ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Reds at Braves
Huh. I don’t know, do I do a “Miserable Braves Win Type” here? The Braves led 7-2 going to the ninth, Hudson still on the mound. He allows a couple of miserable little singles. Bobby brings in McBride to pitch to Hatteberg and he allows a single. So in comes the closer, Sosa, who somehow gets the first man to strike out after going 3-0 on him. But then he gives up a single, followed by a homer, tie game. He just missed giving up another homer to the last batter of the inning.
Sosa should probably give Jeff Francoeur some sort of bonus, because otherwise he’d have to go into witness protection. Chipper doubled with one out in the tenth, but Andruw struck out and McCann was walked. Francoeur singled to left, Chipper beat the throw home, and the Braves got a win that most of them deserved, though Hudson unfortunately didn’t get the decision.
He wound up going 8-plus, getting charged with four runs, two of them due to the bullpen. He struck out four, walked only one, and allowed eight hits, and only one real mistake, a solo homer to Hatteberg. I don’t mind that so much because I think he’s been nibbling anyway and the homer might actually be a good sign that he’s going after hitters.
The Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, the big blow a long three-run homer by Andruw. Chipper had three hits, Giles, Renteria, and Francoeur had two. Ray allowed a couple of baserunners in the tenth but got out of it to get the win.
Sosa can’t pitch. It’s that simple. Get rid of him.
Sosa = damaged goods. Send ’em to the Island of Misfit Toys.
Sosa definitely belongs in the Witless Projectile program- God knows he surrenders enough projectiles- but space should be made for a certain manager who thinks the guy can close and a certain GM who refuses to do anything about it.
Not mentioned there – Bobby has to take some of the blame there – With Hudson at 101 pitches, the smart move (in my opinion) would have been to start the 9th with Ken Ray there.
Just before the 2-0 pitch to Javier Valentin TBS cut to Bobby in the dugout shaking his head and looking incredulous. I knew what would happen. That response, though, would seem to seal Sosa’s fate. Good for the kids that they didn’t cut to the dugout after the pitch.
I think Hudson could have used the added confidence of throwing a complete game. It just didn’t work out. Where I disagree with Bobby was not bringing in Ray even with the lefty up.
Wow, who would have thought going into this year that Sosa wasn’t very good? Oh yeah, lots of people.
Oh well, the Braves give me a win as a birthday present. i’ll take it.
Wins a win. Way to stick with it, ATL. If we win some more 1-run games, things will be looking up.
Sosa has no control on his breaking pitch/pitches; all too often they get left up in the zone. That essentially leaves him with one effective pitch, a straight 95mph fastball, for hitters to sit on. Any major league hitter can hit a straight 95mph fastball for distance — and twenty times this season, we’ve seen it. He just doesn’t have the command and control to succeed in the closer’s role night in and night out.
The rest of the bullpen has done alright recently, knock on wood. Just need something at the end of the game, but quite frankly I have no idea where it’s going to come from.
Ok, the idea was tried and the experiment is over. Next please.
Once again, the Braves are still trying to fix the problem which they could have fixed during the offseason, and now the team is in an even worse position to fix the problem with the lack of options and availability. Thanks JS.
Hey, Kyle, happy b-day!
Happy birthday, Kyle!
Sosa=DFA. Now. When he gave up that bomb I just lay on the couch and laughed hysterically.
I do have a question, though. On that play where the guy was safe at 1B on the dribbler out in front of the plate, why didn’t Hudson field it? Is there some rule that pitchers are physically unable to field balls around the mound if there’s anyone else in the vicinity? It was pretty much exactly halfway between him and McCann, probably a little closer to the mound. And McCann is hurt, he can barely move. So why didn’t Hudson field that ball? It took Brian at least 2 extra steps to get his footing set properly, which cost him the out. Somebody should have pointed this out before the game (or like a week ago) and instructed the pitchers to field what they can to reduce the need for McCann to be scrambling around out there and risk hurting himself further. It generally annoys me when I see pitchers just standing around letting everyone else do the work. If this is some sort of convention, which I guess it is, somebody should change it.
