Brandon Gaudin is the man, but C.J. Nitkowski is growing on me, calling Jarred Kelenic saucy in the finale. Kelenic homered into a stiff breeze to give the Braves an early lead and the the Braves were indeed saucy in the finale, winning 3-0.
Two young guns toed the rubber to open the rubber game of this three-game set, with Ben Brown and AJ Smith-Shawver going toe-to-toe through four innings. AJ was Smith-SHOVER today, working into the fifth inning before giving way to Dylan Lee, who earned the win.
Smith-Shawver has not thrived at AAA Gwinnett thus far, but took full advantage of his opportunity and was saucy today. The young right-hander allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four in 4.1 innings of work. Lee worked a perfect inning to earn the win and drop his ERA to 1.21. Pierce Johnson, Joe Jimenez, and A.J. Minter were equally brilliant, setting the stage for Raisel Iglesias to close it out in flawless fashion.
Curiosity killed the cat (thankfully)
The curious move of the day, for me, was Craig Counsell turning to Kyle Hendricks in the eighth inning. The Braves crush Hendricks, and the proved saucy in the finale against him again today. Chadwick Tromp singled to open the inning, and Adam Duvall drew a pinch-hit walk. After Hendricks managed to retire Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies laced one down the right field line to score Tromp. MLB RBI-leader, Marcell OHzuna then drove one to the LF field wall that came up just short of leaving the yard, but the sac fly pushed the score to 3-0 and the Braves to victory.
It’s nice to earn a series win and head to Pittsburgh winners of two straight. Snit has not named tomorrow’s starter as yet, but the Bucs will throw lefty Bailey Falter. Let’s hope Bailey does falter, but thus far in 2024, he hasn’t been too bad. He is 2-2 with a 3.53 ERA.
I didn’t watch the game, saw some of the highlights and was pleased to see that A.J. induced a bunch of pop-ups, which suggests to me that his pitches were moving really well. Can anyone who watched share their impressions of how he’s looking?
Basically, I’m wondering if he could turn into a Jair Jurrjens- or Julio Teheran-type starter for us. As a matter of fact, Jurrjens and Teheran were pretty similar in the numbers they posted for Atlanta, albeit Teheran was a Brave for much longer:
Jair Jurrens: 2008-2012, 720 IP, 118 GS, 11.4 RA9-WAR, 3.58 ERA, 89 ERA-
Julio Teheran: 2011-2019, 1360 IP, 226 GS, 23.4 RA9-WAR, 3.67 ERA, 91 ERA-
Both significantly overperformed their components: Jurrjens’s ERA was 0.36 runs better than his FIP, and Teheran’s was 0.57 runs better. But basically, both of these guys posted an ERA 10% better than the league over their time in Atlanta, even though their K/BB numbers weren’t stellar.
Ultimately, both were miscast as an “ace,” but both were very effective in a #2/#3 starter role. I don’t need AJSS to be an ace, but if he could be a midrotation starter, or even a strong #4 – like Charlie Morton is right now – that would be stellar.
I really liked Jair Jurrjens until he totally imploded without warning. That also reminds me that of 2 great Edgar Renteria trades that the Braves made–one to get him and one to get rid of him. Was one of the few bright spots in a down period for the franchise.
Had the game on my iPhone while working, so I didn’t really notice every pitch.
But I did notice that he got ahead early in the count (0-1 or 1-2), and if he went Ball 1, he came back w/ a strike (or foul ball) almost every time. That’s a good recipe.
And I guess it doesn’t break my heart that we’ll miss Skenes this wknd. We’ll probably see him enough down the road.
It really is too bad he lands on the IL after such a promising start. Thos oblique injuries seem more prominent this year for us than normal. Not excited for the roulette game of Elder, Vines and whomever to fill that 5th starter spot.
So the time to stretch out Kerr did not last long. It looks like we will have a bullpen game for the 2nd game in a row. It seemed like Shawver got pulled really quickly, but my guess is about 3 innings from Kerr is all we’ll get.
I mean, Kerr + Chavez might very well give you the 5 innings you’d be hoping to get out of your 5th starter. It’s crazy to think that your bullpen will be taxed two short games after your ace pitches a shutty.
Aw, man. That’s too bad for A.J. On the plus side, we signed Joey Wendle!
Feel the excitement!
Man, it’s deck chairs with light-hitting back-up infielders.
Geeeee, I wonder why we need Joey Wendle when we have David Fletcher! Or has he already been excommunicated from baseball? Haven’t kept track.