
I had prepared myself for Rendon's departure, but losing Soto the day of the opener was a 1-2 gut punch. My mentality this season is that the World Series title bought about a decade of goodwill, and any follow-up this season is gravy. But this lineup hearkened back to the 2005-2012 era. With Soto out, and Kieboom struggling with the elusive yet necessary skill of hitting a baseball, this season's path is to hold the line until Soto's return, and take advantage of the expanded playoff field to make another run. We may go on a tear starting tomorrow, but one thing is clear after just tonight: we must get Kieboom into the lineup *every day* so he can get his reps. Cabrera is a more-than-capable super-sub, but protecting Kieboom with a platoon will only perpetuate his weakness against RHP.