Archive for June, 2006

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6/30/06 – Oswalt vs Padilla At Arlington

Friday, June 30th, 2006

Well, I see I didn’t get ONE suggestion on what could the Stros do to make the team any better.
Yall as disgusted as me, I guess.

It’s back to Arlington Stadium – AKA The Oven, for 3 games. The Rangers have not ROOLED in interleague play, by the way. All the talk talk talk bout how the AL is oh so WAAAYYY superior to the NL is basically because 5 teams – Red Sox, White Sox, Tigers, Twins and Mariners are like 65 – 7 against the NL – the rest of the AL teams combined are like .500 – interesting, yes? Texas, for example, is 6-9, and has lost their last 5.

Roy Oswalt, RHP vs Vicente Padilla, RHP

Roy this year: 6-3 in 15 GS: 8 HR, 20 BB, 69 Kover 102 IP with a 3.26 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a .277 BAA
vs. TEX: 4-1 in 7 GS: 8 HR, 6 BB, 44 K over 49.1 IP with a 3.47 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and a .272 BAA
@ the Ballpark: 2-1 in 4 GS 4 HR, 4 BB, 28 K over 27.2 IP with a 2.93 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a .252 BAA
(and oh YES I most CERTAINLY do remember the game last year where he threw 130 &(*^#%$@! pitches in the 120 degree sun in the middle of the day and lost 2 zip.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
-
Vicente Padilla, RHP
Signed by Arizona as a 21 year old FA from Nicaragua in 1998. Traded to Philly for Curt Schilling in 2000. Traded to the Rangers this past December for reliever Ricardo Rodriguez.
this year: 6-5 in 16 GS: 9 HR, 39 BB, 75 K over 92.2 IP with a 4.76 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a .264 BAA
vs. HOU: 0 -4 in 5 GS and 5 in relief – 3 HR, 13 BB, 23 K over 31.2 IP – 5.68 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and a .336 BAA
@ the Ballpark: 4-2 in 9 GS: 3 HR, 24 BB, 41 K over 51.2 IP with a 4.18 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and a .259 BAA
- and that really low HR rate is incredible in a place like Arlington where HRs fly out like crazy

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Posted in Astros baseball, Interleague Play, Roy Oswalt | 1 Comment »

Three Strikes And We’re Out – Shut Out For The Second Day In A Row

Thursday, June 29th, 2006

I guess I better say it right up front – we got shut out for the second day in a row and we looked really bad losing. No hitting and 3 errors. I COULD say well, at least we lost to the best team in baseball and not 2 in a row to the Pirates, like we did last year. But what for? It don’t make me feel better.

I been staring at this here computer screen for an hour, trying to think of what to say besides what we all already know
- the pitching sucks
- the hitting sucks
- the fielding sucks
- the coaching sucks
- the managing sucks

Maybe I’ll let Jason Bay of the even worse than we are (yes it IS possible) Pittsburgh Pirates do the talking (per Alan Robinson, AP):

“I think this core of players here has taken some strides, but I think you might have to bring in a lot of people to get to the next level,” Bay said. “Different faces might be the answer. We’ve hit a fairly low point, and I’m sure everybody has trouble sleeping.” Bay acknowledged he is pressing at the plate to produce because of the losing streak. He also might be feeling the pressure of the Pirates’ campaign to get him elected into the starting lineup for the All-Star game — since the campaign began, his average has dropped from .315 to .286, and he has only one homer in 16 games.
“I definitely know at times I am (pressing) — every at-bat is big,” Bay said. “We’re all looking for that one big hit.
“It’s starting to get a little unbelievable. Until we get a lucky break, a lucky bounce, get off to a great start in a game, I don’t know what the answer is,” he said.

