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Art Deco · 04-09-2024, 08:59 PM

Record: 13-11
2nd place AL East, 1/2 behind Baltimore, 1st wild card

A typical ~.500 start for this team in this save. One of these seasons they'll surprise me by starting 18-7 or 9-16 but not this one. We made it through the month with one injury of note but it was a serious one - lefty reliever Matt Cronin tore his UCL and is done for the year. In a bit of twist our perceived weak spot was our strongest as the starting pitching was excellent only for the bullpen to falter and the bats to be a mixed bag which is why it all added up to 13-11.

A stop-start month with a 4-game win streak and a 3-game losing streak the extremes. How things looked around MLB this first month:

Notice the AL ERA leaders, all Rays. Meanwhile the White Sox and Phillies are off to insane starts but a lot of teams hovering around the .500 mark.

The offense is off to its usual slumbering start but with the bullpen blowing games at times this year I was actually surprised to see us one game better than our Pythag record.

A real mixed bag here. Elly and Tatis are off to their usual productive starts with the latter an XBH machine but they've also both struck out an incredible number of times, often killing the rallies they're not creating. Chourio has bounced back nicely from his brutal postseason and Carson Williams has been productive but that's about it for the good news. Patrick Bailey is a black hole at the plate in his walk year and he's been yielding some time to rookie Zion Rose, who has been hitting when given the chance. My only reluctance to not use Rose more is he's the weaker defensive catcher and we've had some poor pitching performances with him behind the plate. Also last season's Rookie of the Year Ethan Holliday has seen his ratings downgraded, from 70 contact to 60 and without a lot of power he suddenly doesn't look as promising a player. And Saggese has not hit like he's done in previous years getting full-time DH at-bats.

Down is up and black is white here as the starters have been incredible with ironically our best starter last year Pepiot struggling the most, although the .389 BABIP against has a lot to do with that. George Kirby has been the pitcher we thought we were acquiring last July and even rookie Garrett Lambert (he qualifies by just 1 2/3 IP!) has been solid. But the pen has been problematic. New closer Elvis Alvarado has been good, but he missed the final week of the month with a minor injury (but is back May 1) and Matthew Peguero has struggled mightily in his stead. The Cronin injury gives us a shortage of lefties with only Cotto left from opening day but we did call up Geudis Ramos, who was decent in his brief appearances last year.

I'll check in on the farm next month, although one guy we thought might help at some point, slugging OF Brailer Guerrero, broke a bone in his elbow and is done for the season.

04-09-2024, 08:59 PM	#168
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,363	April 2030 Record: 13-11 2nd place AL East, 1/2 behind Baltimore, 1st wild card A typical ~.500 start for this team in this save. One of these seasons they'll surprise me by starting 18-7 or 9-16 but not this one. We made it through the month with one injury of note but it was a serious one - lefty reliever Matt Cronin tore his UCL and is done for the year. In a bit of twist our perceived weak spot was our strongest as the starting pitching was excellent only for the bullpen to falter and the bats to be a mixed bag which is why it all added up to 13-11. A stop-start month with a 4-game win streak and a 3-game losing streak the extremes. How things looked around MLB this first month: Notice the AL ERA leaders, all Rays. Meanwhile the White Sox and Phillies are off to insane starts but a lot of teams hovering around the .500 mark. The offense is off to its usual slumbering start but with the bullpen blowing games at times this year I was actually surprised to see us one game better than our Pythag record. A real mixed bag here. Elly and Tatis are off to their usual productive starts with the latter an XBH machine but they've also both struck out an incredible number of times, often killing the rallies they're not creating. Chourio has bounced back nicely from his brutal postseason and Carson Williams has been productive but that's about it for the good news. Patrick Bailey is a black hole at the plate in his walk year and he's been yielding some time to rookie Zion Rose, who has been hitting when given the chance. My only reluctance to not use Rose more is he's the weaker defensive catcher and we've had some poor pitching performances with him behind the plate. Also last season's Rookie of the Year Ethan Holliday has seen his ratings downgraded, from 70 contact to 60 and without a lot of power he suddenly doesn't look as promising a player. And Saggese has not hit like he's done in previous years getting full-time DH at-bats. Down is up and black is white here as the starters have been incredible with ironically our best starter last year Pepiot struggling the most, although the .389 BABIP against has a lot to do with that. George Kirby has been the pitcher we thought we were acquiring last July and even rookie Garrett Lambert (he qualifies by just 1 2/3 IP!) has been solid. But the pen has been problematic. New closer Elvis Alvarado has been good, but he missed the final week of the month with a minor injury (but is back May 1) and Matthew Peguero has struggled mightily in his stead. The Cronin injury gives us a shortage of lefties with only Cotto left from opening day but we did call up Geudis Ramos, who was decent in his brief appearances last year. I'll check in on the farm next month, although one guy we thought might help at some point, slugging OF Brailer Guerrero, broke a bone in his elbow and is done for the season.