The race for the 1st overall pick in 2014

1. Astros 36-71
2. White Sox 40-66
3. Marlins 42-65

Through 107 games, the Astros have an MLB-leading 1,003 strikeouts. They’re the first team in baseball history to strike out at least 1,000 times in 107 contests, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Astros broke a record held by the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks, who took 109 games to hit 1,000. The rebuilding Astros (36-71) are on pace to break Arizona’s MLB record of 1,529 strikeouts in a season.

The Astros’ Chris Carter leads baseball with 144 Ks, averaging a strikeout in every 2.33 at-bats.

Tonight, the Astros play at Minnesota against a team not quite as bad but not good either, the 45-60 Twins.
A good pitching matchup: Jarred Cosart (1-0, 0.86 ERA) versus Samuel Deduno (7-4, 3.18 ERA)

The White Sox will try to end their current 7-game losing streak at Detroit, which is unlikely, but who knows.
The Marlins are hosting the Indians: Jose Fernandez (7-5, 2.71 ERA) versus Ubaldo Jimenez (8-5, 4.17 ERA)
You may as well pencil in the White Sox for 8 losses in a row. The Astros and Marlins both have a chance to win tonight.

Jarred Cosart (1-0, 0.96 ERA) should be 4-0 after 4 MLB starts. Only three earned runs allowed in 28 innings.

1. Astros 36-72
2. White Sox 40-67
3. Marlins 43-65
4. Brewers 46-63

Twins beat the Astros, 4-3 in 13 innings, Marlins beat the Indians 10-0 and the White Sox lost 2-1 against the Tigers. The White Sox have now lost 8 games in a row and they appear to be our deepest challenge for the top pick. But we're going to keep losing our fair share of games and now only have 54 games left to play this season.

We still have a five-game lead in the loss column. The Brewers may soon pass the Marlins for the third worst record the way it looks.

Rookie Jarred Cosart continues to shine. Another 7 innings pitched tonight, only 1 earned run and 5 hits allowed. This time he had a better 4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. He's not a high K guy, pitches to contact for quicker innings, but he's an elite groundball pitcher and can get double plays when needed.

Jarred Cosart is now 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in four MLB starts. He has been cheated by our lack of offense and should be 4-0
But the Astros have given him three no-decisions, and lost all three of those games instead. It really is a shame.

I envision Jarred Cosart as our long-term number three starter, behind Mark Appel and Carlos Rodon, if we're lucky enough to draft him number one overall next June. We obviously will have some pitching riches in the rotation but still need to improve our hitting and bullpen. We've got enough top quality prospects from within the organization to improve the offense when the time is right.

Obviously, the Astros are not going to be big players in free agency this winter. But maybe the following winter.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Aug 3 2013 02:22am

All four teams had a losing Saturday. Astros lost 6-4. White Sox lost 3-0, Marlins lost 4-3 and the Brewers lost 3-0.

1. Astros 36-73
2. White Sox 40-68
3. Marlins 43-66
4. Brewers 46-64

The White Sox have lost 9 games in a row now. Jeez! I've got my eyes on them but it doesn't matter if we keep losing.

Still a comfortable five-game lead in the loss column for the Astros.

The Twins have the 5th worst record in the Major Leagues, at 47-60, and they're about to sweep us in this three-game series tomorrow afternoon. So I'm not really listing them in the Carlos Rodon sweepstakes, aka the first overall pick in 2014 standings. Simply because their record is too good compared to the other four hapless teams.

Astros just lost 3-2. We were swept by the Twins. LOL

Of course the White Sox lost 3-2 in 12 innings against the Tigers. That's now 10 losses in a row for the White Sox. Wow!
Marlins lost 2-0 against the Indians but the Brewers won 8-6 over the Nationals.

