First month is in the books, and I'm not wholly thrilled with where we're at as a team. Sure, we're a game up for the division lead, but at least some of that is due to luck. We've outplayed our Pythagorean record by a couple games, and have a run differential of -11.
The biggest surprise thus far has to be Dick Schofield, who is triple slashing .398/.500/.494 with an OPS+ of 162. Unfortunately, that's being fueled by a .465 BABIP, so he's bound to fall back down to earth.
Robbie Alomar has been slumping to start the year, but he's been suffering some bad luck on the back of a .245 BABIP, and I'm hopeful he'll be able to start trending upwards toward his true skill level. On the plus side, he's softened his stance and is willing to talk extension, but he's looking for a 7 year agreement, with an opt out after Year 2 and a Player Option for an 8th to take him through his Age 34 season. Not a contract I'm terribly keen on, but it may make sense to get something worked out soon while he's in a production slump and bank on him bouncing back.
Despite grading out above average so far in pitching, there are definite areas of improvement. A couple of bullpen pieces (Timlin and Ward) are getting a decent amount of work and not doing well, may be worth making a change there. Guzman and Leiter have both been slow to start the season, hopefully they can start to turn it around so we can start to pull ourselves away from our divisional opponents.
