SB Nation Houston - Features

Houston Astros Sunday Roundup: Three Weeks Till The 2012 Draft

2012-05-13T20:18:32Z

Who has his finger on the button: Jim Crane, Bobby Heck or Jeff Luhnow?

I was asked this week who I'm picking the Astros to nab with next month's first overall choice in the 2012 amateur draft. I went with Mike Zunino, even though most mocks I've seen have either Kevin Gausman, Mark Appel or Byron Buxton going first overall.

And my second choice would probably be Kyle Zimmer over the three previously mentioned, even though he really has not been pitching that long, I just prefer his stuff. His action is smooth, compact and repeatable. Baseball America's mock draft on Friday had the Astros taking Stanford ace Appel, and unsurprising, if safe choice. But I don't think I really trust Jim Callis' assessment of where the front office is with this, and I see more speculation than insider information. Yes, the Astros are short of high-ceiling pitching, and everyone wants prospects to get to the majors as quickly as possible, but I think Jeff Luhnow and Jim Crane are smarter than that.

In 2010 the rumor mill got it spot on, the Astros had a pick at 19, but were afraid Delino DeShields Jr would not make it to that slot and took him at eight. Last year, not so much. We had the Chris Reed rumors, which turned out to be hogwash and the assertion that they were looking at left-handed pitching. Kudos to Stephen Goff, who, when interviewing Bobby Heck back in February 2011, got a mention of George Springer. And David Coleman who correctly, called the pick minutes before. I went with Matt Barnes, a fellow University of Conneticut star, drafted later in the round by the Boston Red Sox.

There is also Carlos Correa to consider, a shortstop with a purportedly high ceiling.

Reading writers slobbering over Dylan Bundy and Trevor Bauer, it is not easy to forget how deep last year's draft was compared to 2012:

"This is one of the most volatile, erratic and weak drafts I can remember," an American League front-office executive said. "The college position players have got to be the weakest group in 20 years. I've had some veteran guys tell me it's the worst ever."

I saw one draft that had Texas high schooler Nick Williams dropping into the supplemental round, and I know a ton of Astros fans would love to see him fall all the way to pick number 41, which is when the Astros pick second. Their second-round pick will be number 61. How hard it will be to sign these picks with the new slot rules coming in remains to be seen, especially with high school players, who might decide to honor college commitments if they do not like the money on offer.

A little closer to home and the perception is the Astros have stalled a little bit. Word is J.D. Martinez has a week to get out of his mega slump before he is sent to AAA Oklahoma City to get his groove back, they are still operating without a solidified fifth starter, god knows how long J.A. Happ lasts in the rotation after seven extremely mediocre starts (Astros County has an excellent post up today on his 2012 travails), while we're being powered by a solid bullpen and a strong infield.

It is strange though that the Astros wins and losses are happening on a pretty even spread of their pitching staff, unlike last year where they were .500 in Wandy or Bud Norris starts and dire when everyone else pitched. In fact the the Astros are 15-15 in games not started by Kyle Weiland.

After tonight's series finale against the Pirates, the Astros head to their favorite stomping ground Citizens Bank Park, for a two-game set with the Phillies, before returning home to face the Brewers, Rangers and Cubs. There are some tough assignments in there and if they want to stay within touching distance of .500, they will have to start racking up more than the three series victories they currently hold (against the Rockies, Mets and Cardinals).

There are times when I'm skittish about this team and times when I'm more down on then. Surprising and infuriating in equal amounts, they are still right in the middle of the NL Central, and have not been the car crash most expected. Long may it continue.

Houston Astros Sunday Roundup: In Brad Mills We Trust

2012-05-06T18:21:31Z

Has this past week been an aberration of can the Astros keep this form up?

It's good to see Jon Heyman is still enjoying himself. Even when praising the Astros he makes it sound like a slap in the face:

Don't look now but the houston #astros have won FIVE straight games. Yes, those houston #astros.

Don't look now but I'm still a jackass. Moving on. It's Jose Altuve's birthday today, and he is 22, good enough for the second youngest player in the NL behind Bryce Harper. If and when Jordan Lyles is recalled he will fit in between the two.

