After watching Brandon Backe shut out the Nats last night, I started to think about his contributions to the team. There has been some criticism as far as his pitching after his injury. Even Lambo has made a mention that this 2008 Season should be the season where Backe needs to step up to the plate and prove himself - so to speak. I love Brandon Backe. I think he has the makings of being our #1 Starter after Oswalt leaves/retires.
Brandon made his Astros debut in 2004 being traded for Geoff Blum from Tampa Bay. His first game with us was against the Cubs where he limited them to four runs in eight innings. Needless to say Houston was excited about his performance. While his 2005 ERA was a below average 4.76, he opened our eyes to his stellar post season pitching.
In 2006 he had undergone Tommy John Surgery which didn’t leave an opportunity to show us the promise that he had. Pitching only 8 games with a 3-2 record, Backe ended his short season with a 3.77 ERA. 2007 was a funny year for us. It was Biggio’s last season, our club was starting to see some shifts in players. Hunter Pence made a strong entrance to the Astros. Backe was still recovering from his surgery and made a few unimpressive starts. However, Backe did finish his five games with a 3-1 record and another 3.77 ERA for the season. It is 2008. What has he done for us lately? Not much. He has given up 22 HR’s, has more Losses than Wins, and has brought his ERA back up to a 4.76. I believe Backe will have a stellar 2009 season. Everybody has a slump season. I think that slump season can be given to Backe and Roy for 2008.
Backe has shown us his potential last night as he has shown us his potential in the past. He has sat on the bench next to Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Andy Pettite for a few years to learn from the Vets. This is his first season since the injury. And he is making a humble 800,000 dollars this year. Needless to say I haven’t even mentioned his bat yet. In 2007 he had 4 hits of his 10 at bats, right now he is hitting in the .300’s. This really helps us being a National League Team where we don’t have the luxury to cheat and have a DH. Let me also mention he is one of thirty-nine pitchers who have struck out three batters in nine pitches.
I say keep him around for a few more seasons. If Trader Wade wants to bulk up our pitching then we can always move him to the bull pen. He is a Texan and I’d hate to see him on another Non-Texas Team.
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Correction - Backe’s 1st performance against the Cubs, 4 hits, not 4 runs.
Good job Big Al, I’m liking what I’m reading, not that I agree with all of it, but still. Also you don’t have to title all your articles as “Big Al…” if you don’t want to.
Anyways, keep up the good writing
As an Astros fan in the DC area I only have the privilege of watching them in person one visit a year vs the Nats, and this year’s visit was a showcase of all that’s good, and bad, about our team.
Enough’s been ignored about the 0-10 furball we coughed up the first night, so I won’t add any less to it. The second night was a closer game and showed we *can* win the close ones if we have to; a sign of some hope.
I took the family to the Sunday afternoon game Big Al’s talking about here. Even within this performance there was the bipolar nature of the team. Backe pitched well, for the most part, and had hit support when we needed it. But there were also plenty of RISP situations Backe let himself get into that show he’s not yet the heir apparent to Roy that Big Al thinks he’ll be. Not saying he won’t be, but until his consistency improves–dramatically–I’ll be seeing a lot more games like this one. By that I mean, thank goodness the Nats *really* stink, because there were enough times in the course of the game that a better team could have easily put us away. We have some work to do, clearly, but there’s some promise in what I saw that weekend. Maybe we’ll be able to build on that so that next year’s visit won’t be such a tossup.