Duquette: "We will have more than enough offense"

[rolliefingers]

Does Miggy, Mora, Hernandez missing time in the lineup make any difference? How many runs behind are we from this point last year?

Of course it makes a difference. If we hadn't played the whole season with a bench consisting of Gomez, Bako, Hernandez and a series of old wet shoes, we might have been able to overcome those injuries a little better.

[Elbren]

Of course it makes a difference. If we hadn't played the whole season with a bench consisting of Gomez, Bako, Hernandez and a series of old wet shoes, we might have been able to overcome those injuries a little better.

Isn't that kind of the point?

They go into almost every season like this. They did almost nothing to address the bench and once again are caught with their pants down once injuries start piling up.

The ole "We would have been fine if so-and-so didn't get hurt..." will work once, maybe twice, but you can (like most teams) insert this comment into pretty much any season we've had over the past ten years.

... if Javy Lopez were healthy ...

... if Jerry Hairston were healthy ...

... if Luis Matos were healthy ...

... if David Segui were healthy ...

... if Pat Hentgen were healthy ...

... if Scott Erickson were healthy ...

... if Will Clark were healthy ...

... if Delino DeShields were healthy ...

... if Scott Kamieniecki were healthy ...

... if Jimmy Key were healthy ...

Half of these guys have an injury list a mile long, yet somehow this team went into each season fully expecting these guys to play 162 games at career-avg. to career-year type levels. It never fails. Every Apr. 1st, we're handed a team that "has a pretty good chance" at .500 ... as long as we get 162 games out of each member of our starting lineup, 35 solid starts from everyone in the rotation and our bullpen can consistently shut the door on other teams. That's not even being "optimistic" ... that's just flat out retarded.

Outside of Gomez, this team just refuses to address the bench or add minor league depth. On the few occasions they do have depth, we spend most of the season wonder...

... why is Luis Terrero still in AAA?

... why is Jon Knott and JR House still in AAA?

... why is Garrett Olson not getting a callup?

... why has Freddy Bynum gone almost 2 1/2 weeks without an AB?

[makoman]

Isn't that kind of the point?

They go into almost every season like this. They did almost nothing to address the bench and once again are caught with their pants down once injuries start piling up.

The ole "We would have been fine if so-and-so didn't get hurt..." will work once, maybe twice, but you can (like most teams) insert this comment into pretty much any season we've had over the past ten years.

... if Javy Lopez were healthy ...

... if Jerry Hairston were healthy ...

... if Luis Matos were healthy ...

... if David Segui were healthy ...

... if Pat Hentgen were healthy ...

... if Scott Erickson were healthy ...

... if Will Clark were healthy ...

... if Delino DeShields were healthy ...

... if Scott Kamieniecki were healthy ...

... if Jimmy Key were healthy ...

... if Marty Cordova were healthy ...

Half of these guys have an injury list a mile long, yet somehow this team went into each season fully expecting these guys to play 162 games at career-avg. to career-year type levels. It never fails. Every Apr. 1st, we're handed a team that "has a pretty good chance" at .500 ... as long as we get 162 games out of each member of our starting lineup, 35 solid starts from everyone in the rotation and our bullpen can consistently shut the door on other teams. That's not even being "optimistic" ... that's just flat out retarded.

Outside of Gomez, this team just refuses to address the bench or add minor league depth. On the few occasions they do have depth, we spend most of the season wonder...

... why is Luis Terrero still in AAA?

... why is Jon Knott and JR House still in AAA?

... why is Garrett Olson not getting a callup?

... why has Freddy Bynum gone almost 2 1/2 weeks without an AB?

You forgot one

But yeah, I agree, we never plan for anything other than the best case scenario. That includes not only injuries, but also we seem to expect career years out of folks. If all our guys stay healthy, and if all our guys have the best years they've ever had, then we can get over 500 and possibly contend. That's not a recipe for success, as we've proven for a decade now.

Does Miggy, Mora, Hernandez missing time in the lineup make any difference? How many runs behind are we from this point last year?

We have scored 603 runs through 131 games with a 744 OPS.

Last year through 131 games we scored 636 runs with a 759 OPS

[ColumbiaOriole]

Does Miggy, Mora, Hernandez missing time in the lineup make any difference? How many runs behind are we from this point last year?

Yeah, who could foreseen athletes getting injured? As has been aptly said, this team plans for the optimal result and when that doesn't occur are actually surprised and make excuses for it.