I don’t think they expected him to be a core star, just a useful contributor. He’s striking out a lot more and needs to adapt to how the league is pitching him, it’s early

Bichette was their most consistent hitter last year and replacing him in the aggregate was always going to be prone to variance

Their pitching should genuinely be better though

Yeah, plus Barger and Kirk being hurt, Okamoto not being great, Vlad being mostly just decent, etc

Offence should get better, combo of underperformances and injuries

Pitching will get better (injuries so far, esp with Yesavage and Bieber)

Their lack of run scoring is the biggest issue thus far. They’re not going to be as good as last year but they’re better than this

Big “select the centre of the country and hope for the best” day

www.maptap.gg April 18
97🔥 96🏅 89🎉 95🏅 88🎉
Final score: 920

Lack of talent and aging blueline that seemed better due to goaltending the year before

Goalie health and regression

System/player mismatch - Berube wanting a high pressure and forechecking system with forwards that aren’t good at that

We’re letting Corbin go third time through the order??

Yeah this is the huge (unspoken) takeaway, that’s the biggest sign of how much dysfunction there is

And the unspoken proof of dysfunction here is how many people inside the org were sources for the piece

Yikes. Great reporting (and triple byline).

I think Pelley will hire a GM that he doesn’t need to cede control to, which will just lead to years in the wilderness. Management is the problem

The most “never in doubt” game in a while

Saw them on the tour in both Cleveland and Hamilton, this remix goes so unbelievably hard live.

I remember everyone in the crowd turning to each other saying “holy shit”, especially after the drop near the end lol

Stick with it - both seasons are written in mostly 3 episode arcs so the pacing changes up. The back half of season one is excellent.

Six coffees a day tastes fine and is mostly socially acceptable in the legal world

What a beautiful moment.

"Humanity's next great voyage begins" #Artemis

Artemis II lifts off

He was the keynote speaker for my undergrad convocation. Incredible guy

A functional org fires Tre tomorrow if that happens

(Ignoring that a functional org doesn’t have Tre in this position in the first place)

It’s set in the Pillars of Eternity world, isn’t it?

every day I am more secure in my decision not to argue with people on the internet anymore

It’ll get far less coverage than Willy giving the finger on camera

BvS is a great answer (we almost walked out midway) but everyone is saying Rise of Skywalker and that’s absolutely right.

He could be! But he might also be a BABIP mirage. He’s Lukes insurance at least.

All those guys hit about as well as you can expect last year - if any of them have down years, you need a plan for a higher ceiling

Go get a bat unless you really, really trust Barger against lefties (you shouldn’t) and are fine with a Lukes/Schneider platoon (aim higher)

I’m a bit worried that Carlo is really a bottom pairing D but he does fill a role for now

You only sell Roy if Laughton resigns for cheap - Roy has more value since he’s got term and Laughton is roughly the same player

Agree with a lot of this. I’m also not against moving Roy and Carlo too, since I think you get get good picks and players for them, but I suppose you need someone on the team next year.

I think Treliving half-measures it though

I think Berube is a serious problem (they’re xG numbers are awful and the systems also look bad on the eye test) and a new coach could make a difference too

So much of hockey is just luck. I’m fine keeping a decent team and trying to PDO their way to/through the playoffs. If it doesn’t work and Matthews wants to leave, so be it