The Braves retooled their lineup on Sunday, moving Ozzie Albies to the top of the order, and dropping Ender Inciarte to ninth. The initial data point is promising.
Albies hit the first pitch of the game into the right field seats, and the Braves never looked back. Albies added a double to finish 2 for 5, with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Bottom Ender was outstanding as well, finishing a homer short of the cycle, and scoring 2 runs. Johan Camargo broke the game open with a 3 run homer in the Braves 5 run 3rd.
Brandon McCarthy could last (or was only allowed to last) 5 1/3 innings, despite being staked to a 6 – 0 lead. Fortunately, our Zombie Bullpen of Walkers added only 2 more of those to their league leading total; we’ll focus today on their 3 2/3 hitless innings. Jesse Biddle struck out 5 in 2 innings to close it, and added a double in his first major league at bat to drive in the Braves final run. A really fun moment in front of his family.
Off Monday, and at the Mets on Tuesday. Whatever happens the next 5 months, the Braves conclude April with 16 wins in the bank. Adjust your projections as you will.
Rusty S
Cogent and timely…thanks.
So much excitement around the team with the influx of youth…looks like it might be a fun summer
Albies needs to learn how to hook slide. He looked like maybe he messed up his thumb on his uncontested steal of second. Later, he slid headfirst into home.
So the month of April through the Bobby Cox road to victory formula:
6 series won
1 series lost
2 series split
I’ll take that!
Meanwhile, we’ll have to sweep the Mets to take first in the NL East. As it is, we’ve pulled even with the Phils for second.
I assume this applies to Albies as well. Getting 100PAs before your 21st birthday seems to be a possible indicator for HOF probability.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/acunas-hall-of-fame-chances-are-higher-than-you-think/
Put down the damned HOF surveys, son. He has played a fucking week in the bigs.
Fun Fact: Albies and Acuña were signed by the Frank Wren administration.
@6 – Are you implying that you don’t think that Acuna will get 100 PA’s this season?
I am stating outright that any conversation about the players in question and the HOF is so stupid as to justify having people’s children taken away.
@9 – Take it up with Fangraphs.
Shut up, Sam.
Of the 18 active players on the list, I agree that the 5 players they mention (Beltre, Cabrera, Trout, Harper, Stanton) are probably headed for the HOF, and then I’d say 2-3 from the remaining 11 could very well get in. It wouldn’t surprise me if, for example, Correa, Machado, and Albies had HOF-quality careers. So for Acuna to debut at 20, there’s a pretty good percentage chance he ends up on the good side of that list.
DOB says Teheran and Sanchez will make their next starts, so no Soroka for now. I like it. Let’s not rush him.
@6 – @11 You guys crack me up. I love you all.
@7: We kept telling Frank to “Get it done.” So I guess he did. Of course we also told him to give Michael Bourn “all of the money.”
15 — I remember that. Good thing they didn’t do that as that was Bourn’s last good season. Too bad they gave it to Melvin Upton instead.
Just saw this at MLBTR re: Moustakas trade
“Mike Moustakas looks like a prime candidate for a deadline trade, though in a video for FOX Sports (Twitter link), Ken Rosenthal cautions that the Royals could face some difficulties in finding a trade partner. For one, there aren’t any contenders with an obvious need at third base, though injuries can certainly change that equation. One rival executive tells Rosenthal that it can be hard to trade a single-position rental player like Moustakas at the deadline.”
Like I said Herrera is the bigger trade chip. Braves should go after both.
Monday Morning Albies Update:
Kid leads the NL in homers and hits, and he leads the majors in total bases, runs scored, and doubles.
Stud.
I like tuning in a Braves game and knowing that we’re going to be competitive. A refreshing change from the last couple of years.
Another Monday Morning Hot Take:
Ozzie Albies still on pace for 54 home runs!
Yes, I know this is the most unlikely thing to continue and the most unreasonable of expectations for the guy, but I only hope he continues to slug like a young Ron Gant.
