Great play by Ausmus...and nice job by Pettite and crew for getting out of that bases loaded jam. But looking at the replay, Franceour might have been safe if he hadnt intentionally slammed Ausmus, cause Ausmus wasn't directly in front of the plate.
Seriously though, for all of you Everett fans out there, how low would you allow his average to plunge before you would pull the plug on him? .200? .190? At point do you say that his defense isn't worth it?
When the team is getting the key hits and driving in the runs like tonight (as they should), Everett's bat becomes a non-issue. I want him out there playing SS, his defense is invaluable.
I'm all for replacing Everett if you have a decent replacement, and right now the Astros don't have anyone that can do it well enough. Bruntlett proved he cannot even be an average defensive SS. Once we get a SS that can make all the routine plays and hits decent, then I'd be willing to get Everett out of there. Until then, he should stay.
Well, considering the alternative is 2 for 15 this month (0.133), at what point do you say Bruntlett's offense isn't worth it?
Good to see Pettitte get into trouble and get himself out of it, as well as some of the bats coming around.
He could be hitting .000. Unless there is a viable alternative option at SS it's a moot point. Bruntlett isn't a viable option. His offensive upgrade if any does not approach being able to make up for Everett's defense.
I agree with you. I know what it's like to have a dislocated shoulder. He's headed for surgery at some point.
This has always amazed me about baseball fans... this is a sport where flukes routinely occur in small sample sizes, yet we seem to not learn and still make far too many judgments based on small sample sizes. Bruntlett hasn't proven anything regarding his defensive ability at shortstop. In fact, up until the last week, he had always looked more than capable. Some of you gave up on any potential for Burke playing SS after one error in one game earlier this season. When you put guys in a brand new role and effectively tell them they're auditioning for a starting job, there's a lot of pressure, especially defensively when they don't get all that many opportunities per game to show their stuff. Mistakes are likely to be made. That's why you need to give them time to get their feet wet and used to the position before you make a final judgment. That said, I'm not on a campaign to bench Everett. Bruntlett's offensive history within our system doesn't show enough offensive output to justify losing Everett's defense, which may be the best in the league at that position. But if Bruntlett gets hot again and Everett gets to incredibly low levels, it may be worth experimenting for a few games. It certainly isn't proven that Bruntlett can't be a capable SS... far, far, far too small of a sample size.
Man, Lidge made some beautiful pitches. Sliders I haven't seen move like that in a while. Great to be in a winning streak again. About damn time. keep it up Stros! (did clemens turn us around? )
