Saturday Saturday
First things first. If you saw how we scored what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the 12th would you please be good enough to add your post here so those of us left in limbo can enjoy it, thank you. Somewhere in the 8th inning, tied 5/5, our local Fox affiliate, without any warning or apology,switched to the Mets/Pirates game just starting in NYC. So we were dumped, just like that. Finding a pirate station stream we know of took us to the 11th when an ominous off stage voice said- ‘YOU ARE WARNED THAT NO ONE UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN MAY VIEW THIS VIDEO GAME’. We know the Braves are bad but, really, this was over the top.
Today’s game in many ways mirrored yesterday’s with, fortunately, one or two differences. This time the Reds took the lead in the 4th…
(I have just found out who hit the go ahead winning hit in the 12th! Matt Adams, his second homer. He had nothing yesterday but today when others floundered, he was obviously immense. Verducci BTW said if you pitch down to Adams you’re a fool- before the first one.)*
Then we scored 5 in the fifth thanks to an Adams grand slam. Comfortable 4 run lead you might think…nah. There were time coming up ahead when we looked certain to lose the game, just like last night. Dicky had been stellar through 5 innings, just the one run from that homer in the 4th, he started the 6th but by the time the innings was over he was long gone and three other pitchers i believe after him. (Sloppy play at 2nd by BJ started the rout) Score now tied 5-5.
Incredibly there now followed 5(FIVE) innings where we were unable to pose any threat and they did almost every time up, seemingly about to put the game away, again, just like last night. There was one particular performance by a Braves pitcher towards the end of this long dry spell that bordered on the incredible. With a man in scoring position EOF had to face Joey V. What were the odds? What were you thinking? He just need a single, game over. Strike out, THREE PITCHES! Wow.
JJ i believe, last night’s losing pitcher blowing a two run lead in the ninth, came on in the 11th and got through it. Matt Adams comes up in the 12th we now know with his second heroic homer. We lead by one going into the bottom of the 12th.JJ wobbles just a little bit but holds tight and closes out the win.
What is it about Saturday nights on here? D-d-d-don’t know. But they’re fun. For me at least. Don’t forget – no one under 18. AND my friend Adonis got 4 hits tonight and another line drive out to the undoubted annoyance of some of my colleagues here. He is not Jace, uselessly blocking a hot kid, he is highly productive. He is 32, yup, so is Kemp i believe. Forgot to mention, Ender was poor at the plate today, 0/6, seemed slap happy, not fighting to stay alive BUT he made a magnificent diving catch to his left late in the game with men on base and the Reds close to ‘ending’ it. Got it? Bona sera.
- He also said watch Swanson’s back leg as he swings. He tends to shoot it backwards, behind him. was very impressed with Tom V throughout as much of the game as i was able to hear. He is very knowledgeable, well prepared, and, best of all, ORIGINAL in some of the things he says. Mercy, what a contrast.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/braves-vs-reds/2017/06/03/490928#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=490928
I mentioned Swanson’s foot work at the plate the other day, but I don’t think anyone responded to it. I assume it’s something the braves have to be working on for him. It’s a primary reason why he can’t cover anything offspeed and away.
http://bravesjournal.us/2017/05/31/just-ignore-the-one-inning/#comment-2117606
Did he do the same thing during his Vandy days?
@ 1
Hey,
I had read what you said about his footwork and meant to respond. Then there was someone else around the same time commented on Ruiz playing third and not getting to the balls of his feet and leaning towards the plate as the pitch is released.
So my question to both of you is this. How can all this be going on, presumably on an ongoing basis, yards away from Ron Washington who we are told is an outstanding coach for teaching defense?
Thanks and sorry for the delay.
Not sure on Washington and Ruiz. That’s simple fundamentals on defense. Glove out in front and body/weight shifting in towards the plate. Weight should be on the balls of the feet, not the heels.
I can’t recall a major league hitter whose back foot goes towards 3B like Swanson’s. I
Verducci compared Swanson’s back foot movement to another player, but I can’t recall his name at the moment. Anyone?
After watching several videos of him at Vandy, it seems like he’s always had the back leg movement, but it seems like it wasn’t so pronounced.
Demeritte was 3-3 with 2HR and a triple. LIKE A BAWSE. When does he start threatening Albies as the heir apparent? He can play third as well, so perhaps it won’t be an issue.
Between Demeritte, Ruiz, and $30-40M in payroll, there had better be a 3B somewhere by 2018.
