Cosart, Zeid eager to face former team Phillies

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - When the Astros open Grapefruit League play Saturday against the Phillies (12:05 p.m. CT on MLB.TV) in Clearwater, Fla., it will be a homecoming of sorts for pitchers Jarred Cosart and Josh Zeid, both of whom are scheduled to pitch against their former teams.

Cosart and Zeid were among four players the Astros acquired in the July 2011 trade that sent Hunter Pence to Philadelphia. Cosart was drafted in the 38th round by the Phillies in 2008 out of Clear Creek High School near Houston, and Zeid was taken in the 10th round in 2009.

"It's exciting," Cosart said. "I'm going to have to try to keep my emotions down. It's going to be a good experience and a good time to see a lot of old guys, old friends. I hopefully get to talk to them a little bit. Being back in that environment I was familiar with for three years, it's going to be great."

When Cosart was talking about getting amped up to face his old team, teammate John Ely reminded him not to get to get overly excited. Ely was fired up to face the White Sox, who traded him to the Dodgers in 2009.

"It's easier said than done, but when I get there I told [Zeid] we'll have to help calm each other down," Cosart said. "You want to go out there and have a good showing against the team that drafted you, but you want to keep everything under control and try not to do too much."

Zeid went 2-0 with a 5.59 ERA in 47 appearances at Double-A Corpus Christ last year.

"I had a really good relationship with everybody over there, and I want to go back and show them what I've learned the last couple of years and how far I've come," he said.