This is where all posts that are not Game Threads or Recaps will live throughout the season. Please be respectful in the bar. No you cannot carve your name into your stool. No, you cannot get the cute bartenders phone number. And no, you cannot put your beer on the pool table. And ABSOLUTELY NO BRAVES BLASPHEMY ALLOWED IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT.
And, one other thing: If you’re feeling generous, tip your bartenders.
Pieces Discussed in this Bar
- Dissecting Braves Prospects, 30-21
- Dissecting Braves Prospects, 20-11
- Dissecting Braves Prospects, 10-1
Hey, looks like our trade deadline was actually pretty good. Fourth in the majors by net WAR added, 9th by net WPA added.
Nicky Lopez and Pierce Johnson have really been that good (and Taylor Hearn has been that bad).
Replying to Hambone’s question about Soroka from the previous Bar:
Soroka has thrown fewer sinkers this year (a career low 23.9% usage) while mixing in a lot more four-seamers (a career high 31.4%). You’re absolutely correct about his fastballs (both varieties) seemingly being thrown almost exclusively at the top of the zone. I hope that he’s just dealing with some sort of mechanical issue that he will eventually figure out, because keeping everything up in the zone is not working for him.
It is worth noting that his sinker hasn’t had the same ‘sink’ that it’s had in years past. It’s only getting 21.3” of downward vertical break, compared to 25.7” during his breakout 2019 campaign. That could at least partially explain why his sinker is finishing more up/in the middle of the zone instead of down.
Thanks Stephen.
“When Soroka returned this year, he had altered his delivery in attempt to remain healthy. Unfortunately, a lower arm slot erased the two-seamer (sinker) action that had made him so special in 2019.”
-From Peanut today. I hadn’t really noticed the lower arm slot.
Thanks for that info, Hambone. It hadn’t occurred to me that his Achilles injuries might necessitate a change in his mechanics.
Apparently Andrew Velazquez was claimed from the angels? Chirinos put on the 60 day IL
I’m quite happy with Nicky Lopez, thank you very much
Velasquez must be “break glass in case of emergency”. I am very happy with Nicky Lopez too.
There’s a new piece for the bar!
However, make sure you visit Alex’s recap from last night as well…
Nice work by Paul McCord on RAJ’s steal rates. I think the case is slightly overstated, though, by the inclusion of 2022 in the Acuna baseline. He clearly wasn’t yet right and only attempted 10 steals in the last two months of the season.
I’ve started to look at each of RAJ’s steal attempts for the year (it’s going to take a while, and I plan to finish as soon as the season ends) and have a question. Aren’t pickoffs counted as caught stealings? I’m sure they used to be, but at least according to BRef, they’re not now. I found an April game against Houston in which Greinke picked RAJ off but no CS was listed. The low-tech way I’m searching wouldn’t turn up any pickoffs unless they were in games where he had a traditional steal attempt, and only if the pickoff was before his last steal attempt of the game, so I don’t know how many times he’s been picked off. If there are lots, it might change some of my conclusions a bit.
“Maybe it’s the peanut butter ice cream he still enjoys. Or the fact that his first-place Atlanta Braves are cruising toward the playoffs and he wants to see another World Series. Or as many of his loved ones and former advisers suggest, maybe he is just too stubborn to follow anyone else’s timetable.
Whatever the reason, seven months after entering hospice care, Jimmy Carter is still hanging on, thank you very much, and is in fact heading toward his 99th birthday in just over a week.”
You and me both, Jimmy.
Amen.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (either in a game recap or the previous Bar; can’t remember) that, at that time, the Braves led MLB in barrels by a very wide margin; had already set a new Statcast-era record for most barrels in a season; and could end up with 500+ barrels this year.
As of today, the Braves have hit a total of 493 barrels. With eight games left to play, they will almost undoubtedly break the 500 mark by the season’s end. The next closest team in barrels? The Twins, who have hit 376.
The gap between what the Braves have been able to do offensively and what most other teams are capable of is HUGE. No matter how things shake out in the postseason, I will always look back on this year fondly because of how insane this offense has been. Major props to AA for assembling the most fearsome lineup I’ve ever seen.