beginning of 2004? yeah, he wasn't good. but iirc, the rest of the guys were doing just fine. lidge stepped into the role of closer because he was so effective. this bullpen seems far worse than this. they can't bring in ANYBODY right now who doesn't give up runs in bunches.
A somewhat interesting sidenote to the game last night. I was watching the Brewers feed and they were praising the fact that the Brewers had 9 of their own drafted players on their roster and saying that was highly unusual. They also used a quote from Mark Loretta who also indicated that was unusual. Loretta should realize that the Astros have 10 of their draft choices on the team: Biggio, Burke, Berkman, Pence, Bruntlett, Sampson, Oswalt, Qualls, Lidge and Ensberg.
It's sad the Astros are competing for the position of worst team in baseball. How utterly embarrassing...especially given the expectations before the season.
1991 sucked. Painful times. But it was a *different* kind of suck than 1987-1990. A sucktitude that was building something--a kind of excitement for the future ("Young Guns of the West", anyone?). The Astros began a rebuilding process in 1991. They traded a bunch of their stalwarts (Hatcher, Davis) who still had productive seasons left in them for young talent. They brought in rookies in the outfield and at 1B (we *might* be seeing a rookie like *that* one right now). Cammy was still a young 3B. Biggio was a young catcher. Harnish was only in his 2nd full year and DK was a rookie. That rebuilding was the beginning of what we enjoyed the hell out of from 1997 through 2005 (heck, even 96 despite the collapse at the end. Shoot, '94 and '95 were OK, too). It's been great; along the way the Astros re-tooled on the fly awesomely. Can they re-tool on the fly around Oswalt, Berkman, Lee, and Pence? Or, should they trade away a bunch of the vets (not those three), risk sucking hard for about a year and then hopefully go on another run, this time with hopefully a ring or two?
What is the future of the team? ... The only players i see being consistent next year are Lee and Pence.
Chris Sampson is proving he's a good major league pitcher, both in his tryout last season and in this one. He's got a good approach on the mound. The difference between last season and this one is a horrible relief corps. Not sure why, but the switch from setup to closer back to setup back to closer has resulted in Wheeler falling way off his usual standards. Qualls is mediocre, Borkowski is alright, but the rest of the pen is just horrible. The top 3 starters (Oswalt, Jennings, Sampson) are fine, Wandy is acceptable at the back of the rotation, and the offense is no worse than it was last year, even with Berkman struggling. Fix the pen, re-sign Jennings, and find a long-term answer at catcher and this team will be fine.
I wouldn't say that's the only difference. When the bullpen was holding its own early in the season, Berkman was mired in the worst start of a season in his career. This is also Oswalt's worst year (stasistically, thus far) as a starting pitcher. So, by my count, the following players are having career low years... that this team could not afford to have (they were supposed to be good, if not great): Berkman, Oswalt, Qualls, Wheeler. The following players have been sub par, and have been sub par in the past.. but if the Astros were going to contend this year, they needed at least one of these guys to have an above average year: Ensberg, Scott, Biggio, Burke The following players don't belong on a major leaugue roster: Palmeiro, Munson, White, Mohler, Randolph, Borkowski The following players haven't had an extended stint on the DL in over 3 years... yet were hurt this year: Jennings, Lidge. The following players have been AVERAGE... but because its so much better than what they were previously, its considered "good": Ausmus, Wandy. The following players deserve their own category: Woody, Trever Miller The lone true bright spots for this team: Pence, Lee, Loretta (who should be a 2B or 3B, not SS), Lamb (who still may not be an everyday player, Sampson.
Its time to let Ensberg go. The guy just stinks. He is the only player that strikes out without even swinging the bat once!
ensberg cost us a run with his error... not only is he not hitting...he has 10 errors this year already....having only 12 all year last season... lamb should be our everyday 3b...he is decent at 3b and he can hit unlike im going to try to get a walk everytime up ensberg
Just watching the game on-line, but Gar might be playing with fire trying to get an other inning out of Williams.
