Morgan Ensberg

[Limey]

...is completely lost at the plate.  He's watching strikes into the catcher's mitt (remember that shit from the beginning of the season), taking pitches at which he should swing and swinging at pitches that he couldn't hit with a broom handle.

He's also made two very poor errors on routine ground balls to 3rd in the last two games.

The Astros' predicament is not all his fault, and they wouldn't be here without him.  But he's chosen a very, very bad time to go awaol.

I'd give serious consideration to moving him down the order and putting Lane behind Berkman.  And I really don't like how Lane hits.

[lc_db]

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...He's watching strikes into the catcher's mitt (remember that shit from the beginning of the season...

ThankyouThankyouThankyou

(just a pet peeve... well that and WillieT not "squaring around" when asked to sacrifice)

[edvio]

He's become an automatic out.  I swear, that hand injury is bothering him, but knowing him he's not going to say anything about cause he thinks "no one wants to hear about it."  I for one want to hear about it.  I want an explanation to what's going on.

[geezerdonk]

El Duque threw him 2 or 3 fat pitches last night and he missed them badly.

[Alkie]

I don't know what it looked like on television, but his final at bat in the 14th made me want to demand my money back...from him personally.

I'm not trying to be funny or cute, I've seen my sister take better hacks at the batting cages.  

It was like he just wanted to go home.

[BudGirl]

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He's become an automatic out.  I swear, that hand injury is bothering him, but knowing him he's not going to say anything about cause he thinks "no one wants to hear about it."  I for one want to hear about it.  I want an explanation to what's going on.

What hand injury?

[cc]

Did you miss the 700' homerun he hit just foul, followed by a solid single for an RBI?  Sox pitchers are making adjustments from game to game, and at-bat to at-bat on certain hitters.

I thought the same thing about Lane before last night, that he was lost.  And Taveras looked lost last night after looking like a new man the first two.

Small sample size.  Nothing good or bad these guys do surprises me anymore.  I won't be surprised if they win in the bottom of the 9th tonight in fact.  And watch it be AE, despite his being 0 for 107 with RISP in the playoffs (thanks, Joe, for reminding us). This team truly has a short memory.  Correction: no memory.

What a postseason!

[Taras Bulba]

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El Duque threw him 2 or 3 fat pitches last night and he missed them badly.

Yep.  I think he's dreaming about surfing or USC cheerleaders.

[edvio]

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He's become an automatic out.  I swear, that hand injury is bothering him, but knowing him he's not going to say anything about cause he thinks "no one wants to hear about it."  I for one want to hear about it.  I want an explanation to what's going on.

What hand injury?

He hasn't been the same since he got plunked in the hand.  There's gotta be something to it.  He needs to talk.

[Taras Bulba]

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He's become an automatic out.  I swear, that hand injury is bothering him, but knowing him he's not going to say anything about cause he thinks "no one wants to hear about it."  I for one want to hear about it.  I want an explanation to what's going on.

What hand injury?

He hasn't been the same since he got plunked in the hand.  There's gotta be something to it.  He needs to talk.

What does he need to say?

[Alkie]

"Sit me for Lamb."

[edvio]

I don't know, the way Lidge talks when he blows it.  Something.  This doesn't explain anything.   Link

[Limey]

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Did you miss the 700' homerun he hit just foul, followed by a solid single for an RBI?  Sox pitchers are making adjustments from game to game, and at-bat to at-bat on certain hitters.

I thought the same thing about Lane before last night, that he was lost.  And Taveras looked lost last night after looking like a new man the first two.

Small sample size.  Nothing good or bad these guys do surprises me anymore.  I won't be surprised if they win in the bottom of the 9th tonight in fact.  And watch it be AE, despite his being 0 for 107 with RISP in the playoffs (thanks, Joe, for reminding us). This team truly has a short memory.  Correction: no memory.

What a postseason!

Yes, that was a mighty blast...foul.  But the RBI was a grounder in the hole which is only a couple of inches from being a rally-killing double-play.  It would be a good piece of hitting if it wasn't for the fact that Morgan is grounding everything to the left side, which makes the RBI just luck.

He's trying to pull everything, hence the grounders.  He's given up going to opposite field completely, and later on last night he gave up swinging at strikes.

Totally.  Lost.

[Depot Stove]

Maybe he needs to stop writing for the Chronicle. He is descending to Justice/Lopez levels of suck.

[HurricaneDavid]

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He's also made two very poor errors on routine ground balls to 3rd in the last two games.

Ummmm, what?  He was charged with one error last night, which was a VERY tough hop and a VERY questionable error.  How about the smash double play that he started?  How about the barehanded play on the slow roller?  Before last night, his last error was Game 2 of the NLCS.  The offense is lacking, but give me a break - his defense has been pretty damn good.

