Astros

[3&2count]

I am starting the official....get rid of Preston Wilson thread.

He is striking out waaaay too much. He is not doing his job in Left field either.

He struck out 7 times in a row and I think 4 times tonight. NIce.......

[sahen]

Preston Wilson is known to strike out a lot, the office knew that when we got him.....he is extremely streaky and will have weeks like he did the first couple weeks and then weeks like this....the real problem looks like it is going to be the bullpen, they yielded what? 16 runs in 2 days? that is ridiculous....

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by 3&2count
I am starting the official....get rid of Preston Wilson thread.

He is striking out waaaay too much. He is not doing his job in Left field either.

He struck out 7 times in a row and I think 4 times tonight. NIce.......

I was just going to say the same thing:thinking: :clap:

[Maroon87]

Middle relief sucks.:mad:

Morgan Ensberg for MVP.:clap:

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Maroon87
Middle relief sucks.:mad:

Morgan Ensberg for MVP.:clap:
Ensberg may be the most underrated player in the majors.

Wilson whiffs a whole lot, but he gives Ensberg a whole helluva lot more protection than Jason Lane ever could, and improves the lineup in more ways than just his K/BB ratio.

I was listening to a local sports radio station this afternoon, and one of the guys seemed to nail what I wanted to say but just hadn't pieced together: Lidge looks tired out there. He's lost the stuff that made him Brad Lidge.

BDR's fearless predictions for the '06-'07 season:
-The Astros will return to having the rediculous offense they had three years ago. How hard can it be when dead center is about the same distance as it is to the end of your driveway?
-Craig Biggio becomes the first AARP member to score 100 runs in an MLB season.
-The bullpen will round into form... but only after Wheeler assumes the closer's role and Lidge is moved back to middle reliever to rest that tired arm.
-Berkman will be in the top three in the NL in dingers and batting average.
-Ensberg will have another 35-homer season, but will knock in even more RBIs than last year because KKKrazy Preston Wilson is behind him.
-Jason Lane explodes with that breakout season everybody's been expecting.... for the last decade.
-Chris Burke entrenches himself as the next Killer B by season's end.
-The starters fall back down to earth this year. They combine for a 4.00 ERA, even after Rocket comes back in mid-May. Still good, but not '04 and '05 good.
-They win 100 games and the Central only to flame out in the NLDS against the Cards.

[NHSRattler60]

Preston wilson is having down time, yes, but everyone has down times. Everyone in every sport has down times. Give him time to pull his game up.


All he needs is encouragment. You hear the other day when he got that hit? The crowd pushed him on.

[AggieJohn]

Originally posted by 3&2count
I am starting the official....get rid of Preston Wilson thread.

He is striking out waaaay too much. He is not doing his job in Left field either.

He struck out 7 times in a row and I think 4 times tonight. NIce.......

if you knew baseball first, you would know that he strikes out a lot, but gets on good streaks more often then his strike out streaks......he was doing good to start the season, this slump was expected....

[un b weavable]

Originally posted by Maroon87
Morgan Ensberg for MVP.:clap:

I'll second that. He's pretty much awesome.

[sahen]

I love the Astros, and Ensberg is tearing it up but honestly i cant support voting him for MVP considering what Pujols is doing so far and i hate the Cardinals being a huge Astros fan....Pujols is just flat out ridiculous through the first couple weeks of the season, i hope he cools off before they play the Astros....

[Gobbla2001]

Wilson's in a slump... good players have slumps... Berkman was in a slump last year, but you would have gotten rid of him, eh?

And he's not doing his job in the outfield? He's robbed a homerun already and has made a couple of other spectacular outfield plays...

What in the hell are you talking about?

You just read the stat line, didn't you?

[JasperDog94]

I'd be more concerned about the bullpen. Those guys need to get a clue as to how to pitch. What's up with Qualls this year?

[Gobbla2001]

I think the bullpen's in a slump... just imagine if we didn't have the bats this year? We'd have lost a couple of more games...

I think the bullpen will get back to form... And man, poor Lidge, ever since he dropped that f-bomb on T.V. and gave up that homer to Pujols in the NLCS he seems to be down... I think it's all in his head...

[JasperDog94]

Some of my coworkers at church think that Lidge will never be the same again.

[Maroon87]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Some of my coworkers at church think that Lidge will never be the same again.

I think because he was so dominant in 2004 it makes any problems he has seem more severe. He was shaky on several occasions last year during the regular season too. And to me the Pujols homer wasn't as big a deal as Podsednik's in the World Series. Pujols is a home run hitter...he's taken just about everyone deep, but Podsednik? Ouch!

[sahen]

We forget in Houston that not all closers blow just 2 or 3 saves a year and we have been extremely lucky the past several years with closers.....Wagner was completely dominant while we had him and then Dotel had a good run for a bit but as soon as he had issues we traded him and Lidge came on and completely shut everyone down....Basically we have had a premier closer for the past 8 or 9 years, Lidge is still one of the best at what he does in the game but he is having some issues at the time, if he works through them, starts throwing more fastballs and not relying solely on that slider he is gonna be fine....He even added a split finger to his repitore over this winter, if he gets back on track he could be nastier than he was before, and i'd be willin to argue he had one of the most dominant seasons (outside of Gagne's ridiculous run) for a closer all time in '04.....

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
Wilson's in a slump... good players have slumps... Berkman was in a slump last year, but you would have gotten rid of him, eh?

And he's not doing his job in the outfield? He's robbed a homerun already and has made a couple of other spectacular outfield plays...

What in the hell are you talking about?

You just read the stat line, didn't you?

19 k's in 58 at bats is not a slump, its more like a ****** ***** ***** ******
He has not played spectacular outfield, average at best. You must know the situation in the outfield and alot of times he does not act like he does.

