Now that Berkman and Carlos are doing what we thought they would be doing (Smashing the **** out of the ball) we need guys that can get on base in front of them. Everett is just sad. He is at .190 now. We should start Loretta. The guy was an all-star last year and in his limited at bats (52) he is hitting .385. Everett's defense is overplayed. We have the pitching to compensate for a few more hits from the opposing team. My point is that if we are choosing between hits on offense and his on defense, the offensive production would mean more to the team than defensive (even if it meant we would not get as many hits on offense as we would be giving up on defense)
certainly if everett were to hit .190 for the rest of the year, his glove would not be justifiable. i don't know how low they let him slide but it's more likely that everett gets it back up to .240 - .250 before loretta becomes the everyday shortstop.
Here you make 2 incorrect statements. First, that his defense is "overplayed". Assuming that means overrated.. I mean, I just disagree. I think the statistics have been thrown out on here a million times. But the latter...we have the pitching??? Since when? Isn't the biggest question (esp. while Jennings is still out) about pitching? RoyO and then....young guys? Questionable bullpen? No closer? That's pretty ridiculous to say.. Again, I think the statistics show that Everett saves many more runs than you think compared to a backup. Especially compared to Loretta and his lack of range at the position.. Definitely hope this never happens..
the last time i saw loretta play SS...he didn't get to 3 balls that I believe Everett would have. and it cost us about 3 runs, iirc.
Just go back and watch the games Loretta has started at SS this year... if you're actually used to watching Astros basbeall games, you'll see at least 4-5 balls PER GAME that you think "Hmm... routine groundball to SS," which end up being base-hits because Loretta is nowhere near the ball. Adam's range is second to none. You all remember the number of balls up the middle that were hit during the 04 playoff run (when Viz was the SS)? Adam engulfs those... and nobody was complaining about those type of hits in 05. Also, shouldn't the argument for Loretta be more present if Lee and Berkman ARE NOT hitting? If those two do their job, and they can get consistent decent production nightly from a third batter (namely Ensberg, Pence, or Scott)... the offense will be fine.
agreed with all of that. worrying about how the gold-glove caliber SS is hitting at the 7 spot when the middle of your order has just MAYBE now found their bats is a bit silly to me.
WHAT!!! Sit Everett, you mean the "greatest shortstop in the game today" (5 Errors, second on the team to the great Ensberg 6 Errors). Mr 190 avg, 261 obp and hold on 276 slg and you want to sit him? He saves us what 2 runs a game with his Ozzie Smith like glove (5 errors) Face it, Everett and Ensberg are trash and Lamb and Loretta should start. Look I belive both Everett and Ensberg are overrated in the field but of course they are better than Lamb and Loretta. Solution, start Lamb and Loretta most of the time and jump on teams early, then when the late innings come around bring in your better defensive players in Everett and Ensberg.
You talk about "overrated" then you use simply errors to define whether or not a guy is a good defender. I guess last year, when Adam had virutally zero errors... for a SS... for a SS that played nearly every game, you guys were still saying his defense was "overrated." Now, I guess Adam must have lost a step with all these errors... he's really starting to look fat and old. Forget the fact that some of the errors are balls he gets to that Loretta wouldn't even get a glove on (and thus make it a hit). Forget the fact that if you actually use stats such as range factor, or stats that define the zones that his plays are made in, you'd see that there's no other SS that gets to these balls IN BASEBALL, let alone on this team, let alone when you're campaigining for a guy that is basically a 2B with less range than Burke, who is also a 2B.
I played plenty of baseball and I know he is a better player in the field by far, I'm just saying again that he needs to be Ozzie Smith + hit over 240 (since he has no pop) to justify starting over Loretta.
People act like Everett is the only guy on the roster who can field a ground ball or something. I'll take an error every now and then for a SS who can hit above .200 any time. Continuing to start him (assuming he keeps sucking at the plate) would be like making Chuck Hayes the #1 offensive option because he has a higher shooting percentage than T-Mac. And like texanfan says, what's wrong with bringing him in as a late inning defensive replacement and getting Lamb more at bats?
that's a stretch - they're not batting him clean-up. but to compare ae to chuck hayes in a general sense is right on, imo - he's not going to score but he plays tough defense, hustles for loose balls, gives himself up, plays unselfishly, etc. ae is that guy on the astros. as stated - if berkman and lee do what they're supposed to do and ensberg, scott, pence and lane take turns getting timely hits each night, the astros will be fine with ae in the everyday line-up.
Everett needs to be benched, but I'd like to see them try to acquire someone outside the organization for the position. Loretta should be playing second more.
Who, pray tell? Come on, give us some names. And, of course, how you expect the Astros to get these guys. Of course there are shortstops whose defense is good-to-above-average and hit better than AE. Now, how do you expect the Astros to pry one of these from another ML 40-man roster?
Tim Bogar was Chuck Hayes. With Everett, it's more like a young Dikembe Mutombo or Ben Wallace. The guy is the best defensive player at the most important defensive position in baseball, and some experts will say it's not even close. If the guys in front of him are doing the hitting, he's very adept at doing the smaller things - sac. bunts and swiping a bag here and there. My bet is there would be at least 11 guys on the team (and make it 12 as soon as Jennings and/or White are healthy) who would scream bloody murder if you replaced Everett out there with Loretta. Loretta's ABs should come at 3B. If Ensberg has any value, I would be perfectly fine with a Loretta-Lamb platoon.
