The Astros have released Zach Duke and Jack Cust, according to Alyson Footer.
Honestly, it was easy to see this coming. I texted my cousin, a Braves fan, on Sunday afternoon and said that the Braves should be charged with murdering Zach Duke's career. In the previous post, we looked at Duke's stats, and his outing on Sunday sent his ERA up to 11.30 - and judging from Sunday's start (which I watched), he was lucky that's as high as it went.
Cust had one hit - a single - in 25 ABs this Spring. That's pretty much all you needed to know. Cust signed a two-year contract with the Astros - $600,000 (not-guaranteed) for 2012, and a guaranteed $1m option, if it was exercised.
Duke's contract was a minor-league deal, so there should be no major financial impact.
Also, it appears as though Jon Gaston has been released, as well. Gaston was the Astros' 7th Round pick in 2008, and busted out in 2009 - his 2nd year of pro ball - with Lancaster, hitting .278/.367/.598, with 35HR (tied for minor-league lead) and 100RBI. 81 of his 144 hits in '09 were for extra-bases. In the last two seasons - both with Corpus - he posted OPSeses of .720, and .646, respectively, striking out 212 times to 74 walks (he drew 71 walks in 2009 alone).
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Showing posts with label Zach Duke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zach Duke. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
It's a fight to the death for the rotation
Your starting rotation is as follows:
1. Wandy Rodriguez
2. Bud Norris
3. J.A. Happ
And two of Livan Hernandez, Zach Duke, Kyle Weiland, and Jordan Lyles. Lucas Harrell and Henry Sosa won't be in the rotation, but are competing for bullpen spots with the big club.
The tale of the tape (Spring Training 2012 edition):
Livan: 12.1IP, 16H/6ER, 5K:2BB, 2HR. 4.38 ERA/1.70 WHIP.
Duke: 11IP, 17H/8ER, 7K:4BB, 2HR. 6.55 ERA/1.91 WHIP.
Weiland: 11IP, 7H/2ER, 7K:5BB, 0HR. 1.64 ERA/1.09 WHIP.
Lyles: 6IP, 8H/4ER, 3K:2BB, 1HR. 6.00 ERA/1.67 WHIP.
We do know that Lyles threw in a minor-league game, so there are some stats that we're missing here. The clear leader - from these stats alone - is Kyle Weiland (yes, on the strength of one start). But the veteran statuses of Livan all but assures him a spot. With Myers shifting to the 9th inning, I'd be ecstatic to see Weiland and Lyles get those last two rotation spots. But I don't think that'll happen. What I could see happening is SP4 going to Livan, SP5 going to Weiland, and Lyles waits in OKC under the tutelage of Burt Hooton until something happens - be that injury or trade.
1. Wandy Rodriguez
2. Bud Norris
3. J.A. Happ
And two of Livan Hernandez, Zach Duke, Kyle Weiland, and Jordan Lyles. Lucas Harrell and Henry Sosa won't be in the rotation, but are competing for bullpen spots with the big club.
The tale of the tape (Spring Training 2012 edition):
Livan: 12.1IP, 16H/6ER, 5K:2BB, 2HR. 4.38 ERA/1.70 WHIP.
Duke: 11IP, 17H/8ER, 7K:4BB, 2HR. 6.55 ERA/1.91 WHIP.
Weiland: 11IP, 7H/2ER, 7K:5BB, 0HR. 1.64 ERA/1.09 WHIP.
Lyles: 6IP, 8H/4ER, 3K:2BB, 1HR. 6.00 ERA/1.67 WHIP.
We do know that Lyles threw in a minor-league game, so there are some stats that we're missing here. The clear leader - from these stats alone - is Kyle Weiland (yes, on the strength of one start). But the veteran statuses of Livan all but assures him a spot. With Myers shifting to the 9th inning, I'd be ecstatic to see Weiland and Lyles get those last two rotation spots. But I don't think that'll happen. What I could see happening is SP4 going to Livan, SP5 going to Weiland, and Lyles waits in OKC under the tutelage of Burt Hooton until something happens - be that injury or trade.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday Morning Update
Some updates for you on this fine day...
