Well, well. Saturday afternoon in the world of sport with everyone getting ready to switch off the US Open and the World Cup, so they could concentrate exclusively on the Braves bullpen. has developed high drama before we even get started.
You get remembered for things like that. Glad he has a new caddie.
BASEBALL
To SunTrust then, putting all this aside. Is our bullpen worthy of such intense examination, we shall soon find out. Nuke’s first innings is spotty with a double, walk and 25 pitches but he survives it. In our half Dansby singled, Freddie flied out oppo deep.
Top 2nd Newk gives up a 2 out single to Ellis, none else, much lower pitch count.Top 3rd he handles the top of the order very economically, 1/2/3, total count 38.
Top 4 1/2/3..Newk has downed 7 straight..Bottom 4 Braves down 123, insipid hitting, we need Freddie, just misses RF homer, then singles.
Top5  Newk 1/2/3 bottom of the order…tstorm coming? get a run..Charlie C obliges, homers, 1-0, Newk 123 in the sixth, 13 straight 85 pitches.
RAIN DELAY(turned out to be 25 minutes only) … Can Newk come back out? Nats lose to Jays, Scherzer takes the loss.
7pm…Tarp off…We bat, bottom 7th, Ozzie another pop up. Freddie just misses RF homer, then singles. Nick nothing.
Top 7…no Newk, Winkler in, did not have an easy innings but survived after a FG single with 2 out. When we bat Ender hits a 2 out single, that’s it. It’s all going to get very tight!
Top 8Â Â Minter pitching! 1/2/3 very impressive. Let him finish out?
Yates pitching for SD, Lyles did well. We go down 1/2/3.
Top 9Â Â Viz pitching. I call that a Mistake, AK had few pitches and great control. No dice, Viz returns. K’s Hosner, gives up a single, hits the next batter. Strikes out next, Freddie G grounds out, we win.
The rest of America switches off, says ‘ What’s all the fuss about this Braves Bullpen? ‘
Record crowd tonight, c.42000, good for all them. 1 1/2 games up on the losing Nats. Minter is getting close to the job he has always craved.
Record early recap delivery. My excuse for garbled style. But we won!
Get your clubs ready for the morning!
We are now of course 2 1/2 games up on the Nats.
And Phil just called, wants his old caddie back.
How is Phil’s old caddie, if I may ask?
Does Newk start the all star game?
@3. Probably some guy from the Natspos will start…
@2 fine thanks but not the best communicator in the world.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all our hard working Dads. Do something special today, treat yourselves. Another win, perhaps.
@5 Understood. Happy Fathers Day to you as well.
Kakes’ power has diminished. 1 HR in his last 109 ABs and a .414 SLG.
They could stand to add another bat suitable for the cleanup spot.
World Cup Big game
Mexico/Germany 11am
Will be over 20 minutes or so before Braves start @ 1.35
I remember doing that when I was 9, playing mini-golf.
Some changes to the lineup:
@11 – That’s one heck of Sunday’ lineup but, Ozzie has needed a day off for a while now.
Some odd things have happened with the back of the bullpen. Luke Jackson was DFA’ed when Soroka was activated, but he elected free agency, though there was no official announcement. But now Gohara has been optioned, and Jackson has been re-called.
I’m not sure what they gain by jacking these guys around.
Weird to read that he was signed to a major league contract when he had an option had the Braves not optioned him so many times in one season.
In 33 career GS, Newcomb now has a 3.60 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 188 IP, 189 K, 113 ERA+, but a 1.39 WHIP due to 158 H and 93 BB.
Should Newcomb keep his current pace to the rest of the year, he will have a 3.28 ERA in 282 career IP. And of course, his FIP would be pretty similar to that ERA. He would have a 1.30 WHIP, and I’m too lazy to figure anything else out.
He’s pretty good.
For someone more knowledgeable than I, correct me that Jackson has not opened up a can of worms:
Jackson was on his last year of options. He would not have been eligible to elect free agency at this demotion, but because the Braves had reached a limit of how many times a player can be optioned in one season, he was able to elect free agency. Accordingly, he chose to do so, and the Braves have now rewarded him with a guaranteed contract that will pay him the major league minimum regardless of if he is optioned. So if the finite amount of options in one season is reached with any other player, that player could now force their way into getting the guaranteed league minimum the entire year regardless of where he plays. Since Wisler is on his last year of options, Wisler could do exactly this when he is inevitably optioned again. Sims would be there too next year (I think).
