Casey Kotchman, after going 0-for-14 to begin his career on the lake, is hitting .063. Michael Brantley? .077. Jason Kipnis? Asdrubal Cabrera? .118 & .158. The bench is a combined 2-for-20. Most of that came yesterday when grand wizard Manny Acta saw fit to start all four of his reserves. The 9,473 at The Jake were rewarded with 5 lousy hits.
Perhaps worst of all, the team squandered leads (and brilliant starts by Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez) in games 1 & 2, losing by the same 7-4 score in extra innings each outing. The bullpen has been choppy at best, to the tune of a 5.68 ERA, a .291 OBA and a 1.74 WHIP. Oh, and 2 losses and an horrific blown save on opening day.
The trite thing to say would be "It's a long season. Don't worry. They will hit." The truth of the matter is that this team is going to win games with their pitching and it cannot afford to squander dominant performances like those from their top two starters.
They look really bad and there is not a lot of hope on the horizon. I'm sticking with 66 wins.
Back after the game with more.
Cheers.
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