[BudGirl]

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Ummmm, what?  He was charged with one error last night, which was a VERY tough hop and a VERY questionable error.  

That is debatable.

[Waldo]

His pitch selection was Hidalgo-esque last night.

[Limey]

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Ummmm, what?  He was charged with one error last night, which was a VERY tough hop and a VERY questionable error.  How about the smash double play that he started?  How about the barehanded play on the slow roller?  Before last night, his last error was Game 2 of the NLCS.  The offense is lacking, but give me a break - his defense has been pretty damn good.

That ball that clanked off his wrist last night was not a bad hop, and it's not a tough play if he moves his feet.  Game #2 he olayed a grounder into left field in the same inning as Biggio's non-error.

Yes he made some nice plays last night, but I'd like to see him make the routine ones too.  But his defense is not as much of a concern as his hitting.

[utastro]

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He's also made two very poor errors on routine ground balls to 3rd in the last two games.

Ummmm, what?  He was charged with one error last night, which was a VERY tough hop and a VERY questionable error.  How about the smash double play that he started?  How about the barehanded play on the slow roller?  Before last night, his last error was Game 2 of the NLCS.  The offense is lacking, but give me a break - his defense has been pretty damn good.

My grade for Morgan:
Defense: B+
Offense: F

[ybbodeus]

Had hoped his shaving would help.

[cc]

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Did you miss the 700' homerun he hit just foul, followed by a solid single for an RBI?  Sox pitchers are making adjustments from game to game, and at-bat to at-bat on certain hitters.

I thought the same thing about Lane before last night, that he was lost.  And Taveras looked lost last night after looking like a new man the first two.

Small sample size.  Nothing good or bad these guys do surprises me anymore.  I won't be surprised if they win in the bottom of the 9th tonight in fact.  And watch it be AE, despite his being 0 for 107 with RISP in the playoffs (thanks, Joe, for reminding us). This team truly has a short memory.  Correction: no memory.

What a postseason!

Yes, that was a mighty blast...foul.  But the RBI was a grounder in the hole which is only a couple of inches from being a rally-killing double-play.  It would be a good piece of hitting if it wasn't for the fact that Morgan is grounding everything to the left side, which makes the RBI just luck.

He's trying to pull everything, hence the grounders.  He's given up going to opposite field completely, and later on last night he gave up swinging at strikes.

Totally.  Lost.

What about the blast he hit fair (even if Fox didn't quite capture it all) two days before that?  And what about the Game 6 insurance RBI in St. Louis with the stroke up the middle?  Small sample size.  He was lost last night.  Give Garland and El Duque credit.  One pitched a complete game recently, and the other essentially finished off the Red Sox when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

[Dobro]

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Ummmm, what?  He was charged with one error last night, which was a VERY tough hop and a VERY questionable error.

That's Horseshit.

[BudGirl]

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Did you miss the 700' homerun he hit just foul, followed by a solid single for an RBI?  Sox pitchers are making adjustments from game to game, and at-bat to at-bat on certain hitters.

I thought the same thing about Lane before last night, that he was lost.  And Taveras looked lost last night after looking like a new man the first two.

Small sample size.  Nothing good or bad these guys do surprises me anymore.  I won't be surprised if they win in the bottom of the 9th tonight in fact.  And watch it be AE, despite his being 0 for 107 with RISP in the playoffs (thanks, Joe, for reminding us). This team truly has a short memory.  Correction: no memory.

What a postseason!

Yes, that was a mighty blast...foul.  But the RBI was a grounder in the hole which is only a couple of inches from being a rally-killing double-play.  It would be a good piece of hitting if it wasn't for the fact that Morgan is grounding everything to the left side, which makes the RBI just luck.

He's trying to pull everything, hence the grounders.  He's given up going to opposite field completely, and later on last night he gave up swinging at strikes.

Totally.  Lost.

What about the blast he hit fair (even if Fox didn't quite capture it all) two days before that?  And what about the Game 6 insurance RBI in St. Louis with the stroke up the middle?  Small sample size.  He was lost last night.  Give Garland and El Duque credit.  One pitched a complete game recently, and the other essentially finished off the Red Sox when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

He's missed more than he's made.  .143 WS average., .200 OBP (only ahead of Everett).

No reason Berkman should see a pitch to hit tonight.  They IBB Berkman. loading the bases, to get to Ensberg.  Ensberg has to be the X factor for the Astros to in, imo.

[Limey]

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What about the blast he hit fair (even if Fox didn't quite capture it all) two days before that?  And what about the Game 6 insurance RBI in St. Louis with the stroke up the middle?  Small sample size.  He was lost last night.  Give Garland and El Duque credit.  One pitched a complete game recently, and the other essentially finished off the Red Sox when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

In the playoffs he is batting .226 and slugging .340.  Of the starting position players, only Everett has worse numbers.  In the World Series Mo's numbers don't look anywhere near as fat.

