Last replay pretty much confirmed what I saw... Burke was blocked at the plate, but the catcher never actually tagged him with the ball until after Burke touches home plate with his hand.
If Munson gets a hit here, I'll start to believe in the "Cecil Cooper is a better offensive manager" theory...
Burke was safe. Time to put the lead into the hands of our flammable bullpen. At some point these guys have to realize that they are major league pitchers, and start getting people out. Especially Lidge.....maybe tonight is the night. Also, we caught a massive break in that inning, ZERO hits...and a go ahead run.....nice. DD
Haha... JD is asking a guy who just had a dislocated shoulder to "plow into" the catcher at home... if Burke is going to be an everyday player from here-on-out, I'd rather save that potential run, and avoid another shoulder injury.
Even before all the problems Lidge had, he struggled against the Piroots... so a 1-2-3 good outing will be even more encouraging. EDIT: ****in eh... I just jinxed Wheels.
When does a slump become ....the players are just not good enough? Because that is what I think right now....our players are just not good enough. DD
LOL - We lead off our important inning.....a chance to take back the lead with Adam Everett a .210 hitter and Jason Lane at .205.....that speaks volumes. And....2 down.... DD
Good question. I don't know. These are the same players that got us to the WS last year so we know they're capable of playing winning baseball. I'm just not ready to give up on them yet, even Jason Lane. Maybe ask that question again at the All-Star break; let's see what June brings us.
They are going through a really rough stretch here. I think they are going to have to make a move above and beyond getting Clemens. As bad as the Astros started off last year the starting pitching and Lidge were dependable. You also knew that you were getting Berkman back. The way things have started I don't think the option of sitting back and seeing what happens will be good enough, especially when the wild card is again there for the taking. They need serious bullpen help and they are going to have to get another run producer. Purpura may have to make a move to reassure Clemens that he's not getting on board the Hindenburg.
This is what I have been saying for the past 2 weeks. Maybe last year was a case where the guys in our bullpen had career years. Right now, there is only one pitcher on our staff that I feel comfortable watching pitch....Roy.....the others are all worse than last year it seems, or at least the important ones are, and not by just a little bit either...but by a lot. DD
I would be open to a bullpen shakeup...but see if Clemens does come back then we can move one of our starters to the pen to help bolster it. And if we made a trade for a bat, who would we get and who could we trade for him. Our bullpen and outfield spots have little value right now. And I don't know if I'd wanna give up any prospects at this point. I guess it just depends on whose out there that can make the kind of impact the team needs. But plain and simple, I doubt one or two players are gonna make a difference right now. Virtually the whole team is slumping.
See, I disagree with not giving up prospects theory, I want to win now, there are always more prospects. I would go after Soriano, he would be a very good pickup for us, and he would kill at MMP. DD
Since the organization thinks Hunter Pence does not have superstar potential (even though his numbers speak otherwise), they would probably get good value by trading him now.
To be honest, I feel pretty comfortable with our starting rotation. Oswalt is being Oswalt. Wandy is having a better year than last. Nieve has been fairly solid. Buchholz has been up and down, but has good stuff and when he is locating he is damn good. And Pettite has been around too long, you gotta believe he'll find his groove soon. I'd much rather have this rotation than a rotation of Oswalt, Pettite, Clemens and 2 losses. Every game I feel we have a chance to win with our starter.
