Travis Smith
The Signal
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- Travis Smith
The 2010 baseball season has ended and the Houston Astros have missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Since being swept out of the World Series by the Chicago White Sox in 2005, fan attendance has steadily decreased.
The average attendance at Minute Maid Park has fallen to less than 30,000 per game for the first time since 1997.
It’s hard to blame the average fan for not being interested in Houston’s hometown nine – fan favorites Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio have left the game while Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were both traded in the middle of the 2010 season for younger prospects and payroll relief.
What is a fan to do when four of the greatest Astros of the last 20 years are no longer there? Have hope, that’s what. The 2011 season will feature a plethora of players the average fan may not know. But here are the three major reasons the Astros will matter in 2011: pitching, youth and leadership.
The starting pitching will be solid. In years past, the Astros have gone into spring training with many questions regarding their pitching rotation. Barring injuries, the rotation is set: Brett Myers and J.A. Happ will be at the front end of the rotation, followed by Wandy Rodriguez and Bud Norris. The fifth spot will be a competition between Felipe Paulino, Nelson Figueroa and minor-leaguer Jordan Lyles.
Myers finished the 2010 season tying a career high in wins (14), a career low in ERA (3.14) and a streak of pitching into the sixth inning or later in 32 straight games, the longest streak in Major League Baseball since Curt Schilling in 2002.
Happ, 2009 National League Rookie of the Year runner-up, was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies mid season in exchange for Oswalt. He pitched well for the Astros, posting a 5-3 record with a 3.00 ERA and should be even better in 2011 as he continues to learn.
Norris, in his second year with the club, struck out 158 batters while earning nine wins. Rodriguez, in his sixth season with the Astros, will be looking to improve on his 2010 season where he struck out 178 batters.
Leadership is something that the Astros have severely lacked since 2007 when Biggio and Bagwell were both out of the locker room. Oswalt and Berkman were left with the reigns, and they did not hit the ground running.
Sure, Oswalt and Berkman were great guys; however, demanding to be traded to more competitive teams, taking a “no worries” approach when your team is in the dumps and performing at career lows is clearly no way to lead.
Myers and Hunter Pence, the 2010 team leader in home runs (25), seem poised to take over the player leadership role, and they should do well. With lots of young players on this team, at the age of 27, Pence is regarded as a veteran Astro.
Leadership is one thing; young leadership is a completely different thing. The Astros could enter the 2011 season with a lineup featuring an average age of 25.8, compared to their 2008 roster, which featured a lineup with an average age of 35.75.
Youth is something the Astros have needed to push toward for many years, and they have finally done it through the draft and smart trades.
A young baseball team is not to be underestimated. With youth, a team has the potential to be full of future all-stars who are present-day unknowns.
I’m not saying bet your savings account on the Astros to win the 2011 World Series. What I am saying is: this team of young and hungry players has the potential to spark a little excitement in Houston.
Enjoy the off season; catchers and pitchers will be reporting to spring training before we know it and the Astros will be ready to make some waves.
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