So here I am complaining that my team sucks.
And this particular year, seems that ALL the NL teams are sucking and that the AL has more and better hitters. It happens. I just don’t want to hear that this means that the NL should go to a DH. All those years that the NL was so much bettern the AL, there wasn’t all the talk about how the AL should drop the DH. It is part of a move by too many people who really DO believe that the ONLY important or interesting part of a baseball game is offense, preferably just walks and homers. Might as well hit offn a tee and get rid of fielders and award points based on how fast the ball travels and where it lands.

Getting back to MY team, as my mother the stat geek sez – I don’t want to hear ONE freaking whine of complaint out of your mouth unless you have a solution.
Hoo boy.

- Well, we got a 90 something million payroll (I am not counting Roger because he MORE than pays for himself.)
- And 17 mill of that going to Jeff Bagwell, who can’t play. So I don’t think we can really add much more payroll.
- I would think that maybe we should change both the pitching and hitting coach, since whatever they’ve done has NOT worked.
- You can’t get rid of/bench expensive guys who suck. You know who I mean.
- We can’t get rid of Eric Munson for ANYONE because he is Phil’s little pet.
- I don’t see anyone in AAA or AA who looks like a great lefty bat, except maybe Luke Scott, and he didn’t hit ML pitching last year, did he?
- I don’t know if it’s a good idea to turn the starters in AA and AAA who look pretty good into relievers and throw out the ones we got now – heck, except for Sampson, I don’t know if they can get ML hitters out – and he mostly got Cubs out – not exactly a selling point.

Trades?
Who for who?
sigh

I’m not happy – but I don’t see what we can do to get this team better. Yall welcome to suggest anything…
Except getting rid of Chris Burke.

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Posted in Astros baseball | No Comments »

6/28/06: Here We Don’t Go Again – No Runs For Roger And Two Many Errors

Wednesday, June 28th, 2006

Same old same old – when Roger pitches, we don’t score runs for the poor guy. After 6 innings, Roger had thrown 66 pitches – 3 hits, 3 K, no runs. So to start the 7th, Roger suddenly lost the strike zone – and after a 7 pitch GO to Pudge, he walked Magglio on a 2-2, then went 3-0 to Guillen, got the usual strike, then everything went to heck. HP ump CB Bucknor, who has had, uh, problems with Roger before, called strike 2 ball 4 and Magglio, who would have been out on a CS, was called safe.

Roger was NOT happy – Phil pulled him and Dan Wheeler came in to get out of the trouble. Dan Wheeler 2006 don’t look NOTHIN like Dan Wheeler 2005. Preston Wilson didn’t get back to the wall fast enough to catch a FB, then Adam Everett made a rare throwing mistake – 2 runs scored. Then Mo Ensberg makes ANOTHER throwing error – and ANOTHER runs scores. This is not even a good game – it’s just plain embarrassing.

sigh

It’s bad enough we don’t hit worth%&#$@! with anyone on base – heck, with NO ONE on base, but if we gonna make errors, not catch balls, well I might as well post that infamous tombstone right about now.

Oh yeah – the experts are talkin bout how the Tigers need to go out and get another BAT???

Andy Pettitte, LHP vs Justin Verlander, RHP

Well, it’s hardly a fair contest. Andy has been simply TERRIBLE most of the time this year. Verlander, the rookie, has been pretty darn good – and this year, well, let’s just say we can’t give him the 12 runs of support Andy’d need to actually win.

