Last night, we drew a collective breath as Ronald Acuna Jr. took a 100+MPH of exit velo off the ankle. Flashbacks of what happened to Johan Camargo ran through Braves fans heads, but a day later and he’s good to go! That’s the biggest Braves Roster news of the day, but I cannot help but smile and hope that some of the Braves woes in starting pitching will get better by subtraction.
Apparently Sean Newcomb is here to be in the bullpen and that’s probably the right move, but if I were GM, I’d give him one more look in the rotation before making that call.
Braves Roster News: The Starters Align
Anytime I see Touki Toussaint‘s name listed as starter, I get excited for what could be. Hopefully he corrected his mechanics…again, and we can get the Touki that was here in early August. Cole Hamels will make his Braves debut exactly 2 weeks before the end of the season. Realistically, Hamels will get paid 6.7 MM for <20 innings of work. He better kick some ass in the playoffs.
Braves Roster News: The Lineup
Ian Anderson takes the mound tonight and he’s been really good when he’s not throwing a baseball 8 feet over Freddie Freeman‘s head. The cure for a bad loss is always a good win. Get at it, men.
Kyle Wright will be starting tomorrow. If you missed it, check out Jeremy Timmerman’s piece on him here.
Not sure about that check swing K for RAJ
Throw bloody strikes! If they hit them, they hit them. But throw bloody strikes and believe in your pitches!
Heckuva job pitching out of that mess by Anderson. I like the chops on the kid finding his stuff on the fly
Oh… the time when baseball conversation is stolen by college football.
Truly remarkable to see what a competent pitcher could look like.
We joke about Chip’s compulsion to talk about qualifying for the win, but it is devolving to the point where simply qualifying is actually an achievement worth remarking on.
Another fine outing for Anderson. Please don’t push it, Snit.
Edit: Will Smith is not who I had in mind to replace him.
How can you not love Anderson after this performance taking us back to his first two. If he gets just a little more control, some complete games might be in our future.
They won’t, but they should send him back out for another.
@8 – They’re not, but only because letting a pitcher throw a complete game is now a felony in 10 states, or so I’m told.
UPDATE: Yes! They let him come back out!
Melancon, Greene, Martin, and Matzek are probably unavailable tonight.
Minter and O’Day will probably be the 8th and 9th inning guys tonight.
Honestly, they should probably let him come back out for the eighth, too. He is cruising…let him go until he gives up a baserunner, at least. I guess we’re now at least to the point where I understand why they would take him out, unlike an inning ago.
Will Smith…not the choice for high leverage
Greene is out surprisingly for the 3rd day in a row.
Why not Minter here?
Just had to look it up and Melancon has 9 K’s in 16+ innings this year. Is that OK for your closer? Maybe why he has so few clean innings?
Whew!
@15–the problem with a pitch to contact guy like Melancon is that he will give up hits, like the two infield hits tonight. OTOH, he has great control and his cutter and curve move a lot. So he rarely gives up hard hit balls.
Let’s hear it for Will Smith. Great job against Soto. We could use him down the stretch and in the playoffs.
15 — You are right.
Grant Dayton pitched last night when it normally would have been Minter next, and Smith pitched in what would have been Minter’s logical place tonight. Hope nothing is wrong.
SSS, but Anderson has the look of someone who will be a really successful major league pitcher. From StatCast, his barrel % is elite so far, despite his CH not having great break. But he just seems to possess something our other prospects lack, namely feel. Pitching is ultimately deception and it’s really hard to tell what speed the ball is out of his hand, at least as a viewer at home.
There’s been a lot of concern over pitching development — and God, how could you not be with this carnage — but Fried, Soroka and Anderson is a pretty good showing post rebuild. If they could land someone like Stroman on a one-year deal or actually make a trade next year could be really special.
David Lee breaks down Wright’s mechanical issues pretty well and I think those are correctable; Touki is probably destined for the bullpen or trade bait; Bryce doesn’t have any secondaries and without I’m not sure he’s viable for any role.
Anderson’s ability to push through that stretch where he lost feel and come back to dominate mid-game is something most of our pitching prospects haven’t been able to do. Bravo. He’s a joy to watch.
@20
Smith is almost certainly ahead of Minter on the bullpen depth chart.
He really hasn’t been since he came back from COVID.
I agree that Minter has pitched better, but ask Snit which of the two is his top lefty out of the bullpen and his answer’s gonna be Smith.
Another great recap from Alan.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2020/09/13/braves-eke-out-2-1-win-in-washington-behind-ian-andersons-brilliant-start/