the characteristic of this team is uneven play. That probably explains the frustration. Most of the time, they are above .500 (35-26) but they had 3 awful stretches of 1-6, 0-7, and 0-11, or 1-24. If they mature and avoid losing streaks, then they could finish even better than 74 wins, but another losing streak or two would overwhelm the marginal positive normal play.
Most teams, especially the good ones with strong pitching and defense, are much better at home. No team in MLB is more than 6 games over .500 on the road. Meanwhile, this team is slightly better on the road (17-25 at home, 19-25 on the road). Moreover, the home game run differential of -60 is 3rd worst in MLB after the Rockies and A's.
Team OPS of .703, ranks 19th, the highest in the Darnell Coles era and perhaps the "step forward" the team was supposed to take, even though still below average, and largely due to James Wood. But OPS against of .766 is 26th.
The team's run differential predicts a record of 36-50, which is exactly where they are. They were way ahead of that before the 11 game losing streak, which brought them time right to expected W-L percentage. Fangraphs has them right now at 70.5 wins.
