Live Reactions from Baseball's Opening Night

Baseball is back! The season is about to open with a Rangers-Astros game in Houston. To honor the occasion, here are some real-time reactions to our first live baseball in months.

7:47 PM: The Baseball Tonight roundtable is doing some pre-game chatting. Present here is a smorgasbord of analysts whose opinions I have virtually no interest in: Karl Ravech (annoying), Tim Kurkijan (weird voice), Curt Schilling (bleuughh), Alex Cora (apparently qualified to talk about baseball thanks to his career .243 batting average in the majors), and Barry Larkin (lesser-known father of a famous Miami point guard). For some reason, they're discussing the Los Angeles Angels even though tonight's game is between the Rangers and Astros, so ... good effort, chaps.

7:51 PM: The Rangers' lineup is announced. It's noticeably not as strong as in recent years -- David Murphy is a nice player, but he's hitting fifth. Ex-Astro, current-Ranger Lance Berkman gets a loud reaction from his one-time home crowd. Mostly positive, so good for them. Matt Harrison is pitching for the Rangers, Bud Norris for the Astros. Norris is the highest-paid player on the Astros and he's making $3 million. That is not a typo.

7:53 PM: The Astros lineup is announced, and it's a veritable Who's-Who of ex-Triple-A All-Stars. The two most recognizable names are Carlos Pena and Jose Altuve; the rest of the lineup is made up of Brett Wallace, Chris Carter, Justin Maxwell, Jason Castro, Matt Dominguez, Brandon Barnes, and Ronny Cedeno. Ugly. This is why the Astros are all but certain to lose 100 games for the third consecutive season.

7:55 PM: "Four-time Grammy Award winner" and country-music-star Lyle Lovett sings the national anthem, awkwardly accompanied by a violin. This is the part where the rest of the country regrets the league's choice to open the season in Texas.

7:57 PM: J.J. Watt of the NFL's Houston Texas emerges to throw the first pitch, and he gets more cheers than the entire Astros lineup combined.

7:58 PM: Turns out J.J. Watt is better at locating holes in the offensive line than the strike zone.

8:04 PM: Some pregame chatter in the booth between ESPN's broadcasters, Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser, and John Kruk. Shulman is excellent and Hershiser is bearable, but Kruk is seriously useless. He's talking about the AL East right now. Again: this is a Rangers-Astros game. What makes him even more annoying is the fact that everyone insists on calling him "Krukie."

8:05 PM: Buster Olney informs us that the Houston Astros' payroll this year is about $18 million dollars, and there are more than 20 individual players in baseball are making more than their entire team. That's actually relevant information. Much appreciated, Buster.

8:08 PM: Bud Norris of the Astros throws the first pitch of the season, a 92 mile per hour strike to Ian Kinsler. Baseball! Kinsler flies out on the second pitch.

8:11 PM: Norris strikes out Elvis Andrus. There's hope in Houston! Things have not fallen apart immediately! Lance Berkman steps to the plate, and this time, he gets a much more mixed reaction from the crowd before grounding out. Bud Norris is no-hitting the Texas Rangers! Baseball history!

8:15 PM: It's the bottom of the first and Jose Altuve, perhaps the only above-average player in this lineup, steps to the plate for the Astros. He singles on the first pitch he sees and proceeds to get thrown out stealing second -- but the replay shows he was actually safe. Took less than ten minutes for our first blown call of the 2013 season. If there's one frustrating thing about Major League Baseball (besides "Krukie") it's the archaic resistance to incorporating more instant replay. Meanwhile, the Astros fail to score, making this inning no different than almost every other Astros inning.

8:26 PM: In the top of the second, ESPN shows a graphic that lists the Rangers' "Notable Losses" from last season -- Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli, for instance. Bizarrely, they've included Michael Young under this column. Removing Young from your everyday lineup is a Notable Addition By Subtraction. Meanwhile, Norris has walked two batters in this inning, apparently going for the A.J. Burnett-style no-hitter.

8:31 PM: And Norris surrenders his first hit, off the bat of new Ranger A.J. Pierzynski (whose presence on any major league team makes it instantly easier to dislike that major league team). There will be no baseball history made tonight. Norris does, however, strike out Mitch Moreland to escape the inning unscathed.

8:40 PM: Highlights from the bottom of the second: Carlos Pena strikes out against a left-hander and looks awful doing so; then Adrian Beltre casually grabs a screaming line-drive like it was no big deal. Business as usual for both parties.

