Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets – Box Score – April 25, 2010 – ESPN.
So frustrating. The Braves left eight men on base and hit into two inning-ending double plays in a truncate five-inning game. Heyward left the bases loaded in the first, Prado left two on in the second, Heyward hit into a double play to end the third, Melky left one on in the fourth, and Glaus grounded into a DP to end the fifth. Soon after, the constant rain got worse and the game was stopped, never to resume.
Meanwhile, the Mets’ only run scored on a first-inning error, Chipper throwing a ball away with two out. Tommy Hanson was pitching well, striking out eight. But gets the loss. Baseball, ick.
It probably wouldn’t have made any difference, but it has always seemed ridiculous to me that you can win without playing the entire game. I don’t think there should be partial games–pick up the game later and finish it.
Of course, the way the Braves are hitting, they probably could have played 20 innings (but, of course, they would not have since the Braves would have lost 1-0 in 9).
any word on what Freeman is doing at Gwinnett? 18 games is about all i can stomach of Glaus
@2: Freddie Freeman
I doubt you’ll see him this year, regardless of what Glaus does.
So does Hanson at least get credit for a complete game? Poor guy has to be the unluckiest pitcher alive. Gives up some of the crappiest hits imaginable despite striking out the world, gets no help from his defense and no run support.
@4, Hanson got the CG.
Marc they wouldve made at least 3 more errors before the ninth, no way they lose 1-0 in 9
What a difference a week makes.
im still amazed at how many people are taking shots at just Glaus. Yeah he’s been bad, but his stat lines are better than Melky, Diaz, Nate, and Yunel. Lets face it everyone that plays the field is too blame except for Prado. McCann looks like the worst defensive catcher in the league. Chipper looks like he actually retired last year. Who do we cut? everyone?
jjschiller’s post at @142 should be re-posted again today AFTER the loss:
http://bravesjournal.us/?p=5354#comment-273044
It absolutely sucks to get swept by the Mets, but does anybody think that Escobar, Diaz, Cabrera, McLouth, & Glaus are going to continue to hit under .200 for the rest of the season… for Escobar and Diaz they’re hitting over 100 pts below their career averages, the other guys are OPSing a couple hundred points below their career averages… You may expect one or two guys to have somewhat sub-par seasons… but all five of those guys aren’t going to continue to have these hitting problems all year… Glaus is the only one who may have age going against him that he MIGHT be able to have lost a step/forgotten how to hit, but even THAT seems unlikely as well as he hit during ST.
Echoing #9 jjschiller’s post is a good summary of where we should be mentally.
We have the essential elements of a good team. In this case a regression to the mean would be a good thing as 5 or 6 guys are way under performing.
I am still pretty positive going forward but I do fear that we won’t start hitting or getting our defensive woes fixed until we are down by 10 games.
I have finally come around to the fact that Bobby Cox retiring at the end of the season is the best thing for this team. I really love Cox, but sometimes things can just get stagnant. His merits as a manager can be argued, but good or bad, sometimes things just need a shake-up. I feel like I’ve been watching the same type of team every season for the past few years, even though several of the players have been different. I have no idea who the Braves will hire, nor do I know if any of the current staff will be retained, but a new manager with some new motivational tactics and techniques, along with a few new faces on the coaching staff could really energize this organization. I really do like Bobby, and I hope he plays a role in the organization after this season, but leaving the dugout may really be a huge benefit.
That might have been the worst three game series I have ever had to watch. I’m going to go away for a week to regain some strength.
Is it possible to make a worse attempt on a popup than Melky did on Reyes?
And why did Glaus come off the base to attack Chipper’s throw?
After a week like this, it’s hard not to get all irrational and want sweeping changes. Watching the last few games has been maddening and I honestly feel that the entire coaching staff should be fired. Yes, the offense will come around, but the fundamentals are KILLING us. Something like 7 of the last 10 attempts to throw out a baserunner at 2nd have would up in CF and the runner has made it to 3rd. That has to stop. Throw in Escobar’s baserunning gaffe (on which it didn’t really look like Snitker was doing much to get him back to the bag) getting picked off at 2nd twice and all the poor fielding, it really seems the team needs a shakeup. Also, I can’t profess to know how much a hitting coach actually does, but based on the results, TP should be #1 on the chopping block. Just look at what KJ, AJ and JF are doing this year outside of ATL.
