The onset of the 2011 season may have been a fright for a lot of fans of the Houston Astros. I, for one, did see a little hope for it. When I say little, I referred to the Astros pitching. I mean they had Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez and Bud Norris. I figured there’s 40-45 wins right there.
Tricked? I sure was. I have the feeling I was far from the only one that felt that way, too.
The trio combined for a record of 24-36. Not quite what I was expecting. Maybe I exercised too much confidence when I said the Astros had better pitching than the Pirates. Yes, as always, hindsight is 20-20.
But this wasn’t the only matter on which we were tricked by the Astros in 2011.
In 2010, GM Ed Wade commenced a refurbishing of the Astros roster. He jettisoned Lance Berkman to the Yankees and Roy Oswalt to the Phillies. At the time of the deals, the pair were cornerstones of the Houston franchise. Sure they were getting up in years, but they still held their place.
image: use bizbirjie via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
For 2011, Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence were the next to go. There were numerous rumors that Rodriguez was going to be sent packing, too. Well, considering the sale of the Astros (is that even done yet?), Minute Maid Park would surely evolve into a house of horrors. All these young guys seeing their first MLB action…at the same time, no less. It’s a miracle that manager Brad Mills made it through the season.
Ah, the sale of the team. That has also turned into a horrifying experience…for all concerned.
The fright doesn’t end there. The other young guys that were to supply some offense this season, didn’t. At the beginning of August, Chris Johnson and Brett Wallace were optioned to Oklahoma City. Both were looked upon to contribute to the Astros offense…what little they were deemed as having. After all the moves made by Wade, the common joke on Twitter was referring to this team as the “AAAstros”.
Ouch.
But there was a big treat in my eyes…Bud Norris. I think the kid will be all right.
The surface numbers may not look all that impressive (6-11, 3.77 ERA), but I like what I see. He averaged almost a strikeout per inning (176 SO in 186 innings). He did fall off in the second half of the season (1-5, 4.26). Part of the development process similar to that of Mike Leake. Got to get these kids throwing 200 inning, I guess.
For 2012, no one will mistake the Astros for contenders. My hope is that other teams stop raiding their roster. Then again, they did go along with it all.
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Tags: baseball, Bud Norris, Ed Wade, Houston Astros, MLB
Born in Flint, Michigan, my father moved the family to southwestern Ohio in the summer of 1970. That's when my brother introduced me to the game of baseball...and the Cincinnati Reds. I've been a fan of the Reds ever since and still long for the days of 1975-1976 World Champion Big Red Machine when the baseball world witnessed one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled. My goal here on BRM is to provide everyone insight on the Reds and to spark thought and conversation about my favorite baseball team.
I am also the editor of FanSided's blog for golf, Pro Golf Now.
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