It is not in every life that one is in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” see Jacqueline Kennedy walk into Parkland Hospital, work as a session musician, become famous as a musician in your own right. But Michael (formerly Marvin) Lee Aday added his great voice to a great common street phrase and made some serious jack. But for us, losing 2 out of 3 is bad.
Once again Charlie Morton wasn’t quite there. Does it really seem possible that he and Ian Anderson are competing for low man on the totem pole? And I guess I extended the cultural appropriation narrative a little farther there, but if you haven’t seen the park in Sitka with Tlingit totem poles, you need to visit it.
Well, Eduardo Escobar got it started with a solo shot in the second. Not a problem. Then, Francisco Lindo hit one with two on in the 3rd. Now, it is a problem. Mark Canha hit another HR in 6. So, it is 5 to 0.
A little bit of a wake up from here. But it was too little too late. So, it ends 7 to 3.
Came into the series down 1.5 and went out down 2.5. I think this team is physically tired. Time to regroup and go see if we still have the Natinals number. The break next week is coming at a good time.
I was going to post this before the game, but I didn’t for whatever reason. No matter how hot we are, no matter who’s pitching for either team, no matter how good or bad the other team is, I never have a high degree of confidence for us winning a day game. I’m sure the numbers for day games are consistent with other numbers, but from an expectation point for me, it just never seems to work out as expected.
Well, Eddie Rosario had a good day… 3 for 4 with 2 doubles & a HR, all scorched.
Now we have 4 games in D.C., while the Mets have 4 in Wrigleyville. Would be surprised if either club picked up more than 1 game before the ASB. Sure hope it’s us.
And, of course, a dozen more games with this bunch.
Marcell Ozuna has become a problem. He’s become a problem because he sucks, can’t play a decent OF, and clogs up the DH position. If he weren’t there, the Braves could:
•Utilize the DH to give Acuña a break from the OF.
•Allow for more PAs from William Contreras
•Grab another LH bat without wondering where said player would play.
Just for poops and laughs, let’s say the Braves big trade deadline additions were Ian Happ and David Robertson and found a way to get rid of Ozuna. The team would be so flexible on offense. There’d be room for any of the following:
•A full LHH OF with Acuña at DH to rest legs
•Contreras and D’Arnaud splitting time between C and DH.
•Duvall and Rosario become a true platoon.
Against LHP:
1. Acuña
2. Dansby
3. Olson
4. Riley
5. Contreras (DH)
6. d’Arnaud (C)
7. Duvall (LF)
8. Arcia
9. Harris
Against RHP:
1. Acuña (DH)
2. Dansby
3. Olson
4. Riley
5. Rosario
6. D’Arnaud/Contreras
7. Happ
8. Harris
9. Cano
I’m writing about this tomorrow.
Well, as a series where one team was likely to only gain a game on the other, the real goal for maximum impact was to sweep and the only thing you absolutely could not do was get swept. Sweeping them went out the window early, but we didn’t get swept, so that’s a plus…we only lost a game in the standings. We lost two games versus where we could’ve been had we taken the series from them, but we at least didn’t turn a bad series into a disaster. There’s plenty of season left and plenty of head-to-head games with them left.
Their pitching was good, and it wasn’t just Scherzer. Outside of a couple innings last night, we got next to nothing offensively this whole series.
Maybe the Mets will be the tired ones and we can gain something. The Mets seem to be better against better teams so they may stumble against the Cubs. The Braves have been doing better at pasting bad teams.
@2 I hope today portends good things for Eddie. Two doubles and a HR was more like last year.
Perfectly put into perspective, Nick @4.
The offense looked tired. They could use some time off.
Agree with Rob that Ozuna’s a problem, but at this point they kind of need to keep running him out there until they’ve figured just how deep a hole they’re in with his sunk cost. They’d rather not just cut him a la Cano. But at this point I’m not ruling it out. That extension is looking Chris Johnsonesque.
@7 I think his lack of playability in the outfield is such a huge issue as well as it completely stifles the flexibility to give guys time off. Cutting him when we already have in house options that we are playing isn’t the worst thing to do. I would understand if we had to go get someone to assume his role but we don’t. Playing him because of the contract is detrimental to the team.
I mean, you don’t have to completely cut Ozuna if they can’t find takers for his contract, they could just demote him to a bench bat. Better than Ford or Gosselin or Cano at offense, at least.
I think they will give him more time to get it going, but will eventually just eat the contract.
Imagine all the intangibles Ozuna could bring to a young, rebuilding team.
