TCB Astros March Madness 2014: Dexter Fowler vs Brad Peacock

Round 2 of the TCB Astros Fan Favorite March Madness Tournament is underway. From now until the end of Spring Training 64 players will spend the next several weeks facing off in a head to head public vote to determine who advances to the next round and who will eventually be crowned the communities favorite Astros player. For more details check out the tournament introductory post.

The rules are simple, determine which player you want to advance to the next round and then vote. Vote subjectively, objectively, using your trusty magic eight ball or any other set of criteria. It's totally up to you how you want to vote! Votes for this round will last exactly 24 hours.

In this match-up

1 - Dexter Fowler

The Astros got themselves a leadoff man after Luhnow and Co. pulled off what appears to many as a steal to get the proven center fielder. Fowler can hit (career 111 wRC+), run (19 stolen bases in 2013 even with injury trouble) and field, despite what the advanced metrics say. The biggest question lies in Fowler's ability to perform outside of Coors Field. In his five years with Colorado, Fowler hit .241 with a 25.3 strikeout percentage on the road. -Perry

vs

9 - Brad Peacock

The 5.18 ERA that Peacock posted in 83.1 innings of work for the Astros doesn't look too encouraging, but it also doesn't nearly tell the story of his season. After getting his brains beaten out in April, Peacock was sent to AAA and there worked to polished his long-mothballed slider. Wheither it was that, something else or a combination of factors, he was seemingly a changed man when he rejoined the rotation on August 4th, posting a 3.62 ERA, 3.3 BB/9 and 8.9 K/9 in his final 54.2 innings in the Majors. It will be a pretty big upset if he's not one of the five men in the Astros' rotation coming out of Spring Training. -Ashitaka