Astros Insights: Hampton, Ortiz pass first test.

Well, well, well. The moment that I have been waiting for since Brad Lidge closed out the Rays in last year World Series is here... baseball games!! I know the regular season is about a month away but Spring Training games gets my blood pumping. Not only that, we have the World Baseball Classic coming up as well (GO VENEZUELA!!)
But first, the Astros' first game of the Grapefruit league is finally in the book. A 6-3 win over the Nationals. Now, I know that this games are more of a tune-up for the real thing since both pitchers and batters are tinkering with their machanics and what not, but it is still fun to talk about it. Of note, I want to bring up Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz, two pitchers the Astros are hoping to round out their rotation behind Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez and Brian Moehler.
Both pitched two innings to start out the game and neither allowed a run. Hampton started the game a little shaky, hitting the first batter he faced and walking the next two to load the bases with no out (ay!) but then struck out the next batter and induced a double play to get out of the inning unscathed and proceeded with a 1-2-3 second inning. Not a bad Houidini impression there. Ortiz followed suit and got the next nine outs with little problem other than a harmless hit and a walk. He struck out three.
Although it's only the first game, it is a good sign that both pitchers, who have lost significant time due to injuries the last few years, are on the right track. If both can regain the form that made them former all-stars and are able to avoid the injury bug, the Astros will contend in the NL Central. Simple as that. They are the wild card of this Astros team. Those who have counted the Astros out in each of the last 5 years have learned that we are always the sleepers of the NL Central.
In other front, a couple of rookies made good impressions on manager Cecil Cooper. Infielder Drew Sutton took over second base halfway through the game and went 2-2 with 2 runs scored. And third baseman Chris Johnson launched a solo home run in his only hit of the day. Both Sutton and Johnson are trying to make the case to be in the 25-man roster on opening night and they didn't dissapoint. There are still many Spring games left but it is an encouraging beginning. Go Astros.