Astros can win the Wild Card with this team but ...

biggio would already be retired if he had caught all those years.

i don't see any reason we absolutely CAN'T beat the Cards in a playoff series. no matter who we get, the Cards will be the favorite in every series they enter this postseason ASSUMING THEY STAY/GET HEALTHY. but with our pitching, i'll take my chances.

 

biggio became a 2nd baseman bc there was already a catcher for the astros when he came up i believe. i dont think it was bc of his abilities or anything...

 

Actually, I'm pretty certain that Biggio was removed from being a catcher to help protect his knees. Biggio was known for having a lot of speed for a catcher, and to keep him back there would likely cause that speed to be ultimately neutralized and eliminated by the physical toll of catching.

That's my assumption, anyway. It definitely wasn't a talent thing as evidenced by his all-star appearances as a catcher and a 2B.

 

I agree that we can beat anyone with our pitching (healthy). Pitching and defense always wins in a series.

 

Why not? This St. Louis team is not the juggernaut offense of last year. Rolen & Walker are now hurt and have both been terrible all season. Reggie Sanders is now hurt until September, at the earliest. Renteria & Matheny are gone. Their lineup this year includes some pretty mediocre players.

Pujols and Edmonds have a combined 43 HR's. No one else in their active lineup has more than 5. (Walker has 11 and Sanders has 18). Whether Sanders, Rolen and Walker can contribute anything substantial the rest of the year is in question - Sanders probably will, but Rolen and Walker may be injured the whole time.

 

Hunsicker was here last year and that did not get the Astros "over the top". Hunsicker was here in 1998 when the Astros had arguably the best team in the majors (especialoly with the addition of Johnson) and that did not get them "over the top". If Hunsicker truly left due to a power play in which he did not want to sign Biggio, then if Hunsiker won that power play, Biggio may not even be around.

If Biggio had stayed at catcher, he would have been out of baseball a few years ago.

 

Not at all. Biggio was the successor to the great Alan Ashby. In fact, Ash spent most of '89 on the bench while Bidge started. For a catcher, he had great speed and a really good bat. The Astros wanted that great speed and solid bat to be around for a long time, so they began grooming him for the outfield. His noodle arm didn't help matters any, so they shifted their focus to 2B. After 3 and a half seasons at catcher with 60 or so games in the OF during that span, Biggio start Spring Training of '92 at 2B and never looked back.

 

I believe Craig Biggio is the only player in MLB history to go from full-time catcher to full-time 2B, much less All-Star at both.

 

I guess i'll be the one to point out what the Stro's lost.

3 All Stars.

Jeff kent, Jeff Bagwell, and Carlos Beltran. We at least gained Pettite back, but the Cards neutrilized that by adding Mark Mulder.

The only way we beat them is by superior pitching, that won't be as easy as it used to be with Morris being considered their #3 pitcher, when he used to be their #1. Carpenter is a stud and Mulder is no slouch.

They can out slug us plain and simple. It's just a matter of if our pitchers are red freakin hot and we get out of the 1st round with our rotation in set.

 

Bagwell was not an all-star. St. Louis lost a pair of allstars too (Rolen, Renteria), along with Walker, Matheny, and possibly Sanders. Here's the STL lineup from last night:

Eckstein
Nunez
Pujols
Edmonds
Gall
Grudzielanek
Taguchi
Diaz
Pitcher

This is not last year's Womack/Renteria/Pujols/Edmonds/Walker/Sanders lineup. There are exactly two good players in that lineup.

 

I also used to think there was no way we could beat the Cardinals in a 7 game series, but with their recent injury problems I could see us beating them if we're playing like we are now. There pitching is much better this year, Mulder hasn't played as well as has in the past, but Carpenter has really stepped up. However, their offensive is nowhere near what it was last season. Rolen has battled injuries all year, Walker just went on the DL, and Sanders is going to be out for awhile. More than likely they'll all be back by seasons end, but if they're not at full strength we could really give them a run for their money. Don't forget though we'll likely have to face the Braves in the first round if we win the Wild Card and they're no pushover.

 

You are saying this like Rolen and Walker won't be available for the playoffs. They're not expected to be healthy by then?

 

I'm not sure that we'd be much of an underdog against them. Obviously our starters and closer can dominate. Our offense is coming around. Let's see how we're playing at the end of the year, but it's way to premature to say we can't beat them. (Of course we have to get there first, knock wood).

 

Rolen is questionable - his surgery did not go well, and what he has played his year (pre and post injury), he's been a 0.230 hitter with no power. Walker has had chronic back pain all season long and contemplated retiring earlier in the season. Now he has a herniated disc, and he's had a down year (for him, of course) when healthy. Sanders has more of a freak injury (broken bone?) and should heal up just fine, I would think.

LaRussa was interviewed a few days ago and said he was hoping Rolen and Sanders would be back in September, but it wasn't guaranteed. Walker's injury happened after that, so he didn't discuss him. But if I'm STL, I'm not counting on Rolen or Walker, and certainly not for them to be difference makers.

Last year, Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen all had 1.000 OPSes - only Pujols is at that level this year. Walker was close, and they had a tablesetter in Renteria. The majority of that lineup is in shambles right now. (Their catcher is worse than Ausmus, for example). Last year was one of those magical years for all their hitters - this year, they are certainly a good offense, but nothing like last year.


My main comparison is that their

 

That's the point i didn't think needed mentioning.

Yes, Sanders is out with a broken leg, not really one of the guys our pitchers were fearing.

Walker and Rolen are just on the 15 day DL. If one was real serious you'd probably at least of heard of one rumor about the Card's trying to pick up a bat.

 

I thought Walker just had a neck sprain. But i guess that could easily be related to the back.

As for Rolen's shoulder, maybe you know more than me. I thought it would be near full strength by the end of the year and he could opt out of a surgery if neccessary untill then w/o affecting his performance.

At least Sanders shouldn't be much of a running threat coming of a broken leg.

 

He's on the DL with a herniated disc in his neck. He's had it for two months but was trying to play through it.

Rolen started the season sucking, had surgery, went on the DL for much of the first half, came back and something wasn't right. That's why he dropped out of the All-Star game to rest it and then he tried to play to start the 2nd half and was in too much pain and went back on the DL. He was expected to be healthy but something is wrong and they are hoping more rest will help. LaRussa said they are hoping he'll be back by September, but that it was questionable.

 

Beating the Cardinals all comes down to our pitching staffs... it has been feast or famine against them this year, and the same goes for them. The days our pitchers are on their A-Games we win, the days theirs are, they win. They have a more explosive offense, but that doesn't mean jack if Oswalt, Clemens and Pettitte have their stuff. I'd love to face them again and get a little redeption.

 

The inferior St. Louis lineup is somehow 63-37. The Astros are not as bad as they were early on, but they're probably not as good as they've played since then either. The bottom line is they can't win in St. Louis and 4 of the 7 games would be there.