Carlos Lee takes the blame, and that's fine

Carlos Lee feels personally responsible for the Astros' slow start - and that's fine by me.

Lee:
"We're struggling right now trying to score runs, and I take full blame, because I've been in big spots in a lot of games and I haven't been able to come up with the big hit...My swing is feeling a lot better and I'm hitting the ball hard and putting good swings on the ball. I'm not doing anything differently or changing my swing. I'm trying to find rhythm. That's the problem right now. I don't know how you lose it like that. It's funny. I came out of Spring Training swinging the bat real well and all of a sudden somebody turned the lights on and turned mine off. I guess it's a matter of finding the spot and not being too far out front or too far back. I need to find the middle spot and get there to help the team."

That's correct, Carlos Lee. Not counting today's game vs Chicago, Lee has had 36 plate appearances. In only five plate appearances has he even seen a three-ball count. He's 0x10 with RISP. In innings 4-9, he's 2x25. I'm okay with him claiming some responsibility.

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And there's the backhanded slam of Cecil Cooper and Dewey Robinson, courtesy of Chris Sampson:

"I feel even better than I did the first half of last season. With Arnsberg and Mills this year, they understand you can't run guys out there every single day and for multiple innings every single day and they're a lot easier to talk to. They want you to be completely honest with them and let them know how you feel because they don't want to run you out there if you're not feeling right. It's not going to help players, not going to help the team if you're not 100 percent. They do a great job with all of us, using everybody in the bullpen and getting everybody in games and getting them innings and do a great job of mixing it up. It's just a heck of a lot better atmosphere, and it's a lot of fun to play for them."

Bam.