Reese Kaplan -- Winning Beats Losing, But...

With a record of 6-3, it’s hardly time to panic, particularly when the club sits a mere ½ game out of first place behind the Bryce Harper-led Phillies.  A great many things have gone right for the club already and it’s refreshing to see offense from a team that often during the Alderson years appeared to wield bats of balsa wood and/or Swiss Cheese.

Right now Wilson Ramos, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto and in limited duty, Dominic Smith, are doing everything you could ever have hoped they would produce (and then some).  Jacob deGrom is showing why he is the reigning Cy Young Award winner.  Edwin Diaz had one minor blip but has yet to have a run scored on him in 5 games.  There have been some surprising contributions from J.D. Davis and Keon Broxton. 

For the most part, the bullpen has been a disaster.  After Diaz there has not been much in terms of reliable arms for Dave Eiland and Mickey Callaway to feel confident about using.  I’ll spare you the ERA reports but the 12 walks issued in Sunday’s game is a testament to the issues they’ve been having.  Justin Wilson is 1-1, but his 1.59 ERA and 0.71 WHIP and .158 BAA have been surprisingly good.

The starting rotation after deGrom has not been what they’d hoped.  Steven Matz has been somewhat surprisingly good, off to a 0.87 ERA after two starts but little to show for it (channeling his inner 2018 Jacob deGrom).  Jason Vargas has pitched better than many expected in his first start but was skipped the 2^nd time around.  Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler have been disappointing.  Players are only hitting .185 against Thor but teeing off to a .270 mark against Wheeler.   

On the offensive side of the ledger, for all the good things Robinson Cano brings to the table, thus far a productive bat has not been one of them.  Yes, he’s hit a couple of home runs, but he’s struggling with a .205 batting average.  Amed Rosario has been a bit up and down both with his bat and his glove, struggling right now with a .229 AVG.  None has struggled as mightily as has Brandon Nimmo who, after entering the game midway on Sunday, raised his season average to .103.  Right on his heels is the lackluster effort from Juan Lagares who is providing but a .167 AVG. 

It’s certainly too soon to make any radical changes, particularly with number two backstop Travis d’Arnaud having just supplanted the ineffectual Tomas Nido yesterday, and the Florida Injured List infield twins, Jed Lowrie and Todd Frazier, yet to make a 2019 appearance.  Many are wondering how they will fit in once they are ready to return to action.  Luis Guillorme could survive until Jed Lowrie gets here as he could be an emergency shortstop.  J.D. Davis is likely the next on the bubble for Frazier. 

The growing pains for Mickey Callaway are more tolerable when the club is enjoying a .667 winning percentage.  However, Jim Riggleman was brought in to help guide the sophomore skipper into making better decisions.  Thus far there hasn’t been much evidence of that happening.  Still, you’re not even 10 games into a 162 game season so there’s a lot of time and room for improvement from the manager and players alike.