If Roger was serious about playing elsewhere he would have signed, the very fact that he WAITED until Houston could enter the running speaks volumes. His wife will tell him..."It is sure nice having you home and pitching here in Houston" and Roger will take the money and run...IMHO. DD
Yep. I still can't believe we are 19-9, and in 2nd place....... Best start in franchise history, and not even in first....wow !! DD
Oswalt, Clemens, Pettitte, Wandy and Buchholz statrting five. Send Nieve to the bullpen, we need bullpen help. Only the White Sox can compete with that starting pitching staff...
Get Burke into LF more often and the offense would be comparable too. Let's get to the WS again...WHO IS WITH ME !!! CURAHEEEEEEEEEE !!! DD
PW has been terrible (really, really terrible) at home since the first couple of weeks of the season, don't know if he's pressing or what. He's hitting pretty well on the road (.270 w/ only 6 K's in 37 ABs) but has shown miniscule power. Coors has a huge OF w/ tons of space to cover, and PW has hit the hell out of the ball there over the past few years (.289/.357/.582). I'd think he starts all 3 games this series, maybe he can bust out of this slump. I'd imagine Burke will start to get some time in LF at MMP (he's familiar with the layout, he has great range & the short left porch minimizes his arm deficiencies, which aren't hugely important in LF anyways) if PW continues to scuffle badly at home. Ideally, I'd like to see Burke spell PW in LF at home, and Biggio at 2B on the road (where Biggio hits poorly, and to keep him fresh for Aug/Sept/Oct). But you can't expect Burke to hit like this regularly, and you can't expect PW to hit .230 for the season. Stros need PW to hit, period...we'll see how it shakes out.
I remember that same argument about Hidalgo....and he did...maybe Wilson has lost it, and is no longer capable..... How long do you let him go? You can't have 2 OFers hitting .220 or less, it will catch up to you. Lane at least is getting on base with walks.... DD
Preston Wilson has hit 30+ homeruns before. Chris Burke will never hit 30 homeruns. Preston Wilsion has the ablity to hit 40 homeruns in MMP. I think Prestoin Wilson will surprise a lot of people this year. Look what he did woith the Rockys in 2004.
Umm.... I think he has surprised us enough already by his K's. I dont kno if we are going to see another surprise later on. At least a good one.
Good question. Remember, if/when you yank PW out of the starting lineup you can almost kiss him goodby for the season, unless Burke goes in the tank worse. The same principle applies to Lidge as the closer. The team is winning right now so you don't mess with it. It would be a huge blow to the pride and confidence of both veteran players to pull them this early for unproven players. Once you make the switch you almost cannot go back. Should Garner give PW a few more days off than normal, definitely! Hopefully he snaps out of it and starts smacking a few long balls. I have a few problems with the manager, but one thing we know about him is he definitely runs the clubhouse! When he feels PW needs to sit in order to benefit the club, he's gonna sit him down regardless of PW's feelings. If he's nothing else, Garner is decisive.
