April Banter 2026

[CAPE]

1 hour ago, Chris78 said:

There defense is awful. Not much they can do to fix that this season.

I'm guessing there plan was that the hitting would overcome there defense but so far that hasn't happened on a regular basis.

This team feels like a better team than last year but not a playoff team.

Poor roster construction on Elias's part.

I think if they miss the playoffs again he should be fired but who knows if he would be. He just got a promotion last year.

There outfield defense is really really bad. Not just in errors but balls that average defenders get too and catch that our guys do not.

The defense is the most concerning to me, but they have enough pieces to figure it out. Not too worried about the hitting at this juncture, and pitching consistency should come with time, esp with guys like Bradish coming off injury. You can see he still has the stuff, but not the control he wants yet. Its a marathon. And so far, all teams in the division have issues.

[Maestrobjwa]

2 hours ago, Chris78 said:

There defense is awful. Not much they can do to fix that this season.

Not necessarily. Alby said last week that fundamentals were not stressed, and indicated that they're working to fix it. I think that's one of several issues that may not be permanent, but may simply take some time to fix as the new coaching sets in.

2 hours ago, Chris78 said:

I think if they miss the playoffs again he should be fired but who knows if he would be. He just got a promotion last year.

I think the idea of the promotion being a sign he's here for the long haul is a little overblown. This Rubenstein & Co. are now starting to spend like they wanna win a championship. I think this year is Elias' last chance--we miss again...or get in and still not win a series...I think he's out.

Overall...we gotta remember that there are a lot of new faces in this clubhouse. So we may not know for SURE exactly how this is gonna shake out. But for now...we just need to be .500 at the end of the month. I think that'll give us enough time to sort things out.

[CAPE]

21 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Not necessarily. Alby said last week that fundamentals were not stressed, and indicated that they're working to fix it. I think that's one of several issues that may not be permanent, but may simply take some time to fix as the new coaching sets in.

I think the idea of the promotion being a sign he's here for the long haul is a little overblown. This Rubenstein & Co. are now starting to spend like they wanna win a championship. I think this year is Elias' last chance--we miss again...or get in and still not win a series...I think he's out.

Overall...we gotta remember that there are a lot of new faces in this clubhouse. So we may not know for SURE exactly how this is gonna shake out. But for now...we just need to be .500 at the end of the month. I think that'll give us enough time to sort things out.

[Chris78]

1 hour ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Not necessarily. Alby said last week that fundamentals were not stressed, and indicated that they're working to fix it. I think that's one of several issues that may not be permanent, but may simply take some time to fix as the new coaching sets in.

I think the idea of the promotion being a sign he's here for the long haul is a little overblown. This Rubenstein & Co. are now starting to spend like they wanna win a championship. I think this year is Elias' last chance--we miss again...or get in and still not win a series...I think he's out.

Overall...we gotta remember that there are a lot of new faces in this clubhouse. So we may not know for SURE exactly how this is gonna shake out. But for now...we just need to be .500 at the end of the month. I think that'll give us enough time to sort things out.

I agree with the 3 wild card spots if you can be around .500 around the trade deadline you have a chance.

Disagree on the defense 

Ward and O'Neil are not going to be different players than they've been for several seasons

Beavers has not been good either.

Cowser is better suited in left.

Not sure how you fix the D this year.

Basillo is not good behind the plate.

There bottom 5 in most defensive metrics

 

 

[CAPE]

Jeremiah Jackson > Jackson Holliday

[WxUSAF]

This years team certainly has flaws but they definitely don’t quit. Last year it felt like any deficit was game over. 

[Maestrobjwa]

15 hours ago, CAPE said:

I meant that he said they weren't stressed BEFORE he got here. Which means he and his staff have had to rebuild that foundation.

[Maestrobjwa]

13 hours ago, Chris78 said:

I agree with the 3 wild card spots if you can be around .500 around the trade deadline you have a chance.

Disagree on the defense 

Ward and O'Neil are not going to be different players than they've been for several seasons

Beavers has not been good either.

Cowser is better suited in left.

Not sure how you fix the D this year.

Basillo is not good behind the plate.

