Springer’s First Game Almost Shows It All

As the Astros fell in an unsatisfying 6-4 eleven inning loss to the not quite as lowly KC Royals – I know that everyone watching from the Astros’ fan side was hoping for last minute heroics by newbie George Springer in his major league debut. We saw a lot, but not that….

Watching the debut we saw the long awaited outfielder:

  • Get on base 2 of the first 3 times up, being caught by a whisper in the other at-bat
  • Work the counts long and often
  • Ultimately not get a ball out of the infield
  • Have 1 more hit in his debut than Bagwell, Biggio and Berkman combined
  • Draw a walk – which he did often in the minors
  • Whiff twice which he did often(er) in the minors
  • Score the Astros 1st run in front of a Jason Castro opposite field Crawford Box special
  • Make some routine plays in right field
  • Look like a veteran as he avoided being doubled off first on a line drive
  • Look like a rookie as he was picked off first base on an early break to 2nd
  • Look like a veteran as he was picked off first (Jose Altuve was picked off later in the game in a more crucial spot in the 10th inning)
  • End up 1 for 5 with 1 run scored. His one hit traveled about 1/3 of the way to third base, but he showed off his tremendous speed on the play

The biggest thing George Springer may have brought to Minute Maid last night was hope and anticipation. We really cared to see what he could and would do every time up at the bat and that is something that the fans needed the most out of this game and out of this team.

So what did you see or hear last night in Mr. Springer’s first game?

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46 responses to “Springer’s First Game Almost Shows It All”

  1. I heard Iheart Radio’s feed from KBME cut off by a blackout as Springer stolled to the plate for his first MLB a bat. Had to follow the rest of the game on Gameday.

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    • Sorry Old Pro – I’m one of the lucky living in a Comcast area. He looked like a major leaguer. He did over swing some – but he showed very good patience laying off some off speed stuff just off the plate. He can really move down the line – made me think back to the first game I saw Cesar Cedeno play where he beat out a bunt that ended up leading us to a game winning rally.
      Hope this Comcast crap goes away soon – but I’m not feeling it.

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    • Maybe you can youtube it and see his ABs??? Probably mlb has that under wraps. Sorry, Steven – a shame some of the best fans are blocked out.

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  3. Springer looked great in an Astro Uniform..He looked focused ,fast, and mature for his age. Getting picked off, sort of a big day in his life gaff. I guess the downer is we are 5-10-.333 and going out on the road to what Seattle and Oakland. i was hoping for 75 wins this year, I’m not sure we are going to make that. We have to get Altuve out of the 4 hole period!

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    • I guess what I would say Kevin is that at least the team is not getting blown out in games. But they go such long stretches without offense and they keep losing base runners when they do get them on.
      I don’t like Altuve in the 4 hole but it is not like it is hurting us since there is no one earning the cleanup spot. Our cleanup guy may be named Singleton who is tearing it up down below.

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      • Well, for now, I’d put Springer at three, with Altuve hitting second and Castro at 4th against righties and Guzman hitting fourth against lefties. Guzman? Yeah, he seems to be swinging the bat as well as anyone right now, although it has not paid off to date.

        That said, I’m not even sure if Porter has control over the line up at this point. The computer might be squirting out the order based on all the stuff the geek squad plugs into it each day.

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      • Daveb, if that’s the case, luhnow has employed the world’s worst programmers. I’d volunteer to fix it, but doubt Crane would accept my asking price.

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  4. How does a team who had 4 errors win a baseball game? That team did just that last night, and all I got to do is hear it. Didn’t get to see Springer, but the radio guys were pretty impressed. Have a blessed Easter, everyone. I’m off to “Crawfish Country” for the holidays!

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    • Becky – they just did not make them pay last night – that was the unsatisfying part of it.
      Oh well – really have a blessed Easter yourself and travel carefully!

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  5. One side note – if 10 years from now people tell you they were at this game – ask them to show you a ticket stub. I don’t know what the announced crowd was – but the cameras had to work hard to find clumps of folks to focus on…..

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  6. By the way everyone here Happy Easter and Thanks Chip, Dan, and Brian for this blog. Its keeps me sane and nice to have just die hards having a nice chat about our Astros with out any ugliness.

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    • Thank you Kevin – we all hope you have a great Easter weekend – what we write about is fluff – but the kind of fluff that gives people a respite from the rest of the world, normally. And what we write about would not matter if we did not have fine folks checking in and throwing in their two, three or four cents worth.

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  7. I liked what I saw overall, but he seemed to be pressing at the plate in his last at-bat. The base running goof was dumb, but I’ll get over it. I’m sure he was tired from no sleep the night before and all the excitement.

    He looks here to stay.

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    • Yes – I thought he looked like he belonged – but like you said was pressing that last AB to tie up the game – a natural thing to happen I think.

