I'd like to see Jason Hirsh get a try. At worst, it's another fresh face that teams don't have a book on. He might be able to get off a copule of solid starts.
You don't really have to look solely at his breif major league time to see that Scott has had trouble with breaking stuff. It was his MO throughout the low-levels of the minor leagues, and its a reason why the Indians gave up on him (although they didn't think he could hit a fastball all that well either). I'm sure he's putting forth a strong effort to improve in this capacity, but at least for this year, this team has far too many OF options to go through before they get to him: Wilson, Lane, Burke, and Berkman is the current OF rotation... you can't really supplant any of them so far (assuming you have to give Lane more of a benefit of the doubt, because he performed well for most of last year... a large sample size). Also, in a lot of the discussion on Bruntlett, I'm pretty sure you saw people looking at his entire time in the organization... not just his major league numbers by itself. He's never been a terribly high slugging, high average guy... he's an average player, who can play more than one position. Now, I agree that as you get older, players develop more power... but not considering how a guy has hit at every level in his career is just as bad as making rash decisions based on small sample sizes.
Lance could have killed the guy. I can't believe he just got up and walked off. He had a rough day...that is for sure.
I agree... the guy has been lights out at RR after a horrible start. But, they're still going to want him to work on his control, and breaking stuff, before they bring him up to the big leagues. Once he achieves those goals, he definitely deserves a shot... but I wouldn't mess with his development too much. A lot of people in the organization are counting on him to be a future #2 guy, and there's a good chance that the club might not have Pettite AND Clemens next year, making his development to be in the rotation by the start of next year very important.
Hopefully Ramirez is ok. That was scary. I wasn't talking about judgments on Bruntlett's offense. I completely agree; his OBP and OPS in the minors show that he's unlikely to be an above average offensive player and thus it's probably not worth taking Everett's glove out of the lineup (unless Bruntlett is on a hot streak). I was more talking about the judgments on his defense. He's been a very solid defensive player at SS his entire career with the Astros and drew praise for it at one time. But he rushed a couple of throws here and there in his five or so game stint starting a week ago, and we had a few people talking about how he had "proven" he couldn't even be an adequate defender at the position. I find that unlikely given Bruntlett's history, and also find it an incredibly quick judgment, especially with all the second chances given for some of the regulars.
OK... I didn't realize that people were making those conclusions. If anything, its because some of us have been spoiled by watching Adam make plays that are normally difficult for most SS's, seem routine. I agree that EB is a solid defender... probably above average... but nobody's going to look good fielding that position when they're replacing Everett. Hell, people here would think Derek Jeter should be a bonafied DH, if he was called on to play regular SS here (and people didn't know who Jeter was).
Munson brought out the happy stick today... definitely a step-up over our previous year's backup catchers. (but Pupura still sucks... )
Nah... Horacio got knocked out by Lance's shot up the middle off his head. But, its good to see that they're able to hit the new guy as well too. The trend for this team so far has been when they score a lot, its usually in 1-2 innings... and then not much for the rest of the game once the team changes its pitcher (minus that Nationals game last month).
Oh....i missed the first 2 innings....damn NCAA Football. Ouch, the dude alright? AHH! Make that 9 runs in three innings. This feels like we've officially turned it around, kind of like last season...../me crosses his fingers.
What about this lineup: 1) R Biggio 2B 2) R Burke CF 3) S Berkman RF 4) R Ensberg LF 5) L Lamb 3B 6) R Ausmus C 7) L Munson 1B 8) R Everett SS
I still think Wilson is a better everyday hitter than Munson... and Ensberg in left?!? Points for originality though.
This team is terrible against right handed pitchers. Working in more lefties could alleviate the massive split.
True... but Lamb and Burke, playing over Lane and Willy, should help alleviate that somewhat already. Also, Wilson has actually been better against righties so far. Essentially, the only change between your lineup, and the one they're using now, is Munson over Wilson... and I'll take Wilson, while keeping Ensberg (who needs to start hitting right-handers better also) at a position he can actually field well.
