No Saturday Night high jinks tonight. Instead, an appropriate requiem.
Not a game to quicken the pulse, as some losses can still be, but rather a total dirge until a brief offensive flurry at the end. It was an effort to stay awake and another to dream up the bon mot to describe it. You can lose games by margins as great or greater than this and still feel stimulated and entertained. Tonight, as a Braves fan, you could not. And it was essentially the contrast between the two starting pitchers that picked them up – and dropped us down- and set the tone for the whole encounter.
Their young oddly named kid, Ty Blach, had pitched 600 innings in the minors before getting up(anyone have any idea of our leading MiLB pitcher in that category? It would be interesting to know.) Once up he seems to be doing well with a recent victory over the Cubs to his credit. More importantly he exudes a aura of enthusiasm about what he is doing.
Our guy not so. Folty doesn’t suck, he sulks. And it’s about time he grew up in that department, win or lose. As early as the second he had given up a 2 run homer to Hundley and here we go again, A classic meatball in the fourth made it 4-0. But, more than that, was his body language. He needs to stop it, his teammates need sit him down.
Searching for the the few positives in the game…
Tyler Flowers…amazing guy who has proved us all wrong…2 more hits, .357, uses the whole field. I would call him the consummate professional, his bearing, his attitude. The prototypical non-Folty.
Rio Ruiz…nice opposite field power off a good leftie but, come on, the left fielder totally screwed it up and you’re on 2nd?! Is he slow, i dunno.Shouldn’t be with that age on him.
Similarly, on the bases, Neck on first, Kemp doubles into the very far reaches of the RF corner, hits the wall, Markakis stopped at third. That wasn’t Bryce Harper playing right field. As a team we appear to have totally stopped stealing bases. It makes it that much more difficult to put pressure on the pitcher, we need to restart, we had three speedsters out there tonight.
I thought Jackson and Freeman pitched a good inning , Sam hit 96. Kroll, no..
Dansby for all his struggles continues to show great speed and gusto around the bases. Let’s start him when he gets on, Ender too.
That’s about it. Did you go to bed early?!
‘ The sun going down on we.’
Thanks for the entertaining recap, blazon. I actually like those late games as I get to see some innings in the morning. Typical 2016-Folty game. Totally agree with your comment on his body language when things are not going his way.
Folty is excruciating to watch when things go askew. His body language evokes thoughts of old Commodore Jay Cutler, when he actually needs the mentality of UGA legend Champ Bailey, one of the great cornerbacks ever to play his sport — you get beat and you quickly forget it. Poor Folty cannot seem to move on from a bad pitch, a defensive lapse behind him, a bad call behind the plate … and like the proverbial Walmart sweater, the thread is pulled and unraveling usually follows. That mentality is difficult to fix, which is worrisome.
On the positive side, I was at both of the last two games, as I made this my annual Braves road trip … what a delightful ballpark, filled with some delightful home supporters (and more than a handful of Braves fans, too, although I have noticed the last two years that their engagement and enthusiasm has understandably waned a bit compared to previous years seeing the team in stops like San Diego, Seattle, Colorado and Arizona). Every fan base has its bad apples, but I have not encountered them in my two nights in China Basin. I had my 4-year-old daughter with me tonight, decked out in her Braves jersey and sweatshirt for a typically chilly San Francisco night, and the fan behind us came back from the souvenir stand with a small lapel pin featuring a map of California and a Giants logo. She handed it to my daughter, thanking her for being so much fun and talkative, telling her it was “so you can always remember your first game in San Francisco.” Needless to say, that made my night and hers, too. Folty’s woes and Santana’s double-play-dissolving bobble prior to Hundley’s blast didn’t bother me as much after that.
I coached a number of kids like Folty; they almost all grew out of it by high school. It’s tough being in that spotlight, though. When a batter strikes out, at least he can go back to the dugout.
“Folty doesn’t suck. He sulks.” What a great line. Thank you.
@2
That was a great ‘father/son/daughter at the ballpark’ story…memories for many i suspect…thank you for it.
@4, Perfectly apt turn of phrase, indeed. I worry it is true, and that Foltynewicz is a head case. He may well need a psychologist behind home plate wearing a red sweater, preferably not one made in China.
Dickey is pretty terrible today.
Dickey has been pretty terrible all season. Braves need to address the rotation sooner rather than later. Offense and bullpen have been doing a decent job.
I’ve had enough of the nursing-home novelty acts in the rotation.
5 walks to just 1 strikeout.
Newcomb threw 100 pitches in just 5 IP today but allowed 1 R on 3 BB and 9 K.
What’s our record in games started by Colon and Dickey?
To be fair, Dickey has not been that bad. I think Dickey and Colon are unfairly lumped together because of their age and role within the rebuild, but Dickey, at his salary and production, has been fine. It’s Colon, Folty’s overall lack of improvement, and Teheran’s significant step backwards that have skewed our rotation’s results. Dickey and Garcia have been fine.
No, they have been fairly lumped in together. Before Dickey gave up 6 earned runs today he had a 6.17 FIP, 5.20 xFIP, -0.2 WAR. His walks are up and K’s are down. Outside of Garcia the whole rotation has been awful.
Yeah, but if you’re going to go by FIP, you have to acknowledge that Colon’s FIP is right there with Garcia, Folty, and Teheran’s. Colon’s FIP is actually lower than Teheran’s. I thought one ought to avoid using FIP in short(ish) samples. Colon is a jot or a tittle away from being second on the staff in FIP.
Recapped.
17 starting pitchers have a WHIP of 1.5 or worse. Their average BABIP allowed is .314. R.A. Dickey’s is .268 — the lowest by 10 points, 10 points lower than the MLB average for starters and 12 points below his career BABIP of .280. (Colon’s is .328.) So he’s actually having better-than-average luck, and is still getting knocked around. I think it’s fair to question these geriatric one-year signings when Derek Holland and Andrew Cashner are earning a combined $4 million less and are far more productive, but that’s probably a discussion for another time re: Coppy’s misfires in putting together the back end of a major-league roster.