There bottom 5 in most defensive metrics

 

 

Bring up Enrique Bradfield for one. Put Cowser in left, and ya may have to platoon in right. Behind the plate I think we gotta give Basallo some time to figure it out--he is just a rookie after all. He could be better later in the season for all we know. And once Adley comes back that'll help to mitigate the shortcomings in the meantime.

[Maestrobjwa]

4 hours ago, CAPE said:

Jeremiah Jackson > Jackson Holliday

Too early to tell that for sure though, lol Now once JJ struggles and is able to overcome it at the same level, and JH hasn't improved any...then yeah I think we can say that! 

That being said...Jackson Holliday is not gonna be benched for JJ I don't think. Wonder if JJ can play outfield...or 3B?

[Chris78]

23 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Bring up Enrique Bradfield for one. Put Cowser in left, and ya may have to platoon in right. Behind the plate I think we gotta give Basallo some time to figure it out--he is just a rookie after all. He could be better later in the season for all we know. And once Adley comes back that'll help to mitigate the shortcomings in the meantime.

More time behind the plate should show improvement for Basillo. A few games ago he had 2 past balls and some of it looked like laziness to me. That can't be tolerated and I'm sure Albernaz has let that be known.

[CAPE]

27 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Too early to tell that for sure though, lol Now once JJ struggles and is able to overcome it at the same level, and JH hasn't improved any...then yeah I think we can say that! 

That being said...Jackson Holliday is not gonna be benched for JJ I don't think. Wonder if JJ can play outfield...or 3B?

Tongue in cheek. That said he is playing well and can play multiple positions, so they will find ways to get him in the lineup if he keeps hitting like that.

[Maestrobjwa]

11 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Tongue in cheek. That said he is playing well and can play multiple positions, so they will find ways to get him in the lineup if he keeps hitting like that.

Oh absolutely. I'll admit I hadn't been 100% convinced by JJ (that is, whether this is an early flash before the league gets a book on him, or is this actually a thing), but has shown some legit mental toughness this week. I mean he makes the error, but then looks completely unflappable and just goes down a gets that pitch in his next AB. Like Big Ben says: "No scar tissue", lol A very good sign.

Now of course, he's gonna eventually cool off and have to struggle a bit like they all do, but...if he gets through that and still hits like this? We've truly got something!

 

[Maestrobjwa]

@CAPE @Chris78

Quote from a few weeks ago about the defense. And Alby also said during ST that when he first talked to the players individually when he got here, they all said the same thing: they wanted to focus on fundamentals. So you can see just how much things had slipped under Hyde, smh But this also tells me that perhaps things will get better as the new coaching sets in more. We shall see!

 

 

 

[CAPE]

6 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

@CAPE @Chris78

Quote from a few weeks ago about the defense. And Alby also said during ST that when he first talked to the players individually when he got here, they all said the same thing: they wanted to focus on fundamentals. So you can see just how much things had slipped under Hyde, smh But this also tells me that perhaps things will get better as the new coaching sets in more. We shall see!

 

 

 

Perhaps when JH gets healthy and is back on the roster, JJ can play one of those outfield positions. Been pretty inconsistent(mostly awful) so far.

[Chris78]

30 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Perhaps when JH gets healthy and is back on the roster, JJ can play one of those outfield positions. Been pretty inconsistent(mostly awful) so far.

@Maestrobjwa

This was my point.  With the current roster construction you can only do so much. Maybe just sub par compared to God awful?

[Maestrobjwa]

1 hour ago, CAPE said:

Perhaps when JH gets healthy and is back on the roster, JJ can play one of those outfield positions. Been pretty inconsistent(mostly awful) so far.

@Chris78

I could see a Cowser, EBJ, and JJ outfield later in the year...that could play. And they could also trade for somebody as well. Infield defense is going to improve, imo

[Chris78]

39 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

@Chris78

I could see a Cowser, EBJ, and JJ outfield later in the year...that could play. And they could also trade for somebody as well. Infield defense is going to improve, imo

What do you do with Ward? He can't DH on a regular basis with Basillo/Adley and Alonso all taking turns there. And you still have O'Neil in the mix if he's actually healthy.

This is all comes back to poor roster construction and being stuck with your off season decisions.

 

[Maestrobjwa]

22 minutes ago, Chris78 said:

What do you do with Ward? He can't DH on a regular basis with Basillo/Adley and Alonso all taking turns there. And you still have O'Neil in the mix if he's actually healthy.

