Series Preview: Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates
by Evan Hochschild on May 29, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
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PrintI try not to write posts that annoy me, but sometimes I just can't help it. The Astros are in last place in the NL Central, and I. Don't. Like. It. I fully expect the world to stop spinning on its' axis, and for the birds to start swimming in the ocean and for the fish to start flapping their fins to take flight.
Safe to say, the world of major league baseball is topsy turvy as of now. Remember the old legend that when the British army was defeated by American and French forces at the battle of Yorktown, the British bands fittingly played The World Turned Upside Down? Well, the British probably didn't play that song, but the theme still holds for our purposes. Astros down, Pirates up. I guess I may have to get used to this idea...that is unless the Astros actually win this series.
That is a proposition that has proved difficult as of late, and currently the Pirates are playing decently/ok/fine/adequate baseball. Previously all average, no pop second baseman Freddy Sanchez is hitting doubles like they're going out of style. Promising youngster Andy LaRoche has turned it on recently on the hot corner. His wOBA is an extremely respectable .352, but BABIP beware.
Nate McLouth won a somewhat controversial glove glove award last season, and isn't doing all that much to prove himself a great center-fielder this season either. Nyjer Morgan though, has been getting on base and playing terrific defense.
Pitching wise, a rotation's worth of starters- Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf and Ian Snell are pitching above their heads by quite a bit. No one in their starting rotation has a great K rate, but they have limited their walks somewhat as a staff.
In the 'pen, closer Matt Capps is out indefinitely after taking a comebacker off his elbow. He hasn't been all that effective this season though, so the Astros may not actually be better off after all. Like their starting pitchers, Pittsburgh doesn't boast a relief corps that will overwhelm an offense with power.
Pirates Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: Ross Ohlendorf (vs. Brian Moehler)
Saturday: Jeff Karstens (vs. Mike Hampton)
Sunday: Paul Maholm (vs. Wandy Rodriguez)
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Pirates aren't bad
You’re getting the best part of the rotation, although they can all put up decent performances. Maholm looked pretty good early, but not so much lately. I saw his last game at Wrigley and he looked borderline bad. The bullpen doesn’t have any outstanding pitchers that I can think of. I’d be mildly surprised if Capps is available.
The offense is persistent. No black holes in the lineup and they can put up some runs. Nyjer Morgan is Juan Pierre redux. Freddy Sanchez had a bum shoulder last year, but looks much better.
They play some good defense too. The middle infield can produce highlight worthy plays. The outfield despite what UZR claims is quite good. The big weakness is Nyjer’s arm.
Maholm is normally tough on the Astros...
even when he has had bad seasons. Sanchez is also normally pretty tough on the Astros…and Adam LaRoche was an Astros’ killer as a Braves player…perhaps not so much as a Pirate.
Astros should win against against a last place team,
or should I say a last place team if the Astros weren’t in last place.
I still shake my head on why Astros are not winning. Several individual batters have very good batting averages. Astros get runners on base but cannnot score. Is there a statistic on the percentage of a team’s baserunners who score?? If so I bet Astros would be near the bottom of the league on it.
Pitching is woeful. Astros allow way too many runs. I believe the Astos have allowed around 50 more runs than have the Cardinals. A healthy, effective Jose Valverde may help. Maybe even sign a healthy (if he can pitch) Ben Sheets next week. Something.
Meanwhile, I keep my fingers crossed the Astros can turn it around in Pittsburgh.
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on May 29, 2009 10:09 AM CDT reply actions
The Astros' pitching is full of "pitch to contact" guys, which is highly dependent on the defense.
And the Astros’ defense has been lagging lately. Tejada’s defense has dropped off the table, and that is the most important infield defensive position. Berkman’s defense isn’t as good as last year. Matsui and Blum have been fine, defensively, but their offensive slumps may keep them out of the lineup more. The Astros’ outfield defense is pretty good in CF and RF, though. I think the slumping of the Astros’ infield defense has made the pitching staff look worse than it is. The defense I am most concerned about is Tejada. However, based on last year, we know he is capable of fielding better.
The Astros are near the bottom of hitting with RISP and RISP w/2out. They were pretty good at this last year. If you buy into the notion that clutch hitting is mostly luck, then perhaps the Astros are just having some bad luck on that front.
Do the pitchers miss Brad Ausmus?
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on May 29, 2009 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions
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3 game series vs Rockies @ Minute Maid Park
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Friday, Apr 6, 2012, 6:05 PM CDT |
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| Sat 04/07 | 6:05 PM CDT | |
| Sun 04/08 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
(updated 2.16.2012 at 12:05 AM CST)
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