When a team’s mascot is that clergyman, one might expect a little kindness, but the Padres show no mercy to the Braves again tonight. San Diego 9, Atlanta 1.
The Friars out-hit Atlanta a billion to four. Jurickson Profar looks like prime Barry Bonds (not from a physique perspective) and You Darvish looks like, well, You Darvish.
What is the deal?
I see people all over the socials asking what is the deal with this team? The questions are valid, but not hard to answer. The answers are in the numbers:
.689, .754, 1.004, .718, .668, .668, .527, .642, .574. Those are the OPS numbers of the batting order that Snit ran out there tonight in Game 2 of this awkward wrap-around series with San Diego. That, and Bryce Elder stunk again. His numbers continue to be poor. Three innings, nine hits (that’s nine, with a 9), seven runs, six of which were earned, and three walks. I imagine that is the last start he makes for a minute or two.
Ray Kerr gave up a pair of solo bombs but did manage to cover 3.1 innings in relief. Kudos to Ray…the lone bright spot on this horrible, no good, very bad day. Oh, he and Dylan Lee. Lee worked a perfect eighth inning and saw his ERA drop to 1.27. Seems like one of the two of these dudes needs to be stretched out.
Here’s the deal – I’m a spoiled brat! I never had so much fun watching a team as I did last season. From start to finish, it was a blast. They pummeled the ball, scored at will, and played incredible baseball. This season, thus far? Well, they look human.
It’s almost as exasperating as 2021 when they toggled just below .500 into the month of August. All that talent and they couldn’t get it going. This year, they are still 10 games over .500. They haven’t played the cupcake schedule the Phillies have. They have stunk – and are 10 games over.
All is not yet lost
The season isn’t lost, but our hitters sure look lost! At least I see Sean Murphy begins a rehab assignment this week. I hope Austin Riley returns soon. And I hope the rest of the team either gets to the eye doctor or pulls their heads out of their you-know-where and stops swinging thru center-cut fastballs soon!
There are still 120 games to play. Who knows, maybe the Braves limp into the playoffs with 96 wins, let their three good pitchers pitch, and make a 2021 run.
That, friends, is all I’ve got for you tonight. While games one and two have seen the Padres show no mercy, perhaps today’s split double-dip will be the Braves finally returning the favor. Dylan Cease vs. Reynaldo Lopez at 12:20 p.m. EDT/11:20 a.m. CDT.
The entire team is hitting like a slumping Kelly Johnson. I’ve been checking out this hitting coach on YouTube and he has a good idea:
FYI, according to Peanut, the Braves are debating Ray Kerr as a starter, which would be a smart choice. He’s got an elite arm and was a starter when he began pro ball. Gotta wonder if this is a new strategy for AA as this will be his 2nd reliever turned starter this year. At the least, it’s an intelligent idea to convert good relievers to starters considering the cost of a starter in free agency costs the big bucks. I wonder if they just stretch him out on the fly or send him down to the minors for 2-3 starts.
Interesting. At a certain point, I wonder whether they’re thinking about turning him into a trade asset. Obviously, right now they need a better-than-Elder option, but given how threadbare the farm is, I also imagine AA is thinking about how he can increase the trade value of his players.
Daysbel Hernandez was appointed the 27th man today.
People on Twitter keep begging for AJSS to replace Elder, but they obviously aren’t paying attention to how AJSS is pitching this season. Vines, Winans, and Dodd are likely to be as bad as Elder.
Lee or Kerr seem like as good options as any to stretch out as a 5 starter.
AJSS’s last start had him throwing exactly one slider, when it’s usually 30% of his repertoire. that makes me think they’re committed to having him develop in AAA this year, barring extraordinary circumstances.
Lopez off to a great start!
Haven’t been able to watch for a couple of weeks. I don’t know what all the fuzz is about, The Braves are hitting as they should. Nice to see MattyO and Ozuna go yard. Don’t let up now.
Folk hero Ray Short?
Nah, just Zack Short in that AB.
It may well get better this season.
But today, this team is total trash.
It’s gonna be a doubleheader sweep and a 4-game home sweep.
You can’t win the division or the World Series in May, but you can lose it, and we’re seeing that happen.
Wow, coughed that one up in a hurry…
Gotta go get ’em, Braves…
Jimenez can go the way of Elder. The bullpen is garbage, the offense is garbage. This team is playing about as poorly as I can remember over the last few years. Need a major shakeup before we get absolutely buried. Staus quo is not working.
Jimenez definitely looked bad and threw some horrible meatballs, but this one outing doesn’t change the fact that he’s had a fantastic season. He’s been a top-25 reliever in MLB by fWAR.
It’s also worth noting that was left out there for too long, and wasn’t helped out by the home plate umpire or his own defense (if Short fields that grounder and throws it to 2B cleanly, then the inning looks a lot different).
The old June Swoon came early this year
This one is going to hurt.
I think many can stop sugar coating the fact that something (aside from injuries) just isn’t right with this team. They have been in offensive zombie mode for a month and the vaunted bullpen is springing leaks everywhere. Something has seemed off for a while the way we have been playing.
The Braves had the Padres on the ropes early on, but ten they returned to 2024 form. Bats go dormant, fail to perform in clutch opportunities. A win again becomes a loss.
Do the Braves have a heart and soul any longer? Or even a pulse?
Bullpen definitely let one get away. We also left a lotta runners on base after scoring the 5 runs… but I like the matchup tonight.
There is apparently more than one way to s#@t the bed! Offense finally scores a few runs and the ‘pen blows the lead.
Baseball!
Here’s to Chris Sale getting through the lineup three full times with a 6-0 lead.
When was the last time Ozzie homered?
Edit: He homered on May 10, but otherwise not since March 31.
Where would we be with Chris Sale and Reynaldo? Man, oh, man, was Sale dealing again tonight!
What an incredible guy.
Before we rush to put Ray Kerr in the rotation (per Peanut) we should eyeball his career Major League record of 8 HR’s in about 40 innings.
recapped.