I’m telling you, Villareal should be the closer. I’d rather be lucky than no good.
Happy b-day Kyle..
Wow didn’t get to watch tonight, my son is playing all-stars -they won 10-0 he hit a 3-run hr so I’m having a great evening! But all that said, we still need a closer, a bonified stopper not another experiment. Come on JS MAKE A DEAL YOU SMUCK. I am glad we pulled out the win because we can’t survive many more meltdowns
I’m going to be honest w/ you guys- I still like my boy Georgey Sosa.
I think if we send him down to the minors he can get better. He’s got the stuff. That strikeout after 3-0 was awesome. He’s a beast that must be tamed, but a beast nontheless. Plus he sweats. He sweats a lot. I sweat when I play video games so I really respect him for that. He also crams a lot of shit in his mouth. Sometimes I eat a lot and food falls out. He could teach me a thing or two.
Wherever I end up in this crazy world, no matter what happens to me socially or financially, I will always be glad to buy a fellow Braves’ fan a beer and raise my glass to that beloved sweaty sonofabitch Jorgey Sosa.
Peace.
I agree with Rob Cope, Bobby was trying to give Huddy a confidence boost by getting him the complete game. What we forget about Bobby is that the same things that drive US crazy are the things that make players love him so much.
I think using Hudson to start the inning was fairly reasonable. 101 pitches really isn’t that many, especially for a veteran, and after all he was coming off of two very short outings.
Drewdat mentioned that Bobby was shaking his head in the dugout about Sosa and that may seal his fate. That could be the case, but it appeared to me that Cox was frustrated by the ump’s strike zone. I have a feeling that Sosa will get a few more tries before he’s canned.
My best guess for Sosa’s replacement is Stockman when he comes off the DL. After this I would guess Startup from the minors and finally Villareal as a closer option. Ray has fit in pretty well as a setup man and Paronto and Yates have exceeded expectations lately, although I’m still not overly confident. I still say that I would rather see a big trade for a leadoff hitter than getting a bullpen arm that will only be marginally better than someone like Startup. I just don’t see too many “can’t miss” closers out there.
I’m with Charles.
I still like Sosa in there. He is still learning the role. I dont see him going after guys like he can. One he does, he’ll be fine.
If we had hung on to Rafael Furcal, he could be our closer.
I want to side with Mike and Charles because of 2005, but the man’s failed in every role he’s ever had in the majors except for last year as a starter. If Sosa is going to re-learn to be a reliever, he should do it in AAA and let someone else (Startup? Shiell?) take his place in Atlanta.
“Drewdat mentioned that Bobby was shaking his head in the dugout about Sosa and that may seal his fate. That could be the case, but it appeared to me that Cox was frustrated by the ump’s strike zone.”
I think the pitch before it was a fastball a couple feet outside, but I didn’t think of that. I would have to guess that was it even though it came at an odd time, since Cox is usually supportive to a fault.
Sometimes I eat a lot and food falls out.
That was great. Maybe I’m still laughing from a Family Guy episode that has a HILARIOUS scene where Peter tells the family that he doesn’t like “The Godfather” and they can’t believe it, but that was really funny.
Actually, that was pretty funny!
You know its been a rough night. I just invited a chick to a Pearl Jam concert tonight and she said, “eh- I’m not really into them.” So in a sense I blew the close. I’ll be honest with you- my track record isn’t that much better than old Georgey. I think the problem tonight was that he didn’t get enough of a sweat going. Its like a spitball but slimier.
Was in a restaurant/bar watching the 9th inning tonight & I swear I downed an entire pint of Guinness after that 3-run HR. It was either that or start throwing my food on people wearing Mets hats.
I guess we’re the only team in MLB where a 7-2 lead in the 9th just isn’t safe.
Thanks Chipper. Thanks Frenchy. It’s a win. Sleepytime.
Cox wasn’t shaking his head at Sosas inability to get ahead of hitters or frustration with the strike zone, he clearly looks up as if in amazement this chorus of boos exists in this spot ahead by three. We all know what happened…but for these “fans”, it wouldn’t hurt to get behind someone rather than pile on for a change.
