All series talk goes in here. DO NOT GIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY! If you need PBP try Yahoo, ESPN, or Sportsline. 4-14 Andy Pettitte, LHP (1-1, 8.18) vs. Brandon Webb, RHP (0-0, 2.77) 8:40 on FSSW 4-15 Wandy Rodriguez, LHP (1-0, 4.50) vs. Claudio Vargas, RHP (1-0, 0.00) 8:40 on KNWS 4-16 Fernando Nieve, RHP (0-0, 5.40) vs. Orlando Hernandez, RHP (1-1, 5.59) 3:40 on FSSW
Many homeruns will be hit in this series... Berkman will hit three more and Preston will follow with 2 of his own...
Yes I am Max. Just bought my tickets from Stubhub. We're in the outfield tonight, four rows up in right. Look for the hottie in a pink Astros shirt and pink hat. Not sure what my wife will be wearing.
I hope Wandy doesn't let me down. I keep defending him to my friend who seems to hate the guy. I will be at Saturday's game, so I hope he brings his "A" game. I saw Astacio pitch last year in PHX and the Astros won. Here's to hoping my luck with the 2005 rookie class continues.
PHOENIX (AP) - Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a sprained ligament in his right elbow. Backe left in the second inning of the Astros' 5-3 loss to San Francisco on Thursday. He flew to Houston and had the elbow examined on Friday. Right-hander Ezequiel Astacio, who started 14 games last season, was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock. Astacio went 3-6 with a 5.67 ERA in 22 appearances last year. Backe skipped his first scheduled start of the season on April 5 - his 28th birthday - because of a sore back. He returned two days later and earned a win against Washington, allowing a run and three hits in six innings. Houston's rotation is short on experience: 27-year-old Wandy Rodriguez is starting his second major league season and Taylor Buchholz and Fernando Nieve are rookies. The 23-year-old Nieve is to make his first major league start on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the 24-year-old Buchholz, who relieved Backe on Tuesday, is to make his first major league start on Monday against Milwaukee.
well thats bad... so now wandy moves up in the rotation...were in trouble, that guy is freaking worthless...he doesnt deserve to be #304958, much less #3
Paging Roger Clemens... please report to the Houston Astros stat! Seriously, our starting rotation is incredibly short of experience outside of Oswalt and Pettite. This couldn't be a better scenario for him. We definitely could use him now, our offense is clicking and has shown to be capable of scoring runs, and we have a decent record. And what is up with Backe...are these injuries just strokes of bad luck or is there some underlying cause(s); his mechanics maybe? or is he too fragile?
Wandy was a rookie last year who went 10-10. I consider that good for a rookie. Who out pitched who in Game One of the World Series last year? Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA R. Clemens 2.0 4 3 3 0 1 1 54-35 13.50 W. RodrÃguez 3.1 4 1 1 5 1 1 68-35 2.70 C. Qualls 1.2 4 1 1 5 1 1 24-16 0.00 R. Springer 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 23-14 9.00 Totals 8.0 10 5 5 5 4 2 169-100 Is he a number three starter? Probably not, but its not his fault that Backe is brittle. Would the Astros be better off with Clemens. YES!! So Uncle Drayton better get out his checkbook. Now if we want to talk worthless so far this year. Gallo. Gallo is worthless.
I think I knew Chris Snyder in elementary school (Terrace Elementary). He's my age and he went to the high school I would've gone to if I didn't go private. Brush with greatness! Well, not <i>greatness</i>, but you know.
I don't ever want to see a f-ing game like that one again. Almost every ball we hit was a ground out to the shortstop. That was the most frustrating game. That Webb guy f-ing owns us. Man, I hated that game.
Wandy allowed 10 base runners in 3 1/3 innings in that game, and somehow miraculously only allowed one run. He pitched pretty terribly, but had more luck than any pitcher the Astros put in all postseason. That game is the perfect example of why one game is far too small of a sample size. Astacio is better, Buchholz is better, and Nieve likely will be better. Why he has a rotation spot over Astacio is one of the bigger mysteries of this team, imo. The Astros need Clemens more than ever at this point... depending more on Wandy is almost a guaranteed losing proposition.
Astacio is better!?!? Did we watch the same guy pitch last year? He was pretty terrible most of the year and was a home run pitch machine. Not saying he can't get better, but based on results Zeke has sucked!
Based on the results? After Astacio's second callup last season (after the All-Star Break) he went 3-3 with a 3.96 ERA. That's very quality, and better than Wandy's numbers during that stretch. He was a home run machine his first stint in Houston, but he showed significant improvement during his second stint and was the best starter we had outside of the big three. Why he hasn't (yet) been given a chance to continue that success is something that's a huge question for me.
To be fair, in the 2nd half of last season, Wandy improved noticably as well. His WHIP and BAA were better than Astacio during that time, and he allowed far fewer HRs (9 in 79 innings after the all-star break vs. 11 in 55 innings for Astacio). He's not the power guy that Astacio is, but he managed games much better and let fewer people on in general. Both of them are OK but unproven at this point. Astacio, I think, had a terrible spring so that's what decided it (I could be wrong there, but that's the impression I'm under).
I could be wrong, but I thought Astacio's numbers in spring were very solid and that further added to the confusion. Anyone have the numbers handy?