8:52 PM: Another bad call from an umpire. The top of the third ends when Elvis Andrus sends a looping liner into center that Justin Maxwell dove and "caught" -- though he clearly trapped the ball. Maxwell sprints off the field as quickly as possible before the umpire gets a chance to change his mind.

Maxwell exiting centerfield at Trapping speed
— Jonathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) April 1, 2013

8:59 PM: Matt Harrison of the Rangers doesn't normally strike out many batters, but the Astros are making him look like Pedro Martinez. He's now struck out five and breezed through three innings on just 38 pitches. Then again, the three batters he just dominated were Matt Dominguez, Brandon Barnes, and Ronny Cedeno. Analysis: the Astros won't be scoring many runs this year.

9:03 PM: Lance Berkman (who ESPN has just informed me is "Texas through-and-through") lines a leadoff single in the top of the fourth. Dan Shulman then drops this knowledge bomb: Berkman has the second-highest slugging percentage all-time among switch-hitters, behind only Mickey Mantle. ("Krukie" wisely deduces that this means Berkman has a higher slugging percentage than Chipper Jones and Eddie Murray. Way to put the pieces together, dude.) So Berkman's career line now sits at .296/.409/.544 with 360 home runs. Hall of Fame worthy? The Rangers still remain scoreless.

9:20 PM: And the Astros are threatening! Singles by Brett Wallace and Carlos Pena have put two men on with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Up now in this crucial spot, the Astros' number-five hitter ... Justin Maxwell, who hit .229 with a .304 OBP last year. Ouch.

9:22 PM: But Maxwell delivers! Never doubted him! He crushes a high fly ball to left field that bounces on the very top of the wall; the left-fielder has no idea what just happened, two runs score, and Maxwell ends up at third. 2-0 Astros! Hope for bad teams everywhere!

9:30 PM: It's the top of the fifth, the Rangers are losing, and right away John Kruk begins talking about the leadership that the Rangers are lacking with Michael Young no longer around. Hilariously ridiculous.

OH MY GOD WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT MICHAEL YOUNG.
— Colin Wyers (@cwyers) April 1, 2013

9:40 PM: Bottom of the fifth, and more Astros runs! Ronny Cedeno slaps a ball into right field that Nelson Cruz misplays (stop me if you've heard this before), pushing the lead to 3-0. Then Jose Altuve singles home another run. 4-0. It's a rout! Derek Lowe is warming in the bullpen for the Rangers, which is the baseball equivalent of a white flag. Strange outing for Matt Harrison.

9:56 PM: The Rangers have finally arrived. A Kinsler walk and Berkman single has runners on the corners with one out. Adrian Beltre to the plate -- and he lines a bullet right at the pitcher. Everything's coming up Astros.

10:01 PM: Until now. David Murphy gets the Rangers' first run home with a single to right. Then Nelson Cruz knocks in another run with a single past the shortstop. All with two outs. Suddenly it's 4-2 and Bud Norris is out. In comes ... Erik Bedard. Once an ace, now exiled to the Astros' bullpen. He could never stay healthy. Interesting idea by Houston, using him out of the bullpen. He gets his team out of the jam.

10:13 PM: In the bottom of the sixth, Harrison gets his ninth strikeout (of Carlos Pena ... again). But he puts two runners on with two outs and gets yanked. For some reason, Rangers manager Ron Washington is bringing in Derek Lowe here. Really? Derek Lowe is little more than a long man at this point. Using your worst pitcher in one of the game's most important situations may not end well.

10:24 PM: Sure enough: three-run home run. By Rick Ankiel, of all people. That's what you get when you bring in Derek Lowe in a key situation. 7-2 Astros. Ron Washington, will you ever learn?

10:41 PM: After the Rangers go down without making noise in the top of the seventh, Lowe gets replaced by Jason Frasor, who retires the side in the bottom of the inning. Frasor is actually a competent reliever. Was he really a worse option than Lowe in the sixth? Still struggling to understand the logic ...

10:44 PM: Top of the eighth, Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez makes a sweet play fielding a tough ground ball and throwing to first on the run for the out. It's players like Dominguez that the Astros are wisely trying to stockpile. They got him from the Marlins last summer by trading away a half-season of the overpaid Carlos Lee. He's cheap, young, plays excellent defense at third, and even hit a little in his major league debut last year. The Astros are throwing so many darts at prospects like Dominguez that eventually a few are going to hit.

