April 26th, 2019

 

There was a buzz in Cooperstown entering the 2019 season.  

The rotation of Cole, Bauer, Sanchez, Wheeler and Bumgarner looked formidable.  

The lineup looked intimidating.  4 projected 30+ HR bats with 4 more projected to hit 20 or more.  Even the "worst" hitter, Marcus Semien was penciled in to hit .250 with 15 HR.  

The Draft War Room focused heavily on the bullpen in the middle rounds adding numerous arms... Tepera, Biddle, Roe, Kelley, Brazier, Nuno to go along with the trio of Familia, Watson and Lugo.

They looked ready to reclaim the division after taking a year to retool in 2018... but the Iron Horses have derailed.  Stumbling to an 11-19 start, tied for 2nd worst in CBA, is not what this fan base or front office had in mind. 

"It is surprising," said Stamets after their 4th consecutive loss, "We traded away some good talent last year to set up for a pennant chase this season.  We weren't expecting this." When asked about shopping veteran player

to continue looking towards the future, Stamets wasn't ready to to discuss that topic.  "We're not there yet.  There's still time to right the ship and there's enough talent on this team to do so.  It's a 162 game season and we have to depth to make it to the end with a competitive team."  

While the slow start is concerning, one would figure that Suarez will improve on his .207 average.  Carpenter, Polanco and Encarnacion are all hitting below .173, that surely has to change.  Trevor Bauer's ERA still sits above 5.00 after throwing 6 scoreless innings but that should continue to trend downwards.  

While there's not a plan for a fire sale in the near future, you have to wonder if those plans will change if this team is still in the cellar approaching the trade deadline.  Iron Horse fans sure hope it doesn't come to that.

 

Will they be able to keep up the good work?  Only time will tell