Tuesday Morning Astros, etc. Round Up

• Bourn on Bourn (there's a lot more to read besides this in the link, so you should click it...like the Coop comment on Bourn being the team's MVP and some player reaction):

"I still feel like I'm a little raw and will be for a couple of years," Bourn said. "I have to do the best with the talent I think I have. I knew I could do it, and it's just learning how to do it from the people that are around me right now."

• Dave Cameron, of FanGraphs, asks the question: "What did we learn from Week 11?" One of the answers is this:

Wandy Rodriguez’s regression has come swiftly.

I knew that Wandy's HR/FB rate was due for a regression, and I knew that he'd be giving up home runs like crazy, as of late, but to see the raw percentages...mind boggling.


• JJO checks in on Bud Norris, praises Burt Hooten, and then gives us this juicy, juicy tid bit right at the end:

Paulino will throw a simulated game today, and he is a candidate to start Saturday against the Detroit Tigers if Backe doesn’t get the nod or Norris doesn’t get a call.

If Paulino can't make his start, I don't see why we wouldn't give the start to Norris. He could thrown an extended bullpen session mid week, and be ready to rock (or get rocked). Either way, it's better than just praying that Brandon Backe can go five innings and not give up too many HR's—right?


• I think the Houston Business Journal Stole HLP's idea, but their inquiry into bring food into the Juice Box is still worth the read.
• Curious as to how far Lance Berkman's home run would have really traveled on Saturday? Here's your answer.
• New kid on the block, at SBN, MLB Daily Dish, asked its readers which manager will be the first to be fired and amazingly, Cecil Cooper was not on that list.
• Hit/fx looks at the tendency of right and left handed batters to pull the ball and the results are pretty, pretty interesting.
• Richard Justice chimes in with a nice piece on MLBPA head, Donald Fehr's retirement.  The question he asks, which I've yet to resolve for myself, is this:

His thinking was flawed because a player's right to privacy should be less important than keeping the public's trust. If the public thinks every player is using cocaine or steroids or greenies, then baseball players ought to surrender some of their privacy for the greater good of the game.

Tonight the Astros square off against AL heart throb phenom, Zack Greinke.  It's not every day you get to face off against the league's best pitcher on your home turf, so show up at 7 PM and share the moment with your closet, non-face-to-face internet pals.