Ok, so what about the fact that no one knew which Kikuchi we were going to get this year. The odds were based on last year he would not be good. Yet, that was a known variable. So that is really starting the year with 4 reliable SPs, not even talking about depth for a 5 man rotation yet.
Then there is a the high probabliity of regression, one of the top 4 not performing up to expectations... I talked about this and depth pre-season with the same the pitching is rosy group.
Well, we have had regression.. Regression to the damn A ball complex.. Some poster here said Kickuchi will be an All-star this year. I agreed with the poster, he could, but then I think he will suck real bad 2nd half, a la Seattle. Kickuchi has not shown he can be a sustainable full season option yet.... Get ready for 2nd half Kikuchi...
Good news is Thompson although he sucked in May, has had two decent starts in June. He also has been a viable SP at the MLB level.
The pitching depth, lack of also has a direct corelation on the pen as we all know. The reason we are in second to last place in the divison and we were in last is not due to some offensive slumps...