As we move to the half-way point

[SF11704]

just some things that seem to have caught my attention.
1. looks like 3 teams in our division are playing about .500 ball. AZ seems to have pulled ahead a little. Still not out of reach but have to be carefull here ... just thankfull that no NL West team had a torrid first half. Just think if we were in the Central division. We'd be about 9 back entering the break
2. Two teams in the Central, other than STL are also playing well. Well enough to possibly take both WC positions. That would really suck. Then we have to take the division. I tend to think that both PITT and CINN are for real.
3. PHI seems to be the only other team at around .500 and also looking at a WC position at the moment
4. Anyone ever have a passing thought that Panda's weight may actually cut short his career? Are back or leg/feet problems in his future?
5. Looking at the line-up ... how can you not like the contributions from Scoots, Craw, Blanco and Pence. For me ... especially Craw and Blanco. Never saw this level of output.
6. When did we forget how to field a damn ball? Run the bases correctly?
7. Wonder how many hits we have given up with 2 strikes on the batter. Seems like a million.
8. Just when you think it can't get any worse .... we have an injury to one of our starting position players.
9. This is exactly how I felt in 2010 as we entered the break .... and that turned out to be a pretty good year!

 

[calsnowskier]

2010 was a freakishly flukey year. The entire roster (practically) was over-hauled DURING the season. Burrell, Ross, JLo, RamRam, Torres, Bum, and Posey with Wellemeyer and Huff added before the season.

That as certainly NOT a recipe for prolonged success

 

[msgkings322]

2010 was a freakishly flukey year. The entire roster (practically) was over-hauled DURING the season. Burrell, Ross, JLo, RamRam, Torres, Bum, and Posey with Wellemeyer and Huff added before the season.

That as certainly NOT a recipe for prolonged success

And Wellemeyer's injury let Bum step in, obviously a big upgrade...
Our injuries this year haven't uncovered any similar upgrades, although maybe Gaudin we'll look back on as a nice find...

It's still middle of June, the month we knew would suck. I thought we'd go 12-15...we're 9-12 now so pretty much on track for that. I thought we'd be like 3-4 games back at month end, we're 3 back.

When we get healthy and get a reinforcement or two in July we should have enough to compete for this not so hot division. We don't want the wild card anyway in the new format.

We're going to be competitive all year and that's all you can ask. We're not entitled to stress-free championships every year.

Marty Lurie often says when you're not hitting it looks like you're not trying. It's really frustrating, but it's part of the ebb and flow of the season.

 

[msgkings322]

One thing though: PLEASE don't throw first pitch fastballs to Puig. Like, ever.