Notes: Huff's presence strongly felt
07/20/2006
CHICAGO -- Although Aubrey Huff has been with the Astros for less than a week, his presence in the Astros' lineup has already made a difference.
The addition of a good hitter in the middle of the lineup has a domino effect on the rest of the hitters. Not only can he do the obvious -- get on base, drive in runs -- but he also can affect the performances of those in front of him, because he makes it harder for opponents to pitch around the better hitters.
Let's take nothing away from Lance Berkman -- obviously, he was doing just fine, even before Huff arrived. But now Berkman has a threat hitting behind him, an element the team was sorely lacking when Morgan Ensberg was playing every day.
Berkman entered Thursday's series finale at Wrigley Field with a .321 batting average, 25 homers and 85 RBIs, tremendous numbers regardless of what kind of lineup he's a part of.
After Huff joined the team, Berkman had nine hits in 24 at-bats for a .375 average. Does Huff get any credit for that?
"One thing you see is he's definitely swinging the bat," manager Phil Garner said. "He's not going to be timid about that. Obviously, Morgan was struggling a little bit, so having a guy that can step in there ... it looks like he's going to drive in some runs."
Many of the league's best hitters struggle without protection. The Mets' Carlos Beltran is a prime example. He had a very average year in 2005, but now that he's hitting in front of Carlos Delgado, he's having a tremendous season. Coincidence?
"Over and over and over again, when a guy usually has a good year, there's somebody behind him that's doing a pretty doggone good job," Garner said. "You need two things. People in front are getting on, and guys behind you are doing a good job protecting you."
Garner's ideal lineup would have four heavy hitters. The Astros haven't had that since 2004, when they had Beltran, Jeff Bagwell, Berkman and Jeff Kent.
"You need two really good hitters, a third one that's a pretty decent hitter and a fourth that's a pretty decent hitter," Garner said. "Then, you can't get through it."
On Maddux: Following the matchup of two 300-game winners on Wednesday, Craig Biggio talked about the kind of approach a hitter has to take against Greg Maddux, one of two future Hall of Famers who took the mound at Wrigley Field that night.
"You've got to be aggressive, but you've got to be smart off him," said Biggio, who extended his National League record with his 49th leadoff homer. "He puts the ball exactly where he wants to put it. A little bit here, a little bit there."
Biggio took the first pitch for a strike and connected with the second offering, which landed one row into the left-field seats.
"That one there, I was able to get it just far enough into the stands," he said. "It was nice to get a little start like that."
Biggio has 2,885 hits, which gives him sole possession of 34th place on the all-time hits list.
Backup players: Playing a day game after a night game can make for an exhausting day at the ballpark, but for many teams, it's a chance to give the bench players a rare starting nod.
On Thursday, Garner rested Biggio -- a standard practice for day games on the road -- and he also gave Preston Wilson a day off.
Chris Burke played second, Willy Taveras played center and Luke Scott started in left. Garner didn't necessarily think Wilson needed a day to rest, but he wanted to insert Scott into a game and felt Thursday was a good time to do it.
"It's maybe a good time to let Luke play again," Garner said. "Luke's looking hitterish."
Source: http://astros.mlb.com/
CHICAGO -- Although Aubrey Huff has been with the Astros for less than a week, his presence in the Astros' lineup has already made a difference.
The addition of a good hitter in the middle of the lineup has a domino effect on the rest of the hitters. Not only can he do the obvious -- get on base, drive in runs -- but he also can affect the performances of those in front of him, because he makes it harder for opponents to pitch around the better hitters.
Let's take nothing away from Lance Berkman -- obviously, he was doing just fine, even before Huff arrived. But now Berkman has a threat hitting behind him, an element the team was sorely lacking when Morgan Ensberg was playing every day.
Berkman entered Thursday's series finale at Wrigley Field with a .321 batting average, 25 homers and 85 RBIs, tremendous numbers regardless of what kind of lineup he's a part of.
After Huff joined the team, Berkman had nine hits in 24 at-bats for a .375 average. Does Huff get any credit for that?
"One thing you see is he's definitely swinging the bat," manager Phil Garner said. "He's not going to be timid about that. Obviously, Morgan was struggling a little bit, so having a guy that can step in there ... it looks like he's going to drive in some runs."
Many of the league's best hitters struggle without protection. The Mets' Carlos Beltran is a prime example. He had a very average year in 2005, but now that he's hitting in front of Carlos Delgado, he's having a tremendous season. Coincidence?
"Over and over and over again, when a guy usually has a good year, there's somebody behind him that's doing a pretty doggone good job," Garner said. "You need two things. People in front are getting on, and guys behind you are doing a good job protecting you."
Garner's ideal lineup would have four heavy hitters. The Astros haven't had that since 2004, when they had Beltran, Jeff Bagwell, Berkman and Jeff Kent.
"You need two really good hitters, a third one that's a pretty decent hitter and a fourth that's a pretty decent hitter," Garner said. "Then, you can't get through it."
On Maddux: Following the matchup of two 300-game winners on Wednesday, Craig Biggio talked about the kind of approach a hitter has to take against Greg Maddux, one of two future Hall of Famers who took the mound at Wrigley Field that night.
"You've got to be aggressive, but you've got to be smart off him," said Biggio, who extended his National League record with his 49th leadoff homer. "He puts the ball exactly where he wants to put it. A little bit here, a little bit there."
Biggio took the first pitch for a strike and connected with the second offering, which landed one row into the left-field seats.
"That one there, I was able to get it just far enough into the stands," he said. "It was nice to get a little start like that."
Biggio has 2,885 hits, which gives him sole possession of 34th place on the all-time hits list.
Backup players: Playing a day game after a night game can make for an exhausting day at the ballpark, but for many teams, it's a chance to give the bench players a rare starting nod.
On Thursday, Garner rested Biggio -- a standard practice for day games on the road -- and he also gave Preston Wilson a day off.
Chris Burke played second, Willy Taveras played center and Luke Scott started in left. Garner didn't necessarily think Wilson needed a day to rest, but he wanted to insert Scott into a game and felt Thursday was a good time to do it.
"It's maybe a good time to let Luke play again," Garner said. "Luke's looking hitterish."
Source: http://astros.mlb.com/
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