Astros’ Week Not Weak: Tie Braves While Being No-Hit, Team BA .288!

If this were the regular season instead of the fourth game of the Houston Astros’ Spring Training in Kissimmee, FL, Sunday’s (March 8) game’s sportswriters would have had to flip a coin to decide their headline: “Nine Braves Combine to No-Hit Astros,” or “Astros Hang Tough in 10-Inning Tie Despite Being No-Hit.”

Either way, this game screamed “spring training,” with the Atlanta Braves’ pitching staff having more walkers than a Miami Beach nursing home, and thus being completely unable to hit any Astro bats, giving up an eye-popping nine walks, spread out among 9 pitchers! For the record, 6′ 4″ lefty Ian Thomas led the Braves’ amble-fest with 3 bases on balls in his one inning of walk…..I mean, work.

For the Astros, credit should be given for their patience at the plate in not swinging at more balls off the plate than they did, even though the ‘Stros registered 9 Ks, too, in the game. And, while it seems doleful that they couldn’t muster a hit in 10 innings, Astro brass has to be pleased with the scrappiness it took to leave the field with a tie. Loading the bases in the 7th with 2 walks and a hit batsman, an RBI fielder’s choice and an RBI groundout provided the Astros with their 2 runs, which pulled them ahead of the Braves, 2-1, at that point. The next inning, an Atlanta sacrifice fly tied the game at 2.

Meanwhile, on this split-squad Sunday, while half the team was being no-hit near Disney World, the other half (having apparently packed the entirety of the Astros’ bat inventory) slugged it out with the Tigers (outhitting them 20-13), prevailing 14-9, fifty minutes down I-4 in Lakeland. Hitting stars in that one were 1B Jon Singleton with 2 doubles in three ABs, Jonathan Villar with a triple and 2 RBI, 3B Matt Duffy (playing 1B this day) with a homer, and LF Robbie Grossman, CF Jake Marisnick, and 3B Luis Valbuena all with 3 RBI.

Thursday, March 12, 2B Jose Altuve reminded everyone why he’s the reigning American League Batting Champ, with a 3-for-3 day in Kissimmee, helping the Astros beat the Tigers, 4-3 in 10 innings, which featured a walk-off single by Gregorio Petite.

Altuve spends each day in camp reviewing video, hitting off a tee endlessly, and swinging off an indoor batting machine; all this on top of rigorous stretching exercises and weight lifting. Oh yeah, then fielding grounders at second, repeatedly. “His preparation is just unbelievable,” Tigers DH Victor Martinez said of Altuve recently. The Venezuelans are friends, and battled to the last week of the 2014 season for the batting title. Altuve squeaked past his mentor, .341 to Martinez’s .335.

Overall, Astro bats are fat and happy this spring, with a team batting average of .288, as of games ending March 13. Leading the hit parade, early on, is Luis Valbuena, giving incumbent 3B Matt Dominguez a run for his roster-spot money with a lusty .529 BA on 9 hits in 17 ABs.

1B Jon Singleton is having a much-needed impressive spring, as well, hitting .438 on 7-for-16. Nipping at his BA heels is CF Jake Marisnick, with a .429 on 6-for-14. Marisnick has a definite defensive pedigree no one argues with, as his speed, jumps, and acrobatic catches are well-documented, mostly in the minors, and a few AL games with the ‘Stros last year; but if he can provide a trust-worthy bat in ’15, the Astro line-up becomes that much more fearsome and productive.

Jose Altuve’s ABs have been somewhat limited, so far, as no other Astro has less of a need to prove himself than he, but is still pulling a “with-my-eyes-closed” .417 on 5-for-12, appearing in just 4 out of the 9 Astros’ games, coming into March 14th play.

Right-handed hitter George Springer (RF) cracked 2 homers to right field Friday the 13th in a 6-6 tie with the Nationals. He’s hitting .333 on 5-for-15. Other above-average averages include SS Jed Lowrie (.417), LF Robbie Grossman (.375), LF/DH Evan Gattis (.364), 3B Matt Dominguez (.308), and SS Carlos Correa (.286), all with at least 11 ABs.

Putting the bat on the ball with consistency is job #1 for the Astros in the coming season, as 5 of the 9 hitters in the proposed 2015 lineup were among the Top 20 in MLB strikeout percentage in 2014 (minimum 300 plate appearances): Singleton 37% (1st), Springer 33% (7th), CF Colby Rasmus 33% (9th), 1B/DH Chris Carter 31.8% (14th), and Jason Castro 29.5% (19th). So, early returns on the offensive side of the ball, anyway, are certainly encouraging, as the Astro starting lineup, top to bottom, is beginning to look giddily close to imposing, an observation unable to have been made since the Killer B days!

Despite seemingly having more ties than a Hoboken haberdasher, the Astros’ 5-2-2 spring record so far (through games of March 13) is also an early plus, as that Braves 10-inning no-hitter can be considered a victory of sorts for simply avoiding being shut out or beaten, and the Friday the 13th tie with Washington is at least a moral victory, having come from 2 down in the 9th, as the Astros did, to achieve the tie. So, claiming a theoretical 7-2 spring record isn’t much of a stretch for manager A.J. Hinch to encourage his team further.

Too early to reserve World Series tickets? Maybe. Besides, I’m busy today. I’ll tackle that enjoyable chore tomorrow.

Author: Brad Kyle

Brad was born the same year as rock’n’roll and Disneyland. Aging only slightly better than one of them, he’s a Houston native, and has seen countless Astro games, in all three Houston pro ball stadiums: Colt Stadium, The Astrodome, and Minute Maid Park.

His favorite non-Astro was Pirate legend Roberto Clemente, with 3rd baseman Bob Aspromonte his favorite Houston player as a kid, and Jeff Bagwell more recently.

Brad has spent professional time as a teacher, youth minister, radio personality, record store manager, entertainment booking agent, singer, comedy writer, and…..oh, yeah, sports writer!

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