I missed the entire Mets series, but apparently much of it was painful to watch anyway.

Yesterday's loss was especially frustrating, I imagine: 17 baserunners = 2 runs?? No intentional walk to Piazza in the 9th? A waste of a dominant start by Clemens?

Bah.

But to everyone who wants Dotel demoted and Lidge made closer: Calm down.

Octavio Dotel is a better pitcher than Brad Lidge.

He's off to a slow start, has given up 4 HR's in 20 innings when he gave up 9 all of last year, and his control is a bit spotty....

But he has been the best non-Gagne reliever in baseball over the past 3 years. He is dominant, regularly unhittable, and he got beat by the best-hitting catcher in history (easily) last night. It happens. Get over it.

We'll probably lose Dotel next year, and then Lidge will get his chance. That's it. End of story.

We have to get more runs with 17 baserunners. That's the key.

Tonight: Wade Miller at Dontrelle Willis.

This is a big game, for several reasons:

1. Is Wade Miller healthy? There were rumors that he had been hiding an injury last year, and he's looked a little different from start to start this year.

2. Can we figure out Dontrelle Willis? Last year he dominated the league until teams saw him for the 2nd time. From then on he got hammered. Let's see if we can do the same.

This was a playoff atmosphere game, and we seem to lose more of those than we win.

Thoughts:

Tim Redding - I'll give you credit for fighting through a lot of baserunners, but you don't look comfortable at all, and eventually those baserunners will turn into runs. I'm one of your supporters but I don't have much confidence in you these days.

Dotel - You wanted the pressure before the year, so you got it. But if you go walk/triple/walk on the first 3 batters you face (Choi/Pierre/Castillo...ugh), you're in trouble.

Ausmus - Are you really going to turn a DP on Miguel Cabrera? Tag the runner at home, no matter what.

Jimy/Viz - you're all used to this one. After Hidalgo's encouraging bases loaded walk to put us in the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, and new LHP Matt Perisho coming in to face Lamb, Jimy sends up (Jason Lane, please??) Vizcaino to pinch-hit with the bases loaded and 1 out. First pitch GIDP to 2nd, on a ball that he might have been able to beat out, but instead he'll just lightly jog to 1st base. By the way, the pitcher, Matt Perisho got the win from that one pitch.

Craig Biggio - 0-for-5 with a killer GIDP, and you could have caught that ball in the 9th. Good effort...but make the play.

We face the Mets in a 3 game series, throwing Oswalt / Pettitte / Clemens against Trachsel / Baldwin / Leiter. Sweep?

Oh, and I'm still working on the new blog template, so bear with me. But this weekend, at least, I'm off to Memphis and then Nashville to see some old friends. Take it easy.

Wow! The guys at Blogger did a whole lot of new stuff recently, and now you can post comments. I'm also working on changing the looks of this place, but I'm scared I'll lose it all because I'm not exactly the greatest computer guy around.

But, still, use that new comments thing to tell me what you think.

By the way, if you haven't been stopping by, go visit Aaron's Baseball Blog sometime (link at bottom). It is HILARIOUS.

P.S. If you know me...is my handwriting really 'scrabbly'?

The Astros followed up one of their best games of the year (a comeback 6-1 win to make Roger Clemens 7-0) with a fairly lackluster peformance last night, losing 5-2 to Dontrelle Willis and Mike Lowell. Lowell crushed two solo HR's off Wade Miller, and Willis got a lot of groundball outs, as the Astros were predictably befuddled by his huge leg kick and unusual delivery. Willis was nails against the league his first time through last year, too, but they seemed to eventually figure him out. I assume we'll do the same if we see him again.

Wade Miller pitched fine to everyone but Lowell, but he left with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th (or 6th) with 'neck tightness'. Back at the beginning of the year, Baseball Prospectus said they though Miller might have been hiding an injury last year, and he's had some high pitch counts this year. Maybe we should be a little more gentle with him, or risk feeling the same pain as the Cubs are right now, with Prior and Wood both injured.

Today we have Tim Redding vs. Carl Pavano. This interests me because: 1) I'd like to see another solid start from Timmah and 2) Pavano is dating Alyssa Milano. Just thought you'd like to know.

Oh, new Astros blog added to my links: Throws_like_a_girl. It's awesome, and contains some awesome quotes, like how she doesn't like "oversimplified Moneyball dogma", which is the best phrase ever, and how she also wants to have 10 million of Wade Miller's children. AND she hates Jose Vizcaino. Check it out.

