Three fifth of the Astros’ starting rotation are former Phillies
Posted by Andy on March 23, 2011
With Nelson Figueroa wining the 5th spot in the Astros' 2011 starting rotation, that makes 3 guys on their starting staff who are former Phillies.
The staff is currently set as:
Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez, J.A. Happ, Bud Norris, and Nelson Figueroa
Myers was drafted by the Phillies in 1999 and played 8 seasons with them. Happ was drafted by the Phillies in 2004 and was traded to the Astros last year as part of the Roy Oswalt deal. Figueroa was drafted by the Mets in 1995 and was eventually traded from the Diamondbacks to the Phillies in 2000 as part of the Curt Schilling trade. He also had a second stint with the Phillies last year.
The other two guys, Rodriguez and Norris, were both drafted by the Astros.
Incidentally, in addition to Oswalt, the Phillies have former Astros Brad Lidge on their staff, although he's not a starting pitcher.
March 23rd, 2011 at 8:12 am
It's called the Ed Wade syndrome.
March 23rd, 2011 at 8:26 am
Pedro Feliz last year, Jason Michaels, Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, etc...
March 23rd, 2011 at 2:07 pm
A lot of good it will do for the Astros. As the old Yiddish saying goes, "Gornisht helfen," or "Nothing will help."
March 23rd, 2011 at 3:04 pm
At Astros Daily and many other Astros fan sites, we chuckle at all the "Phormer Phillies" Ed Wade has dragged over to Houston but he obviously knew the organization very well and most of the players he has brought over have exceeded expectations.
Bourn is a two-time Gold Glover and two-time stolen base champ. Myers had a winning season and a low ERA last year despite Houston's weak offense. Happ is no Oswalt but I'll wager Happ will have more wins during his career as an Astro than Oswalt will have in his career as a Phillie. Michaels has been a serviceable reserve outfielder.
Not everybody can just go out there and buy a Hall-of-Fame rotation. Wade has had to live with the financial framework McLane has given him.
Truly, signing Feliz was a bust. Matsui turned into a bad idea. The new DP combo of Barmes and Hall have done little this spring but they are veterans so we'll see once they do when the real season starts.
When the Phils won it all in 2008, GM Pat Gillick credited Wade with drafting/building the nucleus (Howard, Utley, Rollins, Hamels, etc.). Ultimately, his tenure in Houston will be judged by the young players acquired for 2014-2017. If they play as hoped, the Astros will be back atop the NL Central in a few years. If they don't play well, you can bury Wade then. Doing it now is premature.
March 23rd, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Reminds me of the '84 Cubs. When Dick Ruthven was on the mound, 2/3 of the team was former Phillies (including the entire regular outfield). You can credit Dallas Green for that...
March 23rd, 2011 at 5:54 pm
"Bourn is a two-time Gold Glover and two-time stolen base champ. Myers had a winning season and a low ERA last year despite Houston's weak offense. Happ is no Oswalt but I'll wager Happ will have more wins during his career as an Astro than Oswalt will have in his career as a Phillie. Michaels has been a serviceable reserve outfielder."
Myers career has been way too inconsistent to expect any sort of a repeat performance, even if the offense is better.
March 23rd, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Actually, Wandy Rodriguez was a Latin America free agent signing, not a draftee. There was some controversy connected with his signing because he used a false name and false age.
Three of the six pitchers the Astros used in that no-hitter in Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2003, eventually became Phillies:
Oswalt, who was the starter but had to leave early due to an injury, which forced Houston into that bullpen game.
Lidge, who ended up as the winning pitcher that day.
Billy Wagner, normally the closer, who was brought in to pitch the 9th with an 8-0 lead because the Astros wanted to preserve the no-hitter. Wagner said later that he didn't know that there was a no-hitter going on.
Two of the other three pitchers, Peter Munro and Kirk Saarloos, are now apparently out of baseball, but perhaps Octavio Dotel will one day pitch for the Phillies (although I do not relish this thought). Dotel's major contribution to that game was to strike out four batters in the 8th inning.
In a day filled with interleague games, Myers was the losing pitcher as the Phillies fell to the Angels in Anaheim, while current Phillie Roy Halladay won at home in Toronto against Pittsburgh. Canada went 2-0 that day as Livan Hernandez and the Montreal Expos beat the Seattle Mariners. Two other then-future, now-past Phillies got decisions that day. Kyle Lohse, pitching for the Twins, beat the Rockies, while Adam Eaton, lost as CC Sabathia and the Indians beat the Padres. (Dontrelle Willis won the only non-interleague game as the Marlins defeated the Brewers.)
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:33 pm
@Bob Halsey: Matsui, Barmes, and Hall never played for the Phillies. And the Astros never won a championship even when they tried it with former Mets pitchers like Ryan and Scuffball Scott.
March 24th, 2011 at 8:00 am
what a bunch of mutts!
March 24th, 2011 at 11:44 am
The 1922-23 Yankees took it a step further. In each season, four-fifths of their starting rotation were former Red Sox. Five pitchers were involved: Carl Mays, Waite Hoyt, Sad Sam Jones, Bullet Joe Bush, and Herb Pennock. The first four were in the NYY rotation in 1922; the next year, Pennock replaced Mays.
All five were on the Red Sox at the same time in 1919.
The four ex-Sox had 71 wins for the '22 Yanks, 76 wins in '23 (81 wins if you add Mays).
Each of the five notched at least 196 career wins and 3,000 IP, with an average of 218 wins and 3,465 IP.
(If Bill Simmons were writing this, he might add: "I will now light myself on fire.")
The only member of the NYY rotation in 1922-23 who didn't come from the BoSox was Bob Shawkey -- he came from the A's.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
@ Stew Barone:Was there a point somewhere in that?
March 24th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
That's Stu Baron. It was just that no matter what the Astros try, even cheating, they never seem to go anywhere.