Frank Coztansa wrote:
Everyone outside of Cease, Anderson, Zavala, and Hendriks have been underwhelming. Robert has played good D but lacks power for whatever reason and he's been ouchy as well. Everybody else has been underwhelming, and some of those guys have flat out sucked.
Injuries are a part of it- again. They shuffled the training staff after last season, and its the same story. I find it hard to believe its just all bad luck with all of the soft tissue injuries the team has suffered.
LaRussa isn't giving up runs on the mound or strolling to plate with a batting average under .200, but he also hasn't put the team in the best position to win more than a few times. He should have been launched three or four weeks ago, even if its rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
I don't know if the team got complacent. I don't know if there are cliques in the clubhouse. I don't know if there is a lack of accountability. Maybe all of the above have happening or are happening. But the manager hasn't done much to fix it and neither has the front office. They are exactly 81-81 over their last 162 games (including the ALDS). Decidedly mediocre. Nowhere near good enough to win a pennant/World Series which was the bar for this season to be a success.
Honestly Frank....I think they were just an overachieving team in 2021 (despite all the injuries) that managed to beat up on a weak division. This year's team is more than likely a realistic portrayal of what they really are. Not much is different compared to last year but the win / loss record. They're a team that isn't very deep and one I'd call defensively below average.
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This Ends in Antioch wrote:
brick (/brik/) verb
1. block or enclose with a wall of bricks
2. Proper response would be to ask an endless series of follow ups until the person regrets having spoken to you in the first place.