Towles to RR, Quintero to MM

[OregonStrosFan]

Astros' catcher Towles sent down to AAA Round Rock and Club purchases contract of Express' Quintero. 

Ausmus will be pulling most of the catching duties, with Q likely matched with a particular pitcher (tbd).

“For some reason since I wasn’t playing the last couple of days, I figured it was coming,” Towles said. “I guess I wasn’t too surprised. I’m not happy about it, but I’m going to work hard to get back up here.”

“I told him it wasn’t about his catching and game-calling,” manager Cecil Cooper said. “It was more about his offense. He needs to get his confidence back. The last game he played he looked like he was really frustrated, and we saw signs he was going to come out of it but he went backwards a little bit.

“I thought the first game in Milwaukee he swung it pretty good and we said, ‘Uh oh, here he comes.’ The next time he played he went back the other way. He needs to go play and get his confidence up and work at it. I know it’s disappointing to him, but he took it well.”

[Fredia]

ausmus has been hitting of late
and better rr now get bakc the sinwng and be the future

[Limey]

ausmus has been hitting of late
and better rr now get bakc the sinwng and be the future

PWTO

[I'm Richies Dad]

Wonder why the Astros didn't claim Brayan Pena from the Braves.  He is at least as good as Quintero.  Now he has been DFA by the Royals.  I seriously doubt any pitcher wants to throw to Q.

[Gizzmonic]

Is that...Welsh?

ausmus has been hitting of late
and better rr now get bakc the sinwng and be the future

[Jacksonian]

Is that...Welsh?

FrediaLatin.

[Limey]

FrediaLatin.

A Fredian slip.

[Taras Bulba]

PWTO

POTW

[drew corleone]

POTW

I think Limey has about thee candidates in the top few threads right now. No one's represented the crown this well since the paparazzi caught Victoria Beckham poolside with the jugglies exposed.

[MusicMan]

the paparazzi caught Victoria Beckham poolside with the jugglies exposed.

Over-rated! (clap, clap, clap clap clap)

[HudsonHawk]

I seriously doubt any pitcher wants to throw to Q.

Why?

[BudGirl]

Why?

Because Towles' golden locks make them smile?

[HudsonHawk]

Because Towles' golden locks make them smile?

I think they're creepy.  They should call him Suzy Backstop.  He needs a good ol' flat top haircut, maybe that'll help. 

[Limey]

Why?

Because pitching to Q is like shooting a 50MM shell at a steel plate.

[Andyzipp]

Why?

Just guessing, but Quintero's attitude on and off the field the past couple of years (including spring training) have been shit.  Woody Williams didn't want to pitch to him, and for Woody to say something about it would make it seem pretty bad.

[pravata]

To sum up and reiterate, the Astros have sent Towles down to Round Rock because his offense is insufficient and they are replacing him with Brad Ausmus.  Brad Ausmus was signed this season to tutor Towles, who will now be in Round Rock, attempting to regain confidence to hit major league pitchers while facing minor league pitchers, while Ausmus is in Houston and elsewhere?  Am I following the logic?

[Limey]

To sum up and reiterate, the Astros have sent Towles down to Round Rock because his offense is insufficient and they are replacing him with Brad Ausmus.  Brad Ausmus was signed this season to tutor Towles, who will now be in Round Rock, attempting to regain confidence to hit major league pitchers while facing minor league pitchers, while Ausmus is in Houston and elsewhere?  Am I following the logic?

Makes perfect sense to me.

[Taras Bulba]

To sum up and reiterate, the Astros have sent Towles down to Round Rock because his offense is insufficient and they are replacing him with Brad Ausmus.  Brad Ausmus was signed this season to tutor Towles, who will now be in Round Rock, attempting to regain confidence to hit major league pitchers while facing minor league pitchers, while Ausmus is in Houston and elsewhere?  Am I following the logic?

Towles is lost and frustrated.  He'll be bunking in between Baylor and Ray Ray.  That should get his mind right.

