You dont know how pissed I am to wake up and grab the sports page, only to find that Garner has given the 4th spot in the rotation to Wandy freakin Rodriguez. I'd rather have Sampson, Nieve, Moehler, or Albers all before I had to take Wandy. He has no confidence in his abilities...he'll get a couple of runners on base and lose it and end up giving up 3 or 4 runs. STUPID move!!!
What are you worried about? Sure, he has a career 5.58 ERA and losing record. But he's a veteran and a LEFTY and that's the only thing that matters.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt to start the season. Finesse pitchers tend to take a little while to develop, and I think Wandy can eventually be a decent one. It's just good to know we have some people waiting in the wings to replace him if or when necessary.
Damn, he's been in the Astros organization....that means he didnt make his major league debut until he was like 27 years old because we baby our prospects and we want them to win MINOR LEAGUE championships before we move them up to the next level. Thats a whole other story....but how long does he need to develop??
What on earth are you talking about? He just turned 28 recently. And after starting a thread about how he sucks, you're complaining that the Astros babied him and didn't bring him up earlier?
Serious question: What is the big deal about left handed pitchers? What advantage do they have over right handed pitchers?
We baby our prospects... like Berkman, Oswalt, Wade Miller, Carlos Hernandez, Fernando Nieve, Matt Albers, Willy Taveras, Chris Burke, Daryle Ward, Bobby Abreu, Richard Hidalgo and others?
Thats my point...he's already 28 and he STILL hasnt gotten it together? Just like Jason Lane? I was just pointing out that our organization is way too slow in getting guys to the major leagues. Ensberg and Everett were around 25 when they made their debuts, Lane was older then that, Burke is 27-28 and just now getting his chance to start....you see what im saying? By the time these guys get here they have like 6 years to play before we need someone else thats younger. Other teams have guys making their debuts at age 23, and some below that, but we just seem to move our players real slow
More then half these guys were with a different GM. Times have changed. They need to get Pence and Patton up here ASAP!
W-Mac don't get too worked up about Wandy. He'll eventually show his true colors after a good first month or so and promptly go into the tank like he did last year. I don't think he'll stick in the rotation for more than half the season. To me Wandy is a situational relief pitcher out of the bullpen, too inconsistent to be a regular starter.
So you're saying the new GM who was criticized in 2005 for not signing veterans and instead bringing up all sorts of prospects doesn't bring prospects up fast enough? You mention that "Half these guys were with a different GM" and then simultaneously gripe about Wandy, Lane, Ensberg, Everett, and Burke, all of which were before the current GM. Which is it?
The problem is really going to come in when Wandy doesn't perform well at all, Mr. Stubborn is still going to stick with him for several months too long which is going to cost us big time at the end of the year just like it did last year.
Exactly! Patton's pitched not even half a year at AA with an ERA in the 3s - he's ready for the big leagues!
My guess is that it forces a starting lineup change, especially for the leftie-rightie platoon situations. Of course, WR pitches at best half the game and is relieved by a RHP, which should be an advantage for the Stros (RHP facing the lineup which favors LHP).
When right handers pitch to right handed batters it is easier for the batter to see the ball coming out of the pitchers hand. Also, the ball naturally tails away from a right handed batter when thrown from a right handed pitcher when it will naturally tail inside for a lefty.
It's the opposite - righty pitchers have an advantage over righty hitters and lefty pitchers have an advantage over lefty hitters. That's why switch hitters always bat opposite of whatever the pitcher is. So it seems like since baseball has mostly righty hitters, a lefty pitcher would be at a disadvantage. But I guess it provides a different look so that's perhaps helpful.
Unless he works for the Astros organization I definitely think he is being sarcastic. They seem to be the only ones with this stubborn, ignorant mentality.