Carlos Lee will return to the lineup tomorrow.
Humberto Quintero is still "a few days away."
Jimmy Paredes and Angel Sanchez will take some BP today in preparation of live BP tomorrow.
On the mound today against the Braves, who gave up nine homers yesterday (six from Julio "Tater" Teheran), will be Jordan Lyles and Zach Duke.
Carlos Lee will return to the lineup tomorrow.
Humberto Quintero is still "a few days away."
Jimmy Paredes and Angel Sanchez will take some BP today in preparation of live BP tomorrow.
On the mound today against the Braves, who gave up nine homers yesterday (six from Julio "Tater" Teheran), will be Jordan Lyles and Zach Duke.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Astros sign Zach Duke
So the Astros have signed free agent LHP Zach Duke to a minor-league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.
Should we get worked up? Duke is a native Texan (Clifton), spent the first six years of his career with Pittsburgh, and last season with Arizona. Here are his career stats:
181GP (he started nine of his 21 games for the Diamondbacks in 2011), 1269H/528ER, 537K:282BB, 4.56 ERA/1.49 WHIP. How does that break down per game? 11 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.6 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9.
So he doesn't walk anybody, but he doesn't strike anybody out, either. In the two seasons since his 2009 All-Star appearance (as the lone Pittsburgh All-Star), he has a 5.46 ERA/1.63 WHIP, with a 73 ERA+. (J.A. Happ had a 71 ERA+ in 2011, as did Jordan Lyles.) In his six appearances (five starts) at Minute Maid, Duke has a 1-2 record, with a 3.41 ERA/1.33 WHIP - small sample size, so do what you want with it.
To be fair, his BABIP in 2010 and 2011 were .338 and .339, respectively, and his xFIP was 4.31 and 4.27, also respectively. Seems as though those ground balls found holes.
To answer the original question of us getting all worked up: Not really. It's a minor-league deal, so remember that.
Should we get worked up? Duke is a native Texan (Clifton), spent the first six years of his career with Pittsburgh, and last season with Arizona. Here are his career stats:
181GP (he started nine of his 21 games for the Diamondbacks in 2011), 1269H/528ER, 537K:282BB, 4.56 ERA/1.49 WHIP. How does that break down per game? 11 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 4.6 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9.
So he doesn't walk anybody, but he doesn't strike anybody out, either. In the two seasons since his 2009 All-Star appearance (as the lone Pittsburgh All-Star), he has a 5.46 ERA/1.63 WHIP, with a 73 ERA+. (J.A. Happ had a 71 ERA+ in 2011, as did Jordan Lyles.) In his six appearances (five starts) at Minute Maid, Duke has a 1-2 record, with a 3.41 ERA/1.33 WHIP - small sample size, so do what you want with it.
To be fair, his BABIP in 2010 and 2011 were .338 and .339, respectively, and his xFIP was 4.31 and 4.27, also respectively. Seems as though those ground balls found holes.
To answer the original question of us getting all worked up: Not really. It's a minor-league deal, so remember that.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
What did other NL Central teams do yesterday?
First day of the Winter Meetings, we know what the Astros did, or didn't do. What happened to other NL Central teams yesterday?
Brewers
According to the NY Post's Joel Sherman, the Brewers are on the verge of signing Randy Wolf to a three-year deal. This would be bad.
Reliever Mark DeFelice needs shoulder surgery, creating a bigger need in the bullpen.
Cardinals
Buster Olney reports that Brad Penny has signed a one-year, $7.5m deal (with incentives up to $9m total) with St. Louis. Given Dave Duncan's track record with Pitchers Who Were Good But Now Kind of Suck, it's a good move.
Cubs
Jon Heyman says the Cubs could be suitors for Marlon Byrd.
