Offense After Two Series: Poor or Bad Timing?

I think the jury is still out on the offense. Obviously, the first game gave great hope, scoring 10 runs on opening day, but Suppan is really just an OK (and not opening day caliber) starter, so that was not a great indicator of how good the offense is. But the next two Brewers starters were pretty good, and they scored only 2 on Gallardo but 7 against Parra.

Then they went up against the Padres, but they weren't as bad as they appeared there. First, one needs to remember that Petco Park is one of the most extreme pitcher's park in the majors. So that is going to hurt your offense. Second, Jake Peavy and Chris Young are not chopped liver, together they are probably one of the best duo of starters in the majors on one team, up there with Webb/Haren and Lincecum/Cain. So you can expect to have a bad game against them and bad series overall having to face the two of them. Lastly, we had bad luck to end up against both of them, normally we should have been facing their #4 and #5 starter, along with their #1, but instead we got #5, #1, #2, because the Padres had a 4-gamer series to start.

Lastly, the game they should have made hay in, against Shawn Hill, was doubly against them. First, and most of all, they didn't have their heads in the game: their thoughts were really with Joey Martinez in the hospital. Second, they, for some reason, had a night game the day before (when it should have been a day game), which meant that they probably didn't get into the hotel until after midnight. The travel might have been short, but I would think that it is still tiring, and should have affected them some on top of everything.

And things probably won't get better in LA. Dodger Stadium is also one of the most extreme pitcher's parks in the majors, though not as bad as Petco. And they are facing Billingsley, Kershaw, and McDonald, three very good, if young, starters, probably their three best starters, now that Kuroda is injured.

They might get better at home against the D-backs, against Petit, Haren, and Davis (guess since the rotation is being adjusted now that Webb is on the DL), but Haren is very good and Davis is not bad himself. Petit, being the unproven starter, is the weak link there but has been good in stints before.

Then we are slated to face Peavy and Young again in the two game series against SD. Then Haren, Davis, Scherzer against the D-backs after that, which will be tough too. Then, finally, McDonald, Stults, Wolf for LA, which appears to be our best bet for winning a series this month; that's the last series of the month.

Looking at the numbers for strikeouts, albeit small samples, but it looks like nobody in particular is striking out outrageously. Sandoval is a bit over his career, but it could be small samples and perhaps he's struggling a little now too, as some commenters have said that he's swinging wildly the past few games. Still, not outrageously, well within bounds for such a small sample.

In addition, Baggerley noted in today's newpaper that Ishikawa "made several loud outs," which sounds about right, he's only struck out 4 times, which is pretty good for him, and one extra hit would put him at .263 and two extra hits would put him at .316. And it's funny how bad luck seems to follow Peavy and Young (and Petco Park).

Even Renteria, he has only struck out 4 times in 21 AB, with 2 walks, which are OK proportions. Same for Burriss, with 4 strikeouts in 18 AB and 3 walks.

But at some point they will have to produce, and produce better. They actually are OK overall, they are averaging 4.33 runs scored per game, but can't have so many high scoring games balanced with more low scoring games if we hope to have a good 2009 season, they will need to smooth out their scoring. And if our pitching had been as good as advertised, and forced the other team to pinch-hit for their great starters, perhaps our offense could have picked things up against the relievers and delivered a come from behind win. And one win is the difference between our 2-4 record and a .500 record of 3-3.

Thus, I would not worry much yet about the offense either right now. It has been a tough season so far in terms of starters we faced, and frankly it does not look to get much better the rest of the month. However, the good news is that none of the hitters appear to be overmatched by the opposing pitchers right now, except for maybe Peavy, and the balls should start falling in, therefore, for the guys who are scuffling right now: Sandoval, Ishikawa, Renteria, Burriss. I think patience is the key right now, to give us more time to properly evaluate all our young (and not so young) players.