At one point a few years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Chavez Ravine had gone 8 years without a game being rained out. Basically, the prevailing westerlies blow across the cold Pacific current (go to Malibu in June and stick your toes in the water and any of you southeasterners will jump back and holler) and then cross the officially desert landscape and the relative humidity drops like a rock, so no rain. When the land cools from December to March, then it rains. Not the rest of the year. That was about the most positive relevant thing I could write about today.
First, this is the second time I was at work needing to work while my assigned game was on. That didn’t happen on Mondays (well, maybe on Labor Day or Memorial Day).
So, for some of you, I can provide you with great insight because you were working also. For others, you can provide me with better insight. On to the relevant facts and consequences.
Among other insights, the Shakey Town crowd was only .111 with RISP and the Braves were 50%. That 50% was 1 of 2. When you get 2 plate appearances with risp in one game, you usually don’t score a lot of runs.
Charlie Morton gave up 4 earned runs in 5 and a third. 2 homeruns including one by “he who shall not be named.” Well, a starter giving up 4 that quick makes the WPA score real low for the Braves unless they are really putting on an offensive show. Well, they did put on an “offensive show”. but as in “that which offends” not as in “that which puts crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
This year the Mets may not Mets. So, the fiddling around doesn’t need to go on much longer. Shout out to Marcell Ozuna who pushed one in on a double, but that was in the 9th. All that did was get the goose egg out of the box score in the papers (wait, do they still have those? Does anybody read those?). No Goose Egg in the scores page on espn.com. Yeah, that is it.
Woof.
cliff: actually watching it improved it not one bit. I shoulda stuck with the recap. Still: a 3-4 West Coast trip ain’t the worst thing in the world.
It’s early.
Radio folks: Jim Powell will be on some upcoming games. Joe Simpson is staying in SoCal a little longer to visit family.
I wasn’t expecting that.
EOF has banged the change-of-scenery drum for Newcomb for a while. Good luck, pal, and good riddance.
Welcome back Jesse. If you come close to giving us what you did last year, I’ll be ecstatic. I wish Newcomb well and agree a change of scenery may help.
Ok, that’s hilarious.
I definitely did not think the saga of Sean Newcomb would end with him being traded for Jesse Chavez. But I’ll take it.
That is a surprise since Chavez could have been signed easily over the winter (a la O’Day). If they have to put him on the 28-man roster then someone has to go back to AAA. Lee? Touki? I have trouble believing they would keep both Chavez and O’Day at the same time. And when we have to go to 26, they certainly can’t. So many low level reasonable performing relievers (including Webb) but Thornburg, Stephens, Touki, Lee, Ynoa, O’Day, and now Chavez. If you feel like Jansen, Smith, Minter, Matzek, Strider are the core of the relievers and expect Yates to be added (and Jay Jackson?), that leaves only two spots for seven pitchers. I’d say relief depth is not a problem. I think the starting pitching will come around, hiccups by all of Fried, Morton, and Anderson notwithstanding.
I’d rather the team catch fire in July, Aug, and Sept rather than April and May. Seems to be our recent history anyway. Much better than collapsing in September (for those of you who remember).
Two memories of Sean. The obvious, the not so.
The near no hitter against, of course -had to be -the Dodgers. Sometimes life’s vagaries can be brutal, he will have been all too aware of that in Game one the other night missing as he was so much off his fastball. With what to take its place? That he could command even to a reasonable extent?
The second recall is more-well -precious if you like, likely missed by many here, the very first pitch he threw as an Atlanta Brave. We were over excited to see this massive arm, the stuff of hype if not legend, that he threw at 100 plus plus. Heady to us, those days.This is what allowed Simba to be extracted away against the wishes of so many shocked souls.
So, on debut day, at home, most expected nothing other than the heat, the flame, to be his first pitch. To show us what we didn’t have the day before. At this juncture no one was likely to care that much about the finer points of control, let alone command on that one. Just bring it. Closish, somewhere, would do fine.
Instead. What we got was the other extreme. A high, very high looping lapolonza of a slow, very slow curveball which eventually dropped down onto the fine edge of the zone where the hitter, who had also read the hype, froze.
