Well, I doubt there is much I can say that anybody who saw even a little bit of this debacle or who even read an account of it doesn’t already know about the basic cause of this bad result. The Polish Prince was bad, again. The depth of his badness was so bad that Robespierre (also known as Alex Anthopoulos) sent the Prince to the guillotine. And, for the most part, the crowd cheered.
This is where the H’ard Hery Baker question, with slight alterations, becomes relevant. What did the manger and GM know and when did they know it. Obviously, they must perceive that the days of the Prince throwing over 95 mph are forever gone. Certainly with a 6 mph drop in fastball velocity you could put him on the DL and see if he can build it up. Maybe this is why they wanted to add King Felix (because the Prince wasn’t going to be able to cut it).
I watched most of the first 4 innings. Chip and Glavine were talking in the first few innings about the velocity not being there, but the control and placement were so good. I was thinking “Surely Glavine isn’t this stupid.” And all he said back was “don’t call me Shirley.”
The Braves got one off of Glasnow, a solo shot from Dansby in the second. Maybe the 120 – 130 OPS + version of Dansby will stick around this year. Otherwise, everything we got came off of Mr. Beeks. I guess he is still in the cage with the gorilla after all of these years.
The final placement of the Braves this year now solely falls on the “young arms.” Either they step up a bunch, or this could get ugly. We get to see one tonight. How about it Kyle Wright?
Nice Trading Places reference. That and Dansby are all that really went right tonight
One of my favorite movies. AA as the gorilla?
Quick hook for Rob: great write-up though.
Thank you both.
It’s totally possible Folty sat on his duff during the lockdown and is not in any shape to compete in MLB right now. If that’s the case, well, you’re not paid $6M to eat Cheetos and watch Netflix. I’m fond of him and a little surprised by the Braves’ swiftness in jettisoning him, but it’s hard to really blame them.
Cliff, thank you. This game did not deserve your superb recap. Bravo!
Folty worked out at Suntrust with several players between 1.0 and 2.0. For me, this is telling:
https://twitter.com/bravesstanpage/status/1287951594659745792?s=21
If I understand the rules correctly, The Prince will either have to waive about 2 million in pay in search of another team or accept assignment to Gwinnett.
There may be an arm health issue or another health issue. But if it is a health issue, why not use the DL? I guess Folty could have filed a grievance, but that would be on him.
Not saying this to start a rumor, but there is some speculation that his weight loss and subsequent loss in velocity are related to a personal issue, possibly even drugs. I’ve seen no reliable sources suggesting it’s drugs, though, but if it was then the DFA makes sense in conjunction with his career trajectory.
The obvious question that can be asked with Folty’s weight loss is, does this have to do with drugs or alcohol? I don’t want to spread rumors and I don’t think others do, but this leads to a bigger question for me. I’m not sure about screening for alcohol, but with all the COVID-19 testing, hasn’t everyone been tested for drugs also? It just seems like it should be easy to rule drugs out as an issue. I hope and think that will be the case. Any of you guys have insight?
Type 1 diabetes? I was diagnosed at age 20 and I dropped 15 pounds in one week.
@8 Are you my long lost twin?
Don’t forget the thyroid.
@3 From The Athletic. Seems like it’s not due to him not staying in shape during the lockdown:
“The Braves never had any complaints about Foltynewicz’s desire or work habits. He spent the recent 3 ½-month baseball shutdown throwing about six days per week with Braves starting pitchers Mike Soroka and Sean Newcomb, including weekly bullpen and live batting practice sessions.
“It’s not like he wasn’t getting after it,” Snitker said. “It’s just not happening for whatever reason.”
@12 – that sure seems strange. Gotta be something missing from the story. Especially given Folty’s defensiveness and public comments.
Hate it for him. I really do. But at least he’s made some money to see him through for a while. A lot of folks would love to have a small fraction of what he’s made.
Plus, ya never know – – I bet he’ll get another shot at some point.
I look forward to his 2023 career revival, and I like Minnesota for it.
@14 – will we be kicking ourselves for it, sansho?
Four more Marlins players are COVID-19 positive, bringing the total to 15 players.
#16
Whose bright idea was it to let the players decide if they wanted to play on Sunday? Mattingly’s?
Folty to the Marlins?
I genuinely don’t see how a team will knowingly sign a gaunt Folty throwing 90MPH and puts him on their major league roster. Are even the Marlins so desperate that’ll sign a guy who’s just going to get hit around now that the entire league knows his arm is no bueno?
@17
That is the truly damning decision that’s come out of this whole thing so far.
I think that, even if the Marlins have to be completely shut down, the season will go on and they’ll figure out how to work it out. However, if the Phillies were to have an outbreak on their team, too, it’s much much more uncertain.
If MLB somehow gets out of this mess without the Phillies suffering a major outbreak after that brain-dead decision, they’re lucky as hell.
@15 Most certainly!
