Okay, im not giving up on the Astros yet but i have a sugestion. And feel free to dissagree of course...but has anyone thought about Chad Qualls as a starter? I mean, he apears to have the stuff mentally and phisically because he has more than two pitches, so why not give him a chance to get a spot on the rotation next season? That is all.
I've heard this several times. Apparently he became a different pitcher when he converted to reliever. Management believes that he has the makeup for short outings and not long ones, therefore he will always be in the setup man/closer role as long as he's pitching for the stros. If you look at his minor league numbers as a starter, you will see that he was pretty average. I believe that he would be an excellent groundball inducing starter if he could make the mental adjustment necessary to make that type of transition.
He had some success in the rookie league, but was kind of hit-and-miss as a starter after that: http://www.sports-wired.com/players/Q/chad-qualls.shtml Still, he seems like he could be a starter. Worth a shot in spring training. Anyone but Astacio.
Very true, DD. Why not throw him out there for a few games next year? It's not like it's a long season or anything...
Backe was a starter in the minors. Qualls, if he really wants to be a starter, needs at least a third dependable pitch. You can't go 7 week in and week out with two pitches.
I believe we had Curt Shilling for a while and only used him as a reliever. We all see what he went on to do as a starter after that.
So were Lidge, Wagner, Dotel and about every other good major league reliever. Qualls needs a better third pitch before he could be considered as a starter.
JR Richard had the fastball and the slider, and he was pretty good. Qualls may have more than 2....he is just so successful with 2. DD
JR had a fastball that flirted with triple digits and a power slider that came screaming over the plate in the low-90s. He was one of the filthiest pitchers EVER. He was essentially a righty-Randy Johnson with slightly better control. Qualls has a good fastball that can move, and a decent slider.
Yeah, for 2 innings. Now, nothing would thrill me more than being wrong and suddenly Chad Qualls is JR Freaking Richard--but I highly doubt it. And btw, part of what made Richard so good (by intimidation) was his *lack* of control. Ironically, guys had fear b/c they didn't know *where* that triple-digit heater was going. JR once set a record for wild pitches in a CG (6) and it was a shutout!
As good as Qualls is, he is no JR Richards... not even close. Qualls is good for one trip through the lineup on any given day, after that his fastball is more like batting practice and his slider doesn't have nearly the bite it does when he works his first inning.
does anyone else see Qualls being our setup man to lidge next year? I just think with the nasty stuff he has, especially the bite on that slider, it would just be fitting for him to come in front of lidge. Wheeler has been solid but I think he would be better off coming in the 7th.
As great as Qualls was this postseason, the pitch that really killed us was the gopher ball to Konerko in Game 2. With that one swing we go from potentially heading back to Houston 1-1 to being in a 2-0 hole. Even if Qualls had just given up a game-tying single, we could have taken the lead later instead of having to scrape for Viz's game tying hit. The more I think about it, the more I want that one pitch back. More than any of Lidge's pitches (and the pitched to Podsednik and Dye were actually not terrible). Oh, and no -- Qualls is not starter material.
I pretty much agree with everything said there... if there was one "holy crap" moment of the World Series it was that groove down the middle of the plate by Qualls.
"Now, when I take two fingers and slap my right thigh before scratching my left nut, it means I want you hang your slider over the middle while I'm set up down and away. Got that?" --Brad Ausmus
