If Lugo had broken his arm in the off-season, or ST, everybody would be relieved that the organization would have to look elsewhere for a SS. Now, his injury is a reason why we won't be pennant contenders anymore? C'mon...I like Lugo, I like his speed, and his defense has no doubt gotten better, but it would be tough for him to be a starter on most other MLB teams, and esp. on a contending team. We'll be fine, for the time being...if he continues to improve his bat and defense like he did this year, we'll be good for the future...but the Lugo of the present was not going to deliver any Ozzie Smith/Derek Jeter magic in the postseason.
I think you underestimate Lugo...Lugo is no Jeter/A-Rod...but he's pretty darn good right now. It would be tough for him to start on most MLB teams?? Are you serious?? Do you know he has fewer errors than any starting SS? Do you know how few good SS's there are after Jeter, Garciaparra, A-Rod and Tejada??? Lugo would start for MOST MLB clubs...
Well, off the top of my head, I was thinking of many more SS's then Jeter/A-rod/Nomar/Tejada...then I looked them up: Ana - David Eckstein...can't argue with him, he's got power and he's a midget. Ariz - Craig Counsell/Tony Womack - Lugo clones, but clutch. Atl - Furcal...triple machine. Balt - Melvin Mora...ok, Lugo's better. Boston - Nomar Chi Cubs - A. Gonzalez...not having a good year, but he was solid in Tor., and he does have power (see last night's blast). Chi Sox - R. Clayton...he sucks this year, but he's had a solid career. Cincy - Larkin...all-time great. Cleveland - Vizquel....mr. gold glove. Colorado - J. Uribe...identical numbers w/ Lugo...but more expectations. Detroit - who cares...lugo can play there. Fla - A. Fox...equivalent numbers to Lugo. K.C. - N. Perez...must have been good at some point to get that fat contract. L.A. - C. Izturis...rookie, who will be pretty good. Mil. - Jose Hernandez...questionable all-star, K machine, but still got pop. Min. - C. Guzman...talented, undderated. Mon. - O. Cabbrera...similiar numbers to Lugo, but more power. NYM - Ordonez...all glove. NYY - Jeter Oak - Tejada Pitt - Jack Wilson...used to be coveted, now he's forgotten. S.D. - Devi Cruz....similiar to Lugo STL - Renteria...he's been clutch this year. TB - see detroit. Texas - A-rod Toronto - C. Woodward...hit three homeruns in a game last week. Okay, so out of all these teams, I would say Lugo has a guranteed starting job in Detroit, TB, and maybe Pittsburgh...three of the worst teams in the league. I like Lugo, I think he fits in well on this team, but you can't say he'd be a for sure starter on most teams. And the bottom line is...there's not one team with a winning record who has a worse SS.
I'm sorry, but you need to go look at the numbers again. Lugo is better than Uribe, Alex Gonzalez, Clayton, Neifi Perez, Cesar Izturis, Barry Larkin at this stage in his career, Rey Ordonez, Deivi Cruz and Jack Wilson. He also is the Arizona combos equal along with Cabrera this yr and similar to furcal, guzman and fox. So more accurately he could have a good chance of starting in Colorado, Det, TB, Pitt, NYM, Cin, CHW, LA, SD, CHC, Mon. That's 11 teams. That is a good number of big league clubs. With similar production to those in Ari, Fla, Min, and Atl. In conclusion you are overrating the neifi perez's of the world and underrating Lugo.
Nick-- Is your last name Vizcaino? Because only a member of the Vizcaino family would be trying to spin Lugo's injury as anything but a catastrophe. This time last year it would have been better...but he was a much worse player last season. Lugo is above average this year...well above. To compare him to Perez is a joke.
Let me re-iterate....I like Lugo, and I thought he was an integral part of our success this year. Yes, I know he turned it around...hence the title of this thread. I do not think, however, that this ruins our pennant chances (as some people in the other thread seem to think). I also think that out of all the contending teams, Lugo is the least productive of everyday shortstops. Maybe I should have only included those teams on that list...I know he's better than N. Perez...tell that to the people in the other thread who want the Astros to pick him off waviers. The contending NL teams: Arizona (Counsell), Atlanta (Furcal), St. Louis (Renteria), L.A. (Izturis), San Fran (Aurillia), Cincy (Larkin). Contending AL teams: N.Y. (Jeter), Boston (Nomar), Seattle (Guillen?...n/m, Lugo's better than him), Anaheim (Eckstein), Oakland (Tejada), Minnesota (Guzman)
Lugo's offensive numbers from last year are essentially the same as this year. His average and OBP were a tad bit better last year and his slugging is a bit better this year. His K/BB ratio is still terrible. Look at the numbers from the last 3 months. They are very mediocre. June - AVG .197, OBP .234, SLG .361 July - AVG .256, OBP .310, SLG .422 Aug - AVG .244 OBP .326, SLG .356 Don't let the fact that Lugo had a hot offensive week prior to his injury, hide the fact that he is an ordinary hitter. Fielding-wise, his fielding percentage is up .012 but his range factor (total chances vs. innings played) is way down. Lugo is certainly valuable to the team, so is Vizcaino. There is no reason, that the Astros can't make do without Julio as long as Vizcaino doesn't wear down. His injury is far from a 'catastrophe'.
Yeah, this is a bit off-topic... Look, Lugo's better than Ricky Gutierrez, who I absolutely loathed on the Stros. He had no hussle and no fire at all. Sure, we shouldn't dwell in the past, but I for one am glad we have both Lugo and Vizcaino and not that Gutierrez schmuck. To echo bobrek's sentiments, I think we'll be just fine. What happened to Adam "Mr. Future SS" Everett? (Is he chilling with Morgan "Mr. Future 3B" Ensberg?)
Adam's on the team now. He actually was hitting pretty good in AAA, especially on the extra base hits. I don't expect him to duplicate that in the majors right away, but a guy needs time to adjust to this pitching. Berkman went through it, Lane's goin thru it...nobody comes in and tears it up right away, with a few exceptions (Pujols). Plus, this team is having a very good track record this year, on guys who are making their 2nd tours of duty w/ the club, and how they play. (Sarloos, Lane).
I like Lugo on the team, but some of you are letting the last couple weeks cloud your image of him. Before these last couple weeks, his numbers were atrocious. I could have gone through the stat book and found 20 SS that had better offensive production than him. He was batting .248 before the ATL series. C'mon people, think about it. .248?? How does his injury hurt our playoff hopes? Up until 5 games ago, he hadnt done much for us at all. Now, his defense is solid this year. He is ranked 11th in Fielding Percentage. This is the stat to look at, not number of errors. Some of the players with lower fielding percentages include: Jeter, Tejada, Garciaparra, Hernandez, Aurillia, Guillen, and Furcal, ALL of which are better at the plate than him. So, in looking at offense and defense, I would say that Lugo should be ranked somewhere around 20-23 in MLB. His injury does bring us down a bit, but we have solid reserves that shoud be able to lift us back up.
