Another Embarassment

Well, can things get any worse than yesterday? I guess so, but what difference does it make? Lou's comments, as usual, border on lunacy. He has tried everything, juggling the lineups, etc. Yeah, he juggles the lineups, but actually that is probably more of a problem than a solution. He switches roles around, but the switches make no sense at all, viz., Theriot leading off, Zambrano in the bullpen, etc. Yesterday was a perfect example. He loaded up with lefties, but they were all clustered, so that the pitcher did not have to constantly vary his approach, and anyway, had he bothered to look at the numbers, he would have noted that Weaver had much better stats against lefties than righties.

But, really, this team is a joke from top to bottom. Can they turn it around? Anything is possible, but it is hardly likely. Ramirez could return healthy and that would help. They could suddenly decide to fire Hendry and Piniella, but that seems unlikely as well. More likely is a brief spurt around the All-Star break and then back to mediocrity. We've seen this act before, last year and then in Baker's final year.

The real concern here is that this is such a bad team in terms of fundamentals. They don't execute routine plays. They make many more errors in the field and at bat that are not recorded in the box score. They just seem to have lost confidence from top to bottom. Come on, they must have known something here because they have been in panic mode almost from the first week of the season.

Today another lefty from the Angels, which means an all right-handed lineup with defensive holes at catcher, right field, left field, and third base and a batting order that makes absolutely no sense. Could be a long afternoon.