[antidan444]

2014 HOUSTON ASTROS

It has not been good times of late for the Astros, but their fortunes are starting to improve. After two straight disastrous seasons (56-106 in 2011, 55-107 in 2012), some of the Astros' young position players started coming of age in 2013 and they finished a slightly more respectable 72-90.

BNN believes the improvement will continue this season, pegging the Astros to finish 79-83.

Here is a brief look at the players expected to be the main contributors in 2014:

STARTING PITCHING

If the lineup has plenty of potential, both for this season and the ones to come, the starting pitching is pretty freaking bleak. Kauffman legitimately isn't near ready to help improve the situation, but they need him to be ready in a year or two. The current rotation, in order:

Ian Kennedy (29, 3 stars, fragile)
2013 stats (Diamondbacks): 6-9, 4.47 ERA, 149 innings, 145 hits, 45 walks, 128 Ks
* BNN is projecting him to be the 10th-best AL starter. Color me shocked.

Wade Miley (27, lefty, 2 stars)
2013 stats (Diamondbacks): 5-14, 5.93 ERA, 147 1/3 innings, 185 hits, 54 walks, 93 Ks

Chris Capuano (35, lefty, 2 stars, wrecked)
2013 stats (Dodgers): 8-9, 3.99 ERA, 164 2/3 innings, 179 hits, 44 walks, 140 Ks

Jeff Francis (33, lefty, 1.5 stars, fragile)
2013 stats (Rockies): 12-10, 5.18 ERA, 182 1/3 innings, 240 hits, 50 walks, 118 Ks

Bud Norris (29, 2.5 stars)
2013 stats: 7-20, 5.48 ERA, 208 2/3 innings, 235 hits, 78 walks, 191 Ks

RELIEF PITCHING

There's not much to write home about here, either. The only guy I'm going to bother to spotlight is the closer:

Manny Parra (31, lefty, 2 stars, fragile)
2013 stats (Reds): 5-1, 2.08 ERA, 65 innings, 57 hits, 25 walks, 78 Ks
* He has never been a closer

The setup guys are mediocre, as is the rest of the pen.

It all means the offense is going to have to produce some runs. There's plenty of speed.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

CATCHER: Jason Castro (26, lefty, 4 stars)
2013 stats: .290/.359/.438, 31 doubles, 15 HR, 3.0 WAR
* He's one of the best catchers in MLB, and still has room to improve.

FIRST BASE: Chris Parmelee (26, lefty, 2 stars)
2013 stats: .253/.325/.407, 13 doubles, 12 homers in 332 ABs, 0.2 WAR

SECOND BASE: Jose Altuve (23, 2 stars)
2013 stats: .247/.276/.350, 34 doubles, 35 steals, 0.7 WAR
*Lots of room to improve, and he needs to bring up that ugly OBP

THIRD BASE: Marwin Gonzalez (25, switch-hitter, 1 star)
2013 stats: .289/.333/.391, 17 doubles in 256 ABs, 0.8 WAR
* He's starting for injured regular Matt Dominguez (24, 2.5 stars), out 3-4 weeks with a strained hamstring. Dominguez has more power, but otherwise really isn't all that much better.

SHORTSTOP: Jonathan Villar (22, switch-hitter, 4.5 stars)
2013 stats: .238/.300/.385, 23 doubles, 10 triples, 12 homers, 56 steals, 3.4 WAR
* His combination of speed and defensive range makes him an almost sure thing to be a star for years. He's projected to be a pretty good contact hitter, too.

LEFT FIELD: J.D. Martinez (26, 3.5 stars)
2013 stats: .261/.312/.442, 15 doubles, 7 homers in 199 ABs, 1.0 WAR
* Was a semi-late call-up from AAA last year

CENTER FIELD: Justin Maxwell (30, 1 star)
2013 stats: .199/.306/.347, 16 doubles, 12 homers, 20 steals, 0.4 WAR
* A really weak link. At least he's an adequate defender.

RIGHT FIELD: George Springer (24, 2.5 stars)
2013 stats: ,238/.285/.481, 12 doubles, 9 homers in 185 ABs, 0.6 WAR
* Rolled through AA and AAA before reaching the bigs last year. He also has a cannon arm.

DESIGNATED HITTER: Chris Carter (27, 1.5 stars)
2013 stats: .232/.311/.462, 22 doubles, 28 homers, -0.3 WAR
* There's a reason he's not playing defense ...