He and Jed Lowrie are proving to be one of the best up the middle combinations in the majors. At the moment Lowrie is providing it all, average, on-base skills, and power, leading the team in home runs, on-base and SLG%. As good as his start has been, he needs to prove that he can grind out 140 games a season without going down with an injury. His previous best is 88 last season.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe just can't help himself, as he's talking about Wandy Rodriguez yet again:

5. Wandy Rodriguez, LHP, Astros - Off to a good start, the veteran will be in demand by the trading deadline. The Astros are going to make the best deal possible for him, and that will be in late July when teams are desperate for a bona fide starter.

Currently only four teams have a better run differential than the Astros. Texas is +49, the Cardinals +55, Baltimore are at +31 and the Braves are at +22. The Blue Jays have the same as Houston at +21. This is comforting as I feel the rotation as a whole still has not really clicked in considering we are officially a sixth of the way into the season.

Apart from Rodriguez, the rest have sort of bumbled along. Kyle Weiland is gone, for a considerable amount of time after shoulder surgery, Bud Norris has ambled through his first five starts until picking it up against the Redbirds last night, while Lucas Harrell and J.A. Happ are sort of where you expect them to be. Except Harrell's 4.0 K/9 is worrisome and I fear the fifth-starter's spot could be a sore for the team.

Right now it is that 131 runs that we have scored that has got us in that position. That's as many as the Yankees currently have, far more than a lot of teams. J.D. Martinez has cooled off in the last week and Chris Johnson has picked up the slack. Perhaps when he similarly starts to slump other quarters of the lineup, such as catcher take the share of the burden.

Hopefully the ballclub can keep it all together and continue to hover around that .500 mark. A lot of this will be down to the job Brad Mills does in 2012. Praised in 2010 for the job he did, he took quite the pounding last season for a lot of calls, especially with the lineup. Already the team has had some setbacks with a ton of close losses and two very painful extra-innings losses against the Miami Marlins, but now that breaks are falling their way, they are taking advantage of them.

What is Mills' effect on this ballclub. Do we give him too much credit when when things go bad and not enough credit when things go right? Once the players are on the field it is up to them. Whether Jose Altuve and Jed Lowrie are playing in the correct spots in the lineup is a debate that will undoubtedly rumble on for some time,

Meanwhile down at the minors, the standout player of the season so far continues to be Lexington Legends starting pitcher Nick Tropeano, who dealt another seven scoreless innings last night, fanning eight, picking up 10 groundouts to one flyout. He now has 41 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings. It will only be a matter of time before he is called up, either to Lancaster or Corpus Christi.

Which Cougar UDFA Is Most Likely To Make A Roster?

2012-05-01T04:23:49Z

Case Keenum threw for enough yards during his college career to go from Robertson Stadium to Reliant Stadium and back. But will he earn a roster spot with the Texans? And who else from UH will draw an NFL paycheck this fall?

The Houston Cougar football team heads into the 2012 season with the difficult task of trying to "reload", rather than "rebuild". Last year's team was undeniably talented, putting a shellacking on Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl to finish off a 13-1 season. But the departure of a large class of talented seniors means plenty of uncertainty.

While no single graduating Cougar was projected as a high-round pick, the size and talent of the departing class led many Cougar fans to believe that a few Houston alumni could see their names called on draft day. Instead, the draft came and went, with stunningly, not a single UH player drafted. Houston was the only top 25 team to be completely snubbed.

However, the depth of the class was evident in the hours and days after the draft, as seven Cougars quickly signed deals with various NFL clubs. And while many more players sign contracts as undrafted free agents than actually end up making a roster, Cougar fans who have watched their departing players compete will feel good about some of these guys' chances.

Along those lines, here are Houston's seven UDFAs, ranked from most to least likely to make an NFL roster this fall.

1. Case Keenum - Houston Texans

No Cougar that got snubbed by the draft was more frustrating for the Houston faithful than the man who owns roughly 3/4 of the NCAA passing record book. Now sure, the scout's ability to project a player into the NFL is the most important aspect, and Keenum doesn't possess ideal size or arm strength, but doesn't production count for anything? Accuracy? Football IQ? Leadership? Apparently not.

However, the hometown Texans quickly snatched up the fan favorite, and as it stands, Keenum looks like he has a pretty good shot to make the roster. Matt Schaub and T.J. Yates are the only quarterbacks currently on the Texans' roster, they didn't draft a signal-caller, and Keenum is the only UDFA that Houston has signed at the position. It's entirely possible that the Texans will bring in a journeyman to battle Keenum for the third QB spot, but for the time being, Keenum looks like he has a roster spot with his name on it.

