It's time for your ABCs

"We're going to do it tomorrow, We're going to do it all day if we have to do. We won't even hit. We'll just do it." That was Cecil Cooper after witnessing some less-than-stellar defensive performance from the Astros, during a Spring Training loss to the Detroit Tigers, nonetheless.

It's a true fact, this is a different Astros team, and if there's one thing these guys will have to work on if they want to win games, it's communication on the field. There's a part of the game many guys forget to pay attention to since they take it for granted once they reach this level. Fundamentals.

And what about the pitching?

"I want to see clean innings," Cooper said. "This is a time when we should be seeing them -- crisp, clean innings. Yet we're hitting guys that are trying to bunt, walking guys on four pitches. ... This is not young kids doing this stuff. This is ridiculous. I don't care who it is. It shouldn't be happening.

"We've got to clean it up. I'd like to see some clean innings sooner or later. We should be throwing strike one, strike two, make some pitches. We're all over the place. We're not even close to the strike zone."

I know it's just Spring, folks (but it's also 6 days away from Opening Day). Not to sound too harsh, but the diagnosis from the skip himself is not really the best in those departments.

Hitting is allright. Trust me. With Berkman, Pence, Lee, Tejada, Towles and company, I don't really think this team should suffer from anemic hitting. They have speed in Bourne and Pence when he  is into it, But hitting alone will not win you games.

Shawn Chacon has practically made the rotation. Looks more polished these days than Chris Sampson or Woody Williams himself, which has also progressed a lot. The fate of the starting rotation depends a lot on how Williams delivers.

Fragile combination, but not impossible.