Roy-O to make next start

What bone-bruise? Here is the scoop from chron.com:

"Roy Oswalt, who left Tuesday’s start in Washington with a bruised right index finger, expects to make his next scheduled start. Oswalt had an X-ray Wednesday that revealed no fracture and verified the initial diagnosis given when the righthander was pulled in the sixth inning at Nationals Park.

In line to start Sunday against the San Diego Padres at Minute Maid Park, Oswalt will alter his regular routine between starts.

“We’ll see how it feels (to-day),” he aid. “I’m not going to throw a bullpen. I might just throw on flat ground. But it should be OK.”

Finally some good news. This just hasn't been the Stros season so far. Hopefully this will be the begining of good things to come.

Astros fall 6-3 to Cubbies, Go for Split Later Today

Houston lost last nights game 6-3 to the Chubs. Hampton gave up 4 in the 1st and Houston never recovered.

Mike ended up settling down later in the game but the damage was done.

Berkman did have a two run homer though, "very nice." - Borat

So the Stros will throw Russ Ortiz out later today, who thinks he will go 6 innings?

Consider this the preview for todays game as I just finished one final and I have another at 5. So this is my Stros time.

In other news Manny Ramirez is out 50 games for a drug related suspension. Either this is baseball getting clean or this is baseball getting ugly. I really hope this trend does not continue.

Smith DFA'd, Arias called up, Sean Berry to have tumor removed:

Some news from the home town club today.

The Astros have designated Jason Smith for assignment and called up Alberto Arias. I don't think anyone saw this one coming...okay, that is sarcasm. Arias is a much needed arm for our ailing bullpen.

On a much more serious note, Astros' hitting coach Sean Berry has a tumor on his kidney:

"Astros hitting coach Sean Berry has what doctors believe is a cancerous tumor on his kidney and plans to have it removed in the next few days.

Berry had experienced bleeding for the past few days while Houston was on a road trip and figured he was simply passing kidney stones. The tumor was found on his right kidney during a consultation with a doctor on Wednesday and another visit is set for Thursday to schedule the procedure.

Berry played 11 major league seasons, including three for the Astros. He joined the organization as a minor league coach in 2003."

Hopefully the surgery will go well for Sean. I wish he and his family the best.

Houston Astros vs Chicago Cubs Game 4

Houston begins a two game series with the Chicago Cubs tonight in Houston with Mike Hampton on the bump facing Rich Harden.

Starting 9:
Matsui
Bourn
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pence
Blum
Rodriguez
Hampy

Astros Drop 1 in Washington and Maybe 1 in Houston.

The game today was suspended after a long rain delay in the bottom of the 11th with the game tied 10-10.

So until the game resumes, which will take place on the Nat's road trip to Houston, the Astros come out of this road trip 4-3. This 4-3 road trip feels like it has lasted all season and the Astros are coming home beat up.

Usually I would be bummed to see the Astros facing the Cubs in this kind of shape for the next two games but the Cubbies aren't faring much better these days.

So according to JJO at the Chronicle:

"Jose Valverde is likely out until early to mid June, and I doubt if Doug Brocail returns before June."

It gets better...

"It's not even May 6 yet, but the Astros bullpen's tank may be close to empty. Even worse, it's unclear how long Roy Oswalt will miss or how much he'll be affected by the bone bruise in his right index finger.

It would be silly if the Astros try to acquire bullpen arms. Might as well see what the kids can do.
Lance Berkman says this is a mature team, which means this is an old team. Old teams get hurt, as the Astros have often this season.

If they're 20 games out on July 31, I won't be surprised. At that point, Valverde should be healthy and able to bring back a few good prospects via trade.
Suck it up, Houston, because this could be a 100-loss team."

So a month in JJO is saying Houston is going to lose 100 games. Who knows? They very well could. I don't think they will.

Houston may find themselves in a hole come July but they may not. Everyone thought the Stros were screwed last season when Carlos was out and Lance wasn't hitting but they managed to hang around.

Bring up some arms from RR and see what we can do for the next two months. Stick Paulino in the rotation and drop Ortiz to the pen.

The big question is Roy. If he misses a start or two then it wont be nearly as big of a deal. However, if this ends up being long term, JJO could be right.

Chip over at the chronicle says it's time for Houston to "shuffle the deck." He covers a lot of ground in his post but the part that really jumped out to me was the stuff on Coop:

"Ah, yes, and that brings us back to Mr. Cooper . . . again. From the outside, it appears he has no control of this team. If that's the case, it won't be long before the inner murmurs and grumblings begin to leak out. Then, it gets ugly quick."