This doesn’t make sense…
@22
Certainly kind of weird, but it’s probably possible that he has contracted the virus but that there isn’t much in his system. Given he just tested positive on Thursday, I wouldn’t have been expecting to come back within a week, though, if I were him. I know it’s easy for me to say, but he should probably chill and assume that he’s not gonna be cleared until next week at the earliest.
@22 That gives me so much confidence on multiple things.
My wife has a big problem with not all of her nurses administering the test properly. Some are going just barely into the nostril (“just the tip”… ladies, act like ladies) and some are (rightly) going deep into the cavity, which is uncomfortable but increases accuracy. So that’s creating false positives and negatives. Then you have the people that are supposed to be getting tested continuously but don’t want to test positive so they’re telling the test administrator to just do the nostril. This is an imperfect system. Was Soto ever even positive to begin with? How many of these positives are even showing symptoms and could be false positives? We just don’t know.
The WNBA ladies’ “bubble” is at the hotel that they moved my wife’s crew to (how ironic). You never see the players. They stay in their rooms, they don’t go to the pool, and I would assume they’re not going all around the city. They’re doing it right. Just put your head down, play your season, and move on. I don’t know why the male players don’t get this. I guess the wings must be really good at these strip clubs…
Shut the farce down.
Nationals “vote” to not play against the Marlins…
This is a joke.
DOB is writing that they won’t release Folty. So either a trade or outright to Gwinnett.
Don’t shut anything down, yet. Life has felt better the past few days. I’d like to hang on to that.
If they want to keep Folty why didn’t they just put him on the IL? Losing over 5 miles on your average fastball has to be indicative of some kind of injury doesn’t it?
@ 29,
Agreed, but that does make the dark rumors seem more likely. Like he has lowered physical capability because of some intentional (out of control) ingestion of something. Not “the MRI shows some big crap in his shoulder joint.”
As to the positive comments of Snitker about how hard Folty was trying, Snit isn’t the type to throw somebody under the bus in their dirty linen. You know, Don Henley drew that line.
@29 They probably don’t think he can be “fixed” within the next two months.
They need to stop testing so much so these folks won’t be positive and we won’t have to stop baseball…
He also said in a tweet right before this one that only one Phillies staff member has come back positive so far, no players. Seems pretty likely that staff member was a visiting clubhouse attendant.
@25 I get tested every week for work. The first week was the test that went deep into the nasal cavity that was done by one of the nurses and was very uncomfortable. The “new” test only calls for a swab an inch into the nostril and is completed by me. I have a really hard time trying to understand how one could be as reliable as the other, but the second test is far easier
Chief, it’s not without precedent that players will communicate collectively to the FO to say that they don’t want to play in a certain place due to safety. David Samson on his show today so that the Marlins players asked to not play in San Juan some years back due to the Zika virus.
So, ya know, you’re once again using your just trying to manipulate the facts to justify your position.
@34 Yeah, they’re opening up self-swab lanes at a lot of these testing sites. Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to go well. But the state of Florida is having to pay these travel nurses almost triple digits per hour, so I guess I can see them wanting to cut costs…
Predictions for which young pitcher will step up this year (assuming the season continues)? I’m going to say Touki turns a corner. He’s wild at times but he seems to have a good mind for pitching, and really good stuff.
@36 Oh I get it. It just makes it tough to understand how they could produce the same result but I am not a Doctor, so…
@37–I’ll predict Wright. Not so much because I expect it but because the Braves really need him to. Big start for him tonight.
@37 I’d bet Touki is closer to being traded/released/demoted than he is to turning a corner.
755 is real podcast just came out and EOF and DOB discussing Folty and his weight. Interesting insights from EOF.
@40 – Unfortunately I may have to agree with you on this. Last night Touki pitched like someone who is a long way from figuring it out. It just seems like at this point in his progression that he would have developed some sort of consistency. Maybe it will all come together instantaneously, but it just appeared to me last night that he has a long way to go.
As far as the other stuff goes, I don’t think I could disagree with you more. We’ve already shut down the economy once and it seemed to put off the inevitable without solving anything. I think we have to go on with life and take precautions, but we can’t keep shutting everything down. Major League Baseball is a business and by definition, their goal is to make a profit. It’s also a great diversion for many. I’m glad thy’re trying to play the season and hope it will work out. Time will tell, but so far the product on the field has been fine with the exception of Folty, Touki, and Acuna. Let’s hope RAJ breaks out in a big way tonight.
I’d say it’s a good thing this shortened season has a trade window, because we’re probably gonna need it to bolster the rotation. We need two of Newcomb, Chacin, Wright, Wilson and Touissant (or I guess Anderson and Davidson), to step up and give us something, and I’m afraid to say two of those guys doing that just doesn’t seem likely when the vast majority have had numerous chances for us and never have.
Game thread and Folty story by Rob!
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/07/28/rays-12-braves-5-no-mas-folty/