1. Once again, if I haven't emphasized this enough, Brandon Lyon...not closer material.
Look I like the guy, and he'd be a fantastic setup man, AND he's LDS to boot, but the guy just can't get three outs. I've already lamented about how the poor dude ends up having to face the 3-4-5 guys literally every time, but that's no excuse. You're in the majors, you're the closer, and you gotta get it done, no questions asked. Now the thing is, I have no solution for this problem, and I'm positive that Mills, Wade and Co. don't either. Wilton Lopez was great last year, but he hasn't looked too fantastic so far, and no one's gonna throw some guy just coming off the DL into the closer's spot. Mark Melancon has been a pleasant surprise, but he's too inexperienced and seems to attract errors and freak mistakes (a proven stat when it comes to closers). After that, it's an absolute wasteland in the bullpen. So what to do? Don't ask me, but I can tell you that Lyon isn't going to be the solution.
2. I'm officially lobbying for Jason Bourgeois to be in the starting lineup.
Now you can accuse me of overreacting, but I can't help but get excited when I watch this guy. He was the hero tonight, getting the walkoff when after Lyon blew the save. Sure, the .344/.344/.438 numbers are going to go down, since that's only a 27 AB sample, but the dude is like another lesser Michael Bourn. Not as fast, not as handy with the glove (even though he absolutely ROBBED Matt Holliday the other day) but he's an upgrade over Hall at 2B. Just sayin'.
3. Wandy Rodriguez has the potential to be one of the best pitchers in the NL.
We all know the story and the numbers of W-Rod's stellar second half comeback last year. In 2011, he's simply choosing to mix it up for us instead of stinking the first half and wrecking the latter half. The good start, bad start routine is starting (LOLZ) to get a little old, but man is he fun to watch when he's on. Putting up 8 straight zeroes was clutch, not to mention just what the doctor ordered, as the Houston pitching has been hard to watch the last few games. Wandy has always been the enigma in the starting rotation, a guy that many major leaguers will tell you can be impossible to hit at times, but just a classic case of inconsistency in a game that preaches it as the saving quality. Tough luck loss for him, but easily the reason why we won tonight.
4. I'm not convinced that Aneury Rodriguez will be better than Nelson Figueroa in the 5 spot.
I hope he is. I pray he is. But I'm not sure it's gonna happen. He'll be making his major league starter's debut Tuesday against the Reds of all teams, and an ERA of already 6.75 isn't exactly comforting, but here's hoping. He's young and inexperienced, so we will have to take the bumps and bruises that come along with that distinction. All in all, our 5th pitcher couldn't really have gotten any worse, and Rodriguez has shown some nasty stuff at times, so with fingers crossed and low expectations, the team can throw him in the fray and pray. Figueroa is better served in the 'pen anyway.
I want Wally back! Sure missed him tonight. Hope Jim Crane, if you're out there...we need you.
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