06-24-2017, 01:02 AM
Basically the recipe for it is pretty clear.
1. Get healthy. Hopefully not only are Zobrist and Hendricks "100%", but they're closer to their 2016 selves than their 2017 selves (Hendricks especially; it will be interesting to see if he has a velocity spike).
2. Make a trade for starting pitching, ideally a No. 1-No. 3 that is cost-controlled. You then have a real playoff rotation too, especially if Hendricks is better. Lester/Hendricks/Arrieta/_ guy in whaetver order (ideally the pitcher would be our second-best starter).
3. Keep Montgomery in the rotation as long as need be, over Butler or Lackey (or both if there are trades). I love Montgomery as the piggyback guy in the bullpen, but he sure seems like a better starting pitcher right now than Lackey and Butler (Hell, over Jake too right now), and that outweighs your ideal role for him. They need the starting pitching improved.
4. Start hitting with more consistency. Tonight sucked, but they entered the day with an .821 OPS in June. They've been more normal lately, and get Zobrist back soon. Contreras and Russell are finally not automatic outs, Rizzo and Bryant have their usual production going, etc. They're also no longer leading off the game with a sub-.300 OBP. I'm just not very worried about the lineup over the full season, even if Schwarber is a zero (and I have a feeling he will return and be productive, because he's not actually a bad hitter).
5. Get to August 14th within like 3 or 4 games of first place (ideally up a few games, of course), and then pummel this schedule: http://www.espn.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/chc/half/2
Whatever the case, you want to get in and take your shot, even if things stay like this. The talent level of this team is extremely high and we see it on an individual basis in stretches. Imagine if Rizzo and Bryant actually got hot at the same time for once, for example. Maybe Lester has a Bumgarner-like run. Maybe Arrieta finally turns it on (he did in the World Series after struggling the entire second half). There is the talent on this team to make a run as long as they get in the dumb tournament. You wouldn't feel good about those chances though, of course, so hopefully they finally turn it the hell on soon.
1. Get healthy. Hopefully not only are Zobrist and Hendricks "100%", but they're closer to their 2016 selves than their 2017 selves (Hendricks especially; it will be interesting to see if he has a velocity spike).
2. Make a trade for starting pitching, ideally a No. 1-No. 3 that is cost-controlled. You then have a real playoff rotation too, especially if Hendricks is better. Lester/Hendricks/Arrieta/_ guy in whaetver order (ideally the pitcher would be our second-best starter).
3. Keep Montgomery in the rotation as long as need be, over Butler or Lackey (or both if there are trades). I love Montgomery as the piggyback guy in the bullpen, but he sure seems like a better starting pitcher right now than Lackey and Butler (Hell, over Jake too right now), and that outweighs your ideal role for him. They need the starting pitching improved.
4. Start hitting with more consistency. Tonight sucked, but they entered the day with an .821 OPS in June. They've been more normal lately, and get Zobrist back soon. Contreras and Russell are finally not automatic outs, Rizzo and Bryant have their usual production going, etc. They're also no longer leading off the game with a sub-.300 OBP. I'm just not very worried about the lineup over the full season, even if Schwarber is a zero (and I have a feeling he will return and be productive, because he's not actually a bad hitter).
5. Get to August 14th within like 3 or 4 games of first place (ideally up a few games, of course), and then pummel this schedule: http://www.espn.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/chc/half/2
Whatever the case, you want to get in and take your shot, even if things stay like this. The talent level of this team is extremely high and we see it on an individual basis in stretches. Imagine if Rizzo and Bryant actually got hot at the same time for once, for example. Maybe Lester has a Bumgarner-like run. Maybe Arrieta finally turns it on (he did in the World Series after struggling the entire second half). There is the talent on this team to make a run as long as they get in the dumb tournament. You wouldn't feel good about those chances though, of course, so hopefully they finally turn it the hell on soon.
@TheBlogfines