TR is too good to give up on yet. Great spring too often spells lousy start to season. He'll come around, be OK.
Yes, someone else mentioned this on TV. But there's a reason for the lack of confidence. It could stem from a technique issue with his off-speed pitches. He just doesn't have it. Thus...he's not confident because of that. They go hand in hand. The guy should practice, get his technique down, then come back with confidence and show us what he's got. Thowing fast balls only, avoiding his off-speeders, then hoping that somehow that strategy was going to prevent giving up runs, was suicide.
FWIW, this is my theory...Redding had to fight just to make the rotation last year, and even then he had to fight just to stay in the rotation. Do you think Williams naming him has the #5 starter so early in Spring Training caused him to lose the edge he had in fighting for a job last year?
Just for fun's sake.........Which #5 starter in the league making somewhere around Redding's salary would you trade him for? I can't think of 1 that has the stuff Redding has. It's just a matter of him learning to locate his pitches better. It takes years for people to develop location and build the confidnce you need in baseball today. If anyone else here followed him in the minor's, i remember at one point he was 9-1 in AA with an ERA under 1. Better than Roy, Wade, and Hernandez. We could trade this guy now for helluva prospecsts or even proven players. The Astros know what they're doing. Let him take his beatings and learn from them. I've got a bad feeling we won't be resigning Wade when the time comes around. And someone has to fill those shoes.
Good point, He should have let them fight for the last spot. I thought it was weird that he gave him the job so early.
Your absolutly correct when you say not to be fooled by his 3 something era last year. Anyone who consistently watched Redding pitch last year saw him getting yanked after 5 or between 6 with men on base. Only to have our bullpen bail him out to keep his era low. But the bottom line IMO, is we don't need a Carlos Hernandez right now. Let the guy fully recover and get back in his groove. I would rather get 7 strong innings out of carlos than a measly 5 right now. Not to mention if he jacks up his shoulder one more time, he'll be all but forgotten. Plus, Carlos still has alot to prove in the big leagues. Everyone remembers those 2 1st games w/o a run allowed....but that's about it. The guy's still only 21. I think someone signed Villone already, but that didn't look like the real Villone pitching last year. I don't know how he pulled off all those W's, but he did.
I think Jimmy did it so Redding could have the comfort to work on his weaknesses and not worry about his era. If he had to battle for the 5th spot, he would probably just blow his fastball by all those major league wanna be's that wouldn't make a club. Rather than work on locating his curve and changeup. Besides, Robertson was trade bait from day 1 and we all knew that.
For a guy with a fastball as good as Redding's is, he didn't strike out nearly enough batters last year. Not a good sign for continued major league success.
Astros need to call up Carlos ASAP and put him in that 5th spot because Redding is throwing batting practice out there. The Cards have a nice lineup but give me a break.
Not until he can get his arm strength back... but as soon as that occurs (and the way things are going), he'll be the first in line to take over.
Yeah because we need him badly. Fans pay good money to see the Astros play and everytime Redding pitches he gives up 3 or 4 runs in the 1st inning.
Its really baffling. He was very consistent last year and he had a great spring training. I really thought he would put it all together this year and win 15 games at the end of the rotation. Maybe he is more of a head case than we think.
You don't get it do you? Of all the numerous possible options those were are all you could conjour? Oh why bother having an exchange with someone that is cerebrally challenged. How is that so? Or do you have comprehension problem?