Can someone explain to me why Luke Jackson was important enough to give a ML contract to? Does this imply anything about our upcoming deadline activity? How could we not be better off letting Jackson sit in purgatory for a few days and give Phillips a try?
We are running out of 25-man roster space and not many optionable types left when we want to bring back Folty, Fried, Wisler, Gohara, whatever……
I questioned whether or not I properly understand what was actually happening, but why the Braves feel the need to do it is a fair question too.
I don’t know why they’re so intent on collecting all of these pitchers. Look at the AAA rotation logjam:
Is it really this important to run the Gwinnett shuttle with so many passengers?
But yes, I would think this could only have to do with a desire to trade some of this and not be left without a Luke Jackson unnecessarily. All of these machinations lead me to believe AA thinks he has some tradeable assets out of this lot of AAAAA (so a little better than AAAA) pitchers.
Jackson did NOT have options. He has been DFA’d each time and outrighted to Gwinnett. The last time, he elected free agency, and the Braves signed him to take Gohara’s place on the roster.
Also, there is no limit to the amount of times a player who does have options can be sent down in one season. Each player has 3 option “years”. If a guy is sent down, that counts as one of his option “years,” but he can be called up and sent down as many times as the team pleases. They just can’t call him back up for 10 days unless there is an injury.
Oh, gotcha. Forgot he was out of options since I had just said a couple days ago that he might have gotten picked up elsewhere. So bottom line is they felt like he was worth a guaranteed deal. Perhaps another team felt the same way. They could have just called up Phillips.
I thought I read somewhere there was a yearly limit. I should just learn the details.
They’ll probably just DFA him again when they activate Folty.
Then why not just call up someone with options? Why give Jackson the guaranteed minimum?
I guess they want to save the roster spot on the 40 man. Or maybe the starters who already are on the 40 man have been used too recently. Not sure.
It’s a pro rated minimum for the the rest of this season, not a full season.
And minus the time Jackson would have spent on the roster anyway, so it’s not a significant amount. But Sims is eligible to call up and on the 40-man.
It looks like Jackson was able to leverage himself another $125k or so, so good on him. But they had to want to pay it over the other options described, so maybe they’re working on something that makes Jackson handy or requires the AAA guys to be on a schedule. I can’t imagine we look good to our trade partners jacking with our starters’ schedules.
They’ve been jacking these guys around all year, and they’re not gonna stop now. They think they gain versatility by doing this, and I guess they’re right, although I would argue it’s not the best look.
The signing of Jackson doesn’t mean nearly as much as you think it does. Once he’s designated for assignment, he’s off the 40-man roster, so if they want to put him back on, they have to sign him to a major league contract. I’m guessing he still only gets the prorated major league minimum while he’s in the majors, which is exactly what he was getting, anyway. And it doesn’t mean they can’t designate him for assignment again. He’s just made it known that he’s not going to accept another minor league assignment if he continues to not get claimed off waivers when it happens.
As for why not Phillips, I’m guessing they’re just looking for a mopup guy who’ll pitch one day a week or so, and they’d rather not take Phillips away from getting normal work in Gwinnett. I also assume that they’re just looking for Gohara to get some starts, and Gwinnett is the best place for him to do that right now.
125k
It’s really quite funny
turns out after all it’s just about money
re-option me, my ego you may ravage
I’ll have the last laugh, I’ve got the cabbage.
Teheran’s first 2 pitches at 92 MPH.
On the downside, he doesn’t seem to have much control right now
Oh boy, this could become a long game.
He nearly hit 93 on one four-seamer. At least it means he’s back to where he was ….. for whatever good that is. And he got out of the first. Should improve over the next couple of innings.
Thanks for that strike call.
Got bailed out by the ump big time to get out of that inning. That pitch wasn’t close.
It’s funny; Teheran’s getting K’s but it takes him 8-9 pitches per batter to do it. I’d like to see the Pads keep some of the fouls between the lines for some weak ground balls. Just got 1/2/3 all on K’s but it took him 23 pitches to do it.
Don Sutton is tremendous. I enjoyed him being the voice of reason about JT just now.
Raffy Lopez hits Suzuki in the head with his backswing on strike 3 and just walks to the dugout not seeming to care.
Ron Washington didn’t like that either and gave him a piece of his mind.
@37 He might get plunked and I honestly would not mind in this case. What an ass.
Julio is not scared to drill anyone. I expect it.
Flowers in to catch.