Today ESPN has their power rankings out. Philies 9, Mets 10, Braves 16. I understand being skeptical that the Braves are really a .600 team. But, why is skepticism on the Phillies not appropriate as well? To this date Braves are 6 and 3 against the Phillies. Also, the Mets are in front of the Phillies and everybody figured that if their pitchers were healthy they might be a competitor.
@20 Not that the power rankings matter, but I don’t understand that either. I guess it’s good that people or sleeping on us, but at the end of the day they still need to get it done on the field and everything else will take care of itself.
@20 That’s just silly. At best, every team that was bad last year and is good this year — regardless of schedule strength — should be bottom-third at least for the first couple months of the season.
@20 I’ve noticed the media are slow to buy in as well. I don’t necessarily blame them, of course, but with the Phillies it does kind of sting a bit considering we just took care of them on their home field, and the Mets have been in first place the whole time but that’s easily swept under the rug for the Phillies. What is up with that?
Can’t say I actually care. I just count down the days to ESPN’s demise, and as for baseball it’s a very long season and the entire NL East has something to prove as it’s wide open.
@18 I felt like last year, on the whole, we were competitive most nights. All our SPs, for the most part, could compete on a nightly basis, and our offense wasn’t as putrid as years past. I feel like we lost way too many games last year that we could have easily won, specifically against the Phillies.
This year? Well, it’s different.
@22 Well that’d be boring and would attract much less attention. These power polls are meant to be click bait and are made of the same material as message board smack.
Besides, we all know who in this division is most likely to catch fire and rise to the top of the standings. No matter how much I hate’em, we all know the Nationals are much better than a .500 team. Many still have them in the top 10 no matter how bad they’ve looked.
Some more Monday morning hot takes. A couple more power rankings for those looking to soak in the positive energy.
USA Today : Rank 11
CBS Sports: Rank 8
Great, now we need a power ranking of power rankings.
Adam, your ideas may become sidebar widgets. Keep ’em coming.
I would like to see a power ranking of:
– current Braves by haircut
– current MLB teams by haircut
– Braves Journal commenters…by haircut
@29 We definitely need Harper. This team will not be complete without Bryce-hair to put in the competition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_blackout_policy
Is this map accurate for those of you in the southeast? Does mlb.TV really black out the Braves in that much of the southeast?
I would enjoy a power ranking of teams that are tanking by how spectacularly tanky their tanking is going.
I hope the Power Rankings and other teams underrate the Braves all season.
We are fifth overall, in run differential, for whatever that’s worth.
Hopefully the playoff committee will overlook our split with the Reds last week. We’re racking up some quality road wins otherwise.
@ #31
I live in Pensacola, Florida, and had to plead with MLB.TV not to black out broadcasts. They realized they were in error and corrected the problem. That was five years ago. When the Braves play the Marlins and the Rays, the game is blacked out. However, I can watch the game an hour and a half after the game ends.
@31: Other Florida coast, just south of Daytona Beach, but same blackout restrictions as Remy @36. MLB.tv has been a Godsend for Georgia boys shipwrecked in central Florida, and this year has been fun, fun, fun … so far.
@ #37
Amen!
@37 my folks live in New Smyrna…love that area. Might have to convince them to pay up for some Braves on tv. Nothing worse than realizing while flipping around that the only thing on is Rays vs White Sox or something equally unpleasant.
DeRo at MLB Central gave the Braves a lot of love today.
We have a precious artifact whose full value we have only just recognized. Two of them actually, but that other is stronger, bigger, less prone to damage.
The first is commensurate with high risk by behavior. Eight fingers, two thumbs each one exposed every day to initial violent contact with hard ground along which they slide several feet until halted, abruptly. Average repair time, say, 6 to 8 weeks. Any idea how you will feel when that happens?
Solutions. One.Be less aggressive, impossible. Two, Hook slide. Never played the game so you tell me. Three, Some miraculous new polymer which, when suitably wrapped around the hand, despite its thinness, protects all beneath it to a high degree.
