Hampton has been a nice little surprise for the Astros - and at the same time a huge sigh of relief, so far, for Ed Wade. First start, April 10 @ St. Louis, Hampton threw 92 pitches to 24 batters, and only got 15 of them out, walking 4 and strking out 5. Second start, April 15 @ Pittsburgh, Hampton shined, throwing 95 pitches to 22 batters, striking out eight and walking one.
Let's have a gander at Hampton so far this season:
11IP, 8H, 3ER, 13K:5BB. 0HR. 2.46 ERA/ 1.18 WHIP
Lefties are hitting .294, Righties a silly .130. And this is interesting: when Hampton gets out to a 1-0 start, batters hit .083 (1x12); When Hampton throws a first-pitch strike, batters hit .318 (7x22).
Bronson Arroyo
And the Astros will face rock star, and sometime pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo has been dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome. Just so you know. Draw your own conclusions from that. After 0-1, batters are hitting 5x26 (.192); after 1-0, batters have hit 5x14 (.357) so far this season.
2008 splits:
| 2009 | 2-0 | 4.38 ERA/1.46 WHIP | 1 HR | 7K:6BB |
| vs NYM | 1W | 6IP | 8H/5ER | 4K:2BB |
| @ MIL | 1W | 6.1IP | 4H/1ER | 3K:4BB |
2008 splits:
| Away | 7-4 | 5.76 ERA/1.66 WHIP | 15 HR | 67K:35BB |
| vs. HOU | 1-3 | 6.12 ERA/1.40 WHIP | 2 HR | 18K:7BB |
| Apr 23 H | L | 3.2IP | 10H/8ER | 5K:1BB |
| July 29 A | L | 6.1IP | 8H/6ER | 3K:0BB |
| Aug 9 H | L | 6IP | 5H/2ER | 7K:4BB |
| Aug 26 A | W | 9IP | 5H/1ER | 3K:2BB |
A reminder: I only select players with at least 5 ABs.
| Arroyo vs. | HxAB | BA/OBP/SLG | HR-RBI | K:BB |
| Matsui | 4x8 | .500/.556/.500 | 0-2 | 1:1 |
| Tejada | 11x27 | .407/.448/.741 | 2-6 | 4:2 |
| Lee | 10x28 | .357/.455/.571 | 1-8 | 6:4 |
| Pence | 5x15 | .333/.412/.667 | 0-3 | 3:2 |
| Berkman | 12x38 | .316/.435/.632 | 4-12 | 2:6 |
| Pudge | 1x6 | .167/.167/.167 | 0-0 | 2:0 |
| Bourn | 1x6 | .167/.286/.167 | 0-0 | 2:1 |
| Blum | 1x19 | .053/.100/.053 | 0-0 | 4:0 |