2. Michael Hayes - San Diego Chargers

While Hayes' senior season at Houston was marred somewhat by injuries, he was arguably the most projectable Cougar at draft time. He's a little shy of ideal height at 5'9", but has a solidly-built body, has great strength, and showed the coveted ability to both run the ball (5.3 yard per carry, 727 rush yards, 11 TD) and catch it out of the backfield (44 receptions for 483 yards and 4 TD). If numbers don't impress you, click here to watch Hayes break the tackle of every defensive player on UCLA's roster.

The Chargers show two returning running backs on the roster, in Ryan Matthews and Curtis Brinkley. The Bolts did use a 7th-round pick on running back Edwin Baker out of Michigan State. Depending on how many backs the Chargers choose to carry, and who they look at in free agency, it could end up being Hayes vs Baker for a roster spot.

3. Patrick Edwards - Detroit Lions

Perhaps no player better epitomized how "looking like an NFL player" is more important than actually being a productive player at the college level than Houston's #83. Edwards was second in the nation in receiving yards as a senior, with 1,752. It was Edwards' third straight 1,000+ yard season, and he would have easily eclipsed the mark as a freshman, if not for the horrific knee injury that cut his season short. Edwards' chances of being drafted were also likely hurt by his being hurt. Edwards would have undoubtedly put up one of the top 40 times at the NFL combine, had he been healthy enough to participate.

Most pressingly, Edwards' size was obviously a concern to NFL teams. But with his speed and route-running savvy, he was quickly snatched up by the Lions. The bad news is that the Lions' roster shows them to pretty pretty deep at the receiver position, and they did use a 2nd-round draft pick on Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles. The good news is that Edwards is also an exciting talent in the return game, and the Lions 2011 return specialist, Stefan Logan, didn't exactly set the world on fire. (Despite being the full-time returner, Logan didn't have a single punt return of 30 yards, or kick return of 45 yards.) If Detroit opens the return position up for competition, Edwards could very well play his way onto the roster.

4. Sammy Brown - St. Louis Rams

Like Hayes, Brown was a 2-year contributor for Houston after transferring from the junior college ranks, and like Hayes, Brown has NFL-ready size at 6'3", 240 lbs. Used primarily as a rusher off the end, all Brown did as a senior was lead the nation in tackles for loss, and finish second in sacks.

Brown certainly figures to get his chance to play his way onto the club, as the Rams currently have just four linebackers with NFL experience on the roster. St. Louis used a late draft pick on a linebacker, and has signed four more (including Brown) as UDFAs, so it looks like there is a roster spot or two to be won.

5. Bryce Beall - Dallas Cowboys

Beall took the Cougars by storm as a true freshman. While there was very little fanfare associated with Beall's signing, he was downright dominant, racking up over 1,700 yards of total offense. Unfortunately, Beall's production dropped the next two years, and his senior season was cut in half by injuries. But the hard-nosed running style that earned him the nickname "Brick" was still there.

Like Brown, Beall goes to a team that is bringing in plenty of players at his position as UDFAs. The bad news means that Beall will have to beat out multiple other players. The good news is that the Cowboys' focus on the position means that there's a good chance that they're actually looking to sign someone at the position.

6. Marcus McGraw - Arizona Cardinals

McGraw was another low-key recruit for the Cougars, but he immediately made his presence known as a true freshman, leading the team in tackles. There was no dropoff, as McGraw repeated the feat over each of the next three years, finishing 20th in the nation with better than ten tackles per game as a senior. There's not much flash in McGraw's game, and he lacks ideal size, but he is rarely out of position, and rarely misses a tackle.

The Cardinals currently list five inside linebackers on their roster, so McGraw may very well have to beat out a player with NFL experience to earn a spot, but McGraw is such a consistent performer and positive clubhouse presence that it will be hard to cut him loose.

7. David Hunter - Houston Texans

Hunter was a steadying presence for the Cougars, contributing all four years with the team, and proving a useful run stuffer, especially as an upperclassman. Like Keenum, Hunter will save on travel costs by staying in town with the Texans.

There are certainly other writers on this site who are more qualified to assess the Texans' depth at the defensive tackle position, but Hunter is just one of four players the Texans have brought in via UDFA at that position, which could indicate that they're looking to add depth there.

