Always fun to beat up on our little brothers, though this was a definite Hibernation Mode game – two singles and two homers in the first inning, for a magical four-run inning – and then the offense mustered just five hits and one run the rest of the way.
Happily, Chris Sale was truly dominating, striking out ten in six innings, and the pen completed the shutout, including an inning by the new guy, Ray Kerr. I hope I do not sound too churlish when I complain that I wish the bats could string together hits more routinely.
Instead, Marcell Ozuna hit two homers and Orlando Arcia hit a homer and a double; the team scarcely mustered any other offense, but on the evening in question, it didn’t need to.
Yet another off day tonight, astonishingly, then up to Queens to face the Mets. Offense is always contagious, and here’s hoping the four-spot last night starts to spread!
So Kellenic is on pace for about a 2.5 fWAR season for almost no money and quite a bit of control. Not bad. Weird stat line for a guy with his profile: worst ISO of his career, worst walk rate of his career, highest K rate of his career, .429 BABIP. I’m not sure what’s caused him to change his approach so radically, but he’s still resulting in a 106 wRC+ because he’s hitting the ball hard consistently.
If he wants to add some more SBs to his game and become a line drive hitter who can put up a .800 OPS with no power and great defense then so be it. I just didn’t see this coming.
Pros:
• Sale was lights out; got 20 whiffs on 49 swings, had better than average spin on his slider, four-seamer, and sinker, and ended with an awesome 10/1 K/BB
• More great defense from Riley; he’s been especially good charging in, as we saw with his barehand play in the 2nd
• Going back-to-back in the 1st was cool
• Bullpen was good again; they’re middle of the pack in fWAR, but it feels like they’ve been better than that
Cons:
• Doing damage throughout the game instead of just 1-2 innings is ideal, but still nice to see some more homers
Riley’s defense has been notably strong. Ozzie’s not so much.
Yeah, I love Ozzie, but his lack of arm strength (5th percentile) and range (10th percentile) is getting hard to watch.
Speaking of 2B, Luis Guillorme has apparently been traded to the Angels. No word yet on what/who the Braves are getting in return.
I never really understood why AA signed Guillorme, especially when David Fletcher was going to get paid anyway. While on the team he carried a .440 OPS and played slightly above average defense. The Angels will take on his salary. I’m 100% fine with this move.
So we traded Guillorme to the Angels for a PTBNL? What is our next move?
They may not have known what Fletcher or Guillorme could provide. We now know, for better or for worse, what they can provide.
Maybe it’s Nacho time?
We’ve acquired Zach Short, who evidently can’t hit a lick. Hopefully, scouts saw something that they can tweak?
I think we needed someone to sit on the bench for 3 months like Charlie Culberson did, while Fletcher continues to get at-bats in AAA.