Yeah, but James has been crazy wild for a long time, with moments of brilliance. If he can't throw enough strikes to be a starter, I don't know how you can put him in a major bullpen role where you pretty much cannot afford to walk people. Kinda like Framber, but I think he's a starter or nothing, damn I wish he could find the plate consistently.
Definitely agree the short spring is messing with some pitchers. Also, the number of injuries hasn't given Astros much choice, but let some guys work themselves into shape in games. And yet, hitters for the most part are having more performance (not including injuries) issues than pitchers on average. This is a crazy year.
James was fine as a reliever last year as mostly brilliant with a few really bad outings. This year, he's been okay in the first. Shaky to bad in the second. Wild AF the 3rd inning. James needs to get to being fine for 3 innings and then shaky for 2 innings. He's a long way away from that though.
What's a bad/average/good/great strike:ball pitch ratio for a reliever? Mea culpa, he was definitely better out of the pen than I thought last year.
Depends on the reliever. Ratio of strikes and balls is less important than the K%-BB%. Losing by 4 and losing by 1 still is only one loss. James didn't have that many games that he gave up runs in his 1st inning of work last season.
What a wimp. Maybe his upcoming game vs the Rangers will be the only game this year I root for Arlington. Go Rangers! Man, that didn't sound good
Looking at their schedule, that's his normal rotation day. If everything stays the same, he probably won't pitch in Houston at the end of the month either unless they really mess around with their rotation. However, we should see him for 1 of the 4 games in Oakland in September.
Question is...Did they line up the rotation like this on purpose weeks ago so he would avoid the Astros the first two times around?
Maybe...Fiers was projected to be their 3rd starter and he pitched the 3rd game of the season...nothing there. They also didn't skip their 5th starter even though they had an early off day, but that would have just forced Fiers up a day and he would have pitched today and missed this series anyway. Now, if they had skipped the 5th starter and then skipped the 5th starter after their off day on the 13th, Fiers would have been scheduled to pitch the last game in Houston at the end of the month. As it is now, since they didn't skip the 5th starter the 1st go around, Fiers isn't projected to pitch in Houston even if they do skip the 5th starter on the 13th. Maybe that was set up before the season with an eye on that series, but it's doubtful...he was projected as the 3rd starter from the get-go.
Did Mike Fiers finally rat on the Astros because of how they rocked him last year, especially at MMP? you would think if it truly was sour grapes about being left off the playoff roster, why not go public in 2018 right after the title? Would have been even more outcry then vs 3 years later.
Astros adjust rotation: Thursday at ARI: RHP Brandon Bielak Friday at OAK: RHP Zack Greinke Saturday at OAK: LHP Framber Valdez Sunday at OAK: RHP Cristian Javier It sounds like Michael Brantley (quad) will not be in the Astros' lineup tomorrow, either. Dusty Baker wants to rest him this entire series and play him in Oakland. Dusty Baker said Josh James is going to the bullpen. He could be available tomorrow, but most likely Friday. "I think we need James at the back-end of the bullpen," Baker said. Dusty Baker said Josh James is being moved to pitch in the back of the bullpen to add some experience. He said the team would give James more time to work out his control problems in rotation if season wasn’t so short.
