Rock Solid Recrap: Pummel Barmes Night

Astros 7, Rockies 3

Sorry, I can't beat up Clint Barmes as easily as other folks. (link)

Yes, I'm just as frustrated as anyone by his inconsistent defense and overall bleh offense.

Yes, he's the obvious target tonight. He made an error that was awful and set off the Astros four run 8th inning.

But come on, what other options do the Rockies have at second base? Barmes should continue to play until Young is healthy. At that point, yes, I'm all for a reevaluation of the situation if needed. But I'm not ready to move someone out of a position when he's the obivous best choice.

And I will point out I was very much in favor of signing Orlando Hudson or Felipe Lopez in the offseason.  I'm not an all out Barmes guy, I just think he's the guy you have to stick with given the circumstances.

Also, one one-base error with two outs and nobody on base can't lead to four runs. I'm sorry, it just can't.

I like Rogers. I know he's just 22. I know he has great stuff. The inning should have been over, I get that. But sometimes in baseball the pitcher has to pick up the defense.  This is definitely one of those situations.

You can't just flip the switch off and become a mess because that error happened. You have to man up and pound the strike zone with Blum just like you did the previous six batters. That didn't happen. One flip shot later, the floodgates are opened.

I'm honestly not so much concerned about the error tonight as I am about how mentally fragile this ballclub is. How one error in that spot can send the whole deal spiraling out of control. That's what's scary. The sloppy defense obviously needs to improve, but this team needs to get tougher.

Losing Player: Carlos Gonzalez

If we could honestly believe the offense can score runs, maybe a young pitcher wouldn't freak out so easily.

Gonzalez, to his credit, entered play with a 12-game hitting streak. Unfortunately he looked like a guy that hadn't had a hit in 12 games.

Move him DOWN the lineup, to an RBI position, where his aggressiveness is best served. He's never going to see pitches he can drive batting behind the pitcher and ahead of Fowler. Give me a break with that.

But I guarantee we'll see LF Gonzalez leading off again tomorrow. Or maybe he'll even get a day off.

Unfortunately, I don't see the lineup mattering too much tomorrow against Roy Oswalt anyway. Thankfully we have Jimenez going. 2-1 sounds about irght. Hopefully we have the 2.