Quote Originally Posted by smootness View Post
You have to take the good with the bad. Adams has been hitting above his head, Kemp was doing that for a while, Phillips has been playing as well as he can.

Sure, if Colon had been good instead of terrible, we'd be better. But again, we are -36 in RD. That is not a .500 team, much less a playoff threat.
The RD is inflated because of how awful Colon was. He was giving up more than a run an inning. An above 8 ERA has really messed that up that RD. If you cut that down to just half and had a pitcher that would have put up only a 4.00 ERA over that time, which is still not that great, we are sitting at a RD around -5. That's not that bad, especially considering Freeman's absence, even with Adams doing well, would have scored us a few more runs over the same period of time. So all in all, a 4 ERA pitcher and Freeman in the lineup makes us around a break even RD.

I agree that this team isn't a contender. Starting pitching is not good enough. But the real question is can we do something to improve our outlook for the remainder of the year and for the future without giving up the farm? If we are still around .500 at the deadline, searching for a quality starting pitcher is something we should do. Additionally, it puts butts in seats and sets us up for an up revenue year in 2018. I think there will be deals to be had at the deadline. If they aren't good enough we don't make a move, but if we are in a decent position as far as record goes, I think we would be crazy not to make some inquiries and look to make a move.