The game itself is worthy of one paragraph only – there were amazingly several individual highlights for us which i’ll bring up thereafter to cheer us all up.
If you break the scoring down to the first three innings/the middle three/the final three it’s interesting. We shared 2 runs in the first 3, 12 runs in the final three. The problem came 4 through 6 with Reds ahead 4 to 1. That was when Julio tired and Wojo didn’t which is not that much of an over simplification. JJ was left in to ‘mop up’ in the ninth which we entered 3 runs down and Snit left him there to give up another 4 on top of that. Hindsight is a terrible thing. We came back of course, we usually do, but lately not enough. Still, it was a stirring finish (Inciarte apart who made a minimal effort and couldn’t wait to get back in the dugout – embarrassing.)
So enough of that. Here’s some special things we Bravos did…
KURT SUZUKI
I recently had a remote exit velocity meter installed on my 80 inch home TV which gave an immediate reading of 109.The special rays emitted by this meter follow the ball to its destination and then displays speed at time of impact, in this case 133. You didn’t know acceleration was possible? You simply must keep up with the latest Quantum Physics. Even if you don’t you will have taken note of the judder that section of the left wall gave on impact and the small cloud of red dust that appeared as it settled back down in its foundation. We didn’t get him in of course. So later he did it all on his own, off the aforementioned Wojo. What a swing Kurt has, it’s all in the sushi if you didn’t know. Love the guy. Extend.
BRANDON PHILLIPS.
Clearly decided ahead of time to put on a show for his old team mates(Billy Hamilton in particular apparently who i would like to nominate as the ugliest player in the Major Leagues). He started with an early homer and in the middle innings made two fabulous bare handed plays at third at least one of which might have been redundant but who cared. Ooohs and Ahhhhs time, he got their and our attention. Overall 3 hits for Brandon, 6 total bases, lots of effort, lovely smiles. What are we going to do about him since he is now reborn at third? Extend.
MATT KEMP
It was simply good enough just to see him back behind Freddie. He didn’t quite have it yet but he’s not far off. He will make as much of a difference for us as he did at this time last year. He did single off the first swing and nearly had another. That damn dive in Pittsburgh. And did you see that table the Reds put up in their broadcast showing he had the BEST fielding percentage of an left fielder in the Majors? Extend? A trifle rich already i hear you say.
MARKAKIS
2 hits, a walk and a deep fly ball. He’s been hitting the ball harder these last 2 weeks or so. Still admire his professionalism. Extend? No, likely enough already. We need the room they tell me.
DANSBY.  It’s coming, slowly but it’s there.  OZZIE ..I am out of my depth – ground/air etc.
MATT ADAMS/WAYNE ADAMS.
Yes, both. As i mentioned last week something very strange that happened when Freddie was moved back has still not been explained and it needs to be. TC picked up on this earlier in the week, hope somebody can dig it out. Don’t give me your Matt snark please…2 in 2 days and a third that was way deep and just missed last night tying the game. Wayne i just like and respect having him there(stop biting your nails).
WISLER
Just had to end with his hilarious first pitch. He have up nothing serious tonight but that curve ball was sumptuous. Fat, fatter, fattest. Hanger city. But, hey, HANG in there.
With thanks to all that got this far. There is no charge, Alex won’t allow it, I tried.
We’ll get ’em tomorrow.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/reds-vs-braves/2017/08/19/491930#game_state=final,game_tab=,game=491930
This morning’s papers reminded me to be more empathetic regarding things like Ender’s awful last at bat…God knows what it must be like for him and his fellows to be here with all that money while the country teters on complete collapse. He’s our man.
Thanks for an entertaining recap, blazon.
Ugliest player though? Colby Rasmus. No competition.
Billy Hamilton = Quick Handsome
Thanks, blazon. Worth every penny in your hat!
@1, Agreed. I love Ender. He’s made a boneheaded play or three this year which makes me doubt he’ll pocket another Gold Glove, but he’s plenty good even without the hardware. Can’t wait to see Acuña and Free Agent/Trade Acquisition To Be Named Later playing on either side of him in the coming years. Then he’ll really shine.
EDIT: One change of mind after checking his stats: He’s got double digit homers this year and is 15 points above his OPS from last year. If he can finish the season strong and maybe add another 20-25 points of OPS, he may win that second Gold Glove yet.
