Reversion to the mean, IMO. This patched-together MASH unit of a roster where the bottom 4 spots of our lineup is often AAAA scrubs is not nearly as good as the record indicated from mid-June to 7/6, and we're not as bad as we looked at home this week.
Couple of thoughts, some which come from being there in person today:
1. Brown is gassed. HIs 2 worst starts of the year came in the past week. He's laboring and leaving pitches up in the zone, leading to lots of balls, long ABs, and 25+ pitch innings. For fucks sake, he struggled against their 8 and 9 hitters that are both deeply sub-Mendoza.
2. It's a long season and every team has shitty stretches. We're in one now, and it's fairly team-wide. Lot of guys that were hot the past month/week have come back down to earth. Aside from Brown, Hader has faltered twice in a row, Cam's on a multi-game hitless streak, Walker has Abreu's bat speed again...etc.
3. Based on limited sample size, but also eye test: Short might actually be a worthwhile utility piece that can be a replacement-level 0-1 WAR guy on an MLB roster. Hummel and Trammell are never-was dreck.
4. We need rest and recovery like the desert needs rain. And we better be working on at least 1-2 trades before the end of the month. We need a LHB somewhere in the lineup and another starting pitcher.