This is all comes back to poor roster construction and being stuck with your off season decisions.

 

Not completely stuck...there is still the trade deadline. Now the DH problem...that's not poor roster construction. It's just a rather rare problem of having two catchers that you don't wanna take out of the lineup. You don't have a ton of room to navigate that in any case.

Somebody is gonna get less playing time. But it'll be worth it if the outfield defense improves. No idea how Ward is gonna fit in here. I guess he's gonna have to platoon with Cowser (or Cowser just gets less playing time overall since he sucks at the plate). Ward is a FA at the end of the year, so if ya gotta sacrifice the bat some days...

Guess they shoulda kept Grayson and gotten a better OFer? Or perhaps just kept Laureano

[WxUSAF]

Just did second mow of the year. Yard looks like early-mid July? Typical spots that brown first in summer are already drying up. Crazy for mid April. My goodness we need a lot of rain. 

[MillvilleWx]

22 hours ago, Chris78 said:

What do you do with Ward? He can't DH on a regular basis with Basillo/Adley and Alonso all taking turns there. And you still have O'Neil in the mix if he's actually healthy.

This is all comes back to poor roster construction and being stuck with your off season decisions.

 

 

21 hours ago, Maestrobjwa said:

Not completely stuck...there is still the trade deadline. Now the DH problem...that's not poor roster construction. It's just a rather rare problem of having two catchers that you don't wanna take out of the lineup. You don't have a ton of room to navigate that in any case.

Somebody is gonna get less playing time. But it'll be worth it if the outfield defense improves. No idea how Ward is gonna fit in here. I guess he's gonna have to platoon with Cowser (or Cowser just gets less playing time overall since he sucks at the plate). Ward is a FA at the end of the year, so if ya gotta sacrifice the bat some days...

Guess they shoulda kept Grayson and gotten a better OFer? Or perhaps just kept Laureano

Cowser just isn't a good major league hitter. His SLG vs off-speed pitches is very bad and he even has trouble catching up to fastballs up in the zone. I hate to say it, but we may have 3 AAAA players on this team that we drafted; Cowser, Mountcastle, and Mayo. Rake in AAA and suck in the majors. Mounty is the only one that has had elite hot streaks, but even those are generally vs one team, the Blue Jays for whatever reason. It happens, but having 3 kind of stings. Ward is fine, but his defense will be a liability, O'Neil is back to never being healthy, Westberg is amazing...but also can't stay healthy. Adley has not been the same since he got hit in the hand June 2024 vs Yankees. Almost feels like he's got the yips or something. It's extremely annoying to see this squad with all this talent be insanely inconsistent at the dish, but tbh, we are one of like 14 teams currently trying to figure everything out and remaining inconsistent. Very few teams have separated themselves from the rest of their divisions in a good way. We have time, but to say it isn't frustrating would be a lie. 

[Chris78]

1 hour ago, MillvilleWx said:

 

Cowser just isn't a good major league hitter. His SLG vs off-speed pitches is very bad and he even has trouble catching up to fastballs up in the zone. I hate to say it, but we may have 3 AAAA players on this team that we drafted; Cowser, Mountcastle, and Mayo. Rake in AAA and suck in the majors. Mounty is the only one that has had elite hot streaks, but even those are generally vs one team, the Blue Jays for whatever reason. It happens, but having 3 kind of stings. Ward is fine, but his defense will be a liability, O'Neil is back to never being healthy, Westberg is amazing...but also can't stay healthy. Adley has not been the same since he got hit in the hand June 2024 vs Yankees. Almost feels like he's got the yips or something. It's extremely annoying to see this squad with all this talent be insanely inconsistent at the dish, but tbh, we are one of like 14 teams currently trying to figure everything out and remaining inconsistent. Very few teams have separated themselves from the rest of their divisions in a good way. We have time, but to say it isn't frustrating would be a lie. 

3 players that get regular at bats are all hitting under .180. 6 regulars are at .220 or under.

Team average is .234. Tough to score consistently with these numbers.

Gunner and Alonso will be just fine but Mayo,Basillo and Mayo and Cowser.... Yikes.

Basillo's underlying metrics say  he should be fine. Lots of hard hit balls. The other 3 though not looking good.