I hope Ender wins many Gold Gloves. The boneheaded plays shouldn’t play into it. He has incredible range and his arm is a sight. He’s a nice litle 3-3.5 fWAR player that should become a 4+ fWAR player at some point. I hope they’re building around him, but I’ve been thinking lately that they may try to trade him.
Kemp not in the lineup today so we get the double lefty in the 3-4 spot with Freddie and Markakis.
Thanks guys. It was the at bat that bothered me in the 9th, not the play in the field. Actually if you look at that double that he missed completely early you might have seen it was what in cricket we call an off break. The ball on landing broke appreciably to the right, his left. At the pace it was hit and the speed he was charging it there was little chance of a clean grab.
EI on a title contender is a piece. He’s just an upgrade from a guy. IMO.
Yes, he’s a great CF. Wow.
@5 building around a guy like EI would probably yield about 65 wins per year. So, no thanks. Of course we are talking about this FO, so yeah, they probably are.
Wow, Castillo looks very impressive.
@8
No one is saying he’s a top 3-4 player on a contending team. He’s cheap, and good piece to an established roster. He’s not a lead off hitter, though.
The Reds are really starting to catch fire.
That’s a heck of a changeup.
Wow! A Houdini escape from Newcomb there, complete with making a ridiculous play himself to end the inning!
I don’t think his personal record of 9 k’s in a game is long for this world.
Not to be negative; this guy looks really good.
Cakes!
Wonder if we can resign Phillips
I think Phillips is gone. The Braves have essentially turned to state media to call out that Phillips hasn’t been willing to talk about his move to 3B, and I think things are souring with him and another organization. It’s like John Maxwell says, “If Bob is constantly having problems with people, Bob is probably the problem.”
Who is Bob in this instance?
Phillips
What a play by Newk on the belly flop throw, keep it going guys
John R – thanks for your comments on last thread about Uber, gives me a much better idea what to expect. Much appreciated
Another great at-bat by Dansby.
Gotcha.
I appear to have whiffed on Castillo. I should’ve complimented him earlier.
Ugh…come on, Ender. After all that, you can’t look at an obvious third strike.
As many of you have noted, Albies is a better right handed hitter than he is from the left side. Even so, the double he just hit off a tough pitcher looked like a good stroke to me.
And now I’ll say something good about Swanson. He has quite a good eye at the plate, which is worth a lot in any case, but especially for someone who struggles so against sliders. He’s not flailing at sliders out of the zone.
Hooray! After a series full of RISP without much success, we finally drop the hammer. Nicely done, Tyler!
Flowers has convinced me that this is not a fluke. He somehow really has become a much.better hitter in his thirties than he was in his twenties.
Flow/Suzuki > McCann/Ross?
Well, I know now that we’re going to get no-hit tomorrow night, because I just found out that Andrew Albers is starting for Seattle.
Man, good for Matt Wisler. I cheer for the player when I think a team’s needs trumps a player’s best interests (like Jonny Venters and EOF), and I hope he can be a 1 WAR pitcher making the same money as a reliever than he would have as a starter.
On a 1-2 count, Dansby hit a breaking pitch down and away hard enough to get out of the reach of Billy Hamilton near the warning track in right center field. He’s starting to come alive, and the announcers speculated he’s a couple itches closer to the plate.
Acuna today- 3 for 5 w a double and 2 rbi. BA now 355 and OPS 1035
Rio Ruiz is red hot right now too.
Recapped.
Yeah, with all of the love that Acuna has been getting for his hot streak, Ruiz has been even hotter. He’s 23, hitting .252/.327/.457 at AAA while repeating the level, so it’s hard to get overly excited about him. I think he’ll have to kill AAA next year to really get into a starting job discussion. And with the 4-man bench, how does a guy who can’t play multiple positions find their way onto the roster? The bench player that gets the axe going from 5 to 4 is the pinch-hitting 1B/3B/corner OF’s like Matt Franco, Julio Franco, Eric Hinske, etc.
We haven’t seen enough of Ruiz, but I’ve seen enough of him. He’s a AAAA player I’m 90% sure. But yes, Rob I’d make him do it for another year before I brought him back up or I’d package him in a trade.