@11 I don’t think he would have the Terry Pendleton/Nick Markakis type effect though
@ 12 No, but he would know where all the best strip joints were. Also, he could help the younguns perfect their signature home run struts. And advise on handling woman problems.
I ribbed Andruw Jones on Twitter once about the Gold Club and he clapped back at me.
@7: “The offense looked tired. They [all] could use some time off.” Unfortunately…. won’t happen. Though Ozuna will get some rest.
Nothing wrong with the Braves bats that Erick Fedde and Patrick Corbin can’t fix
I don’t necessarily begrudge people who might feel differently, because I know intellectually that baseball’s domestic violence issues are far larger than just one person, but as someone who wishes we would’ve cut bait on Ozuna during the offseason (I still can’t see him at bat and wish for anything other than a strikeout… which is a weird way to cheer for your favorite team!), I would be delighted at your scenario @3.
I’d guess the Braves cut ties with Ozuna after this season, either eating the contract or some other way.
His skills have rapidly eroded. I’m 47 years old and I could play LF better than him, today. He can still hit the ball hard but his OBP and impatience has gotten really unsustainable. If he was a passable OF you could probably swallow his stat line but he’s a butcher.
Marcell Ozuna has negative value, and he’s owed $16M this year and $18M the next 2 years, so he’s not going anywhere whatsoever. And if you did trade him, you’d be trading for someone that you would hope could give you the production that we all hoped Ozuna would give, like a .800-.850 OPS.
The bottom line is that Ozuna is just going to have to hit like a DH making $16-18M. The average wRC+ for a DH right now is between 108 and 120. That’s where he needs to get. Of course, he’s not going to do that, so he’s going to be sunk value until he’s owed little enough where he just gets released. And about two months before that, you’ll start hearing leaks about how he doesn’t work hard, he has a bad attitude, and everybody hates him. But that’s not going to happen for two years. In the meantime, we get to watch him desperately struggle to have a .750 OPS while he puts on even more weight.
Ozuna is the rare corner outfielder who looks like he’s tiptoeing on eggshells while taking a bad route to the ball, then throwing it like it’s covered in grease (on one hop) to the cutoff man.
As they say, the ball seems to find him.
Our old buddy Anibal is pitching against us tonight. Didn’t know he still played. Looks like he was on the DL and this will be his first game this year. The bats will wake up again tonight.
This is cool as hell: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/what-separates-spencer-strider-from-hunter-greene/
Also, I can’t disagree with CPH @17 on the degree to which Marcell’s domestic violence charges make it a lot harder to root for him in general.
Apart from that, Statcast seems to suggest that he’s maybe not completely toast, at least from a bat speed point of view. The reason the Braves targeted him in the first place was his tendency to hit the ball extremely hard. And, per the Statcast dashboard, he is continuing to do so.
He’s 15th in baseball in Barrel%, a nose ahead of Julio Rodriguez. He’s 26th in baseball in HardHit%, a nose ahead of Freddie Freeman. And, craziest of all to me, he’s 37th in xwOBA, at .372, tied with Mookie Betts. However, his actual real-life wOBA is only .304, and his 68-point gap between expected and actual wOBA is the second-highest in baseball, behind only Corey Seager, whose xwOBA is .408 and actual wOBA is just .336.
Of course, it isn’t all bad luck. But all of those numbers are another reason the Braves won’t cut bait any time soon.
@22 he has hit the ball hard and has had some big hits. It is just that his command of the strike zone (or lack thereof) is what seems like the problem to me. He gets the count to 2-0 and then swings at three straight sliders in the dirt for a strikeout, probably with men in scoring position and less than two outs as well. He can still barrel a ball but it seems like he has so many empty trips in key situations with strikeouts or double plays.
I posted the other day Ozuna’s splits since around the beginning of June, which were around an .800 OPS.
Adam Duvall has a .581 OPS vs RHP this season (the vast majority of his PAs this season), and a .864 OPS vs LHP. A strict platoon with Rosario may do him some good.
Also, for his career, Rosario has an .803 OPS vs RHP, and a .699 OPS vs LHP.
The Giants are 12 games out in the West and while only one game out of the Wild Card, it seems unlikely they make it. I would personally love a Joc reunion but his price will probably be higher than last year.
New thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2022/07/14/ozuna-than-later-can-braves-dump-marcell/
Charlie, Charlie, you are complimenting the Mets while criticizing the Braves. Bottom line is you feel you would have better sucess against the Braves. A team that has no patience and seeks the long ball TOO often. You are correct, but how many teammates where hip to that?
Let’s hope sooner. Oh you thought his phoney abbreviated stats where real.
No, no ,no a player is what a player is. Wait till 162 are in the books. Please.