LaRoche has a good arm……why not LaLob for LaCloser???
People keep saying that JS should “do something” but just what should he do? You act as if all he has to do is snap his fingers. It’s not like the Yankees are offering Mariano Rivera for John Thompson. There’s nothing out there (although maybe they should have taken a flyer on Guardado, but he is pretty much over the hill). You can’t trade just because you want to trade. With most of the teams in contention for the playoffs, they aren’t dumping top-flight closers and a lot of teams are having problems with the bullpen. I have issues with JS on some things, but I don’t think it’s his fault he can’t get a closer at this point. Who in their right mind would trade a top-flight relief pitcher without breaking the bank?
If we make a trade it will be close to the deadline. there are still too many teams in the hunt
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=060706/bracket
Braves are atleast doing good in this tournament..
Marc, you are right on point. What is there out there for us to get? Everyone in the race or who at least thinks they are in the race is looking for bullpen help.
I don’t think we should DFA Sosa right now. He is still a better pitcher than some of the other crap we have in the bullpen.
I guess the answer to the question of whether last year was a fluke for Sosa has been definitively answered. Get him out of there. Now. He is garbage. Use Ken Ray for the next 2 weeks then pull a trade for Scott Williamson or somebody on July 31.
Yeah, everybody still think they’re in it. For instance, there’s this team, it’s ten games below .500, tied for ninth in the wildcard and 13 1/2 games out in the division, and they still think they’re in it. Crazy!
I still hold out hope that we can claw our way back, but I wouldn’t be overly upset if JS announced that he’s traded Giles and Hudson for 2007 help.
Ok… so if the Braves are still in it, at what point will they not be in it? I just want the Braves to get back to respectability – I’m not thinking about the wild card right now. If it happens, great. But I doubt it and I hold firm to my position that if JS gives up any assets for yet another run at playoff mediocrity then he’s an idiot.
I think Giles has come back to form…or at least I hope. He is swinging a hot bat and is playing good D. I was one of the many that was saying trade him but after the last couple of games I don’t feel the same way. When he is at his best he is a top 5 2B. But I do still see the point of trading him if we can get a solid releiver.(Maybe Linebrink, Justin Speier.)
So far in this thread no one has said anything about trading Hudson. Amazing what a good outing can do to some fan’s opinions. Like I said in the thread after his last outing, if he gets infield defense behind him, Hudson is just fine. My opinion of Sosa is he is probably the best option we currently have available for closer but he seems (at least to me) to pitch way better when he comes in at the beginning of the inning with no base runners on. I think everytime he has come in from the bullpen (as closer or otherwise) with runners already on he has generally struggled. I say we give him a little more time.
The main reason I occasionally support trading him is his value (real or perceived) and the fact that the Braves are now constrained by a tight budget. He’ll probably receive another considerable raise this offseason in arbitration and will soon be a free agent. I just don’t see us locking him up long term. I could be completely off base. I would just rather us work towards locking up Andruw long term and move Giles while he still has value. We don’t have a lot of OF prospects that could fill Andruw’s shoes, but we do have middle infield help on the way.
At this point why trade Huddy… We barely have 5 starters as it is .. His outing last night reminded a lot of people of the old Hudson..the Hudson in Oakland..and I for one still think that he can be the guy we traded for. If he doesn’t get better then maybe in the offseason when we have Hampton, and Davies back but not now.
I agree with Josh trading Andruw would be a dumb move.. if we traded him and didn’t get OF in return then everyone could look forward to Langy in Center..Defensively maybe, Offensively no way.
If we did trade Giles then most likely Betimet would replace him…I don’t really know how good of a 2B he is.(he hasn’t played much there) I would rather no trades then a bad one.
Yeah Sosa totally sucks. I agree, GET RID OF HIM!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry Hap, but I just brought up the trade Hudson idea. I like Hudson. I don’t think he’s washed up or on some kind of downward career curve. Much like my reason for why we should consider trading Giles, I’m not real sure how we’ll be able to afford him in the future. All this could change and I could be way off base. There are many scenarios where we could still afford his 13mil price tag in 08 and 09. Call it Post-traumatic Maddux accepts arbitration and Millwood is traded for unknown Philly catcher Stress Disorder. I tend to prepare myself for the possibility that we will lose good players as part of the business.