[sahen]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
19 k's in 58 at bats is not a slump, its more like a ****** ***** ***** ******
He has not played spectacular outfield, average at best. You must know the situation in the outfield and alot of times he does not act like he does.
He is playing a new position, before this year he was a center fielder and on top of that he has to play left at minute maid which is not easy cause of the short porch and the scoreboard out there....His defense was fine in the past so there is no reason to think he wont adjust and be fine in the field....
If you didn't think Wilson was going to strike out a lot when we first got him then you must not have paid any attention to baseball for the past 3 or 4 years....Its just the way he plays, he strikes out a ton but he will have games where he strikes out 3 times and hits one home run.....I'm sure ur werent complaining when he matched Berkman with 4 homers through the first week and a half of the season and he was striking out then too...He has proven over many seasons that he will strike out a lot but give u decent power and RBI numbers, but mostimportantly he is a known threat sitting at that 5 spot making pitchers pitch to Berkman and Ensberg....Lane at 6 isn't as established as Wilson so we would be in the same situation as last year w/ pitchers pitching around Ensberg to get to Lane, this year they are being forced to pitch to our 3 and 4 guys and it is causing us to score more runs so in the end even though Wilson is striking out he is helping our offense produce runs and its helping Ensberg and Berkman's numbers out greatly.......

it is important to say that is for now and it is early.....if Wilson continues striking out 5 or 6 times for every 7 or 8 plate appearances then we should talk about other options, but for now he is slumping and hopefully will come out to his normal pace (which is still a high strike out per plate appearance number) but what he does when he doesnt strike out is keeping our 3 and 4 hitters protected and producing....

[RMAC]

Having sat in the 2nd row @ Astros/Rangers last year...I'm pretty convinced that Morgan Ensberg makes Barry Bonds look like a 12 yr old. That guy is HUGE!!!

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by sahen
He is playing a new position, before this year he was a center fielder and on top of that he has to play left at minute maid which is not easy cause of the short porch and the scoreboard out there....His defense was fine in the past so there is no reason to think he wont adjust and be fine in the field....
If you didn't think Wilson was going to strike out a lot when we first got him then you must not have paid any attention to baseball for the past 3 or 4 years....Its just the way he plays, he strikes out a ton but he will have games where he strikes out 3 times and hits one home run.....I'm sure ur werent complaining when he matched Berkman with 4 homers through the first week and a half of the season and he was striking out then too...He has proven over many seasons that he will strike out a lot but give u decent power and RBI numbers, but mostimportantly he is a known threat sitting at that 5 spot making pitchers pitch to Berkman and Ensberg....Lane at 6 isn't as established as Wilson so we would be in the same situation as last year w/ pitchers pitching around Ensberg to get to Lane, this year they are being forced to pitch to our 3 and 4 guys and it is causing us to score more runs...

Most athelets can play any position if you give them an opportunity, so I don't want to hear how hard it is to move from center to left. I knew him before we got him and did not like his approach then or now. I can't think of any pitcher in the majors who does not want to face a guy that has k'ed 35+% of his AB's

[sahen]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
Most athelets can play any position if you give them an opportunity, so I don't want to hear how hard it is to move from center to left. I knew him before we got him and did not like his approach then or now. I can't think of any pitcher in the majors who does not want to face a guy that has k'ed 35+% of his AB's
There is a pretty big difference in Center and Left at Minute Maid, I think your oversimplifying this a bit....You can't just go catch any ball in left at minute maid that u think is going to stay in the park like in center you have to take into account the huge wall behind you, some weird corner thing over by the bullpens, and the fans in foul terroritory that r like 5 feet from you (along w/ the wall that accompanies them)....The guy is a .264 career hitter w/ more importantly a .332 OBP...we rnt paying him to be a Beltran or Berkman we expect him to make the pitchers ptich to Berkman and Ensberg and if u can't see that he is making them do that then i dont know what to tell u....Mark this post if you want, but as long as he doesn't get hurt Wilson will end up with atleast 25 doubles and 30 homeruns and a .260 average and if you dont want that in a 5 hole then i dont know what to say.....

[whtfbplaya]

I am just saying that I would rather see so of our young talent out there playing. I think we have guys on the bench that can beat a 250 ba over the last 4 years.

[sahen]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
I am just saying that I would rather see so of our young talent out there playing. I think we have guys on the bench that can beat a 250 ba over the last 4 years. With only 35 hr in the last 3 years.
what r u talkin about???? Wilson hit 25 homers last year and half of that was played in RFK which is like playing in the dome and trying to hit a homerun, he was hurt the year before and had 6 (that is 31 in the past 2 years) and then he hit 36 in 2003....im pretty sure that is 67 home runs in the past 3 years....

not to mention he batted .243, .282, .248 (while playing hurt), and then .260 last year....

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by sahen
what r u talkin about???? Wilson hit 25 homers last year and half of that was played in RFK which is like playing in the dome and trying to hit a homerun, he was hurt the year before and had 6 (that is 31 in the past 2 years) and then he hit 36 in 2003....im pretty sure that is 67 home runs in the past 3 years....

not to mention he batted .243, .282, .248 (while playing hurt), and then .260 last year....

Ok for the last year on my stat page the split between teams was covered up.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Eric Gagne is done... i believe... for a loooooooooong while, but dang was that run crazy.

[Astrosdawg07]

Originally posted by big daddy russ


BDR's fearless predictions for the '06-'07 season:
-The Astros will return to having the rediculous offense they had three years ago. How hard can it be when dead center is about the same distance as it is to the end of your driveway?


***...Dude it's 436 ft. That's crazy...

[Cameron Crazy]

How is biggio doin this year havent watched much hardball

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by Cameron Crazy
How is biggio doin this year havent watched much hardball

Fine