Agreed... I'd put Moehler in that same boat. He isn't as good as he was last year as a starter but he's not as bad as he looked in his first couple of starts.
Yahoo knows where it's at: "All in all, these looked like the two last-place teams they are, botching basics over and over."
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=290505120 “One of the weirdest situations I’ve ever seen. We go from pitching really great (for) one, two days, and then just the opposite. I don’t know what the heck to do. I don’t know how to explain it,” Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. Ummm, it's called baseball. You pitched well for one or two days and then pitched badly one day, and you don't know how to explain it? (nevermind the fact that we gave up 9 runs in the previous game and 5 before that - I guess he's going back to Saturday for the day we pitched well)
What really strikes me is that it is clear from his appearances that Paulino is one of those guys that is good as a starter and terrible out of the pen. It is similar to Sampson being good out of the pen and an awful starter. Cooper needs to see this and rearrange the human resources to where their strengths lie. Paulino back to the rotation and see how Ortiz fares in the pen.
Exactly. Why take Paulino out of the rotation? A young gun who throws 97MPH. Isn't that what teams are looking for? He was pitching great. Better than hoping journeyman Brian Moehler pulls another rabbit out of his hat. He got rocked at Round Rock in his short rehab stint there and injected right into the rotation in place of Paulino.
Moehler will be average. Not bad for a back of the rotation guy. Plus, IIRC, Moehler was not very good out of the pen when we first acquired him. I would try Ortiz in middle relief and give Paulino the #4 spot in the rotation.
Paulino as a starter pitched great except when he did not. Part of the reason, I suspect, that Moehler is not being kicked to the curb is that the Astros management think we still have a shot at the playoffs. Moehler while not being a great pitcher is a very solid inning eating, average starting pitcher. The league has a book of him. Paulino has not been consistent as a starter and the league does not yet have a book on him. Paulino once he has been around the league once may not fare as well. Of course, once the Astros throw in the towel for the season, Paulino should be in the starting rotation.
I went to both games on Monday/Tuesday, and it was one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen. The Astros walked in six runs over the two games including the bean ball. Six times the bases were loaded and the relievers could not get a pitch in the strike zone to save their lives. The Nationals have the same problem with relievers, but maybe even more severe. Although their bats are somewhat exceeding expectations.
So what pitchers/players for Astros & Nats will likely be available for the finishing of this game tomorrow?
Anyone who wasn't pulled from that game is still eligible to play. That includes players who have been added to the roster since then. Interesting note...one of the Pirates relievers that pitched last night, Joel Hanrahan, is currently the pitcher of record for the Nats. If they score and the Astros don't, he gets the win.
Bizarre. So, now that the game's in Houston, I suppose we're still technically the road team. I really hope that we don't give the win to a guy that's not on their team anymore.
