Four Astros do the right thing for a great cause. It's great rooting for a team that wins a lot, but if a fan is lucky enough to have a team that wins quite a bit and are good people- that's the ideal situation.
In the minors, Jason Castro is impressing the experts. Baseball America recently released their top minor league prospects, and Mr. Castro came in at number 19. All the minor league gurus who were outraged the Astros drafted Castro that high, we're waiting for your rebuttal..
In that same vein, Kevin Goldenstein of Baseball Prospectus sings the praises of Jiovanni Mier's early efforts at Greenville. To wit:
The Astros' first-round pick was supposed to be a slick-fielding shortstop who was expected to struggle a bit with the bat, but nobody told Mier. With two-hit efforts in each of the three weekend games, he's now batting .308/.386/.538 in his first nine professional contests. Given his three triples and a pair of stolen bases, Mier's speed is evident in the statistical line, and the glove is reportedly every bit as good as advertised.
The best way to evaluate defense has yet to be determined, but the Hardball Times is on to something.
Over at Beyond the Boxscore, the Astros are holding firm at 27th in their Power Rankings.
One of our own readers posted this about watching an episode of Baseball Tonight over at his blog. Good stuff.