Fun with Numbers

29: Houston’s league rank in OPS and SLG%

28: Houston’s league rank in Batting Average, OBP, and Homeruns

27: Houston’s league rank in Hits and Runs

22: Houston’s league rank in WHIP

20: Houston’s league rank in ERA

.285: Highest average on the team. Sadly belongs to Jeff Keppinger

.348: Highest OBP on team. Also belongs to Keppinger.

That wasn’t a typo. Jeff Keppinger really does have the highest AVG and OBP on the team.

60: Wins for Houston so far this season

52: Expected wins for Houston so far this season

So despite not hitting anything and really not pitching well at all, the Astros have managed to play 8 games above their expected place according to the pythagorean theorem of baseball. Does this mean Brad Mills is doing a much better job managing than you might think? Maybe. The Astros are currently on pace for a 74-88 finish. If you told me at the beginning of the year the Astros would trade away their best pitcher (Roy Oswalt) and best hitter (Lance Berkman) and finish close to dead last in nearly every statistical category, I would have certainly agreed with you. If you had told me the Astros would trade away Oswalt and Berkman, and finish near last in almost every statistical category yet still win 74 games? I would probably say I hope Brad Mills gets an extension. The Astros have undoubtedly benefited from a good deal of luck this season but with a run differential of -106 and sitting only 10 games behind the Cardinals and the almighty Tony La Russa who have a run differential of +92? You have to give Mills some credit. Mike Scoscia consistently manages his team ahead of their pythagorean projections and deservedly gets lauded. If Houston keeps this up, I simply hope people notice.