The Astros followed up one of there best games of the year (a comeback 6-1 win to make Roger Clemens 7-0) with a fairly lackluster peformance last night, losing 5-2 to Dontrelle Willis and Mike Lowell. Lowell crushed two solo HR's off Wade Miller, and Willis got a lot of groundball outs, as the Astros were predictably befuddled by his huge leg kick and unusual delivery. Willis was nails against the league his first time through last year, too, but they seemed to eventually figure him out. I assume we'll do the same if we see him again.

Wade Miller pitched fine to everyone but Lowell, but he left with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th (or 6th) with 'neck tightness'. Back at the beginning of the year, Baseball Prospectus said they though Miller might have been hiding an injury last year, and he's had some high pitch counts this year. Maybe we should be a little more gentle with him, or risk feeling the same pain as the Cubs are right now, with Prior and Wood both injured.

Today we have Tim Redding vs. Carl Pavano. This interests me because: 1) I'd like to see another solid start from Timmah and 2) Pavano is dating Alyssa Milano. Just thought you'd like to know.

Oh, new Astros blog added to my links: Throws_like_a_girl. It's awesome, and contains some awesome quotes, like how she doesn't like "oversimplified Moneyball dogma", which is the best phrase ever, and how she also wants to have 10 million of Wade Miller's children. AND she hates Jose Vizcaino. Check it out.

A win is a win is a win, and the Astros just beat the Braves 2-1 in a duel between Andy Pettitte and Russ Ortiz.

The Braves scored in the 4th when J.D. Drew and Johnny Estrada hit back-to-back 2 out doubles, but we got the run back in the 5th after Jeff Kent got a bad-bounce double, took 3rd on a groundout to SS (aggressive baserunning from probably the slowest runner on the team), and scored on a Brad Ausmus sac fly. Then with 2 outs in the 7th we scored after an Ensberg single, Ausmus walk, Vizcaino walk, and Palmeiro walk. Look at that again: 3 of the 5 worst hitters on the team (Everett, Chavez also) drawing walks!!! I love it. That was it - we won 2-1, as Miceli was solid in the 7th and 8th and Dotel dominated in the 9th.

We get a day off tomorrow, which will hopefully be enough to get Richard Hidalgo out of his funk. I wouldn't have thought he would ever slump after his hot start, but his swing his long, he's standing too far away from the plate, and he looks absolutely overmatched out there. Pick it up, Doggy.

The Astros have gone 2-1 since I posted last; Wade Miller dominated as we got the sweep of the Pirates, Tim Redding had his first good outing of the year against the Braves, and we lost a crazy, crazy game to the Braves, 5-4.

Our starting pitching was tough in all three games, but it's the last one I want to talk about.

Roy Oswalt is cruising along through 7 innings, we're up 3-1, and everything looks great. In the bottom of the 8th, Mark DeRosa singles, and Oswalt gets ahead of little Jesse Garcia 0-2. He throws one high and inside, Garcia ducks, and immediately starts trotting to 1st base. The home plate umpire starts walking towards first and throwing up his hands and looking confused. All of a sudden the 2nd base umpire comes over, they confer, and award Garcia 1st base. Replays were inconclusive as to whether it hit his helmet or not; I think it probably did.

BUT HOW THE HELL CAN THE 2ND BASE UMPIRE TELL??????

He's 120 feet away. The home plate umpire is 2 feet away. There is no friggin' way that the 2nd base umpire can make that call. No way. Ever.

Then a sac bunt, a 4-pitch walk to Betemit, a single to Adam LaRoche, and a bases-loaded walk to Chipper Jones. I think Roy probably should have been pulled after the HBP by Garcia. He was clearly pissed off, and couldn't find the strike zone. Gallo and Backe bailed us out of that inning, and then we got off to a hot start in the 9th: Ensberg triple, Viz RBI single, Berkman single. 1st and 3rd, 0 out. An insurance run would be great, right? Biggio K. Everett K. Bagwell weak groundout. The Braves tie it in the 9th off of Lidge with a bloop single to LF and a triple that hit off the chalk on the RF line. Garcia should have been out at 3rd, too, but Everett chose to not cut off Hidalgo's throw even though it was off-line. Then our bullpen got tough again, and didn't allow any runs. Then a frustrating inning in the 10th against ANTONIO ALFONSECA. Kent grounds out to 2nd because he is standing incredibly far away from home plate - he can't even reach the outside corner. Bagwell did the same thing against Smoltz. Are these guys suddenly afraid of getting hit? Why are they standing so far off the plate. Hidalgo's the same way - put a pitch anywhere near the outside half of the plate, and he can't drive it. He's standing too far off. These guys need to fix that, quick.

Then Ricky Stone comes on, strikes out Chipper and J.D. Drew, and gives up a HR to Andruw Jones on a good pitch, a sinker low and away to Jones went opposite field on.

Tough, tough loss. Can't really blame it on anyone but Oswalt - if he can't get DeRosa, Jesse Garcia, Wilson Betemit, and Adam LaRoche out with the game on the line, he doesn't deserve the win. He probably shouldn't have still been in there, though. And we've gotta get another run home in the 9th with 1st and 3rd, 0 out. Biggio and Everett just need to put the ball in play there.

Anyway, today is Pettitte vs. Russ Ortiz, who has been tough on us in the past.

Happy Mothers Day!

I went to another Astros game tonight, and watched in awe as Roger Clemens moved past Steve Carlton into 2nd place all-time in strikeouts. Oh, and the Astros won 6-2, as Jeff Kent, Morgan Ensberg, and 7 walks lead to some offense and Clemens + 9 straight outs from the bullpen kept the Pirates quiet. The only minor damper was Chad Harville came in to pitch the 7th but left after facing a batter due to a strained right quad. He's day to day. Even if he's hurt, we could call up Ricky Stone again...no big deal.

The 'Stros go for the sweep tomorrow: Wade Miller vs. Kris Benson.

I'll go the anti-stats route on today's impressions, since I was actually right there:

Adam Everett is TERRIFIC defensively. It's almost a shame we don't have many groundball pitchers on our staff (only Pettitte), because he's a vacuum cleaner out there. On the flip side, Jeff Kent is not good defensively, and looks slow and kinda bored.

Lance Berkman, for all his muscle and baby fat, has some of the quickest hands in baseball. You cannot throw an inside fastball by him. It cannot be done.

That's all. Oh, and I love going to baseball games. I've been to two and both times I've never made it to my official seat. You just wander around and pick Players of the Game and eat hot dogs and drink beer and I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Reds 7, Astros 5.

This was a troubling loss. Roy Oswalt wasn't sharp early; he said he felt like he was throwing a 'cue ball' most of the game, and we were down 2-0 early. Oswalt singled in a run in the 2nd to make it 2-1, and then the Astros had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs and Kent, Berkman, and Hidalgo due up. Foul out. Foul out. Fly out. 0 runs. Then Mike Lamb booted an inning-ending double play ball, Jacob Cruz followed with a double, and we were down 4-1. We get a run back after an error: 4-2. Then Raul Chavez doubles in two guys to tie it 4-4, and we pinch hit with...Orlando Palmeiro. Strikeout looking. Biggio doubles to right to take the lead 5-4, and everything looks great. Harville gets two outs, then walks a guy to bring up the only dangerous hitter on their team, Adam Dunn. Jimy (correctly) brings in Lidge, who strikes him out. In the next inning Lidge strikes out the first two batters he faces, bringing up Jacob Cruz. Walk. This brings up Javier Valentin, 3rd catcher for the Reds. He CRUSHES a 1-1 fastball down the middle of the plate. Home run. 6-5, Reds. Dotel gives up a solo shot to make it 7-5, and although Everett gets on bases leading off the 9th, Bagwell, Kent and Berkman all hit long fly ball outs to end the game.

Main annoyance: In a close game, neither Lane or Ensberg get any at-bats. Instead, Vizcaino and Palmeiro both go 0-for-1. Also, you've gotta get some runs with 2nd and 3rd and 0 out. Finally, Mike Lamb is not good in the field. He's a great pinch hitter, but should NOT start over Morgan Ensberg. Oh well...we'll get them next time.

Up next: 3 game series against Pittsburgh, starting today, with:

Andy Pettitte vs. Josh Fogg. I want to see the offense, especially Kent, Hidalgo, and Ensberg, get going. We're going at home against crummy Fogg.

The 'Stros have come back twice against the Reds in the last 2 games, winning both. I really don't know how we managed to win yesterday - I was playing in a tennis tournament, and I had to go play when we were down 4-0....then I come back and we're down 5-3...then I come back again and we WON! On a suicide squeeze by Brad Ausmus??? WOW. Hey, I'll take them how I can get them.

I'm actually going to the game tonight with my friend that I haven't seen in a while, so we're gonna watch as Roy Oswalt tears through the Reds lineup like Jason Barfield at a buffalo wing-eating contest. I CAN'T WAIT. Man, I love baseball.

Oh, and starting NOW, I'm going to start taking notes during every Astros game and posting them here, 'cause I gotta pick it up. Bi-weekly updates just aren't cutting it.

Talk to you guys soon!

The Astros have gone 2-1 since my last post, losing to the Pirates 4-2 (in an Oswalt - Fogg matchup!!??), winning 2-0 behind a combined 2-hitter from Pettitte and bullpen, and winning 6-1 behind Clemens and Lance Berkman.

The bullpen has really stepped it, especially The Alien Inhabiting Dan Miceli's Body. He's been insanely good, and better than he has his entire career, so he might regress a bit eventually, but Lidge and Dotel are awesome, and should remain so, as long as they're not overused.

Morgan Ensberg had a great night last night, going 2-for-4 with a single and a double (both of which he CRUSHED), and a deep fly ball to the warning track in RF. He's just about all the way back, and should become the starting 3B again. Mike Lamb has done a surprisingly good job filling in, but he's more valuabe off the bench as a LH bat and spot starter.

Tonight: Wade Miller vs. Aaron Harang.

A rainout yesterday delayed Tim Redding's start. Roy Oswalt will start today and Andy Pettitte (finally!) will make his 2nd start as an Astro on Thursday, with Redding available to serve in long relief for either (probably Pettitte's) start. This got me to thinking - Redding's got great stuff...I wonder if he'd be better suited as a reliever?

The answer: NO.

Well, at least from the numbers that I'm looking at. For pitches 1-15, Tim has a 6.99 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. For pitches 16-30, he's got a 6.29 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. From then on, he's solid, especially pitches 46-90.

Again, sample size issues, but generally speaking, it looks it takes Redding a little while to 'get into' a game and settle down. Maybe he needs to prepare better, maybe he should warm up in the bullpen a little more...but whatever it is, he struggles in his first 30 pitches of his average start.

Most of my friends (except this guy) are done with school in the next week or two, which means it's been A WHOLE YEAR since I graduated from Vanderbilt. Man, that year went by fast. But apparently I can't get enough education, since I sent in my contract as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ yesterday. I'll be taking Statistics courses and teaching entry-level College Algebra, well on my way to becoming a major-league GM. Stat-heavy major league GMs: Beane, Ricciardi, Epstein, DePodesta...Wade? Gimme a few years...

It's all tennis all the time this week, as I've got lessons, matches, and a tournament this weekend. So if I'm not here, I'm probably at the WAC, teaching/playing/sleeping.

We need this series against the Pirates, especially with the way the Cubs have been playing without Prior. Well, at least until they ran into the buzzsaw that is the Arizona Diamondbacks. Thanks, Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb, for holding the Cubs to 1 run in their last 18 innings.

Tough losses for two Houston teams last night, as the Astros wasted a great pitching performance by Wade Miller in losing to the Rockies 4-1, and the Rockets let a 4 point lead slip away in OT against the Lakers.

The Astros just couldn't get much going against Joe Kennedy, a control lefty who was less than impressive as the Devil Rays' #1 starter last year. So of course he comes to Colorado and starts...dominating?? I don't think so. We just didn't have it yesterday, and there was a HUGE strike zone in effect (for both pitchers, to be fair.) Morgan Ensberg hit the ball hard 3 times; he missed a HR to right field by about 10 feet, then lined out sharply to RF with 2 runners on, then lined out to LF. He's coming around. Miller looked pretty darn good, throwing an easy 93-94 on the corners with an occasional NASTY curveball that breaks really, really hard. The only runs he gave up came on some cheap end-of-the-bat singles by Castilla and Burnitz and a solo HR by Mark Sweeney. Then Brad Lidge came on, gave up 2 runs, but Brandon Backe pitched well to not allow any more, but our offense just couldn't do anything today.

Ken Rosenthal's latest article mentions the Astros in several places. First:

"Astros 1B Jeff Bagwell can barely throw because of the condition of his right shoulder, leaving him vulnerable to bunts and to baserunners who invite pickoff throws and then take off for second, forcing Bagwell to handle the ball. Astros 2B Jeff Kent, meanwhile, is "worse than I've ever seen him defensively, no question," according to one scout. "He's never been great, but his reactions, his range . . . he's very unsure of himself."

I'm going to have to agree with both of these points. Bagwell really can't throw at all, and it's eventually going to cost us runs. Kent has never been good defensively, but he has looked truly scared out there a few times this year, like he doesn't know what he's doing. He's gotta get going, both offensively and defensively.

Second:

"The Astros can't count on help from Class AAA LHP Carlos Hernandez, who is recovering from shoulder surgery. "He's a shell of what he once was, throwing 82-86 mph," a scout says. "He's not ready at all." The same scout raves about Class AAA Taylor Buchholz, whom the Astros acquired in the Billy Wagner trade. "He could definitely contribute this year if somebody went down," the scout says. "He's like a big-league guy in waiting."

From everything I've heard about Hernandez, this is true. His velocity IS way down. And I don't know exactly how you re-learn an extra 5-10 mph on your fastball. He may not ever be the same pitcher he was. I'm glad this guy likes Bucholz, but some other guys (Chad Qualls, DJ Houlton, Ezequiel Astacio) have put up even better numbers in the minors so far this year. On the flip side, we have very few good position prospects. Todd Self, a 1B at AA Round Rock, has been going crazy, hitting 381/512/571 with 18 walks and 8 extra base hits in 63 AB. John Buck, C, has been solid offensively (321/379/453 in a pitcher's park) but has made 6 errors in 16 games, and Chris Burke, 2B, is cut from the Adam Everett mold - good defense, no power whatsoever. I'm all for youth, but an offense of

Buck
Bagwell
Burke
Everett
Ensberg
Lane
CF
Berkman

is asking for trouble next year. I really think we've gotta go for it all this year.

Oh, and the Red Sox SWEPT the Yankees at home. I love it.

The Astros have won the first 2 games at Coors Field, 13-7 and 8-5.

I'll just give you a bunch of my impressions:

Brandon Duckworth could eventually be a decent major league pitcher, but it will NOT be in Coors Field (and, unfortunately, probably not Minute Maid Park either). He simply gives up too many fly balls, a fair amount of which turn into the home run variety. I could see him being an effective starting pitcher in Dodger Stadium or Safeco Field or Pac Bell Park, though.

Craig Biggio is locked in. His lack of a high leg kick really stops him from pulling off the ball, resulting in tons of line drives to LF. He looks quick, healthy, and happy. (Unfortunately, he'll never be an average defensive CF.)

Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman, although neither is hitting with consistent power, have unbelievable batting eyes. I just don't see either one of them having an extended slump - they simply do not chase bad pitches.

Richard Hidalgo crushes the ball often, but sometimes appears TOO patient. He'll let perfect pitches go by too often.

Similarly, Morgan Ensberg looks a little too patient. One of the main benefits of good patience at the plate is not only to draw walks but to force the pitcher to make a pitch that you can drive. Ensberg does that, and often lets the pitch go by.

Jim DeShaies, Astros play-by-play-man, today: "There have been statistical studies done that suggest that 'protection' in a lineup really doesn't exist." WELL DONE! This is absolutely right. You would think that if you've got Barry Bonds hitting behind you instead of Brad Ausmus, you'll see better pitches, but in reality, this rarely comes into play. Lineup protection is largely a myth.

Lidge and Dotel are pitching about as well as they can right now. This means: DO NOT OVERWORK THEM, JIMY. Save them for when you need them.

Chad Harville is wild. We can't demote him, and if we release him we admit we traded Saarloos for basically nothing, so he needs to learn some control, and fast.

If you can't hit in Coors, you can't hit anywhere. Jose Vizcaino and Brad Ausmus will both post sub-650 OPS this year, and probably use up 700 plate appearances doing so.

WHY IS ORLANDO PALMEIRO THE 4TH OUTFIELDER INSTEAD OF JASON LANE???

C.B. Buckner is a terrible, inconsistent umpire.

Ok, enough random Astros tidbits.
It's been a good few games for the Astros, all in all, and it's been a good weekend for me, as I found out I got into U. of Hawaii for grad school, even though I'm probably not going to go there. Still, it's nice to get accepted.

I'm really frustrated now.

Brad Ausmus went to Dartmouth. He's a smart guy, a nice guy, and I bet if I met at Kroger I would like him.

But if he can't even get a throw to 2nd base on a pitch out, why is he on the team? Why is he in the major leagues?

Oh, right, to ground into game-ending double plays.

It's not fair to put all the blame on Ausmus. The entire offense was pretty bad tonight. It was one of those make-an-average-pitcher-look-dominant nights that the offense seems to have a little too often.

Roy Oswalt is currently the best pitcher in baseball.
Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel both looked awesome.

But our defense sucks, Morgan Ensberg looks like someone is using him as a hand puppet at the plate, we're swinging at everything...

And we have the worst catcher in baseball.

Why, oh why, do so many people want tennis lessons all of a sudden? Is it the emergence of Andy Roddick, the guy with a 150mph serve and a shoulder that can't last that much longer? Could it be the eventual decline of Zen Master Andre Agassi, who is saving himself for one last hurrah? Or perhaps Anna Kournikova might still win that elusive singles title?

Anyway, quit bugging me so much about tennis lessons.

So I promised to do a little story about a friend of a friend who's a great prospect for the Braves.

The friend is Derek, and the friend of a friend is Jeff Francoeur:

Says Baseball Prospectus:

2003: "Selected by the Braves with 23rd overall pick in 2002, Francoeur got a $2.2 million bonus, the biggest the Braves had ever given. He then went to the Appalachian League and tore it up, inspiring comparisons to Dale Murphy. We'll have to see more before we'll sign on to something like that, but he hasn't yet ruled it out."

2004: "Francoeur didn't overwhelm the league in his full-season debut at Rome, but for a guy who played mostly football in high school, it was an impressive start. His power and wheels are for real, and the scouting reports on his defesns are better than the DTs would suggest. He'll need to learn how to handle breaking pitches, and improve his approach at the plate in general, but he's got time. According to David Camerson, who studies these things extensively, Francoeur also has the hottest girlfriend in the entire minor leauges."

Derek could probably tell you more about this guy, but from what I remember, he's just a natural athlete. I think he played...cornerback? safety? in high school. Maybe Derek will correct me on that. But yeah, he's gonna be good. And he's 20 years old.

The Astros lost 5-3 last night; Miller only gave up 5 hits and a walk in 6 innings, but 2 HR's. Lance Berkman had all 3 RBIs but Hidalgo and Ensberg went a combined 0-for-7 and a late double switch by Jimy backfired as Jose Vizcaino booted a grounder to 3B which led to 2 runs.

Tonight: Tim Redding vs. Matt Morris

Tim needs a solid start. To his credit, he hasn't looked frustrated or angry yet this year, despite some defensive lapses behind him. There have been whispers of arm trouble surrounding Morris, and his velocity is down. We should do some damage.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and convince my brother to write up a little summary of his latest ultimate frisbee tournament, because it's incredible.

Jack's back. A lot happened while I was at a wedding (my first ever) in Florida - the Astros won the last 3 games of their series against the Brewers, with Roy and Roger dominating and the offense going crazy for one game. And we traded college pitcher and minor league pitcher extraordinaire Kirk Saarloos to the Oakland A's for Chad Harville.

Unfortunately for both Kirk and the Astros, it seemed like this was inevitable. I think people have forgotten how good this guy was in the minors:

18-3, 190 IP, 175 K, 41 BB, 7 HR, 1.99 ERA.

That is simply awesome. He hasn't been great in the majors, but he hasn't been painfully bad, either, and I can't see why a 25 year old with those minor league career stats can't eventually be a succesful major league pitcher.

As for Harville, Andy reminded me that we had seen him in the bullpen on our road trip, but I still don't remember him, so I'm going to have to break out the old copies of Baseball Prospectus Annuals. Here's what they have to say about Harville:

2002: He's a small right-hander who can flat-out bring heat...often called a right-handed Billy Wagner, but that's overstating the case...has the stuff to be a closer in the bigs.

2003: Once called "The Right-Handed Billy Wagner" because of his diminutive stature and vicious fastball, Harville's been struggling with injuries and mechanics.

2004: The whole right-handed Billy Wagner thing just hasn't worked out...He still throws very hard, but didn't look completely comfortable with his improving curveball...he's still a reasonable bet to be a good pitcher in some role.

