Results tagged ‘ Wandy ’
Cut Coop loose/Paulino can stay
This countdown is agonizing. Day after day after day…I check Astros.com looking for the headline “Coop is canned.” I feel dejected, but move on with the hope that tomorrow is another day and possibly that day could be the one where he gets “rung up.” I’m not sure what else you need to do wrong as a manager to be terminated. Not show up for a game? Take a nap in the dugout? (trust me he’s done that, ask Blum.) I will admit he’s a great prognosticator. His prediction of 90 wins can still happen if the team can somehow pull off a 27-2 record to close out the season. It could happen. O.k., no way in hell.
Paulino looked good yesterday. It was almost a carbon copy of his performance against the Rockies back in June where he his stat line looked like this: 6.0 IN 5H 2ER 1BB 7K. Compare that to yesterday’s stat line: 6.0 IN 4H 2ER 2BB 7K. Not bad Paulino. His best start was against the Tigers in June where he posted 7.0 IN 3H 1ER 0BB 9K. Awesome. I think we’re at place now that this team can keep him in the rotation, and he can work through some of the issues that had him yanked earlier. He has shown flashes of brilliance, and with some fine tuning, he’ll be ready for next year.
Hampton has been excused from his pitching duties for the remainder of the season and now has opted for multiple surgeries (pitching shoulder and both knees.) This is even too much action for an old Bulldog like Hampton. My prediction: He won’t pitch in Houston again, and I doubt he’ll even make it back to the show.
Bud Norris toes the rubber once again on Sunday. He’s had some extra rest so we shall see what kind of game the youngster brings. He keeps it interesting, doesn’t he?
Am I the only one that thinks of dentistry when I hear the name Moehler? The potential 5th starter for ’10 was let down by his defense on Tuesday. He’s won only one game since July 20th, and honestly, I’m not impressed. I do feel o.k. with him as a 5th starter next year, but he isn’t #5 now is he?
Things do not get any easier on Friday. We have the newest addition to the Phillies, Cliff Lee, coming to town and he’s had a fantastic season. He’s 12-10 but most of that has been with the lowly Indians. I have bad news though, he had his stink game last time out (6 ER) so the chances he’ll have two stink bombs in a row are slim. Do you know how many runs he normally gives up? Since July 16th (other than his last stinker) he has basically given up one run or less. Wandy better be on top of his game.
It’s not the Heat, it’s the Humidor
After the Astros won a very interesting series at Colorado, I thought I should touch on the humidor. What is the humidor? Is this a place where baseball’s elite get together to smoke some fat stogies and sip on some Hennessy cognac? No. The humidor was introduced in 2002, and basically looks identical to the keg coolers at Coors Field. It has a consistent temperature of 70 degrees and 50% humidity (I wish Odessa had this kind of climate.) The studies have shown the homerun totals have been down, and you can expect a pitcher’s duel post-humidor. This means a good old fashioned 2-1 ballgame is no longer out of the question, this would not have happened pre-humidor. You can still expect a few pitchers to get hammered, and a lineup to go off, but things will never be like they were. Here is the story on the humidor: Rockies engineer Tony Cowell noticed his leather boots had constricted in summer where the humidity rarely surpasses 10%, this made him wonder about the leather covering on baseballs and what adding moisture would do to them. The pitchers had complained about the baseballs feeling like an ice cube, it was impossible to get a good grip, and this eventually caused many problems with movement. Pitchers would try to throw a curveball, and it would just spin. The late Darryl Kile (who passed away in 2002) noticed his curveball did not break, and all pitchers had become anxious of Coors Field. This in turn caused serious problems for the Rockies front office; no pitcher wanted to get lost in Coors Field infamy.
Tuesday’s game: About 5 innings in I’m wondering if the humidor balls are getting passed along to Paulino. He’s raw, and probably unaware of all this, so what a perfect specimen for a parched baseball. Jimenez’ balls, on the other hand, were dripping with sweat. A conspiracy is what Jim Deshaies of the Astros proclaimed that day. Three Rockies homers to the Astros none.
