More armchair managing for us! From The Chron: Hunsicker and Williams have discussed many scenarios, which include sending Hernandez on another rehab outing, taking him off the disabled list and inserting him in the rotation, putting him in the bullpen or bringing him off the disabled list and demoting him to the minors. Hunsicker says he will let Williams decide, but Hernandez will throw a bullpen session Thursday in front of pitching coach Burt Hooton before Williams announces his decision. Ok, Wade & Roy are 1-2 starters. That leaves Mlicki, Munro, Saarloos & Carlos for the other 3 spots. Based on recent performance, Mlicki would be the odd man out, but Dave cannot pitch out of the pen, so unless he gets "hurt" he's in the rotation, for better or worse. I wouldn't mess with Saarloos either, asking him to adjust to another role is a bit much to expect from a rookie in his first full season of pro ball. That leaves Munro & Carlos, either of which could pitch out of the pen, assuming Carlos' shoulder can bounce back from inconsistent work. What says you all?
Mlicki has pitched poorly in two of his last three starts. Although he had a very nice run down the stretch last season, and pitched well vs. Atlanta in the playoffs, he is just too inconsistent. No way would I move either Munroe or Saarloos out of the rotation, they have pitched very well of late. Best case scenario for me would be to fake an injury with Mlicki, bring up Linebrink for the bullpen, and put Carlos in the rotation for a couple starts. If he pitches well, leave it as is, if he doesn't pitch well, Mlicki's "injury" should heal and then move Carlos to the bullpen and move Linebrink back down to AAA.
I agree that a little shoulder stiffness or elbow soreness may be in Super Dave's near future. That would be the ideal. You wouldn't need to bring up Linebrink though, Carlos & Dave would just flip-flop from the roster to the DL. If that's not an option, for whatever reason, I think Carlos would be more beneficial out of the pen than Munro. Basically Borbon shouldn't be allowed to pitch to RH batters ever, much like Puffer should never face lefties, they absolutely kill 'em. Carlos would give you a LH option in the pen who could face more than 1 batter if a righty came up after a tough lefty, he's been equally effective against LH & RH batters in his brief career. Munro in the pen that has Mann & Stone strikes me as redundant. On the other hand, it would be nice to have a lefty starter down the stretch & in the playoffs, assuming he performs well.
you're right Carlos would replace Mlicki. I must have been sub-consciously thinking that Hidalgo would be sent to AAA as well, oh well a little wishful thinking. I'm a little surprised Stone closed today's game instead of Mann, given Mann's closing experience in the minors. It worked out, but barely. We'll have to pull for the Pirates tonight, even if it means rooting for an ex-Baylor Bear, Kip Wells.
i believe they said during the game that carlos is coming back to start the saturday game while mlicki pitches the series opener. it looks like munroe is being skipped which really sucks. if mlicki gets bombed theres absolutely no excuse to not put him on the dl. i'd prefer the rotation to be: oswalt miller saarloos munroe hernandez i have alot of confidence in each of those guys.
There is no reason to put Mlicki on the DL if the Astros don't need him. They are at the point where they can simply give him his release.
Yep, Mlicki goes tomorrow, Carlos Sunday, and Munro is in the pen. They can't release Mlicki because no one knows how effective Carlos will be as a starter - if either Dave or Carlos struggle, there's always Munro waiting in the pen, if both can't start, then what? Anyways, Dave's got exactly 2 more starts (his 3rd scheduled start is on an off day) before the September 1 callups, negating the need for DL shenanigans.
I've been gone for a little while. What's wrong with Carlos and was he starting to pitch bad before the injury?
He was pitching poorly before his dl stint, which resulted from "shoulder stiffness". Definitely a concern for a guy who had his rotator cuff repaired in the offseason.
Well that is the end of the run for the Stros...running that SKANK Milicki out there instead of Munro proves that Williams doesn't have a real clue. Remember, Milicki was the guy that Detroit traded to us for LIMA...for crying out loud. Forget egos and contracts it should be about winning, and Munro gives us at least a 50% better chance then Milicki. CRAP !! DD
C'mon DD, you're smarter than that, this move in no way signifies an end to the 'Stros season, nor does it provide any fodder to question Jimy's (sometimes dubious) baseball acumen. Mlicki's pitched well in the past (Sept. 01, April '02), so management believes he can pitch well again. He shut down Cincy (7.2, 4H 1R) at Cinergy earlier this year, and he pitched a good game there last year. He's been dreadful since his 2 months stint on the DL, but he's only had 4 starts. Munro has been great so far, better than anyone could have expected, but the facts are that he can pitch out of the pen & Dave can't, end of story. Mlicki has 2 starts, including tonight, before the rosters expand 9/1, I'm willing to give him those 2 starts to prove he can be a productive member of the rotation down the stretch, like he was last year. If he pitches poorly, which is a definite possibility, then I have no problem burying him in the pen & moving Munro back to the rotation in 2 weeks. Munro is basically insurance in case Dave, Carlos or Kirk pitch poorly or get injured. Having an excess of big-league starters is not exactly a bad situation to be in, just ask the Reds or Co-ards.
