how do you even begin to get thrown out at first when you have a teammate at second and you need one run to win the game? there was two outs so he doesn't need to worry about the double play. am i missing something here or is it just unbelievably stupid baseball? that play doesn't hurt us nearly as much as some others tonight but it sums up how we've been playing pretty well.
I don't buy it. I think the reason he hasn't blown anymore saves this season is pure luck. Would you really want a closer with a 5.79 ERA closing games in the playoffs for you? Edit: John Granato said on the morning show that there are people inside the Astros organization that want Nieve to start closing games. Maybe we will see a new closer after the allstar break?
take care of the corner OF spots before you start looking up the middle to add offense. jason lane is the punchline to a very bad joke.
Well, I was too ticked off to post last night. Instead of taking three out of four games from the cards and picking up two games we decided to look patheric on national tv and lose ground. I think what bothers me the most about this team is that you get the feeling that they just think that they are going to go on some magic run again. At some point that well is going to go dry. I sure hope that I am wrong.
Lies, Damned Lies, and even worse statistics. Those numbers have nothing to do with my opinion. Out of Lidge's 21 saves, I'd say at least 15 of them we have been lucky to survive. Wagner had a rough stretch earlier in the season, but he has still looked good in many of his outings. The same definitely cannot be said for Lidge. Watching Lidge all season ... it is obvious that 1) He has no control 2) He has no composure Those are the 2 most important things to a reliever, let alone a closer.
I couldn't agree more ... There are 2 positions where I am willing to give up offense for defense (SS and C). You absolutely cannot bat .200 with in RF and expect to stay in the big leagues. Demote Jason Lane and give Luke Scott his chance.
The Atros have to start trying out different closers and stop making BL The Man. Borkowski, Buchholz, Miller, Nieve, Qualls, Rodriguez, Springer, and Wheeler all have better ERAs than BL. Qualls, Springer, and Wheeler have ERAs in the 3s, so we could start there.
he threw an unhittable slider that broke away from the plate - watch the replay; it was high and outside, a ball... and the guy went the other way with it and got a hit. that was more a case of great hitting than it was bad pitching. i promise you, the astros want aaron myles swinging at that same pitch 10 out of 10 times. i think lidge is the least of their problems. what frustrates me is the team may have the answers on its farm, but they've sat on their hands. why is luke scott not here? why have they not moved ben zobrist up? he's a 24-yr old SS hitting about .330 at double A. i love everett's D, but they're very nearly fielding 4 automatic outs at the bottom of their order right now - something has to give. they have 21 days until the deadline to try and figure out if anyone internally can be the answer - which isn't enough time, frankly. they stuck too long with lane, taveras and ensberg. it's time to get proactive.
The only thing left that I want to see is for Lidge to cry and Garner to give him a hug. Brokeback Astros.
I'm a little late on this thread, but I'll say it. If Lamb plays 3rd base, he is worthless. He gives up far more runs with his glove than he ever gives you with his bat. I've liked him at 1st the past few weeks, but I will turn off any game where he plays third.
That's an incomplete argument for comparison, much like only looking at wins and losses. Let's compare, shall we? Wagner: 40.2 IP, 28 H, 15 R, 4 HR, 17 BB, 52 SO, 1.11 WHIP, .190 BAA, 2.43 ERA, 18 S Lidge: 42.0 IP, 39 H, 28 R, 6 HR, 23 BB, 58 SO, 1.48 WHIP, .241 BAA, 5.79 ERA, 21 S Looking at Wagner's gamelog thus far, I count 16 perfect innings for him (total, including obviously the blown save opportunities). Plus, the guy is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA. Looking at Lidge's gamelog thus far, I count 15 perfect innings for him, and that includes a few "0.1 IP" lines. Lidge is 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA. So, Wagner has a greater chance of going "1-2-3" than Lidge does. So, uh, who's better again? Lidge has been garbage this year. I don't want to alarm you, but Lidge's atrocious BAA is HIGHER than the batting averages for the following players: Brad Ausmus, Adam Everett, Morgan Ensberg, Eric Munson, Orlando Palmeiro, and Jason Lane. That equates to four everyday players. In the top 25 list of total MLB save leaders (in which Lidge is tied for 9th), only 4 players have a worse BAA than Lidge, and 3 of them are after #20 on the list. When you tally up total bases against closers, only 2 players have given up more bases than Lidge (and yes, both of them are also after #20 on the list). In fact, let's see where Lidge ranks compared to the top 25 save leaders in ALL facets, shall we? ERA - 23rd S - 9th (tied) H - 23rd R - 25th (tied) BB - 24th SO - 1st (tied) TB - 23rd HR - 22nd (tied) RBI - 23rd BAA - 21st OBP - 19th (tied) SLG - 19th OPS - 19th Um, yeah, that's terrible. And you think Lidge will get better? He's had an ERA of 6.39 in April, 4.15 in May, 5.40 in June, and a 7.36 so far in July. Sure thing, pal. Whatever makes you sleep at night.
