What a fun season this one's been. First team in MLB to win 80 games. Good pitching, timely hitting, and great defense.
And all this with a decent amount of obstacles to overcome:
- Best player (Votto) out for nearly two months
- Closer (Madson) out for entire season
- Rolen's nagging injuries causing him to miss significant time
- Other bullpen issues (Bray out most of the season, Masset out for the entire year)
- No true leadoff hitter
- Very little production from the 1 and 2 hitters
- Mesoroco not living up to expectations
And I'm sure there are more (feel free to add to the list).
But the bottom line is that Dusty deserves credit. Walt deserves credit. And, of course, the players deserve credit. They've stepped up.
As much as we moan and complain about Dusty's lineups and in-game decisions, the bottom line is that this team has the best record in baseball right now...in spite of the issues listed. Amazing.