Sunday, May 04, 2008

Good stuff

Take 2 of 3 from D-backs, wagner is throwing some filthy stuff, and church absolutely had a gun from foul territory to throw burke out at 3rd on that overthrow error by feliciano.

4 comments:

Fredo said...

I'm definitely getting a growing sense of optimism around this club. Hardly anything is going great right now, and yet they're still beating the better teams in the league. I'm not trying to have my head in the sand--the O and the starters need to improve--but the results are proving some degree of optimism to be justified.

SheaHeyKid said...

I think the key is that they need to stay close while they work through their issues (starting pitching, offense, and injuries). It helps enormously that the rest of NL east is also chewing it now, so as long as they play just above .500 they won't fall too far behind. I'd hope sometime this month though they put it all together and start to put a few games between themselves and phils/braves. really you'd have to imagine beltran can't be this bad all season, for example.

Fredo said...

No. The Lure of Averages says he must improve.

SheaHeyKid said...

He must, right? Right?

From today's Post:
Randolph admitted yesterday that the constant negativity from the fans at Shea Stadium so far this year - an obvious carryover from last September's epic collapse - has turned the road into a welcome refuge.

"In our mind, we moved on," Randolph said of last season's historic meltdown. "Obviously, the fans are having a tough time moving past that."


And to think, all that's without SHK having even graced Shea yet this year!

Well, Willie, sorry, but you can't expect the fans to move on when the team they see on the field this year is behaving identically to the one that stank in the 2nd half of last year. When I see stuff like Wright and Schneider both staring at a pop fly in foul territory and let it go uncaught, and then in the same inning Wright and Reyes nearly botch a call on another pop fly, it's troubling. When I see the same starting rotation only go 5 innings and give up 4 runs, it's troubling, especially since the bullpen is now being overworked. And when I see a team that stinks with RISP and can't pick up a clutch 2-out hit - just like last year - it's hard to move on.

I really can't point to any areas where this team has improved over last year, except for Johan and Church. The offensive run production is absolutely atrocious (13 out of 16 in runs scored in NL, and a hideous 14 out of 16 in BA). And the fielding and pitching are only middle of the road in NL in overall stats.

So the stats basically say even if we pick up a win here and there, we shouldn't be much better than a .500 club at present.