OK irrational post over, not sure how much of that I meant but had to vent somewhere. Now let’s go sweep the Cards.
I don’t think Bobby cost us this game. We are walking a lot, but we just aren’t hitting. I don’t know who else on the roster Bobby can trot out there.
Gluas has to stop that ball that Chipper threw. Chipper made a great play to make a play, but a better defensive first baseman would have come off the base sooner.
@15 That’s exactly because Glaus is NOT a first baseman to begin with. Maybe Chipper should have just hold on to the ball?
Chipper never should have thrown that ball, but the guys are all playing a little tight and making mental mistakes. That happens when a whole team does not hit.
They will shake out of it, but it so frustrating to watch.
Snitker needs to go.
Both Snitker & the bench were yelling, “Back!” to Escobar on that fly ball.
But Yunel should’ve tagged up & scored even if they were screaming, “Rub your belly & tap your head” in Spanish.
The players on the daily lineup card gotta work their way out of this collective rut. There’s no magic potion, no special pep talk, no cadre of young Henry Aarons ready for call-up. It’s about the players.
The offense will get better because it can’t get worse. It’s just a matter of how much better and if that much will be enough.
I don’t think Bobby cost us this game either, and honestly, I don’t think there are many games where we lose because of him. I wouldn’t want him fired. I just have finally decided that I think I like the idea of him stepping down. It may be a stupid analogy, but it’s kind of like finishing a loaf of bread. The last piece tastes fine, until you get the extra fresh first piece from the new loaf. At that point you realize that the last piece from the old loaf was a little more stale than you thought.
Glaus’s philosophy on hitting is all you can do is hit it hard and you have no control over where it goes. I see what he means to a point, but I don’t think that’s the greatest mindset to have.
#14 – well said and like I said previously the only people that you cant place the blame on is Prado and the pitching staff (lowe has been bad too). Chipper has been picked off, injured, and making some pretty brutal plays at 3B, McCann sails every throw into cf, Yunel is Yunel, Glaus has been bad, and the whole OF, even Heyward, is in a horrible slump.
It almost seems like this walking more than striking out mentality is hurting the team. Guys arent swinging at the good pitches they are seeing and are falling behind in the counts, esp in RBI spots. Its like we have 6-7 bad frenchy’s in our lineups
Of course we’ll get the hitting figured out, then we’ll go into a pitching funk. Sorry for the pessism.
Wagner is going to forget what it feels like to be a true closer also
@20 It’s good to keep things simple when he is in a slump like that.
We cann’t win any post-season berths this early in the season, but we can sure dig ourselves a VERY deep hole. We’re three games into a 16 of 19 on the road stretch. If we go 4-12 (a generous estimate based on this weekend craptacular showing), we’ll be 12-22.
Is that too far back? No, but I sure wouldn’t want to try and overcome that deficit.
We are a few 9th inning miracles away from this being a 7 game skid.
I’m holding out hope that this is a bizarro season. The Braves may be playing bad now, but I’m hoping (for once) that the team plays great in June.
5 games left in April – can we somehow win 3 of those. 11-12 as bad as we’ve played would be a miracle and yes hopefully this is our ‘june’ type month
I don’t think Bobby cost us this game either, and honestly, I don’t think there are many games where we lose because of him. I wouldn’t want him fired. I just have finally decided that I think I like the idea of him stepping down.
Well it’s not like the team is going to go out and hire Bobby Valentine and really shake things up. I have a tough time believing the environment is going to be much different – good or bad – when Pendleton is running the show.
I don’t blame the team for their performance, I blame myself for being too optimistic. This is just not a very athletic team and the poor defense and slow/indifferent baserunning really isn’t going to get any better. This team isn’t much fun to watch and not just because of the losing.
The margin of making the playoffs is small. I believe we will look back and realize it was this series that kept the Braves out of the playoffs.
Robert, I dont believe Wren will promote TP to that role. Wren doesnt seem to be one to make a decision based on how others feel (aka Smoltz and Glavine). This is Wren’s opportunity to get the guy that he wants running the show. I think Eddie Perez has a better shot at the job than TP does
@28,
Robert, what you say is very true. This isn’t a very dynamic team and really lacks athleticism. Compare them to a team like Tampa Bay, which is loaded with athleticism. Or the Phillies. But, frankly, that was true even when they were winning the division championships–they were never the most exciting team.