[Gizzmonic]

To sum up and reiterate, the Astros have sent Towles down to Round Rock because his offense is insufficient and they are replacing him with Brad Ausmus.  Brad Ausmus was signed this season to tutor Towles, who will now be in Round Rock, attempting to regain confidence to hit major league pitchers while facing minor league pitchers, while Ausmus is in Houston and elsewhere?  Am I following the logic?

I don't think you can really call it "logic," but yes.  And as you pointed out last week, Quintero is just above the Mendoza line in AAA.  I think he will hit better than Towles but Towles was never the problem for the offense.  Changing your starting catcher messes with the entire pitching staff.  I don't know why they would do this unless the pitchers were really complaining about Towles (I haven't caught wind of anything like that, it seems that they like him).

[HudsonHawk]

Just guessing, but Quintero's attitude on and off the field the past couple of years (including spring training) have been shit.  Woody Williams didn't want to pitch to him, and for Woody to say something about it would make it seem pretty bad.

I knew he had the red ass, but didn't know it extended on to the field so far that pitchers didn't want to throw to him.

[JaneDoe]

I don't know why they would do this unless the pitchers were really complaining about Towles (I haven't caught wind of anything like that, it seems that they like him).

Drayton listens to Houston sports talk radio?

[HudsonHawk]

I don't think you can really call it "logic," but yes.  And as you pointed out last week, Quintero is just above the Mendoza line in AAA.  I think he will hit better than Towles but Towles was never the problem for the offense.  Changing your starting catcher messes with the entire pitching staff.  I don't know why they would do this unless the pitchers were really complaining about Towles (I haven't caught wind of anything like that, it seems that they like him).

I think this has more to do with Towles's development than him being a particular drain on the offense.  He simply wasn't ready for the bigs.

[pravata]

I don't think you can really call it "logic," but yes.  And as you pointed out last week, Quintero is just above the Mendoza line in AAA.  I think he will hit better than Towles but Towles was never the problem for the offense.  Changing your starting catcher messes with the entire pitching staff.  I don't know why they would do this unless the pitchers were really complaining about Towles (I haven't caught wind of anything like that, it seems that they like him).

The whole team likes Towles, they lined up behind Berkman last week to present their testimonials.  The thing that boggles my mind is that the stated problem is Towles' offense, and so they're replacing him with Brad. Ausmus.  He'll be the starter, that shouldn't affect the pitchers.  Quintero is just going to sit at the end of the bench and be sulky.

[Noe]

I think this has more to do with Towles's development than him being a particular drain on the offense.  He simply wasn't ready for the bigs.

Never was.  Purpura scoffed at the idea floated to him by sports talk that Towles should come up to the majors in September for a looksee.  Then Purpura was fired and somehow the idea of Towles coming up so soon wasn't a bad idea.  And then he had a great September and that led to all sorts of stupidity.  The media thought that what happened with Pence is not an anomoly, but what can happen to any AA player who is hitting well.  As one of them put it "It can't hurt"... just like it wouldn't hurt to bring up Ben Zobrist (to replace the black hole that was Adam Everett) from AA back in the day.

People think that way never considering the one thing that may be the stumbling block: They're not ready for a major league gig.

Pence threw them all for a tissy last year and people went and got all stupid that it was that easy to do... and so Towles was supposed to do the same thing this year, under the tuteldge of Brad Ausmus.  Nevermind that what he did was basically in September against other callups and teams playing out the string.  It was borderline insanity but someone on the baseball side signed off on it and now look what you have on your hands.  The kid should've been in AAA all year long, screw what the media would've said, screw what fans think, do the right thing.

Whatever happened to Ben Zobrist any way?

[JaneDoe]

Whatever happened to Ben Zobrist any way?

Ask Pallilo.  He probably still has a hard-on for the guy.  Didn't he listen to the commercial?  If it lasts longer than 4 hours, call your doctor.

