Wade and Cooper agree. Visions of Moehler's 2003 Astros season do dance through my head, but iirc he got hurt and then sucked hard.
I dunno, to me he didn't look tired at all and he was still throwing hard. And if you read his quotes from the paper, he says: [rquoter] Astros righthander Shawn Chacon was asked to rate his three-inning outing Thursday. "I would rate it 'G' — for garbage," Chacon said after allowing five runs in the Astros' 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... I didn't pitch well at all today, even the first two innings," Chacon said. I wasn't sharp. And then they caught up with me in the third inning. I was behind in the count. I walked a couple of guys. The ball was up in the zone... [/rquoter] (source) To me he just looked very wild, except when he was throwing a 3-0 meatball to try and catch up in the count. Velocity and stuff seemed pretty good to me for all three innings. And I hope our potential starters don't end up 'gassed' after two innings.
I only caught the last hitter of the 2nd through the 3rd innings, and his delivery looked all out of whack. Different arm angles, different plant points, drifting off the rubber, all that. That said "tired legs" to me. Could have just been one of those days.
At least Stephen Randolph looked good yesterday. He was so dominant at AAA last year. If he could harness his potential and throw strikes that would be a HUGE lift for the Astros to have him as a lefty reliever.
Listening to Cecil Cooper on 610 yesterday. Said Michael Bourn can run, no reason to not expect 35 stolen bases or so from him, said that Kaz Matzui can run, Carlos Lee can run & led the team in steals last year, Hunter Pence is definitely capable, said LANCE BERKMAN can run...
He can. Just not particularly well, or at a fast pace, or in a straight line, or when he's supposed to, or where he's supposed to....
Kaz is having ass surgery. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/news/story?id=3294343 Also of note in that article is that Wandy strained a left oblique muscle tonight.
Anyone else worried by our new set-up guy getting rocked like a softball pitcher? Ughhhh.......may have to demote Brocail to long relief.
Looks like Oswalt is about ready. Only base runner through 6 IP today was from an error. They wanted him to throw 80 pitches today. However, he'd only thrown 57 through 6 and they needed to get other guys in the game.
I get the fat jokes and the fact that he's made a gaffe in base-running in the past. However, he's always reminded me of Bagwell in his base-running in that while he's not fast, he usually picks his spots well and gets good breaks.
He's reminded me much more of a dunce (or a really slow Glen Barker) than of Bagwell. Getting picked off, getting caught halfway up the line on a lazy line drive, forgetting how many OUTS there are (!!!)... Rice grad. Go figure.
Are we talking about the same Lance Berkman? Lance is among the worst baserunners I've ever seen, and it has absolutely zilch to do with his speed, or lack thereof.
I don't think there is a one of us here who doesn't like Lance Berkman. However, the dude is a terrible base runner...maybe one of the worst in baseball right now. I've never seen a professional athlete in a non-contact sport fall down as much as Berkman. It's actually kind of funny to see...as long as it doesn't determine the outcome of a game.
I have no idea where you get this impression. There is so much more to baserunning than stealing bases, which is what your post seems to focus on. I am flummoxed. Bagwell & Jeter are the 2 best baserunners I've seen in the last ~20 years. Berkman is nowhere, absolutely nowhere, near that level.
Berkman needs to loose those mutton chops. I think he's taking the 'Fat Elvis' thing a bit too seriously. At the moment all I can think of when I see him is whether he can get his uniform cut with a 3 inch sequened collar:
