fine....but im asking you what your opinion is....you dont have to bet any money.....no different than asking if the Rox will beat the Mavs....do you think, based on the current lineup plus Berkman...that we will make the playoffs? i HOPE we do....i just dont think we have a top 4 team in the NL wit hthe way things are.
Please see my post a couple above this one. I wasn't lying when I posted that. That has been my feeling about this team ever since we lost Beltran and resigned Clemens. I'm not going to make up something to avoid my answer being called a cop out.
It would be a really boring forum if nobody talked about how we were doing until the All-Star break. Max is right, the season's hardly over. It's still way too early to make a definitive statement about how the it's all going to turn out. But what fun is it to sit on your hands and say nothing? Right now, the pitching is superb and the offense is abysmal. Our combined pitchers are outhitting all but 4 of our everyday players (Lane, Biggio, Tavares, and Ensberg). Will that keep up? Of course not, but it appears to me early on that Ausmus's and Scott's hot spring training were illusory, and that Everett is miscast at the top of the order. Roger Clemens, meanwhile, is a freaking machine, and so is Lidge. I don't need a full season to evaluate either one of those guys. I'd love to get to the playoffs again just to give Roger another chance at game 7 in the NLCS.
amen to that...i dont know where he finds it...but he is a freak of nature...watching him work out of that bases loaded jam was purely magical
I have absolutely no problem with that. I'm pretty sure no one does. I can easily say that the lineup right now, especially when it comes to clutch hitting, is abysmal. It's the "Chicken Little" reaction to that which annoys us. It's 12 games into a 162 game season. Let's discuss why Everett shouldn't be leading off, Garner should've squeezed, Ensberg needs to take his ****ing bat off his shoulder and whether or not Luke Scott is a good player in Florida only. We don't have to declare the season a disaster right now though. Not 12 games into a 162 game season.
Agreed on all counts. Elsewhere (not here), I said during the spring that I didn't see Scott or Ausmus doing in April or May what they did in March. I also can't wait to see Biggio back at leadoff, or even Willy T at this point.
But he's is not saying this because of the 12 games.... he's saying it based on what he has thought all along.. it would be one thing if he thought one way, and changed his mind based on 12 games... but he is just repeating what he has said all along
This is still a good thread given last night...I can't believe we couldn't do anything with runners on 1st and 3rd and no one out... Anyway, Clemens and the whole team has to be PO'd...
We all now it and if you don't the Astros offense sucks! I could have told you that in the offseason, in fact i think i did. If you are to say otherwise, you are in serious denial. Drayton needs to make a trade soon. We have the prospects to pull one off. We have both offense and pitching prospects. Our starting pitching can't carry us to the playoffs for 1 reason. You have to score runs to win. How many games did RJ win last year? If we add another bat, Bags, Berkman, and player X should give us the power we need. But we can't hope for a miracle 20 game come from behind streak again. No, i'm not a bandwagon fan, just a realist who can easily point out the obvious.
what fun is it to incessantly whine and b****?? do those guys look like they're having fun, to you???
1. do you feel the same way about the Braves?? they can't score runs either, but they have great pitching...and everyone seems to have them penciled in for the playoffs. the Dodgers had a helluva time trying to eek out runs last season..they ended up winning their division with GOOD pitching...not GREAT pitching. it happens that way, sometimes. it rarely happens the other way (winning with GOOD offense but average to below average pitching). as for your RJ example...it sucks. he was the ONLY pitcher on that team last year. The D-Backs didn't have good pitching last season...they had a good pitcher. That was it. They gave up more runs than every other team in the NL last season, save two. The Astros aren't in that boat at all. 2. who in the world are we going to find as a trading partner in April, goose?? i think we ultimately will add another bat. i have no idea WHO that will be. but i can tell you it won't be until June at the earliest.
Is this directed at me? I was just trying point out that we seem, in my opinion at least, not to score runs for Clemens. Granted, I found the 4.8 stat that Raven found to be a bit higher than I was expecting.
i didn't have you in mind when i wrote it...but if you feel convicted by my statement then, yeah...i meant you.
The Braves had better hitters in 2004 than we have now. Andrew Jones, Chipper Jones, Giles, and JD Drew. We don't have a combined force like that plus they had a good mixture of speed. Not to mention the year before that they were the best offensive club in the league. The Dodgers run support did suck, but they were fortunate enough to have the break out season of Adrain Beltre and play in what i consider the worst division in baseball. Their closest competetor was the Giants and we all know their whole offense was Barry Bonds. As for the Dbacks, i am merely pointing out that last year's RJ could easily be this years Clemens. I don't know who their trading partner should be. The Beltran deal caught everyone by suprise last year. There are plenty of good hitters in the last year of their contracts, those are the ones we have to ultimaly target. Or we can find a team that desperatly needs pitching like we need hitting (I.E. Texas) Yes, we may have to wait untill June, unitil half the teams realize their out of the race.
redgoose -- i meant the braves this year. they're having a helluva time scoring runs. So far...through 15 games...Atlanta has scored 51 runs and allowed 54 runs. So far...through 14 games...Houston has scored 55 runs and only allowed 44 runs. Yet everyone seems to think Atlanta is a contender to win that division and most "experts" I've seen have the Braves matching up against the Yanks in the World Series. Their lineup is nothing special. They have good pitching, but so far it's not nearly as good as ours has been. I'm thinking if they can be considered contenders, the Astros should be too. BY THE WAY....The SF Giants had a fine offense last year. 2nd in the NL in runs scored, only 5 runs behind the Cardinals. They were beaten by a team with superior pitching, from start to finish.
I'll take this one... I think the Astros can make the playoffs with their current lineup (once Berkman is healthy). Looking at each division, there does not appear to be more than one team that MAY be dominant in each one (L.A., StL and FLA), thus if they don't win the division, they have as good of a chance to make the playoffs as a wild card as any other team. Given their starting pitching as well as the dominance of Lidge they are better off in pitching than most teams. It is too early to tell about middle relief, but so far they have pitched well (regardless of the won/loss record). Unlike other years, they will manufacture more runs than they have in the past, although not enough to offset the loss of Beltran and Kent. With their current lineup they will not score as much as last year. With their current pitching staff, they will hold other teams down more than last year. Defense appears to be a wash. Speed is definitely better. As of today, I think they will finish second in the division, but have a good chance to advance as the wild card. I don't think we can count on a 36-10 finish to this season, so they will have to be better in their first 120 games than last year. I have no doubts (as long as everyone remains healthy) that they will do that.
