Wandy Rodriguez, New-Look Astros Beat Pirates, 7-4

by Charlie Wilmoth on Aug 29, 2011 11:24 PM EDT

HOUSTON - AUGUST 29: Pitcher Wandy Rodriguez #51 of the Houston Astros throws in the first inning against the PIttsburgh Pirates at Minute Maid Park on August 29, 2011 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

I have to give the Astros some credit - the lineup they're using right now isn't 'boring old Astros' at all, and while most of their new faces are flawed (the players, not necessarily their faces), many of them have a reasonable shot at being productive for the next few years. The Astros took too long to admit that they had serious problems, but they've finally done it.

Tonight, though, it was Carlos Lee, a product of the old Astros' worst traits (he's aging, declining, un-athletic, no longer any fun to watch, and signed to a gigantic contract) who did the Pirates in. Ross Ohlendorf actually struck out six batters and left after five innings with a lead. But Wandy Rodriguez held out for seven innings (striking out an obscene 13 Pirates in the process), long enough for Lee to blow the game open with a three-run homer off Jose Veras.

The Pirates had only five hits. All of them went for extra bases, but that won't get it done. That tends to happen when you strike out 16 times, though.

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well

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by WVPiratesfan on Aug 29, 2011 11:46 PM EDT reply actions

this is starting to get really hard to watch

i thought this was the year where i wouldn’t cringe at the thought of pirates’ september baseball. Well, maybe someone interesting will get a call up….. Hague?

by bbautista24 on Aug 30, 2011 12:37 AM EDT reply actions

I Still

Didn’t really see anyone who was even really all that interesting in the Astros lineup…

(Beyond Altuve of course, who is fun for the novelty factor.)

by Slizeezyc on Aug 30, 2011 2:10 AM EDT reply actions

J.D. Martinez looks like a pretty good hitter. Altuve, Bogusevic, Schaefer and Paredes are interesting, though flawed.

I find it kind of interesting that all the prospect watchers (myself included) thought the Astros had absolutely nothing on the farm before the season began. How wrong we were! This current group of prospects may not be the core of anything more than a last-place team, but they have some talent. It’s yet another reminder that you can’t jump to conclusions on baseball players. Players rise and fall so quickly, and performance is super volatile.

by bolton on Aug 30, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Not going to wind very often....

with 5 minutes of offense.

by Thunder on Aug 30, 2011 2:17 AM EDT reply actions

Win…not wind.

by Thunder on Aug 30, 2011 2:17 AM EDT up reply actions

The Pirates 5 minutes of offense will actually generate a lot of wind, to be fair.

"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto

by blackjackfishtaco on Aug 30, 2011 11:06 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, it’s like taco night at the cafeteria…

by Aphthakid on Aug 30, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

More like burrito night

by Thunder on Aug 30, 2011 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

No...

the wind was generated during the other 2.5 hours of futility.

by Thunder on Aug 30, 2011 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s what I was referring to…

"When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth."
-Roberto

by blackjackfishtaco on Aug 30, 2011 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions

To be fair, nine of those strikeouts were Wood (4!), d’Arnaud (3!), and Ohlendorf (2).

by matskralc on Aug 30, 2011 6:41 AM EDT reply actions

They managed to accomplish that feat in nine plate appearances too

and Cedeno struck out in his first appearance so the hitters in the 7-8-9 slots K’d in 10 consecutive PAs before Jones walked with two out in the 9th. Almost too bad he didn’t K there too so as to make it a perfect evening so to speak.

by WestCoastBuc on Aug 30, 2011 6:53 AM EDT up reply actions

It was really pathetic...

…watching Wood and d’Arnaud flail at the same pitch (slider, down and in, at their feet) each and every at-bat.

Ronny Cedeno may not be an All-Star, or even an average MLB regular, but anyone advocating they dump him and hold a competition in Spring Training between Wood and d’Arnaud needs to be shown a tape of their at-bats in this game to get them thinking clearly. Wood is a never-will-be bordering on a has-been, and d’Arnaud may have some skills, but he was absolutely overmatched in this game.

