1. Jeff Suppan's presence in the rotation.
2. Manny Parra.
3. Jason Kendall's constant presence.
4. Everyone in the bullpen not named Mark DiFelice, Todd Coffey, and so far, Trevor Hoffman. Also, walks.
5. Rickie Weeks' amazing ability to get hit in the head.
1. Jeff Suppan
ReplyDelete2. Jason Kendall
3. Ken Macha's reliance on Kendall and Counsell
4. Bullpen (Coffey just can't stay this lucky)
5. Overall starting rotation
My Top 5 Worries:
ReplyDelete1. Walks
2. Manny Parra
3. Bullpen
4. Kendall
5. Suppan
I am very concerned about the walks as it seems to be an epidemic. Does this have anything to do with the change in pitching coach? Change in approach.. etc?
Suppan is a pricey bust but I am actually more worried about Parra getting man handled three times now. He is supposed to be cheap help for a few years. There is a reason why DiFelice and Coffey have never been much. They will come down to earth eventually. I think this pitching staff was built on not much but a hope and a prayer. Also what the heck is up with Villanueva?
So far I'm OK with Macha I guess. There's not much he can do when Coffey and DiFelice are the only two who can get anybody out. My only concern with Kendall is how long Macha will stick with him before his .100 batting average will finally get him out of the lineup.
The return of the batting prowess of September is a big concern, but the pitching has the fine smell of disaster.
Ooh, I like lists.
ReplyDelete1) Manny Parra. We needed him to be *good.* Not pretty good or okay. *Good.* And he's been bad. Which isn't even pretty good.
2) Suppan. Bad and getting worse. And expensive.
3) The 7th inning. I just don't see us having a 3rd good arm out of the bullpen. Or a second for that matter.
4) Bench. It's either bad or we're not using it right if Counesl is the go-to.
5) Kendal as a starter. It's time to take your role as the worldly back-up catcher Jason. Maybe pair him up with Suppan?
It's Counsell - Kendall - Looper going 789 in the batting order tonight. I smell a 12 run outburst.
ReplyDeleteIn Counsell's defense (never thought I'd start a sentence with those three words) his OBP is good. .400 this year, .355 last year. That's generally useless in front of Kendall and the pitcher. If he's gonna play sometimes vs rhp, I'd consider putting him at the top of the lineup, and dropping Weeks to the 7 hole.
ReplyDeleteCounsell is fine. Kendall and Rivera need to swap roles.
ReplyDelete