Thank you for stopping by once again! We have completed the first full week of our report cards, and we still have 23 teams left! Today's team will be the Houston Astros. Since you already know the routine, let's go!
Houston Astros:
Record: 74-88 (Fifth place in the NL Central, 17 games behind St. Louis).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Miguel Tejada (.313)
Home Runs: Carlos Lee (26)
RBIs: Carlos Lee (102)
On-base Percentage: Lance Berkman (.399)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Wandy Rodriguez (14)
ERA: Wandy Rodriguez (3.02). Bullpen- LaTroy Hawkins (2.13).
Strikeouts: Wandy Rodriguez (193)
Innings Pitched: Wandy Rodriguez (205.2)
WHIP: Wandy Rodriguez and Roy Oswalt (1.24)
Saves: Jose Valverde (25)
Highlight of the Season: Even though their season was already over by this point, sweeping the defending World Champion Phillies in a four-game series at home from September 4-7, is always nice.
Lowlight of the Season: Back-to-back losses in San Francisco on July 3 and 4, by scores of 13-0 and 9-0. What made those two losses look even worse is that the Giants were known for having one of the more anemic offenses in MLB.
The Lowdown:
The Houston Astros are quite perhaps the most oddly constructed team in baseball. They have not been able to build off of the success they obtained during their glory days from 2004-2006, and with the way things are going now, the team might go downhill pretty quickly if something is not done. Their lineup in '09 had a odd hodge-podge of highly-paid veterans and young talent, which collectively fell short of Astros fans' expectations. Compounding matters was their pitching rotation, which was downright awful. Also, when you take into account that their opening day payroll came in at a whopping $102 million according to USA Today, it makes this season look all the more disappointing. Pardon me for using this overused phrase, but it is true about this team: "Houston, we have a problem," and it begins with their offense.
Offense:
The Astros offense in 2009 could be best described as being "feast or famine." There was a clear division in the lineup between the haves and the have nots; Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn represented the former, while Kaz Matsui, Jeff Keppinger, Ivan Rodriguez and Geoff Blum represented the latter. It was a bizarre concoction, one that resulted in a very inconsistent offense, with the top five guys making up the bulk of it. The Astros scored only 643 runs as a team, which was a pitiful 27th in MLB. Also, despite playing half of their games in one of the more notorious hitters' parks in the majors, they only hit 142 homers, which was 25th in MLB.
Even though I still considered Lance Berkman to be a major player in Houston's offense last season, he had an "off" year by his standards. While he did manage to draw 97 walks in 2009 (good for 8th in MLB), he hit only .274, which is puzzling considering that his career average is .299. His 25 home runs could also be considered below average; however, he tends to be a streaky power hitter. In 2006, he went deep a whopping 45 times, while two years later, he hit only 29 home runs despite playing in more games that year (152 in '06 compared to 159 in '08). However, his average stayed steady, as he hit over .300 in both years. Some people might speculate that he has peaked, and is on the downside of his career. Nonetheless, it should be interesting to watch him next year to see if this year was just a fluke, or a sign of things to come for him.
Obviously, what killed this team's offense was the lack of production from the "have-nots" that I mentioned. Keppinger, Matsui, Rodriguez and Blum all hit under .260, and all of them had on-base percentages of .330 or lower. Rodriguez had an especially pathetic .280 OBP, and one has to wonder if the end is near for the future Hall of Famer and former MVP award winner. However, he signed a two-year, $6 million dollar deal with the Nationals this past week, so both he and the Nats believe that he is not quite finished yet.
This team's offense is so strange and yet so bad at the same time. That is surprising, considering the amount of talent they have on their roster. This lineup could certainly do a lot better.
Final Grade: D+
Pitching:
Can you name the Astros' best starting pitcher in 2009? Nope, it wasn't Roy Oswalt. It was lefty Wandy Rodriguez! While he has not had the success or the track record of Oswalt, Rodriguez became the de facto ace of the staff last season, stepping up to win 14 games and recording a 3.02 ERA. Rodriguez went about achieving his success in a much different way than Oswalt usually does, too. Oswalt is a pure power pitcher who can get away with mistakes out over the plate, while Wandy is a more of a pitcher who usually has to hit his spots in order to be effective. His fastball can reach into the low to mid nineties, but it is not nearly as dominant as Oswalt's heater, which reaches into the high nineties. The Astros and their fans have to be pleased with his emergence, and they have to be looking forward to next year, hoping that he will continue to improve.
Roy Oswalt, much like Berkman in the lineup, had an off year of his own, finishing with an uncharacteristic 8-6 record, to go along with a 4.12 ERA. The ERA was nearly a full run over his career average of 3.23. Despite this, he still managed to record a solid 1.24 WHIP, which tied Rodriguez for the best on the staff. The weak 8-6 record despite making 30 starts this season can also be attributed to just plain bad luck, as he recorded a ridiculous 16 no-decisions this season. You can thank their inconsistent offense for that, or you can thank their bullpen.
Two people you cannot place any blame on in the 'pen would be LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde. Hawkins worked primarily as the set-up man for Valverde, and he was lights-out, appearing in 65 games and recording a 2.13 ERA in that time frame. His efforts created the bridge to Valverde, who recorded 25 saves in 29 chances, while posting a 2.33 ERA. However, in a puzzling decision, the Astros decided not to bring back either of the two, letting them walk as free agents after the season.
Collectively, the staff finished with a 4.24 ERA, which was 24th in MLB. Opponents also hit .275 off of them, which was 26th in MLB. Plus, the staff gave up a staggering 770 runs, which was the eighth highest in MLB, and the fourth highest in the National League. The people outside of Rodriguez, Hawkins and Valverde just did not get the job done, plain and simple.
Final Grade: D
Wild Card: Youth
Youth was served in Houston in 2009, much like it was in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Michael Bourn (26) and Hunter Pence (26) are giving Astros fans hope for the future, as they both put together brilliant seasons. Bourn was the speedster in the lineup, as he recorded 61 steals, which led the National League, and was good enough for second in MLB, trailing Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury by nine. He also hit a solid .285 as well, hitting primarily out of the lead-off spot.
Pence also put together a fine breakout season of his own, hitting 25 home runs and driving in 72 in 159 games, as he became a potent bat in Houston's lineup. He also recorded a .282 batting average to go with the home run and RBI totals.
On a team that is usually devoid of youth, Bourn and Pence each serve as youthful symbols to the Astros' future. Plus, they're both from Texas; Pence is from Fort Worth, while Bourn is a local boy from Houston. That has to count for something too, doesn't it?
Final Grade: B+
Overall:
This is one weird team. In one corner, you have Bourn and Pence, two young guys who are about to make a name for themselves in the National League. On the other hand though, you have a bunch of highly-paid veterans on the team who may not be around in a few years. It seems as if Houston has come to an organizational crossroads; they are going to have to go in one direction or the other. Do they need to blow it all up and go completely young, or do they need to keep increasing their payroll exponentially in order to bring home the city's first-ever World Series title? Owner Drayton McLane is something of a maverick, who gets very impatient when the team is not doing well, but with the way things look for them, he may have to swallow his pride and try to rebuild.
Final Grade: C-
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the San Diego Padres!
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