So brave, that’s my point. It would have been so much easier/safer to chuck it. For the first, his very first, he wanted to show us he could pitch too.
Sometimes the vagaries of these waiver-wire trades are lost on me. How is it that we got both Jesse Chavez and cash in exchange for a pitcher we, by rule, had to offer to everyone for free? Perhaps the Cubs weren’t first in line among waiver claims and this vaulted them to the top, I guess?
@12 I assume that Newk was paid less than Chavez and the cash was to balance the transaction (probably a pretty small amount). But, yes, to get preferential choice, the Cubs would have to make a trade or wait until the end of the waiver process to see if they got him. If they get him via waivers alone then they have to pay both Newk and Chavez. This way they only pay the same amount they were already paying for Chavez.
So, again, I presume Demeritte goes down for Acuna. That will leave us with 13 players and 15 pitchers. If we have to go down to 26 with 13 pitchers max on May 1st, then 2 pitchers have to go out. If we presume that Wright, Elder, and Strider have done enough to stay then two of O’Day, Chavez, Thornburg, and Stephens has to go (no options among them). They may play games with the 5th starter slot (or the 5th, too). They could rotate starters between Wright, Elder, Davidson, Muller, Ynoa.
@13
Ah, I see my mistake now. I was only thinking in terms of players in and out, and was missing money in and out.
I didn’t realize a newly-signed FA could be traded this early in the season.
@16 I think they got rid of that rule a while ago.
14 — Stephens is JAG, so I would anticipate him being one of the 2. No idea on the other unless someone gets hurt and has to go to the IL between now and then.
A preview for a Nolan Ryan doc… looks interesting…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsZbqhPgTeg
When I see JAG, I think of Lt. Daniel Kaffee.
I wonder if they plan to use Chavez as an opener. He did a darn good job of that last year. Right now I think our rotation is Fried, Morton, Anderson, Wright and whoever sticks at the 5th starter spot.
Funny Radio Moment Today: Miguel Cabrera came to the plate in the 8th inning with a chance to get hit #3,000 in front of a home crowd. But the Yankees, with a 2-on/2-out situation and a base open, decided to intentionally walk him.
The Motown faithful was less than amused & made its feelings heard with a hearty “Yankees Suck” chant… but I’ll bet Tigers’ ownership/management (with another home series this weekend) wasn’t upset in the slightest.
@20 me as well
@18 you may be right but I think they are trying to catch another “Matzek-in-a-bottle” with Stephens. He was the best pitcher in Venezuela recently.
Mets look to be the class of the East this year .. deep starting pitching and added Marte and a couple pieces .. hate to admit but they are hungry .. we are complacent
@25 – Sounds like last year except last year was much worse for us and the Mets were thought to be even better than they are this year. People keep forgetting that the Mets are the Mets.
@22
Yes, scrolling through what games were underway when we were not I got charmed enough to stay by the Tigers 3 man tv crew – only name there that meant anything to me was Gibson…but they so manifestly were enjoying each other’s company, knew the game and its proponents to a t, no personal grandstanding hubris with their colleagues, found myself staying for the rest of the game and thus ububba’s reference to the faux Miggy climax which all concerned, though definitely worthy of a boo, was going to be rerun tomorrow for their futher edification.
Looking at him in his dotage isn’t that the most natural, the most pleasant smile in baseball – even as he was walked by the Yanks preempting his three thousandth hit. Great scrolling bonus for me, the whole caboodle.
Looking back at the Dodgers series with its specific first basemen animus, however friendly, Freddie sure did a job on Matt did he not. Drove in all the runs they were to need to win the first game in his first at bat. Major contributions in game three created an early comfort edge for his team which they maintained throughout.
Poor old Matt couldn’t begin to compete with that, much as surely he tried. One more series Matt, down the road, at our place, mark the calendar!
@27 Matt Shepherd does a nice job as play by play guy and Kirk Gibson is pretty good when he is able to be in the booth due to his Parkinsons.
I’m looking forward to seeing Soler back in Truist, and to seeing him get that ring… although I’m a little scared of what he’s going to do to the left-field bleachers!
Tonight’s game will be the first in Braves history where their opponent is headed and run by a woman.