Graduating Cougars Nick Saenz (Buffalo Bills) and Chris Thompson (Dallas Cowboys) have also earned invitations to NFL rookie camps.

Houston Astros Sunday Roundup: Obsessing Over Pythagoras

2012-04-29T20:00:34Z

Another stunning week for Jose Altuve.

It is a shame that no-one thought to ask Joe Morgan, in his hilariously uninformative chats last decade what he thought of the Pythagorean win-loss record, coming from the man who once asserted that Billy Beane wrote Moneyball, and that all five baseball tools had equal importance.

Like WAR these days, you can overuse Pythag and actually devalue what it actually proves. Last season WAR showed Carlos Lee as one of the best defenders in the game of baseball and we all knew that to be patently untrue. Now we look at the fact that we have outscored our opponents this season and feel rather hard done by at an early 8-13 record (I'm writing this during the Cincinnati game so bear with me).

These things are not gospel. At least not without qualifying. Yes, the Astros have lost an awful lot of close games. Five by one-run margins, three by two-run margins, and three by a three-run margin. Although we have also won two massive blowouts, one against the Dodgers 12-0 and one against the Nationals 11-4. Yet until last night, when Jonny Cueto absolutely dominated in a 6-0 win for the Reds, you felt that the Astros were right in every game they played.

The solid offense, fourth in runs and third in walks, may continue at this pace, and the pitching may even get better. Going into today they hold a 3.00 ERA at home and a 4.86 ERA on the road. Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez have had scorching Aprils, but apart from Wandy Rodriguez the rotation has been so-so. The back of the bullpen has not exactly been stellar so there is room for improvement.

Most teams that score more runs than they allow win more games than they lose. Statistical fact. Yet what do you put the Astros current record down to? A bullpen that wilts in tight situations and players that are just coming up short in key situations?

Today's game is quite a nice example. Two key spots when Brad Mills could have deployed lefties, one against Joey Votto and one against Jay Bruce. Both Fernando Abad and Wesley Wright were available but both have had poor starts to the season (Abad has already been sent down, albeit for a position player when the Astros carried 13 pitchers out of spring training before Jed Lowrie came back).

While the Astros do have some exciting young talent that has and will dazzle this season, there are still some big and small pieces missing from this club that will put a brake on this club winning half of its games this season (i.e. reaching .500).

Finally, while baseball is filled with good teams, the Astros have played a lot of streaky teams so far in this early season, including the Dodgers and Nationals, and were unlucky in the Marlins series. Perhaps as we turn the calender into May the breaks will start falling their way.

To finish off the week, crazy things that jump out at me: J.A. Happ currently has a 9.2 K/9, two up from his major league career 7.3. It would help Happ if he could get more strikeouts and walk far less batters (4.1 BB/9 over his career). Actually there are a lot of things Happ needs to do, one of which is coaxing more groundballs. Wandy has yet to allow a home run in his first five starts and along with his four un-earned runs may be a reason for his minuscule ERA. I do not expect that to continue.

Casey at the Bat: Houston Celebrates Baseball with Music

2012-04-28T20:52:08Z

The Houston Symphony celebrated the history of the Astros with "Perfect Pitch: The Music of Baseball" this morning. How can you not be a little romantic about baseball.

This morning, not far from Minute Maid Park in the theater district - at Jones Hall in fact, baseball and music collided as the Houston Symphony Family Series presented "Perfect Pitch: The Music of Baseball." We sometimes forget how integral music is to America's favorite pastime. Not today in the city of Houston. This performance was nothing short of a celebration of the history of the Astros and a delightful grand slam of a performance.

In a room full of bright eyed children escorted by mothers and fathers donning Astros jerseys and caps, my daughter and I sat poised to see what a symphony could do with our favorite game. Robert Franz, the always entertaining conductor, came in as the "relief conductor" after a jokester of a maestro started us out with "The Star-Spangled Banner." As the song concluded, my daughter leaned over and whispered "Don't you dare," knowing full well that I couldn't hear that song and not yell "Play ball!" at the end. I wasn't the only one.

As Franz explained the four teams of a symphony to the young crowd, each of team donned a colored hat: red for the strings, blue for the brass, green for the woodwinds and orange for percussion. Even the Maestro himself wore a baseball uniform, complete with high socks and a cap.

