It’s been a long time since the Braves suffered a non-competitive loss. It depends on your definition, of course, but the last time they weren’t either tied or bringing the tying run to the plate in the final inning was a 6-2 loss at home to Washington on June 11. There were 23 games between then and now…23 straight games in which the Braves either won or had a very good chance to win late. They won 20 of those. I’d say that’s pretty impressive.
Bryce Elder just didn’t have it today, allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. He allowed four runs in the first on a two-run Jonathan Aranda double and a two-run Isaac Paredes homer, then allowed three more in the fourth on an RBI single by old friend Christian Bethancourt and a two-run homer by Yandy Diaz.
Those last three runs came after Travis d’Arnaud briefly pulled Atlanta back into the game with a solo homer in the top of the fourth for the Braves’ second run of the inning, making it 4-2. After the Rays immediately answered with three in the bottom half to make it 7-2, that was pretty much the end of that.
Obviously, though, the Braves ended the first half on an incredible run. They sit 8.5 games up on Miami for first place in the East and 11.5 games up on San Francisco for the final NL playoff spot. They’re currently 30-15 at home and 30-14 on the road. They have a whopping plus-147 run differential. Pitching has been a theoretical bug-a-boo on this team with a significant portion of the rotation on the injured list and the bullpen occasionally blowing a game in spectacular fashion over the first two-and-a-half months, but they go into the All-Star break with the best team ERA in baseball (3.63).
This team has earned the break and then some. So enjoy the break…or don’t, if that floats your boat (if you’re dreading the four days without meaningful baseball or will join JonathanF in lamenting that our best players will be playing a meaningless game all the way up in Seattle). The break will be over before you know it, and the team will be back home for a six-game stretch against the White Sox and Arizona.
A truly impressive first half, no matter which way you look at it. Here’s to the continued good health of the starting 9, and the return of Fried and Wright in the 2nd half.
Let me just say I am slightly mollified by the fact that neither Strider nor Elder will pitch. The mollification is only slight, however, since even they will be forced into a completely unnecessary 15 hours or so of plane flights and a few dozen meaningless interviews and events…. and of course the other 6 are in fact going to be asked to play as well.
Everbody else… rest up.
Anyone following the draft and have an opinion on Hurston Waldrep?
I do know that his name is an anagram for Underparts Howl or Whale’s Turd Porn
Hurston Waldrep? Wasn’t he the rich guy that was one of the castaways when the SS Minnow shipwrecked?
I think the Braves will be delighted that Waldrep fell into their laps at 24
from mlb.com – Wadrep:
“I could name every Braves player and still can,” Waldrep said. “I’ve been watching since I was 6 years old, ever since I fell in love with baseball. So, this is going to be awesome.”
Sounds like a guy who didn’t need an overslot deal.
While he has been spectacular this season, Elder doesn’t always have the ability to overcome his occasional lack of command. Strider, Max and Morton can strike guys out to get out of jams and while Elder can do that, it is a lot to ask of him without the same type of fastball that the other three have and sometimes when you pitch to contact (especially against good hitting teams) bad things can happen. I am sure this outing is just an outlier and hopefully the break will do him some good.
Here’s a really good article by Davy Andrews over at FanGraphs detailing the incredible season that Ronald Acuña Jr. is having.
The thing that amazes me the most is that, even though he’s been a real offensive force this year, Ronald has actually been on the receiving end of some bad luck at the plate. His .425 wOBA is a full 34 points lower than his .459 xwOBA. If his outputs start matching his inputs, he could do even MORE damage than he did in the first half while continuing to wreak havoc on the base paths.
This guy is from another planet.
Great read. Thanks for sharing, Stephen!
Another fun fact from the comments part of the article:
“Here’s another extremely fun fact. This season, after reaching an 0-2 count, Acuña has a .950 OPS. As someone who sees as many of his plate appearances as possible, he really seems to take that count as a challenge and changes his approach to avoid striking out–and yet he still slugs .559 after reaching 0-2.”
Also, RAJ has the No. 1 sold jersey ahead of Ohtani, Tatis Jr and Judge so far this season. Olson is at no. 8, Riley 11 and Ozzie 12 (from David Adler mlb-com)