As far as lead-off, just go back to Stott. It was working, Turner wasn't working and even if Schwarber's OBP is 140 points higher than his BA it still doesn't really make sense. It seems like Thomson tried too hard there to give Bryce his most comfortable spot. Maybe he also thought Schwarber would get untracked but he had these same struggles last year from that spot.
The team is okay. It would be unfortunate if Turner was this year's Castellanos but last year's team managed to make the World Series with last year's Castellanos. That the starting pitching would be worn-out (and already was in October) also to be expected. If Walker and Painter were supposed to help ballast that, well.... That the offense has sort of been better than expected but still not good enough also not surprising given the three missing bats.
I always figured they'd have a losing record in May but the home opponents (Boston, Arizona, Chicago as well as Toronto) are better than expected. They gotta get a couple of wins here and try to play better in Denver and SF because things get real serious at Memorial Day. But they are still going to hit, and hopefully Suarez will help, and if they are in it it will be another active trade deadline (that could mean anything from a starting 1B to a bench upgrade, and a real starting pitcher too instead of just extra depth). I'd be surprised if they spiral to the point where trading Nola is on the table.
