Last night, at 6 p.m., I remembered Major Howard and the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. That was a highlight before considering this debacle of a Braves game.
Coppollella took a risk. The last 2 years 42 and 43 year old Bartolo Colon had been an ABOVE AVERAGE starting pitcher. But, baseball history is littered with guys that suddenly dove off the cliff.
The Brewster Buffalo was the “navalized” version of the P 35 fighter plane. The P 35 competed in the Bendix Cup airplane races in the late 1930’s. It was the first steel frame and skin, monoplane fighter of the United States Army Air Corps.
But during the desperation of a war of total industrial commitment, technology can become outdated at an extraordinary clip. By 1941, Gen. Claire Chennault had already pointed out to the Army Air Corps how the P 35 could not handle the Zeros (but, how with the right tactics, P 40’s could).
Last Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of the most crucial day in the Battle of Midway. As the first Japanese air assault came toward Midway, the Marine flyers on the island entered their planes to defend their base. 20 of the 26 planes were Brewster Buffalos. Only 7 of those made it back to Midway and only 2 of the 6 F4F’s. The Buffalo never saw a serious front line fighting role again. The time for the Buffalo had gone.
And thus after taking advantage of the Mets by not bidding for Julio Franco when his ageless magic was ready to decline, the Braves and Mets have gotten even with the Braves bringing on the Bartolo Colon of the expired date. By the time Colon got 2 outs in the 4th, there were also 7 runs in. I haven’t checked Win Probability Added tables, but I am guessing that at a 7 to 0 deficit, the Braves had a 5% chance (assuming they were playing somebody as bad as these Phillies).
Are there any good takeaways from this one. Johan Comargo needs to be on a Major League roster. Luke Jackson may be pretty good.
By the way, Eric O’Flaherty is another Brewster Buffalo.
So, is the Fast Carrier Task Force sitting to the northeast ready to come in or not? Maybe Lucas Sims can be a Spruance.
All I can say after reading this is…Happy D-Day!
@ 119 TD from last thread. Colon’s bobble head night is this Friday June 9th and I don’t think he gets another start.
Saturday is a double header. From a 40 man perspective I think we see Wisler and Sims making those starts. If we DFA or DL Colon or EOF again then I think Medlen may find his way into one of those starts.
Most excellent game recap. It really made me feel like I was there in the din and desperation of mortal battle.
I recall someone being released or demoted just before their Bobblehead night. So there’s a precedent, though I can’t recall the player (or even if said player was a Brave).
2 — After Bonifacio and Collmenter have been DFA’d the Braves could add Newcomb or Medlen. The 40 man roster shouldn’t be an issue here.
Good point
I think Andrew Albers could be a good candidate for one of the two games. Probably more so than Medlen. Albers is pitching well.
DOB just pointed out Mauricio Cabrera is really struggling during his rehab stint
last 3 outings… 3 1/3IP, 4H, 8ER, 7BB
Somewhat remarkably, the Braves have only played 3 teams with a winning record so far:
6 vs Washington
3 vs Milwaukee
2 vs Houston
The schedule gets A LOT harder in July and August… If you’re waiting for the tank job, just give it a month or so. It’s coming.
No one would have expected Bartolo’s ERA to more than double. It’s unfortunate for everyone. I would put him in the pen, but not give up on him. And the problem is that there is no one really ready to take his spot. It just sucks all around.
If the Braves could have even won half of the starts that Bart gave up more than one run an inning, we’d be a .500 team. His roster spot has really hurt.
Fun fact: every Braves starter has received more run support on average this year than Teheran has received in any year of the past 3 seasons!
Colon’s not going to be released, I think. He’ll move to the bullpen. Excited to see Medlen at some stage. I missed him!
I think Sims will get one of the starts Saturday just because that is his normal turn.
DOB seems to think it’s unlikely Colon will start Saturday.
Colon to deal with “left oblique strain.”
