They were absolutely morose to start the year and got everyone in a bad mood. They played the best ball we may have ever seen for a brief stretch during the summer. They've played about .500 ball ever since even with Roman and Story back in the fold. Very weird season. It's fine for fans to have conflicting feelings about this team. This team has been all over the place from one day to the next. They could go on a run this October. They could lose the first two games and not play any games in October.
They both have a ton of power. On the SP podcast, they've noted that they don't value them highly because of the defense and the swing and miss profile. They both k like Dalbec, but don't get the bb's to go along with it. The in zone contact rate is poor for both of them.
He still hasn't added a great secondary pitch to go against RHB and relies heavily on his 4 seamer against them (49%). He did add a sinker that he throws more than anything else against LHB. He really didn't have much control last season, but I guess he went to the Connor Wong School of Just Throw Strikes this offseason.
Last 10 G:
Gasper 450 OPS
Duran 815 OPS
The problem with Schlittler is that Duran is absolutely horrible against FBs right now. Gasper actually hits FBs much much better. I'd start Gasper at DH and put Roman in LF.
It's a long season. They are allowed to celebrate their accomplishment. The initial goal is to get into the playoffs. They celebrated after 2021 and it was a cool moment. Just because that team didn't ultimately win the WS, doesn't take away from them getting into the playoffs.
Crochet '25: 11.18 k/9, 2.02 bb/9, 1.03 WHIP, 2.59 ERA, 2.89 FIP
Tolle '26: 10.45 k/9, 2.39 bb/9, 1.07 WHIP, 3.02 ERA, 3.04 FIP
Tolle is a stepdown from Crochet, but even a healthy Crochet would have probably seen the numbers backup a bit.
The only way Arias was going to come up was if Story didn't come back heathy or was a trainwreck. He's been good enough. We'll see Arias in 2027 and that's right on schedule.
Castro fell 18 spots. Wilyer was still in AA when he was Castro's age. Maybe he can make a leap next season. He's been a bit of a rollercoaster as a prospect.
In a short series, it's just going to take timely hitting. With this season, who the hell knows how they play in the Bronx. Duran could hit for the cycle and it wouldn't be that surprising.