Andy this year: 6-8 in 17 GS (9 QS, believe it or not) with 1 SO: 18 HR, 35 BB, 78 K over 101.2 IP with a 5.75 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and a .311 BAA
yes, you are right – DEFINITELY his worst year ever in the bigs.
In his 9 QS (plus another start where he gave up 4 ER over 7 IP) – he has a 2.91 ERA over 68 IP
In his 7 icky starts (and he has SEVEN starts where he gave up over 5 ER) he has an 11.76 ERA over 33.2 IP
Will we ever get good Andy back? Or is this like Dusty Baker thinking he gonna get Kerry Wood back as an ace starter any day now…
vs Detroit: 9-7 in 20 GS with 2 CG and 1 SO: 4 HR, 42 BB, 97 K over 127.1 IP with a 3.68 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and a .272 BAA – remember he hasn’t faced them since 03 – the year they only won 41 games…
@ Comerica: 2-2 in 4 GS with 1 SO: 14 0 HR, 7 BB, 19 K over 24.2 IP – 5.11 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and a .307 BAA
-
Justin Verlander, RHP
- drafted 1st round in 04 out of Old Dominion College by the Tigers. This guy has been hyped almost as much as Prior was by the Experts. And to be honest, he’s had a good year so far.
this year: 9-4 in 15 GS (10 QS) with 1 SO: 11 HR, 31BB, 58 K over 95.2 IP with a 3.39 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and a .257 BAA
@ Comerica: 4-2 in 8 GS: 7 HR, 15 BB, 22 K over 47.2 IP with a 4.53 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and a .291 BAA
has never faced the Astros
__________________________________________________________________________________

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Posted in Astros baseball, Roger Clemens | 3 Comments »

6/28/06 – Clemens vs Nate Robertson

Tuesday, June 27th, 2006

Well, the Tigers eat lefties and Wandy got et alive. Seems everything he threw in the 3rd went for a double – he threw 30 pitches, but he was not getting the ball in the strike zone and the Tigers weren’t swinging. Sigh. His line looks different than it usually does – only 1 walk, but 10 hits!!!, 1 HR, 4 K, 7 ER. He had a good 6th inning, but was at 100 pitches, so Phil sent him out for the 7th – he got the first 2 outs on 4 pitches, but then he gave up a homer to Pudge, so that was all she wrote.

As for us, same old story. 11 hits, 2 walks, 1 GIDP, 8 LOB, 4 runs. And ELEVEN Ks!!! Biggio got the hat trick. I mean, what can I possibly say that I haven’t said before about hitting, fielding, or leaving MOB? Miner wasn’t particularly good I mean, this is a 5th guy type pitcher – we got TEN hits and 2 walks and only 3 runs in the 5 innings he pitched – and he threw 100 pitches, too. Sorry, but that just will NOT do it. You just can’t win ballgames like that.

At this point, I just have no idea what to do – except that I am POSITIVE that Mo is hurt and keeping his mouth shut – which is making me mad, and that I am POSITIVE that Munson does not belong in the major leagues and that I am POSITIVE that I would rather have Chris Burke’s glove and bat than Willy and that Preston Wilson is not even as good as Barry Bonds in the field.
Fernando Rodney was scary good – faced 4 batters, got 4 Ks – 3 swinging. Whoa. And I mean WHOA. I can’t imagine what Zumaya must be like and he supposed to be even bettern Rodney…

sigh

poor Roger better pitch a perfect game…

Roger Clemens, RHP vs Nate Robertson, LHP

last game – 6 hits, 2 BB, 4 K and 2 ER in 5 IP
vs Detroit: (and remember he hasn’t faced them since 2003 and they weren’t, uh, any good. Actually, they were worse than we are this year.)
22-10 in 41 GS: 6 CG and 3 SO: 31 HR, 101 BB, 310 K over 283IP with a 4.01 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a .238 BAA
@ Comerica: 3-1 in 5 GS: 4 HR, 17 BB, 23 K over 29.1 IP with a 4.91 ERA, 1.88 WHIP and a .317 BAA
- here and I thought Comerica was supposed to be a pitchers’ park…
looked it up (baseball-reference.com) and sure enough – it is a 95 (less than 100 is a pitchers’ park)
-
Nate Robertson, LHP
- drafted in the 5th round 1999 out of Wichita State by the Marlins, came up in 2002, pitched 8.1 lousy innings, and was traded to the Tigers for Mark Redman in January 2003. Started 8 games in 03 (yeah, THAT year) and he was as bad as the rest of the team. Became a full time starter in 04 and has been a little below league average with an ERA+ of 94.
career: 27-32 in 88 GS and 7 in relief with 1 save and 3 CG: 78 HR, 191 BB, 379 K over 539.2 IP with a 4.64 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and a .272 BAA
this year: 7-3 in 15 GS: 11 HR, 33 BB, 66 K over 93.1 IP with a 3.38 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a .251BAA
@ Comerica: 13-15 in 45 GS and 1 in relief with 1 CG: 28 HR, 98 BB, 204 K over 274.2 IP with a 4.26 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and a .274 BAA
never faced Hou:
Preston Wilson is 2 fer 2 with 2 HR and a walk

