Hot Prospect, Not a Magic Bullet

There was quite a bit of anticipation among knowledgeable Astros fans when Bud Norris was brought up to the bigs. And his terrific performances in his first couple of starts added to the excitement. His third start wasn't as good, but the Astros got plenty of runs to cover him, giving him a third win. His fourth start was short and not sweet, and today's was even shorter after he gave up 6 runs in less than 2 innings. The kid has got some great stuff, but he's still young and inexperienced in the big leagues. Norrris' final line for the day: 1 inning (+ 2 batters in the second), 6 ERs (5 of them in the first inning) on 6 hits and 3 walks, with 1 strikeout.

That 6-run deficit was a challenge, but it should not have been insurmountable, assuming that the Astros bullpen could hold the D-backs for the rest of the game. Houston shut out Arizona in Game 1 on Friday night, behind a brilliant start by Oswalt. The bullpen pitched a few more scoreless innings in Game 2, allowing the Astros to grab the series with a 4-2 win. So the good news in today's game was that the relievers did a great job, giving up only a single run in 8 innings. In particular, Paulino came in to relieve Norris in the second, and stayed for 4 innings. He allowed one of Norris' runners to score, but otherwise shut out the D-backs, with 2 hits , no walks, and 3 strikeouts.

The bad news was that Houston's batters were only able to score 5 runs, never catching up after Norris left the game. I had hoped to report this evening that Houston was back at .500, and that it's time to start to sneak up on the Cards as the Astros head to St Louis on Tuesday. But that will have to wait for a few more days, as the Astros winning streak was held to 4 games.

An amusing note from today's game: For some reason, Carlos Lee decided to join the choir that performed the national anthem before the game. He stood in the back row and sang along. Not sure whether he was a tenor or a bass.

Checking in on the sickies: Hampton is on the DL with a torn left rotator cuff. Although he's not having surgery, hoping to come back, I don't expect to see him pitch again for the Astros. Of course I said that last week too. Wesley Wright is on the DL with a left shoulder strain. Brocail is preparing for a rehab stint, hoping to be back with Houston soon. These injured pitchers have made room for a couple of minor leaguers, to get more than a cup of coffee in the bigs - Bazardo, Gervacio, and Paulino are all hanging out in Houston, along with infielder Maysonet. And we're just a few days away from the September roster expansion.

In good injury-related news, Aaron Boone is playing in the minor leagues, rehabbing after his open heart surgery 5 months ago. After a stint with Corpus, he's now with Triple A Round Rock. What an amazing comeback!

In other news: Pudge made his second start for his new/old team today, knocking in 1 of the Rangers' 4 runs with a double and a sac fly. Only time will tell whether the trade for a couple of minor league prospects will be good for Houston.

Off day tomorrow. Maybe I'll go to the gym, since I won't have Valverde's closing to push my pulse rate up.