Chris Carter is hitting .225 with a team high 29 home runs and 79 RBIs in 2013.
He hits the same versus left-handed and right-handed pitchers: .225 against both.

He hits .278 on the road (updated) and .167 at home. He leads all of baseball with 205 strikeouts.
But striking out is something he does equally as well: 104 at home and 101 on the road.



It's not uncommon for power hitters to strike out a lot. Chris Davis is second in the Majors with 195 strikeouts but he's hitting .286 on the year with 52 home runs and 136 RBIs. If only Chris Carter could hit the same way at home that he does on the road we'll have a legitimate middle-of-the-order guy. I'm not sure if he'll be able to cut down on his strikeouts since he's an aggressive hitter.

Chris Carter is 26 years old and obviously going to be a part of our team moving forward. I'm not sure I want him as an everyday first baseman in 2014. He could DH but he has to hit a lot better than .225. But if we plan to play him at first base we need to sign a respectable DH in free agency this winter.

Somebody better than Carlos Pena and Rick Ankiel - two signings we made last off-season that just didn't pan out for us.
Those two guys hit .207 and .188 respectively and couldn't even keep a roster spot on the worst team in baseball.

I think we have the makings of a very good top three in our lineup in 2014: Jonathan Villar, Jose Altuve and George Springer, who I expect to make the team as our everyday center fielder out of spring training. We will need to improve the middle of our lineup - 4,5,6 hitters. I'm okay with Chris Carter (29 homers) hitting 5 and Matt Dominguez (20 homers) hitting 6 if we had a legitimate four hitter who could also hit for a high batting average.

I wish we could sign a veteran DH like Lance Berkman to hit cleanup but with all of his injuries I think he should just retire. He turns 38 years old in February as well. I'm not even sure if the Rangers will try and bring him back for 2014. Left fielder Robbie Grossman, who showed some serious potential before getting hurt in early September, could end up being a middle-of-the-order hitter. We'll have to see how that plays out.

Our goal is to score more runs starting in 2014 so that we have a respectable lineup by 2015. We're going to have a really good starting rotation for the next several years with two first overall picks in Mark Appel (rookie), Carlos Rodon (rookie), Jarred Cosart (1.95 ERA) and Brett Oberholtzer (2.71 ERA). We will need a much improved bullpen as well.

The Astros have the money to improve in free agency. I don't expect them to nickel and dime us like they did last off-season.
At the very least we can afford to sign a couple of good relievers and a legitimate power-hitting DH that is still productive.

Astros just lost 3-2 to the Rangers tonight. 11 losses in a row and a 51-107 record. Only four games left this season.

Chris Carter went 0-for-3 with three more strikeouts (208 on the season) and an RBI off a sacrifice fly. What frustrates me was his last at-bat in the top of the 8th. He struck out swinging on three straight sliders in the dirt. They were lazy and careless swings. That was an inning we ended up stranding runners on first and third base. That's why we keep losing. Our best home run hitter and RBI producer is overrated and hurts us more than he helps.

We need more productive at-bats in those situations. Not three silly hacks at three straight balls in the dirt. If Chris Carter had been patient and worked a 3-0 count, he probably would have gotten a better pitch to hit. But pitchers know he swings at junk in the dirt and don't have to give him anything good to hit.

I'm really torn on Chris Carter. I don't even know if I want him back next year. 29 HRs and 80 RBIs my ass. The dude can't hit when it counts. If he can somehow improve his plate discipline and work on his hitting then maybe he'll become a good player. But I doubt he's going to improve and participate in winter ball.

Ill take carter np.

He's frustrating to watch. All the potential in the world, still 26 years old and about to enter his prime, but too many strikeouts and careless swings. Matt Dominguez hit his 21st home run of the year and his third of the season off Yu Darvish. Those were the two runs we scored tonight. Carter's sacrifice fly in the first inning and Dominguez's solo blast in the sixth inning.

We could have won tonight with one or two more clutch hits. We leave so many runners on base and strike out too much as a team. We left 9 runners on base tonight and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. We struck out 15 more times tonight as a team.

The Rangers also left 9 runners on base but they went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position. That's the difference in a 3-2 game.

I really hope we can pick up a win before the season comes to an end.

I'd hate to end the 2013 season on a 15-game losing streak and 51-111 record.

Wednesday Night's pitching matchup: Dallas Keuchel (6-9, 4.99 ERA) versus Martin Perez (9-5, 3.54 ERA). We'll probably be swept by the Rangers tomorrow night but maybe we can beat the Yankees at home at least once in the final three-game series.



