 |
 |
| Bronson Arroyo | Matt Albers |
| 0 - 2, 2.86 | 0 - 0, 3.75 |
You have to like what we've gotten from Matt Albers in the number six slot of the rotation so far.
During the offseason and spring training, no-one spends any time at all talking about the number six guy, but 75% of your major league baseball teams have to rely on him at some point.
He's the first guy from Triple A when a pencilled-in starter gets hurt and he's often the first guy sent back when the crisis has passed.
Number six can be a legit prospect, like Albers. Or your six man can be sort of a half-ass prospect like Zeke in 2005. He can be a guy shifted from your bullpen, like Nieve last year, or he can even be a Brian Moehler type, a veteran who doesn't mind pitching the year at AAA if it means first shot when something goes down.
And yeah, so far Albers has put up numbers well in excess of what you expect from the slot.
In 2005, our sixth guy was Ezequiel Astacio. He was 0 - 3 as a starter, with a 5.83. In 2006, number six was Fernando Nieve, and he was 0 - 2, 4.67 when asked to start.
So while Albers's ERA thus far is better than those guys', you can see that his win total thus far is not.
I'm here to say we should see that change tonight. Let's see a win for our number six starter tonight, a win that has eluded numero seis no matter who he may have been for over two years now. Go Matt Albers, and go Astros.