Flastrohs wrote:
Bob Hulsey wrote:
Man, that sucks! Two teams going in different directions.

Yup....Cooper gets part of the blame for pitching Valverde in non-save situations.


Now that I checked....Valverde only threw 14 pitches last night and didn't pitch the night before and only pitched a third of an inning the night before(in a loss).

I've been pretty much reserving my opinions on Cooper but after his verbal tirade last week long after he had handed the umpire his "second string" line up card, it sealed it for me.
Cooper does not know anything about handling a pitching staff. Burning up Valverde in a useless situation when he was needed today is another indication of how over his head he is as a major league manager.

One other thing and this concerns Brocail. Every scout in baseball and including many in here knew that Brocail was washed up as an effective major league pitcher. Keeping him on the roster when opening day came around was one of the stunning mysteries that still baffle me and I'm sure others in here.
He is no better than a batting practice pitcher yet Cooper keeps running the guy out there in key situations.
In this instance though, it is not completely Coopers fault. Somebody higher up than Cooper made the decision to keep Brocail. Why, I don't know. They are simply throwing money away on the guy and the Astros could get the same results with a much younger minor league relief pitcher but at least in the case of a younger pitcher, there is always a possible upside down the road. We know what to expect from Brocail. His better days are way past long gone. Brocail will simply get worse as he gets a little older as each day passes.


Last Edited By: Jun 21 08 8:20 PM. Edited 1 times.