Get a look? What in the hell was spring training for? Does it matter that Erstad has 24 more AB's in spring training than Towles did? Does it matter that Geoff Blum had 21 more AB's? Get a look?
It's not like Cooper didn't think of that option. He certainly knows more about managing a baseball team than you or I. You sound so sure of yourself but did you consider that you could be totally wrong about this non-issue? Cooper is the one that is spending all his time with this squad. He knows his personnel and what he's doing. Believe it or not, he probably did the right thing here even though you think he committed some kind of sin by not letting Towles hit. Maybe he wanted to give Towles another day to rest his hamstring. I don't know what his thought process was for sure but this decision was not that big of a deal and was probably the right move. Towles has shown nice potential but we aren't talking about Alex Rodriguez here. Batting Erstad and Blum makes sense considering they can both hit from the left side and we were facing a righty. I can think of better things to compain about. For example, Wigginton. He is going to be whiffing a lot and it's not like his defense is any good.
Rest his hammy? Towles went in the game and caught 2 innings. If that were the case Coop just wouldn't have pinch hit for Ausmus. It was late in the game and we were down by 3 runs. Say we come back to tie it and send it to extra innings, well now we have one less bat we can use off the bench. Towles had a good spring (Blum didn't) and it's not like Blum has actually fared well gainst RHP the last few seasons. It wasn't necessarily the wrong decision but it was definitely questionable.
My bad. I actually didn't get to see Bork pitch. In the past he's always seemed a bit inconsistent, but lots of times he been able to find his way out of jams like he did last night. I also forgot to mention that Bourn had a nice debut.
Watching Tejada & Wigginton play defense on the left side of the infield is going to be brutal, particularly after having the pleasure of seeing Everett there the past few years. Bourn looked really good, he worked deep in the count in pretty much all of his ABs.
Regarding Tejada I'll agree...we've been spoiled by Everett's defense. But I don't think Ty is gonna be any worse than Lamb or Ensberg before him.
Well, that sucked. I should have just slept instead of watching us get shut out. *sigh* Hope our newly upgraded offense shows up tonight. Go Stros!
Wow, Peavey pitched a hell of a game. If he isn't the best SP in the NL right now, I don't know who is.
I personally think the Astros made Peavy look better than he actually was by not hitting worth a crap. I don't think it was all Peavy. I think our whole team had the opening day blues...not just Oswalt. We needed to work the count more and wait for the pitch to hit. Hunter especially looked like he had rookie jitters at the plate.
When I was watching the Astros warm up yesterday and hit BP, I saw a young kid walking around looking lost. I thought he must have been the bat boy. And then I realized it was Wright. Man that guy looks like is 15.
Of course, it is also important to note that Tejada collected 2 of our 4 hits last night, including a double. Tejada did make a couple of nice plays in the field though.
I disagree (about the fielding part, that is). Tejada suffers from what I call Derek Jeter Syndrome (DJS), also known as Jim Edmonds Disease (JED) when it afflicts outfielders. What look like good defensive plays due to dives or off-balance throws are really balls that an average fielder should have gotten to routinely without having to dive or make a wild teetering throw, but because of the subpar range of the fielder in question, he has to make an extra effort to navigate the play successfully. Also, Tejada's double was a horrible AB. He was up in the count 3-0, fouled off a couple of pitches that were way out of the zone, then hit a ball that was practically over his head into the gap. I know that's the kind of hitter Tejada is, and he's been very successful at it, but that lack of plate discipline will catch up with a player the older they get and the more bat speed they lose.
You're right. I was just checking that in the box score. He fouled out to first base after going from 3-0 to 3-2 in his first AB.
i'll disagree with you on the horrible AB part...only because any AB that produces a double is a good one in my book.... but... i totally agree about defense. defense is largely positioning. when you're able to make sensational plays look routine, it doesn't show up on sportscenter. when you have to make a play look sensational to get it done, it might be the play wasn't sensational to begin with.
Nah, not complaining. I just think that the key to sustained success is a good hitting approach. If a pitcher gave up 1 run on 3 hits in a complete game and lost 1-0, would you consider that a failure since the bottom line is a loss? Like I said earlier, Tejada has been successful for many years, and I've not gotten the chance to see him play a whole lot, so it may be much ado about nothing. I just didn't like his approach at the plate for most of the night, even when it produced a positive outcome. I am also keeping in mind that it is one game, and the first of the season at that.