It didn't escape my notice that the loudest cheers in this crowd were for the orange team- definitely tie in to the local 9 who will always be thought of as an orange team in Houston. Are you listing Mr. Postolos? The Astros need a little orange in their lives.

The music wasn't always a direct link to baseball. There was the "Theme from Batman" (because of the bat), "Across the Stars" from Attack of the Clones (because that Astrodome was like something from outer space), and "Orange Blossom Special" (a tribute to the train motif of the newest Houston ballpark). The most obvious tie-ins to my beloved game were "The National Game" complete with an 11 year old swinging at imaginary pitches, and "Casey at the Bat," which was the finale of the performance.

The highlight was definitely "Casey at the Bat," narrated by Milo Hamilton, the voice of the Astros for years now. I'm not Milo's biggest fan, but you could not help but smile as he told the tale of that infamous game in Mudville. His narration was just like a play-by-play of a game and sucked you in despite knowing how it would end. The smiles turned into laughter as Milo added his own twist because "Holy Toledo! The Mighty Casey struck out" was certainly not the original line.

The ending piece made you feel like it was time to stand..."Deep in the Heart of Texas," the seventh inning stretch classic in Houston.

I'm not sure if the Houston Symphony planned this tribute to the music of baseball knowing the historical significance of this year for the Astros or not, but it could not have come at a better time. In a year where the city is rallying around a new management team and players whose names and faces they aren't all that familiar with yet, this morning of music and baseball was just what Houston fans needed.

After all, I've always felt baseball was a family affair...and apparently so does the Houston Symphony. With small children surrounding you, and great music rattling your ears and only a few blocks from the ballpark our Astros call home, how can you not be a little romantic about baseball.

The 2012 New Player Draft: The Houston Astros Are On The Clock

2012-04-24T16:06:29Z

The selection order for the 2012 Rule 4 New Player Draft is set and the Houston Astros are on the clock.

A week ago today Major League Baseball officially released the draft order for the 2012 Rule 4 New Player Draft. It comes as no surprise that the Houston Astros are slotted for the first pick in the draft. This will be the third time in the club's history that they get the chance to select first, the other two times were in 1976 and 1992 and in those years they selected Floyd Bannister and Phil Nevin.

The big looming question on the minds of most Astros fans is "Who will they pick this year?" With a team firmly entrenched in rebuilding, the restocking of the farm system is critical to forming a winning organization going forward.

There are a handful of names that have become pretty well known as speculation begins to build including Stanford's right handed pitcher, Mark Appel, LSU's Kevin Gausman, San Francisco's Kyle Zimmer and Texas A&M's Michael Waccha. But pitchers aren't the only position being floated as possible first picks. Catcher Mike Zunino of Florida and outfielder Byron Buxton, a Georgia high schooler are also on the watch list for the initial selection.

The Rule 4 draft is always important, but for Houston this year's selection will likely be scrutinized like never before as fans wait for baseball to improve at a rapid rate. One this is certain, regardless of who the Astros select, the expectations for him will be high. An entire city is watching.

The draft will be held over the course of three days this year. On June 4th MLB Network and MLB.com will have live coverage of round 1 which will allow five minutes between picks as well as the first compensation round which will have one minute between selections. June 5th will see selections for rounds 2 through 15 with one minute between selection. June 6th will be rounds 16 through 40.

For now, all we know is this: the Houston Astros are on the clock...

Astros Sunday Roundup: Does Batting Altuve Eighth Make Sense?

2012-04-22T16:48:59Z

Who is calling the shots, Brad Mills or the saber orientated front office?

Another loss, this time at the hands of Clayton Kershaw, reigning NL Cy Young winner, and Matt Kemp again last night. Weiland tossed a pretty good game until that sixth inning bomb making it 3-0 Dodgers, and you could see from his reaction how angry he was with himself as soon as Kemp connected. It was long gone.

But I wanted to discuss the fact that Jose Altuve is batting eighth again. A lot of people don't like it. I'm not sure whether I like it. We're talking 14 games, 13 of which Pocket Jesus started, so yeah small sample size does come into play. Looking at how Altuve has done in the two hole (eight games) and batting eighth (five games), I can see only one real difference statistically.

He's drawn all of his five walks batting second. He has also struckout just once batting eighth. This is puzzling because, batting in front of J.D. Martinez instead of the pitcher's spot would make you think it would be the other way around.

