Possibly the worst loss of the season. The only other game that really compares is the 10-2 loss to the Padres on April 9, but that was early and this is midseason. Cade’s precis of the first game, sadly, wasn’t too far off: “Shaky starting pitching and a leaky bullpen ultimately led to a Braves loss in Monday’s contest.”
Once again, a rookie came up and stymied the bats; once again, sloppy play on the field put us behind the eight-ball; once again, the bullpen allowed things to go from bad to worse as Snitker had to conserve his better arms.
Spencer Strider struck out eleven men, but he gave up a run in the first on a leadoff double to Mookie Betts followed by an RBI single by Will Smith, and a solo shot to Jason Heyward, who ambushed a fastball; two more runs scored in the second after Matt Olson embarrassingly Buckner’d a groundball, and Will Smith hit another RBI double. You can’t really blame Spencer for this one; he wasn’t perfect, but he was generally very good. (On the other hand, you just might be able to blame Ozuna, who clearly ticked off Smith something fierce.)
Unfortunately, the highlights of this game are really Dodger highlights. The fresher making his debut was a fireballer named Bobby Miller, whose very first pitch touched 100 on the gun. He needed 95 pitches to go five innings, but he allowed a single run on just four hits and one walk, so it certainly qualifies as a successful first impression. More impressive were the four no-hit innings by the Dodger bullpen. Last night’s lineup saw Sam Hilliard in for Michael Harris, turning in an ohfer; Marcell Ozuna at DH, doing the same; Eddie Rosario in left, matching their efforts.
There aren’t many conclusions worth drawing from a stinker in May. I’m no more worried about this team than I was a day ago. Mark Bowman didn’t focus too much on last night’s game in his recap, devoting much of the text and half of the headline to excitement about Mike Soroka’s latest rehab start, in which he fanned eight while recording six effective innings on 97 pitches. That’s nice, but it doesn’t change things either. It is a long, long summer.
What this team needs is what it’s needed all along: more offense out of the outfield, including Michael Harris breaking out of his season-long slump; more pitching in the rotation; more help in the bullpen. Being in first place limits the urgency of each of these needs. It’s the opposite of the three-month-long stretch run last year, where the effort to catch the Mets clearly left the whole team plum tuckered out with hardly anything left in October.
Giving a day’s rest to Harris so he can get a reset is a good idea. So might be an occasional off day for Riley and Olson, too. Both are clearly pressing, as you can tell from their postgame quotes, and both have played every single one of the Braves’ games. Snitker has the pulse of the clubhouse and the unwavering trust of his players, so I am sure he will get the best from them as he always does. But this is a team that feels like it’s in its summer doldrums. The June Swoon just came a week early.
Let’s get ’em tonight.
My skepticism continues unabated.
I don’t think any team can withstand two of its top three starters being out. I have no idea what the prognosis is, but I think you have to assume both will miss significant time. There’s nobody any good that you can sign right now. We don’t have much to trade. We have maybe a couple of arms in the minors, plus wildcard-Soroka, that we can audition. Gonna be an interesting summer. I don’t envy AA.
I just read over on the Battery Power blog that the Braves are now 1-8 in games where they don’t hit a homer, and 28-11 when they do hit a homer.
Hit some dingers tonight, boys.
If we were entering the playoffs with this group I would be right there with you, Chief. But we’re not going to be (at least I certainly hope not), so I think it’s kind of tough to sit here and say losing to the Dodgers in May means we’re a paper tiger. And if you’re saying that this lineup is undercooked, I don’t think I agree with you there. I used to think more like you when we were laying an egg in a playoff preview series, and then we won the World Series in a non-flukish manner after playing like utter crap for the first four (and a half?) months of the season.
This series has certainly been frustrating so far, though, I’ll give you that.
AA is remarkably patient in the offseason and stays that way until the season’s midpoint. He knows there are holes, but also knows what the cost would be to fill those holes early on. He could likely trade for a guy right now that could fill the back end, but its very unlikely that he’ll do it until at least late June. I think we are in this as is for another month, or until he chooses to give another AAA player a start. After his last start, my money is on Mike Soroka making a start in the first game of the Oakland series. He looked ready his last time out.
Sometimes i feel sorrier for the recapper than the team.
Thanks, man.
Want to do any fun number crunching on the above? What’s the base rate for team wins with a homer versus losses without a homer?
I did that once years ago. Will do.
Sometimes, when I don’t get to watch the game, I’ll come on here and see if I can guess how things went based on skimming the comments before checking the score.
It’s an inexact science, but it tends to involve a little, uh, unskewing…
A little grumbling about defense or bullpen usage = we won the game
More comments from Putter or Our New Insect Overlords than from other commenters = we lost the game
Chief shows up, and/or sentiments along the lines of “This team has flaws” = we lost consecutive games or maybe even a series
Prevailing sentiments such as “We’re not a playoff team” = we lost consecutive series
Bill Eadwards shows up, things are really dire.
I’m getting a little fed up with the negativity for a 1st place team. Things are SO much better this year than last year at this time. People complaining about this bullpen have no perspective on what our May bullpens were like the last 4 years or so. I am upset about the injuries and wish we really did have the best record in MLB but I find it hard to complain too much about losing two games to the Dodgers after winning two of three from Texas, two of three from Seattle, split with Boston, and two of three from Baltimore. And killing it within our division. Chill and embrace the positive.
Although, yes, I hate losing to the Dodgers. And the Cardinals and the Phillies and the Mets.
Let me add one more thing about our bullpen. We are 10-4 in one-run games and 2-0 in extra innings. How does that compare with the last few years?
We are having more bad series against good teams but also more great series against bad teams. Only Houston, Toronto, and the Dodgers stand out so far. And a win tonight would mitigate that a lot.
Two of our top three pitchers that got us to ten games above .500 this early are not gonna pitch for a while. Are they out all summer? All year? Just a few more weeks? I dunno. We’re way way worse off than last year if these guys don’t pitch much more for us this year. I don’t think that’s unwarranted “negativity”.
Ah, but we had those pitchers last year (specifically, Fried and Wright) and we were 10 games back. Now we’re 5.5 ahead without them even if they got us here. Tied for best record in NL. Fewest runs given up in NL. And the prospect of getting better when the injuries heal and Soroka is available. And Elder emerging and Dodd/Shuster getting some valuable experience. If MoneyMike turns it around, this team will go zooming. Delight in it.
Some see the rotation as half empty, some see it as half full.
Thikngs always seem to look bleaker in May than they do in September. Maybe that’s why AA is the best executive in baseball.