Charlie Morton and the Braves face off against Jose Quintana and the Mets. The game gets going at 7:20 EST and will feature the players only booth once again. All 4 of Jeff Francoeur, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine will be back for round 2 and, honestly, while I don’t love Smoltz as a commentator, I’m not sure I’ve watched a more enjoyable game.
A Timeline for Kyle Wright
This Thursday, Kyle Wright will get back on the mound in his 1st rehab appearance with the Rome Braves. I’m sure his work at the Braves facility in Orlando was more like a spring training and he’ll likely be ready to throw 3-4 innings. From there, I expect the Braves to be aggressive with his time-table. Here are my thoughts:
If he gets to the bigs on 9/5, the Braves can gather a large enough sample to decide on what Wright’s role could be in the postseason.
Braves Lineup
This is definitely a switch-up for Brian Snitker as he’s sitting Eddie Rosario, who’s been blazing hot, for Kevin Pillar. Vaughn Grissom is also getting the nod over Nicky Lopez, which implies that Snit is playing the platoon game. Honestly, I don’t blame him because Quintana’s splits, while a small sample, are the most extreme I’ve ever seen: LHHs: .145 OPS in 22 PAs. RHHs: .705 OPS in 126 PAs. Dang.
Ryan, I asked this in the previous thread, but regarding your tweet about Kyle Wright’s potential ramp-up schedule:
Do we know that they need him to face MLB hitters ASAP? He hasn’t been effective against major league hitters in more than a year. We’ve seen how bumpy the road has been for Max, and Wright has been on the shelf for longer. He’s also generally had more trouble with mastering his own confidence.
It may sound unfair, but he could have Chirinosesque results at first. Are we certain that the best way for him to build himself back to effectiveness is in the majors?
Pillar definitely doesn’t need to be batting 2nd. Although he’s mainly served as the short side of the platoon with Rosario, he actually hasn’t had much success against lefties, with just an 86 wRC+ against them this year. Meanwhile, Eddie is slugging .548 against LHP and has posted a 136 wRC+. I like Kevin and I’m glad that he’s getting some playing time, but if he’s going to be in the lineup against a lefty, he’s better off batting 8th or 9th.
My word, it is a pleasure to watch Charlie pitch when he has the feel for both his fastball and his curveball.
It is something to behold. Hope he keeps it up into the postseason.
I’m thoroughly enjoying these guys in the booth tonight. Chipper especially is offering great insights about several Braves hitters.
Having said that, though, each of these guys expresses a fair amount of disdain for modern analytics. Smoltz thinks a leadoff guy who doesn’t steal bases is worthless. I guess he’d rather have Omar Moreno. And he thinks it’s an outrage that Aaron Judge bats second instead of third or fourth.
Go Charlie.
When was the last time Pillar got a hit? June?
Pillar is washed up. Not that long ago he was one of the better outfielders in baseball. I was surprised he hit so well for a couple of months, but he has regressed.
Good for Vaughn! I’m glad to see him make the most of it. The guy can hit.
Oh my goodness, Marcell with an Eddie Rosario-style tomahawk on that high
heatoops – hanging high slider!Ozuna is hitting like he did in 2020. Ozuna and Rosario could’ve been cut early in the season, but we would be in a funk without their hot hitting this last few weeks.
I think the extra rest did Charlie some good.
Charlie with another dominant outing. You’d feel good with this version of Morton starting in October.
Cliff’s recap is up: