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 2nd 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.
7 comments:
JD Davis has to stay while hot - and Todd should sit and be a sub and start a game or two per week. If Davis slumps and Todd shows signs of life, switch them then.
Todd is 2 for 12 in High A ball - I do not want a dead bat in my line up. Hit...or sit.
Play the hot hand? That's so un-Terry/Nickey-like in approach. :)
The problem is to make room for Frazier someone's got to go. Who shall it be?
Reese, it would have to be little-used Guillorme - if Rosario gets hurt, he can be called up. Luis is the sort of guy that makes the 26 man roster so needed.
Luis could help himself by also being able to catch.
In the days of my "yoot", I remember seeing a beautiful woman who interested me. But when I got close, I saw that her nose was a little crooked and she had a pimple on her cheek.
So I rejected her from my pursuit.
This team has some pimples, Bill, no doubt.
Besides Frazier, Guillorme also needs to be a bit worried about Dilson Herrera, who has more major league time than he does. Dilson Pick It has 2 singles, 2 doubles, a HR, and a walk in 9 plate appearances for Syracuse.
Today is Jeff's birthday
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