Big Inning Propels Astros Past Pirates
by David Coleman on Aug 30, 2011 11:31 PM CDT
in Houston Astros News
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Do you know what's kind of crazy? In about five starts and 29 innings, Henry Sosa has been almost as valuable as Brett Myers has been in 28 starts and 179 innings.
Seriously. After another good start against the Pirates, Sosa should have a WAR around 0.3 while Myers has a WAR of 0.6 for the season. You might not buy WAR for pitchers totally, and the sample size is still pretty small, but there's no question Sosa has been a big stabilizing part of this rotation over the past two weeks.
But, Sosa's sterling pitching performance was only part of this nice win. The offense exploding for a season-high six runs and seven hits was a very, very nice thing to see for this young team. In particular, The R.B.I. Robot coming through with that hit up the middle (after JUST missing on what could have been a double down the line) and Paredes' double into the corner were big moments from young players.
Of course, this all came against a bad Pirates team. Most of the hits were legitimate, but there were some really unlucky bounces for Pittsburgh, the kind that usually happen to a team struggling mightily (which the Pirates are). It also came against a Pirates bullpen that has been getting hit around a bit. In short, it wasn't the Milwaukee Brewers the good guys were beating up.
Still, it's always good to see young players performing well under pressure. I'd expect the Astros to have a good shot at a sweep Wednesday. If they score eight runs, they'll also tie a season high in runs scored for a month with 117.
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Ive enjoyed the winning but I hope it's not a tease for next year(2010).
Also I read a bit of the game thread and saw a comment about Paredes on which pitch he hits best. Ive noticed since he drops the head of the bat ALL THE TIME that the cange up and splitter will prbly always be a pitch he hammers, his home against the rocks was on a circle change and it seems like his swing from the left side is designed for that sorta pitch. I expect him to struggle alot though against the curve ball going in on his feet although he usually swing at one evry a.b. and lays off the others.
If i were Arnold Rothstein id pay Ryan Braun all the money he
wants to stop going on homer streaks against the poor Astros....
am i the only one?
by ccislanders on Aug 30, 2011 11:53 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
change*
If i were Arnold Rothstein id pay Ryan Braun all the money he
wants to stop going on homer streaks against the poor Astros....
am i the only one?
by ccislanders on Aug 30, 2011 11:54 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Funny you should mention that
I was planning on doing a piece for Thursday on Jose Altuve’s Pitch F/X selection, which pitches he’s hit best, etc.
I’m a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast foods.
--Ron F'ing Swanson
by David Coleman on Aug 30, 2011 11:56 PM CDT up reply actions
STILL DO IT PLEASE, I love articles and stats bases on pitch selection.
If i were Arnold Rothstein id pay Ryan Braun all the money he
wants to stop going on homer streaks against the poor Astros....
am i the only one?
by ccislanders on Aug 31, 2011 12:04 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
And Jose Altuve goes off on the day that Jim Callis calls him overrated on twitter.
He says that he is a nice feel good story. and again mentions his size and only gives him credit for putting the bat on the ball but thats about it. And then on twitter says that he is overrated! BA just can’t admit they are wrong on a guy.
Foot! Enter Mouth!
karma.slaps.face.
Altuve is the mighty whatever of them, I enjoy BA screwing with every Astro prospect, hes still mighty.
If i were Arnold Rothstein id pay Ryan Braun all the money he
wants to stop going on homer streaks against the poor Astros....
am i the only one?
by ccislanders on Aug 31, 2011 12:03 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
BA needs a My Name Is Earl type of epiphany
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
For those of you that hate on Berkman. I don't know if we truly appreciate
What a special player he was to us. Players of his caliber don’t come around very often at all – This is from the top switch hitters of all time. AllTime!
