Well yall, this is gonna be short.
Jennings pitches 7 innings, gives up 3 ER on 5 hits and 4 BB – as well as THREE stolen bases and 2 WP. So not too much damage with not stellar defensive catching or fielding
Unfortunately, Ben Sheets only gave up 1 ER (5 hits) over 6 IP and the Brewers bullpen shut the door. (I really WAS shocked to not see Biggio in the lineup. Imagine sitting him against a tough righty away. How puzzling. It’s not like he would have gotten any closer to that magic number which defines this season) Ah well, he wouldn’t have done worse than Loretta today and he should have SOME chance of getting one hit off Vargas.
Our bullpen? Well, Steve Randolph, uh, well, um, lets say it’s not pretty.
Lefty Prince Fielder homers. Then righty Hall doubles, then righty Estrada doubles, then lefty Jenkins doubles, then lefty Counsell K’s. Borkowski comes in, gives up a sac fly and a groundout.
It will be interesting to see if they give him more of a chance than they gave Mike Burns.
Carlos Lee scored the only run with a homer off Sheets. Thank you Carlos for making sure we didn’t get shut out.
Uck
Sigh
Amazing that both the Astros and the White Sox, who were in the WS only TWO years ago, both have declined so badly. It’s time to think about next year.
Tags: Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers
I think it’s crazy for us to expect the offense to crack out 9 runs a game, and I don’t think you really do. Their ability to come back over the last 10 days or so has been fun to watch. The fact of the matter is, that when the bullpen came in and gave up the runs it put the game out of reach for us. A couple of runs is one thing, five is quite another. Jennings was pretty solid after giving up the three runs initially. Sheets was just better.
Just a note regarding your article. Jennings has a REALLY slow delivery to the plate. I have seen that alluded to on several occasions. You dont’ give your catcher much chance when the ball gets to him with a guy a few strides from the base. Munson’s throws were on (with the exception of the one ball he dropped and didn’t get off), with a couple more seconds they would have been out. He threw out 8 and only allowed 15 last season, which is respectable. Catching is truly an artform most don’t appreciate or truly understand. There is more to shutting down a running game than a strong arm. The pitchers are even more important in that equation. If they have a quick release to the plate you won’t get many out. And that is a fact. I also think people have been somewhat unfair to Lamb. Yes, he isn’t the greatest defensive corner infielder. BUT, he’s really not THAT bad. I mean, Ensberg makes errors at third and he’s known for his D. Everett has made more errors than usual this year, and that is his talent. It happens, it’s part of the game. So blaming the defense when clearly the bullpen has been the biggest frustration seems silly. A mistake or two in the field is just the same as a pitch left out over the plate and deposited into centerfield. There are alot of things that can go wrong in 9 innings.
Our bullpen stinks to high heaven. Anyway, I checked out the schedule for the rest of June and into July. We only play our division rivals five more times. I was hoping it would be higher so we could make up some ground in the division. IF we turn it on, which would require pitching, hitting and defense, we are going to have to hope Milwaukee faulters during that time.
I think we will more than likely be sellers next month but should we decide to go for it it is obvious we need some pitching. I really think the only true prospect in the farm system right now is Patton. McLemore would be an alright addition if Randolph continues on this streak. If we are not going to do anything huge to improve ourselves, we need to let guys like Burke, Munson, and Scott play to see if they should come back next season. It’s pretty clear that Biggio and Ausmus should be done after this season. It’s really not appropriate to criticize a player if they sit alot. VERY few people have the ability to come off the bench and be able to hit, or stay fresh defensively. Just doesn’t happen. Quit platooning so darn much and let it all play out. We may be surprised at the end of the season who stands out.
“I mean, Ensberg makes errors at third and he
Really, one passed ball and he “frequently” drops the ball. Not sure if you noticed, but when nobodys on it doesn’t matter. Also, a catcher isn’t responsible when the pitcher makes a WP. They do their best to block it for sure. Chris makes valid points. The ball Munson dropped was outside, low and in the dirt. Wouldn’t have been a good ball to handle anyway. Not like Ausmus would have done any better.
Lamb obviously isn’t as good as Ensberg, I get that. But I am willing to sacrifice his average D with offensive production. If we hit, we make up for the shaddy defensive plays of all the guys. Something else to keep in mind. Outfielders generally don’t get as bad of a rap because if they don’t touch the ball, they won’t get an error. There stats don’t always account for the number of ball they couldn’t get to, like happens with Scott and Lee. It’s difficult to really get a read on their contributions. Infielders make more noticiable errors, and I would argue have the more difficult job. With the exception of CF.
What happened to Mike Burns anyway?
Last I heard, he was in Cincinnati.
I’d like to think about next year too, but I don’t think it’ll be much better. Unless you’re of the opinion that Tim Raines and Todd Self are just waiting to explode with the major league club. I doubt it.
Behind them there’s Towles…and that’s pretty much it as far as position players go. And the more free agents we sign, the longer it takes for the farm system to get built up again.
chris
agree that jennings looks like clemens with his delivery to the plate. but munson isn’t any better with sampson.
and i have not been even a little bit unfair talking about lamb’s defense at third. errors are a terrible way to measure a fielder’s defensive abilities. it is much better to look at ZR and PMR and UZR and CHONE (you can google those – Chris Dial, David Pinto, Sean Smith) which measure’s the fielder’s ability to actually get near a ball. you don’t get an error if you don’t try to field a ball. and lamb, by any measure is simply terrible at third. he is just a little below average at first.
you have to look at the number of runs a fielder saves for the team as well as the number he creates for the team. if you have a team with mostly ground ball pitchers, you just can’t win with bad infielders because you will GIVE UP runs on hits that would have been outs with someone like everett
andrew,
i checked out mike burns on milb.com
he was stellar in 56.2 IP with louisville last year – 1.75 ERA and he sucked in 26 ML innings – a 7.29 ERA over 21 innings
he’s with the red six AAA club this year and he’s doing terrible – 4 losses and a 6.25 ERA. he’d fit right into the astros bullpen
“Really, one passed ball and he