Astros Report 6/15/2003

HOUSTON ASTROS 37-32 2nd in NL Central - 1 game behind the Chicago Cubs

MATCHED UP AGAINST THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Going into interleague play the Astros were 30-27 and right behind the Cubs in the central division. Houston started off well at home by sweeping the Orioles and Devil Rays to start off 6-0 against the AL. However the Stros ran into trouble as they traveled to the east coast to face off with the Yankees. The Astros dropped 2 of 3 in New York but the two losses were both winnable games and the win was special for its own reasons. The Astros were then swept in Boston and are now 7-5 in interleague games.

UNHITTABLE PEN

June 11th, 2003 will go down as one of the greatest moments in Houston Astros history. A record 6 Astros pitchers combined to no hit the New York Yankees for the first time in 45 years. It was also the first time New York had been no hit at Yankee stadium since 1952, a span of 51 years. Roy Oswalt cruised through the 1st inning but aggravated his groin injury warming up for the 2nd inning. From there the bullpen took over and finished the no-no. Pete Munro came in for the 2nd inning and pitched for 2 outs in the 3rd. He gave up the only walks of the game giving up 3 free passes. Kirk Saarloos came into the game to finish the 3rd and pitched a perfect 4th. Next from the bullpen gang was Brad Lidge who pitched 2 perfect innings. Octavio Dotel came in for the 8th and struck out the side the hard way. After striking out the first batter he faced Dotel struck out Alfonso Soriano but the pitch got past Brad Ausmus and Soriano reached. Dotel then struck out the next two batters finishing the inning with four strikeouts. Billy Wagner came into the game to close it out and put it into the history books.

SOMETHING TO “GROIN” ABOUT

Although the excitement was overwhelming following the incredible no-hitter there was a bit of a bitter edge with Oswalt leaving the game with an injured groin. As the situation stands now Oswalt is only expected to miss one start. His start in the rotation will be skipped since the Astros have an off day on Monday. If he only misses this one start then he will next take the mound on Saturday against the Texas Rangers.

WADE “THE ACE” MILLER

With Oswalt going down, for the time Wade Miller is now the ace of the staff. Luckily for the Stros Miller has been pitching closer to his potential of late. He is 1-1 in his two starts in June but he has gotten his ERA under 5 a far cry from his plus 6 ERA going into May. He had another quality start today against the Red Sox giving up only 2 runs in 6 innings. Hopefully Miller can keep up this solid pitching and anchor the staff.

ENTER SANDMAN

With his save against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on June 8th, Billy Wagner became the Houston Astros all-time saves leader. It was Wagner’s 200th save breaking the previous Astros record of 199 by Dave Smith who was the closer for the Astros from 1980-1990. Although Wagner is often overlooked behind Eric Gagne and John Smoltz, he has been very dominant this season. He has converted 19 of 20 save opportunities and has 49 strikeouts in 38.1 innings with an ERA of 1.64 and a WHIP of .78.

BOSTON HOMECOMING

For Jeff Bagwell and Jimy Williams the Astros series against the Boston Red Sox was a homecoming of sorts. Jimy Williams was the manager of the Red Sox from 1997-2001 until he was fired by Boston and hired by the Astros to replace the previous Houston manager, Larry Dierker. Bagwell grew up in the Boston area and was originally drafted by the Red Sox. However he was traded in the famous deal that sent him to Houston for Larry Andersen because they needed pitching. Andersen left after the season and Bagwell is now an All-star 1st baseman. Even though Bagwell continues to slump he did hit his first homerun in over a month, a shot over the green monster.

F.I.C. LOCAL SPIN

With Bagwell’s continued struggles at the plate Astros fans are wondering if it is time to give him the same treatment that Berkman received. When Berkman was in slump to begin the season Jimy Williams moved him to 6th in the order to relieve him of some pressure and help him get his swing back. Perhaps it is time to move Bagwell out of the 3 spot since his lack of production hurts the Astros’ offensive ability to produce runs.

Morgan Ensberg was named NL player of the week for the first week in June. He has been on fire with the bat to begin the month. In the last month Ensberg is batting .368, with 8 homeruns, 23 RBI, 21 runs, and 2 stolen bases. All of this leads to the question many Astros fans are asking. Why isn’t he playing? All this production has come from only 68 AB. Compare this to Bagwell (104 AB), Kent (100 AB), and Berkman (101 AB). Since Geoff Blum came back from the DL Ensberg has been playing less and less. In Blum’s defense he is hitting well himself, but nowhere near the production level of Ensberg.

Its baffling that Jimy would choose to bench such a hot hitter but even with Houston playing in AL parks with the DH, Jimy chose to play Orlando Merced at DH instead of letting Ensberg get more at-bats. Apparently Jimy is obsessed with righty vs. lefty match-ups putting the switch-hitting Merced and Blum in the lineup against right-handed starters. Against the left-handed David Wells, Jimy gave the right-handed Ensberg the start at 3rd and replaced Merced with the light hitting but right-handed Brian Hunter. Jimy’s obsession with “going by the book” is a constant annoyance to many Astros fans. In terms of statistics, Ensberg is hitting better against righties than Blum and lefties are actually hitting better against the left-handed Wells. Both of these show error in Jimy’s strategies.

ADD

Morgan Ensberg – As well as Ensberg is playing it’s hard to believe that he is not in the lineup everyday. However Blum continues to play well at 3rd also and takes playing time away from Ensberg. With the way Ensberg is producing when he does play he is worth having in your lineup if you don’t have another viable 3rd base option.

Richard Hidalgo – If you still have a chance to get Hidalgo cheap I would go for it. He continues to get hits and I believe that he will show a bit more power as the season progresses. If you need a decent outfielder or even a bench player, Hidalgo is a good choice.

Wade Miller – I would guess that it is probably too late to get Miller cheap but if by some chance he is sitting on the Free Agent list, grab him now. He as pitched well his last few starts and should have a great 2nd half as I have mentioned before.

HOLD

Roy Oswalt – Oswalt’s lingering groin injury could be a cause for alarm. There is a chance that this problem could bother him all season, meaning it will be a distraction to his pitching or he will miss more starts and maybe spend more time on the DL. Hold on to him for now and keep an eye on the situation, only trade him if you can get good value.

Jeff Bagwell – Bagwell continues to struggle at the plate although he did end his homer less streak on Saturday against Boston. Hopefully his shoulder is not the cause of this slump. I would tend to think that his shoulder is better than last season since he has been throwing a lot better. I still expect him to turn it around and have a solid 2nd half.

DROP

Back end of Rotation – I would stay away from the 4th and 5th pitchers of Houston’s rotation (Jeriome Robertson and Jason Johnson at the moment). Whoever the Astros throw out there tends to be very inconsistent with very few quality outings.