Pitching at midseason? Some brutal games. Except for ever-steady Mike Leake, the rotation has been unreliable, especially at the top with Gonzalez and Kikuchi. Both of them have pitched great games, then slumped into four or five starts where they couldn't get through four innings or less. Marco shows signs of bouncing back; Kikuchi less so, but to be fair, Yusei has a lot to learn.
The questions about Felix appear to be answered. He's spent all but his first few starts injured and I don't think he's coming back... ever. A sad end.
Leake and LeBlanc just keep turning the crank, well enough in Leake's case to get some looks from other teams as the trade deadline approaches. Milone has been a nice surprise, but is not a long term answer.
The bullpen has been bad... a parade of people who can't throw strikes and give up home runs when they do. Strickland who showed early promise remains injured. Elias shows promise, sometimes. This part of the game is a flat-out loss for now. The M's have enough offense to get a lead, but little chance of holding it. The bullpen has thrown away a dozen wins for sure.
Experiments with highly touted Sheffield and Swanson show them to need a lot more work.
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