[HurricaneDavid]

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That's Horseshit.

You add alot.

[Tralfaz]

OK, the Morgan Ensberg we're seeing this WS is just not the same guy that helped get us here.  I was hoping the HR the other night was gonna shake him loose, but he seems to have simply lost it right now.  He's not up there swinging the living crap out of the bat.  His swings are timid, and as HudsonHawk pointed out, he's just stabbing at the ball.  Take him out of the clean up spot.  Injured or not, talking about it or not, we're not get quality AB's from him right now, and there's no time to keep hoping he comes around.

[Bench]

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I don't know what it looked like on television, but his final at bat in the 14th made me want to demand my money back...from him personally.

I'm not trying to be funny or cute, I've seen my sister take better hacks at the batting cages.  

It was like he just wanted to go home.

That was one of the worst at bats I've ever seen. I couldn't really tell from my angle how close the first two pitches that he watched into Widger's glove were, but he treated the third pitch with more of a sigh than a swing.

I turned to my dad and said, "The last of many terrible at bats for Mo tonight." The early RBI was just hitting where they aint. Keep doing that Mo, that seems to be your entire offensive arsenal these days. Do that four times tonight.

[cc]

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What about the blast he hit fair (even if Fox didn't quite capture it all) two days before that?  And what about the Game 6 insurance RBI in St. Louis with the stroke up the middle?  Small sample size.  He was lost last night.  Give Garland and El Duque credit.  One pitched a complete game recently, and the other essentially finished off the Red Sox when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

In the playoffs he is batting .226 and slugging .340.  Of the starting position players, only Everett has worse numbers.  In the World Series Mo's numbers don't look anywhere near as fat.

We can play this sample size game all day long:

After his RBI single last night, he definitely did not have good at-bats.  Granted.  But going into Game 3, his last 5 games looked like this:

BA .263
RBI 3
HR 1
K 4

Not outstanding, but not woeful either.  He probably had numerous 5-game stretches like this throughout the year, reasonable but not great production that we would expect from him in a given week.  Maybe he's run into some tougher than average pitching, maybe he's back to thinking a little too much.  But lost?

And at what point did he begin to be lost?  The day after he had the 5 RBIs in Game 1 in Atlanta?  Did Smoltz lose him?  Perhaps he's "choking" like Biggio and Bagwell did all those previous years?  Ok, that was sarcasm, and not directed at you.  I'm just finding it hard that you're piling on Mo like this.  The vaunted pitching, starting and bullpen, more than anything else has been the ultimate letdown this series.  That's almost indisputable.

Hey, I'm normally no Ensberg apologist, what with all the backward K's we have to endure.  But if Lidge, Wheeler, Qualls and Oswalt would have done what we reasonably expect of them in a given outing, Astros are up in this series 2-1.  Maybe the Chi-Sox are just as responsible for those outcomes as well.

[BudGirl]

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What about the blast he hit fair (even if Fox didn't quite capture it all) two days before that?  And what about the Game 6 insurance RBI in St. Louis with the stroke up the middle?  Small sample size.  He was lost last night.  Give Garland and El Duque credit.  One pitched a complete game recently, and the other essentially finished off the Red Sox when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

In the playoffs he is batting .226 and slugging .340.  Of the starting position players, only Everett has worse numbers.  In the World Series Mo's numbers don't look anywhere near as fat.

We can play this sample size game all day long:

After his RBI single last night, he definitely did not have good at-bats.  Granted.  But going into Game 3, his last 5 games looked like this:

BA .263
RBI 3
HR 1
K 4

Not outstanding, but not woeful either.  He probably had numerous 5-game stretches like this throughout the year, reasonable but not great production that we would expect from him in a given week.  Maybe he's run into some tougher than average pitching, maybe he's back to thinking a little too much.  But lost?

And at what point did he begin to be lost?  The day after he had the 5 RBIs in Game 1 in Atlanta?  Did Smoltz lose him?  Perhaps he's "choking" like Biggio and Bagwell did all those previous years?  Ok, that was sarcasm, and not directed at you.  I'm just finding it hard that you're piling on Mo like this.  The vaunted pitching, starting and bullpen, more than anything else has been the ultimate letdown this series.  That's almost indisputable.

Hey, I'm normally no Ensberg apologist, what with all the backward K's we have to endure.  But if Lidge, Wheeler, Qualls and Oswalt would have done what we reasonably expect of them in a given outing, Astros are up in this series 2-1.  Maybe the Chi-Sox are just as responsible for those outcomes as well.

The Chi-Sox are definitely responsible for the outcomes.  They have taken great at-bats, fouling off pitch after pitch.  

But make no mistake, Ensberg isn't doing his job.  It's not just about getting on base, he is suppose to clean the bases.  Runners on 3rd with one or less out, get the runner home.

