2011 Astro Killer All-Stars

Every year, fans will vote for the players who they think should represent the American League or National League. Some fans only pick the biggest names, some fans pick based on performance, and some just vote for their favorite team’s players. I have already put together what I think should be the American League and National League teams.

I was curious to see how different the team would look if I made my picks solely on player’s performance against the Houston Astros.  This is the team I came up with.

Catcher: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves- McCann has five total hits against the Astros and four of those hits were home runs. He hit two home runs on May 17th after not starting the game against the Astros. He hit one home run in the bottom of the ninth and the other came in the form of a walk off in extra innings. For the season he has nine home runs so almost half of his home runs came against the Astros in five total games.

First Base: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies- Howard is hitting .538 against the Astros, going 7 for 13 with 1 home run and six RBI. He did all this in the opening series of the year. Unfortunately for him, lucky for the Astros, they don’t play the Phillies again until September.

Second Base: Neil Walker, Pittsburgh Pirates- Here is a player who won’t be making the All-Star team this year but could if he played the Astros everyday. He is hitting .429 against the Astros with one home run, 4 RBI and six runs scored.

Third Base: Justin Turner, New York Mets- For the year Justin Turner is hitting .285 with two home runs and 28 RBI but loves playing the Astros. He is hitting .318 with one home run and six RBI, playing in six games but starting five of them. All of the RBI though came in a three game series in May.

Shortstop: Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs- Castro has played in six games against the Astros to this point and has had 11 hits with six runs scored, three stolen bases and two RBI. Castro is only 21 and looks like he may be a problem for the Astros for years to come.

Outfield: Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals- This one probably hurts the most for Astros fans. He has played eight games against the Astros this season and has hit five home runs and 12 RBI to date. He also was the one who broke up Bud Norris‘ no-hitter bid on June 8th. He isn’t the last Cardinal on this list.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers- Braun is another division rival who loves playing the Astros. In six games he has hit an impressive .412 with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI. Four of those six games have been multi-hit performances and he has been held hitless only once by the Astros.

Outfield: Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals- He has been dealing with injuries on and off this season but there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him when he plays the Astros. In four games this year, he has seven hits, three runs scored, one home run, five RBI and a crazy .538 batting average.

Starting Pitcher: Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves- Tommy Hanson is arguably one of the top pitchers in the National League but when he pitches against the Astros he looks like a combination of Nolan Ryan and Cy Young. In two starts against the Astros he is 2-0 with 24 strikeouts in 14 innings and gave up only two runs for a 1.29 ERA. He has had double digit strikeouts in each start and had 14 in his last start against the Astros.

Closer: Heath Bell, San Diego Padres- Bell is a perfect 4 for 4 in save opportunities against the Astros this year. He had five strikeouts and only gave up one run in his four appearances. I bet he would like to pitch against the Astros every day.