Interestingly, artifact number two has been programmed ab initio to only do this when given specific signals and judging by recent examples those times are rare. Presumably it was valued, at the time, more highly than its companion.
But times have changed, my countrymen. They are like two peas in a pod, each of equal value to all of us. So what do we do?
@41
Free Acuna.
Ozzie Albies
it is at moments like these
the fear of the crock
but absolutely no doubt that he is a jock.
@40
DeRo has been a good bet to talk about the Braves or Chipper almost on the daily. He’s leading the league in Chipper references at a cool 1.5/day. Personally, I love Mark DeRosa, and I’m glad he wasn’t heavily considered for the Mets managerial job. That man belongs on MLB Central being a very entertaining and smart baseball man. I’ve also never heard anyone but him say, “Step in the box and, ya know, throw a double.”
I also liked Matt Vasgersian before he joined the Evil Empire, and Robert Flores is just not the same.
I’m more positive in nature, so it wouldn’t necessarily be a tournament to see who was the worst, but I’m thinking about doing a modern day “Road from Bristol” like Mac did with to crown the best MLB Network personality. Chris Russo will NOT win.
Dan Plesac for me. I like Harold too, he’s a fantastic ambassador for the game (despite being hated by all the internet smarties).
@44, agree. I find DeRo very entertaining and yes, noticed the Chipper references as well. He has great insight in the game and I just enjoy the way he talks… if that makes sense.
Chris Russo would not accept your invitation. His dazzling mind, memory and intellect will not tolerate any interference/restraint on his mouth.
A black and white guy in a grey world. When he does that one/two every morning with that professorial looking guy you will learn some baseball you knew not.
Rob @41
No comment/opinion on Albies’ injury risks? First time aired AFAIK.
@39 krussell
We moved there from UK in ’74. ..My ex-wife became mayor at some point, after my departure. My new wife,( also from NSB,) and I had moved to the Cincinnati area.After a dozen years or so she moved back to NSB to be with her mother . I visit only rarely to see old friends as i now have two ex wives both living in the same small town.
My third wife comes from Chicago. We are good. My divorce lawyer lives in Cincinnati and is a Republican.
So… NSB is the place to find a wife then?
NSB, unlike Augusta, is the place to be. As far as finding wives, I don’t know; but the scenery seems to be worth viewing.
If I were personally trying to handicap the Braves’ true talent, I’d still be concerned about pitching. Folty looks like our ace right now, with McCarthy not far behind, but neither can even make it through the sixth inning with any regularity, and the bullpen is already showing signs of overuse. I think there’s little question that the Braves offense is going to be pretty good, and if Suzuki and Markakis and Flaherty keep hitting it could be extraordinary. But the pitching – who knows?
I wish Mac could see Albies and Acuna at the top of the lineup. God, he’d love them.
49. NSB appears to be the place to find blazon’s wives (for the most part) — not wives in general. Although we should apparently add krussell’s mother, unless she’s one of blazon’s ex-wives. (This is starting to sound like one of those logic puzzles which ends with the divorce lawyer wearing the blue tie on Thursdays.)
Now I have to deal with the fact that there’s a decent chance that a significant portion of Braves Journalers are hanging out with my mom.
@1 – thanks for that; I don’t know about cogent, I never was good at trigonometry.
@49
Only if you enjoy shopping at Goodwill.
timo, it’s good to see you being able to post more often. You seem to be up with things as much as anybody.
@51
Alex, you bet he would. When will you get to see them? Next trip in i assume? Why not seek them out this week, travel to NYC for one day? Make it more special.
MLB personalities I like:
Pedro Martinez
Bill Ripken
Harold Reynolds
Carlos Pena
Dan Plesac
Cliff Floyd
Al Leiter
Not so much:
Eric Byrnes
Sean Casey
Mike Lowell
Preston Wilson
Chris Russo
Ryan Dempster
New post.