Julio Teheran, strikeout machine.
Did Zuke get a concussion?
Way to go Johan!!!
42 — No report yet.
Padres catcher coming up to hit the next inning.
This would be a really dumb reason to put somebody on base, unless they think he actually hit Suzuki on purpose. The world knowing that he’s a schmuck is probably enough.
UPDATE: And now not only is he a schmuck, he’s also out.
Julio’s dealing now….. I was hoping for 5 shutout innings but 6 or 7 would sure be wonderful.
He didn’t hit him on purpose, that was not the point. He just looked at him and walked away without just a word or reaction.
47 — He has more than a shutout going right now.
The team got up on the dugout rail like they were expecting him to get hit.
Is it just me or has Suzuki been getting hit on swings more than just today? I seem to recall him getting hit a few times in some other games. Are hitters further back in the box nowadays??
@48
I know, and my point was that that isn’t worth a beanball war. That should be reserved for intentional acts which could easily result in or did result in injury to one of our players, not failing to comport with the Miss Manners rules of etiquette.
Dansby should not be leading off. From what I’ve seen Dansby is very susceptible to his spot in the lineup. I think he is destined to hit his best at #7 or #8. I think Charlie would have been better at leadoff with Dansby second.
Dansby career OBP by lineup position:
1st = .200
2nd = .197
3rd, 4th, 5th = NA
6th = .391
7th = .305
8th = .351
9th = .310
Hence my point.
@52 one of our guys was injured. I am not advocating hurting him, but a nice changeup right on his butt would have sent the message.
Wow, maybe we oughtta start giving JT 10 days between starts.
The word is Suzuki was removed for precautionary reasons and is being evaluated.
My take is that it might be a slight concussion but they aren’t sure so they took him out anyway.
Remember when I speculated something might be wrong with Teheran’s UCL? Looks like I was wrong. I’m glad I was wrong.
He just limped off the mound like he twisted his ankle. That, coupled with the fact that he just came off the DL and has thrown 95 pitches, means his day is likely over even though there is a 0 in a certain column.
Yeah, he issued 2 walks in the 6th. 95 pitches. I can’t say I would blame management if they chose to lift him. He’s had a great day and would hate to see it unravel in the 7th.
Carle is warming up and presumably will pitch the 7th.
Chip: “The Braves now have a 2 and a half game bulge over Washington.”
Never say that again, Chip
If we can just scrape through these next few innings, that bulge could get even bigger…
Third sellout in a row.
Albies is in at 2B now.
Minter two days in a row….. fingers crossed.
99.5mph – not too bad….
That was a short day of rest for Ozzie. If we win, maybe he should get another half day….. LOL
My blood pressure (and, I’m sure, our top relievers’ throwing arms) would appreciate if either our starters could go a little deeper, or if the offense could score a couple more runs.
Probably ought to score a couple more runs. Our starters are going as deep into games as anyone else’s save for maybe the Nationals. 6-7 IP is all you can really ask for anymore.
This team needs another elite reliever.
This team needs someone other than Markakis hitting 4th in the lineup.
@70 @71 Yup. Moustakas and Herrera. Someone needs to wake up AA and tell him to get on the darn phone.
I’d be fine with 7 IP. We’ve had 3 starts in the past week where the starter allowed 0-2 hits and no runs but due to various circumstances (rain, first start back from DL) haven’t been able to go past 6 or 6.1.
Tyler! Ask and ye shall receive.
OK, I’ll take “doubles” Markakis…. With a Tyler “flower” on top.
A little insurance never hurt.
Seems like the bulge might become 3 1/2….
I’ll miss flowzuki next year 🙁
Another adventurous 9th inning for Viz.
Gold Glove Rightfielders for 800, Alex
The bulge extends to 3.5 games.
@55
timo…where in Russia are you?!
A great series win where much the best thing that happened was Julio’s start.
Hey, how about the comments section today!
The bullpen survivied but they all seemed shaky. JT = 0 hits in 6 inning; bullpen = 6 hits in 3 innings. Seems to me like Viz doesn’t take it seriously until the tying run is at the plate.
The catching duo have been an unsung hero on this team. They combine to be the 3rd-most valuable position player on the team per fWAR, and Suzuki is still 5th in his own right. Flowers, in less PAs than Acuna, has been almost twice as valuable. I don’t think you’d make rash, future-damning decisions because of “one”, if you will, player, but the catching duo may be lightning in a bottle to capitalize on this year. I see some numbers on Twitter for what we can re-sign them for, and I don’t believe you can get both of them for less than $16-18M together. They’re steals.
