Is that why every sports talk radio show is talking about bringing house up to play catcher? Is that why people inside the organization are excited about this kid replacing ausmus? Just throwing that out there.
It is because people get fixated on something (Old injuries etc) and fail to think about all the possibilities. He was catching pretty much EVERY DAY at AA Corpus Christi.....he should be up here now as the backup catcher, anyone that can hit like that needs to be here...NOW.... Replace Ausmus' bat with House would be a MASSIVE upgrade to our offense, let Ausmus call the pitches from the dugout. DD
I'm not so sure what's so hard about understanding that he is not ready to be a major league catcher at this time. I have no problem bringing him up 9/1 and working on his catching in the offseason. But he is not ready to catch now, per the organization. It would be nice if he could develop into an average MLB defensive catcher though.
House was called up to the majors after the game today, while the club is designating Eric Munson for assignment. Link According to the article, the club will likely outright Munson to the minors, and he's apparently ok with that cause he likes the team.
I don't want to see him spend any time at 1B. That would cut into Lamb's time which is already less than it should be. FREE LAMBO!
They had an extra spot on the 40 from when P-Dub was released. Didn't *have * to outright anybody. Still have an open spot to use after Sept 1 (Pence?).
Actually, Wilson was released to make room for Hirsh. There are currently 40 on the 40-man after this transaction. That's why they had to outright Munson. It's an interesting move. They're trying to take advantage of a kid who might be the only person in the organization more on fire than Luke Scott. However, he might have a worse arm than Munson right now. I know he's working on his arm strength. Also, since he's always been a catcher, he might have more of the intangibles (blocking pitches, calling the game) more so than Munson. I just hope this isn't too little too late.
Unless I'm counting wrong or the roster on astros.com is incorrect, there are only 39 guys on the roster.
I was counting Bagwell. Not sure if he counts or not. I guess he doesn't since he's on the 60-day. Was Munson maybe out of options?
Yep, 60-day DL takes you off the 40-man. Not sure about Munson's options, don't think it really mattered though. He was most likely gone after the season anyway, & this gives them some flexibility for the Sept callups. Will be very interesting to see how they use House, and how he responds behind the plate. His bat has never been a question.
Apparently, Clemens had nothing but good things to say about him when House caught his game at Corpus. He said House had good soft hands and called a good game. He'll get at least 1 chance a week to see what he can do. If he gets the arm strength back and continues to hit, this could be the beginning of the end for Ausmus.
Very true about Clemens. The only question about House is his health. We'll see. Whether House is the answer or not, I don't see any way that Ausmus is the starting catcher next year.
