Tagged: Mike Hampton
Written on the Wall
Before today’s game on this very blog, we were wondering about the possible fate for Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz. We knew that the upcoming matchup for today would be hard, in the final episode of a crucial series against the Chicago Cubs, which we hope doesn’t come back to haunt the Astros at season’s end.
Hampton had a not-quite-flattering start and Ortiz, sadly, followed suit with yet another terrible start. The numbers kept on piling up, beyond 9 earned runs in 2.1 innings this Thursday.
It was much more than that. It was his 0-5 record in his last 10 outings, a 12.23 ERA in July. It was seeing that, in those few occasions in which Ortiz could do the job, needed a huge amount of pitches.
So Ed Wade had to pull the trigger. There wasn’t much to do. Ortiz was placed on waivers on an unconditional release.
We regret to see Ortiz leaving by the backdoor. He had a chance, and he worked trying to get his career back on track. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.
This is the first step in trying to correct the strange case of a rotation in which the glass is either half full or half empty and there are no in-betweens. We go from the sublime with Wandy Rodriguez (10-6, 2.65) and Roy Oswalt (6-4, 3.61) to… the not that good with Brian Moehler (7-6, 5.16), Hampton (6-8, 5.36) and Ortiz himself (3-5, 4.75).
With a rotation with problems such as these, and a bullpen which has to keep on adding mileage because of so many iffy starts, so the winning path can look as quite dark and winding.
Does Bud Norris have what it takes? He does have a fastball. You saw it yesterday in his brief stint against the Cubs. He got his dream now and he is part of a Major League pitching rotation. The case is that now, he’ll have to prove every five days, that he indeed has what it takes. It’s time for definitions.
Definitions for Norris. And for the rest of the starters. Houston tries to stabilize a situation which, even with Ortiz departing, still looks quite complicated.
Days like this
Some days are good, others are not that good. That’s how things are for your Houston Astros. On one hand, they stil have a shot on the NL Central pennant race. The Stros have won 5 of their last 10 contests, and now they are three and a half games behind the Cardinals. Sadly, there are situations like yesterday’s 12-0 blowout courtesy of their closest rival, the Chicao Cubs. With a result such as this one, any symptom of optimism might go down the drain.
It’s true that it’s a bit hard to figure out how the Good Guys can pull it off with performances such as that of Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton. Now, to top it all off, Lance Berkman is on the DL and we don’t know for certain if Roy Oswalt will join those ranks as well. He is waiting to see how he reacts to an injection for his back injection. He still doesn’t even know whether he’ll pitch or not this Sunday.
Key moments, no doubt. They are in the midst of series against their closest divisional rivals up to August 9. Of course that, if we look a bit closer, there are still reasons for excitement. Since May 29, the Astros have surpassed their Divisional opponents 12-6.
Some might even call it “Second-half syndrome”. It has hit Houston for as long as I can remember. From May 30, the Astros have a 32-21 record, jumping from being 9-1/2 games out to the current 3-1/2 game distance.
Can they keep on climbing? That’s the question.
Despite injuries, many key stars producing offensively are still there. That’s the case with Miguel Tejada. But, even with people such as Carlos Lee cranking up the heat (.323 BA in July), this game is still about Pitching.
That’s where doubts abound. Ortiz and Hampton show us, that they seem not to have what it takes for the time being.
The Astros are forced to play a major card, due to Oswalt’s back issue. The organization’s second best prospect has appeared for the first time in the Major Leagues.
Bud Norris left everyone with a good taste, proving that he might be as good as advertised. His smoking fastball (93-95 MPH), and despite some moments in which he let nerves take over him (as it should be. He’s human after all), he kept his poise during practically his whole outing.
So what will happen next with this pitching staff with their good and bad days? Can Ortiz and Hampton justify themselves? Will Norris stay and live up to the hype? Will this be the end of injuries and pain for Oswalt?
After all, it isn’t the end of the world. Look toward Queens and then we’ll talk.
House of cards
When we started to realize the Astros possibilities on this West Coast roadtrip, we saw they weren’t so bad. But this start has been good enough, all the better to forget the frustrating Sunday loss against Detroit. Many agree with us that it was the saddest lost this year (which is a lot to say if you ask me).
Well, the best thing Houston could do was giving the ball to Roy Oswalt, the reliable one. It’s true this hasn’t been Roy-O’s best year so far, but he’s always a man who inspires respect around him. He dominated the Padres tonight, pitching a complete game (nothing amazing, he’s an innings-eating hurler), fanning eight and taking his fourth win this year, leveling his record.
An Ivan Rodriguez homer, a Sac-fly by Geoff Blum and a Carlos Lee single drove in the Astros runs, for a team who could beat a weak opponent, offensively speaking. A team which wasn’t able to decipher Oswalt’s delivery.
All of this happened in a day in which the Astros are starting to formalize the end of their relations with Brandon Backe. The Galveston-born pitcher didn’t accept his demotion to the Minor Leagues, so he becomes an unrestricted Free Agent. We hope, and we are sure, he will find a new team very soon. He has the heart for it. He proved it several times here with us.
Mike Hampton is back, so the front office sends Wesley Wright to the Minors, while Cecil Cooper will use a six-man rotation. This is a quite delicate balance, because he now has many pitchers who are doing well. But they also look like a frail house of cards. You don’t dare to take any piece off because it might tumble down.
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The Space Race 