I guess my prediction is right....let's hope this lights a fire under him (since he's an emotional guy to begin with) and he fixes his stuff. Gotta like Coop for making this move now...unlike Garner who waited and waited and waited.
It was actually 2 bad games to start the season...preceded by an inconsistent spring and last season. Garner wanted to get Lidge in middle relief to have more pitching opportunities and work out his control problems.
I could have sworn that Lidge wasn't removed from the closer's position until 3 or so weeks into the season. Didn't Garner go to a closer by committee for a little while before officially removing Lidge from that spot for a portion of the season? Either that or the constant complaining by the fans made me think it was longer than it actually was.
Your thinking of 2006...when Lidge was removed in early-to-mid May...after having pitched approx. 17 innings. It's difficult to keep up with crappy closers. It all meshes together into one bad nightmare. lol.
Do you think tonight's game would have unfolded exactly like it did had the Astros won last night? Isn't it fair to assume that had Valverde closed out last night and everything else being exactly the same, that Valverde would have pitched the 9th tonight? So who knows what would have happened.
Coop was on the radio earlier today saying that Valverede probably wouldn't be available tonight because he had done some extra throwing this morning to work out some mechanical kinks.
One of the chron muppets also said something about him having thumb problems this spring that didn't allow him to work on his splitter much.
ausmus was back there for his first two games this season that he got demolished in. our catcher isn't the determining factor as to whether roy pitches well or not. if he's on, he's on, if he ain't, he ain't. i'm not gonna give ausmus credit or blame for roy's performances. one thing seems certain catcher-wise though....ausmus' bat hurts our chances of scoring. i feel for humberto. kid busts his butt in the offseason and loses 30 lbs, lights it up with his bat in the spring, we all know he has the best arm on the team, and, not only could he not make our original roster, but he couldnt make it in favor of a 40 year old catcher who he hits better than, throws better than, is $2 mill cheaper than, and 15 years younger than. i'd give the kid a shot while towles is out. what can it hurt? also, i had a question regarding quintero: since he cleared waivers and we reclaimed him, does that mean his options to the minors are refreshed?
richard justice, of all people, i thought made a great point: you're not managing just today but tomorrow as well. cooper needs to know what he has with valverde, and its better to find out now that he's lost it/hurt/whatever then it is to bury/hide him and then have no idea what to expect in the second half when there could be meaningful games. as cat has pointed out, valverde has been consistently very good, minus 2006. in fact, he was REALLY good last year. he struck out 78 in 65 IP; maintained a 1.12 WHIP and, of course, converted 47 saves. in fact, if you look at his game logs, he really only had ONE bad inning, spread out over two games, in which he gave up 7 ER and 8 H/BB. i know cherry picking is easy, but throw those two games out and he posted a 1.66 ERA/1.00 WHIP in his 64 other innings with 75 Ks. that's an impressive season by any measure. if you're cooper, you have to assume he'll get it straightened out.
Yes, I think we should bench any players that struggle for a few games. Roy Oswalt should have been benched after his third start too. Pence should be sent to the minors. Last year, we should have dumped Berkman after the first two weeks.
