After last Sunday’s loss to the Rays, I mentioned that it was the first non-competitive loss suffered by the Braves since June 11. Well, this was the first non-competitive loss since…last Sunday. It’s also the first series the Braves have lost since the end of May in Oakland.
Things went sour pretty quickly today, as starter Kolby Allard allowed 4 second-inning runs before leaving with a shoulder issue that didn’t sound especially encouraging (they were talking about tingling or numbness in his fingers after throwing a pitch). He allowed seven hits over his 1.2 innings.
Meanwhile the Atlanta offense didn’t do much against Dylan Cease and those that followed him, scoring just a single run on five hits.
There’s honestly not much to say about this crappy game. The injury to Allard and the fact that Michael Soroka pitched three innings in relief were the two most notable things about it. Allard seemingly being a half-step ahead of Soroka in the pecking order the last couple of weeks remains a bit perplexing to me, I must admit. It would’ve presented questions about what the plans for Soroka were, but with the Allard injury, I don’t guess it’s much of a question now. Soroka was fine over his three innings, giving up a couple runs on three hits, one of which was a two-run homer, while striking out three.
The whole situation just adds to the fact that the starting rotation continues to be in flux. We’re now down to four starters, which is OK at the moment with an off day coming tomorrow. You’ve got Max Fried rehabbing and primed to make a return before long, and you’ve got Jared Shuster on the 40-man. If Soroka continues to be kind of shaky and Fried has either a setback or troubles with ineffectiveness, I think a trade for a starter at the deadline becomes something of a necessity. It could just as easily turn out that both comebacks go very well and there’s no problem at all. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Also, Charlie Culberson actually got in a game
The other thing of some note that happened in this game is that Charlie Culberson actually got to pinch-hit in the ninth inning. It was his first appearance in a game this year, despite being on the team for most of the last two months. And he actually collected an infield hit! Way to go, Charlie!
Might see a 40 man roster move for another pitcher. I think Shuster and AJSS are the only non injured pitchers at Gwinnett on the 40 man.
As a belated reply to Putter and Rusty on the game thread, Fangraphs sees Austin Riley as headed for a big second half as he regresses positively towards his norms: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/here-are-four-hitters-primed-for-a-big-second-half/
Thanks, Alex. That piece points to his relative lack of aggression in the zone. Makes sense to me. He falls behind, and then with two strikes we seem him flailing at sliders low and away.
Riley has always been pretty streaky at the plate. To my lay eyes, it seems that his timing occasionally gets off. Remember that Keith Law predicted many years ago that Riley would never be a productive big league hitter because of a slow bat–that he would not be able to handle major league fastballs. Obviously (and happily!) Austin proved him wrong on that. But it does seem that his timing mechanism for catching up to fastballs is kind of delicate, and it can get thrown off more easily than some others.
Thanks Alex. People don’t always do what they’ve always done, but it’s the way to bet. And if not, well, somebody has to be the worst all-star on the team. If that is a problem, we’ve got a nice set of problems.
Thanks for this, Alex. Watching at the plate right feels like it did when my own son was struggling at the plate. I wanna run to Atlanta and help him out but can’t. I agree, tfloyd, his timing does get off and he hasn’t appeared on time on the fastball all season. Much of his success the past two years has been because he became one of the best breaking ball hitters in the game. Teams are now gassing him up, he’s not on time, and constantly behind in the count.
The other thing I think I notice is trying to lift the ball. When he does this, his swing plane changes, his head moves, and as a consequence I don’t think he’s seeing the ball very well. I think it’s why he is not on time, why his ground ball rate is so high, and why he isn’t squaring up balls. He is so strong, all he really needs to do is swing thru the ball and drive the dang thing.
It’s also important to note that I never played or coached above small college baseball. 😉
It will be interesting to see how the Braves attempt to shore up their bullpen and starting rotation over the next couple of weeks. Acquiring another lefty reliever might make sense. Minter’s IL stint seems to be more of a precaution than anything else, so he should be back soon. However, there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Dylan Lee and what he might be able to contribute upon his return, and Luetge is really more of a low-leverage, mop-up type of guy. Having another top-end lefty in the bullpen could pay dividends in the postseason when it comes to matchups and platoon advantage considerations.
I would have thought Lee would be rehabbing by now. It’s been very quiet on that front.