well, here it is. . . almost the end of april. and the Astros' bullpen isn't showing any signs of getting better. how worried are you about it? at least the cardinals are also struggling. does anyone have the dates on when Hunsicker made the moves last year that righted the ship so much [ie. the lima trade, calling up oswalt, etc.]? I'm optimistic about Lidge and Puffer. I don't know what's going to happen with Cruz. or Dotel. with this pen, as soon as you think one of the guys is reliable, he goes and blows another game. and what about Berkman in centerfield? worried there yet?
Amazingly, we were under 0.500 last year in mid-June... so we're not behind last year's pace or anything as of yet. However, this year, we don't have an Oswalt, Hernandez, and Redding sitting in the minors waiting.
I've been trying to resist the call of the nay-saying sirens, but yes, after last night I am beginning to worry about the bullpen. I think that at some point in the season Dotel and Wagner will hit their strides and start pitching well, I just think we should be seeing signs of that already. I'm not particulary worried about Lance in center. I think getting the bullpen straightened out will cover a multitude of sins in other parts of this team. Lance will be adequate in center and his offense will overshadow even that. BTW, arent' you in Dallas, chievous? We should find someplace in Big D where we can watch some Astros games. 'Stro fans in Dallas got to stick together.
Dotel, at least, has physical issues "Nothing happened," Dotel said. "I just wanted to throw my pitch. I did, but he hit it. It was 93 miles per hour. Believe me, I will get back to where I was last year. My fastball is 96 to 97 miles per hour. I don't know why my fastball is 93. "I think I feel strong right now, but I don't have my speed. Everything is fine with my mechanics. I don't want to put any excuses. I just don't have my fastball. You know which one -- the one that's 96 to 97." Who knows if this will be resolved. I think Wagner might have physical issues as well. In the past, when he threw a bullet, it was 100mph. Now, his "bullets" are 95-96. For now, TJ Mathews and Ricky Stone need to be the middle-of-an-inning relievers, sadly enough. Dotel and Wagner should only pitch with no one on base until they figure out how to strike people out again.
Hell yeah! I'm in Dallas, too. I would love to go watch the Stros, especially since they are never on here at my apartment anyway.
re: the Astros. . . we were sub-.500 in June last year??? wow. it's funny how blurry your memory gets when things turn out "good". well, that does make me feel better just knowing that. but as Major mentioned, we don't have quite the cavalry waiting in New Orleans and Round Rock that we had last year. on that note: does Jim Mann have anything? at one point last year, I got the impression he was a potential stud young reliever in the minors, but now I never hear anything about him. I really hope Brad Lidge ends up having something. it would be nice to see a number 1 pick contribute to the major league club in a positive way. I'm pulling for Puffer, too. one good thing is that the Bullpen is the only part of the team that has been consistently bad. re: Dallas Astro-Watching Society. . . I'm definitely down with watching the 'Stros in town sometime. deepellum, I almost contacted you about the Rockets' game on the 11th, but things got busy. I did go, though, and it was fun. Raven, I didn't realize you were in town. we'll all have to go watch the 'Stros come back from 7 down to win in the 9th against the Rangers 3 nights in a row in June. . . the Angry Dog is great. I get confused, though. do you live in plano and work in deep ellum, deepellum? or is it the other way around? Raven, what part of town are you in?
The only thing I'm worried about so far is Lance in center and how it might affect his offense. That misplay in center last night was a left fielder trying to play center kind of error. He looks worn out already. I think the bullpen will come around and from what Gerry said in the paper the other day I got the impression he's looking to deal for a reliever.
we were sub-.500 in June last year??? wow. it's funny how blurry your memory gets when things turn out "good". well, that does make me feel better just knowing that. Yeah, I just found that out this week. Apparently, that starting pitching staff of Elarton, Bottenfield, Lima and Dotel wasn't so good!! The week we traded Lima (late June) was apparently the the week we permanently got over the 0.500 mark. I think we hovered around it for the first 2 1/2 months of the season. I just don't know where the improvement can come from, because our AAA players suck and we're not big on making trades this early.
hey, Mr. P. . . does that mean you want in on the DA-WS? the more the merrier. heh heh. I'd even forgotten that, at one time, we were trying to use Dotel as a starter. and Bottenfield!! boy, those were the days. it does kind of suck that, this year, there aren't obvious moves that should be made like there was last year. we don't have a Lima in this year's rotation.
whew! Here's the 2001 timeline: Dotel was moved to the bullpen May 5. Lima was officially removed from the starting rotation May 30. Oswalt came up in May, and his first start was June 2 against the Dodgers. Bottenfeld's last start was June 9, against the Texas Rangers. Tony McKnight started for the team June 16, and made one additional start. Lima was traded June 23. Mlicki's first Astros start was June 26. Redding's first start was July 2. Elarton's final start was July 16. Elarton was traded July 31.
I think Berkman is swinging to the fences to much this year. The taste of the home-run bug got him early in the year. I hope he gets back to last years form when he lead the leg in extra base hits. _________________________________________ milo "We live in a country where John Lennon takes six bullets in the chest. Yoko Ono is standing right next to him. Not one F**king bullet. Explain that to me! Explain that to me!"
I live in Richardson just towards the edge of Plano (UTD campus). I have never heard of the Angry Dog, but I would be all for going and watching a game there sometime. If that crazy nut, Doctor of Dunk, had not sworn off baseball, he could come see a game with us...
edc: thanks for the timeline. that's great info to have. gr8-1: having grown up my whole life in either Dallas or Houston, here's what I've often told people: if I could take the city of Dallas [buildings, freeways, nightlife, etc.], its football and hockey teams, and its sports radio, and combine them with the people, trees, basketball teams and baseball teams, and rain of Houston, I would have the perfect city. deepellum, raven, mrpaige, dr of dunk: we'll have to find a nice upcoming matchup for the 'Stros [maybe the next time Oswalt pitches] and head down to the Angry Dog. if anyone wants to post a "Dallas Astros-Watching Society" post, I guess this forum is the place for it. deepellum: are you sure they have satellite/games there? I've gone down there to eat but never to watch a game. . .
