me!!! absolutely!!! the astros have nice names...but they're old names...biggio and bagwell sound great..but they don't mean what they used to mean. particularly as juxtaposed names like Edmonds, Pujols, Rolen... the cardinals have the 2nd best offense in all of baseball...they have a solid closer in Isringhausen...they have, on paper, a better than average starting pitching rotation. the astros have two "real" starting pitchers...they have a rookie who gets tons of run support...and the rest has been a rotating crap shoot. the cardinals SHOULD have won this division this year.
absolutely, Jimy Williams has had less to work with, currently is in first place but people still yell and scream at his decisions. Tony Larussa has the 2nd best lineup in baseball behind Boston and one of the best closers but sit 4 or 5 and a 1/2 back right now. But you never hear any Tony LaRussa bashing. They have a higher payroll, better team but lose out once again to the astros.
Ditto... They (Cardinals) also have some great defensive players. The Astros defense is (for lackof a better word) solid. Hidalgo and Ausmus (and to a lesser extent, Everett) are the only players that are remotely recognized for their defense around the league. The one aspect where the Astros are clearly better is the bullpen. "On paper", even before injuries to Oswalt and Kent, the division should have been (and still may be): Cubs Cardinals Astros The Cubs starting pitching is too good for them not to win. It is incredible to me how often the Cubs struggle to score.
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64493 posted this in the other forum but thought some of you might miss it over there.
I agree with Madmax that they have a better team "on paper." I would say that we have the best bullpen in the entire league. If we have a lead going into the 6th or 7th.. THE GAME IS OVER. With the emergence of Lidge this year, it gave us a 3 headed monster to finish off games. Lidge/Dotel/Wags is F'ing nasty. Throw a knuckleballer (Fernandez) in there now to come in for an inning and that just keeps the other team off balance even more. The Astros are ahead of the division because of their bullpen. The Yankees no-hitter pretty much summed up the season.
As I wrote, the Astros defense is solid. Kent (especially to his left) and Biggio are probably below average in terms of range, but they will make the plays they can get to. While Hidalgo has a great arm, his mechanics are lacking. Ensberg and Blum are solid at 3rd. Bagwell's range is still there, but his throwing is probably the worst in the league. Ausmus is among the top 4 defensive catchers (Rodriguez, Methany, Larue) in the NL. Berkman has developed into a very good left fielder, but his arm is average. Everett should do nothing but continue to improve. He makes some great plays, but he will blow the easy ones from time to time (as will most players) While the team is currently 4th in measurable fielding stats (fielding percentage), they are in the bottom half of the league in zone ratings and range factors which basically says that they make the plays they get to, but other teams get to more balls than they do.
Can elaborate on this statement? Everytime I see him catch a ball with runners on, he does a great job of setting up to catch the ball with his momentum going forward to make a throw. He keeps his throws low enough to be cut off and his throws are almost always on line. On top of that, he has slimmed down from last year, so his running has improved and he gets to more balls than he used to. I don't understand what mechanics of his you feel are lacking.
With regards to fly balls he tends to catch the ball well over his head which necessitates him to reach for the ball in order to make the throw. He also isn't as good as other outfielders with respect to setting up for the catch and throw. Based on observation the majority of his assists have come due to runners attempting to take an extra base. In that respect he does a good job of fielding the hit and setting up for the throw. EDIT - I just did a quick check. Hidalgo has been involved in 5 DPs this year which shows that he has thrown out 16 runners trying to take an extra base on some sort of hit and 5 runners after catching a fly ball.
I think he does these things better than you give him credit for. Besides that, I think you're being awfully nitpicky about a guy who is having a fantastic defensive year. Whether or not he catches the ball too high, he still uncorks some amazing throws. Also, it seems that his assist opportunities have decreased in the last month. I think opposing teams are starting to realize that running on Hidalgo is quick way to ruin a scoring opportunity.
I've never really noticed much fault in his mechanics. As far as his throws go, he has a decent arm, and can throw hard, but not so hard as to really amaze you. What gets me about him is that his throws are extremely accurate, which I chalk up to good throwing mechanics. I suppose he may catch the ball up high sometimes, but it doesn't strike me as something that would really cost him all that much time. What amazes me is that teams still attempt to run on him.
Someone here thinks the Cubs should be in first? Hahahahahah. Their pitching is wonderful. They only have two good hitters in their entire line-up. Their bullpen is average. So, what does one get with splendid starting pitching, an execrable offense, and an average bullpen? That's right! About .500. They're not underachieving... they're overachieving slightly. I think too many people assume that some of their "name" hitters are actually any good.
by the way, guys... coin tosses were conducted Sept. 11 by Major League Baseball to determine the site for a possible one-game playoff for the NL Central Division title. The Cardinals would host both the Astros and Cubs in potential one-game playoffs for the division. The Cubs will get a chance to host a tiebreaker for the division title if they finish tied with the Astros. hopefully, it won't come to that as the 'stros are streaking.. but who did these freakin cointosses?! seems like we always get shortended!
I still find it insane that home-field for these tie-breakers are still determined by coin-flips. Its OK that if the division came down to a tie, they'd play a one-game playoff (even though every other sport goes by head-to-head record)... but at least let the team's merit determine who get's home field advantage. Since its the unbalanced schedule, we're playing our main division opponent plenty of times... I'd say let the head-to-head be the thing that determines home-field. As far as if teams end up tied for the wild-card, have the GM's play rock-paper-scissors on national TV... its more fair than a coin-flip. "Paper covers rock, right?" - Kramer "No way... rock flies right through paper." - Mickey "Then what beats rock?" - Kramer "Nothing...rock is unbeatable." - Mickey. They then continue to play rock-paper-scissors with each player putting down rock everytime.
