Mills impressed by Paulino, C-Lo

Part of Fallas' Notes column this morning sees Brad Mills impressed by Felipe Paulino and Chia-Jen Lo:

On Paulino:
(He) threw the ball pretty well. To have the velocity he has and to have the command he had today was the biggest thing.”

On C-Lo:
The ball came out of his hand really well. It had some good life on it and a really good finish. That's good to see, especially with this being his first live (batting practice).”

So an exercise in age and numbers here, if you will. Last year the average Opening Day age of the pitching staff throwing in at least 20 games was 31.4 (15 pitchers). That's pretty old.

The Astros have rid themselves (through pink slips or retirement) of Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton, LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Valverde, Doug Brocail, whose average age was 36. We can't predict who will throw 20 games, but if we can reasonably expect the following:

Roy Oswalt (32)
Wandy Rodriguez (31)
Brett Myers (31)
Bud Norris (25)
Felipe Paulino (26)

Tim Byrdak (36)
Chris Sampson (32)
Alberto Arias (26)
Jeff Fulchino (30)
Brandon Lyon (30)
Matt Lindstrom (30)
Brian Moehler (38)
Wesley Wright (25)
Sam Gervacio (25)

This is, admittedly, a projection based on 2009, and doesn't take into account that Wesley Wright could very well be sent to Round Rock to become a starting pitcher. ANYway, with this loose list, the average Opening Day age is 27.6.