The problem, I think, is the team was built with no identity. The Braves of the 90s were built around dominant pitching, strong (if not spectacular) defense, and power. This team seems to be a little of this and a little of that–good pitching, but poor defense, guys that can get on base, but no speed and little power. I don’t see a plan or philosophy for the team as there was in the early 90s but more ad hoc decision making, probably a function of the limited payroll (no matter what the FO says).
Of course, if some guys start hitting, this could turn around.
“I don’t blame the team for their performance, I blame myself for being too optimistic. This is just not a very athletic team and the poor defense and slow/indifferent baserunning really isn’t going to get any better.”
I agree completely. The team just isn’t that good in a lot of crucial areas, and nowhere is it great. They added Glaus, Melky, and 20-year old Heyward and subtracted 2nd half LaRoche, ACHE, and Church. It was maybe not a lateral move, but not that much an improvement offensively. Defensively, the Braves are simply bad; even Yunel has shown mediocre range so far this year, and only McLouth is proving to be a pleasant surprise in center. And the team’s strength, its pitching, is ultimately going to be good but not great, especially when you consider the subtraction of Vazquez and the perpetuation of the awful infield defense.
The Braves are good enough to contend for the wild card when the offense is going well. That’s their ceiling, however. An 8-10 start should, then, not be shocking, nor should it cause any panic. Such panic is merely a reflection of our own overblown expectations, perhaps the product of Heyward’s hype or at least of all the “hope springs eternal” rhetoric that emanated from Spring Training’s assortment of bored beat writers. The Braves aren’t who we thought they were, true. But this is, in fact, exactly who they are.
Somewhere, sometime ‘athleticism’ became synonomous with speed. I am guilty of that very limited definition too. So in that sense we are not very ‘athletic’. Plus those players that are fast AND have the other athletic attributes necessary to play the game at the MLB level are rare commodities. Some have foot speed but are limited in the other things. Example: Jeff Francouer is a pretty athletic guy.
The patience the team is showing at the plate now will pay off once more than 2 guys start hitting. I really don’t want the team to get hacktastic and start trying to swing their way out of the slump.
33,
Even their fast guys aren’t particularly athletic. Nate McLouth is probably the most athletic hitter (apart from Heyward) on the team, and he doesn’t exactly have a very athletic frame or build. Yunel is fairly athletic, but he’s also a 50 runner at best. Their C, 2B, 1B, 3B, LF’ers, primary pinch hitter, primary utility player, back up catcher, and 13th hitter are all basically without a hint of athleticism.
Nothing we didn’t know 18 games ago, though.
I think they should fire everybody and hire Mac.
Is Melky the slowest leadoff hitter in the game? In history?
To follow up on a couple of posts, I have to admit that I fell into the over expectations trap as well but lets face it fan is short for fanatic. Fans are supposed to be over optimistic.
A lot of things have to go right for this team to succeed. Right now, aside from pitching and a brief blast of Heyward mania, none of the gambles the front office took are paying off. All that said, I still like the team and I think/hope that they’ll come out of their collective funk and start producing.
Stu,
Got to watch an interview with David Price on Baseball Tonight. What a well-spoken, humble young man (who can pitch like a sumbitch).
Does Vandy proud.
per Rosenthal
The Braves are a logical landing spot for Adrian Gonzalez, but they’re also very high on first base prospect Freddie Freeman. The last time they traded for a first baseman with a year-plus left on his contract, they basically rebuilt the Texas Rangers.
It probably bears mentioning: the Braves STILL have a better record than the Red Sox.
I really don’t think it is overly high expectations that are the problem with all due respect. The problem for me is watching really bad fundamental baseball for what seems like the past 2+ years. Take Glaus, I think two nights ago, the killer play of the game for me was late in the game, when we had a runner on 1st, 1 out. Glaus started 3-0 then watched two strikes paint the outside corner (not saying he should’ve swung). Then on 3-2 Bobby puts on the hit and run and Glaus swings at a pitch in the dirt and the runner is caught stealing. That play took us from 1st and 2nd, 1 out to inning over and no more Acosta pitching just because Glaus couldn’t lay off a terrible pitch. Then yesterday in what turned in to our last at bat, Pelfrey is at 109 pitches or something through 4 1/3 and has just walked his 5th batter to make it 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Glaus promptly rolls over the first pitch he sees for yet another back breaking DP. It’s just frustrating to watch us waste so many opportunities, when we appear to be the better team.
