OK, 20 years ago when I moved into Casa Seat Painter, the back yard was nice and open. I have a friend who is a pro landscaper, and my wife wanted a shady backyard. So, he planted a bunch of oak trees (not sure what species, but the leaves generally drop off in very late winter) and they are now around 30 feet tall, lovely, shady…and drop a metric crapton (scientific term) of leaves in late February. And, me, being the procrastinating cuss that I am, usually rake them up only when I need to mow the yard in May.
Seat Painter, Jr. is home from college this week after his freshman year at UNC-Asheville, and I had him rake the leaves into piles yesterday. And tonight after work, he, Mrs. Painter, and myself bagged up said metric crapton, and I managed to miss the first 5 innings of the game as I and the spouse and progeny did the yardwork. Little did I know, that by that point, Freddie Freeman had provided the main offense with two doubles, and that everything would be downhill from there.
After showering, I got to see some real yardwork by Bryce Harper and Danny Espinosa, who torched various Braves pitchers for 2 dingers apiece. Eric Stults pitched just well enough to lose, and Williams Perez, enjoying his first taste of freedom, may find himself back on the redeye to Gwinett.
Anyway, the yard is raked, so something good happened tonight somewhere in Braves country.
As good as it felt to plate two runs in the early-going, our pitching from the fifth on was positively stultsifying.
All five of the pitchers we used tonight gave up runs, with Williams getting burned for two apiece.
If it’s any consolation, the WABE Am1690 weekend autoplay is killing it right now. Old-time country and bluegrass always makes me feel better.
@1, I think they lost about 60 lbs. good for them but it’s not nearly as funny that way.
Greetings from Toronto…
Went to the Blue Jays/Red Sox game tonight with a Mets fan from New York and, the whole night, both of us were paying way more attention to the out-of-town scoreboard. He had Harvey going & we had Stults. Somehow, we both lost, one team a little worse than the other, even if both of the starters pitched similarly. (Let’s hope Julio read Pedro’s new book—the “Señor Plunk” chapter, in particular—and re-introduces himself to Bryce Harper.)
Gotta say Rogers Centre (aka Skydome) felt like an ‘80s Enormo-Dome, which it is. Not terribly endearing. It ain’t a ballpark, really. (It’s a CFL stadium.) Plus, there’s the artificial turf. And, obviously, I looked up at that 1992 WS banner & growled a little bit. (Hell, I do the same thing at the very mention of Kelly Gruber.)
Apart from a couple of blasts, the game wasn’t much to talk about. (Jays won 7-0.) Josh Donaldson hit one halfway to Windsor, and, yeah, the ball really flies in the joint. Before this series, Boston dumped their pitching coach. Guess it didn’t matter a whole lot. I’ve seen the Sawx twice this year, and they’ve lost 7-0 & 14-4. Looks like another club looking at long year.
That said, I do like this town. Canadians are unfailingly polite & I get an odd kick watching them not cross an empty road when the street light tells them not to. Bless their hearts.
Let’s go, Julio.
Thanks for the great recap, Seat Painter.
I think there’s a good metaphor in there somewhere.
I hope it’s not compost.
Stout growing oaks in just the right location, fulfilling their planned purpose… Canadian commands that are intrinsically acknowledged…Baseball the common denominator, we can accept the ugly loss.
Pitch…
noun: property of sound that varies with the frequency of vibration. CRACK!
noun: degree of deviation from a horizontal plane.
noun: abrupt up-and-down motion.
noun: any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue.
verb: set to a certain pitch.
verb: hit in a high arc with a backspin.
verb: fall or plunge forward.
verb: heel over.
Gravity…
Sir Isaac said a pitch that high
is more inclined to soar than die
those scurried dots below
perform a token show
a glove is waved,some start to cry.
TRAP WILLIAMS PEREZ!
I was at the game. It was one of those where you could see, say, Werth absolutely tattoo a ball foul and you could turn to the person next to you and say, “He’s about to catch hold of one” and look like a genius. Stults should not face competent offenses a third time in one game. It is never going to work. Their hitters are good, ours are not. You might as well send Smitty up there rather than Ciriaco.
