Call me crazy but I honestly think that having a real professional offense (and defense) that can pick up our young pitchers when they are struggling is the difference-maker here. Stammen would've never had a chance to settle down from those rough innings on previous years' teams.
I don't know - we had a pretty good offense last year. Not world beaters, but they were major league quality for once.
I think a huge difference maker is preparation. This team just knows how to play the game. They looked so sloppy under Acta. They ran bases, swung at bad pitches, took hittable pitches, didn't field worth a lick, and just played listlessly.