1/8th of the way progress reports

[jay87shot]

With 20 games in the books I thought it might be interesting to see thoughts on where the team is.

Offense, Defense, Rotation, Bullpen, Coaching, Front Office, Minor Leagues, MVP, Biggest Surprise, Biggest Dissapointment, others

 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Frelick is the biggest surprise for me with Turang a close second. Love the pop we are seeing from those two.  Ortiz has been the biggest disappointment.  I had pegged him as someone who I thought would take the next steps.  

The rotation has been amazing considering all the injuries.  

[jay87shot]

Offense=B-.  With Yeli, William, and Hoskins showing signs of getting it going this offense is potentially looking deadly especially if Durbin can solidify 3B after a solid debut. 

Defense= C-, at the beginning of the year I thought almost every position other than 3B and 1B had a chance to win a gold glove. We haven't been awful but rank 12th according to fieldingbible which is disappointing with the talent we have.

Rotation=A+, The telecast tonight said we rank 1st with a 2.13 era in April amongst starters. With the injuries sustained it is surprising our rotation isn't getting more national attention.

Bullpen=B, Every year it seems to take a quarter of the year to kind of weed through the bullpen. This year with some of the injuries to the rotation I will give the pen a little break. Uribe and Keonig have been great, Megill and Hudson ok. With Mears and Anderson showing some potential. If we don't count Payamps and Thomas the pen might be and A-.

Coaching=A-, I don't have to many issues with how Murphy has run the team. With the pitching injuries 11-9 is solid. 

Front Office=B, The good, putting together a solid rotation with the 7 or 8 guys who have missed time. The bad, how long it took to give Durbin a chance and why isn't Yoho in the bigs??? With the Priester looking better every start I will side on the better than average grade.

Minor Leagues= Carolina gets an A++, the rest of the minors like a C+. Probably like an A- for pitching and C- for batting. Some offense of problems early on linger in my mind but early on the pitching is usually ahead of the offense. Also no Quero, Boeve, Wichrowski, O'Rae, amongst other kind of hurts.

MVP= Freddy Peralta, He has been spectacular. Turang, Sal, and Chourio have carried the offense but we are where we are because of the rotation.

Biggest Surprise= Chad Patrick, I shouldn't be to surprised but if you asked me before the season started I probably would have had him 10th or 11th on the rotation depth chart. As of this instant (thru 5 innings) he has been spectacular.

Biggest Dissapointment= Injuries, 3rd base has been a hole, but most of us were at least semi prepared for that. Yeli, Contreras, and Hoskins through 10 or so games were really bad but have righted the ship it appears. Yoho is a week or so past due a promotion but I can live with that for a week or so before I am truly upset by that. The injuries to the rotation are truly worrisome long term.

 

 

[rickh150]

Offense B Enough bright spots and health to be encouraged.

Defense C  Not that they are making errors all over the place, but the good/great plays are not close to last year’s pace. 

Rotation B+   For as good as it has been with all the injuries and now rookies throwing, it has been quite something, we are not getting deep in games and rely on our deep pen maybe more than any other team. Can’t give an A because of it, but the group has been a surprisingly monster success.

Bullpen B+ Lots of quality innings with a few duds…our top 6 have been very good.

Coaching A-  Few issues that I lay awake about….love the bunting.  Not a fan of Frelick hitting 5 or 6….rather have a little more pop there.  I would throw a few less pitchers in some games. No pitcher hitting really allows you to get a third or two thirds more of an inning out of a guy. Throwing 5 or 6 pitchers in a close loss really hurts when off days are missing.  

Front Office B The injuries have tested our depth and FO decision making abilities.  I can’t believe how good the rotation has been….guys that have been brought up have been great. And the Priester trade looks good now.  I like most thought 3B as a hole and it is a big question mark this year and especially the next few. Durbin should be better offensively.
Minors B Nice to have a few potential upgrades waiting in the wings, even with some hurt or struggling in April.

MVP Freddy/Frelick

Disappointment… Mitchell  I still expect him to do better. Yet, he likely gets hurt, as well.

Surprise…Patrick