So I'm back from my twelve state tour of the US which concluded in New York and a chance meeting with Nate Silver!! As fun as it was, I'm glad to be back and bring you this to start your week:
- Hunter Pence is a featured player profile in this week's installment of Prospectus Idol. It's nothing anyone here hasn't said or realized before, but still a nice refresher or a bit of the history of Hunter Pence for the first half.
- The Unofficlal Scorer wonders if the Astros are setting Brandon Backe up for failure by using him as a reliever. He makes a good point, but it begs the question: Why would we set Backe up to fail for us?
- JJO brings us some insider info on all of the following: Ivan Rodriguez is oh so close to his record, Carlos Lee is ok and should DH on Tuesday, Geoff Blum may get DLed when Kaz Matsui returns, Chris Sampson may have dead arm, and Coop is angry.
- The Hardball Times discusses whether Coop gets fired on the next losing streak and who might replace him...interesting, but I'm not sure I buy much of it.
- Hit/fx continues to turn heads (nerdy heads) with pretty graphs.
- Former Astro Taylor Bucholz is slated to have Tommy John surgery.