Houston Astros MLB News - Astros Baseball Blog

Carlos Lee is a much better player than he has shown this year for the Houston Astros

chinmusic — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:17:31 +0000

34-year old righty swinging LF Carlos Lee is having his worst season in the majors. Lee has played in 128 games for the Astros this season and he is 122 of 494 (.247 avg, .708 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 19 homers, 78 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Astros weren’t ready for Lee to play like this in 2010. After all, in his first three years with the Astros, Lee played in 437 games in which he was 510 of 1,673 (.305 avg) with 219 runs scored, 86 homers, 321 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Astros would love to see Lee finish strong so they can depend on him to rebound in 2011.

Wandy Rodriguez has been awesome lately for the Houston Astros

chinmusic — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:30:48 +0000

31-year old lefty starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez looked like he was sleepwalking for the first three months of the baseball season. But in July and August he has been on fire. Rodriguez has started 10 games the last two months for the Astros and he is 5-2 with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP as he has 72 whiffs in only 67 1/3 innings. Rodriguez has now started 26 games on the season and he is 10-12 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Astros need him to continue pitching well down the stretch as the Astros new goal should be third place in the N.L. Central.

The Houston Astros claim Matt Downs off waivers

chinmusic — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:39:43 +0000

The Astros have claimed 26-year old righty swinging infielder Matt Downs off waivers from the Giants. Downs played in 29 games for the Giants this year and he is 19 of 78 (.244 avg, .690 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He has now played in 46 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 28 of 131 (.214 avg, .619 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Astros will start Downs out in AAA but he will likely get called up when rosters expand on September 1st.

The Houston Astros place Jeff Keppinger on the D.L.

chinmusic — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:01:19 +0000

The Astros have placed starting 2B Jeff Keppinger on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured toe. Keppinger has played in 108 games this season for the Astros and he is 117 of 410 (.285 avg, .743 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 5 homers, 46 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Astros are going to miss Keppinger who was a very tough out as he has only whiffed 29 times this year. The Astros have recalled 27-year old switch hitting infielder Anderson Hernandez to replace Keppinger on the roster. Hernandez played in 6 games for the Astros earlier this year and he was 2 of 13 (.154 avg, .445 OPS) with 2 runs scored.

The Houston Astros send Pedro Feliz to the Cardinals

chinmusic — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:06:46 +0000

The Astros have traded 35-year old righty swinging 3B Pedro Feliz and cash to the Cardinals for 25-year old righty reliever David Carpenter. Feliz was a total bust for the Astros this year. He played in 97 games for the Astros this year and he was 64 of 289 (.221 avg, .555 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 31 RBIs. Feliz lost his starting job to Chris Johnson who has been rather impressive so the Astros had no need for him anymore. Carpenter has pitched in 49 games (0 starts) in A-ball this year and he was 5-3 with 20 saves, a 2.36 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In his three years in the minors he has pitched in 116 games (0 starts) in which he is 10-6 with 35 saves, a 3.26 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. While not one of the Cardinals’ better prospects, Carpenter still has been impressive in his minor league career so I like this deal for the Astros.

The new guys have been so-so for the Houston Astros so far

chinmusic — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:07:31 +0000

23-year old lefty swinging 1B Brett Wallace, 27-year old lefty starting pitcher J.A. Happ and 25-year old righty reliever Mark Melancon have been so-so for the Astros. Wallace has played in 17 games for the Astros this year and he is 11 of 48 (.229 avg, .598 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 16 whiffs. He hasn’t shown the power the scouts have said he has but it’s really early. J.A. Happ has had one really bad start and it has skewed his numbers so far. He has started 4 games for the Astros and he is 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He has only given up 13 hits and whiffed 18 batters in only 19 1/3 innings but he has walked 15 batters so he needs to tighten up his control a bit. Mark Melancon has looked o.k. in his first three games out of the bullpen as he is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP.

Jason Castro is off to a slow start for the Houston Astros

chinmusic — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:03:37 +0000

23-year old lefty swinging catcher Jason Castro was the Astros’ #1 prospect coming into this season. But, he has been overmatched so far by major league pitching. Castro has played in 40 games for the Astros this year and he is 23 of 120 (.192 avg, .540 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. Castro has also whiffed 19 times already this season. But the Astros don’t have any alternatives so look for Castro to keep starting behind the plate. My only fear with that is that Castro might get into a funk if he doesn’t start having success soon just like J.R. Towles has.

The Houston Astros place Matt Lindstrom on the D.L.

chinmusic — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:00:12 +0000

The Astros have placed 30-year old righty reliever Matt Lindstrom on the 15-day disabled list with back spasms. Lindstrom has pitched in 44 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 2-4 with 22 saves, a 4.15 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He has given up 54 hits and he has walked 17 batters in 43 1/3 innings as his effectiveness has started to wane lately. 30-year old righty Brandon Lyon and 26-year old righty Wilton Lopez will likely share save opportunities until Lindstrom is ready to come back. Lyon has pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 6-5 with 4 saves, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Wilton Lopez has been very effective this year for the Astros. He has pitched in 52 games (0 starts) and he is 4-0 with 1 save, a 2.94 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has whiffed 39 batters while only walking 5 in 52 innings for the Astros this year showing he has the stuff to handle working late in ballgames. The Astros have called up 24-year old lefty reliever Fernando Abad to replace Lindstrom on the active roster and in the bullpen. Abad pitched in 1 game earlier this year working a scoreless inning for the Astros. Abad has also pitched in 19 games (4 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Astros and he was 4-3 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

Nelson Figueroa will be joining the Astros starting rotation this weekend

chinmusic — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:05:16 +0000

36-year old righty Nelson Figueroa will be joining the starting rotation this weekend for the Astros. Wesley Wright failed and was sent to the minors. Figueroa has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Astros this year and he is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has only walked 2 batters while whiffing 13 in 11 1/3 innings as he has been very solid since joining the Astros. Figueroa is a journeyman type pitcher but he will likely give the Astros 5-6 solid innings per night.

The Houston Astros release Brad Thompson

chinmusic — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:24:48 +0000

The Astros have released 28-year old righty reliever Brad Thompson. Thompson pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Astros this year and he was 1-1 with a 8.87 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. He allowed a whopping 41 hits in only 23 1/3 innings in AAA so the Astros knew he wasn’t going to help them any time soon. They won’t miss him at all.