It was a fastball. He just got too much of the plate. I think everyone in the building knew what was coming. He had just thrown an 86 mph slider so you knew he was gonna throw the heat
Similar post in as many nights... Freakin' Dotel...It's his job to close and he's pitching likes he's throwing BP... Before that, we can't hit to save our lives... Then we have Florida again...Let's get back on track...
So was it Dotel who gave this one up? Geez. 2 runs in the ninth. HR's. Damn. I am back in Saudi now so I didn't get to watch the game. That sucks man, Clemes did his job with 7 scoreless innings. What is up with Dotel?! Should Lidge be closing? Lidge always looks un touchable out there. His stuff looks great.
Dotel doesn't seem like he is warmed up and loose whenever he comes in. He's been walking people and can't seem to find his strike zone a lot of the time. I don't remember Wags blowing 2 saves in 2 consecutive series like this. I bet he is having fun with this over at Philly. I wish he was still here but then we probably wouldn't have Pettite or Clemens so...no...I don't wish he was here. I'm not sure Dotel is closer material. I think I like him better in middle inning relief. He seems to buckle under the pressure or something. I'm really concerned about him being able to close ballgames out now. Wags blew one once in a while. But, two in two consecutive series to cost us the series. I don't recall that ever happening?!?!? I hope it's just an adjustment he needs to go through. I thought Dotel was fully capable of closing. Now, I have my doubts. He doesn't seem as confident in the closing role. Either that...or he lost something in his pitching since last season. It's unfortunate that you never know how he's going to pitch from one game to the next now. I thought closers were supposed to be reliable? Ah! One thing for sure...he has to get his pitches under control cause they may have power behind them but if you can't place them...then blown saves are going to continue to be the result. Man, Dotel may cause me to have to go get a Prozac description.
As Major said, I don't think there is much evidence to suggest Lidge would make a better closer than Dotel right now. Even though Dotel blew the save on Sunday, he seemed over the nervousness we saw against the Marlins. His problem this time was he decided to challenge the Met's best hitter and got burned. I think in the future, he might heed his manager's advice when told to pitch around a batter. He might also decide to try to get the batter to swing at a bad pitch when he's ahead in the count in the future. If he keeps making these same mistakes on pitch selection (or he reverts to not being able to throw anything in the strike zone) then you can talk about using Lidge to close. There was an article in the Chronicle that mentioned if Dotel is switched back to a setup role, the astros will probably be getting rid of him. I think he's still got a little time to figure it out.
