And Pence's slump continues... not a big deal but not great timing. Really bad numbers over the last 10 games or so.
It's amazing...Wandy, Myers, Pence and Bourn have all gone into slumps. Only Keppinger and Barmus have maintained or improved. That said, all of them minus Myers have enough body of work to not be to big of a factor but still frustrating.
Lyles pitching the 9th. No one saw the wheels falling off the other night? omg. All I can do is pray.
I didn't mind sending Lyles out for the 9th but I think most managers would've gone to the pen after the first runner, esp. facing the heart of the order.
The main reason lyles isnt seen as having ace potential is the lack of a few mph on his fastball. I have a few problems with that assesment. First i dont think Lyles fastball velocity is set. He has already added afew mph from his highschool level and with how effortless his delivery looks, I would say there is room for a few more. He has reportedly touched 94-5 in the past and i think eventually he could sit at 92-3 and get it up there if he has to. Secondly, due to his long frame... ( and the announcers talk about this all the time ) his fastball is deceptively fast to hitters. Another question is whether one even needs that kind of fastball to be considered an ace. He has shown flashes of locating it brilliantly and its not that slow. Tonight especially his secondary pitches have been crisp and extremely effective and if they were always at that level then i dont even think he needs to add anything to the fastball. Our own wandy rodriguez throws in the exact same range as Lyles and has been top 5 in the league in ERA over the last year. Granted he has a dynamite curveball but who is to say Lyles cant develop one. Heck even brett myers was really good last year and he didnt throw any harder. I feel that due to the confidence and poise lyles has shown tonight he wont be any worse than a 3 starter and he definitely has the potential to be an ace. .. On a side note i pretty much hate mills right now. The astros are doing a great job ruining our young players confidence. Wallace not playing... when he does play they hit him behind .230 hitters in barmes and CJ . And i dont understand any rationale at all behind leaving Lyles in there for the 9th.
The fans have resorted in entertaining themselves because the product on the field just ain't worth the price of admission.
For me the biggest difference between "ACE" pitchers and good #3 guys is their ability to miss bats. Lyles has been okay at that but certainly not great either. If he can learn to miss a few more bats then he could be elevated because he certainly has the mental makeup and secondary pitches.
Someone on the radio mentioned this as a winnable series against the Nats...we are 16 GAMES behind them. They also said the Pirates series was winnable...we will be 19.5 games behind them...ouch.
I never said it would be easy. I think maybe 10-15 pitchers in the majors currently qualify as Ace's and pitchers with tons better stuff than Lyles never sniff becoming one. The main thing that Lyles has shown me is that he already has the mind to be a great pitcher. He looks unshakable and for a 20 year old rookie that is really impressive. Im not glorifying him as an ace yet... just saying that the potential is there, whereas most people are saying that he tops out as a number 3 guy. So basically i agree with you but i think that you are selling him a little short on his strikeout stuff. Today especially his secondary stuff was missing bats or resulting in weak little grounders. I think he will become a solid number 2 with ace potential if he can add a few more miles per hour on his fastball while maintaining the control he has flashed.
I may tune in for the postgame with Mills tonight. I usually don't since I already know what he's gonna say. He's the master of the canned response. Also uses the word "special" a lot.
