FanPost

Brutal Failure


From ESPN

 

2. When you have so much parity like this, it only takes one or two players having bad seasons to derail a potential playoff bid. Which teams have given the most playing time to bad players? Looking at the primary playoff contenders, here is how many plate appearances each team has given to hitters with an OPS+ (on-base + slugging percentage, adjusted for home park, scaled to where 100 is a league average hitter) of 75 or less, entering Sunday's action. (From Baseball-Reference.com.)

National League
1. Brewers, 1250
2. Braves, 823
3. Giants, 809
4. Pirates, 660
5. Phillies, 534
6. Reds, 461
7. Diamondbacks, 456
8. Cardinals, 231

The Brewers are the team that should be kicking itself the most if it misses the playoffs, high in star power but a brutal bottom of the roster. Yuniesky Betancourt's line was predictable, but Casey McGehee has been even worse. Both have held their jobs. What is inexcusable is giving more than 300 plate appearances to vets Craig Counsell and Mark Kotsay.

 

 

The fact that we are even in contention, speaks volumes on just how weak our division is.