Concur. A new manager often brings improvement because, in part, it's just the nature of the job. I nevertheless pegged this as a 101-loss team, just for "fun," and it was the potential of underperformances like you mentioned, plus the merest shell of a formerly capable bullpen, plus the chance of key injuries which we've already seen several of, that led me to expect a roster with not a very high ceiling in the first place to exhibit futility. To instead have this team a game below .500 is an accomplishment. I still expect more downs than ups the remainder of the season, but I'm enjoying the results so far and am happy to give the new manager credit for them. Grade of A at this early juncture because I don't know what else could have been asked of him.