More photos » Charlie Riedel - AP

Another day, another Hunter Pence game photo.

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Grapefruit League record (though meaningless): 9-7

Today's starters: RHP Roy Oswalt vs. LHP Jonathan Niese; RHP Bud Norris vs. LHP Jon Lester

Note: Norris is only scheduled to pitch three innings after being scratched from his last start due to the flu. Brian Moehler will follow him and get three innings of work in. Should be a light day for relievers against the Red Sox.

The lineup vs. the Mets:

1) T.J. Steele, CF

2) Jeff Keppinger, 2B

3) Hunter Pence, RF

4) Carlos Lee, LF

5) Pedro Feliz, 3B

6) J.R. Towles, C

7) Chris Shelton, 1B

8) Edwin Maysonet, SS

9) Roy Oswalt, P

Other pitchers available in this game are Gustavo Chacin, Andy Van Hekken, Wilton Lopez, Roy Corcoran, Sammy Gervacio, Gary Majewski and Jeremy Johnson.

Rain is in the forecast for most of Florida this afternoon, so the Astros may not be able to get any games in.

Listen and watch the Red Sox game here. The Mets game is not on MLB.TV, but if you are in the Houston area, you can hear it on 740 KTRH.

Al Behrman - AP

Konichiwa, Phillips-san.

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Has the nomad finally found his positional home? Koby Clemens has played a little bit of third, a little outfield and caught some too. Now it appears that the Astros' organization has settled on first base as Clemens' semi-permanent home. Author of the Chronicle article Zach Levine breaks down the Astros' top 30 prospects by position and no first basemen make the list. I guess Mark Saccomanno is chopped liver! (Ed. note: Saccomanno signed with Florida this winter. But, Jimmy Van Ostrand could also be chopped liver.)

I seem to remember at least one minor league report on Houston commenting that too many of our hitting prospects are "corner outfield/1B types". This is true if you assume that every positional player can eventually play first base, as the Astros obviously do with Koby Clemens.

It's tough to speculate at this point as to whether Koby will be a successful defensive first baseman, but hitting-wise he is coming off a tremendous season in A+ ball. His BB rates so far in the minors are nice to see and if he can cut down on the K's, he could prove to be a major league quality reserve player at the least. Of course, any first baseman is expected to produce offensively moreso than anything else.

Clemens' SLG% has increased steadily throughout his seasons as a minor leaguer, however:

Now obviously there are caveats to point out here: 1) Clemens has repeated levels 2) That .636 is a major outlier and 3) His short stint in AA from last season is left out. Still, his progress is fairly obvious as well, and he is still just 23. Starting off in AA, Clemens will face his biggest test yet as a professional. If he can hit in Corpus, he should have a future hitting in Houston at some point.

I saw this article earlier in the week which discusses how Tommy Manzella is trying to learn a little Japanese here and there to better communicate with his new double play partner, Kaz Matsui. While it's unlikely Manzella can make all that much progress learning the language in a matter of weeks I give him credit for at least making the effort.

In that spirit, every article I write from now until Opening Day, a new Japanese word of the day will be featured. To start us off, a word that Astros fans have unfortunately become familiar with when it comes to Matsui:

Impress friends and family with your new found knowledge!

Last, here's the AL teams that I think should be featured our fictitious video game, MLB SLAM!:

Baltimore Orioles: C: Matt Wieters, P: Brian Matusz, OF: Nick Markakis, 2B: Brian Roberts, 3B: Miggy

Boston Red Sox: UTL: Matt Damon, UTL: Bill Simmons, UTL: Ben Affleck, IF: The Youkah!, DH: Big Papi

Chicago White Sox: IF: Tim Beckham, OF: Carlos Quentin, SS: Alexei Ramirez (I miss Aroldis Chapman yesterday, so I have to tap into the Cuban market somehow. Do Cubans play video games? I bet they're just now discovering "Pong".), P: Mark Buehrle, Player/Manager: Ozzie Guillen

Cleveland Indians: OF: Grady Sizemore, OF: Shin-Soo Choo, OF: Matt LaPorta, UTL: Travis Hafner, P: Fausto Carmona (This team has a tremendous farm system, but their current 40 man roster has so very few recognizable names.)

