Right now, my team has turned upside down. My three top starters Tashiro, Ro, and Duran are off to slow starts, but #5 guy Doriva has a 1.88 ERA and is 2-0 in his two starts. Defensive BABIP is much better to start the season (helped doubtlessly by two new outfielders who actually can play defense), but .265 is almost certainly unsustainable.

On offense, the three new guys (Guzman, Yagi, and Sandoval) are all off to really good starts. But, three guys who I expect to be great (Schmeltzer, Henriquez, and Croce) are all off to replacement level starts.

It’s a small sample size, so you take everything with a giant grain of salt. But, it’s a weird start to the year in Pittsburgh. I mean, who thought the strength of the team would be defense and four fairly new guys and not the veterans who carried the team to the last two titles?

Lawton has only four RBIs outside of that 9-RBI game he had last sim, and former #1 pick McCree just isn’t developing like I’d hoped.

But I’m doing better than Locke. That’s a consolation.

My big OF not so big:

White – .231 3 HR 10 RBI
Pinion – .191 1 HR 2 RBI
The big FA signing Hodgin – .204 3 HR and 8 RBI.

I hope they turn it around and quickly.

Pittsburgh rightfielder Joseph Yagi went 4-4 with three homes runs, four RBI, four runs scored and a walk. And yet, he wasn’t the best player that day.

Stockholm outfielder Horace Lawson was 4-5 with two home runs, three runs scored, a walk, and NINE RBI. Very nice game by the aptly named Slugger.

Seattle starter Maximo Navarro threw a complete game shutout and barely got mentioned. Tough crowd.