Slusarski, Powell, Lima...our bullpen SUCKS !!!

And how about these pitchers hitting HR's against us. Hampton hit 2 in 1 game and tonight it was Danny Freakin Graves!!!

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When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.-
Albert Einstein

 

If our Hitters knew how to ****ing advance runners instead of swing for the fences, our crappy bullpen wouldn't matter.

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"I always thought it was something that went around my house"
- World B. Free on Defence


[This message has been edited by Puedlfor (edited June 21, 2001).]

 

The whole situation would have been different if Doug Brocail wasn't hurt. Before the year Wagner, Nelson Cruz, Mike Jackson, Dotel, and Jay Powell sounded to me like an upgrade. In fact, I thought they would have a much better bullpen than last year.

As for bringing Redding up, I think the final judgement is based on his mental makeup. If he's the type of guy you judge might go Rick Ankel on you, I can't see how you call him up.

That's why I think fans clammering for this or that specific move with minor leaguers doesn't have much weight. How can you make an informed decision when you don't have the information? Statements like 'the Astros are too concervitive in general' would seem to cary more weight.

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I am with Pued... the 'Stros had ample opportunity to win this game, but freaking Hidalgo couldn't get a runner home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. The Astros are probably one of the worst teams in the league in that statistic, and it is frustrating to watch. This swing for the fences mentality doesn't work. It never worked for the Rockies, and it won't work for us. Look at the Mariners and Twins... they manurfacture runs, something the Astros, and Dierker, know nothing about.

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Feeling claustrophobic, like the walls are closing in.
Blood stains on my hands, and I don't know where I've been.
I'm in trouble for the things I haven't got to yet.
I'm chomping at the bit, and my palms are getting wet.
Sweating Bullets

Runnin', Ravin', Endin', Out.

 

Well, they did hold the Reds to 3 runs in 6 innings - if McKnight had given the team more than 5 (bad) innings, it would have never gotten to Slu. The front of the bully is actually very good - Wagner is back strong, and Jackson has provided the team with everything they could have hoped for. Dotel has been great out of the pen, and Powell and Cruz have had decent seasons for middle relievers, especially ones that have to pitchhalf their games at Enron. Its pretty rare to have a bullpen that goes more than 4 deep - although the team has to be kicking themselves for cutting Cabrera (1.54 ERA with Atl).

I still say the team needs another good starter, preferably lefthanded (Leiter?).

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I'm so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip that I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis.

 

I'm telling you guys, Lima will never be a good 'setup man'. He is an person who plays off of emotion, so he needs that to motivate him. Going for "holds" is not gonna get him going.

He has to be a starter, or maybe try him as a closer, but middle man will never be his forte'.


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DREAMer's Rocket Page

 

crap, I left during extra innings, so I assume they lost. Man, up 4-0 after one and then this happens. We had so many chances. 37-33 sounds alot better then 36-34. Man...

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"norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."

 

Lima is garbage

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I stole your money and I did your daughter at Texas A&M University

 

As the Billy Crystal character used to say on SNL, "don't get me started!"

Have you seen our LOB stats? This team has got to stop swinging for fences every friggin' at bat. Come on, Larry. SITUATIONAL HITTING. Try it.

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"We're having a pretty good time considering one day we're all going to die." Steve Martin, 1976

 

DREAMer: You have to have one great pitch to be a closer. Lima has never had a truly awesome pitch. The key for closers is that they don't have to have a large arsenal, since hitters don't have several trips through the lineup to get acclimated. Lima's advantage was always a decent fastball and a terrific change-up.

I've wondered before about Shane Reynolds, though. Yeah, I know he's a solid starter... but that split finger he has is *awesome*. And wouldn't a 2 inning closer be kind of neat ?

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Lacking inspiration at the moment...

 

Now, they have tailored their team for Enron field, all they need is 3 consistent starters and a decent bullpen and they can win 60%.

I don't know -- when the Rockies went from power to speed, they improved dramatically. It seems to me that at Enron, anyone and everyone is going to hit HR's. If you focus on getting on base (high average, disciplined hitters) then when you hit the HR's, you'll have people on base. Yesterday, we hit 5 HR's and scored 7 runs -- seems kind of like a waste.

When I think of power lineups, I think Texas, Houston, and Cleveland -- none of which are really kicking butt. I think it still comes down to pitching and defense. Seattle, Minnesota, Chicago, Philly -- none of them are really the power clubs you normally think of, but they score with speed & average.

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http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.

 

Shanna:

Actually, winning teams usually hit as well as they pitch, historically. Go look in the Neyer archives... he did an article on it in July or June.

Atlanta comes to mind as a great pitching team that had problems scoring enough runs to get over the hump.

Houston and Texas both have absolutely abominable pitching - even average pitching would have them doing well, now. I also have doubts about teams that play in "freakish" parks long-term success. The Rockies, Red Sox, and now the Astros haven't exactly been successful at winning championships. (well, the Astros just moved into Enron, but they've sucked since they have ).

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Lacking inspiration at the moment...

 

Actually, winning teams usually hit as well as they pitch, historically. Go look in the Neyer archives... he did an article on it in July or June.

Absolutely -- I wonder, though, if there's any evidence of whether the "power" method is better or worse for scoring than the "speed & singles" type of scoring.

It just seems that the teams that lose their power threats and add speed & defense improve the next year and vice-versa.



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http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.

 

Shanna:

I doubt it has much to do with actually having the power, and more to do with the fact that team's overpay for power. Let's face it, GM's don't always pay attention to things like OPS and wins above average. If a guy hits for a good average and can smack some dingers, he's hired for cash.

Smart GM's probably look at other statistics, and manage to get other players for cheap. If all GM's were equal, I bet you wouldn't see this. But you're right... it does seem that way.

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Lacking inspiration at the moment...