http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news/20020613/houstonreynolds.html Astros RHP Reynolds to miss remainder of season HOUSTON (TICKER) -- Houston Astros righthander Shane Reynolds will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing back surgery on Thursday. Dr. Richard Harper performed the surgery which entailed removing disc fragments that were pressing on a nerve in Reynolds' lower back. Doctors are optimistic that Reynolds will return next season. Reynolds, 34, has struggled this season, going 3-6 with a 4.83 ERA in 13 starts. An All-Star in 2000, Reynolds ranks seventh on the Astros' career list with 103 wins and also ranks fifth on the club's career strikeout list with 1,309. To take Reynolds' spot on the roster, the Astros recalled righthander Brandon Puffer from Class AAA New Orleans of the Pacific Coast League. Puffer is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in 15 appearances for Houston this season. Looks as if Shane might have pitched his last game as an Astro. I am pretty sure that he won't reach the necessary levels of innings in order to get his automatic option, and he doesn't seem to have a whole lot left in the tank for his career. Astros have a lot of young arms, so he might not be resigned this offseason. If so, that is a shame, I always like Shane. Also, this seems like the signal that whatever "bold and challenging move" Hunsicker was referring to in the other thread might just happen.
According to people on AC.com, they said on 610 that Saarloos will be taking Reynolds' place for at least 1 start on Tuesday.
Timing, I believe they are promoting Kirk Saarloos to start tuesday night in Milwaukee. Puffer is temporary bullpen insurance till then.
Well, if I am Gerry Hunsicker, I just accept that this season is lost. It would require a monster finish to win the division or get the WC, and with the injury problems to the rotation, it seems highly unlikely. So, here is what I would do if I am Gerry. Call Morgan Ensberg back up and let him start at 3B for the remainder of the season. Give him consistent ABs, see what he does with it. If nothing else, it will give you excellent evidence to keep playing him or bench him next season when the games will mean more. Sit Bagwell and his ailing shoulder for an extended period of time (not the rest of the season, since I doubt he would go for that) and start Daryle Ward in his place. Then have Jason Lane start in the OF for a while, if not the rest of the season just to give him a shot to show what he can do. The SS situation is a tough one. I want to bring Adam Everett back up and give him another shot, but Lugo has not been too bad at SS this season, and he is young as well as Everett, so I think Lugo has earned the right to continue to start at SS. Assuming we have room on the roster, get Keith Ginter more starts at 2B, and give Craig some rest. Maybe the time off will help him get his swing and head together (assuming that is the problem, which I don't think it is). Play around with the rotation. Maybe call up Sarloos this season and give him a couple games to see what he can do. Perhaps give Dotel another shot at being a starter (he would be more valuable if he could repeat his relief performances as a starter). Keep Redding in the rotation (a no brainer), bring Wade Miller along slowly and restrict his pitch count considerably (around 90 pitches or so), let Oswalt continue to work his magic, along with Carlos Hernandez. If things work out, we might find out that our young players are fully ready to be full time players in the majors. If not, then you have a much better idea of what you are working with, and what positions need the most help through the draft/trades. And if they all do well, and it turns out we don't have enough spots for them when everyone is healthy, it will still have raised their trade value, so we can fill other holes. I know that seems all very drastic and radical, and I am sure my participation in fantasy leagues is fueling my willingness to "shake things up," but I really feel that it is the best path to improving the team in the long run. EDIT: Just saw that Sarloos will indeed be promoted for at least one start. I hope that the Astros people give him more of a chance than just one start, as the only poor outing that Sarloos had in Round Rock this season was his first one, and he said in an interview it was because he was too pumped up and the adrenaline was causing him to over-throw. He is not a power pitcher, and that can be a problem, I guess. If he struggles his first go-around, I hope they at least give him a second chance.
Well, Gerry can't argue with Roy and Carlos' success. This should be interesting...at least we should get good position for the contraction draft...Javier Vazquez, Vlad Guerrero, or Jose Vidro anyone?
Well, if I am Gerry Hunsicker, I just accept that this season is lost. It would require a monster finish to win the division or get the WC, and with the injury problems to the rotation, it seems highly unlikely. I'm not so sure they have given up on this season yet (nor should they). This team has all the talent to compete. In terms of scoring margin, we're right there with St. Louis as the best in the Central. Normally, that's a good indicator of record, although it hasn't worked out so well for us. We can make up 7 games on St. Louis in 3 1/2 months if we get our stuff together. That's only 2 games / month or so. If we can just consistently win the head-to-head matchups, we can be right there.
Well, Major, when you put it like that it seems very doable. But observing the Astros so far this season, it seems like a monumental effort would be required. The rotation is going to have to be Wade Miller (pitched well, but still recovering), Roy Oswalt (outstanding), Carlos Hernandez (has pitched very well), Tim Redding (good, but has struggled lately) and Kirk Sarloos (until Mlicki comes back, is very likely he will struggle early). It will take good pitching performances form these guys, followed by a drastic change in timely hitting by pretty much the entire freaking team. Certainly it can be done, and that said, we really should put off giving up for a while longer. If things do not get better, however, I would like to see my suggestions implemented with around a 3rd of the season left over (assuming we are still around 8-10 games back then).
Well, Major, when you put it like that it seems very doable. But observing the Astros so far this season, it seems like a monumental effort would be required. I agree -- watching the games, I haven't seen anything to make me really think they are going to improve. I just get the impression that management feels differently. Personally, I don't think that Ward will come around and Biggio really does seem to have lost it. But outside of those two guys, it just seems to be a matter of clicking. Looking at the team on paper, all the pieces are there. My guess is that management still wants to make a run. If we get to 4-5 games by mid to late July, I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a deadline deal to see if we can get back in it. The beauty of baseball is that if we make the postseason, we have a real shot of the World Series. It's not like basketball where the 8th seed really is kinda pointless. I think if they show *any* signs of life over the next several weeks, we'll make some moves. These are just guesses on my part, though.
The last 4 games have given me hope, even though we're only 2-2 in those games. We've made comebacks, scored runs when we needed to, and beat Kerry freakin' Wood. We've got a good chance to make up some ground in July if we can keep it within striking distance.
The last 4 games have given me hope, even though we're only 2-2 in those games. We've made comebacks, scored runs when we needed to, and beat Kerry freakin' Wood. We've got a good chance to make up some ground in July if we can keep it within striking distance. Yeah, my gut tells me they can improve. I just don't know how. The starting pitching has been pretty damn good outside of the last week or so. The relief pitching has struggled, but none of the players seem to be struggling - Stone, Dotel, Wagner, and Cruz have all been pretty effective (Cruz only recently). The hitting is stinky - Bagwell, Biggio and Ward have been subpar. But Berkman, Lugo, and Hidalgo have been above expectations. Blum, Merced, Viz, Ausmus and Zaun have all been reasonable to good. They tend to outpitch and outhit their opponents ... they just lose.
Wow, when I'm wrong I don't mess around, I get it completely wrong. Definitely suprised by the Saarloos move, but knowing that Shane's out for the year & given who we've got starting in AAA it makes much more sense. Hopefully Kirk does well, but don't expect too much from the kid, he has very little experience as a pro (esp. starting), if he struggles in his first couple of starts, I'm sure we'll see a flurry of "this guy is s**t" posts, but have a little patience. Miller got knocked around pretty good his first few starts, debuts like Roy & Carlos had last year are the exception, not the rule. Too bad about Shane, I guess this means the performance incentives for his option year won't be met? Anyone have any info on this?