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Posted in Astros baseball, Interleague Play, Morgan Ensberg, Pettitte, Wandy Rodriguez | No Comments »

6/26/06: The First Place Detroit Tigers Visit The Box

Monday, June 26th, 2006

Yeah.

The first place Detroit Tigers. Wasn’t it just like 2 years ago they were 41-121? Guess their owner decided he didn’t like being a laughingstock. It didn’t help that their farm system had sucked for a dozen years, that their only piece of good luck was that Juan Gonzalez turned down their 7 year 140 mill offer, and that their first round draft picks, um, weren’t good, and that their biggest “name” was Dmitri Young. Getting Carlos Guillen from the Mariners for a bag of chewing gum helped – along with signing Ivan Rodriguez as a FA.

Once Rodriguez broke the ice, it helped land a few more guys – Magglio Ordonez (who was out most of last year), Troy Percival (who got permanently hurt), Ugie Urbina (who never came back from assault and murder charges in his home country). But it bought them some time for their young guys to develop – Maroth, Bonderman, Ledezma, Robertson, Ramon Santiago, Brandon Inge, who did MUCH better at 3B than he did as a catcher, and Omar Infante. Marcus Thames, picked up off the scrap heap 3 years ago, has been VERY good, and Chris Shelton, who the Pirates stupidly didn’t think was worth protecting on their 40 man, was taken in the Rule V draft (and this guy hit like Barry in the minors, too – they just didn’t think he could play defense anywhere – yeh, right – no wonder the Pirates suck…)

Alan Trammell, who had done a decent job with a truly terrible team without decent players for 3 years, was fired – so I hear, because both Ordonez and Pudge didn’t respect him and wanted him gone, so Jim Leyland, who had been working as a scout since he quit on the Rockies after 1 year of his contract in 1999, was hired. And so far, so good.

Right now, they have the best record in the ML at 51-25 and just finished a 3 game sweep of the Cards.
Well, this is gonna be tough. VERY tough.

Let’s compare team RCAA (from Lee Sinins www.atm-reports.com)

TIGERS  ……… ASTROS

Marcus Thames†††††††††† 21  Lance Berkman†††††††† 24
Curtis Granderson††††† 20  Morgan Ensberg 13 (and this is in spite of his long slump)
Magglio Ordonez†††††††† 16   Chris Burke†††††††††††††††† 10
Carlos Guillen†††††††††††††† 11  Mike Lamb††††††††††††††††††† 4
Chris Shelton†††††††††††††††† 4   Eric Bruntlett††††††††††††† 0
Vance Wilson††††††††††††††† 2  Craig Biggio†††††††††††††††† -5
Alexis Gomez†††††††††††††† -2  Jason Lane††††††††††††††††† -5
Omar Infante†††††††††††††† -2   Eric Munson†††††††††††††† -5
Ivan Rodriguez†††††††††† -2   Orlando Palmeiro†††† -5
Brandon Inge†††††††††††††† -5   Preston Wilson††††††††† -7
Ramon Santiago†††††††† -6   Brad Ausmus†††††††††††† -10
Craig Monroe†††††††††††††† -8 .. Willy Taveras††††††††††† -15
Placido Polanco††††††† -10 .. Adam Everett†††††††††††† -16