10:47 PM: Bedard retires the side again. Seven consecutive outs and looking strong, too. Is he on his way to the rare three-inning save? That would be a pretty cool move by new Astros manager Bo Porter, who's looking for his first-ever win.

10:53 PM: Justin Maxwell gets his second triple of the game down the right-field line (with an assist from a Rangers defense that has looked atrocious tonight). Maxwell will never take a walk, but he's got serious power and is a safe bet to lead the Astros in home runs this year. He's also on pace for 324 triples, so there's that.

10:55 PM: Speaking of horrendous defense ... with Maxwell on third and two outs, Dominguez dribbles a grounder up the middle that Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler just whiffed on. The run scores. 8-2. Kinsler was clearly missing Michael Young's leadership on that play.

11:00 PM: Top of the ninth and Bedard is still out there to finish this thing off. Love the move. Managers are too wedded to the idea of using certain relievers in certain innings. From the looks of this, Bo Porter will be a bit more flexible. That makes sense, considering the Astros are one of the most forward-thinking organizations in baseball (even if their players suck).

11:08 PM: Astros win! Fireworks are going off! They're in first place! Bo Porter is undefeated as a major league manager! Unfortunately, this may be he high point of Houston's season. But at least for one night, the Astros were winners on national television. They deserved this victory. There won't be many of them in 2013.

What Futility Looks Like, Mathematically Speaking

31 days ago, the Houston Astros were 32-44.

Their record now is 34-68.

Who Would You Take?

You're in charge of the Houston Astros. Your team has one of the weakest major league rosters in the league. Your farm system is mostly barren. Next year, you'll share a division with the rising powers in the AL West, the Rangers and Angels. You're years and years away from competing for a championship, and you're in desperate need of impact talent. Today, you're in charge of making the first overall pick of the MLB Draft. There is no obvious pick out there, no Bryce Harpers or Stephen Strasburgs for the taking. You also can't afford to screw up such an important decision.

Who would you take?

Player A: High school shortstop from Puerto Rico. Shot up draft boards very recently to become a near-certain top-5 pick. He's already a fantastic hitter despite being just 17 years old. He might not be fast enough to stick at short, though his bat is still good enough to be elite at third base if a switch becomes necessary. But beware: the last two high school position players to be selected first overall were Tim Beckham and Matt Bush; both were shortstops, too, and both were spectacular busts.

Player B: Right-handed college pitcher. Unlike Player A, he has long been viewed as a candidate for the first overall pick, and is seen as a very safe selection. With the frame of a workhorse starter and three solid pitches, he won't need much time in the minors before reaching Houston. The concerns rest in his heavy college workload, and the potential implications for his arm. Examples of "safe" college pitchers like Player B who were taken #1 overall include David Price, but also Bryan Bullington.

Player C: High school outfielder from the South. Possibly the most talented player in the draft, featuring all five tools. While raw, he's blazing fast, has a strong arm, and could be an all-time great at the major league level. He could also end up like the last can't-miss high school outfielder selected first overall: Delmon Young.

Player D: College catcher. He's both a strong defender behind the plate, and one of the better hitters in all of college baseball. Good power at a premium position is something few teams could pass on, even if Player D doesn't have the star upside as the other candidates for the first overall pick.

Player E: Right-handed high school pitcher. With a dominant fastball that was clocked at 100 mph and developing secondary pitches, he has the potential to become an ace in the majors and the best pitcher from this draft class. The problem? He strained his ulnar collateral ligament back in March and hasn't pitched since. That makes him the biggest risk/reward pick in the entire draft.

So who do you take?

Pitching or hitting? High school or college? Player A (Carlos Correa) because he was born in 1994 and has pure hitting ability at a premium position? Player B (Mark Appel) because he can reach the majors quickly and pitch at a high level once he arrives? Player C (Byron Buxton) because he might become Ken Griffey Jr.? Player D (Mike Zunino) because he's a safe pick in a draft defined by volatility and randomness? Or Player E (Lucas Giolito) because his untimely injury might just be a minor obstacle in his path to becoming one of MLB's most dominant pitchers?

It's a tough choice, and one the Astros can't afford to screw up. Reports indicate that they're going to take Mark Appel, which makes sense given that he's relatively safe while simultaneously offering good upside. And yet, there's still room to question that pick: Appel doesn't appear to be significantly better than the other college pitchers available, like Kevin Gausman and Kyle Zimmer. If he's not clearly the best player at his own position, then does he deserve to be selected first overall, ahead of potential stars like Buxton and Correa?