I thought his ERA was the injured area. Crazy how they so openly manipulate the DL.
We got Colon to “eat innings,” so couldn’t he do that as the mop-up man since we have to eat his salary anyway?
And as an aside, the Brewster Buffalo was not effective against experienced, well-trained Japanese pilots at Midway, but from 1940-43 ruled the skies in Finland’s war with the Soviet Union. Finnish pilots considered it to be the equal of all the highly regarded Messerschmidt 109’s until the latter’s F version was released.
Could Bartolo be any worse than O’Flaherty?
Bartolo has been placed on the 10 day DL. Left Oblique strain. Those take a while to heal.
Snitker says it will probably be 2 Triple A starters for the doubleheader Saturday. So probably Wisler and Sims, since Newcomb’s turn is tomorrow.
Jason Hursh is up for now to serve as a reliever until Saturday.
Blair is hurt. Newcomb isn’t on the 40 man. So Imma guess Wisler and Sims for the double header.
Got tickets to the doubleheader on Saturday so it should be fun. I agree that it will likely be Sims and Wisler.
On the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway how appropriate a Buffalo reference. Like the crews of Torpedo 8 (and other VT squadrons), the USN and USMC pilots who were decimated flying inferior hardware (and thank you #13 for recognizing how well the Finns flew the Buffalo) were truly the victims of a solely unprepared population. Not to get political, but I heard several AVG pilots admonish their audiences about the cost of not ensuring your military hardware was up to snuff – you pay in dollars or you pay in blood. In the Buffalo and Devastator pilots we spilled treasure needlessly but they showed complete heroism.
I also had the chance to meet and speak with Ens George Gay many years ago which was unbelievable. To have been a sole survivor and witnessed the pivot point of the Pacific War… Up there with Neil Armstrong in terms of human experiences held by an individuals. 75 years ago. Wow.
Also, I’m not sure the Buff was a development of the P-35. Can check my references but the P-35 preceded the P-43 Lancer and then the Thunderbolt…
Go Braves. Let’s take 3 of 4… It’s the Phillies…
Andrew Albers has had a good run in AAA and has prior MLB experience. We can also DFA him afterwards without him being likely to get claimed (he’s 31). Of course, in an ideal world, he could turn in a great start or 3 and get flipped for real prospects.
On a side note, giving some ML time to career MiLBers is good for recruiting a better class of AAAA players every spring. If I’m Coppy, I want Albers to get to Atlanta, and I want him to do well. Had we better AAA filler, we would have been much better off down the stretch in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
It’s good to see Swanson in for Camargo, he lied.
I caught a brief snippet of a Spanish language interview with Colon discussing his trip to the disabled list. My Spanish is not good, but I think it went something like this:
El médico me dijo que tenía una ERA ampliada, y que si me retiro más bateadores, entonces la hinchazón bajará.
Might have gotten a word or two wrong but that was the gist.
Marvelous, Kirk.
Albers is actually pretty interesting. He’s been a successful minor league pitcher, and he’s been passable in about a half season of major league work. He doesn’t walk many guys, but he doesn’t strike out that many either…basically Matt Wisler with more experience. Meh, just call up Wisler.
P.S.: Albers has been a 7K/9 and 2BB/9 pitcher for his minor league career. If he really figured out how to be a 10K/9 and 1.5BB/9 pitcher, as he has been so far this season, which is basically Zack Greinke, then maybe we do have something. I vote for a fluke, but hey…
Swanson’s 1st pitch groundout to shortstop is increasingly reminiscent of Heyward’s 1st pitch rollover grounder to 2b.
Hit?!?
Given what we turned into Travis Demerritte last year, Albers is worth a go.
6…..the amount of games the Phils won in May.
Would’ve made a lot more sense to let Camargo hit for Adonis rather than run for Adams
5…..the number of wins the Phils have against ATL (and of course no losses)
Frenchy already shipped to the post game show
Someone named Scooter hit 4 HR for the Reds today. Against the best fans in baseball, no less. Trying to look on the bright side of things.
