One of my favorite sports columnists in Houston is Richard Justice. He has a fabulous sports blog, and his plan for the rest of the Astros grim season is fantastic. I included it here for you to read for a couple of reasons:
1) Lisa tried to claim I was neglecting my blog at coffee tonight so I needed lots to blog about to prove her wrong
2) I like to increase Lisa's knowledge of baseball happenings so she can impress others with her knowledge
3) Because everything Justice recommends in this post is something I have said at least once (sometimes everyday) over the last two weeks. No wonder I think this guy is a genius!
I've come to help the Astros with a plan for these remaining 57 games. I shouldn't be giving this kind of advice away for free, but I'm such a soft touch. Ready?
• Play Luke Scott everyday. That means you, Phil Garner. He's hitting .326 since the All-Star Break after not hitting at all (.215) in the first half. Platooning him makes no sense since Scott is hitting .272 against lefties and .274 against righties. I know every manager wants to show fans how smart they are and how they're so good at manipulating the lineups, but this guy might make everyone look smart if his name is written in the lineup for the final 57 games.
• Ditto Eric Munson. He entered Wednesday's game on a 13-for-36 hot streak. He's hitting .303, which breaks down to .300 against left-handed pitching and .304 against right-handed pitching. The Astros need to find out if he can sustain this kind of production for the final two months. They also need to find if his offensive strengths can overcome his defensive shortcomings.
• Put Matt Albers in the seventh-inning setup role and see how he likes relief work. He's got nasty stuff and probably eventually will be a starter. For the time being, give him regular work in another role.
• Keep playing Eric Bruntlett at shortstop. He's hitting .284 and doing a nice job defensively.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Why I love Richard Justice....(at least today)
Posted by Ashlee Liddell at 10:59 PM
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2 comments:
Well with my immense knowledge of baseball, I'd like to kindly disagree with ol' Justice. I think that Garner might be saving Scott and Munson for a rainy day. I think he's letting them rest for a reason; perhaps he thinks their power will be best used together at the end, or maybe he suspects he will lose a good player towards the end and he wants Scott and Munson to be able to take up the slack.
Garner can do what he wants with Albers. All I can say is he's no Roy O.
As far as Bruntlett goes, I have no comment. I don't know what a shortstop is.
Lisa, this is hilarious!
My favorite comment.... "as far as Bruntlett goes, I have no comment. I don't know what a shortstop is."
LOVE IT!!!!!
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