The race for the 1st overall pick in 2014

1. Astros 36-74
2. White Sox 40-69
3. Marlins 43-67
4. Brewers 47-64

The White Sox can keep on losing for all I care. We've still got that comfortable five-game lead in the loss column with 52 games left to play. Since the all-star break, the Astros are 3-13 and the White Sox are 3-14 despite the 10 losses in a row. So it's not like they have really gained much ground on us.

I'm sorry White Sox, but Carlos Rodon is ours! You ain't going to get him so tank all you want.

Red Sox are not leaving Houston with an easy three-game sweep that was expected.

The race for the 1st overall pick in 2014

1. Astros 37-75
2. White Sox 42-69
3. Marlins 43-68

The White Sox have won 2 games in a row, the Marlins have lost 3 games in a row and the Astros split two games with the Red Sox so far. It all adds up to a comfortable six-game lead in the loss column. I'm just focused on these three teams for now. The Brewers, at 65 losses, are just too far behind to worry about with the 4th worst record.

Tonight's rubber game: Jarred Cosart (1-0, 0.96 ERA) versus Ryan Dempster (6-8, 4.54 ERA)

I usually cheer for the talented Cosart to shine but I'm already put off by his three no-decisions thanks to a lack of run support in his four MLB starts. I'm not going to feel too bad if he picks up another no-decision or even loses his first career big league start tonight. At this point, I want to run away with the top pick in next June's draft as quick as possible. The sooner we have Carlos Rodon in the organization the better off we'll be.

I kind of wish the Astros had just left Jarred Cosart in the minor leagues the rest of this year so he could have came up fresh in spring training, along with other top prospects; Mark Appel, George Springer and Jonathan Singleton. Bringing up the young talent so slowly and so far apart is merely putting a band-aid on a big wound that needs surgery.

There are only 50 games left to play for the Astros this season. I'm just ready for the 2013 season to come to an end.
I feel excited after every game ends because I know it's another game closer to fielding a competitive team in 2014.

The Astros' 2013 run differential is a dismal -165. Putting how horrible that is into perspective...
The second worst team are the Phillies at -87, followed by the Marlins (-86) and the White Sox (-79)
Nobody is even close to the Astros in terms of being out-scored this season. Another 15-10 loss last night.

It's not his first career MLB start Btw.

Do you mean Jarred Cosart? It's going to be his 5th tonight.


I implied that I don't care if he loses his first career big league start tonight. I meant it in the sense that it would be his first loss.

I could have worded it better.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Aug 7 2013 06:21am

Much better.
Your sentence says you wouldn't care that hour loses his first start EVER. Which is long since ended.

Should read "I wouldn't care if he gets his first career big league loss."
English bro, you post enough to know it.

This post was edited by xVitality on Aug 7 2013 06:25am

The first loss in his career may happen tonight. I foolishly predicted 10-0 with an ERA under 3 for him (looking okay on the ERA one), but with three no-decisions the 10-0 record is out of the question already. I wish he wouldn't blow his rookie eligibility on this sad excuse for a roster. I'd have felt better with him being called up in September, making four or so starts, and still classifying as a rookie going into 2014. I think the Astros' -165 run differential is on par with the worst team of all-time. I'd have to look into that and google it later.

Worst run differential that I could find. And mind you, I would just throw out the 1899 Spiders because baseball was way different back then.

1899 Cleveland Spiders 529 runs scored, 1252 runs allowed (-723)

1932 Red Sox, 566 runs scored, 915 runs allowed (-349)

2003 Tigers, 591 runs scored, 928 runs allowed (-337)

Only the modern era matters to me though. I guess we compare quite favorably to that 2003 Tigers team that went 43-119. But it's going to be close beating out their -337 run differential. We would have to get our brains beat in every night in these final 50 games. I'm not sure if we'll top that.

Also that 43-119 record of the 2003 Tigers is going to be hard to match. At 37-75, we can only win six more games this year to tie them. Looking at our remaining schedule, I can realistically see close to 10 more wins in our final 50 games.