SB Nation User Blog: DyingQuail

Thursday Morning Astros, etc. Round Up

DyingQuail — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:14:23 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Who's in control: the batter or the pitcher? We may know soon enough.

These come from a few days worth of clippings:

Justice on LaTroy Hawkins success since coming to the Astros.
Ed Wade had this to say about the unsigned draft picks:

"Most of the guys that aren’t signed are guys we’ll follow through the summer," general manager Ed Wade said. "There’s a small handful we’re going to still have active discussions with."

Richard Justice turns a 180 from about a month ago and says that Mike Hampton was a good move.
Former farmstro Drew Sutton is now a MLB player with the Reds.
Jiovanni Mier had this immediate impression on professional baseball:

"I knew it was going to be much faster, but it's a lot quicker than I expected," Mier said. "Everything is much faster. I'm coming from high school, so obviously the pitching is much harder, the runners are faster. You have to be on your toes.

"High school competition wasn't too bad, but it's a huge step to the pitchers, they're much more advanced. In high school, they're basically fastball, curve. Here, they've got everything else and they can do a lot more with their pitches."

Mier seems to be adjusting just fine

This article from the Hardball Times, may very well be the first published piece that leads to the full understanding of DIPS theory.

This should also serve as the place to discuss last night's routing of the Padres (if we manage to hold a five run lead for another 6 outs) because, for the second night in a row, I'm going to welch on writing a post game piece after the game. You should go here for access to all the SBN post game features though: Astros vs Padres coverage

Houston Astros at San Diego Padres, Jul 1, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

DyingQuail — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:23:39 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

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Current Series

4 game series vs Padres @ Petco Park

Mon 06/29	WP: Roy Oswalt ( - ) LP: Josh Geer ( - )	3 - 1 win
Tue 06/30	WP: Josh Banks ( - ) SV: Heath Bell LP: Chris Sampson ( - )	3 - 4 loss
Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ San Diego Padres Gaslamp Ball Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009, 9:05 PM CDT Petco Park Brian Moehler vs Walter Silva Mostly clear. Game time temperature around 70. Complete Coverage >
Thu 07/02		2:35 PM CDT

Brian Moehler

#38 / Pitcher / Houston Astros

Height: 6-3

Weight: 235

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 31, 1971

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Brian Moehler	4-4	12	12	1	0	0	0	61.0	79	44	41	12	17	37	6.05	1.57

Walter Silva

#27 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-1

Weight: 190

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jan 04, 1977

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Walter Silva	0-1	4	4	0	0	0	0	17.1	22	19	18	3	13	8	9.35	2.02

Astros vs Padres coverage ; Astros vs Padres preview ; Gaslamp Ball

Hampton's return stymied by Eckstein: Astros 3 Padres 4

DyingQuail — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:44:46 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Two words: Footsie Pajamas

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Sorry to have this up so late. I couldn't bring myself to write it last night because tiredness won out.

Alright, the title is a little non sensical, but David Eckstein was responsible for driving in the fourth run, which put the proverbial nail in our proverbial coffin, did have a 3/4 night at the plate, and was the subject of some of FireJoeMorgan's greatest material. My attempts to resurect the greatness of FJM aside, Eckstein was worth a game leading .318 WPA for the night, so I'm pretty much spot on.

Yes, Chris Sampson came in and blew a two run lead in what felt like a matter of seconds, but Chris Sampson has also been one of the best relievers in baseball in the this year (that's not a joke either, click here for your proof). It was probably unavoidable that the game gets tied up, but I think if I'm Coop, I'm pulling Sampson after Tony Gwynn doubles; although, I can't recall if anyone in the pen was warming up.