Total:†††† +31 .. -17

————–

Well, everyone KNOWS the Stros aren’t hitting. Steve Phillips on BBTN says we need a better lefty bat (duh) and thinks we should go get Cliff Floyd (yeah, right) – what a Mets homer he still is. Like we need a guy the Mets don’t want no more because he’s just about at the end of his career and is hurt all the time. Or Jacque Jones, who can’t hit lefties, is in the first year of a 3 year contract, and is an even worse fielder than Preston Wilson.
Palmeiro and Munson aren’t exactly lighting it up, are they? Like I’ve said before, I’d sure like to try Luke Scott again. Even though I know hell will freeze over first before they replace Preston.
But maybe we need a better hitting coach – several of the Tigers are having career years – Marcus Thames, Granderson, Vance Wilson – and Ordonez and Guillen are healthy. And all of our hitters are doing worse this year…
The Astros haven’t really been a good hitting team since 2001 and we’ve been winning with pitching. But this year, the bullpen, so great last year, is simply sucking. (And it was even BEFORE we went back to Comisky.) Let’s look:

†††† Player††††††††††††††††††††† G†† GS†† W††† L††† SV††††† IP†††††† H††††† R††† ER††† HR†† BB††† K†† ERA†† WHIP††† BAA†††††
†Russ Springer††††††††† 31††† 0††† 1††† 0††††† 0†††† 26.0††† 18†††† 9†††† 9††††††† 4††††† 7††† 21††† 3.12††† 0.96††† .194†††††††††
†Dave Borkowski††††† 19††† 0††† 1††† 0††††† 0†††† 34.0††† 30††† 14†† 14†††† 3††††† 9††† 32††† 3.71††† 1.15††† .236†††
†Trever Miller†††††††††† 27††† 0††† 0†† 2††††† 0†††† 21.2†††† 23††† 10†† 10†††† 5††††† 8††† 24††† 4.15††† 1.43††† .274†††
†Dan Wheeler††††††††††† 33††† 0††† 1††† 5†††††† 1†††† 32.0††† 31†††† 15†† 15†††† 2†††† 11†† 30††† 4.22††† 1.31††† .256†††
†Chad Qualls††††††††††††† 37††† 0††† 3††† 2††††† 0†††† 41.1†††† 37††† 20† 20†††† 6†††† 12†† 24††† 4.35††† 1.19††† .245††††††
†Brad Lidge††††††††††††††† 36††† 0††† 0††† 2†††† 19††† 34.2††† 30††† 19†† 18††††† 3†††† 20† 50††† 4.67††† 1.44††† .229†††
†Fernando Nieve†††† 15††† 11†† 2††† 3††††† 0†††† 67.0††† 67†† 36†† 35††† 14††† 21†† 45††† 4.70††† 1.31††† .260††

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Posted in Astros baseball | 2 Comments »

6/26/06: Fernando Nieve Breaks The White Sox Curse!!!

Monday, June 26th, 2006

Well, the White Sox are NOT invincible. (All the people who are going on and on and on about how the White Sox got a Series sweep are forgetting how very close those games ALL were…)
Chad Qualls came in and pitched 2.1 great innings. He only gives up grannies at this park, so no problems with homers.

Trever Miller came in with 1 out in the 12th and struck out Thome, who got the golden sombrero tonight.

Then it is Nando Time!!!
He comes in, Ks Paul Konerko, then nails down the save in the bottom of the 13th.
The Save, you ask? WHAT save? Astros do NOT come back. This would only be the 4th time this year.

Well, no homers from the big guys this time. It’s the banjo team coming through. Adam Everett, the guy with the 680 OPS, the guy with -14 RSAA, yeah, him, he sends a bloop hit juusssst inside the RF fair line – Gload almost catches it, but it rolls away from him, he loses it, it rolls under the seats, a fan picks it up, then suddenly realizes it is a live ball, and tosses it back on the field and Adam is on 3rd.

The umps, over Ozzie Guillen’s dead body, award Adam 3rd base because of his speed. This time WE got lucky – for once. Then Willy Taveras, who had a pretty good game, actually bloops a RBI single into left. Biggio FO, then with Lamb at bat, Willy steals second – WTF??? – doesn’t he KNOW they gonna walk Lamb and pitch to Burke? Which they do, then Berkman Ks with 2 on and 2 out.

