WE’RE BACK!
You bet we are. Don’t mess with the Braves on a Saturday night at home.
We spotted them 2 -it seemed to matter then – but soon we were off to the races. 15 unanswered runs thoroughly embarrassing our wretched opponents. Those runs were spread pretty evenly but for a 4 and 5 spot so I’m not going to go through it in repetitive sequence. What should be much more fun is to pick stuff out as it occurs to me, at random, and hope that may bring back good memories for all.
Our starting pitching first, primarily a fine debut from Mr Brandon McCarthy who pitched into the sixth inning giving up 6 hits 2 earned runs 3 walks and striking out 6. We could not have asked for more particularly so when you remember the top of the first, two out, two runs scored, two on in scoring position, full count. He got the crucial strike out that stopped 2 runs becoming 4 and although we didn’t know it then we were on cruise control.
With Brandon gone Winkler, Solocovitch and Ravin followed for the last 3.2 innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, 4 strike outs. Pretty amazing stuff when you compare it to what was happening from the other dugout. Who knew who these guys were, not me.
So now to our hitters, the regulars first.
Ender…3 for 6, 4 rbi, no XBH, no K, enjoyed himself.
Ozzie…1 for 6 , 1 rbi, 4 LOB…he’s not there yet, triple was lucky break but O can he run! Great defense all night.
Freddie… 2 for 5, 1 walk, 2 rbi…what can you say, our rock.
Neck…Â 2 for 3, 3 bb, 1 k….professional, NOT a pejorative term! Check the numbers
Dansby…2 for 6, 1 rbi, 1 k…maintains his improvement.
Lane Adams pinch hit right at the end, Home Run, 2 rbi.
Now the neverwozzers, who are these guys? They became, collectively, the story of the evening, they were fantastic.
Stewart/Tucker/Flaherty… combined 8 for 13,
Stewart Avg .286, Flaherty .538. OPS 1.340, Tucker .417/ .917
And the best thing of all, gentleman, for the first time, no longer are these guys, pitchers and hitters alike, no names. We’ve lived and died with them, they are now a face, we love them.
A word about defense tonight. We had zero errors , they had 4. But more than that we totally outplayed them in that department. Last year they made us look slow and bumbling, the boot was on the other foot tonight
So Philly has been put in their place, they’ll be tipping their forelock soon. But they’ll be back. Sometimes though, it’s just lovely to look down and be bitchy.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-braves/2018/03/31/529440#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=529440
Most importantly, no catchers were injured in the making of this ass-kicking.
@1
Not quite a LOL, but did make me go all /Goofy Grin.
So, I’ll give that comment a thumbs up.
Alas, the Ryan Schrimpf era is over in Atlanta. Traded to Anaheim for Carlos Perez, the Angels third (4th?) string catcher.
HBP incoming in 3…2…1…
Perez has thrown out 38% of would be base stealers and as light hitting catchers go, he is better than Corky Miller.
Doesn’t MLB have to suspend Kapler for risking injury to a player by not warming up his pitcher?
You still swing a wicked stick, blazon. For three games, we’re better than Philly.
Can someone help me with the trade?
Perez doesn’t have any options. Riding with three catchers made sense I guess relative to the PH aspect of Flowzuki, but it doesn’t with either Stewart/Perez if you assume Suzuki will take the lion’s share of the starts over the next two months.
So, as best as I can see it: either your’re burning a roster spot so Suzuki can PH 1-2x per week, you’re going to replace Stewart with Perez (timing seems suspect for this), or AA believes Perez is a better bench bat vs what we have in house.
Unless you think you can sneak Perez through waivers or Stewart will accept a demotion, I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing here, but maybe I’m missing something?
I wonder if deals like this are made simply to get a player in your system, evaluate him, and see where he is. Perez used to be a decent prospect, he triple slashed well at AAA, and he’s not too old to where he may not have turned a corner. I doubt, though, the Braves carry 4 catchers on their 40-man.
This trade would indicate that flowers and/or Suzuki are more hurt than originally thought
It’s encouraging to be 2-1 and have Camargo eligible to come back on the 5th and Acuna on the 14th or whatever. Gohara will be back at the end of the month too. I was pretty unimpressed with the Phillies’ pitching, so it’s funny that I just heard the MLB Network stooges say that the Phillies were over on 74 wins and the Braves were under on 72. Screw them.
I guess the lineup will be Ender/Ozzie/FF/Kakes/Suzuki/Acuna/Camargo/Swanson once the real team goes live. I like 1-3 and 6-8, but 4-5 are almost as damning as the other spots are good depending on how you feel about Suzuki. If Acuna hits, I wonder how long they keep him down in the order. A month at 6th, a month at 5th, and then 4th for the next 7 years?
I don’t think the Braves owe Perez or Stewart anything more than they owed Schimpf: an opportunity. I think the only thing guys on the outside looking in are looking for is a reasonable shot to crack the roster and play. The Braves gave that to Schimpf, he couldn’t seize it, and they’re off to the next person. So Perez and Stewart can either a) play their way onto our roster to stay (hey, they could always trade Flowers or Suzuki if they want) or b) play their way onto someone else’s roster. Would we miss either one of them if we DFA’ed them and another team picked them up?
Depending on what happens with Perez and how injured Flozuki are, has Stewart played his way onto another roster? Probably. But who cares?
What was with Chip and Joe constantly seething about the Phillies being computer nerds that didn’t understand baseball?
Well, I just got back from a trip to Ye Olde Englande, had some fish and chips and mushy peas and beer and Scotch and probably some other things, and I come back to America and see the Braves are over .500.
I don’t know what you guys were doing while I was gone, but none of you better change any of your lucky underpants.
Also, the nice thing about backup catchers is that there’s always another one, and while none of them are any good, once you get past the one David Ross in the league who’s worth a spit, they’re all just about equally bad.
It’s 2018 Alex. WE HAVE A NEW THEME!!
I’d rather have the sweep…. Just a few inches away from it. So close.
Ohtani looked pretty good today.
In Bowman’s latest column he claims there’s a “strong possibility” the Braves sell high on Gohara if given a chance this year. What in the world is that about? Have we heard anything about this before?
I believe Keith Law mentioned in one of his live chats that Gohara and Albies are big drinkers or something like that, but surely that’s no reason to give up on a kid who at least has potential to be a real ace.
Sorry Adam.
“Atlanta Rules: The Story of the 90s Braves” is on MLB Network right now.
You could look at it like maybe they really think last year was the high water mark, he might break down, we know we could get something really good that we need, etc.
Or you could look at it like AA’s trigger finger is itchy and this is going to be one of his dumber moves.
Also, why would they leak this?
Now I have to decide whether or not to trade Gohara from my fantasy team, is more what I’m aggravated about!
It could make sense if you can get a ML-ready 3B or OF for him, AND you really really like the guys coming up. Or if you felt strongly he was going to flame out. But yeah, why say so?
Fantasy question: how come you get dinged for a caught stealing or blown save, but don’t get dinged for a pitcher loss?
New thread.