Pirates
The Pirates are listening on Matt Capps (closer candidate?), Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Bill Mazeroski.
Reds
They're trying to re-sign Laynce Nix.
Brewers
According to the NY Post's Joel Sherman, the Brewers are on the verge of signing Randy Wolf to a three-year deal. This would be bad.
Reliever Mark DeFelice needs shoulder surgery, creating a bigger need in the bullpen.
Cardinals
Buster Olney reports that Brad Penny has signed a one-year, $7.5m deal (with incentives up to $9m total) with St. Louis. Given Dave Duncan's track record with Pitchers Who Were Good But Now Kind of Suck, it's a good move.
Cubs
Jon Heyman says the Cubs could be suitors for Marlon Byrd.
Pirates
The Pirates are listening on Matt Capps (closer candidate?), Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Bill Mazeroski.
Reds
They're trying to re-sign Laynce Nix.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Astros record for starting pitchers
So the Astros' SPs have had a lot of no decisions - 31, to be exact. Where are the wins - and losses - coming from, and how does the team fare per starter? Let's take us a gander:
You may notice that the current SPs' NDs don't add up to 31, but keep in mind Backe (1 ND) and Paulino (3 NDs) have also started games this season. But Roy's 11 no decisions are brutal. So that got me wondering about other team's aces getting NDs. Let's look:
A couple of things stand out about this. I was surprised to see Roy get that kind of run support and still have 11 no decisions. I also found it surprising that Duke and Wainwright had the same or more run support per start. What do you take from this, class?
| HOU SP | #Starts | Record | #NDs | Team Rec in GS | Run Supp |
| Roy | 21 | 6-4 | 11 | 11-10 | 4.75 |
| Wandy | 20 | 10-6 | 4 | 14-6 | 4.56 |
| Hampton | 17 | 6-7 | 4 | 6-11 | 4.03 |
| Moehler | 17 | 7-6 | 4 | 10-7 | 4.68 |
| Ortiz | 12 | 3-5 | 4 | 5-7 | 3.86 |
You may notice that the current SPs' NDs don't add up to 31, but keep in mind Backe (1 ND) and Paulino (3 NDs) have also started games this season. But Roy's 11 no decisions are brutal. So that got me wondering about other team's aces getting NDs. Let's look:
| Team/SP | #Starts | Record | #NDs | Team Rec in GS | Run Support |
| CHC/Zambrano | 18 | 7-4 | 4 | 12-6 | 4.38 |
| StL/Wainwright | 21 | 11-7 | 3 | 14-7 | 5.79 |
| MIL/Gallardo | 20 | 9-7 | 4 | 11-9 | 4.00 |
| CIN/Cueto | 20 | 8-7 | 5 | 11-9 | 3.84 |
| PIT/Duke | 20 | 9-9 | 2 | 9-11 | 4.75 |
A couple of things stand out about this. I was surprised to see Roy get that kind of run support and still have 11 no decisions. I also found it surprising that Duke and Wainwright had the same or more run support per start. What do you take from this, class?
Monday, April 13, 2009
Reactions to G7 - Houston at Pittsburgh
7-0 loss to Pittsburgh, in which Zach Duke looked like Rube Waddell.
McTaggart:
The Astros were probably asking each other the same question that has the majority of their fans in an uproar in only the second week of the regular season: Can their offense really be this bad?
Cooper:
“Same song,” Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. “We just can’t seem to get any hits, can’t seem to generate anything. I don’t really have an answer right now.”
Berkman:
“We’ve struggled before. We have had stretches where we haven’t hit well, and during the course of the season that’s going to be the case. We haven’t hit well, and that’s all there is to it.
Moehler:
“I just didn’t feel that great. Bottom line. We’re not playing too well right now.”
But if the Astros can bring a little pleasure to Pittsburgh, I'm all for it:
Ryan Doumit:
"This is fun right now. We're playing to the level that I know this team is capable. You couldn't ask for a better game, a better atmosphere. We heard the fans the whole game."