Future Hall of Famer Andy Pettitte, the Houston native who lives in Deer Park, who helped the Astros reach the World Series in 2005 and pitched here for three years, is scheduled to pitch against the Astros on Friday Night. He should receive a standing ovation from the Minute Maid Park crowd. That video was his last Yankees home start. His final MLB start is going to be in Houston which is kind of fitting.

I know you would of loved to get the win with darvish pitching and hey man I woulda loved it too but your right, the astros just are not clutch. In the games played against the indians they get hits np but they almost never capitalize on them and score runs. Most of the runs scored on us came from solo homers. Not to mention the errors on defense, the only reason we won the other night against them was because they threw the ball away twice on one play alowing the indians the get that 2-1 lead that ended in a rainout in the 7th.

Idk man I see a lot of potential in the pitching aswell.. well.. for the most part.

With the little money spent in players this year, imo they will be fun to watch in the years comming.

This post was edited by VidoL on Sep 24 2013 10:26pm

12 losses in a row and a 51-108 record. Only three games left. It's been too long of a season for most Astros fans.

The good news is today is an off day so we can't lose. We may as well finish the season with 15 losses in a row and a 51-111 record. It has a nice ring to it. I expect the Yankees to sweep this three-game series in Houston starting on Friday Night.

A good pitching matchup for Friday Night's game: Brett Oberholtzer (4-4, 2.71 ERA) versus Andy Pettitte (10-11, 3.88 ERA)

Brett Olberholtzer is a young 24-year-old lefty. Maybe Pettitte can teach him a thing or two as a fellow lefty.

Once Andy Pettitte retires this off-season, I'm hoping the Astros can hire him as a special instructor like they did with Roger Clemens last year. Roger Clemens got some good work in with the young pitchers this past spring training. He was especially useful in the development of Jarred Cosart, who had a great rookie season this year (1.95 ERA in 10 starts).

Roger Clemens will get to work with both highly touted right-handers Jarred Cosart again and Mark Appel next spring, before the 2014 season starts.



That was Roger Clemens giving a morning session to the young guys back in late February of this year.

Andy Pettitte can work with some of the young lefties we're going to have. Not just Oberholtzer but 20-year-old Carlos Rodon, who we're going to draft number one overall next June out of NC State. Technically, it would be the 2015 spring training that I hope we have Pettitte as a part of the organization so he can teach the young left-handed pitchers. Unless the Yankees beat us to the punch and hire him first.

Houston is going to be loaded with a talented young starting rotation in the near future. Mark Appel, Carlos Rodon, Jarred Cosart and Brett Oberholtzer: I'm pretty excited about it. Two of them already got their feet wet in the big leagues this year. The other two are pretty close to being Major League ready, but they will face the most pressure being back-to-back first overall picks in the draft. But I'm confident that Appel and Rodon are the real deal.

Any money we spend in free agency this winter is going to be to improve our bullpen and offense. I think we can avoid 100 losses in 2014 and play close to .500 ball in 2015. By 2016, we'll have a winning record and be an exciting and competitive young team to watch. Carlos Correa, our 2012 first overall pick, will probably be playing third base or shortstop for the Astros by the end of the 2014 season or on opening day 2015.

Houston is doing it the right way. Building a strong minor league system with plenty of high-quality prospects.
I believe center fielder George Springer is going to win the 2014 American League rookie of the year award.

Looks like Andy Pettitte will pitch Saturday Night in Houston and not tonight as originally scheduled.

From ESPN.com: "Andy Pettitte will have his scheduled start Friday at Houston pushed back to Saturday, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports. Pettitte will return to his home state of Texas to make the final start of his career. The reasoning for the switch is currently unclear, and the Yankees have yet to announce starters for Friday and Sunday."

Either way, it will be interesting to see if we can end our 12-game losing streak tonight. Houston has planned a pregame ceremony for Sunday's contest to honor Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte, that will include former Yankees manager Joe Torre as well as Roger Clemens.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Sep 27 2013 09:23am

Astros just lost 3-2 to the Yankees. Unbelievable. We can't seem to catch a break. We left the bases loaded in the 7th inning.

13 losses in a row and a 51-109 record. Only two games left and we face Andy Pettitte in the next game on Saturday.

We're going to end the season with a franchise worst 15 losses in a row and a 51-111 record.