Anyway, here's your tidy little pictorial game summary:

via www.fangraphs.com

Astros vs Padres coverage ; Astros vs Padres recap ; Astros vs Padres boxscore ; Gaslamp Ball

Houston Astros at San Diego Padres, Jun 30, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

DyingQuail — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:57:52 -0000

Current Series

Astros lead the series 1-0

Mon 06/29	WP: Roy Oswalt ( - ) LP: Josh Geer ( - )	3 - 1 win
Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ San Diego Padres Gaslamp Ball Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009, 9:05 PM CDT Petco Park Mike Hampton vs Josh Banks Partly cloudy. Game time temperature around 65. Complete Coverage >
Wed 07/01		9:05 PM CDT
Thu 07/02		2:35 PM CDT

Mike Hampton

#11 / Pitcher / Houston Astros

Height: 5-10

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Sep 09, 1972

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Mike Hampton	4-5	12	12	0	0	0	0	67.0	70	38	35	8	27	43	4.70	1.45

Josh Banks

#50 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 18, 1982

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Josh Banks	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	0	6.1	7	2	2	1	1	2	2.84	1.26

Lineup

Houston Astros @ San Diego Padres

06/30/09 9:05 PM CDT

Houston Astros	San Diego Padres
Michael Bourn - CF	Tony Gwynn - RF
Miguel Tejada - SS	David Eckstein - 2B
Lance Berkman - 1B	Scott Hairston - CF
Carlos Lee - LF	Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
Geoff Blum - 3B	Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B
Hunter Pence - RF	Chase Headley - LF
Matt Kata - 2B	Henry Blanco - C
Humberto Quintero - C	Everth Cabrera - SS
Mike Hampton - P	Josh Banks - P

That's weird, if there was no bench role for Edwin Maysonet, why is Matt Kata in tonight's line up?

Astros vs Padres coverage ; Astros vs Padres preview ; Gaslamp Ball

The Crawfish Boxes has a new facebook home

DyingQuail — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:38:04 -0000

The Crawfish Boxes has a new facebook home

The Networked Blogs thing is a pain because you have to add the application, etc. So we've jumped ship to the fan page. Please take a second to add us so we'll look cool.

So who's movable? Felipe Paulino. But why would you send him down? He's under 30, he's loaded with...

DyingQuail — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:25:01 -0000

So who's movable? Felipe Paulino. But why would you send him down? He's under 30, he's loaded with potential and he was very, very good his last outing.

So really, the Astros don't have many options. I suppose they could release Hampton if he's not good in his next outing or two, but then what if someone else starts struggling? You're taking away depth in a rotation that doesn't have a lot of wiggle room.

Also, the Astros are considering using a starting pitcher to finish the suspended game, which would then put Roy and Wandy back on their regular schedule. That alone justifies utilizing a six-man rotation.

Footer, trying to make sense of the six man rotation
The justification of the make up games, etc. make sense because this way the six man rotation will take away one less start from Roy and Wandy. What I don't get, is why anyone in the Astros organization is worried about losing one of the veteran guys (read: Brian Moehler) because the Astros would still have a deep pool of talent to draw from: Bud Norris, Yorman Bazardo, and even Polin Trinidad.

Roy worked wizardy against the Friars: Astros 3 Padres 1

DyingQuail — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:39:42 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Brilliance

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Yesterday, we are all pretty deflated around here. The sting of Jose Valverde's blown save knocked the wind out of our sails and all we had left to discuss was managerial mishaps and scrutinize personnel decisions. Tonight, however, Roy Oswalt toed the mound and nine innings later there are just a lot of positives to sort through.

Roy Oswalt pitched a complete game two hitter and needed only 109 pitches to do it (74 strikes). His full line was: 2H, 1ER, 8K, 2BB, 8 K/9, 4 K:BB, 7.34 K/100 (strike outs per 100 pitches). Dominance and efficiency.
Roy didn't just pitch amazingly, he was also one of three Astros to have a multi-hit game. Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee being the other two.
Ivan Rodriguez hit a monster home run that tied the game in the fifth.
Roy Oswalt had a combined WPA of .524 (.502 pitching). Yes, Roy contributed to over half the win. As was dicussed in the game thread, that's what happens when you have a two hit two hitter.
The game was only two hours and eleven minute. A godsend from Roy for all of us back in the Central time zone.

