I just got back from the game...we gave them toooooo many chances on our errors. I was telling Ranger fan we would come back from 8-2 and then crappy Oscar gives it right back. Oh well, Roy O. tomorrow. Astros nation was there and I expect a near sell out tomorrow.
Since the series started with the Rangers-Astros, there has always been one game (for the most part) where the Rangers absolutey rip our boys apart like we've personally insulted their mothers. Now that the "blowup" game for 2008 is behind us, we can get down to business and win the next 5 games and take back the Silver Boot. (does anyone really care about that at all??) 2002: 7-2 Loss on 9/2 2003: 10-7 Loss on 6/27 (not that bad) 2004: 18-3 Loss on 7/4 2005: 18-3 Loss on 5/21 2006: 6-0 Loss on 5/20 2007: 14-1 Loss on 5/20 2008: 16-8 Loss on 5/16
Since the series started with the Rangers-Astros, there has always been one game (for the most part) where the Rangers absolutey rip our boys apart like we've personally insulted their mothers. Now that the "blowup" game for 2008 is behind us, we can get down to business and win the next 5 games and take back the Silver Boot. (does anyone really care about that at all??) 2001: 16-4 Loss on 6/9 2002: 7-2 Loss on 9/2 2003: 10-7 Loss on 6/27 (not that bad) 2004: 18-3 Loss on 7/4 2005: 18-3 Loss on 5/21 2006: 6-0 Loss on 5/20 2007: 14-1 Loss on 5/20 2008: 16-8 Loss on 5/16
My son and I were at that game. Good times. And the Astros' wives won the charity softball game over the Rangers' wives, so at least you had that going for you.
JR needs to go down. .144 is unacceptable for an everyday position player. Maybe he can get his crap together in AAA and coma back. But for now, he's clueless. And it's not like he's a gem in the field anyway.
I agree about Towles. That guy is not getting it done. He doesn't look ready to me. When Brad Ausmus becomes the better option (especially on offense), then...Houston...we have a problem at catcher. Towles is making Adam Everett look like a good hitter. The only thing Towles has done decently is smack some HRs...but not lately and he has fallen apart at the plate.
Out team ERA is 11th in the NL at 4.34. Yeah...it's not good. But I do believe that you can attribute last night's loss to Oscar and to some horrible defense. Errors directly contriubted to a number of Rangers runs last night.
I don't think there's any reason to send Towles down while their Astros are playing decently. Give him some time to develop. The offense has been doing just fine lately without him...or Bourn.
At some point having a catcher batting .143 will hurt you. He came to the plate with runners on and could not deliver them home last night. The complete tailspin that Towles is in is not likely to get better on its own. He needs to get some instruction in his mechanics and get some successful at bats. If the at bats have to be at AAA, then so be it.
problem is, our alternative is even worse. i'd rather watch towles fail than ausmus. we need a better catcher than either of them. and a better 3B than wigginton. i dont mind having bourn try to play his way out of it, especially at the bottom of the order, because he provides clear positives with his defense and speed whenever he does get on base.
Worse by what margin? You can't get much worse than what Towles is showing you at the plate right now. To me that's not even the question...and I don't think it's what Refman is saying, either. He's saying if the guy could benefit from instruction at the minor league level then maybe it makes sense to change it up and send him down. I'm not saying I know that to be true...just saying it's possible. But I certainly wouldn't let worrying about something at the plate keep me from moving down a guy batting 60 points below the Mendoza line.
