Astros lose 10-7 to open the series in Pittsburgh. Strange game. The combined pitching numbers tonight look like this...
Starters.....7.1 IP, 22 H, 17 R, 6 BB, 4 K
Relievers...9.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K
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You'll have to believe me on this one, but I was just about done with this post as the Astros Monday night game began, but did not send until after the first inning. So again believe me when I say the lineup card that Coop filled out today is the best I've seen all year and should be standard the rest of the way. (It's not his fault he sent it out on a day when he also had to give the ball to Runelvys - I still can't believe this is the guy they had to get a look at, which triggered the Chacon-Wade brouhaha)
Seriously - Runelvys Hernandez!!!!! The Astros are so inept at evaluating talent they had to bring this guy to the majors and give him three starts to figure out that he'd already pitched himself out of a job two years ago??!?!?!?
Alright, back to what I intended to focus on - the batting order...
1. Erstad should be playing 5-6 days a week and be leading off - he's a legitimate major league hitter with a long proven track record. Not only does it help the team win, but it showcases him for trade. There is no doubt whatsoever he should be moved at/or before the deadline. But between now and then, and this is just me...a .307 hitter (Erstad) just might be better than a guy in a 7-57 slump, hitting .218 on the year (Bourn).
2. Loretta in the 2-hole, a superior offensive player to Matsui. Their OBP is negligible (Loretta-.331, Matsui-.336) but OPS a big edge to Loretta (.722) vs. Matsui (.678). Loretta is also 2nd on the team (to Erstad) in hitting with runners in scoring position (.368). This one is easy and also goes back to my last post - Matsui was a waste of money.
3-5. Berkman, Lee & Tejada needs no justification. It's how they began the year and that's because Coop knew in his gut that was how it should be laid out. Too bad he strayed from it for nearly over a month. Only Berkman's ridiculous hot streak masked the mistake, IMO.
6. Pence follows those three hitting 6th, who cares if he's in slump. He still can pop an extra base hit at any time and is obviously a major league run producer. He's only in his first full season at this level - you can live with his growing pains unlike Bourn.
7. Wigginton has showed some big signs of finally delivering in the clutch. Last week I wrote about his shockingly bad numbers in key situations. He now has hits in 3 straights at-bats with runners in scoring position and 2-outs, including his first career grand slam in Atlanta. I'm a huge Geoff Blum fan, but I'm starting to really wonder why, he just isn't hitting. Try .188 as a third baseman, but .316 as a PH. Keep him on the bench.
8. J.R. Towles is getting most of the starts with Quintero out and Ausmus basically just catching Roy Oswalt. After 2 at-bats Monday, Towles is 3-13 (.231) since his return, nothing special but also not .145 - which he was hitting at the time of his demotion. He was 3-25 immediately preceeding that trip to Round Rock.
------------ WEX
1 comment:
1. They gave Bourn a good shot because they gave so much for him and if he can ever be a MLBer it should be a leadoff
2. Loretta is to old to play everyday. He hit .329 in his first 228 ABs and .250 in his last 236 ABs last year.
3. Puma and Miggy had almost identical numbers before the switch, Coop demoted Berkman and he went nuts. Can't argue with results.
Here is my 15 for the Rox:
1. Carl Landry
2. Tracy McGrady
3. Yao Ming
4. Shane Battier
5. Rafer Alston
6. Steve Francis
7. Luis Scola
8. Aaron Brooks
9. Steve Novak
10. Mike Harris
11. Brent Barry
12. Deke
13. Chuck44
14. Donté Greene
15. Joey Dorsey
To bad they will dump Mike for Head, you cannot blame them though, Head is expensive.
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