southsider2k5

You are right. what if it gets to the bullpens???? Foulke is going to school us in the "how to close a game" class.

Carlos Lee

You are right.

Mulder this year against the Sox is 2-0 with 0.50 era in 18 IP.

I just grabbed some quick and dirty numbers from ESPN. They don't break down lefty/righty for pitch counts and innings. I wouldn't be sure where to find them. This is the template I used. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/spli...8&type=pitching Actually looking at his numbers again one thing really jumps out at me, big time. Look at his numbers against the 3-4 hitters, and then against the 7-8-9 hitters. #9 hitters have more HR's and RBI's against Danny then do #4 hitters! I take back what I said about pacing himself, he seems to have somekind of an intensity problem, where he lets down against the not-so-good hitters. Being a closer could be better for him than I thought, as he would constantly be in intense situations where he has to be intense the whole time.

What about Koch for the last month makes you think he can close?

That ain't bad at all Certainly the numbers you'd like to see if you want to make him your closer However the question remains, why in the hell can't he keep his 1st inning pace (or near it) over 5, 6 innings? Ask Eric Gagne. Thats a great point. However, DW is no gagne. Gagne has killer stuff. I think DW doesn't pace himself enough, is evident by his numbers. He either needs to work harder in off season conditioning, or he needs to learn to pick his spots better. And I would be willing to bet that Wright's stuff would be a whole lot nastier out of the pen where he didn't have to save it for later, and could pitch balls to the wall.

Some numbers on DW that might be interesting in relation to the pen. His first inning of work batters have only hit .205 against him in 2003, with 12 K's in 44 AB's. Within his first 15 pitches of an outing he only has been hit at a .231 clip. These are in 2003 while he has been pounded to the tune of .272 BAA and a 6.18 ERA Over the last 3 years his first inning of work has resulted in a .241 BAA with 39K's in 170 AB's against. Hit first 15 pitches of an outing result in a .223 BAA with 29K's in 130 AB's.

Mark Buehrle versus Mark Mulder. This ought to be a good one.

Egomaniac

Nice to see that Mike Piazza kid doing well, I wonder when he will get a call up? And that is an interesting note on Yofu. Could he be our September 5th starter?

Maybe because it would be his MLB debut and no one has seen Neal, he could get away witht he walks for a few starts, so I would think that Neal would be better FOR THAT GAME. But if I had to pick one or the other for the next two months I would have to go with DW, because I really think Cotts gets shelled if he is walk 4-5 guys a game. That is my opinion.

Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson also had 100 mph fastball's to give them a little more room for error. Cotts is dependant on location because he doesn't hit 90 with his ace. Cotts seems to have good stuff, but he will be another Danny Wright if he is walking that many major league hitters.

Yeah that title belongs to the California Governors Race

I am going to be a dissenter and say that Neal Cotts would get pounded with the control that he has been exhibiting. In the minors you can get away with walks, in the majors walks will haunt. These guys will kill Neal Cotts if he is giving up 4 1/2 walks a game. Now if he can get down his walk totals down, he should be OK.

Alomar has made our defense better, our lead off hitting better, and the people around him better. There is no question Robbie has made this team better.

Well this does save Houston 4 days of the pennnant race with Rick White...

It all depends on if we win this year or not. If we make it out of the first round of the playoffs, it puts a gun to JR's head to bring the core of these guys back, or bring in guys of the same caliber, or better. If we don't win the division, most of these guys won't be back for sure. If we win the division and lose in the first round, it is difficult to tell what management will do with this team.

To me it looks like the guy has gotten out of his denial stage, and into self-pity.

You got it LDF, sorry I wasn't a little more clear about it. It was for my softball league I got picked as one of my teams two reps. It is the first time I have made an all-star team, hence the ELo comparision.

I am so excited, for the first time ever, I am an All-Star. Took me 29 1/2 years, but hey me and E-Lo took a while to mature into our all-star selves

Carl Everett SUCKS in CF. If he and Aaron Rowand are hitting anywhere near each others averages, I start Rowand because he doesn't COST me runs. Everett just doesn't read balls off of the bat, and doesn't have that gutsy quality that Aaron does.

There's a few that act younger... A few? You mean a few dozen right?

Actually his numbers are better than I thought they would be. he has only been over the league average in ERA once, and only been over 4.36 once. The only BAD number he has is walks.

I did get an answer from the KC columnist. Take it for what you will.