At this point I think we oughta just leave Sosa as the closer. There’s nobody better to replace him. Maybe he’ll grow into it or something. I’m skeptical that Stockman or anybody in Richmond is the answer.
Ok, so anyways, it’s become obvious that we basically need to scrap the entire bullpen and start over (with maybe a couple of exceptions like Ray and McBride). My question is is that even possible for next year? Good relief is not as easy to find as it used to be.
Boyer will be back and maybe some of the kids will be a little better, but I’m not sure if that’s enough. Say we land a decent closer in the offseason, get Boyer back, and McBride, Ray, and whoever don’t get any worse, is that enough? I mean, I think we need to add more than just a couple of good arms out there and I’m not sure that’ll be possible by next year.
How long will it take to recover from the disaster that is this bullpen? And at what cost?
P.S. I’ve come to believe that we shouldn’t trade Hudson right now. His contract is cheap next year. I do think that if we aren’t in the race next year that he should be considered trade bait at next years trade deadline. But what am I saying, we’ll win the WS in 07 so all of this talk is worthless.
Josh, it’s a reasonable idea, and I would still support trading Hudson if value can be found. We’ll have to eat some salary, though.
As for the bullpen, remember that Foster will be back; HoRam, if no starters are traded, is available for the bullpen; Stockman will be back soon. Most of the parts for a decent bullpen are in place if we can ever get everyone healthy at once.
Joel Zumaya is looking very good right now…only problem is it would take John Smoltz going home to Detroit. It may even take more than Smoltz to pry Zumaya away.
I really hope it doesn’t come to that. Smoltz being traded is a four letter word in my book. I understand the possibility, but the thought of that is going to send me to the Ranting, Screaming thread.
I don’t want him traded either just saying Zumaya would solve alot of our bullpen problems and the only possible way of getting him is Smoltz. That trade has been talked about alot on ESPN.
Francouer’s hit last night is the thing that gets me excited about his potential with this team. His lack of plate discipline has been well documented no doubt. The thing that excites me as a fan is that he just seems to have a flair for the dramatic.
You do not trade an offensive secondbasemen for a reliever. Ever. No matter how much of a two-month, injury-driven slump he’s been in. Trading Marcus Giles for Scott Linebrek is insane. Trading Marcus Giles for virtually _any_ reliever is insane. Offensive players are more valuable than any individual reliever.
He also brings some excitment to the team…One thing about the young guys that nobody gives them credit for is when they produce it gets everybody playing well and having fun.
It doesn’t matter how many runs an OFFENSIVE 2B scores if you don’t have somebody that can shut the door then we will still lose.
Case and Point last night. 7 runs should be plenty to win but it wasn’t because we don’t have a guy that can come in there night after night a shut the door.
You trade Giles because a) he’s getting to be expensive and this team has limited payroll now and probably even more limited after being sold, b) he’s still good enough that he has value for other teams so you can actually get good prospects for him, and c) you can replace him with Betemit or Prado and get pretty close to the same offense while also picking up pitchers (presumably) who can help you this year and next.
Pretty much the same logic for Hudson except that you have to replace him for next year by signing a free agent starter in the offseason or hoping Davies comes back strong from his injury or Thompson returns to his April form.
That is pretty much what I am saying.. I wouldn’t trade him for another position player because were having trouble finding a spot for WB. That’s why I used Linebrink and Speier as an example..both having pretty good seasons and both would be an upgrade with our bullpen.
Rubbish, Sam H. I’d trade Giles for any one of the following relievers:
Mariano Rivera
Jonathan Papelbon
BJ Ryan
Joel Zumaya
Adam Wainwright
Bobby Jenks
Trevor Hoffman
Scott Linebrink
and the list goes on …
Thank you Jeff….at least you see my point.
