Wait, it wasn’t approved? We’re still the Astros?”  And yes, Lance said we.

That wouldn’t be the only reference to Lance as an Astro as stated he would always consider himself one. Later, when Jeff Luhnow took the stage he reminded Lance that in 2013 the team would need a DH and Berkman’s services may be needed. Oh, how I wish that would happen. If Luhnow could bring Lance back to HTX for one more season to end his career as an Astro, he would forever be my baseball hero.

Brad Mills even made a good funny at Lance’s expense when he wished Berkman a happy birthday and then stated, “I hope you play your age next year.”

Yes, Mr. Berkman stole the show. The other current players also honored: JD Martinez, Wandy Rodriguez, Jason Bourgeois.

With that, it’s time for me to get ready to head to Minute Maid Park. In case you’re not aware, today is FanFest! The event itself is free, and autographs are $10/ticket with 3-4 players per session. There are “Talkin’ Baseball” sessions and batting practices you can do, activities for kids and anything else you can imagine to get you ready for Spring Training. You can find the schedule of events for the day on the Astros website.

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.

Friday, February 10th, Minute Maid and the Astros in Action Foundation will host the 27th Annual Baseball Dinner benefitting the Grand Slam for Youth Baseball Scholarship program. In the past six years this fun evening of baseball recognition and memories has funded 20 scholarships.

Not only is the baseball dinner a great cause, but it’s a fun night of baseball awards and remembrance. This year’s dinner will include past Astros like J.R. Richard, Jimmy Wynn, Larry Dierker, Bob Watson, and Jose Cruz, among others. It won’t just be a blast from the past as many 2011 roster members will be there as well – Jason Bourgeois, JD Martinez, Wandy Rodriguez and Manager, Brad Mills. You can check out the official web page for all the details.

I have an extra seat for this lovely event and I figure who better to bring as a “date” than one of you! All you have to do to enter your name into the hat is comment below and give the best caption to this lovely photo of Carlos Lee. I’ll pick the three best captions and then let all of you vote to pick the winner. Be creative….

What should this caption be? You decide and win a seat at the Houston Baseball Dinner.

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.

It’s funny how the first two favorite moments of the Houston Astros 2011 season came to me so quickly, but then I had to really start thinking about the next few. This one came to me this morning while I was wondering why there wasn’t more interest in Wandy Rodriguez in the current starting pitcher market.

On August 29th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wandy had a great night striking out 13 batters to help the Astros win 7-4 (win #45 if you’re wondering). For those of you who are in need of a starting pitcher, remember that on a really bad team without much in the way of run support, Mr. Rodriguez went 11 -11 with a 3.49 ERA, 7.82 K/9 and 1.31 WHIP. The boy’s got game.

Click on the photo to watch Wandy strike out 13 Pirates.

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.