{"id":4918,"date":"2009-07-07T07:16:04","date_gmt":"2009-07-07T12:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spikesnstars.com\/?p=4918"},"modified":"2009-07-07T07:26:10","modified_gmt":"2009-07-07T12:26:10","slug":"astros-misc-tuesday-morning-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/2009\/07\/07\/astros-misc-tuesday-morning-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Astros misc: Tuesday morning edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Making strides<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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With gems in San Diego on Tuesday and San Francisco on Sunday, Roy has won consecutive starts for the first time this season (17.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 14 SO, 2 HR). <\/span>Why the turnaround from his starts earlier in the season? <\/span>Roy credits a change in his pitching mechanics:<\/span><\/p>\n

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“I finally got some length in my stride. <\/span>The first part of the year I was throwing too far back. I’m getting a little bit more of a stride towards the plate and carrying the ball with me closer to the plate so [hitters] don’t get so much distance to see the ball.”<\/span><\/em> (Astros.com<\/a>) <\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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“It feels like I\u2019m throwing from 50 feet instead of 60 feet. <\/span>The hitter doesn\u2019t have as much distance to see the ball.”<\/span><\/em> <\/span>(Chron.com<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

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Standing pat<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Astros are not likely to be involved in any major deals prior to the July 31st<\/sup> trading deadline, and instead will consider upgrading from the farm. <\/span>(My Fox Houston<\/a>) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Wade comments on limited payroll flexibility and reminds of a significant move made during Spring Training: <\/span><\/p>\n

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“I’ve sounded the cautionary note on a number of occasions. <\/span>People expecting big things, significant things at the trading deadline, again I have to sound the note, we extended ourselves from a payroll standpoint when we went out and signed Pudge Rodriguez in spring training. We felt we had a chance to make our club better that day and not wait until July 31 to do something like that. We made a significant move at that point in time.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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He also notes that the Astros won\u2019t raid the farm to make a deal:<\/span><\/p>\n

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“The other thing that we’ve been very candid about is the fact that we are going to be very protective of the prospects in our system at this stage. <\/span>We need to build the system. We’re pleased with the results of the last couple of drafts, but we have a long way to go in that regard\u2026. I really think the composition of the club, as it exists today along with the potential of a couple of moves from (Triple-A) Round Rock, represents what our fans should expect us to have going forward. I don’t see on the near horizon a blockbuster deal taking place. I don’t think the blockbuster-type player is going to be available. If he is available I think the asking price from a talent standpoint will be prohibitive.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Wade doesn\u2019t anticipate other clubs to make significant deadline deals either:<\/span><\/p>\n

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“The economy, as it exists today, is not just in Houston. It’s affecting every club. There are not a lot of teams that are going to be in a position to be able to take on an appreciable amount of salary. So the first thing you are going to here (sic) from a club when they have an interest in a significant-salaried player is how much money are you willing to take back and I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of cash-back deals going on\u2026 I would be very, very surprised if there is a lot of significant movement at the trading deadline this year.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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So much for the 6-man rotation experiment (for a cycle anyway)\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Astros will start Ortiz in the non-continued<\/em> game against the Nationals on Thursday and Roy on Friday. <\/span>Both will be on regular rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“We’re going to go with just our regular five guys for these next five games,” Cecil Cooper said. “Roy is scheduled for Friday and Ortiz on Thursday. We don’t know about the suspended game.” <\/span><\/em>(JdJO blog<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

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As for the suspended game, Cooper is not yet sure who will take the mound. (Chron.com<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re waiting to see what happens Tuesday and Wednesday,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cIt will be a little strange, a little different (in the suspended game). I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever experienced that. It will be a little different. <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m curious as to whether we\u2019re going to have to wear our gray and then switch to white. I\u2019m not sure how they do that.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Baby steps<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Brocail threw four bullpens last week, and on Monday threw his first bullpen for Astros coaches since going on the DL on May 4. <\/span>(Chron.com<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is just the first time we\u2019ve seen him off the mound,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cJust from my end of it he looked good. He only threw about 25 fastballs, but the ball\u2019s coming out of his hand good.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cThis will be the fifth [bullpen], but it\u2019s the first one they\u2019ve seen,\u201d [Brocail] said. \u201cI\u2019m pain-free.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cI missed this\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sean Berry talks about cancer, recovery, the game and being back at work. <\/span>(Chron.com<\/a>) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery night, I wanted to jump through the TV screen. It was funny \u2014 Aaron Boone and I were calling and texting each other. What are they doing? It was stupid things, being a fan. We needed to feel part of it.\u201d <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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In Wade he trusts (and in Heck too)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Justice opines that McLane trusts Wade in a way that he has not trusted his previous general managers. <\/span>(Chron.com<\/a>) <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Tal Smith on Wade, and on the relationship between Wade and McLane: <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cEd is a very genuine, direct, sincere person. <\/span>There is no agenda. I\u2019m not saying others had agendas, but Drayton might have perceived that they did. <\/span>Drayton is very comfortable with Ed and has great confidence in Ed.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Although McLane hasn\u2019t approved everything Wade has proposed, he likes his approach: <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat I like about Ed is that he has his facts lined up when he brings you something. <\/span>He doesn\u2019t try to oversell anything. He comes in and says, \u2018Here\u2019s what I want. Here\u2019s the budget. Here\u2019s what I think we can accomplish.\u2019 He has brought me big ideas. He thinks things through and is very decisive.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Wade appreciates that McLane doesn\u2019t just blindly rubber-stamp his proposals, but notes McLane generally signs off on those made to him:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s the way it should be. <\/span>I don\u2019t want anyone to rubber-stamp everything we come up with. It\u2019s my responsibility to make our case.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cDrayton wants to have a reason why you want to do something. <\/span>If you explain it and support it and articulate it, by and large he\u2019s probably going to sign off on it.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Within this same article, Justice also discusses the Bobby Heck hire and player development.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Heck went to work for the Astros only after being assured he\u2019d have the freedom to do the job the way he thought it should be done. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Heck on rebuilding through the draft:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c[McLane\u2019s] adopted what we\u2019re trying to do here. <\/span>The presentations we\u2019ve made have shown him we can compete here at the big leagues and think long term.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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McLane on what went wrong with player development prior to the arrival of Heck;<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the right people. <\/span>Our scouting was wrong. We selected the wrong players. Bobby came in and made some changes immediately.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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____________________ <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Astros are not likely to be involved in any major deals prior to the July 31st trading deadline, and instead will consider upgrading from the farm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[281],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orangewhoopass.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}