But we’re up by 1 run.
So Nando comes in, gets 3 nice groundouts, like Springer shoulda done, and LIDGE SHOULDA DONE, and there he is with his own double – a save AND a win. And for the times that he pitched well and got no win, well, I was glad to see him get it this time.
By the way, Comisky sure is a small park – a “sellout” crowd is 38,512. And I thought the Box was small…

One other thing:
Joe Morgan kept talking about how Willy should be in the lineup every day because he “makes things happen…” Well, tonight, he stole 2 bases against relief pitchers who got no pickoff move. And one of em he shouldn’t have stolen – bad judgement. He has exactly 10 SB for the year, 5 CS, and 4 of those SB came against Matt LeCroy, the catcher who hadn’t caught a game in years, for good reason.

yep

Of course, this means we take Burke OUT of the lineup. Which is dumb. Burke has a better bat, a better glove, a better OBP and Willy is no Jose Reyes.

And speaking of his glove, yall notice how he just stands there when a ball is hit to shallow center and lets it fall in for a single? Same old thing… although I gotta say how proud I was of his DP on the Jermaine Dye FB, then throwing Konerko out at third.

- last thing – it was raining like crazy when Springer was pitching, and I wonder if it affected his getting a grip on the ball. Brad, he got NO excuse.

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Posted in Adam Everett, Astros baseball, Fernando Nieve | 1 Comment »

6/25/06: Roy Oswalt SHOULD Have Beaten The White Sox 9-2, But Bullpen Blows It

Sunday, June 25th, 2006

I don’t even want to write this entry.
I really don’t. In fact, I just don’t even care if I see the end of this game. Extra innings. AGAIN.
Roy left the game after 7 innings leading 9-2. He pitched FANTASTIC – 5 hits, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 ER, 1 HR (on a great FB up and in). I SAID he was gonna hafta pitch a no hitter, didn’t I??? Anthony Reyes can tell him that a 1 hitter won’t do it…

Springer gives up 2 singles and a homer.
Wheeler gets a GO and 2 very very long FB.
With 2 out and 2 on, Lidge gives up a walk then a grand slam. His second this year. (It’s funny because Joe Morgan was talking about how Lidge had got himself straightened out. Well, not funny…)

Goodbye win for Roy.
I cannot freaking believe this.
The bullpen ERA is over 8 when Roy pitches.
This is like Dan Freaking Miceli in the postseason in 04. Only it’s the entire bullpen.

I can’t even blame this one on Phil – except he shoulda had Ausmus squeeze with 1 out and man on third in the 10th. That was stupid – seeing as how Ausmus has gone back to his old el-suck ways after about a year of decent hitting and getting on base.

I wasn’t even this upset last year – we had a lot of young guys and I didn’t expect much.
But this is ridiculous.

I knew we were gonna have trouble with hitting. I KNEW we shoulda figured out some way to get a big LH bat.

But who knew that our bullpen, which was so good this year, was gonna suck so bad this year? I don’t think that anyone would have predicted that Wheeler, Springer, Lidge and Qualls would all have ERAs over 4?
Now the only question is – can we end the year at even .500?
I don’t THINK so…

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Posted in Astros baseball, Brad Lidge, Dan Wheeler, Roy Oswalt, Russ Springer | 2 Comments »

6/25/06: Last Chance – Roy Oswalt vs Javier Vasquez At Comisky

Sunday, June 25th, 2006

Roy better go pitch a no hitter, is all I can say. Because the Stros are sucking so bad I can’t even think of a bad enough word to describe a team that can’t beat the %*#%@! Royals’ Scott Elarton or Brandon F. Duckworth. We lost the first 2 games to the White Sox because of grand slams. And the fact is that Roy pitches his worst when he thinks that the rest of the team doesn’t have his back. Craig Biggio has a sore shoulder, and he’ll probably be out tomorrow, too. So we need to play Bruntlett at second and Burke in center and bench Willy. And Phil got ZERO business having a crappy hitter like Munson, who can’t even hit better in the NL, as a DH.

