I'm glad, too, but now I'm half-way rooting for them. Really, anyone but the Cubs, but the Cards would work.
Not sure if anyone has noticed, but Pence has five walks in his last seven games. While that's a small sample size, hopefully it's a sign of his maturation at the plate.
By the way, Russ Springer has a 2.58 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP this season. He's been one of the better setup men in the game, and he wanted to re-sign with the Astros on the cheap. Garner, however, wanted a "multiple inning guy" in Rick White even though he already had Borkowski and Moehler and the bullpen (at the time) was deep with Qualls, Wheeler and Lidge all there. It wasn't a crucial loss, but upon reflection, it was one that defied all logic simply for the sake of Garner's "instinct." When you build a team like that, those kinds of mistakes can build up over time, and that principle played a big role in Garner's downfall.
I can't believe we won a game : 2-1. Against a good team even. The way this year has gone we should have lost this game 3-2 in the 14th.
He also has about a gazillion strikeouts. OK, maybe 9 in the last 9 games, but he still has to be more selective sometimes.
I really hope Albers makes the rotation next year. I think McLemore would be best as a long reliever.
I hear ya... Booo to the Cubs. I'm half-rooting for the Brewers to turn it around. With Sheets back it's looking a little better. And we can still do our part in keeping the Cubs out of the playoffs. We have 6 games remaining against the Cubs. We will be playing against the bottom of their pitching staff in the upcoming series. The Pirates can help too. They have 6 games against the Cubs to go too. Cinci has 6 games left as well. Cards have 4. Now that I've said that... it's not looking good for keeping the Cubs out of the playoffs. Go anyone but the Cubs!!!!!
I like McLemore in the MR role. Not as a lefty specialist but as a regular MR. I guess he could do a little of both. But I'd like to see him in the role Qualls has been used in the past. A 7th inning guy with the occasional 2 inning game. You don't want to use that guy as in LR. You want that guy to be available 4-5 games a week. I too hope Albers makes the rotation next year. I root for all the young guys. I hope we arn't put in that position where Albers is in the rotation though. Because that means that we didn't add anyone in the offseason and/or Backe isn't there and/or Patton isn't there.
i'd rather see Nieve be the 7th inning man next season... that is of course if he recovers from TJ surgery.
But you got to understand his thinking, the back end of his rotation were 3 #5s: Sampson (who we had absolutely no idea of how good/bad he was until he had been through the league 2/3 times), Wandy (who we knew could be very bad) and Williams (who skills were sliding). Garner must have thought that he might need 3/4 extra pitchers each game, for three games in row (while #3-#5 started).
He should have known better. We needed them four out of every five games. And Rick White sucked and was released; we now have neither.
