I appreciate the post that is probably a little closer to reality and not us waiting for the sky to fall. With that being said, here is my sky is falling analysis.
The starting pitching, even with the warts expected from 3 rookies, has been better than I would have ever hoped for. As for the hitting, RISP has been and continues to be a problem. As the games get tighter, this will become a much bigger problem than it already has been.
Your article is still on the fantasy that Correa, Buxton, and Paddack are actually coming back. Correa has been out since before the ASB and we were told that it was supposed to be a short stint. Since Nike can’t seem to build a pair of shoes he can wear, we are still waiting. Buxton’s IL stint originally sounded like a precaution vs something more serious like it has been and he wasn’t originally supposed to go beyond to 10 days. Paddack is just suffering from coming back from TJ, similar to Maeda. We were probably expecting too much from him to start with. We have been hooked with the same hope that led the FO not to do anything at the deadline. Our replacements are just coming back from the IL such as Stewart, Topa, and Kirilloff. Until they step on the field, I can’t count on any of them helping. Many a battle has been lost waiting on reinforcements that never came.