I don't know. Nobody does. That's the great part about the MLB Draft--no one really knows what they're doing. It's hardly a popular event, but it's a fascinatingly random one filled with nuance, quirks, steals, busts, and pure guesses. The Astros are on the clock, and I don't envy them.

Brad Mills: (Micro)Manager of the Astros

With two outs in the seventh inning of Monday night's game between the Astros and Mets, Houston manager Brad Mills pulled starter Bud Norris from the game after 108 pitches. Needing four measly outs to bridge the gap to closer Brett Myers and the ninth inning, Mills unleashed the following parade of relief pitchers:

-Wilton Lopez enters the game, only faces Ruben Tejada (1 pitch)
-Wesley Wright enters the game, only faces Daniel Murphy (1 pitch)
-Brandon Lyon enters the game, only faces David Wright (7 pitches)
-Fernando Abad enters the game, only faces Ike Davis (2 pitches)
-Fernando Rodriguez enters the game, only faces Travis Buck (2 pitches)

For you counters out there, that's five different relief pitchers to face five different hitters. They combined to get four outs, after Bud Norris got the first 20 all by himself like a big boy. When Brett Myers entered the game in the ninth inning, the streak was extended to six different pitchers for six hitters, but then (plot twist!) Myers was allowed to face the next two batters and close out the 4-3 win.

Had the game gone to extra innings, Mills might have regretted burning five of his relievers on a combined total (combined! total!) of 13 pitches. But hey, the Astros won, which doesn't happen very often anymore. Can't argue with results. Except when you can.

MLB Season Preview: Houston Astros

Last and perhaps least, the Houston Astros: now under new management.

The Astros have hit rock-bottom partly because
of unwise contracts, like the one given to Carlos Lee.

Offense: Gone are Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn, and Lance Berkman, leaving the Astros' lineup completely unrecognizable. The only familiar name is once-good, now-not-so-much slugger Carlos Lee, mercifully in the final year of his bloated contract and a perpetual trade candidate. The rest of the roster is Triple-A fodder, from former top prospects fallen out of favor (Jed Lowrie, Jordan Schafer, and Jason Castro) to nameless faces like Chris Snyder, Brian Bogusevic, and Marwin Gonzalez. The only players that have a slight chance of being on the next winning Astros team are promising left fielder J.D. Martinez and diminutive second baseman Jose Altuve. The two will be hotly competing against each other to be the Astros' token All-Star Game representative.

Wandy Rodriguez is the epitome
of the unheralded starting pitcher.

Pitching: The Carlos Lee of the pitching staff (as in, the only recognizable name) is Wandy Rodriguez, who, like Lee, is making big money and could get traded this summer. If that happens, the rotation's lone mainstay would be Bud Norris and his potentially-good strikeout numbers. The rest of the staff is just a collection of warm bodies: Kyle Wieland, J.A. Happ, and Lucas Harrell are barely worthy of being in the majors. Triple-A arm Jordan Lyles, one of the few recent success stories for Houston's farm system, could likely outpitch all three of them. For whatever reason, the Astros decided to convert Brett Myers back into a closer, so at least there's that to look forward to.

Jose Altuve: considerably shorter than his teammates.

Breakout Candidates: It looks like the big bright spot for the 2012 Astros will be Jose Altuve. Listed as 5 feet, 5 inches, the second baseman has shown impressive contact skills and is hitting .378 with 10 extra-base hits and four steals in April.

3 Key Questions: Will the Astros unload Carlos Lee and Wandy Rodriguez for something of value? Do former prospects like Lowrie and Schafer have anything to offer? And who will the new Astros front office select with the first overall pick in June's MLB Draft?

Best Case Scenario: Altuve and Martinez enjoy breakout seasons, the contracts of Lee and Rodriguez are sent packing, the pitching is merely dreadful rather than pathetic, and the Cubs are so terrible that the Astros don't finish last in the NL Central.

Worst Case Scenario: The Astros are just as bad as we think they are, finishing in dead last and getting the #1 overall pick in the draft for the second consecutive year.

Predicted Finish: Thanks to the Cubs and Padres, the Astros might not actually end up with the worst record in baseball. But with little major league talent, a shattered farm system, and the impending move to the AL West, their rebuilding effort will be a formidable uphill climb.