Braves improved play coincides with Reitsma’s absence. Coincidence? Ithink not. Get rid of Sosa and things will improve even more. Just release him — send a message. The Reds, who have the only bullpen worse than ours (can you believe Coffey tried to come inside on Francoeur?), at least are trying something with Guardado. Short of a move, the answer is AOTS (Anybody Other Than Sosa). It has been a joy to see the old Chipper again.
Rivera could become a free agent at the end of the year but a lot has to happen mainly the yanks would have to be willing to part with him… but I don’t see that happening.
Not really the point … hardly any of those pitchers are actually available (maybe Zumaya, Jenks, and Linebrink), but it is rubbish to say that Giles is more valuable to the Braves at this point than any of these relief pitchers.
The Braves couldn’t afford most of those relievers, even if they were available. Rivera makes $10m a year; BJ Ryan makes more. We could have had Ryan without trading anything had we signed him this offseason. How does it make sense to take on all the salary commitment AND give up a top offensive player (on this team, at least)?
Again, not really the point … the point was made that we should never trade Giles for a reliever under any circumstances. That’s nonsense, I’d happily trade for any of those relivers, even take on substantially more salary in the process (although probably not a multi-year $10M+ salary), to move Giles. He won’t resign with the Braves anyway, so I hope we get something for him (other than draft picks).
Linebrink- $1.3 million
Giles- $3.85 million
Bobby Jenks, Adam Wainright, Joel Zumaya, Jonathan Papelbon all curretly making less than 400k.
I’m not saying they are availible but the money really isn’t the issue with these guys right now.
Jonathan Papelbon would cost us Andruw Jones and Francouer
JS would have resigned Fawnsworth last fall if he had the money. Lucky he did not. It is dangerous to trade starter for a releiver. Most releivers are inconsistent year to year.
We need Betemit as insurance fot Chipper ar 3rd or else Orr or young JS may become starter at second
But the fan club could be Papelbon’s Bon Bons.
Paronto and a prospect for Lidge?
JUST KIDDING
Roman Colon and Zach Miner to the Yanks for Farnsworth, oh wait…We’ve already wasted those two on 1/2 year of Farns, never mind!
I bet we get Wickman from Cleveland
What about Capellan for Kolb, dang it never mind!
How was it a waste? If not for Farnsworth, our division streak may have ended last year. Both of those guys were pretty unproven at that point, so it wasn’t a bad deal. Who would have known that Farnsworth would have shafted the Braves and went to the Yankees to be a setup man for a couple million more, without even considering tax issues.
Maybe Cleveland will go for Thomson.
CSG, Capellan was a mediocre relief prospect with a flat fastball and no secondary pitch, and we flipped him for a somewhat-consistent closer with a track record and low salary. There’s no way anyone would have known Kolb would have sucked THAT badly. But nonetheless, nice hindsight GMing on your part.
Or maybe Texas or Toronto. AL contenders with startiong ptiching problems and decent farms.
I wouldn’t mind trading Marcus if we can be assured Betemit can play second full-time decently and we can get a solid, if not great, reliever in return. Plus, Marcus makes $3.85M, and that will be useful in the offseason.
Rob, anyone can look at Kolb’s stats and notice very alarming stats. to send anything for this guy was a waste. He always has given up a lot of hits and had low K rates. That is a bad person to trade for…
I understand that, CSG. His peripherals did suck. His second half was worse than his first half. I know that. But at the time, there really wasn’t much out there, we didn’t give up much to get him, and he was cheap. Based on his stats, yes he wasn’t the ideal person to trade for, but look at Horacio Ramirez. He’s always had less than stellar peripheral numbers and he’s been successful. That’s not always the tell-all.
My real point is it’s easy to look back at the trade from hindsight and see that it didn’t work out. Do you really think at the time of the Smoltz-Alexander trade people were saying that Smoltz was gonna be a Hall of Fame pitcher as a Double-A prospect? Same thing with Capellan, and he still hasn’t really done anything. The guy has a 4.11 ERA in 45 innings.
with the braves having a surplus of starting pitchers for the 2007 season, i would not be surprised to see hampton or another seasoned veteran make a move to the closers role.
