It's nice to see Hidalgo doing so well. Batting .323, hit two 4-baggers tonight. He seems to be finally back on track. With Bagwell and Biggio in fast decline mode, we need Hidalgo to become the man. Berkman, Hidalgo, Ensberg, Lane, Buck, Dotel, Miller, Oswalt, Hernandez, Redding are the future.
Me too. Double GRRR. Atleast if Ausmus is not back next year, the Astros could have proof of having a catcher good enough to take his place.
Ausmus more than makes up for his offensive shortcomings with his glove. I'm pretty sure Buck isn't on his level yet, defensively (and he's not exactly tearing up AAA pitching, either). As far as Lane, you do understand that Drayton's running a business, don't you? That would make the benching of Biggio nearly impossible due to the casual fan's response to it. Plus, Biggio's having a decent year at the plate. Not sure if Lane would be that much of an improvement at this point there. He'll be here soon enough. Bringing him up won't make the difference in whether we go to the playoffs or not.
We'll just have to see if Hidalgo can keep this up for 2 consecutive years next season. But I'm glad he came to play this year.
Like I said in another thread. I believe something lit a fire under his ass. And lets just say, he now sees the light because of it.
Buck broke his right hand. He was hitting around .265 with 2 home runs. He may be done for the season.
Hidalgo's hitting the ball really well right now. He's fixed that huge hole in his swing which caused him to get under just about everything last year - resulting in lots of shallow popups. I don't really have a problem with Ausmus at the bottom of the order. He seems to work well with our pitching staff, and is a gold-glove catcher. Jeff Bagwell, however, has been worthless this year. He swings for the fences every time up there, and is having a very hard time driving in runs.
Yes, Hidalgo has been playing better this year. But he still isn't near where he was 3 years ago. His average is good, but he isn't hitting for nearly as much power or driving in runs. At the halfway point, he was on pace for 22HR's and 72RBI's for the year. Yes his average is good, but he needs to get those RBI's up. But hopefully he will. He drove in 3 last night with a couple of homers, so let's hope he keeps it up.
Baqui99, I'm in agreement about Bagwell, however, I think last night was the beginning to the end of his slump. He didn't break out in a hitting way, but he took two key walks that helped us to victory. Just a gut feeling though.
He was hitting from the 4 spot for much of 2000 (or whatever year it was he played awesome ball) where as now he's hitting from the 6 spot.
It would be nice to have a catcher who could atleast hit 10 homers in a season. I can't remember the last time a catcher for the Astros hit double figures in homers.
when my lineup has names like kent, bagwell, berkman and hidalgo (and recently, ensberg) i'm not really concerned about whether or not my catcher can hit the long ball. of course, chicks dig the long ball.
Although I was really impressed with Hernandez early on(who wouldn't be), I really think he is going to be injury plagued his whole career. Is Ensberg considered a rookie this year, or did he play enough last year?
You do realize he's missed about a dozen games due to injury, right? Also, the only player on the team with a higher SLG% or OB% is Morgan Ensberg. I understand your point about him not being back to 2000 levels (not many players EVER have years like he did), but in no way, shape, or form can you criticize his production at the plate this year. Don't pay so much attention to raw numbers, they're way too dependent on things he has no control over.
I would rather a catcher who had a decent glove and an outstanding bat like Posada. Aumus is batting 200 with 2 homers. Im sure our catcher in single A can do that. We have to upgrade that position next season.