Yeah, you are right – I am NOT happy…

And yall KNOW we’re gonna be THE Sunday night game on ESPN. It’s really too bad that Brandon Backe isn’t pitching, because he almost always pitches like Mr. Ace when he’s on national TV – you talk about clutch pitchers…

Roy Oswalt, RHP vs Javier Vasquez, RHP

Roy this year: 6-3 in 14 GS – 7 HR, 19 BB, 62 K over 95 IP with a 3.32 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a .282 BAA
- yall notice he has a much lower K/9 rate this year than usual – 5.87 vs 7.80; HR/9 is 0.663, right in line, and his walks/9 – 1.88, is lower than his 2.06 average. Seems strange to see him on the top 10 fewest BB/9 instead of the most K/9 lists…
vs White Sox: never faced them in the regular season
- for the WS game (yeah, the one where Phil left him in to die) the one where the HP ump gave the WS pitcher a GIANT strike zone and Roy a tiny one. I get blood pressure just THINKING about that game…
-
Javier Vasquez, RHP
who we know quite well from his years with Montreal and Arizona
career: 97-97 in 270 GS: 19 CG and 7 SO: 230 HR, 459 BB, 1490 K over 1732.1 IP with a 4.29 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a .260 BAA
this year: 8-4 in 14 GS: 7 HR, 22 BB, 72 K over 89.1 IP with a 4.43 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a .260 BAA
@ the Cell: 7-1 in 9 GS: 5 HR, 13 BB, 55 K over 61.2 IP with a 3.79 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a .245 BAA
vs Hou: 2-5 in 11 GS with 1 CG: 9 HR, 18 BB, 62 K over 70.2 IP with a 4.08 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a .270 BAA

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Posted in Astros baseball, Roy Oswalt | 2 Comments »

6/24/06: Qualls Gives Up A Slam To Crede And Costs Taylot Buchholz 3 Runs

Saturday, June 24th, 2006

Well, Chad Qualls does it again. Comes in with bases loaded and gives up a first pitch grand slam. Then gets 2 easy outs. Just like in the WS. Only it was Crede and not Konerko.
Crede must have jumped for joy when he saw Qualls instead of Taylor, who had made him look bad his last 3 AB. First pitch FB down the middle – boom. Taylor gets 3 ER, Qualls gets 1. Not fair, is it???

It’s days like this that it is hard to root for this team.

Taylor pitched an absolutely ace game before tiring in the 7th – and I DO think that Phil did the right thing pulling him – it is a damm shame he got tagged with those last 3 runs, because it does not even begin to tell what a great job he did in the first 6 innings – 7 K, no walks, 2 hits, 1 ER (on a single, SB, GO and a sac fly.)

This is like the ****ing WS – it’s not that their pitchers were any Francisco Liriano – it’s that we did NOT have good situational hitting and out bullpen stunk it up and the guys totally packed it in after the GS – just like they did yesterday. Husband said to me when Qualls came in to face Crede – watch, he’s gonna give up another grannie. Sure enough. Then he said – no reason to watch the rest – it’s over now, you know these guys. And, he sez, we’re gonna lose it on a FB that Willy don’t get. Good thing I’m not a betting grrrl…

Garland pitched REALLY bad. As in terrible. 8 hits, 5 walks, 2 K over 5 IP with 106 pitches. We left 10 MOB in those 5 innings. We should have scored at LEAST a dozen runs. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Lance is gonna get IBB like Barry Lamar Himself unless Phil deals with the batting order, or Mo gets himself out of his terrible slump, whichever comes first.
sigh

Fact is, except for Burke, Lamb and Berkman, no one is hitting worth **** and putting Mo behind Berkman right now is DUMB. Eric Munson is NOT a decent ML hitter, he’s not exactly Yadier Molina behind the plate, and there he is as a DH – left FIVE MOB with 2 outs. He shouldn’t even be on this team – and he is because Phil has a thing for ex-Tigers.
What would I do?

