Out pitching stats ERA: 3.74 (10th NL) (League ave 3.74) BAA: .256 (12th NL) (League ave .248) BB: 87 (6th NL) (League ave 89) SO: 189 (16th NL) (League ave 208) ER: 106 (10th NL) (League ave 104) R: 118 (9th NL) (League ave 115) http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/league/nl/sort/ERA/order/false One thing really stands out. Dead last in strikeouts. Very close to league average in most other areas.
Norris is the only pitcher in the rotation with K stuff. Happ and Wandy are finesse lefties that happen to get strikeouts with off-speed stuff and movement. Harrell/Weiland/Lyles all have very similiar sinking stuff that doesn't induce much swing/misses.
Happ leads the team in strikeouts. Wandy historically has been about 8k/9, but they are down this year.
Sabermetrics: Game Score http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/5/8/3004968/sabermetrics-game-score Interesting read.
How about Brandon Lyon? 2.38ERA 1.24WHIP 9.53K/9 Discounting last year, since he was injured, Lyon's been a solid reliever for a while now. We should be able to move him, even though we are likely to only get minor league depth out of a trade.
He has definitely improved. Out of 10 outings, 8 were good ones. His contract may be a hindrance though.
Lets just suppose there are takers for Myers, Wandy and Lyon around the trade deadline. We sure would have some big holes to fill. Does anyone believe Ludlow would waver on a trade for any of these guys if the farm doesnt have ready arms to come up? Perhaps its posturing, but some of Ludlow's statements could be interpreted as him unwilling to deal them unless the offer is substantial. He has said we "need" our vets. In other words, how much value does Ludlow place on our vets? How good a deal would it have to be?
I think he is just indicating that we won't give them away. Well, he probably would for Lee. We have players to replace all of our vets, but we would lose leadership I suppose. None of the AAA guys (or Cosart/Oberholtzer) are going to be able to replace Wandy's production, but they will be able to take on those innings. They already had more arms than spots after ST. We've got Lopez, Carpenter, Cruz, & Fernando Rodriguez to manage the bulk of the bullpen work with Wright, Abad, Del Rosario handling some garbage/lefty roles. Possible callups to work out of the pen include: Juan Abreu (who has sucked this season, but had solid numbers last year), Mickey Storey, Jose Valdez, & Xavier Cedeno. Edit: And lets not forget the players we get in return may be ready to make a ML impact.
Thought id compare things to my initial May 7th stats. ERA: 3.44 (5th NL) BAA: .250 (7th NL) BB: 128 (6th NL) SO: 324 (12th NL) ER: 151 (5th NL) R: 170 (5th NL) Thats quite an improvement in 18 days!
I don't see the purpose of getting rid of wandy. The production he is giving you exceeds the 10 + mil he is being paid, and his style of pitching, well, he can pitch another four seasons without a drop off. Wild Thing on the other hand, makes too much money considering the league leading closers all make less than $5. It's not my money but I don't like that much being spent on a closer no matter how handy with the steel he is. What guy in our organization can take over the closer role? Wright or that crazy kid from puerto rico, Lopez?
Myers and Wandy wouldn't be straight salary dumps, they'd have to be traded for decent prospects. Every player has his trade value; if a team comes offering two top 50 prospects for Wandy --> "see ya Wandy" I don't really understand the aging argument with Wandy. Is he less likely to break down? Sure. Does that mean his salary fits in with the current state of the Astros? No. The fact is the team doesn't need to spend $10m a year on Wandy while they're rebuilding. Doesn't mean I don't like him, it just don't make any rebuilding sense.
http://astros290.com/2012/06/13/what-is-wrong-with-bud-norris/ With last night’s loss, his road numbers now look something like this: 7.80 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, .331 batting average against There’s simply no explanation for putting up the kind of numbers on the road that would get your behind booted to the minors while simultaneously putting up Cy Young caliber numbers at home: 2.27 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .205 batting average against -------------- -------------------- -------------------- --------------------- I knew he had a road / Home disparity, but no idea it was this large a chasm.