GM Gerry Hunsicker also said today in the paper that the team had considered drafting Harville in 1997 in the 1st round, but went with Lance Berkman instead (good choice!). I think maybe this is a case of seeing a guy as you would like to see him - yep, he was dominant in college, and occasionally great in the minors, but Harville has struggled in the majors. Sound like anyone? Although Harville and Saarloos pitch nothing alike (Harville brings the heat, Saarloos can't throw over 85mph), they've both had success at the collegiate/minor league level, but it hasn't translated well to the bigs. Harville has had more injury trouble, and is older than Saarloos (27 to 25). All in all, I gotta give this trade a thumbs up...for the A's. They were getting ready to have to drop Harville because they had a full 25-man roster and he had refused demotion. Saarloos could definitely be a solid back-of-the-rotation starter for the A's for a few years - maybe he was rushed to the majors, or maybe he just needs to be put in a role and left there for a whole year instead of being jerked around. Either way, although this trade might help us this year, I don't like it long-term. I think we could have gotten more (say, a C or OF prospect?) for Saarloos. Harville has immediately been placed on the 25-man roster, with Eric Bruntlett sent down to make room. Andy Pettitte's just about back from the DL, which means we have to send someone down to AAA. I'd recommend Duckworth, because I still think he fits in better as a future starter - he gives up a few too many HRs for a reliever. Put him in AAA for a year and maybe he'll make a great #5 starter next year. That would leave us with Dotel/Lidge/Miceli/Harville/Stone/Gallo/Backe, which I like. No spot-starter/long-relief guy, but with 7 relievers, I think it's all right. Just don't use Harville or Lidge for too long - both those guys have injury history.

Anyway, back to the team on the field. We're looking really good. Our offense can't keep this up, obviously, but if Biggio continues to drive the ball (10 extra-base hits!), Bagwell and Berkman keep drawing walks, Hidalgo keeps ripping up, and Ensberg finally gets it going (which he will - he's done it at every level, over time), we should have ourselves a very solid offense. Ausmus and Everett will almost certainly regress, but that's to be expected. Our bench has actually looked ok, at least from the Lane and Palmeiro point of view. Raul Chavez isn't going to hurt anybody, Mike Lamb is a butcher in the field but has some pop, and Jose Vizcaino is batting .077 / .143 / .154 with 3 K's in 11 AB's. Can't win 'em all...

Tonight: Wade Miller vs. Jeff Suppan.

Watch for a 'hangover' from Miller after throwing 121 pitches last start.

Tomorrow: An article about a friend of a friend who might just be the next great Braves outfielder.

Sorry for the delay, but a certain someone has been down in Florida at a wedding instead of up in Chicago visiting his little brother.

The big news from the weekend: Astros take 3 of 4 from the Brew Crew, with Oswalt and Clemens leading the charge with tremendous outings. Last night, Clemens threw 7 amazing innings (although he did give up his first run of the year) and even got his second career RBI.

The even bigger news of the weekend came courtesy of the Oakland Athletics: The Stros acquired fireballer Chad Harville for crafty control expert Kirk Saarloos. I'll leave the in-depth analysis to Jack, but I think this could be a huge trade for us right now.

Yes, Saarloos could end up being a terrific starting pitcher in a few years, but both the Astros and I ran out of patience for him. He's been in and out of the majors for 3 years now, and he has yet to impress. And he really hasn't looked good so far this Spring.

Jack and I saw Chad Harville during our baseball road trip through California last summer. I can't say he was incredible (in fact, I can't remember how he did), but I remember how excited everyone was to see him. Jack pointed him out to me when he started throwing in the bullpen, and said he was a tremendous prospect.

His numbers aren't great from last year, but I've heard good things about him. Plus he's got a new change-up to compliment his 95 mph fastball, his curve and his slider. I can definitely see him joining LIdge and Dotel as this year's big three. And I like how we got him on the 25-man roster immediately. Shows confidence in the man. Let's just hope his injuries are behind him.

Eric Bruntlett was sent down to make room, and he deserved it. When you aren't any better than Jose Vizcaino, there's something wrong.

Oh yeah, somehow we missed the move, but Jared Fernandez was sent down last Tuesday for Mike Gallo, who becomes our only lefty pitcher (until Pettitte comes back, that is). Sure, Jared has sorta sucked this year, but I don't think one bad outing should condemn his entire season. I hope we see Jared again real soon. Then again, Gallo got the job done last year and should be a good option.

Next up: a day off Monday to get fired up for our second series against the Redbirds in as many weeks. Last time we swept, outscoring the Cardinals 26-9. The matchups:

Miller v Suppan
Redding v Carpenter
Oswalt v Morris

Get pumped.

