The real problem is a lack of talent or perhaps throwing kids into the fray before they were really ready. I watched many games on line and it was obvious to me that several players who got significant playing time early weren't ready. Go look at some stats for kids that have started a lot of games and pay attention to number of strikeouts per at bat, number of extra base hits and so on. I'm not naming names because it isn't fair to the players. We haven't had a hitting season like this in at least 15-20 years.

Early on we saw some strange handling of pitchers also. Well that continued all year. Usually a team picks three weekend starters and may shuffle it up a little as the season goes on, but with the exception of Sheehan and Farrell, it has been a revolving door. Why pull Butts yesterday?