Or perhaps this is an indication that batting eighth pitchers are doing well at hitting the corners and Altuve is making weak contact on good pitches. I was really interested to read Chris' recent fanpost at TCB on the amount of swinging strikes Altuve had in his first two weeks. In his two weeks Altuve had just one swinging strike. His swinging stike percentage currently stands at 2.6%.

Clint Barmes is currently leading a swing& of 61.5, Altuve is 41.0% in the lower half of current qualifiers this season. Barmes also leads in swinging strike percentage at 18.8 (Chris Johnson is just outside the top 10).

2.6% has Altuve fifth lowest among major league qualifiers, with just Ian Kinsler, Angel Pagan, Denard Span and Marco Scutaro (1.3%) lower. But what does this all mean? As some postulated, this means Altuve is swinging at quite a lot of pitches out of the strikezone (26.4 O-strike%), but his bat control is good enough that he's making at least some contact. His Z-swing%, at balls inside the zone is 52.1%.

His O-Swing% is in midfield, but he's in the better half. His Z-swing% is in the 10 lowest in the majors. Does this mean pitchers are nibbling at the strikezone when they are facing him?

At the moment Altuve's contact is getting him hits and wOBA of .379 is all we could ask from him. This is all interesting, but how does it tie into Brad Mills sliding Pocket Jesus down the lineup, preferring Jed Lowrie in the number two spot?

Perhaps Brad Mills has been given a shiny spreadsheet by Mike Fast, which makes the case for having the lineup the way the Astros are currently playing it. But the current messing around is ticking off fans, giving off days for no particular reason to guys we need in the lineup day-in day-out. Mills may be characterised as an old fossil, but I think he would be very willing to listen to anything statistically that would help him and his team.

The Astros got off to a fast start HR wise, but they now have eight games without one, and have been eclipsed as a team by Matt Kemp on his own. In a 2-9 slump the Astros have plated 38 runs but 11 of those were in one game against the Nationals. In the other 10 games they've scored at a rate of 2.7.

We're still fourth in the NL in walks drawn, so there is some comfort that we are getting men on base frequently, we just aren't stringing together the key hits often enough. Tonight would be a good place to start.

Roger Clemens Does His Second Battle With Congress, But Why?

2012-04-18T03:05:03Z

Roger Clemens is facing his second battle with Congress.

Roger Clemens is in a really tough situation, aside from the way he is portrayed publically and regardless of his influence on young baseball players that look up to him. The charges that Clemens faces, that he lied to Congress in 2008 when he denied using steroids in his Major League Baseball career, could make him a felon.

Clemens faces charges ranging from six counts of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice while jury selection for his second trial began Monday.

It's not up to Clemens to decide whether or not the way he's been scrutinized by the government and the media is fair or foul. Clemens, may indeed be a liar, cheater and deceiver. Then again, how do we know and why do we care so much?

There were seven Cy Young awards, 11 All Star appearances, two World Series championships and a spot on the MLB All-Century Team. In a nutshell, those are the most critical results of Clemens' career, but who do they really mean the most to?

What gets lost in all of the talk about cheating the game and setting the wrong example for young baseball players is the fact that none of us have this divine entitlement to the game to where we have to feel cheated on our experiences watching juiced baseball players as opposed to honest ones. It's cool if you love baseball and all, but that's not really a big deal.

The investment players have in the game is totally different than that of fans, media, or Congress.

Roger Clemens has his reputation and the legacy of his livelihood on the line when a report mentions his alleged steroid use and former trainers and former teammates testify to it as well.

Who did Clemens cheat, really? Himself. That's guilty or not guilty here.

If Clemens is found to be a liar in this case, which it seems very difficult to determine without some level of uncertainty, not only will he be a felon, but it will be because he cheated himself in moments integrity could easily have been the fourth or fifth thing on his mind when trying to be one of the best pitchers the world has ever seen.

If he's found innocent or if the prosecution team makes an amateur move like presenting information that was banned from the trial, it's still close to five years too late.

There is no way for Clemens to win here. The verdicts of public opinion have been in since 2008 but for all we know, Clemens could be riding a guilt trip that dates back to whatever conversation Andy Pettitte "misremembers."

Here is a look at Roger Clemens' opening statement to Congress in 2008.

Read more on the Clemens case at the SB Nation MLB hub page.