Without J.D. Drew (out with a wrist injury and limited to pinch-running) the Braves’ offense isn’t very good. They were held to four hits and five walks, and the pitching wasn’t quite up to the task of winning on only two runs. Reitsma had his streak of scoreless outings come to an end to get the loss.
The Braves jumped ahead in the second on an RBI single by Andruw, but wouldn’t score again until the eighth. Ortiz kept the Astros off the board until the sixth, but they eventually broke through with single runs in that inning and the next two to win.
It’s all Andruw’s fault, of course. He had two of the Braves’ four hits, but why didn’t he drive in more nonexistent baserunners? More seriously, Adam LaRoche struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth.
The Phillies won to cut the Braves’ lead to 4 1/2. The Marlins lost to stay six out… John Thomson against Pete Munro tonight. I’ve barely heard of Munro, but he has a 3.72 ERA.
In the words of Julio Franco: “If you’re going to lose, it’s good to lose a good game like this. It’s not like we were out there falling down and making mistakes.”
LaRoche now has a .299 OBP for the season. I never imagined he could be this bad. Before this season, Julio was thought to be virually worthless against righties, but his OPS was actually higher against righties in past seasons than LaRoche’s OPS for the season (686 vs 672). This season, Julio has hit righties just fine (851 OPS in 123 PAs), which suggests he should be starting at least five times a week regardless of whose on the mound.
Having Andruw hit behind LaRoche on a regular basis is, of course, insane. LaRoche can be had by anybody with a decent fastball and some idea where it’s going.
Do we blame TP for the collapse in LaRoche’s walk rate? Bobby? Or is this an organization thing? It sure seems to happen a lot, but fortunately guys like Giles, Furcal, and Andruw have managed to stay productive hitters without the walks they showed in the low minors. LaRoche isn’t good enough for that.
We could give James Jurries a try. He’s hitting .280/.349/.528 in Richmond.
I think the blame for LaRoche’s walk rate lies with LaRoche. If he can’t consistently hit strikes, why would a pitcher throw him anything else. Hard to walk when every pitch is a strike.
I will attribute this quote to Tippy Martinez (although I am not completely certain it was Tippy). When Danny Ainge’s miserable baseball career came to an end, a reporter asked Tippy “What pitch couldn’t Ainge hit that led to this abrupt end?” Tippy replied something to the effect that “I always threw him fastballs (and I think Tippy probably hit 85 on the “quick gun”) right down the middle because I knew he couldn’t hit them.”
I am no scout, but I think LaRoche’s swing has a big hole right under his hands. He doesn’t seem to open up very fast and get to that pitch. They aren’t going to throw him anything but strikes until he turns a couple of balls around.
I think if Jurries hit from the left side he would have been up several weeks ago. I mean, if Bobby and JS were willing to tolerate Wise just to have another left-handed bat, they are going stick with LaRoche. Although, if Adam just falls off the table they might be forced to do it.