There are a few negatives to point out, however:

Pudge's home run was the only extra base hit of the game.
No Astro drew a free pass.

via www.fangraphs.com

Astros vs Padres coverage ; Astros vs Padres boxscore ; Gaslamp Ball

Houston Astros at San Diego Padres, Jun 29, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

DyingQuail — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:03:30 -0000

Current Series

4 game series vs Padres @ Petco Park

Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ San Diego Padres Gaslamp Ball Monday, Jun 29, 2009, 9:05 PM CDT Petco Park Roy Oswalt vs Josh Geer Clear. Game time temperature around 65. Complete Coverage >
Tue 06/30		9:05 PM CDT
Wed 07/01		9:05 PM CDT
Thu 07/02		2:35 PM CDT

Roy Oswalt

#44 / Pitcher / Houston Astros

Height: 6-0

Weight: 190

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 29, 1977

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Roy Oswalt	3-4	16	16	1	0	0	0	96.1	105	46	46	13	28	75	4.30	1.38

Josh Geer

#52 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jun 02, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Josh Geer	1-2	13	11	0	0	0	0	70.2	78	50	46	17	17	40	5.86	1.34

Lineup

Houston Astros @ San Diego Padres

06/29/09 9:05 PM CDT

Houston Astros	San Diego Padres
Michael Bourn - CF	Tony Gwynn - RF
Miguel Tejada - SS	David Eckstein - 2B
Lance Berkman - 1B	Scott Hairston - CF
Carlos Lee - LF	Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
Geoff Blum - 3B	Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B
Hunter Pence - RF	Chase Headley - LF
Ivan Rodriguez - C	Eliezer Alfonzo - C
Kazuo Matsui - 2B	Everth Cabrera - SS
Roy Oswalt - P	Josh Geer - P

Astros vs Padres coverage ; Astros vs Padres preview ; Gaslamp Ball

Monday Morning Astros, etc. Round Up

DyingQuail — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:03:20 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

This just needed to make the front page.

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Tonight will be a late night as we're on the West Coast, but here are some news and notes to keep you occupied until game time:

This is just a big quote from Coop about what we're going to do with Felipe Paulino, Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton, and Brian Moehler, when Hampton returns from the DL:

"We’ve talked about it and made some plans, just got to figure out if that’s a good plan," Cecil Cooper said. "It’d be pretty hard to not run Felipe out there. Russ has pitched well. Wandy’s one of the mainstays. Roy’s a mainstay.

"Moehler’s pitched pretty good, and so has Hampton. What do you do? We’ve got to figure out how to map it out to where they all stay on the hill somehow. ... We’ll go with matchups or something. I don’t know. "

Cooper likely won’t go with a six-man rotation because that hasn’t been considered. "We’d have to cross that bridge when we get to it," Cooper said. "I like four. That’s old school. "

Richard Justice claims the following:

Unlike some of you, I never stopped believing in this baseball team. I believed in the talent. I believed in the chemistry. I believed in the manager. Remember the success I predicted back in spring training?

Also from Justice (this post is stuff I've clipped over the last two days): Apparently Ed Wade and Drayton McLane have good relationship. This article is loaded with tons of insight into how the management works and Bobby Heck discussing how he was reluctant to come to Houston based on Drayton's reputation. Truly some interesting stuff.
Again, from Justice, he claims that there is magic afoot for the Astros.
The Unofficial Scorer lets us know that Hunter Pence is the only Astro, objectively speaking, deserving of an All-Star bid.
For those who will miss Brandon Backe, McTaggart writes the most glowing piece about his career I've come across.
Aaron Boone has been cleared to work out and could be ready by September, according to Bob.

Astros drop a heartbreaker to the Tigers 4-3

DyingQuail — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:41:07 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

I'd be angry too.

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We could pin this on fan interference, but at the end of the day, Jose Valverde blew the save. I'm not sure what hurts worse: Former Astro Josh Anderson dealing the final blow? or my brain trying to wrap my mind around the Darin Erstad for Lee, Matt Kata for Erstad, Jason Michaels for Geoff Blum switches at the end of the game (not to mention the line up or Ortiz being allowed to hit to throw another 1/3 of an inning)?

Russ Ortiz had a strong outing: 7.1 IP, 5K, 0BB, 6H, 2ER and it was squandered. There are positives to take away because the bull pen wasn't stretched and the Brewers, Cardinals, and Cubs are en route to losses right now.

I could write more, but I don't want to take away from the power of this graphic, which demonstrates Valvede's astounding -.662 WPA for the day:

via www.fangraphs.com

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