Wednesday’s game: The gig is up. We were on those humidor holdouts like a fly on sh*t, and I hope you had your cap guns ready, because this was an old fashioned shootout. The two teams combined for 26 runs and 36 hits. That’s bringin’ it.
Thursday’s game: Wandy was dealing once again. Once he got past Berkman’s error, he regrouped and added one more K to his career strikeout total of 10. Wandy has been exactly what this rotation has needed. Unfortunately, instead of being an asset to Oswalt’s numbers, he has become the team’s ace.
The Yank
Many fans are upset with Cooper and his short leash with the pitchers. I can understand being cautious with Ortiz or Hampton, but Wandy? C’mon. Wandy’s highest pitch count is 105, and Roy’s is 108. Wandy has earned a chance to go deep in a game. He’s pitching great at home and on the road, so what more could you want Cooper? God forbid someone has a chance to pitch a complete game, that luxury is only afforded to the competition. It has happened three times to the Astros already with Lohse, Gallardo and Duke.
I mentioned in a comment on Aly’s blog that Ian Snell’s pitch count got up to 131 last week pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Could you imagine Cooper? You know the sweat starts to pour oh, I’d say around 90 pitches. This is when he begins to squirm, and then he makes a bee line for the mound. Cooper I know you’re reading this, so here’s my bottom line for you; when the sweat begins to pour….give it another inning before you yank him out of there. Have you heard of the P word, you know patience? You need some.
A few pics, then tomorrow, back to Houston
This was a great game, especially since the ‘stros were victorious. It was great hanging out with the outlaws.;) A big hello to them. I know one of them reads this blog, and that would be the Professor. Don’t be shy now, take a bow. He says he has no problem reading my blog because the entries are short. Whatever works. 
I couldn’t believe the K total Wandy ended up with. I kept watching the total climb, and I loved it when he struck out his last batter of the night, which propelled him to double digits.
I don’t have much time here since I’m leaving tomorrow to head to Houston once again, so I’ll make this one short. B-) We’ll be at the game against the Brew Crew on Friday. The ‘stros are going up against Gallardo who has taken over as the ace of the staff and he’s dealing like one. Let’s go Paulino. See y’all later!
Here are some pictures from Saturday, just three since it was a short week. I took the fuzzy one of Pence. I’m good.
I’m OUTTA here!
Not yet, but tomorrow morning I will be. We’ll be flying in to meet the outlaws (they’re really the in-laws, but I prefer outlaws) for tomorrow’s game at Minute Maid. Before gametime, we’ll be skipping over to the FiveSeven Grille. If you call and get reservations before hand, you are guaranteed the promotion for that day. Our reservations are at 3:30pm, so that will give Tracy plenty of time to take pictures afterwards. HA! I wonder if you could just grab your blankey and run? Seriously, I’ll be sure and buy some overpriced food. It’s worth it to bypass the long line. At stake, are MMP’s 10th season stadium blankets. We’ll be sitting in section 127.
I’m going to try the Killer Bee Mojito (I think that’s what it’s called.) I love mojitos, and make them at home myself. It’s a low calorie alcoholic drink that’s popularity cranks up with the temperature. You have to be careful to “muddle” the mint with the lime and the simple syrup, not crush it. Crushed mint leaves cause serious problems when you’re trying to drink it. We’ll see how they do. I catch myself watching the bartenders to make sure they’re being gentle with the mint. ;) I’m lightly joking here, but my wife will say I’m serious.
The Astros will be throwing the Wand out there tomorrow, and he’ll be going up against Harang who thus far, has had some good stuff. He gave up one earned run against the Mets and lost, and his one win against Pitt, he struck out nine and gave up zero runs. He hasn’t had a lot of success against the ‘stros, so I hope that continues. I hope Wandy continues to do well at MMP, and the bats stay hot.
A side note: I would really like to see Oswalt look like an ace again; it will be interesting to see how he pitches tonight.
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