The might of the whole Tomahawk nation
Wouldn’t let us go station to station.
Soroka kept his shoulder loose
Until he whooped the Padres caboose.
Ozzie hits lefties like a plague.
The Pads fielding taken to the Hague.
Tomlin has been a revelation.
The pen avoided fornication.
Atlanta Braves people, Atlanta Braves tribe
Our pennant flies. We don’t take jive.
Ender tweaked a hammy last night.
Is a trade somewhere in sight?
Josh had no rain dance for us
Padres were sick when they got on their bus.
Atlanta Braves people, Atlanta Braves tribe,
Our pennant flies. We don’t take jive.
But maybe someday NL will learn
Atlanta Braves nation has returned, has returned, has returned
Has returned, has returned.
For those of you who want to sing along:
O Yes!
Acuna at address.
Did you get Frenchie and his powers of perception last night when he came up with a possible reason for the Acuna power outage? Last year the bat was held straight up, now it has gone significantly past the vertical which apparently means the angle of attack to the ball becomes more difficult if i understood it right.
And…would that logically extend to the alarming number of swings and misses on middle grade fastballs?
BS? Could someone explain? I like Frenchie.
You would think that with all the video tools a ML club has at its disposal, that Kevin Seitzer would have seen this before now, and been working on a fix.
But, perhaps, I would be wrong and our next Atlanta Braves Hitting Instructor – Jeff Francoeur!
Does Snit deserve any credit for how he’s handled the bullpen, or has he been slow to make adjustments?
@4
you would, wouldn’t you…
But memories of college days reaffirm the old adage – those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.
5 – I give him some credit for finally seeming to turn the page on Biddle though in truth, he was taken away by the IL so we may never know.
Tomlin and others being so successful in limited action leads one to second guess and say Tomlin should’ve been getting some of Biddle’s opportunities and he’s certainly earned them, but you also don’t know how much of Tomlin’s etc. “success” has been a byproduct of limited use and low leverage usage.
I think Snit has been too slow to change when something isn’t working especially in the bullpen. Wilson should’ve gotten much more use while he was there, Tomlin, Webb all seem to be showing they were better options than what Snit has been using.
All of that said, I and several others wanted Jackson nowhere near this team at the start of the season and he has been fantastic, so sometimes the extra faith can be rewarded.
Paul Revere, huh? Well done.
Snit is a dang good manager limited by the tools with which he is provided. Had he not extended A. J. opportunity to work out his errant ways, Braves Journal would have resounded with condemnation. A. J. was given opportunity and floundered, so Braves Journal resounds with condemnation.
Tough crowd. Good thing Snit’s tough too.
It’s not like Snit has a lot of options. I thought it was ballsy to roll like he did last night.
Snit is not anywhere close to the top of problems with this team. He was quick to drop Ender and move Albies to the top of the order.
You guys are gonna feel SO dumb when Jacob Webb saves 50 and wins ROY.
If Snitker had run Jacob Webb out in high leverage situations BEFORE every name-brand option had failed or broken themselves trying, this place would be on fire.
I loved this bit from Bowman’s game story:
“…Snitker opened the ninth with Jerry Blevins, who was acquired from the A’s in exchange for $1 on Sunday. The veteran lefty… etc.
Getting Blevins for $1 clearly tells me that the GMs make (verbal) deals with these players that if they can’t find a spot for them on their roster, they’ll get them somewhere. Or else why send somebody for $1? That just means “free to a good home”.
I wonder if Snit told AA that if Biddle is on his roster, he’ll use him. You’d have to think that Snit is not going to go down in a blaze of glory with this bucket of slop in the pen. And if AA puts garbage on the roster, Snit will use said garbage.
ESPN Baseball Tonight Buster Olney podcast featuring Max Fried tonight:
“On today’s podcast, a great conversation with the emerging Max Fried about pitching, the questions he faced after Tommy John surgery, his curveball.”
@14 Clearly, this. There is basically zero risk for Snitker to take the company car that might have faulty or no brakes and crash it. AA is the guy responsible for the car being in working shape.
The Blevins deal is a pretty good window into “inside baseball” and how management maintains friendly working relationships with players, agents, and other teams’ management. Blevins wasn’t going to stick in Oakland, so they sent him to Atlanta where he has a chance of playing, for essentially a piece of paper that says “this is a trade, no really.” That earns them good credibility with journeyman type free agents in the future, with agents of players looking for deals to stay in the game or make pensions, and other the Braves. If Atlanta sends them “something for nothing” in the next couple of years, everyone here should recall this deal before going crazy about getting “fleeced” or whatnot.
It took literally one more start for some to suggest that the rotation should include someone else (Newcomb). If they go to a six-man, that makes sense, but I’m standing by my prediction that Teheran is Wally Pipped in two months. TBF, it’s really not Wally Pipped. He’s just being passed by. If Soroka were to make 30 starts, he’s on a 6.0 bWAR pace, by the way.
Home Run Paces:
Acuna – 34
Ozzie – 34
Freddie – 29
Dansby – 29
Donaldson – 29
T-Flo: 17
Ender: 12
Kakes: 12
That’s a lot of home run power.
Though he doesn’t even have enough PAs to qualify for the batting title, Flowers is 3rd in fWAR amongst catchers. He has a little more than half of the PAs the leader (Realmuto) has, and has the fewest amongst the top 5.
Braves starter fWAR:
Last 30 days – 19th in MLB
Last 14 days – 11th in MLB
Braves reliever fWAR:
Last 30 days – 27th in MLB
Last 14 days – 29th in MLB
We’re going places. Just not places you want to go.
We should get better pitchers.
@23 We have 45 miLB pitching prospects, should be PLENTY to choose from…
FWIW, I’ve since backed off on Teheran. I had hopes that his newfound velocity would be a huge boost to his performance, but it’s not. He has bad outings and then he has outings where he’s sailing along fine before totally getting demolished. At his age and experience, I expect far fewer accidental walks to be surrendered. He is clearly and logically “the next man down”, IMO.
25 – You have just doomed Julio to pitch 7 innings of 3 hit 0 run ball tonight.
We definitely need to get more relief pitchers from Randolph and Mortimer Duke.
@26 The modern day equivalent of a 3-hit complete game shut-out. LOL
If Teheran finishes the 6th on only 3 hits, he has no doubt surrendered 4 walks as well.
@ 27,
Maybe we need Billy Ray Valentine working in the FO? He sure figured out pork bellies fast.
@24
Dear Clegman,
Hope this letter finds you well. You seem to have missed comment #21. I think that will provide some clarification to your predicament and query. ‘Cause, ya know, we did/are doing that.
Love,
Rob
@29 You mean AA wants to get the GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip for his kids this Christmas? I can hear him panicking now.
@30 Let’s see if Jacob Webb et al keep it up. Soroka is encouraging.
Matt Joyce in the line-up tonight. I wonder why Snit is willing to give Joyce some ABs, but is treating Fake Dansby like the naughty step-child. Amazing that he hasn’t had even ONE start this year. Along with Camargo, they are our two pinch-hitters most likely to come up in a big situation, and need a start every ten days or so at least, to stay sharp.
Of the 19 things that I’ve found most infuriating about the Braves this year, all 19 are the bullpen. I honestly don’t care how many starts Culberson gets.
Donaldson out with calf tightness.
@35 he must have gotten his first check.
The most perfect Julio inning…walk someone with two out, wild pitch him to second and then struggle to put away a guy hitting .210 when you get him down 1-2 who then promptly knocks him in.
Dammit Chip.
Why must Caray always make me think flyouts are going to be home runs?
@23: Am I reading that right? Worst pitching in all the majors (starting and relief combined) and easily the worst relievers in the majors?
Makes sense watching them most every night, but I can’t believe they’re actually 30 out of 30.
Dude is just good enough to not win
I would be okay with never watching Julio pitch again as an Atlanta Brave.
The ball is mega-juiced. The days of expecting our pitching to give up 2 runs a game are not coming back. 5+ runs seems like the new normal.
40 — It’s because of the walks.
@42 yep
I think Chip has a woody talking about Paddack
5 starts and Julio is replaced.
@47 I sure hope so.
At least it’s not Whingenter.
Johan has looked really bad tonight
Wish we got Kirby Yates instead of his brother Tyler.
Really Braves? What a stupid steal attempt. Way to take the bat out of Albies’ hands.
I’ve made two predictions:
1) We’d be below .500 at the end of April.
2) We’ll make the playoffs.
I haven’t been wrong yet…
I despise the steal attempt there. And I said so before he was thrown out.
Why not have just bunted with Joyce? I’m not a big fan of sacrifice bunting in most non-pitcher situations, but still would have been better than that caught stealing.
I’m not sure that was a steal attempt. It may have been a run and hit. I guess they expected Flowers to make contact. It wasn’t a bad idea, but that Mejia guy. Wow, what a throw. Anything less and Culby might have been safe.
recapped