FanPost

Run Differential is Getting Kinda Interesting

Only minus 17 after tonight. And nearly +30 since AS break. Team has played 500 ball since then, and somewhat over .500 ball if you start from the low water mark just after the AS break (25-21).

Almost all of that time without their best player or any of the players acquired for him save Mortensen. So here's the theory. This offense is going to be-- at worst-- league average next year given the improvement shown in the past two months plus potential contributions from the likes of Wallace, Carter and Cardenas at various points in 2010. Some will argue the point but I'm gonna stake whatever my baseball acumen's worth on that, and we can allcheck it out a year from now. The bullpen should be better than most however it shakes out. What will ultimately determine whether this is a .500 type squad or something better is, of course, the starting pitching. And in a season when we got nothing from Duchscherer, lost Outman for most of the year, lost Braden for most of the 2nd half and had MAC pitch to mixed results, who knows what next year will bring. When Brett Tomko is your most dependable late season starter you don't really know what you've got the next season.

But a little luck on the injury front and some expected increase in maturity could-- underline the word could-- spell a significantly better rotation. If so, they could win 90 games next year. Easy.