2012 Houston Astros Predictions
It’s now been six seasons since the Houston Astros won the pennant, and it doesn’t appear they will be in contention for another one any time soon.
A 59-52 finish to their 2010 campaign provided some life heading into 2011. That life, however, was completely sucked out by a 59-106, worst-in-baseball, season.
Projected Pitching
Starting rotation: Wandy Rodriguez (L) – The consistent southpaw, who has won at least 11 games each of the past three seasons, led the Astros in wins (11), ERA (3.49) and WHIP (1.31) in 2011.
Bud Norris (R) – Norris’ 6-11 mark didn’t tell the whole story as he posted a 3.77 ERA and struck out 176 batters in 186 innings.
J.A. Happ (L) – Houston desperately needs a bounce back season from Happ, who went 6-15 with a 5.35 ERA last year. I hope the 29-year-old can get it together. He looked so promising in 2009 with the Phillies when he went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA.
Jordan Lyles (R) – The 20-year-old showed glimpses after a late-May call-up, but ultimately wasn’t ready for the show. He ended up 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA. We could see Livan Hernandez in the rotation early in the season if Houston thinks Lyles needs more time in the minors.
Kyle Weiland (R) – The 25-year-old went 0-3 with a 7.66 ERA in seven games while getting his feet wet with Boston last year.
Closer: Brett Myers (R) – After making 66 starts in his first two seasons with the Astros, it appears Myers is headed for the pen. He saved 21 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007 and seems excited about the opportunity to close in Houston.
Projected Lineup
Jason Castro (Catcher) – The Astros are excited to have their catcher of the future back behind home plate after he missed all of 2011 with an ACL tear.
Carlos Lee (First Base) – The biggest star on the roster bounced back from a down season to hit .275 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs in 2011.
Jose Altuve (Second Base) – The Astros are hoping for big things from this kid, who has a minor league batting title on his resume.
Jimmy Paredes (Third Base) – Paredes hit Houston like wildfire with nine extra-base knocks in his first 20 games and ended up batting .286 in 46 games.
Jed Lowrie (Shortstop) – Lowrie could have a breakout season if he can stay on the field. That, however, was something he wasn’t able to do in Boston.
J.D. Martinez (Left Field) – Martinez made an improbable jump from Division II to the bigs in two years and showed well as the starting left fielder. He was on fire in the month of August with 29 RBIs.
Jordan Schafer (Center Field) – Schafer deserves praise for his work in center but he’s lacking at the plate. He’ll need to improve his on-base percentage to become a long-term solution.
Brian Bogusevic (Right Field) – Bogusevic showed well late in the season, batting .313 in 48 games in August and September.
Prediction – 6th Place NL Central: The pitching staff ranked last in the NL in ERA (4.51), and the offense ranked 26th in baseball in runs per game (3.80) last season. Some improvement is expected on the mound but it looks like the Astros could struggle to score runs again. The Astros are listed at +10000 to win the NL Central.
