Good for Willy, but too little too late...They might as well give up the rest of the season...Oh Snap, they already have...
Actually, I was kinda getting used to the Astros losing to the Reds... especially since it meant that the Cardinals would lose ground in the division when they lost. BTW... anybody see Beltran's walkoff against Izzy yesterday? Izzy has now blown NINE saves... most of them being the 1-2 run variety. Starting to make me reconsider this whole "closer" concept... unless they're going to change the statistic to where a "save" is truly a 1 run lead (or the tying runs in scoring position)... any guy who has over 30 saves isn't going to impress me (unless his name is Mariano). Even Papelbon has come back down to earth... the position is slowly dying.
yeah, Isringhausen has been just terrible this year, worse than Lidge and I'm no Lidge apologist, I can't stand the guy anymore
It's always been the most overrated position in baseball. Well, not always, but since the 70s or whenever it was invented and teams started managing their bullpen like idiots.
5 run lead, Roy's wrist still a problem, Roy's thrown a ton of innings this year, what's so frustrating about it?
Isringhausen has had his bad moments, but he's still effective and nowhere close to being worse than Brad Lidge. Isringhausen: ERA: 3.54 BAA: .214 WHIP: 1.41 Lidge: ERA: 5.53 BAA: 2.43 WHIP: 1.51
But he's been just as bad (if not worse) in the situations that we all fear Lidge in... the 1 run lead, or the game with tying runs in scoring position. The difference between Izzy and Lidge this season is that Izzy is lights out with a 3 run lead... whereas Lidge was giving up 1 run routinely. They both still get a save, however. Thus, even though Izzy may have better stats, it definitely didn't matter much in the clutch... and any way you slice it, NINE blown saves is not "still effective". (also, I'll put money on Lidge... with his stuff... being able to turn it around faster than Izzy... who is old, and wants to still get paid like a great all star).
You know what? I would go to Lidge in front of the WHOLE team and say.....forget everything up until now, YOU are our closer for the rest of the year.....we are behind you 100%. And see how he responds, I mean the team is dead anyway...see if you can start the reclamation project early. DD
I agree with DD...If nothing else, he performs and his trade value goes up... Again, too little, too late...
That's assuming his problem is 100% mental... which I don't buy. I think the guy just needs some serious time away from everything. He's just been through 4 straight years of MLB bullpen pitching, most of which at an ultra-high level, with the highest of emotions/pressure/weight of the franchise type games that anybody on this team has had to go thru. Then, when you take into account that the guy hadn't really stayed healthy for a full season UNTIL he came to the big leagues... its not that suprising that he's gotten progressively worse with his slider execution, and isn't able to pitch without constantly thinking "what's going to happen next?" Justice today advocated that the club sign Lee, re-sign Pettite and clemens, and DON'T give up on Lidge, Ensberg, and Lane. I'm not totally sure about Lane... but I'm all for giving the other two plenty of opportunities to get back to the level that each has performed for more than a full season (elminating fluke scenarios).
