as an aside, there's few things more exciting in sports than watching a rookie dominate from the beginning and thinking about the potential possibilities. that's why i will never forget that stretch during the second half of oswalt's rookie year after carlos hernandez was brought up, and along with wade miller, the trio simply didn't allow runs. listening to talkradio, public sentiment was that we had glavine, maddux, and smoltz on our hands. it's a shame...
Man it really is a shame. I still think what could have been. Man carlos hernandez was special when he first came up, and was only 21. (which btw for the astros is an unheard of age for being called up) He had that 95 mph fastball paired with that nasty curve. It's a shame that he ruined his career by diving into second base in a freak accident. And wade miller was just always injured, but he did have that one year where he was 15-3 or something.
Don't want to be Debbie Downer but if you check Luke Scott's stats from his first year in the biggs, it will put Pence's performace into perspective. It gets harder for guys once they have been in the league a year because scouting on them gets so much better.
I think Wade Miller's injuries were considerably less "freak." He always had poor mechanics and I remember reading about how people were concerned he would have injury problems in his career from the way he threw the ball. Carlos was a shame, though. He could have been something special.
To derail my own thread (and since we are talking about the Astros' past young pitching prospects), Tim Redding is back in the majors with the Nationals.
i love this guy- and he always makes the defense work, even on groundouts. also one of the few who actually runs while making the trip around the bases after a HR
Luke was inconsistent in his first year in the bigs. Remember he got sent back down, right? Yah; it's called the "sophomore jinx". Some guys adjust really well, some don't.
In fact, it's going to be really interesting to see how Hunter Pence does adjust once the book gets out on him, as the Astros have said all along he's a free swinger. Will he become more selective and work the strike zone better, or will he strike out a ton?
What is the formula for determining number of plate appearances needed to qualify? It has to be constantly changing, so there must be some scale...
37-47 = 84 games 3.1 * 84 = 160.4 ESPN.com has Pence with 160 TPA. Does that mean he still doesn't qualify? That he needs 4 PA tomorrow?
I think your math is off? 3.1 * 84 = 260 abs He is at 249 after last nights game. He should get to that mark Sunday or early next week. Someone correct me if I am wrong
So he is almost eligible?...Cool! .345 average, 10 pops...Not bad for 2.5 months in the bigs!.... edit: nevermind almost....oops.
Hunter Pence could be leading the NL in batting by ALL-Star break 1. Matt Holliday .349 2. Hunter Pence .345 3. Derek Lee .339 (damn Lee only has 6 hrs )
