When a team doesn't produce, players are shown the door. So despite entering the season with a roster that appeared to be a first-half title contender, the York Revolution are 3-12 -- owners of the worst record in the Atlantic League.
More bad news came when York's opening day starter Rick Bauer, left the Revolution after Friday's game when he signed a contract with a team in Korea. Bauer's absence caused reliever Dan Foli to move into the rotation and Dave Gassner -- who appeared to improve in a rain-shortened start in York last week -- to pitch on three days of rest Sunday. Pitching on three days of rest in May never goes well. Not surprisingly, Somerset swept York.
Revolution officials expect to add a pitcher to replace Bauer, and an announcement could come as soon as Tuesday.
Fans should expect more changes.
The coaching staff and front office has seen enough. After 20 games, York is in danger of falling out of contention for good. Seven games behind front-leading Newark, York would have to orchestrate a remarkable turnaround to get back into the race. York has to play on the road in Newark six times before it hosts the first-place Bears. And the Revs have always struggled in Newark.
Moreover, the Revs would also have to overcome a crazy June schedule. York already has two doubleheaders scheduled for the first two weeks of the month. Throw in the three-day break for the All-Star Game, and York has enough starts and stops to make any team go cold.
Did we mention York is still looking for its first winning streak of the season?
Less than three weeks into the season, the Revs are on the verge of becoming irrelevant in the first-half race.
But all this sounds vaguely familiar.
The only bright spot to this last-place season is recent history. York looked hopeless last spring, marred in an 8-20 start. The front office shifted two players (Travis Ezi and Tyler Von Schell) in trades and acquired two more players -- one of whom came out of retirement -- to win the second-half title. Unlike last year -- when the Revs signed Kennard Jones and Chris Ashby -- the problem doesn't appear to have anything to do with the position players. The team will have to rebuild its bullpen, either by fixing the control problems of the players it already has or by finding new pitchers.
Now the bad news: Good pitchers aren't that easy to find in May.
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