Today is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. People are honoring the turn of the year and beginning the holiest days of the year.
Today is Diez y Seis de Septiembre, Mexican Independence Day. People are remembering El Grito de Dolores, the cry that began the Mexican War of Independence, and they are celebrating Mexican history and culture.
Today is not a significant day for Braves country. We celebrated earlier this week the clinching of the sixth straight NL East pennant. The remaining games, including last night’s 9-6 lost to the Marlins in Miami, don’t mean much. Sure, as a team, the Hammers want to clinch home field advantage in the NLCS and the World Series, but the lead over the Dodgers in the NL is six and a half games, and the lead over the O’s and Rays is five games. The most important thing over the next two weeks is to have everyone at their peak for October.
As this is supposed to be a recap, I suppose I should summarize this relatively meaningless game. Bryce Elder gave up four in the first to put the Hammers in a big hole. But the offense did what it does and came roaring back, with two in the third, single runs in the fourth and fifth, and two more in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead. After his rough first, Elder held them scoreless through five.
But in the bottom of the seventh, Brad Hand entered with two outs and no one on, and a 6-5 lead. He gave up, in order: single, run scoring double, IBB, HBP, and bases clearing double. 9-6 Fish. The Braves didn’t scratch in the 8th and the 9th.
Plenty of good performances by the hitters: two hits each by Ronald, Ozzie, Riley, Arcia, and Harris. MHII hit his 17th home run and his OPS is now .811. He’s been one of the best hitters in baseball for over three months. RAJ did RAJ things: two hits (for 201 on the season), two runs scored (for 135 on the season!), and he sored from first on a single.
I suppose the one thing that last night settled is that Brad Hand will not be a high leverage reliever in October. Other than that, nothing much to see here.
***
Careful observers may note that I have buried the lede, as the journos say. Acuña left the game in the eighth inning with a leg injury. Gasp—that could be the most significant event of the season. But after the game Ronald said it felt like a cramp, that he feels good and hopes to play today, depending on what the trainers say. What they report may be the most significant news yet. If he needs several games of rest, they need to do so, even if some of his individual milestones may be at risk, such as 40 homers and 70 steals. Until we hear otherwise, though, let’s assume it’s no big deal.
In any event, Shanah Tovah and Feliz Dia de la Indepedencia!
Braves Saturday Lineup
Ronald Acuna Jr. gets a rest after yesterday’s injury and Jared Shuster takes the his because…well, I don’t know that answer.
Thoughts/observations from last night:
Awesome to see Ronald get his 200th hit of the season. It’s a pretty cool accomplishment in a season chock full of them.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone take pitches on the outer half/off the outside corner and drive them the way Michael Harris does. Nice opposite field HR for him.
The defense was quite good. Arcia made a couple of nice plays, and Olson and Riley both initiated DPs.
Ronald scoring from 1st on Ozzie’s soft liner was just amazing. I know he broke for second on the pitch, so he had a bit of a head start, but that guy can zoom around the bases with the best of ‘em.
Elder’s start was unusual. He must have been experimenting with his pitch mix and sequencing in preparation for the postseason, because he threw a lot more four-seamers than usual and threw his slider like 2-3 mph harder. Didn’t love how he grooved fastballs down the middle to Arraez and de la Cruz.
Hand’s outing was undeniably rough. Surely they will use him sparingly in the postseason (assuming he makes the roster) and not let him continue to pitch to righties like last night. However, with Lee out for the foreseeable future, Hand may be one of the main LHP in the pen, unless they decide to use Shuster or Dodd in that role.
Despite his struggles last night, Hand still has value. He can get lefties out—just don’t ever let him face a righty in a high leverage situation. I’d trust him more than Dodd or Shuster in a post-season relief role.
Oh, I completely agree. He can be a very valuable asset against lefties. I trust Hand a lot more than Dodd or Shuster, provided they are judicious in the way they use him in the postseason (and I’m sure they will be).
If the choice is Dodd, Schuster, or Hand, that’s an easy one. It just sucks that our choice is between those three. At least Hand is a big leaguer. I don’t think the other two will even stick in the bigs, even a few years down the road.
Acuna’s run was partially so impressive to me because it wasn’t close. Apparently he ran through Wash’s stop sign? but the stop sign was wrong if he did, because it had to be Bo Jackson or maybe Acuna himself in the outfield to even make it close.
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but TDA has really fallen off a cliff lately. Murphy should get all of the starts in postseason.
I love TDA, but he’s just been brutal lately. Murphy, on the other hand, is still scorching the ball. Unfortunately, the results just haven’t been there for him lately, but he still has a 136 wRC+ on the season (compared to 82 for TDA) and provides way more defensive value through his framing, blocking, pop time, and arm strength than d’Arnaud does. I hope they’re just resting Murphy as much as possible now and plan to give him most of the starts in the postseason, because he’s earned it.
Ronald not in the lineup. Haven’t seen any update on his condition.
Snit said today that Ronald reported some improvement, but the calf is still tight. He also said Ronald wouldn’t play today even if it had been a more important game. But Snit didn’t seem worried about a long recovery period either.
Shuster’s arsenal is so underwhelming. He’s got to be able to dot the corners or else…well, this is what happens.
I know this game doesn’t mean anything, but it doesn’t change the fact that watching Shuster pitch is extremely unpleasant.
He’s not a big league pitcher. He has just enough to get out AAA batters. Unless he adds some velocity or discovers a new pitch, he is just not going to cut it.
Also, drafting him felt a lot like the kind of picks that gave us one of the worst farm systems in baseball a decade ago. Why draft a guy in the first who projects as a 4th starter?
He threw harder when he came out of Wake Forest. He has lost velo since
Shuster never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
We traded a metric ton of guys to Oakland for Olson and Murphy and while Langeliers could have a great long career, I think it’s fair to say that Alex Anthopoulos is building a Hall of Fame-caliber resume, and those two trades are among the better ones he’s made.
Let’s pretend this inning never happened?
Fair to worry about this bullpen yet?
Some will say no, I say yes. Then again, I’ve been worried about it for a while.
Ugh. Two bullpen craps in a row.
I have an unsubstantiated belief that you want to get an episode of crapping the bed out of your system before the playoffs and catch it on an upswing. I am always nervous when we go into the playoffs on fire–always seems like you’re due in the wrong way. I always remember Medlen being on such an unbelievable winning streak until he needed a win in the most important game of the season.
Recapped.
Get em out of your system now. Then throw the good pitches in October.