3. Lance Berkman (6619 PA, .297/.410/.549/.405/149/44.2):
I know he is having a bad season and it seems like his decline is swiftly approaching, which is to be expected with his body type, but look at those numbers. A .410 OBP! A .405 wOBA! A 149 wRC+! Holy cow! He has four seasons of 160+ wRC+. That is special. Lance Berkman surely was one of the best hitters of the past decade and quite frankly, of all-time. Yes, I know Minute Maid is a big hitters park, but he has nearly the same numbers on the road as he does at home. The dood is legit.
Look at those ridiculous numbers. He was hurt his last year and has showed this year he’s still a perrenial MVP candidate. I’d like us to atleast look into resigning him next year.
by YohannDookeyblue on Aug 31, 2011 12:53 AM CDT reply actions
At his age, I don’t think you can say with any certainty that his MVP-like performance will continue in the future. Slugger at his age can decline in a number of ways. Plus, with his history of injuries, the odds of him staying healthy for another two to three years are pretty long. After all, with his performance, he’ll surely get a long-term contract from someone.
That someone shouldn’t be the Astros, however much I want it to be. He’d only block the development of players like Brett Wallace, J.D. Martinez and even Jonathan Singleton. By signing Berkman, you move Carlos Lee back to left field, thus blocking two young players with one fell swoop. That’s not even to mention the money that could be better spent in other areas of this team, like international free agents, the draft or three complimentary players to fill out this roster.
Like I said, I respect Berkman. I’m glad to see him bounce back and perform at a high level again, but one season does not mean Houston should overpay to bring him back.
I’m a simple man. I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast foods.
--Ron F'ing Swanson
by David Coleman on Aug 31, 2011 1:12 AM CDT up reply actions
For what it's worth I agree.
We need to move on, and let our young guys play. I just wanted to highlight how outrageously good he was for us. I really can’t stand all the Berkman hate on here, b/c he “seemed” to have a lackadaisacal (sp? who cares) personality – He’s one of the top 3 switch hitters OF ALL TIME statistically and really what more could he do?
by YohannDookeyblue on Aug 31, 2011 5:34 PM CDT up reply actions
Henry Sosa
He’s had a great couple of games but I think with his (not sure if this is the right word) inexperience, if he doesn’t progress he’s at best a #5 starter. He will hopefully learn quickly how to mix his pitches and learn how to command hos pitches a little better. Seeing him today I saw a rookie pitcher, but an effective rookie pitcher. I like what I see and really hope he progresses!
by Its Gonna Happen on Aug 31, 2011 3:26 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Well he had his development slowed down due to some unfortunate injuries over the past
couple of years but I have to say that he is beginning to show signs of being a pitcher rather than just a hard thrower similar to Bud. While he was here in Corpus (albeit only a couple of games) he consistently was running his FB up to 97 and blowing away hitters. He struggled a little in AAA and in his ML debut. From the couple of times I saw him here with the Hooks hes has definitely changed his approach on the mound. He’s taking some speed off his FB to keep better command of it and is mixing up his pitches better and will still run that FB up there when he needs to. I actually like what Im seeing from Sosa right now in his development and could see him eventually be our #2 SP behind Norris in 2013 if not sooner depending on what comes of Wandy and Myers in the winter meetings.
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
I'm a little more skeptical than you
He takes the two-pitch thing to an even greater extreme than Bud did early in his career. Per FanGraphs, 97.1% of his pitches are either a fastball or a slider. Perhaps he could be a good middle reliever, but if he remains a starting pitcher, I wonder if he can sustain his success with so little variety in how he mixes his pitches.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
Im willing to give him a full season or two as a SP at ML level before even thinking of
moving him to the pen. The kid is still learning how to pitch at the ML level and like a lot of young pitchers he’s relying heavily on his two best pitches. Not really surprised though. I am encouraged to see that he is headed to winter ball along with Corporan. This can only improve their rapport along with having Sosa continue his development as pitcher. IMO his development was hindered by the injuries and he’s just now starting to come around. He’s another pitcher that I thought would have benefited from more time in AAA with Hooten before being called up.
