If our offense doesn't pick up the pace in Chapter Three, we will be forced to make some tough sacrifices at the trading table. But then, what else is new?
The Good
After an absolutely horrendous first chapter, Shohei Ohtani has finally begun to hit. He batted .455/.500/.682, with his first home run of the season, in Chapter Two. Almost all of his hits came in the final three series of the season. If he can remain hot, it would be a huge benefit for this team, as we are absolutely starving for offense.
Christian Villanueva (.346/.346/.846 with 4 homers in Chapter Two) continues to mash the crap out of the ball against lefties, as does Danny Valencia (.409/.536/.818 with 3 homers). We hit .300/.356/.565 against lefties last chapter, largely thanks to those two.
Trea Turner (.306/.342/.407, with nine steals in ten attempts) continues to surpass expectations. Odubel Herrera (.289/.360/.500) likewise surprised with his second chapter performance. Enrique Hernandez (.254/.338/.576) and Jose Ramirez (.245/.379/.520) were no slouches, either.
On the pitching side, Ryan Brasier and Trevor May combined to pitch 13 shutout innings last chapter. Ohtani, Matt Grace, Rich Rodriguez, and Pedro Strop combined to allow just six earned runs in 38 innings (a 1.42 ERA.)
Felix Pena (2-0, 2.95 ERA) was our best starting pitcher last chapter. Sonny Gray (2-1, 3.38) was surprisingly the second-best.
The Bad
Clay Buchholz (1-1, 4.91 ERA) and Mike Montgomery (1-1, 5.06) were just about useless in Chapter Two. Go figure. Trevor Cahill (1-2, 5.63) and Stephen Strasburg (1-2, 5.75) were even more useless. And Taylor Rogers (5.23 ERA in 10+ IP) went from our best reliever to our worst.
Mitch Moreland (.244/.307/.385 last chapter) continues to be a black hole at first base, for the second year in a row. I really don't know why this game hates him so much. Likewise, Rafael Devers (.222/.265/.444) is just about useless at the other corner of the infield. Maybe the game just hates left-handed Red Sox?
The Ugly
Hunter F'ing Renfroe. Man alive. The dude went 2-for-14 (.194) last chapter, bringing his season batting average to -- get this -- .176. I don't understand what is happening with him, but our right field is becoming a huge problem area for us.
Evan Gattis (.192/.214/.269) was a beast in Chapter One, but he regressed HARD in Chapter Two. But that's nothing compared to Justin Turner. We paid $5.5 million for Turner, believing that he was the top hitter in the auction, PA-for-PA. Instead, he hit .169/.296/.271 in Chapter Two. Dude. You gotta be kidding me.
