Some more good news... Cincy loses tonight; we go to six back. And Ensberg doubled in his first at-bat tonight at RR; the post-game report also mentioning that he feels great. If he comes back ready that could be just as much as a boost as Tejada or Soriano coming over. Scott/Wilson (lf) Burke/Wilson (cf) Huff/Scott/Berkman (rf) Ensberg/Huff (3b) Everett/Burke (ss) Biggio/Burke (2b) Berkman/Lamb/Huff (1b) Ausmus/Munson (c) I'd love to see a lineup of Biggio, Burke, Berkman, Huff, Ensberg, Scott, Ausmus to see how that goes...even though you're sacrificing some defense.
I think I prefaced that enough... I was just saying what Lidge has to do to be as successful as he used to be (I didn't say he was definitely going to do that, however). Everybody is trying to break him down, and point out his flaws: doesn't throw enough fastballs, doesn't put guys away enough, needs to throw sliders for strikes, needs to stop tipping pitches, needs to stop thinking about pujols, etc. etc. etc. I was just looking at that type of slider he throws that starts off a little bit above the knees, and breaks at the last second to right outside the zone and a little below the knees. (that some umpires might even call a borderline strike, even though batters would not be able to do anything with it even if they made contact). That is the pitch that made Lidge so special in the first place... that is the pitch that everyone said he could probably throw every single time (basically telling the batters it was coming), and he would still be dominant. If you go back and watch Lidge when he first came up in 2003, and then when he was made the closer in 04, he was able to throw his slider like that routinely... and that is what allows him to get away with a fastball (that while fast, is very hittable), and sliders in the dirt (batters are so flummoxed by the other slider, they'll get themselves out). Hell, it looked so easy for him we all probably took it for granted how difficult a pitch like that is (hell, Lidge probably took it for granted as well). Sure enough, as he started faltering down the stretch in 05, and throughout this year, he's tried to get by on nothing but fastballs and sliders that are way in the dirt... he either has the good slider, or he doesn't (and more often than not, when he does, he gets the job done... and a stunning vice versa when he doesn't have it). Correcting flawed mechanics is easier said than done... its damn frustrating for any player, and they often screw themselves up more before it starts to get better (which reminds me of all that pitching from the stretch only crap that never worked). Its kinda like having to re-learn things like chemistry, calculus, or other complicated processes that you may have once been an expert at back in college or HS, but now it would look like a foreign language... or like having your golf swing/basketball shot/tennis serve mysterally dissapear from your muscle memory... having to re-learn something that you were once dominant at may be the most frustrating thing that humans have to go through.
Well, we won the game we were supposed to win (Oswalt's) and lost the game that we were more likely to lose (Backe). Now we'll have to see if the Rocket can pitch us to a series win! The Reds start Harang against Sheets tomorrow. Here's hoping Big Ben can stymie those Reds bats enough to sneak out another win! Heading into August only 5 games behind is a TON better than going in 7 games behind.
Helluva game yesterday! Had a freakin' great time in our Bullpen Seats. This was the first time for me to sit in that section and we had lots of fun. We made noise, messed with D-back outfielder Quentin and cheered our Astros to victory! See all my pics from this game here! See all my Astros pics here!
The key today for Roger is to avoid those lengthy AB's that run up his pitch count... also, it would be nice if ERRORS didn't prolong too many innings for him (go Lamb). EDIT: Poor defense all around... Lamb "buckner's" one, and Burke got a late break to field the ball in the corner.
Lamb's error led to the unearned run... and it also led to Roger throwing 8 more pitches in the inning (18 total). The team just can't get everything going at the same time... the last thing they need is to add "poor defense" to their inconsistent hitting, sporadic bullpen, and mediocre 3/5ths of their rotation.
Lamb made up for it with the RBI single...still hurts us though...Willie T has been looking good lately..If Lidge can have another good outing then their stock would climb some...
If Willy could get on base at the rate an AVERAGE major leaguer does... he could be looking at a career where he's a everyday player, with multiple all-star appearences. But, alas, he doesn't... if he can improve that aspect of his game, he truly becomes an effective weapon.
I'm just jumping aboard here on the boards and I heard that Ensberg was 3-3 with two doubles and a HR ? Wow...Well thats triple A but its promising..Hey his stock is also rising ....
absolutely !! he needs to work with someone like Ricky Henderson who can show him how to steal. He has the speed but does not know how to steal..