The more I watch this team this season the more I think Chip is right. I like Cecil but the past few games seem like Coop has...well, not much of an idea of what to do. I understand he is in a tough position with the rain-out forcing his hand with the pen but perhaps pulling Wandy wasn't the answer.

I'm not ready to give up hope in early May. Lance Berkman is hitting better over the past 4 games and our starting pitching staff has looked decent. We just really really really really really really really need to get the bullpen back in order and get our team healthy...which could take a while.

Houston Astros @ Washington Nationals Game I Preview

Houston sends Brian Moehler to the mound for his first start back from the DL.

Stros starting 9:
Matsui
Bourn
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pence
Rodriguez
Keppinger
Moe


Hopefully by some miracle Brian Moehler can go deep in this game.

There's good news and bad news...what do you want first?

The Astros won the series against Atlanta and are 4-2 on their road trip...why am I not excited?

The Stros are BEAT UP right now. Valverde out at least three weeks which could end up being five, Chris Sampson takes a line drive off the ankle and is unavailable for no less than a few days, and Doug Brocail JUST got of the DL only to injur his hamstring. Brocail says ""Of course it will be a [disabled-list stint]...No doubt."

I said I'm not excited but I am happy with the effort the team has shown the last two games. LaTroy Hawkins, or LeHawk, has been picking up the slack and giving the Stros someone to close out games with. With Moehler coming off the DL Houston has another reliever somewhere, and right now that is Felipe Paulino. We'll see what happens after Mo's start.

I think that the bullpen is going to do their best to step up but after the last two games, Houston really needs a starter to go deep. This could be difficult with Moehler making his first start since coming off the DL.

But, for some reason, I see Lance Berkman benefiting from this...weird right? It's not that I think Berkman is going to swallow some magic pill and start hitting all of the sudden, but I do think he is going to see a team that he can really help and find his stroke...call it a hunch.

Ok, enough rambling. Houston is going to be in a difficult spot for a while and that isn't going to change until they get healthy or their offense catches fire.

I for one am always bummed with Houston loses or gets rained out, so this Atlanta series has been an interesting one. But they are going to Washington where it's been raining for...all season. It seems like the Nats have had half their games rained out. There is chance that Houston may get a day off to get well and as much as I want to watch my team play, I wouldn't be totally bummed.

Houston Astros @ Washington Nationals series preview tomorrow. Moe and Roy O.

Houston Astros @ Atlanta Braves Game I Preview

Houston opens up a 3 game series with Atlanta today.

Here is your starting 9:
Matsui
Bourn
Berkman
Lee
Tejada
Pence
Blum
Rodriguez
Hampton

Should be interesting to see what kind of reception Hampton gets in Atlanta.

Let's go Mike!
Let's go Stros!

Let's go Lance!

Paulino to the Pen

From Stros.com:

"Right -hander Felipe Paulino will move to the bullpen beginning Friday, the pitcher confirmed.

Paulino, who made three starts in place of Brian Moehler, was impressive enough to merit staying on the roster after Moehler returns. Moehler is expected to start Tuesday.

This likely means Jeff Fulchino will return to Triple-A Round Rock once Moehler is activated from the DL."

I'm all for keeping him on the club but I was really hoping he would stick in the rotation. Maybe things will change when Big-Val gets back.

Houston Astros @ Atlanta Braves Series Preview

Houston will start a 3 game series with Atlanta starting tomorrow afternoon.

Here are the probable pitchers:

Game I
Mike Hampton LHP (1-1) 3.86
vs.
Derek Lowe RHP (2-1) 3.10

This should be a good pitching match up. Hopefully Hampy can have a solid start and our offense will kick it in to gear.

Game II
Roy Oswalt RHP (0-2) 3.94
vs.
Jair Jurrjens RHP (2-2) 1.72

I'm calling it right now. Roy O will get his first win.

Game III
Wandy Rodriguez (2-2) 1.69
vs.
Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1) 4.26

Can Wandy keep up his torrent start?

We win the series if: Lance Berkman finally remembers how to hit. If their pitching keeps doing what they are doing then it is pretty much up to our offense.

We don't win the series if: our offense doesn't support our starting pitching. With Valverde out for possibly three weeks, Houston needs their starting pitchers to go deep into games and try and minimize the bullpens activity. The best way for this to happen aside from their starting pitching throwing well is Houston's offense to put some runs up.


My prediction:
Houston takes two of three. Hampton will toss a good game but I don't think our offense is ready for Lowe right now. However, Roy and Wandy are going to pitch well and our offense is going to hit well enough to get 2 wins out of the series.

Houston 9-13
Atlanta 10-11