I'm sorry Fegwu. What were you saying?????? http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/2522368 Redding's struggles continue as Cardinals belt five homers By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle General manager Gerry Hunsicker, manager Jimy Williams and pitching coach Burt Hooton have tried almost everything with brittle Astros righthander Tim Redding. They have tried the tough approach, the nice approach and the ultra-sensitive approach. They even cleared the field and handed him the No. 5 spot in the rotation in January, putting him in the lofty company of Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte and Wade Miller. But so far, the only thing Redding has proved is that there are only four aces in the Astros' deck. All three of Redding's starts this season have been disappointing, but this one was worse than the first two as the Cardinals pounded the Astros for five home runs during a 12-6 victory Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park. Trying to focus on the positive, Redding insisted he felt better than he had all season. Catcher Brad Ausmus even claimed it was the best he had ever seen Redding. Whatever the case, Oswalt must try to avoid a three-game sweep tonight in the finale against the Cardinals. Just last week, the Astros swept a three-game series from the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Redding at least understood why the crowd of 27,354 serenaded him with boos after he gave up nine hits, four home runs and eight runs in 3 2/3 innings. It was the second consecutive start in which he failed to get out of the fourth inning. He is 0-3 with a 10.22 ERA, having allowed 21 hits and 17 runs (14 earned) in 12 1/3 innings. "I know eight runs doesn't look very good in 3 2/3 innings, but I feel pretty good with the way I threw the ball tonight," Redding said. "If I were out there (as a fan) pulling for a team trying to win a championship, and a guy is out there (struggling), they can only react by what they see. "And they see eight runs on the board in less than four innings. I would have booed the guy out on the field, too." Wednesday night might have helped clear up some important decisions that must be made before Pettitte comes off the 15-day disabled list next week. The Astros must option, trade or release a pitcher to make room on the 25-man roster for Pettitte. Righthander Ricky Stone, who had not pitched since the previous Wednesday, didn't help his chances after giving up five hits, including a grand slam to Jim Edmonds, in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Redding's job also is in peril because Hunsicker has made it clear the Astros, now tied atop the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs, cannot afford to have a tryout camp as they chase a postseason bid. "Everybody on this team has pulled their own weight," Redding said. "Obviously, everybody is due for a slump now and then. Hopefully my slump is over with at the beginning of the year, and I'll pitch strong the rest of the way. Of course I want to pitch as well as the other four guys I have in front of me. "And Andy is going to come off the DL and hopefully be 100 percent and ready to go the rest of the year. Every time I see those guys go out there and pitch well and dominate, you can't wait to get the ball in your hand to try to do the same thing." If Brandon Duckworth performs well in his second start of the season Friday, he might take Redding's spot when Pettitte comes back. Or lefthander Carlos Hernandez, who was ahead of Redding before shoulder problems slowed his progress in 2002, could be called up from Class AAA New Orleans if he continues to build arm strength after sitting out last season while recovering from left shoulder surgery. Redding became the first Astro to give up four home runs in a game since Kirk Saarloos surrendered four on Aug. 15, 2002, at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. That game also marked the last time the Astros gave up five home runs, one shy of the franchise record. With one out in the first, Ray Lankford ripped a 3-2 offering into the Crawford Boxes. Albert Pujols followed with a double to right. One out later, Scott Rolen hit a homer over the left-center wall, the 200th of his career. Rolen also extended his hitting streak to 11 games and is batting .404 (19-for-47) with seven homers and 21 RBIs during that span. St. Louis ace righthander Matt Morris, who held the Astros to four hits and three runs (one earned) in six innings, helped his cause with an RBI single up the middle in the second inning to put the Cardinals up 4-0. Redding was sent to the showers after giving up a three-run homer to Reggie Sanders and a solo home run to Marlon Anderson in the fourth. "He had good stuff today, best stuff I've seen from him," Ausmus said. "Sometimes the stars aren't aligned." The Astros finally got on the board with Mike Lamb's solo home run in the fifth, but the Cardinals stretched the lead to 12-1 on Edmonds' grand slam. Jeff Bagwell got two of those runs back with a two-run homer off Morris (3-1) in the sixth. Orlando Palmeiro cut the deficit to 12-4 with an RBI single in the seventh, and the Astros made it 12-6 with two runs in the eighth against reliever Julian Tavarez. Adam Everett and pinch hitter Jose Vizcaino started the inning with walks, and Jeff Kent loaded the bases with a single to left. After Tavarez got Lance Berkman on a called third strike, two runs scored when Cody McKay committed an error on Morgan Ensberg's grounder to third. On a night when Morris started, the Astros would consider themselves fortunate to get six runs. That output wasn't nearly enough to overcome Redding's struggles. "He just got hit," Williams said of Redding. "That's all."
I hate to bring this up again, but what the heck do we do now? Redding just continues to struggle with no apparent end in sight.
