Ace Scherzer is one of the 2 Boras clients who spurred the changing of the signing deadline for the draft. He’s a strikeout king, beloved of fantasy players who are into that stuff, and he struck out 7 Astros all right. He can throw a fastball anywhere between 90-99 MPH (and you KNOW that getting it over 95 just made the scouts go all faint) but he has only one secondary pitch that I saw him throw – a changeup.
Thing is, ML hitters ALL can hit a 99 MPH fastball IF they guess where it is going to go, and basically, this is why Scherzer gave up 4 runs. Let’s all say it together – it ain’t the speed, it’s the motion.
And Moehler had better control and more motion, so he would up only giving up 2 runs – would have only been one, but Matsui wasn’t able to turn a GIDP and made a bad throw to Berkman. He lost control in the 6th, gave up a single, Kd 2 and walked 2 and so Coop decided to pull him with a lefty coming up, in spite of the fact that Moehler is actually good vs leftys.
THis is what I mean when I complain that Coop wastes the pen – and he also had Arias, who is obviously tired, warming up along with Byrdak, but then never used him. He had Byrdak pitch the 7th, and the first batter of the 8th, then pulled him and sent in righty Gervacio to face Reynolds, then pulled him and sent in righty Fulchino to face lefty Allen.
What the heck? He thought that NEITHER Byrdak NOR Fulchino could get Reynolds out? Getting guys up and down like that just wears them out and there are 6 more weeks…
There weren’t any GIDPs tonight. The guys are gonna have to try a little harder if they want to make a run at the record – 174/162 game season, set 3 years ago by the Oakland A’s. Right now, they are stuck at 117. The guys DID, however, turn a very nice 3-6-3 to end the first.
Tomorrow afternoon, The Last Game Before School Starts, features Bud Norris vs Jon Garland, RHP. Garland is a guy who a whole lot of Astros fans wanted Drayton to sign, don’t ask me why. Since he became a full time starter in 02, he’s had exactly one year (the WS year) that he excelled – the rest of the time, he’s been a #3 guy at best whose best characteristic is pitching 200 innings a year.
Anyway, this year, he’s 6-11 in 25 GS over 154 IP – 173H, 17 HR, 50 BB, 74 K – 4.42 ERA/1.44 WHIP/.286 BAA. And yes, he’s right in line with his career numbers, so what you see is what you got.