Well, first, I would want to find out for absolute certain if Mo is hurt or just sucking. If he’s hurt, put him on the DL and call up Luke Scott. Put Lamb at third. If Mo is sucking, well, video time – look at last year before he got hurt in September, or even April this year because SOMEthing is just wrong.

IF Mo is gonna play, then either Lamb or Burke should play behind Lance and Lane should bat second.

The other thing is that I think we should squeeze more with a good bunter up and a guy on third – mostly because we need to do SOMEthing to get guys home and trying for HRs with THIS team is NOT gettin it done.

I got NO idea why suddenly Brad Ausmus can’t hit the ball – not that I thought he’d bat over .300 for the rest of his career, but even for his usual, he’s slumping badly.
Adam Everett is never gonna turn into A-Rod or Tejada, especially batting 8th, so all I want is for him not to GIDP. Because we NEED great defense and he’s the absolute best – I guess I could handle replacing him if we had A-Rod in the minors, but we don’t.

Austin Swafford wrote me that in his opinion, the coaching is lousy. Well, we all know that compared to last year, Pettitte is sucking and the bullpen is sucking. And hitting? Note that Lance Berkman has an OBP below .400 for the first time – and he’s not taking many walks. We don’t have a HR hitting team, and I don’t know IF guys can even DO situational hitting, but seem to me that something gotta change.

And like I keep saying, Phil is NOT a good manager. LOTS of lousy decisions. Such as IBB TWO guys in the 10th – Wheeler can’t get either Pierzinski OR Podsednik out??? (And this is after Willy can’t get to another FB to center…)

I didn’t exactly expect this team to win 100 games. Or even 90, for that matter.
But this is just dreadful.

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Posted in Astros baseball, Qualls, Taylor Buchholz | No Comments »

6/24/06: The Number Fives’ Last Game At Comisky

Saturday, June 24th, 2006

OK.
Yeah, somehow we went from the number 2 starters to the number 5 starters in just 1 day.
Taylor pitched a shutout against the hard hitting Rangers, so time for the boy to pull out his ace stuff. I keep saying it, and he keeps not doing it. We can take his 3 ER in 6 IP, but it would be SO nice to beat the &^*^%@#! Sox in their own park.

I am just so tired of seeing Andy Pettitte suck – I’d sure LOVE to see a great game from Taylor.

Taylor Buchholz, RHP vs Jon Garland, RHP

- well, Taylor stayed in the rotation and Nieve went in the pen – hope it was the right decision. Note that Taylor has better numbers than Andy Pettitte does this year…
this year: 4-6 in 12 GS and 2 relief: 1 SO: 14 HR, 19 BB, 47 K over 77.1 IP with a 5.82 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a .261 BAA
- you notice he has a pretty low WHIP and BAA compared to that awful ERA
-
Jon Garland, RHP
- drafted in the first round out of HS by the Cubs, and traded the very next year for pitcher Matt Karchner (who???) came up in 2000, started and relieved for the next few years, then has been a full time starter since 02 – an acceptable #5 guy who had a career year last year.
career: 70-64 in 173 GS and 22 in relief with1 save, 5 CG and 4 SO: 156 HR, 394BB, 599 K over 1099.1 IP with a 4.52 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a .267 BAA
this year: 6-3 in 14 GS: 19 HR, 19 BB, 48 K over 90.1 IP with a 5.58 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a .294 BAA
@ the Cell: 35-32 in 81 GS and 11 in relief: 3 SO: 79 HR, 190 BB, 300 K over 518.2 IP with a 4.25 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and a .257 BAA
vs Hou – WS Game #3: 7 hits, 2 BB, 4 K, 4 R, 2 ER over 7 IP

Posted in Astros baseball, Interleague Play, Taylor Buchholz | No Comments »

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