@9, lol
Belt-high meatballs aren’t going to get the job done the first or second time through the order either.
They couldn’t hit my heater
Yeah, Stults isn’t very good, but look at the bright side:
Manny Banuelos gave up 1 run in 6 innings last night while striking out 6 and walking just 1.
That makes 3 straight starts of 6 innings, and he has given up just 1 run over his last 2 starts.
@10, I was at the game too. Wish I’d posted here that I was going! Where were you sitting? I was in section 418.
It was fun to watch Freddie keep hitting doubles and Stults manage to get through with his nothing stuff for 5 innings. But it was clear that Gio was getting better, the offense was flailing miserably, and Eric Stults was obviously Eric Stults.
Bryce Harper frightens me. All he does this year is walk and hit homers. I’d rather not pitch to him, honestly.
I just saw Kimbrel in a Pads uniform for the first time. Feels terrible. Like your ex-girlfriend with another guy. However, I also saw Melvin Upton in a Pads uniform. Life is good.
Are there any updated farm system rankings for after the Kimbrel trade? We were in between 9th and 15th on the lists that I saw before the trade, and Wisler was San Diego’s #1 prospect. I wonder where we sit now. I’d imagine in the 5-10 range. If the new era of scouting and development is half what they say it is, we’re going to be ready to go soon.
I love to see the youth at the top of the rankings too. Peraza’s 21, Wisler 22, Folty 23, Sims 20, and Fried 21. You have to get to Man Ban at 11th on MLB’s list to find a guy over 23.
It’s tough watching a game like last night with these never-will-be relievers serve up gophers and wondering who can replace the last 5 guys on the roster, but it’s good to know help is on the way.
Does Man Ban get the next call? Could we run a bullpen with Grilli, Johnson, Martin, and Banuelos?
Rob – I think they see ManBan as a starter – his repertoire isn’t likely to translate as well to relieving as, say, Folty. Per this article, early in his career (pre-arm surgery) ManBan could throw his fastball 97-98, whereas now he’s sitting 91-92, peak 93-94.
I don’t see any reason to call up ManBan (or Wisler) until they’re fully ready. At a bare minimum, the Braves should wait long enough to ensure ManBan / Wisler / Peraza miss the Super 2 cutoff date in mid-June (thus ensuring that none will potentially qualify to start arbitration in their 3rd year as a Super 2 player).
@14, section 338. I don’t think I have it in me to go to any weekend games.
I don’t feel like we get much out of relative rankings of players/farm systems. We could have the 10th or 20th best prospect, but that could mean anything. They could be a near-ML ready 3rd started or an ace-in-the-making ready to move up from A ball.
Whoever isn’t watching, we’re 2 outs in and Andrelton turned an effortless DP off a bad throw. Effortless footwork on a bad feed from teheran
And now walking people in front of Harper
Moral victory achieved.
Lobaton? Again? Seriously?
Some of these players are not as good as we are making them look
Gasoline. Where are the pitchers of yesteryear?
0-2, fastball, belt high, inner half
Nats flashing some leather.
Julio should just walk Harper each time and try to pick him off
Worse than anything on the field is listening to Caray and Simpsons’ incessant orating about Harper. Seriously, it’s the most disgusting, endless blow job I’ve ever seen a pair of supposedly-biased broadcasters do for a player on an opposing team.
@27, but if you put his swing side by side with Babe Ruth’s…
Contrast with the radio guys saying the nationals power game is all well and good but it fails them in the playoffs because they can’t do small ball against quality pitching.
this feels like a CG shutout from fister. Prove me wrong boys
Feels like a no-hitter.
Perhaps, but it’s going to be a far more entertaining complete game shutout than last year so there’s that.
@32 LOL +1
There goes the no-no. Btw, this is actually going a lot better than the Hawks game so far 🙁
Nobody no hits Alberto.
Or Cameron. Woo!
Paul pierce is a great basketball player but I can’t stand him.
At least Harper didn’t homer this time.
Ooh I know! Let’s throw a belt high fastball inner half
Bleagh.
Well you got to go get him now.
unfortunately nobody in the bullpen besides martin and Grilli can pitch any better than this
This is an offensive explosion!
Clown show.
