The Astros through Two Spring games: What (if anything) to take away from their performances
by Evan Hochschild on Feb 26, 2009 4:29 PM CST
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PrintAll right, all right. So it may be too early to get a read on much of anything from the Astros so far, but I couldn't resist. Here are some things that I've taken away from the first two spring training games:
The Good:
- Roy Oswalt, Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton and Brandon Backe all pitched well. Oswalt gave up a 2 run homer to David Ross today, but that was in between collecting four strikeouts in 3 innings of work. Hampton avoided some early mistakes to pitch scoreless ball.
- Chris Johnson has gone 3/4 in two games with a home run and a double. He has played errorless ball at third base, displaying a great arm. Hopefully it can stay as accurate as it looked, since that has been a small knock on him in the minors
- No Astro pitchers that seem to have a legitimate chance to make the team this season have given up any earned runs
- Cecil Cooper has said that he is going to give youngsters like Johnson, Brian Bogusevic and Drew Sutton a real chance this spring to show that they got. Sutton will even be given opportunities at shortstop.
Now, the bad:
- Edwin Maysonet had an error in today's game on an easy grounder to short. He's in a battle with a handful of guys to make the major league roster. When you know there are veterans breathing down your neck, as well as two other talented prospects (Sutton and Manzella) who are choices as well, it's best not to goof up on the kind of ground balls that are hit to you in batting practice
- Sergio Perez wasn't able to record an out today in giving up a five run lead to the Braves. After pitching fairly well this fall in Arizona, it's a small step backwards in this player's development
- With the emergence (I don't even know if you can call it that, but oh well) of Chris Johnson, it seems like his path to the majors will be blocked, not by anyone special but by a Geoff Blum/Aaron Boone platoon. Nobody projects him as being ready just yet, but it would be tempting to see what he could do. Yes, we saw last year what bringing up a player too early can do to his confidence (JR Towles), but their situations while similar, are not exactly identical.
Regardless, I'm just glad to see the Astros play...even if it was in losing fashion.
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if nothing else
having a nice spring will give Johnson some confidence going to Round Rock, where he wasn’t able to maintain his AA numbers last summer. If he’s lighting it up in AAA, that’ll put a lot of pressure on Boone, who I don’t think the Astros are going to lose any sleep over cutting or trading (wait… why are you laughing?) and is only signed for 2009 at $750k. as much as fans may groan and clamor on local talk radio, i don’t think Johnson has much of a shot to make the club on opening day, but it’d be nice to validate him as a legit prospect, ready to take the reigns later in the season or in 2010. who knows, though? they paid Woody Williams a lot of money to sit at home and watch on TV, so maybe if Boone looks washed up, they just eat that $750k and let him walk (Blum I think wouldbe much more secure, since he’s so much more versatile and is a switch hitter). i highly doubt it, though.
of course, we’ve only seen the first two of a long 38-game spring training season, which will give everybody plenty of opportunities to play themselves into and out of our good graces. hopefully Perez bounces back. it’d be nice for him to develop into a realistic pitching prospect. he’s a guy that seemed to have a decent future ahead of him.
Agreed
I think Johnson is just playing to make Boone expendable and I don’t think management will have a hard time designating him for assignment or cutting him, but I don’t know that trading exists as a possibility.
I think we have a win-win situation on our hands. Johnson is either going to play himself into a position on the big league club, meaning we’d get positive contribution form our farm system, or Boone will play well enough to block him. Either way the big league team is performing well enough.
Of course Johnson and Boone could both choke, at which point we’d all just have to enter an interminable depression from April to September.
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by Stephen Higdon on Feb 26, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions
Of course Johnson and Boone could both choke, at which point we’d all just have to enter an interminable depression from April to September.
I hate to say it, but bad baseball is still baseball. And as painful as this offseason has been, I don’t need to extend the next one by six extra months. Go Astros!
as usual, I agree with littlevisigoth...
I think it’s doubtful that Johnson can make the club out of spring training. The main reason is that Johnson played poorly at Round Rock, and I think the Astros probably want him to repeat that step and show that he can succeed at that level. Also, if he made the club, he would probably be cast into a platoon role, and I think the Astros would want him to start the season as a starter somewhere. This is just a tiny sample, but I’m pleasantly surprised by Chris Johnson, and it gives me a glimmer of hope that he might hit so well in Round Rock that the Astros would call him up in June or so.
What do I take away....
Well we said the astros are a .500 team, and here they are .500 already. :)
by clack on Feb 26, 2009 7:24 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
YESSSS
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by Stephen Higdon on Feb 26, 2009 8:04 PM CST up reply actions
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