A Flock Of Bluebirds 2040.6- Slow Start In Music City

[recte44]

A Flock of Bluebirds 2040. - Slow Start In Music City
April 14, 2040

When the 2040 season started, there couldn't have been more optimism in Nashville. The newly minted "Bluebirds" were now under the guidance of former GM Matt Rectenwald and all pre-season predictions pointed towards a breakout season for the franchise.

After two weeks of regular season play, that optimism is a bit dampened. The Bluebirds have struggled to a 3-8 record at the outset of the season, but despite that Rectenwald for one is still optimistic.

"Sure, we're working through some things," said Rectenwald. "Our starting pitching has been outstanding and so has our team defense. We haven't been hitting well, clearly, and our bullpen is a work in progress as we expected."

The offense is now ranked 15th in the FL in OPS and dead last in AVG, hits and home runs.

"Certainly Tu-fu Yong (.516 OPS), Henry Rectenberg (.353), and Abdelwahab Kamade (.462 OPS) are not going to be in slumps forever," said Rectenwald. "Francisco Otero (.489 OPS) is just getting his feet wet in the majors. These things will resolve themselves."

As for the bullpen, it's also just too early to make a judgement on the group. Shuffling continues, with Manuel Orozco making his season debut this past week, Manuel Bruno will be joining him this week, followed by Rafael Morales next week. "We haven't even seen the full group yet due to injuries," cautioned Rectenwald. "Like everyone in the BBA, pitching is thin and we're going to be mixing and matching all year."

On the good side, that starting pitching though! Despite a slow start by Josh Brown (7.20 ERA), the trio of Chin Kim (0.895 WHIP), Eru Likiliki (0.84 WHIP) and Heinrich Peithner (0.92 WHIP) have all pitched like aces. The early experiment of starting Kidane Ata every fifth day has brought one outstanding start (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K at YS9) and one terrible one (2.1 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K at VAN). "We'll skip his turn this week because of the schedule, but this is no longer an experiment; we're rolling with him as the #5," said Rectenwald.

The Recte influence has shown early as the Bluebirds are leading the Frick with 22 stolen bases. With a 84.6% success ratio and led by Joey Newhouse's 8 steals, expect the aggressive baserunning to continue.

[GoldenOne]

Don't screw it up!

[bschr682]

Was this a part of the plan?

[RonCo]

3-8 seems to have always been part of the plan!

[7teen]

Everyone getting their jabs in at Recte before he completely flips it and wins the division and makes the post-season 10 straight seasons.

[GoldenOne]

The offense had a pretty slow start ast year too. It got better but it came in bunches. The bullpen was good at the end of the year, The Plan® was not to change it too much. The Plan® moved the Charlotte though.