I am sure I will get told I am incorrect - but I think the big concern with our bullpen and the "lots of bodies but not a lot of dependable depth" issue will be 1) in getting to the post season with a good enough record to secure a host for regionals and 2) be able to fight through a regional or the WS if we end up in the losers bracket.
And the number of bodies and the lack for real time, stress situations to determine who can deliver now and who will be able to deliver with a little more experience seems to be the issue - at least the issue when so many of the chances do not result in positive results.
Right now - outside of Big Russ, Haylen and King when he gets to go back to middle relief - do we really have anyone on the mound that we are not holding our breath for at every new batter?
I like how Krob dealt with the bad inning yesterday and came back with a strong finish - maybe he can carry that over and not get into the problem to start but tend to agree with Moose that if he has to rely on our bats to overcome a bad inning every outing - he won't finish as the Sunday starter.
J Ray has looked great at times but has also shown to let a bad call get to him and affect his ability to execute - we will see how missing two weeks changes that.
Meador and Hill have obviously been the focus of mid-week starts - are we going to focus on one given that we only have 1 midweek game at most the rest of the season? or go back and forth in case we need another starter due to COVID? and if back and forth, what role does the other one play in the bullpen in their "off" week?
Perez has been pretty solid but limited innings with COVID situation.
If we can figure out the roles of those 8 - that will be define what else we need. It either opens up some spots for other guys if some of the big 8 don't execute and have to be moved out - or it limits the rest to late game support and closing, both of which we have shown a real weakness in so far this season.
The number of guys that have come out of the bullpen is pretty long and none of them have really raised themselves above the group - Speaker, Beethe, Cornellio, Kodros, Storm, Augie, Ridings, Wright, .... but a few have have some really bad moments.
So when they struggle - are they done because of lack of remaining opportunities?
If someone has two good outings - does that fill one more roster spot and you start "Riding" (pun intended) them more over the others?
And how do you get a couple more of the group to stand above the rest and narrow down the rotation so you can focus on getting each of those guys to the point of being dependable?
The bat things is just the same crap, different year. Our entire offensive approach seems to still depend on getting past the starter by going deep in counts. But then we seem to struggle against the less talented bullpen pitchers also - watch too many strikes and aren't good enough at getting the barrel on the ball when guys are throwing 90 mph fastballs or 70 mph junk - so not sure what our hitting sweet spot is honestly.