Happy 500th post! It took from November 6 to March 22 to come up with 500 things to talk about the Astros. Note I didn't necessarily say 500 different things. What's worked for you? What don't you like?
So there's some weirdness out of Astros camp today. Because of the way the Astros' schedule works out, SP5 won't start until April 15 at Pittsburgh.
Let's czech it out:
April 6 vs CHC - Roy
April 7 vs CHC - Toss-up because of Wandy's finger. Wandy/Hampton
April 8 vs CHC - Hampton/Wandy
April 10 @ STL - Moehler
April 11 @ STL - Roy
April 12 @ STL - Wandy/Hampton
April 13 @ PIT - Hampton/Wandy
April 15 @ PIT - SP5
And word coming down within that piece that Coop is going to have Pudge take grounders at third base, perhaps in an effort to get Q some more games and to take some stress off Pudge's 37-year old knees. Remember Tejada said he'd play some third base, but that is not a consideration at this point for Cooper.
Also, Blum is going to get some looks at shortstop, presumably when Tejada is enjoying some downtime.
So this is going to be a very strange year, if you hadn't already known. I'm putting the over/under on different lineups at 110.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
