Kerfuffle means disorder and the word was used in an article in the NYTimes.com today by Joe LaPointe. I don’t think I have ever seen that word used in modern-day print, so I had to use it in the headline. I also had to use it because it perfectly describes Russ Ortiz’s performance on Saturday.
Russ continues to struggle on the mound and ended his appearance yesterday in the 5th inning in a 10-3 loss. He gave up 6 earned runs and never seemed to get into a comfortable zone. It was a disappointing start and I wonder how much time Ed Wade is spending on the phones trying to find a number five pitcher.
There is a player at Round Rock that might be worth looking at, but he would only get one start before the trade deadline. Yorman Bazardo is 9-4 with a 2.76 ERA, 71 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP. His stats look good and he can’t be any worse than Ortiz was yesterday, can he?
Without a bonafide #5, the Astros are going to really struggle to win the division. They are 1.5 games out of first and still 3 games out of the Wild Card lead. The Cubs are actually playing really well right now, so Houston needs to stay vigilant.
One thing we can hope for is that St. Louis seems to be making alot of moves on their roster and sometimes that hurts chemistry more than it helps get more wins. They traded away Chris Duncan whose father is pitching coach for the team and I have to think that there are some players in the clubhouse who are not happy with that move.
I expect that they will make one more big trade before the deadline. There are some who feel that they are in the run for Roy Halliday. If they get him, then it makes it even more important that the Astros find a solid #5 pitcher. The addition of Halliday would boost the Cardinals to be the NL favorite for the pennant and Houston would have to set their sites on the Wild Card. That won’t be easy and the current rotation isn’t going to cut it.
2009 Draft Talk
It’s been awhile since the Astros signed a draft pick, so at this point, I usually assume that the unsigned players will remain unsigned. Houston has 16 picks that are out there; most of them at the bottom of the draft. There is one high pick, Geoffery Thomas of Stephenson High School, that is unsigned. Thomas had a pretty phenomenal season in 2009 going 3-2 with a miniscule ERA of 0.51 and 48 strikeouts. I can’t find much about him on the web, so I don’t know if he has chosen to go to college.
