Houston Astros : 45 Games Complete

With 45 games in the past, I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the way the season is going... especially after seeing how badly the season started off. The Astros currently sit in 3rd place in the NL Central with a 25 and 20 record, just 2.5 games behind the 1st place Cubs. Guess who's coming into town for 3 games starting on Monday? The Cubs!!! Unfortunately the Cubs are on a little hot streak and enter Monday's game with the Astros with a 8-2 record over their last 10 games. No worries though; I have faith that we can take a 3 game series from them.

I can't remember exactly how the saying goes, but someone smarter than me once said that the key to having a productive season is to win most of your games at home and to play .500 ball on the road... Well that's exactly what the Astros have done so far over the season, winning 11 of 17 games at home and 14 of 28 on the road.

What's the deal with Michael Bourn all of a sudden... after stealing 18 bases in a row without being caught, he has now been caught 3 times in a row!!! If he can't hit, can't get on base, and can't steal bases... WHY IS HE PLAYING!!!! I know I'm being over the top and actually just echoing the sentiments of some of the people on the blog... but Bourn really needs to show some improvement.. but then again, maybe he has started showing a little... He is 4-12 in his last 3 games which is pretty good... then again, he went 0-17 in the 4 games before that. Cooper just moved him back to the lead off spot for today's game because he said that Bourn swung the bat well over the last couple of games.... well maybe that's because he's more comfortable batting 8th!! Bourn's OBP is .297 on the season which is at least .50 lower than any decent lead off hitter is... meanwhile, Erstad is sitting on the bench with a .313 avg. I understand that the Astros need to see what Bourn can do... but I also understand that he has done little to nothing to help the team offensively this season... and that bothers me.

Lance Berkman... It's nice to end any conversation about the Astros with Lance Berkman... it just makes me happy. Lance Berkman is having a "decent" May... Decent as in a .625 OBP, 1.065 SLG and .565 AVG to go along with 8 home runs, 19 RBI's and 4 stolen bases! Heck, Bourn only has 5 stolen bases this month! I filtered all major league players to just show the month of May, and this is how Berkman stands.

**note, these stats are through 5/17/08, so you may see some differences with the numbers above. Also, these only include players with 50 plate appearances**

• 1st in BA at .579, next closest is Clint Barmes at .435
• 1st in OBP at .642, next closest is Chippers Jones at .508
• 1st in OPS at 1.765, next is Dan Uggla at 1.566
• T-2nd in HR at 8, Dan Uggla is 1st with 9
• 2nd in RBI at 19, Soriano leads with 20
• 1st in runs scored at 21, Dan Uggla is 2nd with 20
• T-4th in doubles at 7, Brian McCann leads with 9
• 1st in TB at 64, Soriano is 2nd with 56
• T-1st in extra base hits at 15 with Uggla