So What Will We Learn from this Trip?

The Astros finished a successful home stand by taking two of three from the Cubs after winning three of four from the Nationals. That was exactly what the club has to do with more regularity to become a factor in the National League Central pennant race.

However, the road trip that begins Monday night in Denver against the Colorado Rockies will have more significance. The trip is a long ten game eleven day sojourn through Colorado, then all the way to New York for inter league action with the Yankees and then back to the Central time zone for more inter league play in Kansas City. How well do the Astros have to do to have a successful trip?

Winning five of ten at break even would be fine if the Astros weren't already so far off the pace in the division. A trip of 6-4 might be OK. A trip of 7-3 would be wonderful. But is the latter realistic? It would require the Astros winning all three series starting with three of four in Colorado and two of three from both the Yankees and Royals.

It is true Astro key hitters are doing better. Not great yet, but a whole lot better. It is also true that Felipe Paulino has proven to be right there with Oswalt, Myers, and Rodriguez and a well more often than not dependable starting pitcher. Brian Moehler who is still filling in for Bud Norris was very good in his second start. The bullpen has had a few failings lately, but it appears Matt Lindstrom has been able to overcome a nagging hip problem and regain his form.

So, can the Astros win seven of ten? Whether they can or not will likely still go a long way toward how long the current roster stays together.

Already there are signs that catcher Jason Castro is getting closer to being ready for his major league debut. Third baseman Chris Johnson continues to hit at Round Rock. An elevation of Castro would mean the club is convinced he is ready. He will not be called before his time as long as Humberto Quintero and Kevin Cash are not hurting the club. The same goes for Pedro Feliz. He has hit well in June and is on an eight game hitting streak into Monday's game.

If there is a concern it might be at shortstop. Tommy Manzella is fielding the position now better than he has all year. However, his offensive production has been even worse than feared. Hitting under .200 puts too much drag on the bottom of the order even if the big guys in 3-4-5 start to hit.

If the Astros are going to be able to produce that 7-3 record for the trip players like Manzella, Quintero and Feliz have to help offensively. A lot has to go right and I don't mean the Rockies, Yankees and Royals have to help out by making errors. The Astros have won a number of games because the "other guys" have played poorly on defense. That is not likely to be available for the offense on his trip.

There will be more talk of mid season trades. Whether the Astros actually pull any off remains to be seen. If they do that will be the beginning of the true remodeling of the team. The results of the MLB Amateur draft that co-incidentally begins with the start of this trip will be part of that too.

This may be the beginning of the next chapter in Houston Astros baseball no matter how the current team plays. It sure would be a whole lot more fun, though, if they could make some of Ed Wade's future calls on player moves more difficult because his current teams isn't really as bad as it looked through April and May.