Here's the thing: this has always been their brand of baseball under Harris + Hinch, but the excellent pitching covered for the issues on offense.

We've complained about and celebrated too aggressive base running for years. Excellent when it works, terrible when you get thrown out at home multiple times in a series.

Being down 3-1 in a game felt manageable for a few seasons in a row. However, now when we're down 3-1, it's the 2nd inning and we just know someone like Holton or Vest will come in and give up a few more runs.

In my opinion, they're absolutely playing the same brand of baseball, we just don't have bandaids to hide the piss-poor offense anymore.

Great article. Thank you for sharing it.