The Astros looked like their usual pathetic selves again.
I have NO idea what in the name of GAWD is wrong with Lance Berkman, but he can’t catch up with fastballs and he’s missing breakers. And, naturally, he’s leaving guys on base. LOTS of them.
But, you know, it’s not just Lance.
Gallardo threw a CG with 105 pitches, barely broke a sweat, giving up exactly 4 hard hit balls, only one of which was a hit.
1st – 12 pitches
2nd – 7 pitches
3rd – 11 pitches
4th – 23 pitches (the one in which the Astros actually scored)
5th – 10 pitches
6th – 12 pitches
anyone see a pattern???!!
7th – 8 pitches
8th – 11 pitches
9th – 11 pitches
And let’s look at each of the guys in the lineup and see how many pitches each had/AB:
Matsui: 2 (1B),5 (K), 1 (GO), 4 (GO) = average 3 pitches/AB
Bourn: 1 (sac-b),3 (1B), 6 (1B), 5 (K) = average 5 pitches/AB
Lance: 5 (GO), 6 (K), 3 (K), 5 (K) = 5 pitches/AB
Lee: 3 (FO), 4 (HR), 2 (FO), 2 (GO) = 3 pitches/AB
Miggy: 2 (GO),7 (FO), 2 (FO) = 4 pitches/AB
Pence: 1 (GO), 3 (FO), 1 (1B) = 2 pitches/AB
Blum: 4 (LO), 4 (LO), 5 (GIDP) = 4 pitches/AB
Q/IRod: 3 (GO), 2 (GO), 3 (FO) = 3 pitches/AB
Pitcher/PH: 3 (GO), 3 (K), 4 (K) = 3 pitches/AB
BAD, isn’t it? Of Gallardo’s 71 strikes, only 15 were fouled off, and 5 of those were not in the strike zone.
Paulino did fine until he lost command in the 5th and threw waaaay too many pitches in the middle of the plate, which is how I remember him pitching last year. He threw 17 strikes, 7 balls, and every pitch which was hit for a single was up and over the plate.
sigh
Fulchino pitched 3 innings very well giving up only a solo homer and no walks. Good that he gave the rest of the bullpen the night off, so they best have no excusees about being too tired tomorrow – well, except for Valverde, who is still too hurt to pitch.
Lance best remember how to hit or this is gonna be a LONG LONG LONG season.
Also, I am getting pretty freaking tired of people blaming Michael Bourn for the team’s lack of success. Good grief. He is outhitting both Lance and Carlos. And that is NOT a good thing…
By the way, Bradley Awesomeness hit the game winning single for the Dodgers bottom of the 9th. He soooo ROOLZ.
Speaking of catchers, Quintero looked to be pretty shaken up in that collision with Mike Cameron. Brad never got into collisions, you know. Wonder if he is going to go on the DL or just sit on the bench.
Wonder when teams are gonna stop running on Pence…
Tags: Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers
That he threw FEWER pitches in the late innings when he should be laboring and when Astros hitters should be seeing his stuff better indicates how much this team is pressing and how awful their offense is. He threw 30 pitches in the last three innings. That just pathetic.
Paulino gave up 10 hits. But, he didn’t give up any walks. So, aggressive. Like Astacio. Fantastic.
since when was not walking anybody a problem?
He got knocked around in a single inning. Then Coop (perhaps ill-advisedly) left him in for another inning, and he struck out the side. He lost his command as the game wore on, but his stuff and velocity was still there. Just as I wouldn’t declare Paulino a success after a single good start, I wouldn’t declare him a bust after a single bad inning. He needs to work on mixing his pitches up, and he seemed to be unwilling to pitch inside after he hit Braun, but that comes with greater experience.
I have to agree with you, i think paulino has real good stuff and a real good FB that on occasion will reach to 98mph. and he can throw his breaking ball for strikes when he needs to. I also think he shows a lot of poise and doesn’t seem to get rattled. like you said he just really needs some more experiance. I think he has potential to be a good no. 2 or 3 rotation starter
Prediction:
May 15 is Lance Breakout Day.
July is Lance REAL Breakout Month.
45 Homers,.302 BA, 120 RBIS this year.
well, they say that pitchers should throw strikes and paulino surely did that. the problem was that they were up in the zone and mid plate and it is actually incredible that they weren’t hit for extra bases.
and of course, miggy didn’t handle weeks’ grounder and an out was missed there and that turned into a very important missed out
best i can tell from watching the replay and checking with gameday, paulino only has 2 pitches that work – a FB and a slider. and that will NOT turn him into a #2 guy because let’s face it – bout every single major leaguer can hit 98 MPH fastballs in the zone. and so far, the slider isn’t nasty, it is just a different speed.
but i am not ready to write the guy off yet seeing as how he has done MUCH better than i expected, given his history. velocity isn’t what makes a good pitcher.
but at this particular point, i am more worried about the astros HITTERS than any of the PITCHERS
Not saying that not walking people is bad. You only addressed half of what I said. Giving up walks makes me crazy. BUT, when you give up ten hits and no walks in six innings, it says exactly what Lisa pointed out – you’re giving guys pitches to hit. Throwing in the zone is good, but there is a time for balls and there is a time for strikes. You have to throw selectively, not just come after guys all the time. If he’s throwing up in the zone that much and giving up that many hits without a single walk, it says you may be overly aggressive. That’s not good.
Not declaring him a bust. Just talking about the weaknesses he’s going to have to overcome in order to not become the next Zeke.
They never should have pitched to P. Fielder in the 9th inning. When will they learn not to pitch to certain players in the 8 or 9 inning? Pitchers should be fined for pitching to Fielder, Uncle Albert, Bonds, etc. wak the sob and let the next guy up beat you.
If i am not mistaken hasn’t oswalt aways been an overly agressive pitcher always challenging just about every hitter even ones he shouldn’t like uncle and some others and basically he really just has 2 pitches.
it wasn’t the pitching to fielder. it was valverde throwing him the exact same pitch in the exact same location 5 freaking times. you talk about Stoopid
ROY is extremely aggressive and yeh it sure nuff DOES get his ass beat by the likes of Uncle (who owns him – and by the way, does NOT own lidge) and bonds. but on the other hand, those guys didn’t hit for spit offn, say, wandy
Roy actually has 3 pitches – the FB, the curve and a slider. Not sure why he doesn’t use the slider more, but he doesn’t. He can also throw a change, but again, he seldom uses it. Not sure if it is his preference or what
I’m sorry…do you have a difficult time telling the difference between Oswalt’s stuff and Paulino’s? Oswalt’s results speak for themselves. His numbers are awesome. He has a fastball with movement that Paulino’s will never have and a devastating curve.
Yeah, he gets beat by good hitters. Everyone does. That’s why they’re good hitters. But Roy has stuff that allows him to be aggressive. There is a difference between aggressive and OVERLY aggressive.