Well, I haven't heard of him being sent down, and until Wade Miller comes back, we don't have any other starters...so I think we are stuck with Redding for a while.
Good question on Lidge. I'm under the impression that he's had serious injury problems when starting and that's why he became a reliever, but I'm not really sure. I don't keep up too much on the minors, just what I get on AstrosConnection. Redding seems to be really good for 2 or 3 innings, so maybe relieving really is his calling, similar to Dotel.
they said on the telecast that redding wil make his next start.. we have an offday tomorrow though so i wouldnt' have minded skipping him this turn in t he rotation...
Redding will be fine as a starter. He has major league stuff (movement on all his pitches). Some pitchers mature faster than others. Oswalt and Miller caught on quick. Redding just needs to be given the chance, instead of wondering if he will be in New Orleans with one bad start.
Concerning Lidge, he is being used as a reliever in the minors and in the majors. As Major said, when he was trying to start, he was injured quite frequently. I don't know if the club has given up on him as a starter, but they seem to be putting that on the backburner for now, as the club needs bullpen help more than anything.
I agree with Mr. Finn. Redding is a starter, and needs to be given that chance - right now, its purely a mental thing with Redding, and I think that the pressure of having to worry about being tossed back to the minors with one bad start causes him to overthink his pitching. His stuff is there, he needs to learn not to tighten up so much. He's too good for AAA, so sending him back there won't do him any good. As far as Lidge, he's been converted to a full-time reliever, and the Astros are even using Rob Nen, who also had severe arm troubles in the minors, as an example for him. I think the top starting pitching prospects in the system are Rosario and Qualls and they aren't near ready yet.
Actually 2 bad starts, although in his start against the Braves the 4 runs in 3 innings did bring his ERA down to 16.20.
Which brings the question: How do you give a young pitcher the time to "mature" in the big leagues when you're trying to win. 2 losses in a row the way Redding pitched would make you question any pitcher on the roster. An established one would definitely get another start (as Redding is) or two, but beyond that, even they will be pulled from the lineup.
C'mon Haven, you're more astute than this. He's thrown a grand total of 60 2/3 MLB innings, let's give the kid a chance. Just for comparison's sake, here's a look at how a few other guys fared in their first season. Redding's just had spot-start duty so far, these guys were put into the rotation & allowed to learn; admittedly, this is a hard thing for a contending club to do w/ a young pitcher. John Smoltz: 12 GS, 64 IP, 74 H, 33 BB 37 K, 5.48 ERA Bartolo Colon: 17 GS, 94 IP, 107 H, 45 BB, 66 K, 5.65 ERA Javier Vasquez: 32 GS, 172.1 IP, 196 H, 68 BB, 139 K, 6.06 ERA Wade Miller: 16 GS, 105 IP, 104 H, 42 BB, 89 K, 5.14 ERA Mark Mulder: 27 GS, 154 IP, 191 H, 69 BB, 88 K, 5.44 ERA Of course, there are numerous examples of young pitchers w/ great stuff who, for reasons other than injury, fail to put it all together in the majors. All I'm saying is it's WAY too early in his developmental curve to label the guy anything.
I agree. I'm being impatient. I thought this was going to be the best team the Astros had ever fielded, even better than the 98 version. Still might be, but the start has been disappointing. Glad I've got you guys to call me on it .
How did we start in '98? I know we were amazing after getting Johnson, but I don't remember too much before that.
i'm not saying you're wrong...but why did you think that??? simply because of the starting pitching???
i'm not saying you're wrong...but why did you think that??? simply because of the starting pitching??? I agree with haven on this -- I'd thought we'd absolutely be dominant this year. A big part of that, for me, was the pitching. Last year, we won 93 games with some combo of Lima, Elarton, Bottenfield, and Dotel starting for nearly half the year. Up until the last 2-weeks when we collapsed, we had a shot at 100 games, even being under 0.500 in June. That was just a phenomenal run that was led by our pitching with Miller, Hernandez (for a few games), and Oswalt. With our offense, all 3 of those guys had 20+ win potential coming into this season. Plus, our bullpen finally had a solid #2 guy in Dotel (we didn't have that last year until May) and had the chance to dominate there as well in every close game. The offense was going to lose something with Alou & Castilla in my opinion (I'm not sold on Ensberg), but we'd still be one of the top offenses in baseball with Bagwell/Berkman/Hidalgo/Ward. Unforrtunately, it just hasn't worked out that way thus far. Our pitching has been OK, hitting OK, but they can't seem to do it on the same nights.
I would say because, as many expected, Ward up to this point has been as good as Alou (except for a difference in power) when healthy, and Ensberg has been better than Castilla. Then, Wagner was supposed to be back to his old form completely healed from surgery, and Biggio's knees were back to nearly 100%. Everything seemed to be looking good for the Astros.
Redding might just be one of those 4A Greg Brock type guys. I just don't see it with him but who knows. I think the team will be fine if Wade comes back strong. I really like all of the fexibility we have with the switch hitters and speed with Hunter. The shorstop is still a problem though. If only Everett could hit .250 I think we'd be alright but maybe Lugo can find some consistency and make all the routine plays.
really??? Ensber has been better than Castilla??? you MUST mean better than Castilla THIS YEAR. If you're comparing our third baseman's performance from this year to last (Castilla last year to Ensberg this year) there is no comparison. Don't get me wrong...I wasn't for paying Castilla what the Cubs paid him. But 3B is a weakness right about now. I would agree our pitching, on paper at least, is phenomenal. But I think the 98 team was just far more balanced...Biggio at the top of the order in 98 was absolutely phenomenal. We don't have that anymore, unfortunately. Spiers was very effective as a 2 hitter...we truly don't have a real 2 slot hitter. Agreed on Ward...this guy is just a ridiculously good hitter. He has some tremendous AB's. Much more patient than I think most people figured. Last I checked his on-base percentage wasn't all that swell considering his batting average, though.
