2008 Houston Astros season

The Houston Astros' 2008 season was the 47th season for the Houston Astros. The Astros attempted to return to the postseason, after missing the past two postseasons. This was the last season where the Astros finished the season above the.500 mark prior to the post season run in 2015.

Off Season

On October 29, all six eligible Astros players filed for free agency. The list includes catcher Brad Ausmus, infielder Mike Lamb, infielder Mark Loretta, outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, left-handed reliever Trever Miller and right-handed reliever Brian Moehler.
On October 30, the Astros signed catcher Brad Ausmus to a 1-year, $2 million contract.
On November 8, The Astros acquired outfielder Michael Bourn, third baseman Michael Costanzo, and right-handed reliever Geoff Geary from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brad Lidge and infielder Eric Bruntlett. The announcement was made by Astros General Manager Ed Wade.
On November 16, the Astros acquired right-handed reliever Óscar Villarreal from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for center fielder Josh Anderson. On the same day, the Astros also signed outfielder Yordany Ramirez as a free agent.
On November 20, the Astros signed free agent utilityman Geoff Blum to a one-year deal including a club option for a second year.
On November 26, the Astros signed free agent Relief Pitcher Doug Brocail to a one-year deal.
On November 30, the Astros and free agent Kazuo Matsui agreed to a 3-year, $16.5 million deal. Matsui played second base for the NL Champion Colorado Rockies in the 2007 season.
On December 12, the Astros acquired shortstop Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for five players. The Astros traded outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers, Troy Patton and Dennis Sarfate and third baseman Mike Costanzo to Baltimore for Tejada. Adam Everett, the Astros shortstop at the time, had to deal with a double-whammy: not only did the Astros trade for Tejada, they also non-tendered Everett, leaving him without a team as of 11 p.m. CT.
On December 14, The Houston Astros' offseason of dealing continued on Friday when the club traded Chris Burke, Chad Qualls and Juan Gutiérrez to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for closer José Valverde.
In January, Brandon Backe, Ty Wigginton, and Dave Borkowski were signed to a one-year contract.
On February 20, Shawn Chacón signed a one-year deal.
On March 29, the Astros released Woody Williams.
On March 30, the contracts of OF José Cruz, Jr. and RHP Brian Moehler were purchased from Triple-A Round Rock.

Spring training

In spring training the Astros posted a 13–18 record culminating with a 9–4 win in the final spring training game at Minute Maid Park.

Regular season

March/April

After losing the first two games of the 2008 campaign, the Astros were trailing 5–6 the top of the 9th with 2 outs of game 3 against Trevor Hoffman, on April 2. The Astros put two on base when Hunter Pence hit a line drive off of Adrián González's glove into right to tie it up. Lance Berkman came up next and smashed a 3-run home run to deep center making it a 9–6 game. Valverde then closed out the Astros first '08 win.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Game log

† = Interleague Game
All games, dates and times are subject to change
Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		81	216	47	.218	3	24
1B		159	554	173	.312	29	106
2B		96	375	110	.293	6	33
SS		158	632	179	.283	13	66
3B		111	386	110	.285	23	58
LF		115	436	137	.314	28	100
CF		138	467	107	.229	5	29
RF		157	595	160	.269	25	83

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	-
3B		114	325	78	.240	14	53
OF		140	322	89	.276	4	31
2B		101	261	73	.280	4	38

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	32	208.2	17	10	3.54	165
	31	166.2	9	14	6.05	127
	31	150	11	8	4.56	82
	25	137.1	9	7	3.54	131

Other pitchers