who catches Wandy?

[OldBlevins]

Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

[MRaup]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

[MusicMan]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

Ouch... the truth hurts.

Over/under on Nieve taking Wandy's rotation spot?  I'll take May 15.

[Jacksonian]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

Ouch... the truth hurts.

Over/under on Nieve taking Wandy's rotation spot?  I'll take May 15.

Nieve?  I'd guess Carlos.

[MusicMan]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

Ouch... the truth hurts.

Over/under on Nieve taking Wandy's rotation spot?  I'll take May 15.

Nieve?  I'd guess Carlos.

I'll believe in Carlos' return only after I see him in blood'n'mud pitching every five days.  Until then, it's like a Bigfoot sighting to me.

[jaklewein]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

Ouch... the truth hurts.

Over/under on Nieve taking Wandy's rotation spot?  I'll take May 15.

I think Wandy's going to do fine.  He can pitch.  What's Nieve shown you that says he's a better option.  He didn't look all that impressive to me last night.

[astro pete]

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I think Wandy's going to do fine.  He can pitch.  What's Nieve shown you that says he's a better option.  He didn't look all that impressive to me last night.

Well, Nieve had an impressive spring, whereas Rodriguez was pretty bad.

[Matt]

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I'll believe in Carlos' return only after I see him in blood'n'mud pitching every five days.  Until then, it's like a Bigfoot sighting to me.

Carlos is just as blurry as Bigfoot is too.

[MusicMan]

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Munson? Or will he catch Backe?  Or what?  Anyone know?

My guess is people in the Crawford Boxes.

Ouch... the truth hurts.

Over/under on Nieve taking Wandy's rotation spot?  I'll take May 15.

I think Wandy's going to do fine.  He can pitch.  What's Nieve shown you that says he's a better option.  He didn't look all that impressive to me last night.

Wandy looks like a AAAA pitcher to me.

[EasTexAstro]

The fish seemed to like LH pitching last night, and Wandy is nto normally considered anywhere near Andy in tallent. That said, I would take the under on how many runs he gives up compared to Pettitte.

Maybe because he gets pulled quicker.

Hopefully, because he does just enough to keep the bats quiet.

I don't find Moehler completely intimidating, but his very small sample size stats against Houston (1.50 era) and at MMPark (3.60 era) show he can do it.

[lc_db]

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I'll believe in Carlos' return only after I see him in blood'n'mud pitching every five days.  Until then, it's like a Bigfoot sighting to me.

Carlos is just as blurry as Bigfoot is too.

..but Sasquatch knows how to slide.

[jaklewein]

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I think Wandy's going to do fine.  He can pitch.  What's Nieve shown you that says he's a better option.  He didn't look all that impressive to me last night.

Well, Nieve had an impressive spring, whereas Rodriguez was pretty bad.

Niether did all that well if you ask me.  Nieve came on towards the end, but Wandy pretty much knew he had a spot in the rotation all along and my guess is that he was working on things (like his new cutter which I'm interested to see), while Nieve was pitching all out ever outing.  Wandy has a good fastball, great change up and a decent curve.  If he can use this new cutter in against righties and go away with his change with some decent control then I think you're going to see him be pretty successful.  Only time will tell I guess.

[astro pete]

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Niether did all that well if you ask me.  Nieve came on towards the end, but Wandy pretty much knew he had a spot in the rotation all along and my guess is that he was working on things (like his new cutter which I'm interested to see), while Nieve was pitching all out ever outing.  Wandy has a good fastball, great change up and a decent curve.  If he can use this new cutter in against righties and go away with his change with some decent control then I think you're going to see him be pretty successful.  Only time will tell I guess.

The Astros think he's the better option, too.  At least for now.  Given the "depth" we have at the back end of the rotation, I imagine Wandy isn't going to be on as long a leash as he was last year, when there weren't other options.

[tophfar]

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I'll believe in Carlos' return only after I see him in blood'n'mud pitching every five days.  Until then, it's like a Bigfoot sighting to me.

Carlos is just as blurry as Bigfoot is too.

I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that's extra scary to me, because there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. "Run. He's fuzzy. Get outta here."

-Mitch Hedberg

[jaklewein]

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Niether did all that well if you ask me.  Nieve came on towards the end, but Wandy pretty much knew he had a spot in the rotation all along and my guess is that he was working on things (like his new cutter which I'm interested to see), while Nieve was pitching all out ever outing.  Wandy has a good fastball, great change up and a decent curve.  If he can use this new cutter in against righties and go away with his change with some decent control then I think you're going to see him be pretty successful.  Only time will tell I guess.

