The Astros (or “the Stros” as they’re known locally) open the 2004 Major League Baseball season this evening at 6 p.m. in Minute Maid Park against the San Francisco Giants. Ace Roy Oswalt will pitch for the ‘Stros and Kirk Rueter will hurl for the Giants. A NY Times article on the ‘Stros is here.
The mainstream media’s coverage is typical Astros’ propaganda, echoing the club’s theme that the off-season acquisition of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte make “this the Astros’ season,” whatever that means.
In reality, while the Astros’ pitching staff is strong, the rest of the team has some big question marks. My sense is that the ‘Stros will struggle to score enough runs this season to be a championship caliber team. They have huge holes in the hitting lineup at catcher (Brad Ausmus, one of the worst hitters in baseball), shortstop (Adam Everett good field, no hit) and centerfield (Craig Biggio, probable Hall of Famer, but over the hill). Of their better hitters, one has a bad wrist (Jeff Kent), one has had one good season out of the last three (Richard Hidalgo) and one is beginning his sixth straight season of declining production (Jeff Bagwell). With the exception of promising OF Jason Lane (who should be starting in front of Biggio in CF), the bench players are uninspiring. That leaves solid young hitters Lance Berkman and Morgan Ensberg, who probably will have to have spectacular seasons to pull up the others on the club who will likely be declining.
To make matters worse, Astros’ manager Jimy Williams’ batting card has the light hitting Biggio and Everett batting one and two, while the far better hitting Berkman and Ensberg are listed at sixth and seventh. Go figure.
The bottom line: the ‘Stros have solid pitching with questionable hitting, below average depth, and a bull-headed manager. Not exactly a prescription for a championship season, but I’ll be following developments with interest, anyway.