I’ve been here for years…
Anyway. Doesn’t look like we got an official recapper for Saturday nights yet, or maybe our official recapper is recovering from his or her Saturday night. Either way, let’s do a quick “new thread” for today’s game regardless. The “nut graph” as they say in the journo biz, of last night’s game, was the Braves’ 4 run 5th inning. The PBP:
Bottom 5
1.Alberto Callaspo doubles (1) on a soft fly ball to right fielder Curtis Granderson.
2.Christian Bethancourt doubles (2) on a ground ball to right fielder Curtis Granderson. Alberto Callaspo scores.
3.Andrelton Simmons doubles (2) on a sharp ground ball to right fielder Curtis Granderson. Christian Bethancourt scores.
4.Julio Teheran out on a sacrifice bunt, first baseman Lucas Duda to second baseman Daniel Murphy. Andrelton Simmons to 3rd.
5.Eric Young Jr. triples (1) on a line drive to right fielder Curtis Granderson. Andrelton Simmons scores.
6.Jace Peterson grounds out, second baseman Daniel Murphy to first baseman Lucas Duda.
7.Nick Markakis singles on a line drive to right fielder Curtis Granderson. Eric Young Jr. scores.
8.Freddie Freeman grounds out sharply, shortstop Wilmer Flores to first baseman Lucas Duda.
Now, I don’t want to get too deep into Joe Simpson’s happy zone here, but anyone really want to question whether or not last year’s lineup was going to string together that many hits without book-ending a couple of useless K’s in between them?
Your local squad, which I have taken to calling “Neck Markakis and The Will To Win” in my the back of my head, are 5-0, can open the season with two sweeps by beating Bartolo Colon’s looming diabetes today. They are the sole remaining undefeated team in the NL, with only the Tigers and Royals matching their start in the AL.
No, it’s not “sustainable.” No, you don’t have to remind the rest of us of that. It’s just a 5-0 start out the gate, with a team that is fun to watch and imminently rootable for, unless you’re just so super pissed that your favorite player wasn’t retained this winter that you’re going to hold on to the misery just to spite yourself. Nose, face, so on, if you get my point.
1:35 Sunday start today. Let’s get this thing going again.
Mike Minor is hurting again and nobody knows why.
They’re going to have to cut his shoulder open and figure it out. Fraying of the rotator cuff?
Another great thing about watching this team: unless Freddie sits there is basically no such thing as the sunday afternoon lineup.
Minor is toast. Should have traded him and brought back Med Dog.
I have officially moved Minor up from DEFCON HANSON 3 to DEFCON HANSON 4.
Damnit, Gumby.
DEFCON goes the other way I think.
What is up with Alex Wood and the first inning? He’s like the second coming of Tom Glavine.
Wow, we lose another young pitcher/
Nibble, nibble, nibble, groove. Mike Minor lives.
For the first time in 45 innings this season, the Atlanta Braves are behind.
You can’t pitch scared, Gumby.
So it does. So it does. DEFCON HANSON 2 then. Next step is NUCLEAR WAR/TOMMY HANSON’S HAMBURGER MEAT SHOULDER.
Thanks, Sam.
Tough inning for Alex, but it could have been worse. Get some runs, Team.
Edit: Damn, Bob Gibson got fat. Wait, that was Bartolo Colon?!
Early in his career Roy Oswalt was plagued by mysterious shoulder pain and claims he got jolted in the shoulder by lightning or something and he was instantly cured. Maybe Minor should grab an exposed socket or something.
@13 His story was that he was shocked for almost a full minute by a spark plug wire on his truck.
“My truck done shocked the fire out of me, and my arm don’t hurt no more.”
Who knows, man. It’s like a combination The Natural and Forrest Gump.
Nice, Alex.
Minor’s done then? I haven’t heard a thing.
@15 – He rested 2 weeks or so, started ramping it back up, got to throwing off the mound, and the pain came back.
Hart didn’t say what’s next, only that they want him checked out in Atlanta, and then he’s going back to extended spring training in FL.
Andrelton!
OKAY! Tied up!
Simmons looks incredible at the plate this year. Even his outs have been well hit all over the park.
Methinks our hitting instructors fricking stunk.