Albies tripled, homered, and played SS.
Jace Peterson went 3-6. Patrick Weigel threw 5 scoreless innings, though it took him 110 pitches to do so.
Someone from the FO should walk into the Gwinnett clubhouse and say, “Whoever stops walking people gets to come to Atlanta.”
Thank you, blazon. Well done.
I promised myself I would say nothing about Swanson dropping the feed at second, so I won’t.
ACHE: Adonis, Cleanup Hitter Extraordinnaire.
Adonis is hitting clean up today. Bunch of days off. Blech.
For those that are new, that’s a throw back to when Garret Anderson was our clean-up hitter.
http://bravesjournal.us/braves-journal-glossary/
I think the important question is the chain of ownership of The Pictures between Pete Orr in 2006 to now with Eric O’Flaherty (I don’t care about yesterday’s scoreless inning).
Really great recap, blazon.
Also, motion to add ‘outingpoo’ (from the other night) to the glossary.
@14, Agreed. Used for when a great outing by a starter is turned into waste in the end. An outingpoo.
JohnWDB
What,please,is a BAWSE?
Edward ..remerciements.
coop…be good today.Best as ever.
If Jorge Sosa was Kim Jong-Il, then who is Kim Jong-Un?
Suzuki?
Kim Jong-Un would definitely have been Melvin. Could you imagine Melvin playing in NY?
Travis Demeritte
it’s likely that he’ll now inherit
a good deal of hype
like the reborn Ozzie at short, the power archetype.
Hey, Adonis has the hot hand–reminds you of Jose “George” Constanza.
Great recap, Blazon. But you’ll never convince me Adonis ought to be the regular over Ruiz.
What’s weird is that Adonis tends to rebound after his AAA demotions. He increased his SLG a good 100 points after he returned last year. And when he went down to AAA this team, he hit .500 in a SSS, and is hitting well immediately upon his return. Some have speculated that maybe they’re getting some Adderall or something down there. I’m sure they’ll bring Jace back up at some point, so we shall see.
@16 – I think BAWSE = boss with emphasis… “like a BOSS!”
Has McDowell bought a house in Baltimore yet? Could we get him back for a prospect?
Almost another Matt Adams HR. I thought that was gone.
And Danny Santana hit a homer. Don’t think it’s gonna be a pitching duel today.
I am getting tired of Julio.
Camargo has a chance to actually be quite useful for this team.
And on pitch number 11 of the at bat, Adams goes deep. Impressive stuff.
Ender!
Did you notice Grilli giving up 4 HRs last night against the Yankees by the way, incl back to back to back?
Ender should have caught that, but in other news Teheran sucks right now
One thing that makes baseball fun is the unpredictability. The Braves have scored 11 through 5 innings. Kemp is 0 for 4. But Santana is 3 for 3 with a double and homer.
What are the odds of that?
And Flowers and Camargo have scored six runs with one hit between them.
And in this ballpark the Braves’ lead is far from safe. Reds just cut the lead to 4.
5.40 era from our “ace”
How amazing was the pick up of Matt Adams? For basically nothing.
Can Adams play LF?
Anyone can play LF.
Klesko played LF.
Krol shows everyone how it’s done.
Krol has been pitching better lately.
I don’t think I’ve been more convinced that we will need to acquire an ace. Teheran has now left for extended periods of time the last 3 seasons. It’s crazy to think that he’s been around since his age-20 season, and I think we’ve seen enough that he’ll probably not be a consistent presence every 5th day for 33 times a year. And you shouldn’t go into a contending season with him at the top.
Agree, Rob. We need an ace for 2018, latest 2019. Couple of no. 2 starters, plenty of 3-5 but no ace in the minors.
Edit: ENDER!
Inciarte raised his average from .284 to .299 today.
Our 2, 3, and 4 hitters go 1 for 17, with no walks, and we still score 13. Baseball is truly a funny game.
After the day Danny Santana has had, it scares me to think that Emilio Bonifacio could have been in there today.
Is Dansby the worst hitter in the NL after today’s results? Judging by OPS it was a really tight race between him, Jose Reyes and…(wait for it)…Erick Aybar.
I like that Jackson kid!
I think Chip just said that Luke Jackson and an “Austin Jackson,” a catcher in the Braves organization are brothers. I don’t know if he meant Alex Jackson, but a quick look at BRef says that Luke has no relatives playing baseball. Does he just make this stuff up?