Detroit Tigers: 1B: Miguel Cabrera, P: Justin Verlander, P: Dontrelle Willis (for the high leg kick alone), OF: Austin Jackson, P: Matt Scherzer

Kansas City Royals: P: Zach Greinke, 1B: Billy Butler, 3B: Alex Gordon, P: Joakim Soria, UTL: KC style ribs

Los Angeles Angels: P: Jered Weaver, C: Matt Napoli, 1B: Kendry Morales, OF: Torii Hunter, UTL: Hideki Matsui

Minnesota Twins: C: Joe Mauer, 1B: Justin Morneau, 2B: Orlando Hudson, OF: Denard Span, P: Francisco Liriano

New York Yankees: C: Jesus Montero, P: Joba Chamberlain, P: CC Sabathia, 3B: A-Rod, OF: Curtis Granderson

Note: Derek Jeter, like Michael Jordan in the original NBA JAM!, didn't grant MLB SLAM! the licensing rights to use his likeness in the game. His loss.

Oakland Athletics: P: Brett Anderson, P: Andrew Bailey, UTL: Billy Beane said in Moneyball that he was the best athlete on team, so he earns a spot, UTL: The Bash Brothers

Seattle Mariners: P: King Felix, P: Cliff Lee, OF: Milton Bradley, OF: Ichiro, 3B: Chone Figgins

Tampa Bay Rays: 3B: Evan Longoria, OF: Carl Crawford, OF: BJ Upton, OF: Desmond Jennings, P: James Shields

Texas Rangers: OF: Hambone Hamilton, P: Neftali Feliz, P: Derek Holland, 2B: Ian Kinsler, UTL: Justin Smoak

Toronto Blue Jays: Four mounties and OF Adam Lind

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More photos » Mike Carlson - AP

5 days ago: Houston Astros' Hunter Pence doubles in a run during the second inning in front of New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada in a spring training baseball game Tuesday, March 16, 2010, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

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Grapefruit League record (thought meaningless): 8-7

Today's starters:

Lineups will be posted as soon as we see them.

Listen to the game here. If you are in the Houston area, you can listen to the game on 790 KBME.

Mike Carlson - AP

The photo that will be on the cover of our new video game, MLB SLAM: 2010

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It's coming. Perhaps the greatest basketball themed arcade game, ever, NBA JAM is being re-released by EA Sports. For those actually interested, the game is set to be on store shelves late this year for Nintendo Wii. If you're in the 22-35 age range, you most likely know the glory that is NBA Jam. Refrains of "Boom-sha-ka-laka!" and "He's on fire!" cascaded off the walls of my living room during my youth, as I 'm sure it did in a lot of your homes.

Obviously basketball and baseball are different sports and don't lend themselves to simple comparisons. However, baseball has been modified to be more video game/youth friendly in the past. So if we at TCB were to create an arcade style baseball game for a video game system, who would play for each club?

I think a quintet rather than a trio is appropriate for a baseball game based on the style of the sport and the actual field of play. Players would basically play a "zone" on defense, rather than their real life positions.With that in mind, what five players would constitute each of the 30 MLB teams?

Qualifications to be in our game: 1) at least one pitcher must be on the team 2) one player must be a highly touted prospect/young guy. Other than that, anything goes. Here's who I chose for the National League:

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More photos » Charlie Riedel - AP

4 days ago: Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui, left, holds the ball after Washington Nationals' Cristian Guzman was forced out at second on a ball hit by Justin Maxwell during the first inning of a spring training baseball game Wednesday, March 17, 2010 in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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Grapefruit League record (thought meaningless): 7-7

Today's starters: RHP Bud Norris vs. RHP Brandon Morrow

Lineups will be posted as soon as we see them.

Listen to the game here. If you are in the Houston area, you can listen to the game on 790 KBME.

UPDATE: Josh Banks will start for the Astros because Bud Norris  is suffering from stomach flu.

More photos » Charlie Riedel - AP

Yes, Brad Mills. I was shocked too to see Montgomery County getting an independent team.

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Throw another interesting kink in the minor league ballparks coming to the Houston area. This story talks about Montgomery County possibly getting an independant team from the Atlantic League, which could start play as early as 2012. The land for the stadium has already been purchased but construction has not begun.

What would a second Houston-area team mean? Sounds like neither team will be affiliated with a major league club outside of the Astros. Houston also hasn't shown much interest in making either of the two bids into one of its minor league affiliates, leaving the independant route for both.

Independant minor league baseball has a lot of potential, but I'm not sure how well it will do so close to Houston. While the summer league team here in Bryan does well, that probably wouldn't be the case if people could also go watch the Astros. On the other hand, these teams could have a good crop of talent to work with, as there are a ton of college and pro players from the Houston area. All it takes is one guy like Rickey Henderson to play for one of the teams to create some buzz.

This isn't nearly as exciting as having a Double-A or Triple-A affiliate at the doorstep to The Woodlands Mall. I do think, however, that the more clubs a city can support will give Houston a better chance to earn a reputation as a baseball town.

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