So we had a chance to pinch hit AJP here for CB with the tying runs in scoring position?
EDIT: what the hell do I know?
We need him for extra innings.
See? Fredi is a genius.
They call him CHRISTIAN!
Now we get to watch them walk off. 😛
ETA: And Roark sticks the landing for the Triple-Grybo.
Avilan pitching to righties. End well, this will not.
Dude, throw strikes.
Uggla Beats us again?
Another review. Ugh
Still well-done KJ.
Dammit should’ve taken.
Well that was certainly worth sticking around for.
If at first you don’t succeed, keep doing what you have been doing. —your 2015 Atlanta Braves
Pitching to Bryce Harper right now is not a good idea.
Et tu, Cody?
Caray sounded enthusiastic about that home run.
I changed the channel bc I didn’t want to see Harper hit the walk off
Chip should be put on the unemployment line tomorrow for that call. Let him go wave Nats pompons.
Wow.
It’s really hard to like Bryce Harper, but… it’s hard to hate him. He’s freaking killing us. What Chipper was to the Mets, he is to us.
Oh joy, I was right.
What’s killing the Braves is that their pitchers have the worst ERA in the majors between innings 7-9, 30th out of 30, something like 5.50.
Thanks John, for trading Kimbrel away just to save Liberty some money on Upton.
And the Hawks come clawing back, in what would have been the most incredible comeback in playoff history, only to lose on a fall away bank shot buzzer better
@65 – The Braves need a whole lot more than just Kimbrel to be a great team this year. The farm is so much better than it was a year ago – I’m all in with what the Braves have done. These next few years will not be easy, but it was a franchise reset that had to take place as long as a Liberty Media ownership was in place.
On another subject: blame MLB and used car salesman Bud Selig for turning down Arthur Blank’s bid to buy the Braves, just to give them to an out of town, “for tax purposes” only, holding company.
I’d rather blow up a mediocre team and take our chances – – than seeing the caretaking that was going on with a mediocre organization under a very mediocre GM in Frank Wren. Roll the dice and let’s see what happens in the bigger picture.
Any pitch that does not hit Harper is a wasted opportunity.
To be a fan of Atlanta sports is to be kicked in the nuts repeatedly and come back asking for more. We’re masochists.
Hawks in six. That was DCs emotion game. Can’t play that far above talent long term. If Millsap isn’t sick they win. If Paul Pierce didn’t sacrifice babies to Satan they win. Hawks in six.
The Beaves are rebuilding. They’re not a contender. They should rathole Harper in his first AB tomorrow just to do the right thing but otherwise the results are meaningless.
Earhole. Not rathole. What a weird autocorrect.
Throw it at his feet, no malice, he’s too comfortable up there.
The same could be said for almost every hitter these days.
In the words of Twitter’s Frediot, “What the hell is wrong with Carg Kimbral?!?”
He blew a 2-run save tonight for the Pads. Speaking of which, @65, maybe we unloaded him at the perfect time. When’s the last time Kimburl had a 5.6 ERA in mid May?
Throw it at his head. You’re playing for 2016-17. You need to Conglario the little bastard.
Kimbrel certainly seems to have hit that reliever after three or four years wall. I have him at 70% TJ surgery before 2016.
Bryce Harper is an obnoxious 22-year-old who can play on my team if he so desires. I don’t like him now, but I would love him were he wearing a Braves uniform.
…or, you know, just pitch around Harper and let someone else try to beat you.
Sigh, it’s an Alex Wood start.
The bullpen is a mess and everyone seems out of place. Cody Martin is a long reliever, not a late-inning guy. Ryan Weber is a guy the Braves should be looking at for the immediate. His BB/9 have always been impressive but it looks like he’s gained an out pitch.
@CBSSportsMLB: Blown save for Kimbrel. He’s allowed eight runs in 12 1/3 IP this year after allowing 13 runs in 61 2/3 IP last year.
Cody Martin threw a good pitch. Harper is a decent ball player and he hit it a long way.
I will never cheer for that flop headed moppet regardless of laundry.
Never is a long time, Sam. I loved Sal Maglie after he swapped Giants attire for the Dodgers gear.
Check your email AAR
Recapped.