I expect Kjerstadt to be recalled tomorrow which will help with the depth even if it just to pinch hit. Tonight we sent Slater up to pinch hit for O’Hearn then they countered with a pitching change but we didn’t have another left handed pinch hitter to counter them. Hyde did a great job using his depth and pinch hitting early in the year but he had actual hitters on the bench. He could pinch hit Urias, Kjerstadt, Hayes, O’Hearn, Stowers, Norby in certain situations. Now his choices are Soto, Maton, McCann, Mayo, Jimenez or Slater. Injuries and trades have not only hurt the starting lineup but the depth of the bench.
I am pretty sure if you told Elias that he would lose Westburg, Mountcastle, Mateo, Kjerstadt, and Urias along with Holliday and Mayo completely falling flat he holds on to Hayes, Norby and Stowers. How bad is our injury luck been this year? If Westburg gets hit and breaks his hand two days earlier I believe Norby is still on the team but he broke it two days after the deadline.
I'm not terribly worried about Rutschman, but we're forced to trot out guys like Emmanuel Rivera, and we're forced to let Holliday learn on the job despite the fact that he's struggling horribly right now. Going from Westburg/Mateo/Mountcastle/Urias to Holliday/Livan Soto/Emmanuel Rivera/Nick Maton is such a huge blow. And Eloy Jimenez and O'Hearn are being exposed in full time duty due to all the injuries. We only have like 5/9 of the lineup actually capable of producing on a consistent basis. So it's no wonder we can't score a run to save our lives.
And I think it's good that Holliday's getting MLB plate appearances, but he should have been getting them with guys like Urias able to spell him against tough lefties. Instead we're stuck with him and teams bring in a lefty reliever to pitch to him in tough spots and he flails like a blind squirrel up there because he's 20 and doesn't know how to deal with elite lefty specialists.
Mayo's also hitting .094, incl. two singles in 15 ABs since being recalled. Holliday has also been worse than O'Hearn and Jiminez and Slater have cooled off. Lots of problems in the lineup and scapegoating O'Hearn is not a solution.
Not only that but when we were healthy Hyde had some actual bench guys that could pinch hit. Urias was on the bench when Mateo and Westburg were starting. O’Hearn was a possibility sometimes or Austin Hayes, or Kjerstadt or Norby. Now we have to pinch hit with Soto, Slater, Mayo, Maton. The injuries and trades have hurt the depth of the team.
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