Just rewatched it and he didn’t say they were brothers (he said the OTHER Jackson, not brother) but he did call Alex “Austin.” There is an Austin Jackson who plays CF for Cleveland, so I guess he got the names mixed up.
Yeah, I caught the “Austin” reference. Whatever. He’s been calling games where Austin Jackson has appeared for a long time, and at the end of the day, Alex Jackson is the 23rd rated prospect who has played 30 games in A-ball. He gets a pass, IMO.
One of the worst benches in baseball to start the season is looking pretty good now. I have to give some credit to Coppy for that, but he also should take some blame for the crap bench we started with. When Freeman gets back, having Adams, Santana, Suzuki, Ruiz and maybe Camargo on the bench may not be so bad. It definitely beats any bench that includes Bonifacio, Peterson, Recker and Chase d’Arnaud.
Maybe the most intriguing hit today, one that might bode well for the near future, was Camargo’s off field smash to the wall in right center in his first at bat.
Some may think this is funny. I went to A+ Florida’s game in Clearwater Friday night. Braxton Davidson, being a bonus baby, is one of the few players on the team that has some coin. Touki was a 1st rounder, Harrington a 2nd, whatever. And of course, Davidson has been a huge disappointment, and I saw no different when I watched him. Couple of ugly strike outs, him screaming F-bombs wildly, really just looked like a spoiled brat whose career might be ending before it ever started. I was sitting right behind the net and near the dugout, and in front of these two… forgive me… gold-digging whores. Wife and I over-hearing them the entire game. And mind you, since Braxton’s repeating the level, this is probably his 6-7th trip to Clearwater. By the 3rd AB, he’s not even subtle about it. Only player on the team who talked to fans from on deck circle is Braxton talking to these girls. “Hiiiiiii Braxton”. “Hey ladies”.
(To be fair, I did have a short, funny exchange with Anfernee Seymour about how my wife could out-run him, which was surprisingly light-hearted. You will see, if Anfernee ever makes it to the bigs, that he is a fun-loving Bahamian who will be one of the more entertaining players we’ve had. I take back everything I’ve said about him being a glorified pinch-runner. Dude can play.)
Back to Brax. So the game hadn’t been done for 2 minutes, and these girls are near the dugout, and he quickly ushers them away to behind the backstop as he was telling them that he needed about an hour or so, and by that time I checked out of there. Moral of the story: it really pays to get that bonus.
(I am electing to withhold the short exchange one of the gold-diggers had with Touki because it could have been completely innocuous. And I like Touki.)
Classic post, Rob. First rate investigative reporting. And tactful too!
with Brax
it’s sax
for Touki
no nookie.
***************
there was a young tart at the Park
prospecting for love in the dark
be careful said Brax
else i’ll get the axe
a quickie then i’ll disembark.
Boys, do behave.
Congrats to Justin Upton for the walkoff today. And great outing for the Bravos, fun to watch the highlights today.
@55
The wrath of Khan could have fallen no harder. Me not Rob. What fun though.
i missed the game today but I just wanted to drop in and say that Ender Inciarte is a horrible player because he will probably never hit more than 12 HR in a season and that is the only measure by which any player should be judged.
Well, Inciarte is on pace for about 15 HR…. so….
I think he’s mocking Chief.
Kris Medlen has allowed 1 run through 5 innings on 63 pitches so far. 1 BB, 4 K…he might have something left in the tank.
Medlen had 2 starts at A+, now 2 starts at AA. He then could have 2 starts at AAA, and then take Bartolo’s spot after he has his bobblehead night. Perfect!
And yeah, I know he’s knocking Knockahoma. It does, however, add to Inciarte value that he’s not a punch-and-Judy hitter the way he was last year. With that said, his OPS is actually still lower than last year.
The ball is really juiced this year. Freeman would’ve had a shot at 50.
@63
I hate to fall into this sort of conspiracy-minded stuff, but it is quite the uptick in home runs only a year or two after everybody was wringing their hands about how pitcher-dominated the game was. They’re selling this launch angle thing pretty hard, and if all batters are now trying to hit the ball in the air, I’m sure that has some effect, but color me skeptical that it can fully explain the almost immediate turnaround.
Mattie Freedams, our 1B stat blend, is tied for the MLB lead in home runs. Second in OPS. Guy can rake.
