Half the bullpen is terrible and has ERA's over 6. His options are fairly limited. Ultimately, he has to play the roster he has. People were b****ing about putting him into a 6-1 game yesterday too - these crappy relievers are going to have to see the field or you'll overwork the good ones. In extra innings, there's no way to avoid them.
Thanks. Happen to know if he was he just filling in or is he a new addition to the broadcasting crew?
I'm guessing they just gave JD a day off from the booth. He'll usually take a day off or two during the season to be with his family. For example, I know he took a day off last season (or the season before, maybe) because his daughter was graduating from college. I'm guessing Sparks goes back to working the "studio" like he usually does, but if JD ever does move on to something like coaching or broadcasting at the national level, Sparks would likely be on the short list of replacement candidates.
I'm really, really trying to find a reason to keep Fernando Martinez on the 25-man roster this season (let alone the 40-man roster). It's been pretty challenging, to be honest.
He's sort of an oddity - it's hard to figure out why he's struggling so much to stop runs from scoring. His OPS-against is only 0.653. Against righties, it's 0.582. Basically, in theory, he's making the average right-handed hitter look like Adam Everett. But somehow, all these Adam Everetts are scoring at will against him.
Thanks, that was my assumption but I really haven't been paying attention this year so I wasn't sure.
Your point is valid. Cruz, Fernando and Carpenter HAVE all been terrible. I suppose I was responding in the heat of the moment. Frustrated at the situation that guys like that are on the team at all. And that when they come in, a winnable game becomes a losing one most of the time.
If it makes you feel better, losing last year got us the next Tulowitski. These guys are helping us get the next Correa.
I think id rather see anyone but Fernando. Here is a quote from Astros County that puts it into perspective 1st Half Astros Cy Dumb: Fernando Rodriguez. Rodriguez comes into the break with eight losses, one behind J.A. Happ for the team lead. Hardball Talk noted that Rodriguez has the "chance" to be the 8th reliever since 2000 - and the first since 2008 - to record ten losses. In five straight appearances (and eight of his last ten) where Rodriguez has faced 2+ batters, he has left the game with the Astros in worse shape than when he entered. http://www.astroscounty.com/2012/07...m_campaign=Feed:+AstrosCounty+(Astros+County) Yea, id rather see Cruz or Carpenter, if for no other reason than they are a bit younger (25 and 26) compared to Fernqndo's 28.
