Transmogrified Tiger

I don't understand how Hardy is running away with this. Can someone explain why he's been better than Jones, or Lee, or Bonds, or Ramirez? Even Reyes' stolen bases puts him right there with Hardy.

Chipper

Dempster just said on Comcast that he will be made starter. Stellar.

Floyd went around, West didn't need to ask for help. And why is it disgraceful that he tossed Floyd? He followed Floyd back to the dugout, then tossed him. Floyd was complaining and yelling the whole time and probably had some choice words for West. And West didn't follow him all the way back to the dugout. West made the right call. Floyd complained. Floyd got tossed. Plain and simple. Which game are you watching? He followed him back to the dugout. Plain and simple. Like I said: West made the right call, Floyd complained, Floyd got tossed. It's not rocket science. He followed him part way because Floyd was complaining. Floyd had no business arguing that call. Of course he did, West didn't ask for help. Floyd was done saying his piece and then West ran him down and tossed him. Completely bush league by West, which is fitting because he was terrible today.

Floyd went around, West didn't need to ask for help. And why is it disgraceful that he tossed Floyd? Floyd's shoulder had rotated, he couldn't see. And he chased Floyd down and ejected him after he went to the dugout, when he's not going to be back. Pure ego.

What a joke by West to not ask for help. And now he tosses Floyd, disgraceful.

This game is on Z. True, but I don't think Z would've given up 4 additional runs. If he does his job with 2 outs its still a 3-2 game. When I saw Thome PHing(even more so when I realized Erstad was next) I thought this might be a good time to end Z's day at 100whatever pitches and let Ohman finish the inning.

Screw you West, the pitch can not hit a batter and be a ball inside

Theriot didn't get down the line all that quickly there.

wtg Beltran jr

Hustleriffic stuff from AJP there.

Let's play "follow the logic". Because Eyre and Howry have done poorly, we are going to take Dempster and Guzman(who have done well in their roles) and have them switch spots. Anyone's head not explode?

Cavs-Jazz would be amazing simply for how much abuse Boozer would take at every game at The Q.

what's his line drive percentage? Even with a league average BABIP, would his numbers be any good? BABIP is not a hitters stat. His LD% is about 20. It's similar to last year, and if he had last year's BABIP he'd be hitting about .275/.340/.360 plus XBH's from the additional hits he got from his BABIP leveling out.

Yep, Lou said Guzman was going to the bullpen.

hahahaha, is this for real? At least two different posters, maybe three came up with roles for the pen to be effective without the madness of demoting Guzman. Hilarious. All of them are ridiculous, and would quite simply result in more burnout on the good arms we do have. Either that, or they wouldn't result in much change at all. You can't have it both ways. You either lean on Wuertz, Ohman, and Dempster more and risk burning them out quicker, or you pitch Eyre and Howry and give up leads. Lou is making a move that provides a new resource in the pen. I don't like it, but these other ideas are woefully inadequate. You can't carry deadweight in your pen, TT. That's just a fact. Every pen has guys who aren't very good. For us that's Eyre. He can pitch when there's blowouts or our starter gets rocked. Cotts, Howry, and Marmol are plenty adequate for short/middle relief, Cotts has been effective, Howry is better than his results this year, and Marmol has great stuff. Ohman's around to get out a LH too, giving you two options from either side. Then you have the straight forward setup-closer situation with Wuertz and Dempster. You've got it in your mind that Howry is an abomination beyond saving and that any solution to the pen that keeps him and Eyre in it will result in burnout. That's wrong. And you're ignoring Howry's poor performance this year and declaring Marmol to be a major-league competent reliever with little or no basis for that assertion. No, I've already talked about how part of Howry's poor performance is due to poor luck BABIP-wise, that's why I'm saying he'll improve, along with his performance from past years. Marmol has great stuff and has been consistently mentioned as a possible closer candidate as he came up through the system. His results were great at AAA this year, and he's not being counted on to be Brad Lidge, just to pitch the 6th or 7th every couple days.

hahahaha, is this for real? At least two different posters, maybe three came up with roles for the pen to be effective without the madness of demoting Guzman. Hilarious. All of them are ridiculous, and would quite simply result in more burnout on the good arms we do have. Either that, or they wouldn't result in much change at all. You can't have it both ways. You either lean on Wuertz, Ohman, and Dempster more and risk burning them out quicker, or you pitch Eyre and Howry and give up leads. Lou is making a move that provides a new resource in the pen. I don't like it, but these other ideas are woefully inadequate. You can't carry deadweight in your pen, TT. That's just a fact. Every pen has guys who aren't very good. For us that's Eyre. He can pitch when there's blowouts or our starter gets rocked. Cotts, Howry, and Marmol are plenty adequate for short/middle relief, Cotts has been effective, Howry is better than his results this year, and Marmol has great stuff. Ohman's around to get out a LH too, giving you two options from either side. Then you have the straight forward setup-closer situation with Wuertz and Dempster. You've got it in your mind that Howry is an abomination beyond saving and that any solution to the pen that keeps him and Eyre in it will result in burnout. That's wrong.

5-1 after Hunter gets an infield single off Turnbow to drive in Cuddyer with 2 outs. Now Hunter is on 3rd base after he gets picked off but Fielder throws it into the outfield.

hahahaha, is this for real? At least two different posters, maybe three came up with roles for the pen to be effective without the madness of demoting Guzman.

To be fair, he might've gotten screwed on the last error call. Even then, he bobbled a ball in the first that might've saved a run, and apparently could've made a play on the ball before the supposed error.

Cuddyer just drove in a run with a single. 4-1 and now Bush is done.

Sounds like Hernandez would really be dealing if he had a competent right fielder.

Ohman has been outstanding against left handed hitters for several years now, and this year is no different. They're 2 for 20 with a 2B and 3 BB against him going into today, that's good no matter how much you remember a bad outing. Howry's stuff isn't any different than year's past. He's not perfect, and that's why he's a situational reliever. His BABIP isn't in line with the amount of line drives he's giving up, his BAA will start coming down before too long, regardless of how angry everyone gets when he gets hit. If you aren't going to be satisfied with a combination of Howry, Cotts, and Marmol getting you through the 7th, then you're being too difficult to please. Nobody is all that great until you get to the back of the pen, that's why they're middle relievers. Even then, Cotts has been a good reliever, Marmol has dynamic stuff(much like Wuertz), and Howry has been 8th inning caliber for several previous years. Getting back to the real point, if you're that dissatisfied with that setup, is Guzman really going to make you feel better about the pen?

You're way overstating this. It's just a reallocation of the roles in the pen. Howry and (especially) Eyre will throw less innings, but no one's suggesting banishing them until there's a 10 run difference before letting them on the field. The risk of overuse is the same as it would be if Howry/Eyre were pitching well.

Our pen(especially since we've already added Marmol which makes Guzman redundant) and Guzman are better than you're giving them credit for. Case in point... This argument I won't buy...The pen is utterly terrible and needs to be corrected. Maybe Marmol can be effective for us but he showed his obvious lack of control has not went anywhere with his appearance today. Bringing him in with men on base is asking for disaster. I will give the pen zero credit aside from Wuertz and Dempster in save situations. Dempster has been very good, Wuertz is good and should be the 8th inning guy, Ohman has continued to be effective as a LOOGY, Cotts has been better than expected, and Howry is better than his current production(his BABIP should be about .030 lower, a huge difference for a reliever). With the addition of Marmol, you have Howry, Cotts, and Marmol as options(who you have varying levels of comfort with) to get you through the 7th(plus Ohman as a lefty assassin), and pitch the 8th/9th occasionally in games with large deficits. It's far from a disaster.