@64, not really on the point y’all are talking about, but apropos: Does anybody else get nauseous trying to look at the mlb.com home page this season? It’s all exit velocity and angle ‘records’ nonsense in every story. They’ve even got Posnanski under contract to do it. I’m too young to be this annoyed at any old change, which means it must actually be bad.
Edward – you may be young, but you’re an old soul.
Either that or you’re just a curmudgeon. 🙂
Lots of little guys are hitting opposite field homers. I’m all for more offense, but they may have over cooked it some.
So the Marlins are about to have a fire sale
Let’s trade some pitching for Ozuna.
What would it take to get Yelich? Two top 100 prospects?
Haha. I think 4-5 top 100. That contract is shagadelic.
@58 It’s not the only measurement that I use, etc.
He’s a good player. He’s not a great player. We need more good/great players. Simple?
Braxton was in the Carolina League last year. He was popular with a certain type of lady in my one game viewing then as well. The man has an image to maintain 🙂
@69 Who is saying the Marlins are going to have another fire sale? The Marlins were sucking wind earlier this season, but have now won 8 of their last 10 and moved their season-long run differential to only -17.
@70 Braves missed their chance to buy low on Ozuna (2015 – 2016). I wouldn’t want to pay the price he would command now.
An article about Bill Lucas in The Atlantic is a great read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/06/the-forgotten-legacy-of-bill-lucas/528828/
@76
that’s a great read, thanks…knew the name but very little about him…Murphy/Horner/Cox/Baker – that’s quite a legacy.
Yeah, great picture of him and Bobby,too… Really sad we lost him when he was so young. I remember how quickly the player development well ran dry–bone dry–after the brief early 80s run. Might have been different with him still making the calls, yes?
Albies on the 7 day DL with a foot contusion
Bartolo needs to go. Call up someone.
Maybe the rain will start soon
Colon is still terrible, I see.
Surely this is the last start for Colon. The kids can’t be any worse.
His next turn in the rotation would be Saturday. For what it’s worth, Friday is Colon bobblehead night.
This has got to be his last start.
I assume the only question is whether it will be Sims or Newcomb. FWIW, Sims is starting tonight so he’d be rested by Saturday.
Why would you cut Colon? Nobody is really dominating at AAA, so he’s not really blocking anyone, we owe him another 8 million, and we’re not contending this year.
86 — He’ll go to the bullpen.
On the other hand….
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.nj.com/v1/articles/20793703/mlb_trade_rumors_braves_bartolo_colon_perfect_for.amp
85 — Or Medlen.
Oh right, Medlen. I could go for that
Saturday is a double header. I’d expect to see Sims get one of those starts. He’s on the 40 man roster
Wisler might get the other
Yeah, Colon to the bullpen and either Sims or Medlen to replace him. If somehow anyone wants to trade for Colon, we have to jump at it.
Francoeur in the booth is going to get fellatio from Chip and Joe. Suck ups.
We have found something Frenchy is worse at than baseball.
“Inciarte is our first true lead off hitter since Furcal.”
Michael Bourn would like to have a word with you, Stenchy.
Albers has been real sharp, if they don’t think the kids should come up yet.
It would be nice if Markakis found his power stroke once in a while.
Sims has given up 4 runs in 5+ innings.
Francouer and Joe are talking about how a young hitter needs to be selective at the plate and be prepared to make adjustments. I’m sure people said that to Frenchy over and over his first couple of years. He didn’t appear to hear that advice then. He sounds kind of rueful now in talking about it.
@99-he had only given up 2 hits and 1 run through 4. Third time through order not kind to him.
I think I’d rather watch a Colon-oscopy.
I wanted to like Bartolo, I really did. But he has got to go.
This is silly.
One…haul Colon up to the front office tomorrow, wave a check for 4 million in front of him, say bye bye. We picked the wrong spot in the line. NO MORE STARTS. HE HAS BECOME A HUGE EMBARRASSMENT.
Two. No need for further discussions re Camargo. He is a clear level above Ruiz. He stays up. Problem is he may be a step above Dansby..so what, we can accommodate to that.
7.78 era to end Bartolo’s career. This has to be it. Sad
I’d be fine with sending Swanson down for a month. Let Camargo play and let Dansby focus and work on his overall game.
Phillies won 6 games last month. Just sayin…
Why does it have to be the end of Colon’s career? We aren’t contending. I don’t think the team is going to eat $8 million, and no, blazon, Colon is not going away for half of what he is owed.
At AA tonight Soroka has a 3 hit shutout with 8 Ks through 6. If he were a year older I’d call him up.
