Since we know Roy will be back next week, I have been pondering who we should drop off the rotation for him between Jared Fernandez, Tim Redding and Jeriome Robertson. If possible I would have preffered picking up a descent pitcher off waivers but that is a no-go for Drayton Mclain jnr. So bassically we are "stuck" with them for now. I am more comfortable with Jared and Jeriome "stuff" - Tim is presently the black-er hole of the three and I believe he should be dropped off. He does not inspire any confidence in me because he refuses to "pitch", hit his spots and throw strikes consistently. He surely has above average stuff but he does not know how to utilize it. He has NO HEART. What is the difference between his stuff and Carlos Zambrano? They were both blue chip prospects in the minors and they possess similar stuff. Only Zambrano has more heart and of course a better bat. Carlos Zambrano is the big difference for the Cubs this season (even bigger than Prior if you put things in perspective). The team "knew" what to expect from Prior and Wood but Zambrano has step up in big games to stand toe-to-toe with his opponents and keep his team in the game. That is all any fan can ask for but unfortunately Timothy cannot deliver such quality starts for us. I have officially lost hope in him and Kirk Saarlos to become as good as Roy and Wade. Maybe they can be serviceable pitchers in the future but I doubt if they will be above average for their careers.
I'd so love it if Roy came back and consistently pitched 7+ innings of solid ball til the start of the playoffs to help rest our relief pitchers' arms.
But are you more confident handing the ball to Tim every fifth day? I believe Jared will give us a better 5, 6 or even 7 innings that Tim. Tim just does not inspire any confidence in me. I believe more in Jared's knuckleball. I will even go on the limb and say he will win his next game on Saturday and hold the Padres scoreless as long as he is out there. My money is on Tim being shoved out of the rotation.
I'm not saying you don't have some valid points, but do you honestly think Astros management would keep Fernandez in the rotation over the pitcher with the lowest ERA on the team (among pitchers having pitched enough innings to qualify for the league lead)? In August, Redding is 1-4 with an ERA of 3.82 and Fernandez is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.40.
Have you watched both of these guys much this year? The question is not even debatable. No more knucksie.
This isn't even very debatable in my opinion. Fernandez is gone when Oswalt comes back. Yes, Redding has had some bad starts this year, but he has been pretty good. Fernandez has been bad, and hasn't even been around very long. Why would you keep him over Redding?
Redding is a long term guy...they're not going to send him back to the minors...he's still a work-in-progress...jared has no place on this team.
Players on the DL do not have to be active on 8/31 to make the playoff roster. Smoltz will be on the DL into September.
Jared's gone. I've always wondered about the possibility of making him a middle-reliever though. It would be a quick change of pace for hitters who prepared for someone else, whereas when he starts, they are prepared for him and get more than one look at his pitch.
The able Astros have spoken - and I am left in the minority. I still do not have "enough" confidence in Timmy's outings. I consider his era a bit deceptive. I have seen every Astros game save for the Thursday and Saturday engagements. I am not a big fan of the knuckle ball but I believe in Jared's heart and his fearless to throw strikes consistently and not fall behind always. Our beloved Astros are not a very come from behind team (at least this season). We play very well with any lead or at worst a tie. This is were Tim has failed us so far. He falls behind in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd inning thereby forcing some of our players start "gripping" and choking unnecessarily.
Tim has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his entire stint with the Stros. He's got decent stuff and good control; the only problem is, he lacks ANY sort of confidence in himself. Let him get touched for one hit and it turns into 15. If that can be worked on, I think he'll be a good pitcher for the Stros in the future. The knuckleballer just cannot survive in the big leagues unless he is one hell of a knuckleballer, which Jared ain't. If the winds are blowing correctly and all that, sure he'll look good. Otherwise he'll get lit up for 7 runs and 2 HRs. Stick with Redding. Bye bye Knuckles...
