I’m guessing Shay Whitcomb will be back if Meyers on the shelf. With Brown and Javier down and them headed to a 6-man rotation, look for Arrighetti, Alexander and someone else to be added to rotation. Colton Gordon?
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They don’t have to add another guy to the rotation to make 6….
They can not afford to have another SP that can not pitch out of the 5th inning….you would have one less guy in the pen which is already dog tired….
Very well could add another reliever and make the “6th man” a BP day.
Another possibility would be to let AJ take Javier’s spot in the rotation….would give him 5 full days to refresh.
Then call up France to take the BP spot.
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The pitching staff is a trainwreck
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First sweep by the Rockies in almost two years.
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I know it’s early. We lost draft picks. We had injuries. Blah, blah, blah.
But do you just get the feeling deep in that part of your mind where you don’t like to go…waaaay back there in nooks and crannies of your subconscious mind…beyond every semblance of disbelief…
…that the Brown/Espada duo is just weak ass and that they attract misfortune like the plague?
BUT INJURIES FUNK!!! SHUT UP!!!
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I know it’s early, but we may be sellers at the trade deadline.
Hopefully, we will be in a position for somebody to quote this and say “this didn’t age well”.
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I actually see potential with this team. They need to get that bullpen fixed though.
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I think there is hope. But the pitching situation has gone from marginally optimistic to worrisome so fast. It looks like both Hunter and Christian were victims of short prep work. Who knows what happened to Burrows. 3 SO’s in 5 innings. This was after a decent outing.
They’re just so inconsistent everywhere. On a positive Walker is leading Alvarez in run production and he’s around 9th in SO’s. Loperfido is keeping a solid average. But Paredes has fallen off the edge of the earth. I didn’t think we’d be a Big Red Machine but I was hoping for better results in day-to-day.
Last year we battled Seattle for the playoffs. This series could end up burying one of us for the foreseeable future. We’re both teetering.
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I was worried about the pitching to start with. McCullers has been better than I expected, HB was great while he lasted, and Imai looks good, but pretty much everyone else is worse. Bolton surprised a little in his first start. Burrows = meh. I didn’t think Javier was ready to throw shutouts or anything, but I thought he could mix in a decent outing.
The bullpen has some serviceable pieces (King, Teng, De Los Santos, Blubaugh until he got burned, and maybe Roa), but the rest of them need a deep cleaning. The tomato can ratio is all out-of-whack.
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Paredes missed like three or four games for family stuff. They’re just getting started. They have started slow in just about the last three or four seasons.
Well by all means, we wouldn’t want them to break that tradition.
Last I checked , game # 9 and 10 counted the same as 162….
Remind me again how many games we missed the playoffs by?
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Framber gave up 8 runs in 5 innings for the Tigers today, so at least the Astros aren’t paying a mint for bad starts. 
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After 20 games, here is how these teams started and how they ended up:
2021: 10-10 – WS
2022: 9-11 – WS Champs
2023: 10-10 – ALCS
This team may end up missing the playoffs or get rejuvenated and go on a run. Who knows? But it’s certainly too early to freak out about it.
How do you think our roster today compares to those teams?
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I’m not freaking out at all….just being realistic.
But this team does not have close to the talent those teams you just listed did.
The margin for error is far less….and every game counts……because of pitching , this is not a team that is gonna reel off 10 in a row.
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Going beyond just the W-L record, how did those previous teams compare from a pitching standpoint?
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Yeah, I’m aware of that. And taking the last three years as a baseline for being optimistic seems crazy. This team is older and more banged up. There certainly haven’t been any upgrades on the offensive side this season. And it’s debatable whether we’re on an even keel with last year’s PS. I would say a notch or two below.
I’m not freaking out. I’m preparing myself for what’s coming. If we get our clock cleaned by Seattle it may not be a good sign. I really think we could use a sweep for our team psychology.
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There are so many unknowns with this team. But the offense has a chance to be pretty good with the way they approach their at bats this season. Will the new hitting coaches be a significant upgrade? We’ll see. Pitching could be pretty good as well, once they settle in. Provided that Hunter is really just a shoulder strain, he is at the top but I can see Burrows settling in and start to be the guy they saw at spring training. Imai as well. Can Lance be consistent from his previous start? Can Arrighetti find it this season? How will Blanco and Wesneski look when they are back?
I actually am intrigued by the rotation. I wonder about the bullpen. Abreu has been bad. Hopefully Hader comes back to push him back into his set up role and maybe that will help him. There are a lot of unknowns and things that need to and can sort out. King, Okert, Blubaugh, etc. have disappointed early. Hopefully they can pick up an arm or they settle in and make outs.
The one thing that I actually think is an improvement over last season, is the offense. It’s pitching, particularly the bullpen that has held them up, so far.
Haha. It’s the first month of the season. This team very well could end up as bad as you say. But even a bad Seattle series, is still too early to call off the season.