Scott Boras must soon stop counting his chickens.
Harper went 0 for 5 today in Toronto as the Nats were swept.
He is hitting .217 for the season. Yes, he has a .934 OPS and yes, his second half can hardly help but improve his first. But what do you think he’s done to his value?
Don Sutton is a treasure, and I fear we may hear him less and less based on the writing on the wall. People say he’s fighting cancer, and it certainly matches that he doesn’t travel with the team. He and Jim switch off mid-way through the game, but Sutton really tails off as the color man. You don’t hear him for long stretches that makes you think he’s not even there. My wife and I like to enjoy our Sundays by the pool, and we listen to the Braves games, and we both really appreciate Don.
I know he doesn’t have the popularity that Skip, Pete, and Ernie earned, but he’s been the guy of my generation in a lot of ways, and I’ll miss him when he retires. With that said, Jim and Frenchy (and not Lemmer) have been great as well. Lemmer and Joe are the only guys I don’t like. I even like Chip and Byrd a lot.
@83
Bryce is only on pace for a 3.1 fWAR season. He battled injuries last year, and he’s struggled this year, so if he continues, he would not be going into free agency the way he’d have hoped. Since his 9.3 fWAR 2015, he’s been simply above average in 2016, injured but elite in 2017, and on pace for a 3.1 fWAR season this year. Not good, Fabio.
Don Sutton is 73 years old. Maybe he’s fighting cancer, but the dude is also fighting age.
Harper is just 25 years old. I’d be shocked if his value on the open market wasn’t through the roof. He’s had some bad luck, but he otherwise appears to be heading into his prime.
You’re right. He seemed to be fine last year from what it seems.
17 K’s by Braves pitchers today.
By nature of being 25 and being the player he’s been, he will certainly sign the largest contract in history. But would it be an even bigger contract if he went into FA with 3 straight 9 fWAR seasons vs. how he’s recently performed? With that said, he was on pace for a 7.5 WAR season last year without the injuries, and he could easily get hot and put up a huge season this year.
Personally, I like Freddie Freeman.
Still after losing 2/3 on the road, winning 3/4 at home is kinda nice.
The Free Man (does anyone here get this reference?) is my favorite player in baseball. Sometimes I think I like him even more than I liked Chipper.
Agreed that we could use one or two more horses in the pen. And there are internal options, certainly. Biddle could continue to improve and become a high-leverage lefty. Evan Phillips in AAA is an option. Corbin Clouse in AA is an interesting 22-year old lefty who has moved quickly. I would think that Freeman and Moylan could give way to some internal candidates in the second half if they continue to struggle, and obviously trading for some studs could turn us into a tough team in a short series. This is fun.
If 3.1 WAR is Harper’s floor and his top is 9.3 and he is going to be 26, I’d still pay whatever it takes to sign him. Put him back to back with Freddie and he’ll be huge and make Freddie better. Hit Flowzuki or Riley (or Realmuto) behind him with Albies and Acuna at the top, and this lineup will never stop scoring. Whatever you guys say or think, 28 years old is the peak of a ballplayer’s prime and getting at least two years on either side of that would make this team a championship team for at least those 5 years. The value of those 5 years is very likely to offset the cost of the next 5 years making any performance – especially 3 WAR or higher per year – a real bonus.
Harper.
Bye bye 400 million. And certainly from us. How would we feel if this was 2019 and we were looking at those production levels?
More speculatively i wonder about all aspects of his health. Feel carrying this label around his neck is starting to take its toll, emotionally, plus the other stuff.
Anyway he can forget about the 400, maybe that will help straighten him out. At 270/10, front loaded, small market, maybe we could all be happy.
I’m thinking we should look to sign Cakes. This guy is playing great
There is a young fella named Bryce
who particularly wants to be nice
to be loved and admired
as he’s really quite tired
of grossly gratuitous advice.
So does no one really know why I call Freddie Freeman “The One Free Man”?
….
C’mon….
@95
Suggest an offer?
@97 not me, explain please.
Agree/ Disagree?
We were very lucky in our victories this series when you bear in mind how events unfolded at the start of the top of each ninth inning. All three were soon hanging by a tenuous thread and could have gone either way i felt. To win all three, pretty amazing.
@55
timo…you can’t have it both ways. Either you take the moral high ground or you hit him in the ass. But not with a change up.
Recapped.