The 40-50 Round Rock Express headed into the AAA All-Star break with a firm hold on last place in their division and seven games behind the first-place New Orleans Zephyrs. Their 23-24 home record has to be a source of frustration for skipper Jackie Moore. Still, seven games back is not unmanageable, and there is some positive news to report. Hunter Pence blew through town on his way to the Show for a quick 22-game romp of the Pacific Coast League, and his numbers here were as impressive as they’ve been since he started playing Little League up through his potential rookie-of-the-year season with Houston. The fans in Round Rock hardly had the time to lovingly embrace Pence like the Astros’ fans have but did get a chance to see him up close and personal as he posted the following numbers: .341 batting average, .588 slugging, .986 OPS, three home runs, 10 doubles, 50 total bases, 19 RBI, and two stolen bases. His Corpus Christi Hooks’ jersey is still their hottest seller.
For the lowdown on Troy Patton‘s Express debut click here. Patton is Houston’s hotshot 21-year-old pitching prospect and along with the Express’ Juan Guiterrez looks to be the best bet for a late-season call-up for the Astros. Guiterrez has been a little inconsistent this year but has still posted decent numbers. He’s leading the team in games started (18), innings pitched (109.2), and strikeouts (73) with a nifty 3.78 ERA.
Relief pitcher Travis Driskill represented the Express in last night’s AAA All-Star game, pitching a scoreless inning and striking out two of the three batters he faced. Driskill is reportedly retiring after this season and will be looking for a coaching job of some sort. Matt Albers, Stephen Randolph, and Mark McLemore have spent some time with the big-league club this season with not-so-stellar results although Albers has looked sharp at times and probably has the best stuff of the three. Express fans have also enjoyed appearances from Jason Jennings (rehab) and Chan Ho Park (picked up off waivers).
Jason Lane is batting .282 with the Express since being demoted to AAA and will hopefully get back on track long enough to at least gain some trade value. The Astros are known for giving their players more than enough opportunities to shine but when do you say enough is enough and cut the cord. Add Luke Scott, Morgan Ensberg, and possibly Chris Burke to the list of endangered Astros. Who knows what’ll happen with Brad Lidge?
The Express get the second half of their season started tonight against Oklahoma on the road and then return home next Friday, July 20, at 7:05pm versus those same Oklahoma Redhawks. Click here for tickets and more on the Express.
This article appears in July 6 • 2007.