Brad Mills Sticking Around a Little Longer

In his first season with the Houston Astros, manager Brad Mills led the team to a 76-86 record and 4th place finish in the NL Central. This may not sound like an overwhelmingly successful rookie campaign but it actually far-exceeded expectations. Which has led Houston’s brass to pick up Mills’ 2012 option add an option for 2013.

Houston lost their first 8 games of the season and never saw .500 all year.
On June 1st, the Astros were 17-34 and looking like a lock to finish as the NL’s worst team. They were hosting a surprising 26-26 Washington Nationals team and Brett Myers was taking the hill. Houston scored 8 runs, the most they’d put up in a game since May 12, and just the third game of the year they’d scored 8 or more. Myers gave up just 1 earned over 7 innings while striking out 10. The Killer L’s combined for 3 earned over 1.1 IP, solidifying their positions in the pen. Hunter Pence went 2/3 with his 9th homerun while Berkman and Jeff Keppinger each went 3/5.

This game would be a turning point the Stros as they compiled a startling 59-52 record the rest of the way including 40-33 after the All-Star break. I don’t think anyone saw that coming and I’m glad to Brad Mills is being recognized for his work. I don’t expect the Astros to finish over .500 next season and they certainly had some luck on their side this season as their pythagorean record was 68-94 but for where the team is, it appears Brad Mills is the best man for the job.