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  8. he will be fine. im sure alittle first game jitters and adrenaline. singleton comes up somewhere around april 24th homestand? just a guess.

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      • pseudo is hard to find unless you can come up with a barrel of methylamine….
        i wish dan, i expect his salary is just a bit bigger than mine. no inside info, just that his arb clock passes on the 19th and thats the first homestand afterward. although from looking at what luhnow has said about him not having a track record yet in the minors, i wouldnt place any money on it. just a feeling since our first basement arent hitting with any consistency.

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      • I believe that Jon singleton has a minor league track record. Sixth year and over 2000 PAs. If he had any more of a track record he’d be eligible for Social Security. Luhnow was blowing smoke with that one.

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      • oldpro i misquoted luhnow a bit. i said doesnt have a track record, luhnow said doesnt have the triple-a track record springer has. so my bad. i still hope its partially smoke and we see singleton in late april.

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    • Is OK – well I have to agree that the first basemen are not hitting with consistency, but you have to agree they are missing with great consistency….

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      • Sorry about the RA – Billy C.

        Both rj and Billy C – as far as Altuve batting cleanup – I mean when you are built like Jose Altuve – it is just natural for the manager to picture “Cleanup Hitter”….

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  11. I’ve never seen a major league team look so stupid so frequently. When you’re playing tight, you make more mistakes. Sometimes this stuff only goes away when the manager goes away. If this bone headed play keeps up a couple more weeks, my favorite manager might not make it to the All Star break.

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    • Fowler looked like Sonny Liston on that double and Dominguez just waltzed into an easy out at second. I like the way Springer backed up Fowler and got the ball in to villar who gunned him down at home.
      I don’t mind Springer looking overmatched against Shields because the entire team looks overmatched.

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    • I’ve been at Holy Thursday services – so it looks I missed…..nothing as far as the game goes.
      Yes – this team runs into too many outs, makes too many silly plays in the field and seems to get dumber as far as hitting goes all along the way.
      Yes – they play tight – like they think they will be replaced by some minor leaguer soon….well maybe they do have a reason for acting this way.

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  12. I’m so over Carter it’s sad. I view him as a science experiment gone wrong…like instead of combining the contact ability of Tony Gwynn with the power of Adam Dunn and the speed of Rickey Henderson, we got the contact ability of Adam Dunn, the power of Rey Ordonez, and the speed of Tony Eusebio.

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    • I just don’t understand how he can just look like he has no idea how to hit a baseball so often. He looks like his bat is on medium speed no matter what speed the baseball is thrown.

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  13. Oh and I guess as part of the minor league youth movement up to the majors – 36 year old Raul Valdes takes Chapman’s place on the 25 man as the token lefty reliever.

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    • Not too many options in the system ready to come up. I think Luhnow gets a bad grade for not having been able or willing to go out and get a reliable lefty or two for the pen. Sure they are in short supply, but to have Valdes as the best option only 16 games into the season is poor planning.

      I’ve not seen Dominguez do such a dumb thing on the bases before. He’s not going down anytime soon. Teams play as they are led. Maybe Bo is getting tight, knowing that his own job is on the line.

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      • Daveb as I remember he also had Downs and Owens in camp but maybe he thought Keuchel would be in the pen not the rotation or maybe he thought he would pick someone up off waivers. Whatever – it is not a good situation

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  14. Kike Hernandez had two hits and 2 BB and Nick Tropeano threw 3.2 scoreless innings tonight in a 3-2 loss for OKC. Don’t know why Darin Downs was brought in for the 10th and 11th but he sucked and they lost.
    CC got beat and nobody hit except Preston Tucker w/ a HR and a 2B. The entire rest of the team totalled 3 hits which was half of the hits Brady Rodgers gave up in his 3.1 innings alone. Rodgers gets the 3-2 loss in relief.
    Quad Cities lost 5-0 and nobody hit anything but a few singles and nobody pitched except Sanudo , who started and went 4 innings and gave up no runs on 3 hits. But in our system, you pull the good pitchers and put in the tandem guy who blows up the game for you.
    Lancaster completes the total drubbing for the organization with an 8-4 loss to High Desert. Three of the runs Lancaster scored came on wild pitches and walks in one inning. Chris Devenski and Josh Hader got pounded on the hill. Brandon Meredith had two hits and 2 BB for the Jethawks.
    Tonight the Astros org goes 0-5.
    I actually was able to watch tonight’s Royals broadcast on Fox Sports on Dish. Have no idea how that happened but it was miserable to watch. James Shields was the puppetmaster and we were bloody awful.
    Someone commented that Springer had the highest batting average on the entire team during the game and had yet to get a ball out of the infield in his MLB career.

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    • Thanks again, oldpro. The kids in the minors are the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal season ( yet again ) sigh

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      • The other bright spot Sandy is that this is the first season where so many of the best prospects are in the upper half of the organization. The future is getting closer.

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