Obviously slow starts are on my mind. So I got to wondering if this was normal among the personnel the Astros have used this season. Below is a list of the most active Astros who have seen time this season, and their career March/April OPS (and their rank among other months):
Geoff Blum's career April OPS: .601 (6th/last)
Michael Bourn: .631 (5th)
Pedro Feliz: .692 (4th)
Jeff Keppinger: .869 (1st)
Carlos Lee: .808 (6th)
Kaz Matsui: .699 (4th)
Hunter Pence: .690 (6th)
J.R. Towles: .733 (2nd)
Aha. So this tells us that the Astros are fielding a team who take the first month of the season to get used to playing again, as Jeff Keppinger is the only Astro that April is his "best" month of the season. Blum, Lee, and Pence all post the worst OPS' of their respective seasons in the month of April. So...
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