Oswalt's line: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 10 K.

Damn good. And only 94 pitches! More importantly, he figured out how to get Junior Spivey out. That guy was owning us.

The offense was stagnant at times. We compiled 8 hits and 5 walks but could only manage 2 runs.

I hear Duckworth is starting tomorrow. He's been pitching better each outing, so maybe he can show his stuff here against a gritty but not overwhelming Brewers club.

I'm off to Purdue in the first stage of the spring college ultimate series. Illinois is going down.

What impressed me most from today's 10-5 win over St. Louis was our bullpen. Fernandez's knuckler just wasn't knuckling, and Jimy had to pull him after serving up 4 runs and only recording one out (which reminds me of a late season start by Mr. Robertson). Duckworth calmed the Cardinals' bats, and though he wasn't at all dominant, he was able to finesse his way through the fourth.

I can't figure out Duckworth. When I first heard about the Wagner trade, I thought Brandon was the prize jewel. After researching his stats, Jack discovered that he dominated when he was allowed to start. His ERA was about 2 runs higher out of the bullpen than as a starter. Obviously, there was little room for him to start for the Astros, but I kept hoping he'd fit into a long-relief-slash-spot-starter role.

Both Jack and I have been amazed at his drop in velocity this Spring. I was under the impression he could throw in the mid- to upper-90's. And his 167 K's in 163.0 IP back in 2002 as a starter for the Phils meant he is capable of good stuff. But he hasn't been reaching 90 in most of his fastballs, and until tonight, he really hadn't had good command of his off-speed pitches.

Miceli is another mystery to me. I can't figure out why in the world we have him in the first place. He's never had good numbers, and he's never been able to stick with a team. Yet he pitched well for us down the stretch last year, and has been decent so far this year. He gave us a couple solid innings tonight, but I'm still reluctant to use him in games when we need to hold onto the lead.

Ricky Stone, meanwhile, looked awesome tonight. He worked a near-perfect 7th, giving up a hit on what should have been ruled an error by Ensberg. Stone had great control tonight, and I think he really has the experience to become a terrific finesse pitcher. Think Rheal Cormier. Or Brendan Donnelly. He's not gonna blow you away, but can paint every edge and change speeds on you. I think he should be the leading candidate to claim the seventh inning before Lidge and Dotel.

Speaking of whom, the firemen were lights out again tonight. Lidge was perfect, and Dotel fought some control issues but was able to close the door.

Is it just me, or do Biggio and Everett seem a lot more aggressive on the basepaths? Biggio stretched a single to short right-center into a double (with blinding speed!) and Everett stole his second base. Those two could wreak some havoc on the basepaths (maybe Bidge can teach AE a thing or two about running?). Everett is growing on me.

Also, Bags looked bad tonight. And I'm not talking about his batting (he went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run). Edmonds hit a sharp single to right with runners on second and third in the second inning. Marlon Anderson scored easily, and Pujols held at third. Bags cut off the throw and had Edmonds caught in a rundown after he rounded first a bit too much. Bags ran after him towards second, but stopped to throw home. Pujols baited the throw by taking off toward home, but returned to third easily since Bags' throw was a loopy floater. Luckily Duckworth worked out of the jam by walking Renteria, but it still looked bad.

When are we going to see the cool trick Bagwell and Hidalgo have been working on? The one where Bags goes back for the pop-up, catches it and flips it to Hidalgo who rifles it to third or home? I've heard so much about it, but I have yet to see it.

Biggio looks good with no leg kick. I saw his new stance in Milwaukee, and he looks a lot more comfortable — especially against breaking balls.

Is Jason Lane an especially good defensive CF? So why is Jimy putting him in for defense but still refuses to let him bat? Today's scenario: Top 8th. Up by two. Bases loaded. One out. Pitcher's spot up. What's the easy call? Get a slugger up there who, if nothing else, can loft a sac fly! Jimy's decision: Jose Vizcaino. Batting right-handed. Viz lifts a weak pop out to shallow right. No insurance run. Good thing Biggio was up next. (Actually, good thing Ray Lankford got hurt. Marlon Anderson had a total of 29 innings at LF in his career, and a decent outfielder would have caught the third out. Anderson dropped Biggio's liner for a 3-run double.)

Tomorrow: Rocket vs. Jeff Suppan.