@18 and Blair is also no good even when not hurt.
@33 and our old buddy John Gant gave up two to Scooter in his first game this season.
I think Scooter was acquired when the Brewers waived him just before the start of the season. After the Brandon Philips trade, the Reds were interested. Nice pickup for them.
Blair is not an answer for the Braves.
If any of you care, Albers tops out at 88 mph.
At this point there is no answer for the Braves. Tomorrow, I hope, we may have framed the questions. Until then, staying afloat may be the best we can do.
Bless our Braves and their longsuffering fans everywhere.
I think Simms is getting one start. Wisler the other
Sean Newcomb was scratched from his start today. So, there you go.
Exciting.
Yep sounding like Newcomb is getting the call, though I agree with those on twitter who suggested that letting him start tomorrow against the Phils makes more sense than making him wait until Saturday and having 3 extra days rest.
I’m happy we’ve had stability in the rotation to this point (we had used 9 SPs by this time last year), and I’m happy we have better options to go to than last year, but I don’t think Newcomb is quite ready yet. His walks are still out of control. I just fear that major league hitters will lay off his exceptional stuff, and he’ll be ineffective. But, we shall see.
As a member of the 7th Paras, Richard Todd, who played Howard in “The Longest Day,” was at Pegasus Bridge during the fighting. He was the officer who met Howard on the bridge, as portrayed in the movie. I love the scene when he springs up with his Sten gun shouting “On Ox and Bucks!”
I mean how much more ready is he gonna get? He’s pitched better than Sims and deserves the chance based on pure performance. I’d like to see them both get starts for us this week.
They haven’t been rushed. It’s taking eons for them to get to this point. If “ready” really means lights-out-stats in AAA, then guess what, nobody will ever be promoted, b/c these guys aren’t that good.
I wouldn’t start Newcomb and Wisler for two games in the DH. That could be a very taxing day on the bullpen. I agree that Newcomb should start today or tomorrow and then back everyone else up a day or two.
FWIW, Keith Law has said for a couple years now that Newcomb will never overcome his walk issues because it’s not correctable with mechanics. If true, its interesting that scouts can just watch a 21-year-old and know he’s going to walk 4 batters a game for the rest of his career.
It is very interesting that they say he’s going to have walk problems for his entire career. And of course, Keith Law is probably one of the most arrogant, least-likable people in all of baseball journalism, so of course he would make such a definitive statement.
If you walk 4/9 for your career, here is the list of qualifying, active pitchers who are around that number: Gio Gonzalez, Francisco Liriano, Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jiminez, and Edison Volquez. Gonzalez would be nice, sure, but those other three have had very up-and-down careers. And I think the only reason why these have had enough innings to qualify is because they’ve flashed strings of success, so I’m inclined to think that you’re hitching your wagon to a maddening pitcher who could have a Cy Young season one year, then a clunker the next. Sweet.
The small chance that he figures something out is probably worth it. High K/9 and low BAA gives you some room for error. When and where that lightswitch gets flipped on is anyone’s guess. I feel like pitchers tend to mature later than position players, but predicting it is closer to pure luck than science.
Not-Colon is still a very nice quality to have.
No you’re right. Very excited about Duke Newk Em making a start. I just think he’s not quite ready for a rotation spot, but hopefully I’m wrong. Of course, I’m happy Wisler is getting a start too, so what do I know?
We’re going to go round and round on the whole “ready” thing quite a bit. Is it age? Is it minor league innings? Is it absolute performance? How much does the needs of the major league team factor in?
Newcomb or Sims may never be ready, but there’s really only one way to find out. Can we agree that they haven’t been extremely rushed, and that they both show at least some promise?
New thread.
We the commentariat
opinions that will vary at
the very latest whim
conclusions, set in stone, we now say were prelim.