"It's April" just doesn't work for judging this bullpen. They've been bad over the course of 2.5 years.
We very well might have wasted a prime Kershaw season by not fixing the bullpen or spending any money on the lineup that probably needed a middle of the order bat.... We also may not have! Only time well tell!
These fucking guys Turner and Gonzalez and Utley are just standing there watching pitches sail over the middle of the plate for Ks..?wtf is going on with these losers now? Puig is a sham...what gives?
Nothing will change until we realize we have a problem. I don't think enough people realize how huge of an issue this Bullpen it is. Just because they put together a few decent games as a collective unit, it doesn't mean they're good. Thsee pitchers are individuals. And only one of them can actually get outs consistently. Kenley. NOBODY ELSE CAN. That is an issue. No bullpen can sustain success that way. Stop fooling yourselves on Hatcher like I did. Stop thinking Baez is an option, or Yimi, etc. These guys aren't good. Won't ever be fixed until it's identified as a problem. I think this FO is out smarting themselves with the faux talented BP. Faux talent doesn't sustain success.
The front office is smart. They have to know the bullpen sucks. But doing anything about it, is just not in the cards. As much as I like them, they have to be held accountable for this failure.
And I agree with Vincent about the middle of the order bat. We don't have an answer to Posey, Goldschmidt, Harper, Rizzo, etc. We have a collection of above average players who can probably net us a lot of wins over 162. But we don't have a guy for when the game gets shorter, the ABS get bigger. Or anyone who can put the team on its back. A true force that pitchers are afraid of. A monster. We don't have it.
The problem may be that Friedman is carrying over Tampa Bay tendencies when you can outspend every team in the league. Why not sign Heyward when worst case he sucks in 4 years and can sign someone else? It's definitely worth asking these question if this team ends at 85 wins.
I like Dodgers Digest, but their smugness about the bullpen and "fans overreacting" is horse crap. Even the dumbest of fans can tell when a crap product is out there. It's not rocket science as much as the nerds want it to be. I sound like a broken record saying I'm a fan of theirs, but losing faith in the product they've put out there.
Last 8 games have been against the Braves, Marlins, and Padres. We are going to be 2-6 with 2 extra inning wins vs the Braves. Yiiiiiiikes
I will never get over them passing up on Andrew Miller because of 1 extra year. Guy is arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball.