McTaggart:
The Astros were probably asking each other the same question that has the majority of their fans in an uproar in only the second week of the regular season: Can their offense really be this bad?
Cooper:
“Same song,” Astros manager Cecil Cooper said. “We just can’t seem to get any hits, can’t seem to generate anything. I don’t really have an answer right now.”
Berkman:
“We’ve struggled before. We have had stretches where we haven’t hit well, and during the course of the season that’s going to be the case. We haven’t hit well, and that’s all there is to it.
Moehler:
“I just didn’t feel that great. Bottom line. We’re not playing too well right now.”
But if the Astros can bring a little pleasure to Pittsburgh, I'm all for it:
Ryan Doumit:
"This is fun right now. We're playing to the level that I know this team is capable. You couldn't ask for a better game, a better atmosphere. We heard the fans the whole game."
Recap for G7 @ Pittsburgh
At some point you have to stop tipping your cap to the opposite pitcher. 24 hours after Kyle Lohse throws the best game of his career, so does Zach Duke, all 27-39 of him. Moehler again doesn't make it through the 3rd iwth 45 pitches in 2.1IP - but lowers his ERA from 37.80 to 27.00. Moehler could not keep the ball down, and the Pirates tattooed him - and anyone else wearing a red jersey who wanted to throw a ball - all over the place. And as it turns out, Moehler left with a right knee sprain.
Duke got 14 groundball outs, 8 flyball outs, and five strikeouts - three of which belonged to 1B1: Lance Berkman, who got pissed after the 2nd. Your Astros are now 7x61 (.115) since Saturday's game, and the Astros have trailed in 61 of the 63 innings in which they have played.
Moehler: 2.1IP, 7H, 4ER, 0K/1BB, 1HR. Six of the seven outs he got were fly-balls
Byrdak: 0.2IP, 1H, 1ER, 0K/2BB
Ortiz: 1IP, 1H, 1K
Sampson: 2IP, 2H, 1BB
Wright: 1IP, 1H, 1K/1BB
Geary: 0.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 1HR
With Pirates' 3B1 Ramon Vazquez' single in the 7th, every Pirates player had at least one hit - including Duke.
The Astros simply don't know how to hit when ahead. Duke threw 1st-pitch balls to six of the first eight Astro batters, and 15 1st-pitch balls overall. How many of those at-bats resulted in a hit? Two.
Man of the Match:
No one on the offense gets this award, so we'll give it to Chris Sampson, who only needed 21 pitches to go through 2IPs.
Goat of the Game:
Sorry, Lance. 0x4 with 3Ks.
Duke got 14 groundball outs, 8 flyball outs, and five strikeouts - three of which belonged to 1B1: Lance Berkman, who got pissed after the 2nd. Your Astros are now 7x61 (.115) since Saturday's game, and the Astros have trailed in 61 of the 63 innings in which they have played.
Moehler: 2.1IP, 7H, 4ER, 0K/1BB, 1HR. Six of the seven outs he got were fly-balls
Byrdak: 0.2IP, 1H, 1ER, 0K/2BB
Ortiz: 1IP, 1H, 1K
Sampson: 2IP, 2H, 1BB
Wright: 1IP, 1H, 1K/1BB
Geary: 0.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 1HR
| Pitcher | Pit/Str | Strike% | BF/Outs | Efficiency% | GB/FB/K |
| Moehler | 45/25 | 55.5% | 15/7 | 46.6% | 1/6/0 |
| Byrdak | 30/16 | 53.3% | 5/2 | 40% | 2/0/0 |
| Ortiz | 17/10 | 58.8% | 4/3 | 75% | 2/0/1 |
| Sampson | 21/12 | 57.1% | 9/6 | 66.7% | 2/4/0 |
| Wright | 18/9 | 50% | 5/3 | 60% | 0/2/1 |
| Geary | 14/10 | 71.4% | 5/3 | 60% | 2/1/0 |
With Pirates' 3B1 Ramon Vazquez' single in the 7th, every Pirates player had at least one hit - including Duke.
