Amazing they have a winning record. Bullpen incredible. SP disappointing. Arraez a god. Jazz good in CF. Really need another bat. #bliNgbliNg

I'd say they need multiple bats. Of course it would help if Segura decided to stop sucking, but even if he returns to his career norm, this offense still isn't remotely good enough.

2 minutes ago, Mr. Wog said:

Amazing they have a winning record. Bullpen incredible. SP disappointing. Arraez a god. Jazz good in CF. Really need another bat. #bliNgbliNg

Why do I have a feeling that if you asked Ng what she thought about this year's team so far she'd say "this is exactly what we envisioned.  They're doing great!"

Instead...it should be more along the lines of..."Well, we've been really lucky so far".

The reason I say this is because how many damn times did we have to hear about how UNlucky they were to lose so many 1 run games last year..well, now they're winning loads (literally ALL) their one run games so that should mean they've been incredibly lucky so far.  Yet...I feel she wouldn't see it that way. I also feel like they're still waiting around for Avi's bat and Segura's to get better and that would be enough for the offense - which would actually be true if they both hit anywhere near their career norms but both have been abysmal and show no signs of improving.  Even Segura's walkoff the other night was only a walkoff hit because the infield was drawn in so far otherwise that was a routine DP. His swing is AWFUL. It is an incredibly ugly swing and I have no clue how he has the career line he has. 

Anyway, they DESPERATELY need another big bat in this lineup to really push it and they screwed up not getting that in the offseason via FA when so many premier bats at needed positions were available.  They aren't going to get one now either because Ng doesn't seem to really think outside the box and isn't going to trade for a FA until they get much closer to the deadline (something most teams do for some bizarre reason instead of maximizing the time the player has with your team). 

Yes, I am very happy they've won this many games and seem to be maximizing what little production they have.  If Arraez hadn't been traded for this team is 5 under easily though.  Hopefully Jazz's bat is coming around as it seems to be and that will help mitigate some of the shitty production from the bottom half of our lineup.

5 minutes ago, Valid said:

I'd say they need multiple bats. Of course it would help if Segura decided to stop sucking, but even if he returns to his career norm, this offense still isn't remotely good enough.

Did they destroy too many bats?

Have a delayed shipment due to supply chain issues?

Is this affecting other teams also?

5 minutes ago, Valid said:

I'd say they need multiple bats. Of course it would help if Segura decided to stop sucking, but even if he returns to his career norm, this offense still isn't remotely good enough.

I would be happy with one premium bat at this point.  It feels like Jazz is coming around and Segura hasn't been here long enough to know if he'll be Avi 2.0 or not.  Sanchize has also shown signs of life (while DLC regresses again lol though).  One premium bat would really really help though - problem is I don't see who she could trade for one outside of Eury that would help land one.

14 minutes ago, GenderNeutralWog said:

I would be happy with one premium bat at this point.  It feels like Jazz is coming around and Segura hasn't been here long enough to know if he'll be Avi 2.0 or not.  Sanchize has also shown signs of life (while DLC regresses again lol though).  One premium bat would really really help though - problem is I don't see who she could trade for one outside of Eury that would help land one.

It would definitely help, but the chances of the Marlins landing a premier bat seem pretty slim. That's why I think they might have to settle for a couple of solid bats (think Nick Johnson types like in 2009).

12 minutes ago, GenderNeutralWog said:

Why do I have a feeling that if you asked Ng what she thought about this year's team so far she'd say "this is exactly what we envisioned.  They're doing great!"

Instead...it should be more along the lines of..."Well, we've been really lucky so far".

The reason I say this is because how many damn times did we have to hear about how UNlucky they were to lose so many 1 run games last year..well, now they're winning loads (literally ALL) their one run games so that should mean they've been incredibly lucky so far.  Yet...I feel she wouldn't see it that way. I also feel like they're still waiting around for Avi's bat and Segura's to get better and that would be enough for the offense - which would actually be true if they both hit anywhere near their career norms but both have been abysmal and show no signs of improving.  Even Segura's walkoff the other night was only a walkoff hit because the infield was drawn in so far otherwise that was a routine DP. His swing is AWFUL. It is an incredibly ugly swing and I have no clue how he has the career line he has. 

Anyway, they DESPERATELY need another big bat in this lineup to really push it and they screwed up not getting that in the offseason via FA when so many premier bats at needed positions were available.  They aren't going to get one now either because Ng doesn't seem to really think outside the box and isn't going to trade for a FA until they get much closer to the deadline (something most teams do for some bizarre reason instead of maximizing the time the player has with your team). 

Yes, I am very happy they've won this many games and seem to be maximizing what little production they have.  If Arraez hadn't been traded for this team is 5 under easily though.  Hopefully Jazz's bat is coming around as it seems to be and that will help mitigate some of the shitty production from the bottom half of our lineup.

Yeah, I'd agree with this assessment.

Ideally we need multiple bats.....same thing we needed in the offseason lol....but chances are, it's going to be hard to get 1 let alone 2-3 in season.

 

I think the FA trades wait until closer to the deadline because teams feel like they're in it in some capacity later into the season now with the WCs.

 

So at the moment, you're stuck looking only at teams that are WAAAY out of it and/or had no intention of competing, like the Nats, Cincy, Colorado, White Sox, KC, and Oakland.  I have no idea what those teams have bat wise that would help, if anything.

