Here's a little breakdown of the who was who during the spring. (offensively)
Best Hitter
Hunter Pence - by a long shot. pence batted .571 for the spring which was obviously a team best. He was second on the team in total bases (30), second on the team in hits (16), tied first on the team in doubles (4) and tied first on the team in triples (2). And now he is sitting in Triple A doing nothing for the big club. I would be very surprised if he wasn't back with the big club some time this year.
Best Power
Jason Lane - 5 home runs and 34 total bses, both tops on the team. These power numbers are the only thing that saved him from being in the minors this season to start off. Jason only batted .254, but when he did hit the ball, he hit it hard and produced good numbers and drove in runs.. a lot of runs (13).
Worst Hitter
Adam Everett - A .133 average just isn't going to cut it. I'm amazed he got as many RBI's as he did this spring (8). If he continues this weak hitting into the season, he won't give the Astros a choice at who to play at short, and it won't be Adam. We can get by w/him as a .230's hitter, but a .130's hitter is useless. If this continues, look for him to start being used as a late innings replacement for Mark Loretta.
Most Surprising
Chris Burke - I wasn't expecting him to hit .191 over the spring. I expected him to have a decent spring after being given the job in center before spring training started. I figured that would do a lot for his confidence level and also help him produce in the batters box. I'm pulling for Chris; I hope he's starting in center the whole year. But he didn't do himself much of a favor the way he played this spring.[note : I would have probably picked Pence, but picking him multiple times is just boring]
Opening Day Lineup
1. Craig Biggio - 2B
2. Morgan Ensberg - 3B
3. Lance Berkman - 1B
4. Carlos Lee - LF
5. Luke Scott - RF
6. Chris Burke - CF
7. Adam Everett - SS
8. Brad Ausmus - C
9. Roy Oswalt - P
Astros Rotation
1. Roy Oswalt
2. Jason Jennings
3. Woody Williams
4. Wandy Rodriguez
5. Chris Sampson
If I had to guess.. I'd say this will be the best offensive team the Astros have had in ages. I would say this team will probably be better than the Bagwell/Berkman/Kent days. Hopefully I'm not just grasping at straws when I say this either. I'm really.. really excited to see the opening day game and just overall ready for some meaningful baseball. The thought of seeing Morgan of 2 seasons ago followed by Berkman, Lee and Luke (of last season) makes me salivate. The baseball off-season is entirely too long. Let the games begin!
One last thing - it was really sad to see Bear go back down to the minors... I really like the guy and if he didn't get a chance to play for the Astros this season, I was hoping he would at least get picked up by another team. Hopefully he'll get a chance to play on a big league roster. I really think with a chance, he could be a productive big leaguer... but unfortunately for him, the Astros already had another sure handed, weak hitting short stop.
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