Land of Confusion:
Oh, Superman, where are you now
When everything’s gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour
Land of Confusion: Oh, Superman, where are you now
When everything’s gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour
Even when we suck our writers don’t. Kudos to TFloyd for yesterday….
Words from C.J. Nitkowski
I’m no conspiracy theorist, however…. Braves barrels (98+ EV, 26-30 degrees launch angle) are traveling on average 15 feet less than they were a year ago. The entire league has only lost 6 feet.
Narrator: “He is absolutely a conspiracy theorist.”
This was from a few days ago, but it’s no less frustrating that Sean Murphy‘s wall job yesterday is a homer in 29 of 30 parks. And no, this team isn’t good right now, but there was a time earlier in the year where nearly the whole team was blistering balls that would’ve been long gone a year ago and now, they’re wall jobs.
Land of Confusion: Say No to All Duvall All the Time
Adam Duvall has been incredible against LHP, carrying a 1.007 OPS in 75 PAs. Yes. Great, it is…but, against RHP? .246. And no, that’s not his batting average, OBP, or SLG, that’s his OPS. For the love, J.P. Martinez is right there. Let him give it a whack.
Land of Confusion: Braves Lineup
- Michael Harris II
- Ozzie Albies
- Marcell Ozuna
- Matt Olson
- Austin Riley
- Adam Duvall
- Sean Murphy
- Brian Anderson
- Orlando Arcia
Now why in the world would Brian Snitker put the only left handed hitter in the lineup as the leadoff hitter, especially when he’s a sub-.600 OPS hitter against them this year? Maddening, I tell ya…
At least he got Anderson in vs a LHP. Baby steps.
No reason why both outfield corners shouldn’t be platoons right now.
Greetings from Virginia Beach…
Well, Phil Collins was a member of Genesis. So… that might be good enough for a one-game winning streak.
Let’s go Schwellenbach…
What if this is what the “powers that be” want? Usually execs are all about parity. Seems like that is what this deader baseball might be giving us. The teams that are succeeding are mostly playing dead ball baseball – singles, steals, bloops, etc… I just think three true outcomes is not working this year. The swings I saw yesterday at pitches way out of the zone were ridiculous. It doesn’t take much of an approach change to not swing at terrible pitches.
And I agree with sitting Duvall as a strictly platoon player. That’s what he was signed for. Why not give Martinez and Anderson a chance to make their own platoon? I also agree with trying to find some “buy low” candidates like we did in 2021. I’m not sure that Anderson isn’t one of them……
This team is just White Sox bad right now.
Riley looks absolutely broken
1st and 2nd nobody out = K, FC, GO.
Schwelly looks pretty good.
Nacho Alvarez has joined Drake Baldwin in Gwinnett.
We can’t get any breaks already and then the umpire rings up Ozuna on a ball outside the zone.
Olson!
Her, Olson smacked one out!
Joe Jimenez is no longer one of the most valuable relievers in the league this season. He has not been great lately and of course washed away a brief joy almost immediately
Another 0fer for Murphy. At some point you have to start giving more PAs to TDA.
Theoretically, this game will get recapped by me. I daresay it will happen in time, one way or another, but it will not be till tomorrow.
It seems like we could all use a good laugh and some perspective on how quickly things can turn around. Therefore, I’m posting a comment I was in the process of writing back in July 2021 after Ronald’s first ACL tear that argues for a mini-rebuild. It was so long I saved into Microsoft Word but never finished (you can tell the exact moment I stopped writing/caring because I couldn’t be bothered to finish the word “again”, which is my favorite part of this).
In hindsight, it’s mostly nonsense. Indiago Diaz was called an “intruging prospect” and I said Austin Riley was far from a sure thing (10.8 WAR the last two seasons). I was sadly correct about Soroka, however.
Is this year’s team likely to make another miracle run like 2021? Probably not, but if they can get into October healthy weird stuff can happen.
Anyway, enjoy the following at my expense:
It’s time for a mini-rebuild, with the goal of putting the best possible team around Ronald Acuna in 2023 and the rest of his prime years. Here’s my thought process:
Freddie Freeman is a free agent and should not be resigned for the amount he’s probably asking, so trade him
Freddie has been a joy to watch and I will miss him dearly; the fact that ownership did not bite the bullet and allow for more spending last season cost him his best shot at the World Series with Atlanta. The reality is the amount of money he commands in the market is probably too much for the Braves, and even if we did spend the money, there’s likely to be a Votto-like decline after the first few years of the deal. Unless ownership increases payroll significantly, having 25 – 30 million committed to one player in his decline years seems reckless. The goal should be to spend money on players that can help Acuna as he enters his prime years.
Soroka, Acuna and potentially Anderson have serious injuries that leave their status for 2022 in doubt
This is probably my best argument for the mini-rebuild: Both our number one starting pitcher and number one position player had serious injuries within weeks of each other and there’s no guarantee either of them will be back in time to make a meaningful run in 2022. This obviously becomes more of an issue if Anderson’s shoulder is seriously injured.
The farm system is good, but not great
Fangraphs and MLB.com has us 17th and 15th, respectively. Some of the decline is due to big league promotions and some of the decline is due to the lack of international signings in recent years. There’s significant question marks about the hit tools of the top hitters in the system, Pache and Waters, and as such both need more time in the minors. A mini-rebuild allows for more prospect depth from trades, some of the intriguing pitching prospects (Vodnik/Indiago Diaz) time of develop into assets that could command helpful trades pieces for Acuna’s prime years and a chance for Pache and Waters to develop their approach. Punting this year and next allows for more pitching prospects to learn to pitch at the big league level without fear of being shuttled back to Gwinnett.
The big league roster has too many holes this year and probably next
Assuming we trade Freeman or let him walk, there isn’t much healthy, elite talent outside of Ozzie and Fried next season.
Swanson is an average to slightly below-average shortstop; Riley has upside, and while I’m bullish on his long-term prospects, he is far from a sure thing right now and you aren’t winning much if he’s your second best hitter; Alex Jackson is not an everyday catcher, and while I think one of the two catching prospects will stick, it’s probably too soon to know for sure; Pache needs more time and that leaves a hole in center field for the foreseeable future; the only proven, healthy starting pitcher signed beyond this year is Fried.
In summary, I think our window with this roster has closed, but there’s a chance we can contend agai
Not-really-recapped.