I love lists, and the only thing that supplants my love for lists is my love for the SweetSpot blog. So, I decided to copy its chief, David Schoenfield, and construct a list of reasons to keep watching the Houston Astros. In brutal honesty, even I couldn't think of 10 reasons to continue following this horrid club, but I was able to list five. If you can think of more, post 'em.
1. Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez
Yes, I'm sure you thought the first reason I'd list would be "the young guys". But it's really the last hope we sorry Astros fans have. Truly though, there seems to be a serious future in store for the young second baseman and left fielder. Altuve has so far posted an exciting triple slash line of .317/.331/.400, a .321 wOBA and a wRC+ of 102. He's a contact hitter, doubles machine, and possessor of more pop than I thought possible for such a tiny guy. He isn't the rangiest 2B out there, but that's to be expected with his height. Martinez is also putting up nice numbers, with a line of .298/.344/.571, a WAR of 1.1, and a solid .388 wOBA. His defense is certainly questionable, but he'll learn soon enough. I expect both of these guys to contribute in September, and be on the Opening Day lineup card in April 2012.
2. The Brad Mills/Ed Wade saga
Don't you wanna see them get fired? It is the humble opinion of this writer that if (and apparently now, that's a big if) the sale of the club to Jim Crane goes through, Mills and Wade will be packing their bags. Personnel drama is always fun, and Houston fans everywhere will probably strike up a celebratory parade once these two meatheads are gone. Yes, yes it's a tough hand to be dealt in this team, but neither Mills nor Wade have shown that they know how to execute their jobs well (see Michael Bourn trade to Atlanta, laughable double switch tactics), and frankly, both deserve to be shown the door. Anyway, isn't it great to watch the nightly Mills logic comedy? (Can't wait for the day that #Millslogic is trending on Twitter).
3. Playing spoiler
For a second there, I thought that the 'Stros might have killed off the Giants hopes of returning to the playoffs when they took two out of three from them last weekend. Alas, it wasn't so, as the Baby Snakes out west continued to struggle as well, making for a tiny one game difference between them and San Francisco. However, Houston travels to northern California to play four games against Los Gigantes this week. They also get sets against Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and St. Louis in September. On one hand, it won't be very fun to play a bunch of good teams, but who doesn't love preventing a club from making the playoffs? Especially if it's the Cards...
4. The chase for the bottom
Ok, maybe this is a really sad and sick reason, but I find it pretty intriguing that the Astros will in all likelihood finish with the worst record in MLB in 2011. There's always a positive side, seeing as the team will get the #1 draft pick in 2012. While experts contend that the upcoming draft won't exactly be stocked with big-name talent (a la 2011), there's still an assurance that whoever the best prospect in college or high school is come June, he'll be an Astro...if he's not traded for a veteran middle infielder. And if he's not a pitcher. And if he actually signs.
5. September football is inconsequential
C'mon now. It's not like you can really tell anything about your favorite NFL team after 3 games.
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