Looks like he's settling down now... fastball back up to 93-94... gets out of the inning without any damage besides Willy's muscle.
So the MLB Draft is on ESPN2, but who cares. I don't think the Astros have a pick 'til the 4th round anyway.
Yes, and that Luke Scott guy is just a bum. He's only 2-2 with a triple today with an OPS around .800 for the season (in somewhat of a down year), and has only been arguably the leading catalyst (other than Pence) in the offense's recent resurgence. Trading Scott for Taveras would clearly solve all of this team's problems.
If that's not something you'd want to do, then why is there all this whining about Taveras? Clearly, you're not going to replace Lee or Pence. So, there was/is no place for Taveras in this lineup unless you think he's superior to Luke Scott. Personally, I don't think he is.
well the idea is that if taveras were still here, he'd be playing instead of scott because obviously pence and lee are locked in. i have no idea who the better player is, but with the way pence is playing losing taveras isn't that big of a deal.
First time seeing that Rockies SS, Tulowitzki. He sure looked good so far in this series. He can pick it and looks like he's hitting fairly well.
me too, i'm pretty impressed with him so far. ensberg and everett should be enough. get it done purpura.
Dude, don't make me play Willy vs Luke 'cause I really like Scott. But you don't think it'd be nice to have a speedy top-o-da lineup guy who's batting over .320? Willy has been getting it done this year. Luke hasn't. Luke's been looking like he's turning it on this past week and I hope he keeps it up. But if Willy were on this team right now, Luke would be picking splinters out of his ass. That may not be the case 3 years from now, but Willy is having a good season and Luke isn't.
and if willy t was here to start the season and playing this well, hunter pence likely is still in AAA. i'd rather have this scenario.
Do you understand that there's more to baseball than batting average and speed? Luke's got a .808 OPS right now -- while he was better last season, it's hard to make an argument that he's having a bad season. That's still a very respectable number, and he has 21 extra-base hits in 149 AB. Willy's playing out of his mind so far this season, and he has a .756 OPS right now, with 7 extra-base hits in 167 AB. I know, I know, OPS doesn't tell the whole tale for a leadoff hitter... but it is, by far, the best measure of offensive efficiency, and it shows that this comparison isn't as simple as you make it. Willy does some things better than Luke - he's likely to hit for a better average, and so far, he's gotten on base more. That's good. But there's more to the game to that. There's also the driving in runs component, and Scott's been significantly better at that than Willy and always will be. Do the Astros need a top of the lineup type? Absolutely, but take away Scott and they'd need a No. 5 just as much. Outside of Lee and Pence (who seems to have found a home batting second), this team needs extra-base production. And Scott's defense has been very good as well. As good as Willy has been, his OPS is still a good deal lower than Scott's (and all logic and history indicates it will drop substantially) and it's ridiculous to make the matter-of-fact claim that you know who would be playing and who wouldn't if they were both on the roster. Again, baseball teams use a deeper analysis than simply who has the best batting average. To me, the numbers thus far make it a tossup as to who I'd prefer starting in RF (if both were still on the Astros)... difference is, Scott's much more likely to maintain (or even slightly improve) his current numbers, whereas Taveras' numbers are likely to decline. That's why it's not a hard debate for me.
IMHO, if you're hitting under .265, you're having a bad season. Morgan had a .858 OPS last year while hitting .235. Did he have a good season? Luke's been turning it around the past week and before his 2 hit game against Cincy, his OPS (your fav stat) was .715. All I'm saying, is that in a season where we've demoted 2 outfielders and our 3rd starter might finally just be reaching a .250 BA, it would be nice to have the luxury of Willy. It's more a revisionist criticism of the Jennings trade than a true knock on Scott anyway. I wouldn't suggest trading Luke for Willy. But I can regret trading Willy and Hirsh for a guy with arm troubles who we might not even pay to be around next year.