@41
Couldn’t that be chalked up to bad luck though? I mean we’re getting a ton of guys on base, we’re just not knocking them in. I think it stands to reason that we’ll score our fair share of runs if we keep getting on base like we are.
The team is first in the NL in walks but 14th in HR and 14th in runs. Good at the take, not so good at the rake. It’s like the whole team is Lance Blankenship.
Put me in the “I don’t think it’s overly high expectations” camp… we have 5 guys who make up 4 would-be starters (Melky,Diaz,McLouth platoonish being the mathematical difference)who are hitting either 75-100-ish points below their career BA, or 200-ish points below their career OPS…
These aren’t “failed gambles”, it’s a bunch of guys who know how to play the game, who just AREN’T right now. We weren’t gambling that guys would play better, or stay healthier, than they usually have… the “gamble” that’s failing is that otherwise healthy young athletes wouldn’t forget how to hit & catch the ball.
The only real “failed gamble” I think you can say we have on the team is Lowe (unless I’m forgetting something). He’s pitched poorer than we hoped he would. Glaus isn’t hitting or fielding, but the gamble with him was really if he could stay healthy. Diaz’s gamble was that he was only a .270 hitter out of a platoon, not that he was a .180 hitter with it. Escobar was a “gamble” to hit 25-30 HRs, not that he’d OPS .500.
You can’t really blame Bobby for mis-managing the team, except maybe not giving Hinske a few more at-bats at 1B and maybe some standard Bobby bullpen funkiness. There’s not much you can do about winning games when over half of your regular players can only either walk, or fail to get a hit.
All that doesn’t mean the Braves aren’t losing games, doesn’t mean it isn’t frustrating, and it doesn’t mean they may not be costing themselves a playoff spot… but sucking is different than being a “bad” team.
‘Then on 3-2 Bobby puts on the hit and run and Glaus swings at a pitch in the dirt and the runner is caught stealing. ‘
IMHO on the hit and run sign the hitter is obligated to attempt to make contact, per one of those unwritten baseball rules, no matter how unhittable the pitch is.
‘Glaus promptly rolls over the first pitch he sees for yet another back breaking DP.’
There is a fine line between being selective and timid at the plate in MLB. Remember Troy has about a hundredth of a second to decide if a pitch is hittable or not.
However, I agree about the lack of fundamentals baserunning and fielding. Its tough to watch.
Not on a 3-2 pitch. The runner would be safe at second if Glaus takes a ball.
Y’all I didn’t say that they wouldn’t eventually pay off just right now they aren’t.
I’d put Glaus and Heyward in the big gambles department. Glaus that he would return to something resembling his previous form and Heyward that, at 20 he could be an average mlb rf or better.
I am not too surprised by Glaus’s early struggles with a position change, coming off major injury. But I also felt like he would come around. Escobar, McLouth, Cabrera and Diaz just totally sucking has surprised me. You’d think that at least one of the 4 would at least play to their averages.
We’re gonna be ok but I just hope that we don’t have a huge deficit to overcome when that happens.
ed. Yes, I agree. Point taken.
Howard has apparently agreed to a 5 year, $125m extension with the Phillies. This is a big enough and long enough contract that there’s a decent chance the Phils will regret it by the time year 4 or year 5 rolls around. It’s hardly a given in current market conditions that Howard could have gotten this contract on the open market.
Just looked at the match-ups for the Cards… we may win game 1 (Huddy vs Lohse)… but the next two don’t look promising. Lowe vs Carpenter and then KK vs Jaime Garcia who has an ERA of 1.42. Ick… Houston and Nats after that might give us something to look forward to.
Game thread. Melky sucks.
@49, The Nats are two games ahead of the Braves so don’t get ahead of yourself. Certainly they are not a playoff team but they are much better than last year. And Houston now has the same record as the Braves after starting 0-8.
At least we are better than the Orioles.