[Astros Fan in Big D]

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But make no mistake, Ensberg isn't doing his job.  It's not just about getting on base, he is suppose to clean the bases.  Runners on 3rd with one or less out, get the runner home.

Look no further than game 1 with the tying run at third.  The cleanup hitter is up.  There must be a fly ball.  Period.  Instead. . .first of three straight losses.

[pravata]

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But make no mistake, Ensberg isn't doing his job.  It's not just about getting on base, he is suppose to clean the bases.  Runners on 3rd with one or less out, get the runner home.

Look no further than game 1 with the tying run at third.  The cleanup hitter is up.  There must be a fly ball.  Period.  Instead. . .first of three straight losses.

Are you refering to the shot down the line that Crede made a play on?

[Golden Sombrero]

Mo hit that liner right at Crede, but he also had a chance at redemption later in the game--Willy on 3d and Berkman on 1st.  Mo struck out swinging.

[pravata]

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Mo hit that liner right at Crede, but he also had a chance at redemption later in the game--Willy on 3d and Berkman on 1st.  Mo struck out swinging.

Yeah, that was bad.  But better than looking.  Lots of individual moments could have made this a completely different series.

[Golden Sombrero]

Mo just looks like a zombie.  Berkman is the only hitter the Sox are afraid of right now.  Mo can be the guy to make them pay for that lack of respect.  I have confidence that he can break his semi-slump in heroic fashion.  But it needs to happen tonight.  

But whatever happens, Mo is one of the reasons we're in this thing right now.  And when I think back on the 2005 season, that's what I'll remember first.

[HudsonHawk]

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He hasn't been the same since he got plunked in the hand.  There's gotta be something to it.  He needs to talk.

No.  He started like this  three weeks before getting hit in the hand.  He's punching at the ball, just like he did last year.  It started well before the hand injury.

[Sleepy]

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He hasn't been the same since he got plunked in the hand.  There's gotta be something to it.  He needs to talk.

No.  He started like this  three weeks before getting hit in the hand.  He's punching at the ball, just like he did last year.  It started well before the hand injury.

His hitting last night very much resembled his approach when struggling last year.  I had thought he was struggling through the WS, but last night looked so much like last year it was alarming.

[Nate in IA]

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I don't know what it looked like on television, but his final at bat in the 14th made me want to demand my money back...from him personally.

I'm not trying to be funny or cute, I've seen my sister take better hacks at the batting cages.  

It was like he just wanted to go home.

You could see it in his eyes when he went to the plate that he really didn't want to be there any longer.

[Golden Sombrero]

I turned to comment to a friend during Mo's at bat, and when I looked back at the screen he had already K'd.  That AB was seriously about 5 seconds long.

Almost every Astros batter seemed to be swinging for the fences every time in the Extras.  The Sox saw that and used it in their efforts.

[drew corleone]

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I don't know what it looked like on television, but his final at bat in the 14th made me want to demand my money back...from him personally.

I'm not trying to be funny or cute, I've seen my sister take better hacks at the batting cages.  

It was like he just wanted to go home.

You could see it in his eyes when he went to the plate that he really didn't want to be there any longer.

Not sure I'd go that far, but he didn't look confident at all.

[cc]

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But make no mistake, Ensberg isn't doing his job.  It's not just about getting on base, he is suppose to clean the bases.  Runners on 3rd with one or less out, get the runner home.

Look no further than game 1 with the tying run at third.  The cleanup hitter is up.  There must be a fly ball.  Period.  Instead. . .first of three straight losses.

Are you refering to the shot down the line that Crede made a play on?

Yeah, if he were doing his job his shots down the line would miss those gloves.  And he'd drive in every single run from third every single time.  And he'd never look bad for a pitch, an at-bat or a game.

Bottom line: Lance Berkman is the only person in the entire lineup whose driving in runs with any consistency.  And he's had his bad moments.  Really bad moments.  Hey, Mo isn't have a Crede-like postseason, but who else is?  Haven't we learned anything from Purpura and the way he stuck with these guys, and far longer than I would have, I might add?  Leave him in there right where he is and have a little faith.

[No? in Austin]

cc,

When Garner melted down last night about "embarassing display of offense", he was shooting squarely at Ensberg's target.  Agree with Garner's tatic of taking it to the media aside, if you're the clean-up hitter (not leadoff, not the #8 hitter, but the guy that is suppose to cash in the runners from third base and so forth), then you *know* what is expected of you.

First and foremost, what is expected is a much more aggressive and refined approach to hitting.  Like HH said, Mo has been doing things like a punch and judy slap hitter lately and that is *NOT* what you want from a clean-up hitter.  Garner cannot *change* the lineup now, so he's left with challenging them to do better or at least approach their respective jobs better.  So in that case, if you are the cleanup man, you better take to heart the challenge laid forth to approach your job with driving in runs in mind.