The Astros simply don't know how to hit when ahead. Duke threw 1st-pitch balls to six of the first eight Astro batters, and 15 1st-pitch balls overall. How many of those at-bats resulted in a hit? Two.
Man of the Match:
No one on the offense gets this award, so we'll give it to Chris Sampson, who only needed 21 pitches to go through 2IPs.
Goat of the Game:
Sorry, Lance. 0x4 with 3Ks.
Matchup for G7 - Houston @ Pittsburgh
The Pirates split the season series in 2008 with the Astros at 8 games apiece. Can Moehler come back from a disastrous 1st start of the season?
Moehler's last start (For 45 minutes on Wednesday vs. Cubs):
1.2IP, 8H, 7ER, 1K:1BB
Moehler's 2008:
Zach Duke
Last start (Tuesday vs St Louis):
6.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 4K:2BB, 1W
2008 splits:
Duke has never given up a homer to Astros batters.
Who's hot - Houston?
Jeff Keppinger: 4x7, 1HR
Geoff Blum: 6x17
Hunter Pence: 8x23, 2HR
Michael Bourn: 7x22
Who's hot - Pittsburgh?
Nyjer Morgan: 11x26
Freddy Sanchez: 9x27, 1HR
Jack Wilson: 7x22
Moehler's last start (For 45 minutes on Wednesday vs. Cubs):
1.2IP, 8H, 7ER, 1K:1BB
Moehler's 2008:
| vs. Pit | 2-1 | 9.39 ERA/1.76 WHIP | 2 HR | 3K:1BB |
| July 9 A | W | 6IP | 7H/4ER | 3K:1BB |
| July 23 H | ND | 2.1IP | 9H/6ER | 0K:0BB |
| Sept 20 A | L | 1IP | 5H/5ER | 0K:0BB |
| Moehler vs. | HxAB | BA/OBP/SLG | HR-RBI | K:BB |
| Vazquez | 4x7 | .571/.571/.857 | 0-2 | 1:0 |
| McLouth | 6x11 | .545/.583/.818 | 0-1 | 0:1 |
| Sanchez | 7x13 | .538/.538/.692 | 0-2 | 2:0 |
| LaRoche | 8x22 | .364/.440/.636 | 1-6 | 0:3 |
| Wilson | 5x15 | .333/.375/.533 | 0-0 | 2:1 |
Zach Duke
Last start (Tuesday vs St Louis):
6.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 4K:2BB, 1W
2008 splits:
| vs. HOU | 1-1 | 2.92 ERA/1.22 WHIP | 1 HR | 3K:2BB |
| June 4 A | W | 7.2IP | 7H/2ER | 2K:2BB |
| Sept 11 A | L | 4.2IP | 6H/2ER | 1K:0BB |
| Duke vs. | HxAB | BA/OBP/SLG | HR-RBI | K:BB |
| Pence | 2x6 | .500/.500/.500 | 0-0 | 0:0 |
| Lee | 7x22 | .318/.333/.409 | 0-3 | 1:1 |
| Berkman | 6x20 | .300/.440/.350 | 0-4 | 0:5 |
| Bourn | 1x4 | .250/.250/.250 | 0-0 | 0:0 |
| Tejada | 1x5 | .200/.429/.400 | 0-1 | 0:2 |
| Matsui | 1x6 | .167/.167/.167 | 0-0 | 1:0 |
Duke has never given up a homer to Astros batters.
Who's hot - Houston?
Jeff Keppinger: 4x7, 1HR
Geoff Blum: 6x17
Hunter Pence: 8x23, 2HR
Michael Bourn: 7x22
Who's hot - Pittsburgh?
Nyjer Morgan: 11x26
Freddy Sanchez: 9x27, 1HR
Jack Wilson: 7x22
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