The only person sweating more than me right now may be Darius Vines. My AC has been out of business for the past 24 hours, so it’s a bit miserable here right now. Hopefully the evening isn’t miserable for Atlanta’s rookie right-hander, who makes his MLB debut tonight – at Coors Field – as the Braves go for a sweep tonight!
Atlanta looks to sweep the Rockies again, this time on the heels of 14-4 and 3-1 wins. Vines has gone 2-2 in nine starts at Gwinnett. He has a 2.70 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. He has struck out 46 while walking 14, allowing 34 hits in 46 innings of work. He will be opposed by Kyle Freeland. The Rox lefty has not had much success against the Braves. Ozzie Albies, for instances, is hitting .429 in 21 career ABs against Freeland, Kevin Pillar is hitting .455 in 11 ABs. As all of Braves country is well aware, the Braves mash left-handed pitching. Look for another good night for the offense.
History happening?
I also wonder if tonight may be the night we see history made? I predict in his second or third at-bat of the game that Ronald Acuna Jr. becomes the first player in history to record a 30-60 season. Ronnie has been a homer away for a couple of days – tonight feels like the night!
Eddie Rosario gets the night off with the lefty on the mound, and with Pillar having prior success against Freeland, it was a no-brainer for manager Brian Snitker. Sean Murphy, fresh off a three-double night, will also have the night off, as Travis d’Arnaud gets a start.
Wright on rehab assignment
In other Braves news, Kyle Wright is making his second rehab start, pitching for Gwinnett against Memphis. It will be fun to track Wright’s progress while also watching the Atlanta offense batter the Rockies in Atlanta. His first rehab outing was a beauty, throwing 23 strikes in 26 pitches in three shutout innings at High-A Rome. Another rehab start or two and I hope Wright is back in the A rotation.
Game time in Denver is 8:40 ET/7:40 CT/6:40 MT. The Braves go for a sweep over the Rockies and look to head to LA on a roll.
Hey, a Little League ribbie!
I’m enjoying the Darius Vines experience so far. Everything starting near the plate and diving down.
Very Elder-like.
Vines knows his strength and has really perfected keeping the ball down in the zone. He’s a good a candidate as any to stick in the 5th spot of the rotation.
Ozuna destroyed that ball.
Ozuna and Arcia reminding me why I am an internet rando.
And so did Orlando Arcia-later! New team single season HR record.
The Rockies are laughably bad at defense.
Coolest image of the night? Darius Vines’ grandma nodding in appreciation of his six innings of two run-ball. Grandma knows baseball!
Nice outing by Vines. Great make-up. Seems like a keeper. Shame his injury kept him from an earlier debut. Might have spared us a few starts from Shuster or Chirinos.
For a team with supposedly one of the worst farm systems in baseball, we sure have given a lot of AA/ AAA starting pitchers a shot. Each one, including Schuster, has impressed at some point. Vines looked the most impressive of anyone so far. Coors Field is definitely not the ideal spot to make your major league debut. Great job young man!
Pretty funny answer on the after game interview from Snitker.
Q: If someone told you at the start of the year that this team would set the All-Time franchise record for homeruns on August 30, would you have believed them?
A: I would have probably believed them but I really wouldn’t care. We’ve been hitting a lot of homeruns over the last few years, that’s what we do. It’s not a big deal.
recapped