I realize it's early, and I'm willing to be patient. Just observation(s) through the first 4 games..... and some of spring training
-You hear about this young pitching again and again and again. The fact of the matter is we're approaching about a year mark since Edison Volquez has looked dominant/decent and Johnny Cueto just gets hit. There is no other way around it. The guy has all the stuff in the world and he can strike you out but big league hitters hit him. I wanna add that we already know what we have at best in Arroyo and Harang. We've seen it. Owings is the one guy who could probably really have his stock rise..... or Bailey but he's in the minors in favor of Arroyo. I am beginning to think Johnny Cueto is what we saw today on most nights..... he just isn't consistently impressive.
-I dont care how many runs he saves you (and the other night he actually cost us perhaps a game with his glove) Alex Gonzalez is squeezing at bats from guys like Dickerson and Hairston who I see as igniters. Hairston should be the every day shortstop. Gonzalez is as automatic of an out as there is in this league. He's going to hit .230 at best. Mark my words.
-This team simply doesn't hit enough. I don't know where to start. The bottom 3 of the lineup are automatic outs. Hernandez, Gonzalez, Pitcher. Hernandez has the look of a guy who will hit 8 home runs and .240 possibly. This was a team who in spring training half the time was scoring 0, 1 or 2 runs. I was alarmed then and while I'm willing to be patient to make an outright full judgement, my concern is growing. The biggest thing I see is you have two young hitters who could be great.... but they're being asked to carry the whole load. That is the organizations fault. There is no one in that lineup other then Bruce, Votto, and maybe Phillips who are a threat. There is no protection for the young guys and they're at a time when they should be allowed to develop.... not carry a team. It's not fair. Shame on anyone who wanted Adam Dunn gone. Say what you want but his production will be sorely missed. You talk about your team built on pitching and defense? You're going to have a lot of 10-2 games like the one we had today.
-This is not a "Chicken Little the Sky is falling" post. I am not that type of person. I've watched this team very closely and I'm calling it how I see it. I think a ton of us (myself included) were blinding ourselves on the limitations of this team; and I said they'd win 80. From what I see spring, and even now those two games in which we scored a few runs (it was an ugly display both games allowing us to score more then 1 or 2) I just don't think there is enough firepower and this is going to be a total rebuilding year.
Originally Posted by fadetoblack2880
