The Diamondbacks, and Bellaire alum Chris Young, are coming in to take on the Astros this weekend. The young CF hasn't met expectations yet, but he is a member of a group of Houston area products that have gone on to become starters for a major league club.
Not to be overly critical of the Astros' scouts, but it is pretty odd that there have been quite a few talented young players right under their noses that for one reason or another were taken by other teams. Here's a list that I came up with. If anyone has more names to add, or if someone went to school with/played with/or has stories about these guys, feel free to comment.
Chris Young, OF Arizona Diamondbacks (Bellaire HS)
James Loney, 1B Los Angeles Dodgers (Elkins HS)
Jay Bruce, OF Cincinnati Reds (West Brook HS)
Carl Crawford, OF Tampa Bay Rays (Jefferson Davis HS)
David Murphy, OF Texas Rangers (Klein HS)
Michael Bourn, OF Houston Astros (Nimitz HS)
Adam Dunn, OF Arizona Diamondbacks (New Caney HS)
Gary Majewski, P Cincinnati Reds (St. Pius X HS)
Paul Janish, SS Cincinnati Reds (Cypress Creek HS)
Josh Beckett, SP Boston Red Sox (Spring HS)
Scott Kazmir, SP Tampa Bay Rays (Cypress Falls HS)
Woody Williams (he still counts), SP (Cypress Fair HS)
Jose Cruz, Jr., OF (Bellaire HS)
I'm sure there are more guys out there from Houston, but this list was made off the top of my head. Perhaps Stephen (who is a Kingwood HS alum) knows a few guys who are in the majors from his neck of the woods. Cities in California can probably boast more than Houston, but for a state that's as football-crazed as Texas, that list is not too shabby.---------------------------------------------------------
This eight game winning streak has been nice, without a doubt. Now, some real tests begin. The Diamondbacks have the same record as the Astros, but I think I'd be foolish to say that we as good a team as Arizona. Their Runs Scored vs. Runs Allowed differential is +23. The Astros is -21. Their team ERA is 3.94, the Astros' stands at 4.48. Source: espn.com. These are two of the more important indicators for a team's chances of playing winning baseball. However, we must only look to the 2007 Diamondbacks to see that this doesn't always spell disaster. That squad, which won 90 games and the NL West, had a -20 Run Differential, which meant that they should have been a team that won only 79 games. Source: Baseball-Reference.com. Offensively, they were dead last in the NL with a team OBP of .321. This year, the Astros aren't doing much better, getting on base at a .326 clip, but it is enough to be ranked 7th in the league. So, while the odds are definitely not on the Astros' side, it isn't entirely out of the realm of possibilites that this team could compete into October.