Express

[JimR]

i have seen two games so that makes me an expert, correct?

Bogusevic hits the ball very hard off RHP. Iowa brought in a LHP to face him last night up 6-0 with 2 out and nobody on. although the move made no sense, i got to see him hit off a LH. he stood in pretty well on the FB but bailed bigtime on the CB. he either plays too shallow in CF or does not have a lot of speed/quickness. in two games, two balls have gone over his head to the wall. i know Ramirez would have caught the first one, and he may have caught the second one.

Towles has 4 hits and is hitting around .400 in the early going.

Johnson has done nothing terrible and nothing special in the games i have seen.

Manzella is hitting the ball hard.

Maysonet played 2B last night. Sutton turned a nice DP in the late innings after a not so good feed from SS.

Reggie and Ramirez are sharing RF. Gall is playing left.

the pitchers have walked 21(!) in 3 games. Fulchino threw pretty well last night. Paulino had good stuff and so did Arias, but they did not throw enough strikes.

[Jacksonian]

i have seen two games so that makes me an expert, correct?

Bogusevic hits the ball very hard off RHP. Iowa brought in a LHP to face him last night up 6-0 with 2 out and nobody on. although the move made no sense, i got to see him hit off a LH. he stood in pretty well on the FB but bailed bigtime on the CB. he either plays too shallow in CF or does not have a lot of speed/quickness. in two games, two balls have gone over his head to the wall. i know Ramirez would have caught the first one, and he may have caught the second one.

Towles has 4 hits and is hitting around .400 in the early going.

Johnson has done nothing terrible and nothing special in the games i have seen.

Manzella is hitting the ball hard.

Maysonet played 2B last night. Sutton turned a nice DP in the late innings after a not so good feed from SS.

Reggie and Ramirez are sharing RF. Gall is playing left.

the pitchers have walked 21(!) in 3 games. Fulchino threw pretty well last night. Paulino had good stuff and so did Arias, but they did not throw enough strikes.

Bogusevic has speed and quickness.  But definitely lacks experience in CF.

Johnson was hit by a pitch friday and left the game.  He did not play saturday.  I have not heard if there's anything serious.

[JimR]

He has not shown either speed or quickness on defense so far. Got to see his arm last night on a medium deep flyball-average at best.

Yeah, come to think of it, Kata played third last night.

[I'm Richies Dad]

Thanks for the updates coach, I haven't gotten out there yet.

[JimR]

Sunday report:

more walks-8, i think. Muecke walked the first four hitters of the game but righted the ship and pitched well.

Gervacio was awful. he was slinging the ball in the general direction of the plate and pitched horribly.

Bogusevic did not get to a ball in front of him. on a positive note, he looked better against a LHP and got an infield hit after he pulled off of a CB. that will be a work in progress all season.

Maysonet played 3rd.

Manzella continued to hit the ball hard.

Yordany is still clueless at the plate. that's too bad.

Sacamanno has had a boatload full of baserunners on in the first few games. if he had been hot at the plate, he'd have way over 10 RBIs by now. alas, ...

[tbone421998]

Thanks Coach for all of your information.

[Jacksonian]

Manzella continued to hit the ball hard.

Sounds like he's taken to the mandate/threat from the Astros.

[MusicMan]

Sounds like he's taken to the mandate/threat from the Astros.

It would be nice if he could keep it up and give the club more options about moving Tejada, either to 3b or another team.

[JimR]

i think i'd move someone else before Tejada.

[Curly]

Thanks for the update Jim.  I'll be out there tonight with the fam to check them out.

[Reuben]

Sounds like he's taken to the mandate/threat from the Astros.

"hit the ball hard, or else"?

[S.P. Rodriguez]

"hit the ball hard, or else"?

I read enough to not question the content of the information Jacksonian shares with us.  But I have to admit, that statement left me a little confused.  I jumped over to the Bus but couldn't find any snippet of info to help clarify what is meant by "mandate/threat" from the Astros.

Jacksonian, would you mind elaborating on the message to Manzella from Astros mgmt?

[Jacksonian]

I read enough to not question the content of the information Jacksonian shares with us.  But I have to admit, that statement left me a little confused.  I jumped over to the Bus but couldn't find any snippet of info to help clarify what is meant by "mandate/threat" from the Astros.

Jacksonian, would you mind elaborating on the message to Manzella from Astros mgmt?

From the Top ten

"Right now the Astros believe he has the size and strength to hit consistently at the major league level. However Tommy needs to control the strike zone better, making better choices on pitches to hit and let go, and improve his ability to make consistent contact. He needs to work on hitting line drives instead of fly balls."

Manzella's been around since 05 and is 26 in a couple of days.  He's never hit as well as the Astros thought he could.  If he continues at the plate the way has in the past I don't believe the Astros are going to give him a shot at the majors.

[JimR]

Thanks for the update Jim.  I'll be out there tonight with the fam to check them out.

i'll be there too.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

From the Top ten

"Right now the Astros believe he has the size and strength to hit consistently at the major league level. However Tommy needs to control the strike zone better, making better choices on pitches to hit and let go, and improve his ability to make consistent contact. He needs to work on hitting line drives instead of fly balls."

Manzella's been around since 05 and is 26 in a couple of days.  He's never hit as well as the Astros thought he could.  If he continues at the plate the way has in the past I don't believe the Astros are going to give him a shot at the majors.

Thank you.  I didn't read the initial comment as a "mandate", operating under the assumption Manzella is the heir apparent at SS for Houston.  Obviously that was a premature conclusion.  Sorry for the short bus question....

[Jacksonian]

Thank you.  I didn't read the initial comment as a "mandate", operating under the assumption Manzella is the heir apparent at SS for Houston.  Obviously that was a premature conclusion.  Sorry for the short bus question....

Remember, Wade did not draft Manzella.  And, IMO, Wade has been putting more emphasis on offense from catchers and shortstops than Purp and Hun did.

[Duman]

i'll be there too.

Looking forward to first hand accounts of Bud Norris' stuff.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

Remember, Wade did not draft Manzella.  And, IMO, Wade has been putting more emphasis on offense from catchers and shortstops than Purp and Hun did.

So Wade is truly putting his stamp on the organization.  It's hard to argue against his or Heck's track record.  Rollins and Hardy are both good SS.