It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.

by Bishop1973 on Aug 30, 2011 7:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Even if you did have spring competition

and DA emerged as your starter, I still think you need Ronny as fall-back, injury fill-in, back-up, what have you. Short of bringing someone else in, I cant see letting Ronny go at that price.

by Horace Clarke on Aug 30, 2011 11:32 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Plus at this point hes

the best you’ve got.

by Horace Clarke on Aug 30, 2011 11:35 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

To me, Wood is not a consideration

by Horace Clarke on Aug 30, 2011 11:36 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

If there was a spring competition...

…and d’Arnaud, by some miracle, happened to improve so much over the winter that he was considered the better option than Cedeno going forward, I would think that NH would be much more inclined to try to deal Cedeno to a team that had a SS worse than Cedeno. He isn’t the best SS in the world, but he’s a darn sight better than most of the FA SS available this offseason, so someone else might be willing to take the chance on getting above-average defense with spotty offense.

Also, Ronny just doesn’t strike me as a “sit on the bench until needed and actually be decent” guy. He is prone to losing focus, so going games on end without playing isn’t going to help him, and I don’t see him being an effective PH either.

If NH doesn’t go out and get a SS in the offseason, and either declines to bring Ronny back or brings him back but Hurdle goes with d’Arnaud at his present skill level (or Wood) at SS for 2012, heaven help this team.

It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.

by Bishop1973 on Aug 30, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

It looks like the "Cedeno must go crowd" has been silenced

at least for a day.

BTW, even though I live a long way from Houston the game was blacked out here on MLB Extra Innings. The only games on at the time the game started were a couple of American League games. Does anyone understand why that was? Is there now some kind of Monday night blackout as well as the Saturday Fox blackout?

by WestCoastBuc on Aug 30, 2011 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

I live in St Louis and I got the game

by maguro on Aug 30, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

d'arnaud has to start 2012 in AAA

he ain’t close to ready IMO. Wood needs to start the year in some other organization.

by theatrain on Aug 30, 2011 9:07 AM EDT up reply actions

I sincerely hope Wood and d'Arnaud never start the same game again in 2011

or at least do not appear back to back in the lineup

by gonfalon on Aug 30, 2011 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

The Pirates are not winning the division and they’re not going to finish near .500. So, for me, the results don’t matter too much at this point. I’d give D’Arnaud a lot of time in September.

by bolton on Aug 30, 2011 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

What can you say about last night....

That was hard to watch. I hope September doesn’t look like this.

by JSteelers86 on Aug 30, 2011 7:00 AM EDT reply actions

We have a serious K problem

Both hitting and pitching wise, and we won’t compete until its fixed. I fear it will take more than one year to fix it.

I still don’t want Ohlendorf back next year.

Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained

by Kosstic518 on Aug 30, 2011 7:12 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I am starting to hate Veras...

The guy has been rough. He has great stuff when he is on but the guy has cost this team several wins. Pirates are showing signs of talent but I am not sure if this team will have a better record next year. 20 straight seasons… ugh…

by Joey Mooney on Aug 30, 2011 7:14 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

If we traded for Wandy

we’d add 3-4 wins a year just for not having to face him, not to mention whatever wins he’d put up. Guy owns us. He owns other people too (Atlanta, Mets, Padres, Cards) but that’s their problem.

by bucdaddy on Aug 30, 2011 9:40 AM EDT reply actions

Not technically true

Not to be argumentative, but Wandy’s career stats against the Pirates don’t show much “ownership,” as it were.

7-5 W-L, 4.23 ERA, 1.369 WHIP.

His career ERA is 4.08, career WHIP is 1.345, so the Pirates are on the high side of his average for both of those. Career record is 72-73, which puts him a little better against the Pirates than the rest of MLB, but not by much.

The one area where he destroys the Bucs is K:BB rate, which is 3.47:1, the highest of his career against any team he’s faced at least 7 times; this is as much as function of his skil as a pitcher as it is the Pirates’ lineup being generally putrid year-in and year-out.

It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.

by Bishop1973 on Aug 30, 2011 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions

SEEMS

like he owns us, then. I’m always surprised if/when we beat him.

He DOES have his fifth-best career OPS+ figure against us (.717), with only the four teams above lower (that aren’t AL teams). So basically, we turn into a lineup of 2011 Steve Pearces against him.

You’re right on the K’s: 412 career PAs, 104 K’s. So we K more than 25% of the time he faces us.

by bucdaddy on Aug 30, 2011 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions