Yeah, it's an open question how long the injuries will continue, though.
That's really the issue here. Right now the pitching is a strength. They certainly seem to have enough depth to bridge to the returning players - Pivetta, Bello. Whitlock is always a question mark at this point.
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The big defensive loss was Story, which has been mitigated by Ceddanne at SS and generally good OF play from the remaining four: Duran, O'Neill, Abreu, Refsnyder.
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The big offensive losses are Casas (at least 60 days), maybe Story, and maybe Yoshida. Devers and O'Neill are back, apparently none-the-worse for wear.
Casas's bat is going to be tough to replace. Cooper/Smith are going to be a downgrade. The only question is how much of one. Well, and also, how much might that downgrade be offset elsewhere? Two areas I think:
- I am hopeful Grissom will be an upgrade over Valdez (decent defense(!), awful LH bat.)
- I am hopeful Ceddanne can hit his way into relevance, since he's a lineup certainty at this point.
Other than that, guys are going to have ups and downs and not everyone will stay hot over the whole season. Which is fine and normal. But I think we've seen that Devers, O'Neill, Refsnyder, Wong/McGuire, Abreu, and Duran all have the ability to really deliver at the plate. Which is much better than two mainstays and a bunch of question marks.