I can't imagine a more disappointing thing to have happened this year. I expeceted full on domination by the Astros, winning the division and hopefully representing in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The reality of how they have played is staggering. But, on the bright side, most of the key pieces to this team are still very young, and will probably get better. Tim Redding is showing that he can be a major league starter with a little more seasoning, Roy is Roy, Carlos has been pretty good so far this season and has plenty of room to improve, and there are still many good young hitters. I still hold out hope that things will get better...maybe not this season, but things will definitely get better. If only we could find some consistent, cheap bullpen guys...
seems to me this is the real challenge of every GM. I mean, unless if you're not good enough to be a starter or a closer, chances are you're inconsistent. Guys like Dotel are the exception. But it's hard to find the middle guys that are so important....because from year to year, they're not necessarily effective. i agree..the astros will be back...just not this year, i don't think.
If only we could find some consistent, cheap bullpen guys... The sad thing is that the bullpen is actually pretty good right now. Wagner, Dotel, and Stone are all under 3 ERA's. Mann has been reasonably good. Cruz kinda sucks but he's shown flashes and Borbon is great against lefties (and only lefties). Plus, we have Linebrink, TJ Mathews, and Doug Brocail all scheduled to come off the DL in the next month or so. If even one of those pans out, we should be ok. The problem is completely in the offense right now. It's just miserably bad.
major...you're right. after i read my post, i thought to myself, "yeah..but the real problem is the bats." i would never have thought that.
Guess what time it is? TANK TIME, BABY!!!! It worked for the Rockets, and it will work for the 'Stros. If we suck enuff, we can get the 1st pick in the contraction draft and pick up Vlad Guerrero....wooo!! Or maybe Jose Vidro to replace Bidge...or even Javier Vasquez. If there is any year to tank in the MLB, it's the year before contraction.
Did you know: Morgan Ensberg has a better SLG & OBA than Craig Biggio? Bagwell is on pace to drive in 81 runs this season? Richard Hidalgo has scored more runs than Jeff Bagwell? Jeff Bagwell is 11 strikeouts shy of matching his TOTAL for the entire 1994 season?
Really??? i figured the Cards would be leading the division but my Reds are in first and i hope they stay there. I guess i can see how you would think that though since your a Stros fan.
They really need to start winning 2 out of 3 every series now. They're getting near the point where it'll take a really exceptional run to win the division.
our pitching has been exceptional but it seems like we have the worst situational hitting in the history of baseball. it's like every night we leave 10+ guys on base. i know it's positive to actually have men on but it gets discouraging when we don't bring them in. good teams can have bad years but hopefully we can turn it around.
Well, now the starting pitching has gone to hell too. Oswalt, Reynolds, Redding all sucked ass this weekend, along with Redding last monday and Miller on Tuesday.
We are going to get swept by the A's *sigh* I cant take it anymore. Its like we have no freaking pulse out there......
What the hell was that Brian Hunter pinch hitting for Daryle Ward crap? Lefty/righty matchups against Mike Magnante with runners on and a supposed slugger at the plate? WTF? I still can't believe he did that.
Heavy D vs. LHP - .226 BA, .226 SLG, .226 OBP Magnante vs RHB - .418 BA, .459 OBP, .673 SLG Also, Daryle has had little success this year hitting anything other than fastballs. I would've used Ginter...
Magnante has an ERA over SEVEN. If Daryle Ward can't get a hit off that guy or work a walk then we should send him down to the minors. That's embarrassing. edit: Well it looks like Magnante has a 2.45 ERA against lefties but still man, if we're treating Daryle Ward like he's Brad Ausmus then no wonder we suck right now.
edit: Well it looks like Magnante has a 2.45 ERA against lefties but still man, if we're treating Daryle Ward like he's Brad Ausmus then no wonder we suck right now. Against lefties, he IS a Brad Ausmus. He's batting 0.226 and hasn't hit anything but a single (no walks, doubles, triples, or Home Runs). Ward is simply overmatched as a hitter right now. He's batting .300 with little power and no speed.
Here are my main beefs from this year. 1-Jimy has an itchy finger on the trigger, when someone like Oswalt is dominating. Leave your ace pitcher in their for another inning or so. Don't give the ball to Nelson Cruz if it's less than a 10-run game. 2-Biggio and Ward. Biggio is washed up. He needs to retire soon rather than continue to swindle money from the tight-budgeted Astros. Ward is doing his best Bill Spiers impersonation. I loved Spiers, because he was a very good contact hitter, who just didn't make mistakes. With that being said, we need Ward to be a masher. I thought he would get 25 HRs this year. He has no prayer of reaching that. He only hits singles, and they usually are meaningless ones at that. He's the master at getting his hits with 2 outs, and no one on. Then when someone's on base, he'll go into the typical Astros choke mode. I guess you can toss Dick Hidalgo into the mix too. Who the hell said that he lost weight? Stevie Wonder? Hidalgo is a fat ass who's bat speed is slower than molasses. Hidalgo's best contact usually are towering foul balls down the LF line. Hidalgo is close to being the Kelvin Cato of the Astros. 3-Nelson Cruz. Overall, I think the bullpen has been OK, at the very best. But, Cruz just contaminates the entire bullpen. Are opponent's still batting over .500 against him? He is the epitome of a MLB player who might not even succeed in A ball. Does he make too much money to just cut him? Bring back Mitch Williams... 4-No f-ing sense of urgency. When will any of the Astros step up and be vocal? It seems like after every loss it's the same old BS , "We still have time..." and other crappy cliches that translate into the Astros just not giving a damn. Last year, we turned it around because we were able to pick up Vinny C, and we were able to get a diamond in the rough in Oswalt. I don't envision the Astros being able to call up an Oswalt this year. The Astros carefree attitude pisses me off to no end.
Lay off Hidalgo. After his recent hot streak, he is hitting .289 with a .371 OBP and a .536 SLG %. That is pretty good production, even for the contract we gave him. Sure, he is not hitting anywhere near the pace he did the year we gave him the big contract, but I don't think he deserves that kind of criticism. I totally agree with your other points.
You do realize that he's 4th in the NL w/ 19 doubles, don't you? Oh, he's also hitting .290 w/ runners on, and .328 w/ runners in scoring position. Is he producing like many expected him to? No. He is, however, only 211 AB's into his first full season as a starter. The thing that really bothers me is his 40:7 K:BB ratio. He's one of the 5 best defensive RF'ers in the NL, and the only legit RF on the roster. He's on pace to finish the year w/ a .906 OPS, 67 extra base hits, and 162 runs created. Not bad for a towering fly ball-hitting fat ass with no bat speed. But again, you knew this already, right? Nelson Cruz has a 4.13 ERA & a .256 BA allowed for his career.
You do realize that he's 4th in the NL w/ 19 doubles, don't you? He's up there in doubles only because he never hits Home Runs. Someone else may have 10 HR's and 10 doubles instead of 19 doubles and 2 HRs. He's not even in the top 40 in the NL in slugging -- and considering there are only 128 regulars (including a bunch of crappy 2B, SS, and C's), that isn't good. 4-No f-ing sense of urgency. When will any of the Astros step up and be vocal? It seems like after every loss it's the same old BS , "We still have time..." and other crappy cliches that translate into the Astros just not giving a damn. When's the last time they said anything like this? 1-Jimy has an itchy finger on the trigger, when someone like Oswalt is dominating. Leave your ace pitcher in their for another inning or so. Don't give the ball to Nelson Cruz if it's less than a 10-run game. When's the last time this happened? Last time he left Oswalt in when he was dominating, Oswalt gave up 3 runs in the 8th and got a loss.
