what do you mean wheeler lovers? wheeler has been EXCELLENT since we got him and when lidge was downright terrible it was absolutely the right move to make him the closer. it worked so well in fact that lidge has gotten back to being dominant again and wheels has thus far only blown this one save. he's not looking good recently and maybe bringing back lidge to close becomes the right move again, but wheeler's a good reliever.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this scouting report on Wheeler still accurate? http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Dan_Wheeler/ Granted, you don't need to throw 98 mph to be a good closer, but it just seems like Wheeler is more of the reliever material forced to play the role of closer for now. Lidge, while erratic, has filthier stuff than wheeler, but then again you do need a closer that has more than one plus pitch.
yeah wheeler is pretty much a closer only because lidge was struggling but it hasn't bitten us till today. i don't know if garner makes a move right now but lidge is en route to getting his job back and i see no reason why wheeler won't return to being a very very good setup man.
Wheels has now given up 3 earned runs each in 3 of his last 4 appearances raising his ERA from a good 3.04 to a bad 5.60.
The wheels have pretty much come off. Like Lidge last year, it was just a matter of time before he blew a save (he had a stretch where he was giving up at least 1 HR in a couple of 3 run save opportunities... but he didn't blow them). This was quite a blown series... should have made better managerial moves to win yesterday, and should have held them off today. Its not many days where this team will score 7 and 6 runs in back to back games, and lose both of them spectacularly. It still comes down to pitching... pitching, pitching, pitching.
Cat, you've told us that Chris Burke, Luke Scott and Hunter Pence are all very good to great defensive outfielders. I have no idea what you're basing this on. It is just about completely divorced from reality.
I'm basing it (well, primarily the part about Pence) on having watched every inning this season. I'm basing it on conversations with personnel folks from both this team as well as others. I'm basing it on the opinions of analysts and fans. With Burke, I acknowledged his rough start and the issues with his arm, but said that he generally had good reads on balls as his stint progressed. With Scott, he hasn't been outstanding, but he's taken significantly better routes to balls than he did a season ago and made the plays he needs to make. To me, he's been good but not great. But with Pence, I'm not even sure where to begin. I've been absolutely amazed with how well he's played center field. Stunned. And I can assure you, I'm not nearly the only one. If you truly believe that the idea that Pence is a very good to great defensive outfielder (so far) is "completely divorced from reality," I think we must be watching completely different games. I think that's one of the most shocking things I've read on this board. That said, I definitely do respect your intellect as a baseball analyst, but wow. I'm not sure where that comes from. Are there some plays you can remember that I can/should look up? I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but if you think Pence has been anything but outstanding in center, I can assure you that's an extreme minority position.
Pence still takes poor reads to balls. He takes circuitous routes. On balls hit to the wall, he runs all the way to the base of the wall & then has to chase the carom instead of reading it & playing back. He has done this repeatedly. His arm is pretty strong, but his funky sidearm motion makes it ridiculously innacurate. Honesly one of the most innacurate I've seen, he routinely sends the cutoff man scampering 10+ feet to the side. He's 2 hopped (!!!) a couple of throws to 2nd, and his throws to home on the fly have not been close. Teams are taking extra bases on him with regularity. He fields ball in poor position on occasion, i.e. the fly ball he didn't sprint under, floated back, & caught flat footed that allowed Griffey (Griffey!!!) to tag from 1st to 2nd on a medium-deep fly to CF (how many times have you seen that?). He missed 2B by 20 feet on the throw on that play too. He has the potential to be very, very good. But he's very, very raw right now. Total work in progress. His speed has covered up many fundamental mistakes (ala Taveras), and he's made some great plays. But he's what they've got, and he'll be fine, right now he's nowhere nearly close to "outstanding" or "one of the best" right now. Nowhere. I love the kid, but hyperbole does no one any good.
And Cat, I'd love to hear what purp/gar/cheo say about this. Just my observations from what I've watched, I have no delusions that my views are absolute.
i've been wondering (and maybe this was mentioned earlier in the thread) - i thought scott's decision yesterday to try and gun down the tying run at the plate was beyond stupid - a ball hit as well as it was, the likelihood of nailing him (especially with scott's arm) is minimal at best and it allowed the eventual winning run to move over to 3rd base with less than 2 outs. so who's decision was that? do coaches make that call from the dugout? or is that a "heat of the moment" decision left to the players on the field?
agree, I always thought that Qualls had more potential to be a good closer if faced with a choice of him and Wheeler but when Garner gave up on Brad Dan had been the most consistant performer in the pen so it's hard to argue that call.
I agree that it was a silly decision, even though JD defended it. That said, if you look where that fly went, I really doubt Scott could've prevented the runner from tagging and reaching third, even if he had thrown it there. Curious decision, but I doubt it made much of a difference. I think it's a combination of a coaches call as well as the gut feel in the moment from the outfielder (in this case, Scott).
no, he didn't; he actually threw it 15 feet in front of and down the first baseline from home plate. but he was most definitely TRYING to throw it home.
Berkman, for one, talks frequently about how shocked he is at Hunter's defense. He said he was afraid the Astros were forcing him into CF just to get his bat into the lineup -- thought he was really a corner OF -- but that it's been incredible how well he's played out there. Garner said he thinks he gets pretty good reads, but I know that's not saying too much. When I've talked to folks from other teams about Pence, the first thing that they tell me about him (with only a couple of exceptions) is how impressed they are by his defense and how good he looks on film. (And no, I don't steer them in that direction.) That's before they gush about his bat speed or anything on the offensive side. It may or may not be deserved -- I certainly respect your opinion -- but he's gaining a really strong reputation for his defense in center. Now, I agree, for the most part it's based on range. His arm has been inconsistent. And sometimes people can overlook arm issues in favor of the flashy plays (which Pence certainly makes). But, imo, an iffy throw here and there doesn't outweigh the outstanding plays he makes (as a result of range, athleticism and reads) and the runs he saves on a semi-frequent basis. He's not nearly perfect, yet, but I think he's doing very well out there already and his potential (defensively) is off the charts, imo.
Scott has a terrible arm. Average range, good reads, noodle arm = average OF. Cat, don't disagree with anything you said, but HP's not near, not near, GG-caliber yet. That's why I was taking issue with the "outstanding" label. I have no idea why someone didn't re-teach him to throw normally at some point. That's his biggest drawback, and it's a huge one. Like I said, teams are really starting to take extra bases on him. Look for it.
