In Game 2 of the Nationals series, the Astros will face...
*6'0" 200lb, 26-year old LHP Gio Gonzalez.
*Gonzalez played for Hialeah (FL) High School, winning two state championships in his first three seasons.
*Gonzalez was the 38th overall pick by the White Sox in 2004, and was the PTBNL in the 2005 trade between Chicago and Philadelphia that send Jim Thome to the White Sox for Aaron Rowand.
*He was traded by Ed Wade back to the White Sox almost exactly one year later, with Gavin Floyd for Freddy Garcia. Which is typical, because Gonzalez led the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2007.
*As the White Sox' #1 prospect heading into 2008, Gonzalez was traded once again in January 2008 to Oakland with Ryan Seeney and Fautino De Los Santos for Nick Swisher.
*And of course Gonzalez was traded by Oakland to Washington this past off-season for four prospects, and signed a 5-year extension for $42m through 2016, with club options for 2017 and 2018.
*In two starts for the Nationals, Gonzalez has thrown 10.2IP, 9H4ER, with 13K:3BB. However, in his last start, on April 12, Gonzalez went 7IP, 2H/0ER, 7K:0BB, with 33 of his 64 strikes coming as non-contact strikes.
*Of current Astros, Gonzalez has only faced Jed Lowrie (3x8, HR, 2K:1BB) and Matt Downs(1x5) in his career.
*Wandy Rodriguez takes the hill to complete the battle of left-handed dominance. He's 0-1 in two starts, with 11.1IP, 12H/3ER, 7K:3BB. Still, five of the 54 batters Wandy has faced in 2012 have reached by error.
*Over the past three seasons, Wandy is 2-0 against Washington with 17.1IP, 18H/7ER, 21K:5BB.
*Among Nationals with 10+ PA, Mark DeRosa has a 1.120 OPS (9x28, 2HR, 4K:5BB) against Wandy, and Ryan Zimmerman has a 1.086 OPS. Rick Ankiel is 0x11, while Jayson Werth is 3x10 with 3Ks.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