[pravata]

Never was.  Purpura scoffed at the idea floated to him by sports talk that Towles should come up to the majors in September for a looksee.  Then Purpura was fired and somehow the idea of Towles coming up so soon wasn't a bad idea.  And then he had a great September and that led to all sorts of stupidity.  The media thought that what happened with Pence is not an anomoly, but what can happen to any AA player who is hitting well.  As one of them put it "It can't hurt"... just like it wouldn't hurt to bring up Ben Zobrist (to replace the black hole that was Adam Everett) from AA back in the day.

People think that way never considering the one thing that may be the stumbling block: They're not ready for a major league gig.

Pence threw them all for a tissy last year and people went and got all stupid that it was that easy to do... and so Towles was supposed to do the same thing this year, under the tuteldge of Brad Ausmus.  Nevermind that what he did was basically in September against other callups and teams playing out the string.  It was borderline insanity but someone on the baseball side signed off on it and now look what you have on your hands.  The kid should've been in AAA all year long, screw what the media would've said, screw what fans think, do the right thing.

Whatever happened to Ben Zobrist any way?

Tampa Bay, bouncing back and forth from the minors.  He can't seem to wrestle the utility role from Willy Aybar.  Zobrist is hitting .267 in 15 abs this season.

[Noe]

Tampa Bay, bouncing back and forth from the minors.  He can't seem to wrestle the utility role from Willy Aybar.  Zobrist is hitting .267 in 15 abs this season.

This was the kid that some media guys tabbed as "PENCE!" before "PENCE!" actually came around to claim that tag.  In some ways, the Pence story has many people thinking with a clouded perspective that organizations (like Houston) do make mistakes routinely on who is and who is not ready for the majors and that they can easily see who is.  Primarily the use of stats come into play with the pronouncements that an organization is holding back a good young player.  Like Zobrist and now Towles.  Pence is an anomoly and Purpura was trying to protect him from the expectations coming out of spring training.  Pence was still raw last year and his development for being a CF was awful.  But he could hit and he still does that really well and is now developing nicely into a decent RF.

But he's not the norm, all credit to him, so don't make mistakes thinking he's the rule and not the exception.  That's how things like prematurely calling up Towles happens and then annointing him starting catcher for the 2008 season and painting yourself into a huge corner because of it.

[Duman]

Tampa Bay, bouncing back and forth from the minors.  He can't seem to wrestle the utility role from Willy Aybar.  Zobrist is hitting .267 in 15 abs this season.

 5/29/08     Placed RHP Troy Percival on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain; reinstated INF Willy Aybar from the 15-day disabled list; optioned INF Ben Zobrist to Triple-A Durham; purchased the contract of RHP Grant Balfour from Triple-A.

From the Devil Rays web site

[otterjb]

Was bound to happen. Towles needs time in minors. Is there an organization with a worse situation at catcher?

[VirtualBob]

POTW

Your scargasm meter is broken.

[kevwun]

Because pitching to Q is like shooting a 50MM shell at a steel plate.

That's .50 in inches, not a 50mm.

[Bench]

Your scargasm meter is broken.

I believe he was nominating Limey's intentional malapropism, not trying to correct it.

Or am I being too literal here?

[Noe]

I believe he was nominating Limey's intentional malapropism, not trying to correct it.

Or am I being too literal here?

I thought so too, until I realized that was Taras, so all bets are off.

[Taras Bulba]

I thought so too, until I realized that was Taras, so all bets are off.

I resemble that comment.

Limey does okay when he's not picking up chicks at Young Socialists League meetings.

[The Spleen]

Is there an organization with a worse situation at catcher?

The Roman Empire? Maybe the Confederate States of America?

[Limey]

Limey does okay when he's not picking up chicks at Young Socialists League meetings.

I prefer Republican chicks.  They're better at keeping up with their shaving.

[MikeyBoy]

I prefer Republican chicks.  They're better at keeping up with their shaving.

I thought they love bush?

[Limey]

I thought they love bush?

OK.  That got you a nomination.