I have to reinforce here… Looking back at my comments after the trade for Kolb and my player analysis for him before the 2005 season, I was already negative about him and pointed out the poor second half. I was stunned that he was so bad, of course, but I seem to remember saying that any competent reliever can handle the job respectably. The amazing thing is the inability of the Braves to find a competent reliever.
Right, Mac. There was reason to be negative about him, but there was really no easy to think his career would implode right when he put a Braves uniform on. That was unrealistic. I also think that giving up a mid-level prospect was a decent price for Kolb, given his upside. Too bad we never got a return.
BTW, the Braves are 13th in the NL in pitcher strikeouts, but their hitters strike out more than any team but the Brewers and Marlins.
If we get a guy, he nees to be a guy who can strike guys out and not walk anyone. Bob Wickman would be a terrible fit. He is Dan Kolb Super sized.
Rob, I think we are all just fed up w/ average arms hoping that they will be good for us. Also, its time JS quits looking for home town discounts and starts putting money into our pen. We accumlate a lot of crap arms and wish for the best. Farnsworth was an exception, but he was a 1/2 year rental. No one new Miner would be like he is, but JS should have known that 3yrs-14,15 million wouldn’t be enough after watching the market last year. He knew it would be a big spending year for closers. I’m personally think Farns would be better in ATL, but who knows. I know that just putting average arms and a bunch of AAA players in your pen wont get the job done…
You’re right on, CSG. No team can have a good bullpen without atleast one or two good, strong, reliable arms in the bullpen. JS just went to the well too many times and it’s destroyed the team this year. He had the right idea with Farnsworth, but he was just a jerk and took a lesser role for a little more money.
Has anyone noticed that our bullpen ERA (4.68) this year is better than it was last year (4.74)? How disturbing is that?
The guys at BP seem to think our problem is mostly starting pitching. But I’m not sure how much weight they put on what should be happening rather than what is happening. Sometimes they get too theoretical.
tell the guys @ BP to check our # of blown saves. Starting pitching haven’t been great, but it hasn’t killed us either. Ask Smoltz, what he thinks…
I’m trying to find how many games we blew last year, in comparison to this year. We’re already up to 18 this year…
That’s the biggest problem I think.
24 last year, here’s a link
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/stats/aggregate?statType=pitching&group=9&seasonType=2&type=type2&sort=runs&split=0&season=2005
of course we were in the top 4…
2004 = 20 BS
2003 = 20 BS
2002 = 14 BS
Ah yes… thank you CSG.
We’re on pace to blow 34 games this year according to my calculations. San Fran lead the Majors with 28 last year.
34 blown saves is waayy too much. If we had a closer that could save about 25 of those 34 games, which I think is a reasonable number…that’s 25 extra wins.
I think we can set a record this year. Maybe then JS will do something. The 2004 Colorado Rockies – set major league records for blown saves (34) and relief losses (39). We can beat that easily.
Now that is something to look forward too. These Braves can set Records. Woohoo!!!
No. How many of the Braves’ blown saves have occurred in the seventh or eighth inning? How many games have the Braves had multiple blown saves in? It is a complete misrepresentation to blame all blown saves on the closer.
FLournoy, you are correct. This should show us that everyone in our pen is at fault. We’ve removed two, but there are many more too come.
If you have one solid guy in your pen then everyone else falls into a role. When Sosa was named closer, Ray became the 8th inning guy, McBride the LOOGY and so on. The pen settled down somewhat. Last night they weren’t great in the 9th, but I think Bobby should have goe to Ray sooner. Don’t give up on Sosa just yet. He volunteered to go out there and he has had two bad outings.
Well, everyone falls into a role, but if they aren’t any good, they may fail at their new role, too. I agree that adding one arm stablizes the bullpen MORE than before, but to assume that adding one good reliever would fix the bad ones’ pitching problems is overly optimistic.
when is the Mets starting rotation going to come back to earth. They have nothing except for Glavine and Martinez, and now one of them is on the DL. They are definitely overperforming………
agree completely CSG.