Marlins have a 2019-2021 premier bat just sitting on the bench keeping it warm. 😂

I know that doesn’t help much in 2023, but worth a try. 😂

One thing Ng did very well was improve the bullpen dramatically. In 1 run games which the fish are in a lot of last year and this year, bullpens are critical 

Just now, Mr. Wog said:

One thing Ng did very well was improve the bullpen dramatically. In 1 run games which the fish are in a lot of last year and this year, bullpens are critical 

1 run games are a meaningless stat according to @SilverBullet

9 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Yeah, I'd agree with this assessment.

Ideally we need multiple bats.....same thing we needed in the offseason lol....but chances are, it's going to be hard to get 1 let alone 2-3 in season.

 

I think the FA trades wait until closer to the deadline because teams feel like they're in it in some capacity later into the season now with the WCs.

 

So at the moment, you're stuck looking only at teams that are WAAAY out of it and/or had no intention of competing, like the Nats, Cincy, Colorado, White Sox, KC, and Oakland.  I have no idea what those teams have bat wise that would help, if anything.

W Sox have several good bats but I dont see them trading any of them unless it's for an astronomical return.  Benintendi seems like their most likely trade candidate and I want to say there were even some rumors of the Marlins showing interest in him this past offseason?  Grandal is also there (and old) so if Stallings/Fortes continue to suck...he'd be an option at Catcher

 

12 minutes ago, SonOfWog said:

1 run games are a meaningless stat according to @SilverBullet

The record this year vs last year in them has a lot to do with the bullpen construction imo. It’s not meaningless it can tell a lot about team

6 minutes ago, Mr. Wog said:

The record this year vs last year in them has a lot to do with the bullpen construction imo. It’s not meaningless it can tell a lot about team

See @SilverBullet

The team only has 2 blown saves in all of April! There’s a reason they’re so good in 1 run games. 

11 minutes ago, SonOfWog said:

See @SilverBullet

Would have been nice if he contributed to the conversation when I asked it yesterday.

18 minutes ago, Mr. Wog said:

The record this year vs last year in them has a lot to do with the bullpen construction imo. It’s not meaningless it can tell a lot about team

Yes but a team with a good bullpen can still lose a bunch of games if their offense is weak. The stat isn't meaningless but I think it can be misleading.

One thing I think this April has shown us is that the team was right to sacrifice some pitching for some offense. We've got a winning record with disappointing starting pitching because our improved offense has stolen a few wins that we wouldn't have gotten last year. If our starting pitching was better but our offense was worse, (like 2022) we wouldn't have 16 wins this April. 

If we can improve the offense further and get the SP better as well then yes it will be a great boost but the point is that the better offense has really made a difference. 

9 minutes ago, SilverBullet said:

Would have been nice if he contributed to the conversation when I asked it yesterday.

You talking shit about Mr. Wog?

Definitely the offense being upgraded has made the difference. 

But I think the underrated part of the story is the bullpen being improved has probably played an even bigger part in the team’s success, even though it’s not as noticeable as the offense being improved. Case in point, people commenting that the starting pitching in April was not as good as it could have been. Well, remember last year we had amazing starting pitching with Sandy and Pablo at one point in the season being like 1 and 2 in lowest ERA in the NL, but horrible bullpen so a bunch of no decisions for them, especially Pablo.

Of course I will take Arraez 100x times over Pablo and hope Luzardo will step up to full that void.

Overall I give this April a B rating. Definitely exceeded all my expectations overall. But still could improve a couple of things.

One thing to keep in mind is that Wendle got hurt early on in April. Don’t know if that would have made a huge difference overall if Wendle was playing everyday instead of Berti/Hampson. But still interesting to think about. Sometimes in baseball even the smallest variables can make a difference overall such as if Wendle and Yuri were regular starters the whole month if that would have affected the W/L record in a noticeable way.

1 hour ago, SonOfWog said:

You talking shit about Mr. Wog?

@Michael

14 minutes ago, SirFishFan said:

the underrated part of the story is the bullpen being improved has probably played an even bigger part in the team’s success

Absolutely 

Attendance through the first 16 games is up 7% from attendance through the first 16 games of last season.

And the announced attendance yesterday was over 20,000.

Seems like baby steps but for this team those are solid steps as it sure seems like fans are starting to come out as the wins get a little more frequent. 

8 minutes ago, SilverBullet said:

Attendance through the first 16 games is up 7% from attendance through the first 16 games of last season.

And the announced attendance yesterday was over 20,000.

Seems like baby steps but for this team those are solid steps as it sure seems like fans are starting to come out as the wins get a little more frequent. 

I would guess most of that is due to who the road team is and their fans coming, but I haven’t looked at the numbers. I’m skeptical, but I hope you’re right.

19 minutes ago, SilverBullet said:

Attendance through the first 16 games is up 7% from attendance through the first 16 games of last season.

And the announced attendance yesterday was over 20,000.

Seems like baby steps but for this team those are solid steps as it sure seems like fans are starting to come out as the wins get a little more frequent. 

That's interesting, especially considering how small the opening day crowd was.

You know, since I made that list for last year, i may as well make one comparing this year to last year and overlay them.

10 minutes ago, mystikol87 said:

I would guess most of that is due to who the road team is and their fans coming, but I haven’t looked at the numbers. I’m skeptical, but I hope you’re right.

True, we had the Mets here, not sure who we had early last year.

funny we also say the offense was "upgraded" yet I believe our average runs per game is actually down?