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
Oh don't get me wrong
I’m not at all saying pull him out of the rotation right now. I want to see what he can do as a starter over a period of time, I’m just saying I’m not sure if he can succeed with essentially only two pitches.
http://www.crawfishboxes.com
I think he just needs to refine his third pitch more to gain more confidence in
using it which is what I hope they have him working on this winter.
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
I'd like to see him try and employ a cutter
Be nice to have the master at teaching it still on our team…
But, yeah add a 3rd pitch to Sosa and he could end up an absolute steal.
by YohannDookeyblue on Aug 31, 2011 5:36 PM CDT up reply actions
Myers has a nice cutter. Maybe he can help teach it. The cut fastball seems to be a popular pitch for improving starting pitcher’s repertoire nowadays. It’s hard to tell from television broadcasts, but Sosa appears to have long fingers which might make him good at throwing the forkball, which can be a dynamite change of pace pitch.
by clack on Aug 31, 2011 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
MY bad I just realized that Sosa and corporan are going to be on different teams so ignore
my building rapport comment.
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
Aneury Rodriguez is also primarily a fastball-slider pitcher (92% FB/Slider—-though some of that time was as a reliever, which may skew the percentage upward). But he is 3 years younger than Sosa which makes you think that he has more time to refine his other off-speed pitches. I think that is the concern about Sosa’s pitch repertoire—that he is an older pitcher. But it is a small sample size for Sosa at this point, and he might have held off in throwing his third pitch so far.
Perhaps Sosa could develop into a pitcher like Edwin Jackson, who typically throws 90 – 93% fastball-slider.
by clack on Aug 31, 2011 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
after this season ends
sort of makes sense with Aneury being 24 in 2012 to give him a full season in AAA as a starter to refine everything. Necessity of rule 5 pick means he’s just sat on the 25-man roster for a lot of the season and has not had an awful amount of use in the bullpen.
The guy in the Hooks uniform
twirling his cap on the 3b side of the stands, when Altuve hit his HR, does anyone know the inside track on that? They kept cutting back to him as if he were important.
Also, it seemed louder than it has been for most of the season in MMP. If someone was actually at MMP last night perhaps they can tell us.
Good win.
Paul Clemens has just been promoted to Triple-A
by Woodlands'stro on Aug 31, 2011 6:04 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Filling out rotation as Harrell is coming up for Friday start and staying in Houston as Sept. call up
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
The Pirates are finding that regression is a bitch. Before mid-season, both the Pirates’ starting pitchers and bullpen had big red flashing signs that regression to mean would come. When the regression collectively occurs at once, it is pretty deflating.
Does anyone think that Carlos Lee is enjoying working with the kids? These last two games, Lee has been batting in young players and seems to have a renewed enthusiasm.
by clack on Aug 31, 2011 7:45 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
…his salary probably serves as an inspiration to them. All of them probably aspire to that kind of contract.
by clack on Aug 31, 2011 8:10 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Ill take that and catch BP sessions, clean the clubhouse, and fetch water for them
"This is a simple game, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the the ball, you got it?!"
Does anyone else get the sense that
Carlos is swinging the bat better because he has better protection in the lineup? (Admittedly not the ’27 Yankees, but I can definitely say that fewer batters in this current lineup leave me with sinking feelings in my stomach than the lineup we had on opening day.)
by pancakebreakfast on Aug 31, 2011 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions
I think Lee is definitely enjoying playing with the youngsters. His comments in a recent interview kind of said as much without actually saying what you alluded to Clack. I think it was something g I read on Astros.com, but that was the impression I got.
by conroestro on Aug 31, 2011 10:06 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Also there are even more latin players on the team.
When Barmes gets a day off it’s an all Spanish speaking in field. I imagine it’s a lot more fun to tease each other in their native language with or without the token gringo. At least it would for me.
Sosa looked more comfortable last night. He showed more personality. He has impressed me so far.
by Brad E on Aug 31, 2011 10:32 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
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| Fri 05/25 |
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