Smitty, wake up and smell the souvenirs Sosa keeps sending into the stands.
Sosa’s been in the major leagues for part or all of the last five years. His ERAs by year: 5.53, 4.62, 5.53, 2.55, 5.31. This year isn’t the anomaly- 2005 was.
He’s had only fewer good outings than bad as a reliever this year:
June 23 at TB: Put two runners on in 10th, but they don’t score. Given one-run lead in 11th, almost gives it back on Baldelli fly caught at the wall.
June 25 at TB: Preserves a 3-run lead, the easiest job a closer will ever have.
June 27 at NYY: Gives up solo HR, but holds on in nonsave situation.
June 28 at NYY: A-Rod goes deep.
June 30 vs Bal: Issues a walk to bring tying run to plate, but holds on.
July 3 vs StL: Again preserves a 3-run lead.
July 6: Blows 5-run lead with a HR, and nearly loses game by driving Andruw to the wall for third out.
For those scoring at home, he’s given up HRs in 3 of this seven relief appearances (totaling 7 1/3 innings) and 2 more drives caught at the wall.
Last year was a fluke, with virtually zero chance of recurring. Sosa should be DFAed immediately. He’s had all the chances he deserves.
No, Sosa is needed in long relief roles because he has shown he can effectively go more than 3-4 outs. His history is getting hit a little his first inning of work, then settling down. He’s not a starter because he can’t go more than 4 innings. He’s not a closer because he can’t pitch one inning well.
Not all blown saves are the fault of the closer…but having a guy that can come in and shut down the game does really help.
If McBride was our 7th inning guy, Ray our 8th inning guy and we would have a stud coming into the 9th inning, there is noo waayy we have 18 blown saves so far.
But since we don’t have that guy, there isn’t any certainty…we have to shuffle, go by commitee, …hope that stars align correctly etc to get a save and win the game.
The Mets have a good lineup (esp. 3-4-5) & their bullpen has been basically what ours hasn’t been. They came out hot & created some distance. In this league & this division, that’s plenty. They don’t have to be good, just .500.
I don’t even pay attention to their results anymore. (I don’t have to; it’s all around me.) I don’t pay attention to the rest of the league either. Haven’t even looked at the division or WC standings in weeks. Right now, I don’t see the point. I’m only concerned with one thing: Seeing the Braves play well.
If that happens for the rest of the month, hopefully I’ll look up & see that we’ve given ourselves a meaningful September. That’s all I’m rooting for now. I know this league is full of lousy teams, but I harbor no illusions. June just killed us.
McBride in his career gives up 1.70 walks +hits per inning, and gives up against left-handed batters only (his meat), 1.1 walks + hits per inning. He has not given up a HR yet in the bigs, which I assume is random luck at this point, or he would have the 6.00+ ERA. I have seen nothing of McBride to indicate he is a MLB calibre-pitcher.
Bfan,
McBride has flashes, but until he quits walking people totally (or at least unintentionally), you are right–he doesn’t belong either. That he’s probably the second best option behind Ray this year says all there needs to be said about this dismal pen. If he ever quits walking people unnecssarily, then he probably becomes a pretty good reliever.
Macbride pitched pretty well in the games I saw him in last year. Don’t forget he was injured for the first few months of this season and was probably rushed back to the big leagues because of the overall bullpen struggles and the fact that the only other lefty the Braves have had was the craptastic Remlinger and James who was hurt then converted into a starter. The walks are a big problem but that seems to be a common theme for this staff. I don’t know if it is a different philosophy being taught by McDowell compared to Mazzone or just poor performance, but I’ve never seen Braves pitchers walk so many people as this year.
poor performance
Well, the pitching staff wasn’t so great with Leo around last year. As I recall, they were high in walks and low in strikeouts last year too. At some point, you can’t say it’s the pitching coach. You either have good pitchers or you don’t. Leo hasn’t exactly turned the O’s season around. McDowell may not be a great pitching coach, but I don’t think he’s the reason the bullpen stinks. As for philosophy, there are all sorts of philosophies and they all work if you have the right pitchers.