That will do, Andrelton. That will do.
Andrelton Simmons with a good bat is the best position player in the league, so here’s hoping he keeps it up.
It’s becoming clear that Wood does not have his A game today.
Your guys just got you a new ballgame, Gumby. You can’t go right out and start walking guys.
Nibble, nibble, nibble…
Wood is walking a tightrope. Good escape, Alex.
TV word here is that Daniel Murphy isn’t playing because of “fatigue.” Flu-like fatigue, perhaps?
Wood has nothing today. Many of his fastballs aren’t touching 90.
Perfect. I should never have doubted Fatolo
An go-ahead rbi single to the pitcher.
Admission of guilt: I like Bartolo Colon’s love of baseball, darn his hide.
Why would you throw Colon a pitch up and away right there? That’s gotta be about the only place he can make good enough contact to get that run in. You think he’s gonna reach down and hit a low pitch, or get around on something inside? Doubtful.
Bartolo Colon is a 200-game winner and one of the most consistently successful pitchers of his era. Remarkable how long he has been a solid pitcher.
These first 5 games have been like a snow day.
“the sixth tool is character” – Fredi Gonzalez
Great pitching, Alex. Get him some runs, Braves.
They had Woody on the ropes, there. 2 first-pitch outs, and he’s out of it with only 12 total pitches.
Simmons is a cyborg
Simmons really is swinging it lately.
Why isn’t Wood throwing his curve more? It didn’t look bad early in the game.
I know there’s a reason Wood is hitting. I just don’t know what it is.
Andrelton’s bat might carry his glove if he keeps this up.
Also, Chip’s gotta go.
@41, Fredi is generally terrible at deciding when to pinch hit for a pitcher. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he let wood bunt there and then made a pitching switch before the next inning. He’s done it several times before.
Because the bullpen has been heavily used lately.
Hoo. Gift strike there.
AJP isn’t helping Wood with his “framing.”
The prior pitch was a strike, called a ball. I think the ump made a makeup call
Colon looks like a miniature Andre the Giant.
Really need to get Jace’s bat going. He’s on the verge of this slow-start becoming a slump.
Sometimes I wonder what batters are looking for if not a fastball in the middle of the plate on the first two pitches
I hate Chip.
Chip has got to go.
Dammit Chip, you woke me up.
Wood has actually looked better since the 4th.
Now let’s win this thing.
C’mon guys, I’m loving this undefeated thing. Let’s break their hearts.
That’s what I’m talking about, Mr. Scrappy.
Gomes!
So that’s why he’s in the lineup.
#GRITTITUDE
That home run killed the rally. It’s not small ball nor the #NewBravesWay.
Callaspo has been a pleasant surprise so far.
Each time we’ve tied it, we’ve walked the leadoff man the next half inning.
That’s all I need to see of Juan Jaime.
Fredi, get me a strike thrower stat.
Load ’em up for Murphy and Wright. I guess we’ll bring in the new lefty to face Murphy. This isn’t looking good.
I told u guys that giving Fredi a lefty reliever with a reverse split is a disaster waiting to happen.
They’re scared to put that guy through waivers?
I would’ve tried to strike out Tejada, then bring in the lefty. Of course, Jaime might’ve throw it to the backstop…
Walking Tejada is so, so dumb. I mean, what the hell, Fredi, if you let Jaime pitch to Tejada he will either strike him out OR WALK HIM. What is the point?
Yes. Let’s play for a double-play with our rule 5 pickup making his big league debut. Jesus Fredi.
I hope Jaime learns to throw strikes. He’s got great stuff but has no idea where it’s going. Remember when we said the same thing about The Kraken before he was The Kraken?
@keithlaw: the hell is Fredi doing? #smrtbaseball
@70 I care less that he’s a rule 5 pickup and more that he has a reverse split
When you throw the same pitch in the same spot 5 times in a row Murphy was bound to put it on play
I’d just as soon release Juan Jaime so we’re not tempted to run him out there again. He’s got no idea where it’s going, and never has had.
Jim Johnson can’t pitch everyday.
Nice job, kid. Wake up, bats!
Of course what nobody is talking about is that with a a tired bullpen we used our long guy Cody Martin for 1/3 an inning.