The Astros think he's the better option, too.  At least for now.  Given the "depth" we have at the back end of the rotation, I imagine Wandy isn't going to be on as long a leash as he was last year, when there weren't other options.

That may be true, but Wandy went 10-10 with a 5.53ERA last season....6-6 with a 4.40ERA after the break.  If he puts up similar numbers to the latter then he's probably got nothing to worry about.  He is, after all, a #4 starter.

I'm hoping that he can beat those numbers by a little bit.

[toddthebod]

I heard a couple of people on NY radio suggest that the Marlins did so well against Pettitte becuase Girardi used to catch Pettitte and could give the Marlins real detailed scouting reports.  It looked more to me that he was just leaving pitches over the middle.  But what do I know.

Catching Wandy sounds like a reason to go to the Urologist.

[No? in Austin]

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I heard a couple of people on NY radio suggest that the Marlins did so well against Pettitte becuase Girardi used to catch Pettitte and could give the Marlins real detailed scouting reports.  It looked more to me that he was just leaving pitches over the middle.  But what do I know.

Catching Wandy sounds like a reason to go to the Urologist.

Pettitte looked like he was in spring training, dead-arm form last night.  Since he got started later than the other pitchers, it didn't surprise me that he was at that stage in his progress.  He may not be any better the next start either, but eventually he'll be just fine.

[homer]

 

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Since he got started later than the other pitchers

Why did he start later?

[davek]

His parents held him back a year...

[BudGirl]

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I heard a couple of people on NY radio suggest that the Marlins did so well against Pettitte becuase Girardi used to catch Pettitte and could give the Marlins real detailed scouting reports.  It looked more to me that he was just leaving pitches over the middle.  But what do I know.

Catching Wandy sounds like a reason to go to the Urologist.

Pettitte looked like he was in spring training, dead-arm form last night.  Since he got started later than the other pitchers, it didn't surprise me that he was at that stage in his progress.  He may not be any better the next start either, but eventually he'll be just fine.

He may have lied, but Pettitte said his late start was not the reason for his performance last night.  He pretty much said he was bad and his arm felt fine.

[No? in Austin]

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He may have lied, but Pettitte said his late start was not the reason for his performance last night.  He pretty much said he was bad and his arm felt fine.

You *want* him to admit to being a little behind the other pitchers?  He won't do it.  But he had that look of the dead-arm guys late in spring.  That is what spring is for, get your pitches in order, start to ramp up your IPs up towards end and of course "break down" the arm.  You break down the arm in order to get to the dead-arm phase and then build it back up.  That way you're ready for the season start.

That is why most guys get rocked hard towards the end of spring too.  And Pettitte looked like he was in his dead-arm spring stage of arm strength... to me any way.  No movement, no location, no speed.  Nada.

[No? in Austin]

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Since he got started later than the other pitchers

Why did he start later?

He held back his off-season regime this year in order to give his surgically repaired elbow a chance to rest and bounce back for an entire season's worth of work.  He wasn't throwing off a mound until mid-spring and got his first start later than everyone else.  He was about two weeks behind everyone else if I remember correctly.

[BudGirl]

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He may have lied, but Pettitte said his late start was not the reason for his performance last night.  He pretty much said he was bad and his arm felt fine.

You *want* him to admit to being a little behind the other pitchers?  He won't do it.  But he had that look of the dead-arm guys late in spring.  That is what spring is for, get your pitches in order, start to ramp up your IPs up towards end and of course "break down" the arm.  You break down the arm in order to get to the dead-arm phase and then build it back up.  That way you're ready for the season start.

That is why most guys get rocked hard towards the end of spring too.  And Pettitte looked like he was in his dead-arm spring stage of arm strength... to me any way.  No movement, no location, no speed.  Nada.

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I didn't expect him to say his arm is tired.  Of course, I think he lied.  I just didn't want to come out and call him liar.

[No? in Austin]

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I didn't expect him to say his arm is tired.  Of course, I think he lied.  I just didn't want to come out and call him liar.

Well, I'm not necessarily calling him a liar either.  It is not that he nor I want to excuse a bad performance by him last night, so he took the high road.  Good for him.  I merely suggested the reason to answer the New York media's specualtion that Giardi had the book on Pettitte last night.

Judging by Pettitte's showing, you didn't need a book, all pitches were up, no movement, nothing.

[Matt]

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I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that's extra scary to me, because there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. "Run. He's fuzzy. Get outta here."

-Mitch Hedberg

I was wondering if anyone would notice the Mitch Hedberg reference.