With Lamb starting, there's no bat on the bench that's worth PH'ing for... the bunt has more potential.
This is the first time I could think this year Biggio has came up big in a clutch situation. Good job Biggio.
(crickets chirping) when the Astros do something good... you can really embrace the silence here... soon to be broken once Ensberg doesn't do something with RISP.
What is the opinion here guys? Is Ensberg hiding an injury? It just doesn't seem plausible that he could suck so bad....aside from last night, he has like 1 RBI in the past month.
After getting ahead 2-0, every single one of the pitches Ensberg swung at (and either missed or fouled off) was a ball. Every one of them. It makes no sense to put a hitter whose only strength is OBP at the 3 spot in the order, and even less if he's not even going to do that anymore. That was a terrible at-bat in a crucial situation where he looked completely lost. That's inexcusable for that part in the order. Park him as low in the order as you can until he has a few consecutive games of making solid contact. He hasn't yet.
He could be... and he could also be pressing big-time. Ensberg is a pure confidence player (indicated by the number of times he changes his stance). Garner has said that he stresses out more about being in a slump more than any other player he's been around... to the point that its actually detremental to his hitting. Thus, you see why Phil insists on trying to get him many easy opportunities to get out of it (by hitting him 3rd, in front of Berkman)... but at this point, with the lack of punch throughout the lineup, its hurting the team (but the team will be better served, long term, if Ensberg is able to get it going again).
Sucks cuz he made the all star team last yr, right? He is out of it mentally. At this point....he is a slightly better version of Lane. We need to move Lamb to third, Berkman back to first and get a nice hitting OF. Not gonna happen i bet
i think this would be the most productive lineup for the stros biggio burke lamb berkman wilson ensberg everett ausmus any thoughts?
They've won a lot of games already with that lineup... or the one where Burke and Lamb are flip-flopped. The lineup only changes when we face a lefty... or if Garner is looking to get Ensberg or Lane out of their summer-long slumps.
I don't see any signs of him coming out of this. Even Lou Pinella said he is pulling off the ball everytime and the pitchers know it. I've never seen a player try to wallop the ball everytime the way Ensberg is doing now since Pete Incavalia and Ensberg is not that type of hitter. He's just overswinging and his feet and head are pulling away from the ball. the Stros need him to snap out of though because Garner refuses to give up on him.
