Well, the starters have not recorded a loss in the last 16 games. On the season, 8 of the losses were attributed to the starters, and the remaining 12 went to the pen. With a good pen, I could see half of the 12 having resulted in wins, thereby making our record 49-14, which would have put us on pace for an absurd 126 wins.
Micromanaging is ok when we are comfortably in the nl west lead. Only way for the BP to improve is by dave setting them up to fail over and over until they cant stand the taste of it in their mouth. It has worked with some. It is possible that dave is polishing Kelly in this way. There is no guarantee the BP will improve but challenging them to be great is the only way short of finding elite pitchers in FA or trade that are willing to forego the closer title. I really can't fault Dave on this. Joc is a top ten hitter in baseball.
Sure, Davey has got to try something to elevate these bottom feeders we have out there. He can only use what he's given by the Nerds. Or is it Nerd now? But whether it works or not and finally pulls equal with the much higher level of talent on the team in time to insure what we'll need, is very much in doubt. To my way of thinking, anyway.
I'm aware of Joc's epic slash line and have praised him several times this year. What I'm saying is, dont start him against lefties as it can send him into a long tailspin. Just let him mash righties. He's capable of streaking in the wrong direction if you are not faithful to the matchups.