This is a typical Fredi bungled mess of pitching staff management.
Good one Willie Mays Hayes.
This would be an excellent time for Jace Peterson to take his turn as hero.
EDIT: Hey, it’s a hit. That’s a step in the right direction.
JohnWDB, i thought the same thing, there wasn’t a double switch or something correct?
mystifying,
Do you dare hit-and-run with Markakis facing a lefty?
@81- Fredi doesn’t understand the double-switch, so he’s just kind of scratched that off his options list.
@81, no there was no double switch. If there’s one thing this lineup is good for, it’s double switches. Lots of “versatility”
Pressure on the D!
Way to be, Jace.
McKirahan looked useful.
Gotta go get ’em, Braves…
Joe talking about what a good sign it is that Duda got a hit against a lefty with a reverse split.
Such a pooling of ignorance.
The rookie did his job. Make them cry, team.
Starting to look like running 3 or 4 consecutive left handed hitters out there every single day might turn out to be a bad strategy..
And Phil Gosselin, a man with no power, is allowed to hit.
Season over!
161-1 here we come!
You lose some.
The Braves lost and the bullpen gave up a run. What madness is this?
I’m jumping off this bandwagon while there’s still time!
We still have five more wins than I thought we’d have at this point.
I think we are the substantial underdog in each of the next 3 games. Hope Cahill finds some magic in that old silk hat he found
@98 – Well, to be fair, you had us going 51-111 each season for the next 16 years.
@100, I think we’ll do a little better than that. Let’s say 10 years.
Look at the every day lineup card. There’s no way you’d expect that lineup to beat anyone. Ever. We’re going to have to pitch lights out to get to 70 wins. The good thing is that we should get to see Peraza some this year.
@101, I will bet you $1000 we get to 70 wins. You should take that bet bc there’s almost no way we get there. I mean, it will take lights out pitching. Deal?
@89 – How many batters does a pitcher have to face of each hand before lefty-righty splits stabilize?
DOOOOOOOOMMMEED!
@102, if we win more than 73 I’ll stop posting.
@89 Guys who can’t hit lefties may still be susceptible regardless of the split. It’s guys who can sort of hit both that he shouldn’t be facing
@103, a few hundred, but this guy has had a pronounced reverse split at every level of the minors
But trust me, if Fredi learned anything from Bobby it’s to not trust stats. I mean–the stats that say lefties fare worse against lefty pitchers, trust those. The stats for an individual–ain’t got no use for em. Harrumph!
Tuned in for the Juan Jaime show today. I’m with jjschiller. He’s just not the Juan for us. Release him.
I would give Jaime about a 40% chance of making it until May. I wonder what has happened to Feigl with his shoulder issues and who will be the next call up.
Even a loss feels imminently better with this team (I know, we probably get to experience a huge number of them). I’ll take this over a 2 to 0 shutout with 14 strikeouts any day. It’s way too early to tell, but if our pitching holds up, I think 80 to 85 wins is not out of the question.
I’d give Jaime about a 5% chance of making it till May
You could be right. We have an open date on Thursday, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t make the road trip to Toronto.
@mlbbowman: Jaime’s days might be numbered after he faltered when given a chance to help a fatigued pen #Braves http://t.co/j13skm1TW6
Also, Wisler had a great start for Gwinnett
Fully hopping on the 2015 Royals bandwagon.
Andrelton at the top of the reddit frontpage right now
Went to the ESPN game in The Bronx, where it was ex-Braves night. Not only did we get the regulation McCann/Teixeira combo, but also Anthony Varvaro, David Carpenter & Kyle Davies, who got most of the mop-up duty for the Yanks.
@115…
better be there than listening to the ESPN trio…dear me
and McCann has changed, facially…could be NYC nitelife followed by regular Botox…he is not a happy camper, hate to see it.
It really is amazing that Mark Bowman hasn’t improved as a writer even a little bit in his long tenure with the Braves. So difficult to read.
Recapped.
Yes. Unfortunate that his long tenure hasn’t provided him the opportunity to gain the skills to have the chance to display improvement in showcasing his talent in the field of making words go together. Verb verb equivocation no comma verb verb.