Sims got charged with 6 runs tonight. I doubt it will be him who takes Colon’s place.
It would not surprise me at all to see Medlen start Saturday.
@108…
his pride, JWDB, the latin machismo…do you think he’s not embarrassed too?
Is it really 8? 6 then!!
Ugh, Carmargo looks so much better than Swanson.
@111, I think his pride is just another reason he stubbornly tries to go out on a high note
We’re not getting out from that contract. Colon will get paid what he’s owed.
I know we’re not competing, but there has to be a limit on how many times you can run him out there to get lit-up. Surely he goes to the bullpen or DL for a phantom injury for a while.
@109 – Make that shutout 7 innings now, and only 79 pitches. Good stuff from the Canadian kid.
@109
Just imagine he is. These are our yardsticks now.
So how do you like his arm?
Interesting to see how EOF does here after his Sunday heroics with Votto.
Pro baseball is definitely not a strict meritocracy. And it can drive you crazy sometimes. I hear ya Blazon…
Signing Colon and Dickey was not needed. They could’ve auditioned Blair and Wisler for 2 more months, then been completely free to call up whoever they wanted, unencumbered by one-year rental contracts. We aren’t competing this year, and spending 20 million to not compete is insane. This organization does really dumb stuff, and thus “trust the rebuild” is nigh impossible for me.
Isn’t June 11 Bartolo Colon bobblehead day? It would be a nice marketing gimmick for Bartolo to announce that he will retire on June 11 and that would be billed as his last game. Otoh, if Bartolo gets cut before the 11th, it will be an awkward bobblehead promotion.
krussell, of course it wasn’t needed. Nothing is needed when you project to win 70-something games. But management wants to avoid abject embarrassment, of the ilk of late 2015. Despite their best efforts, Colon is the one getting embarrassed to a degree that not even Wisler and Blair likely would at this point. Colon is old, but he was a 3 WAR pitcher last year, so even if a regression or decline was predictable…not this bad.
I’m in the camp of committing to tanking if you’re going to do it, which would’ve meant a #1 pick last year and a top-5 pick this year. We will be absolutely no better off for winning 68 games instead of 62 last season, even though nearly everyone here clamored for us to squeeze a few extra wins out of a lost season…
I’ve been solidly pro-tank from the beginning…last year was as an intentional of a tank job as you’ll ever see, and we mucked it up in the end.
This year should be the first true year of MLB auditions for a lot of our borderline older prospects. Instead we get retreaded old dudes. I’m not buying the argument that Colon or Dickey are putting fans in the seats, either. Medlen will put fans in the seats…let’s try it.
@117
No.
I think management figured that based on our last 40 games of 2016, we could possibly contend for a wildcard with a little better pitching. Colon and Dickey ended up being awful and replacement level, and the bullpen has been too bad to have a legit playoff shot. I bet being in the race helps ticket sales, and if so, I get why they did it.
Ok, one thing Chip is good at is a good impression of his dad!
Can’t spell “Colon” without an “L.”
It’s a study in contradiction. We want to compete – so we sign over the hill pitchers. We want to compete – so we fill the bench with sub-replacement-level players. We want to compete – but we don’t know how.
Or maybe, we want to tank – but the Phillies are better at it.
If we intentionally tank this year we will need to get in line behind the Marlins and Phillies. I prefer us trying to win. If we have a winning month, we’ll be close to 500 at the ASB. That’s a lot more fun than sending out players who aren’t ready for the majors and stunting their development.
We now have 5 relievers on the roster with sub-3 ERAs. It’s very disappointing to once again have a set of players who have no business being on a roster. Well-rounded, productive offense, and about 8 pitchers on the staff who can pitch, but we’ve got 2 bench players and 5 pitchers who struggle including 3 pitchers who have no business being on a big league roster.
We’re not intentionally taking. We’re making a half-assed effort at being “respectable” with an outside shot at 2nd wildcard. I prefer outright tanking.
The unintentional tanking phase of the rebuild is still a ways off.
One of the fun things about baseball the last few years was watching old man Bartolo Colon befuddle hitters with fastballs, toss many solid innings and come to bat 3 times a game.
The Braves broke Bartolo. Dammit.
I’m pretty confident that the Braves thought they were getting the Bartolo you describe. He’d get
The fanbase talking about his antics, his starts would be water cooler talk amongst Braves fans. We’d trade him for a decent return at some point. Not working out that way.
recap up.