04-11-2016, 09:51 AM
I think it's important to note that 3 of their 5 wins so far have been in their final at-bat, including 2 walk off victories.
And two of those wins have involved very large innings that you can't necessarily rely on to win games consistently.
The starting pitching has been decent, but we haven't had a starting pitcher reach the 7th inning yet, which can be taxing on your bullpen. I have high hopes for Finnegan and Iglesias. We'll see how Finnegan pitches in Chicago, but I think he'll end up being our best starting pitcher overall. Iglesias hasn't been bit too badly yet, but he gives up too many hits for my tastes.
Stephenson was average and he won't be a dominant pitcher this year (and if he comes back up, you know he's going to get knocked around quite a bit.)
And Melville...needed almost 100 pitches to get out 4 innings. I don't have high hopes for him.
What has truly impressed me is the bullpen. I have no idea who Straily, Cotham and Wood are, but they are really holding it together and eating up innings so far this year. Diaz has been impressive as well and Cingrani seems to have found his place as a middle reliever. I'm not thrilled with Hoover as the closer, especially after that grand slam he gave up. But that's been his only hit allowed in 3 appearances, so that isn't terrible.
Just keep Sampson off the field haha. He was a bad starter last year and he's going to be a pretty bad reliever this year. I hope he is their "emergency" player, rather than a pitcher that sees regular play.
If Hamilton can utilize that inside out swing a bit more, I think he can climb back to the #1 spot in the order and be dangerous. And once Votto hits his stride, our offense will really start to click. Bruce has been a wonderful surprise too, but we all know that he is prone to peaks and valleys. I'm sure in a month or two, he'll be 2-36 and we'll be wondering what the **** is wrong with him.
*knocks on wood*
The season is looking much better after a week than I expected it too. Let's all hope this momentum keeps them going.
And two of those wins have involved very large innings that you can't necessarily rely on to win games consistently.
The starting pitching has been decent, but we haven't had a starting pitcher reach the 7th inning yet, which can be taxing on your bullpen. I have high hopes for Finnegan and Iglesias. We'll see how Finnegan pitches in Chicago, but I think he'll end up being our best starting pitcher overall. Iglesias hasn't been bit too badly yet, but he gives up too many hits for my tastes.
Stephenson was average and he won't be a dominant pitcher this year (and if he comes back up, you know he's going to get knocked around quite a bit.)
And Melville...needed almost 100 pitches to get out 4 innings. I don't have high hopes for him.
What has truly impressed me is the bullpen. I have no idea who Straily, Cotham and Wood are, but they are really holding it together and eating up innings so far this year. Diaz has been impressive as well and Cingrani seems to have found his place as a middle reliever. I'm not thrilled with Hoover as the closer, especially after that grand slam he gave up. But that's been his only hit allowed in 3 appearances, so that isn't terrible.
Just keep Sampson off the field haha. He was a bad starter last year and he's going to be a pretty bad reliever this year. I hope he is their "emergency" player, rather than a pitcher that sees regular play.
If Hamilton can utilize that inside out swing a bit more, I think he can climb back to the #1 spot in the order and be dangerous. And once Votto hits his stride, our offense will really start to click. Bruce has been a wonderful surprise too, but we all know that he is prone to peaks and valleys. I'm sure in a month or two, he'll be 2-36 and we'll be wondering what the **** is wrong with him.
*knocks on wood*
The season is looking much better after a week than I expected it too. Let's all hope this momentum keeps them going.
![[Image: oN5QAdY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oN5QAdY.png)