I wonder if Zobrist can play 3rd? I would prefer to keep Everett's glove in the lineup and move someone to 3rd, that's not Lamb, to replace Ensberg.
Why do you think Luke Scott can hit ML pitching? As for Zobrist... wow .330 at AA ball, how... not impressive at all. Everett is the best defensive shortstop in baseball, I would rather have him starting than pretty much any other SS not named Tejada or Arod.
so what... just let lane go up there and continue hitting .200 while we may have a potential replacement just sitting in the minors? and i'll disregard your SS comment because frankly, you sound like an idiot.
i don't, but here's what i do know - jason lane can't, and since may 22, neither can morgan ensberg. we supposedly have this great organization that purpura showed so much faith in last year... and yet, now, when we need some sticks... suddenly the organization has nothing to offer? luke scott would be an upgrade over jason lane; he certainly deserves a shot. really? what, then, would be impressive? .430? the point is that he's tearing up double A.... so why is still there? the idea is to progress upwards; the astros seem to have other ideas. they have three guys at corpus who should be in round rock so we can get a better idea of what they have to offer, especially considering they each, potentially, could offer the big club a solution to some of their woes.
It's not a good sign when a 253 hitter is considered a great hitter. Maybe he's a great hitter when facing Brad Lidge, hell everyone seems to be. I think hitters will now start calling their shots off of Lidge.
Regarding Lidge: if it wasn't apparent before, it's pretty obivous now; his confidence is shot, his location's off and he doesn't have the "it" factor that the Lidge of '04 and '05 had. Until he gets those back, he's no good for the team in the closer's role. He has converted 21-25, but that is very misleading considering the runs he's giving up and the runners he puts on. The bottomline for closers is the save true, but you can't keep ignoring his inability to put hitters away and to close the door. The team needs to start experimentating with other closers. The funny thing is, they were far less patient with Dotel when he started struggling, maybe because they already had a suitable and better replacement in Lidge and maybe because Lidge has proven himeslf up until now. Plus giving up on him though just produces more questions, but the team needs to try something. As for our prospects: its been said before and its something I definitely agree with...we NEED Ensberg to hit. You're not gonna find a quick fix (bat) in the farm right now. Sure we can bring guys up but to expect them to have any more of an impact than say Willy T did last year would be expecting too much. I would be fine into bringing Luke Scott up and giving him a chance, but right now I'd see him as an alternative to Orlando Palmeiro. If he shows more than that great, stick him into the everday lineup. And Everett I'd say is pretty much untouchable. He's there for his defense and I'm tired of hearing arguments for getting rid of him. If you don't know his worth than you haven't been watching the games lately. Frankly, there are other positions that need to produce that aren't. The team needs a little shakeup right now sure; but honestly, adding another bat, while helpful, will not put this team on a winning track unless the bullpen becomes more consistent. Lidge has blown four already and lost 3, costing the team 7 games; Wheeler has blown 2 and lost 5, costing 7 more, Qualls has blown 3 and lost 2, costing 5...that's 21 games right there. 21 games already. In all of last year, Lidge cost the team 8 games, Wheeler 5 and Qualls 5 for 18 total games. Those three have already surpassed their '05 total and the season's only half over. If they were even 85-90% as effective as last year, this team could have the division lead right now and at the very least would be the frontrunner for the Wild Card.
Explain why you think I sound like an idiot. Shortstop is an absolutely crucial defensive position. Everett is far and away the best fielding shortstop in baseball. His defensive skill more than makes up for his offensive shortcomings. Look to the corner outfield positions if you want to make a change. Lane is still posting a decent obp number, and isn't doing as terrible as everybody thinks. To me, it's certainly more likely that he starts getting more hits than Luke Scott coming to the majors and playing well. Scott hit .188 with no homers in 80 ABs last season. As for Zobrist... you don't just call up players because they are hitting .300 in AA. Purp probably has him on a certain track where he has to achieve certain skill progressions to advance levels. The only player from the farm system I want in the majors right now is Hirsh. I'd like to see how he performs in the pen. He's a power pitcher with two great pitches. Maybe he could become our Papelbon.