Cherchez la femme again then. She has comprehensively despatched Jeter likely to the very margins of the baseball world.
She is also, in the words of the popular song ‘pretty, witty and bright’
And doubtless does indeed ‘pity anyone who isn’t me tonight.’
Tonight it will be then… Madame NG…in search of her first ring.
Jeter was ownership, and Kim Ng is management. She worked for him; I strongly doubt she could or would have had any influence on his decision to bug out. Seems likelier that he lost a power play with the other owners.
Tonight would be a great time to get Demeritte a start. I’d rather see him get a chance than have both Heredia and Arcia in there.
@32
Sounds more likely that way maybe…ever the romantic, me…
but i have just come up with a teacher’s aid to remember what she does… NG is GM … clever eh?
She is apparently, by all accounts, a very bright bulb.
Arcia’s one of the hottest Braves’ hitters, and Heredia has infinitely many more home runs this season than Dansby, in one-third of the at-bats. (I know that’s a meaningless stat and a wild extrapolation, it’s just funny.) Heredia’s defense is worth his slightly-below-average bat, especially when the fielding alternatives are Rosario and Ozuna, and Arcia’s managed to remain SOLID defensively while wildly exceeding expectations at the plate. I for one do not mind seeing Arcia and Heredia both in the lineup tonight! But I’m fine with Rosario as well. Riley did come off the paternity list earlier this morning. I imagine we’ll see the “standard” lineup today:
SP Wright
I want them to sit Dansby a little bit over this home-stretch, but I’m not optimistic they will.
Well, I got the top-4 right… but man, this is VERY different…
We need Ronnie back. This lineup sucks.
That’s a white flag.
All we did was give Duvall a day off; it’s not like he’s been tearing it up or anything.
Wasn’t the whole purpose of bringing up Demeritte so that he could serve as a backup to Riley? And isn’t Riley back? I know Duvall’s been off to a slow start offensively, but he is a SOLID center fielder. I really got no objections to Heredia and Arcia in the lineup, not when Heredia’s solid defensively and Arcia’s making the best contact on the team right now, but this is just a head-scratchin’ lineup to roll out following an off day. I guess you can always PH Duvall and Rosario…
Please, for the love of god, if you’re going to sit one of the fielders, it should be Dansby. Or let the pitchers hit for themselves and DH for Dansby. I love Dansby so much, but you can’t let that lineup spot become a permanent black hole every game.
At this point they should start auctioning off Dansby’s spot in the lineup so fans can participate. Make a fun, profitable event out of it; let fans do it blindfolded, holding the bat upside-down, with a hockey stick, wielding a large carrot, or something else fun and creative. Or let a different Make-A-Wish kid bat in Swansby’s place every night; at this point it won’t make a difference.
@41 everybody says that until he gets hot (like every year) and hits like .340 for a month and his average ends up where it always has been. He isn’t the only one struggling but he is the one most people love to pile on. Rosario and Duvall have done the lineup very few favors as well but at least Dansby and Duvall play good defense. Rosario is a black hole on both ends.
When is Soroka scheduled to be evaluated again? Anybody know?
I think this is a bit of an audition for Demeritte as a utilityman. He’s been too good for Triple A.
Also, I’m not sure Demeritte can play the infield anymore outside of an emergency. He has been a full time outfielder since 2017.
All Demeritte has to do is run into a few fastballs, and he’ll have all the playing time in the world to stick as a backup outfielder considering how bad our OF has been. But yes, braves14, I don’t think he’s an infielder any more at all.
@43, they’re hoping for August, I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago.
I’m at the ballpark. Surprised to see that many Riley Shirts, it’s RAJ and then him. Dansby will break out of this as he always is. Might as well be tonight.
Go Braves!
Kyle Wright is his name. Awesome ovation for Soler.
@47 – Hope you have a great weekend.
Kyle Wright is silencing this critic.
Wright is filthy tonight. May all his starts be against the fish!
Standing ovation.
Staff Ace Kyle Wright
That was awful, Blue.
The ump has been awful calling balls and strikes all night.
“Breaking ball… BASE HIT into right center into the right field corner…” Chip Caray: maestro of the topologically impossible.
Recapped