Raisel the Jolly Roger.
Eighth inning heroics weren’t enough this time as the Pirates scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th off Raisel Iglesias. Pittsburgh takes the rubber game of the series, and once again the Braves fail to reach .500. Iglesias’s ERA now stands at 5.87.
The game was scoreless until the 5th, when the Pirates scored 3 runs against Chris Sale. Pittsburgh used 3 singles, a walk, and a Sacrifice Fly. A passed ball by Drake Baldwin allowed the first run to score and led to a sequence of events that deemed the 3rd run to be unearned. Sale lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing 8 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 8.
The Braves tied it with a 2 out rally in what seems to be their favorite inning, the 8th. Austin Riley singled, Matt Olson doubled and Marcell Ozuna walked. Sean Murphy pinch hit for Baldwin and hit a bases clearing double; pinch runner Stuart Fairchild scoring the tying run.
Iglesias could record only one out in the 9th. Joey Bart went 2 for 5 for the Pirates with 2 RBIs, including the game winner. Nick Allen went 2 – 4 and Baldwin was 2 – 3 before being lifted for Murphy. There’s been some buzz around the internet about moving Baldwin to the outfield to get his bat in the lineup. I’m not sure where he would go to learn the outfield, but there’s also been buzz around the internet about not letting Drake near the minors, so I’m not sure how that would work.
The Braves fall to 19 – 21 on the season and 7 – 15 on the road. Atlanta will try their luck back home on Monday, where they will look to delenda the Nationals. Grant Holmes and Jake Irvin scheduled at 7:15 Eastern.
I think the offense was busy looking for Livvy Dunne in the stands.
OF is not actually our problem. I think it’s more sequencing and MI. The best solution may be to get Acuna back and put White at 2B, If Whit can really play all over, he could give Verdugo, Albies, and Harris breaks and essentially get a full complement of ABs.
A Drake/Murphy platoon at DH might give us better results too. Ha anyone noticed how much Ozuna’s BA and OPS has gone down the last month or so?
Ozuna has alternated between god mode and can’t-hit-water-falling-off-a-boat over his entire Braves tenure, so it’s not too surprising, and I expect him to catch fire soon enough. He is getting up in age, but I don’t think he suddenly got washed up.
I think Ozuna isn’t completely healthy right now (they keep removing him for a pinch runner, and that’s not all strategy). That may have a part in it, too.
We’re 25% through the season and this team just isn’t any good. Even if Acuna returns and is completely healthy, 30% of the lineup will still be below average. Matt Olson is still slugging near .400. If it were my team, I’d trade whatever I could and try to do a quick rebuild, similar to the 2011 Red Sox.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/45098058/mlb-2025-season-trade-deadline-buster-olney-x-factors
This looks to be a seller’s market and Chris Sale would probably fetch a decent haul. I’m not sure if Ozuna would bring back much, but it’s probably worth checking.
We don’t have the trade capital to make a big move unless it involves Baldwin; there’s really no one in the upper minors to fill holes in the lineup. There are some interesting pitching prospects, but there’s very few you could point to and say they’ll be ready to contribution at the major league level in the next year.
Jhancarlos Lara is going to AAA and I could see him in the major league bullpen later this year.
Come on…you don’t think a combo of Luke Williams, Jared Kelenic, Dylan Dodd, James McCann and Garrett Cooper could fill holes or fetch us something through trade? I mean, we knew out upper minors weren’t good, but looking at the Gwinnett roster is so meh
I don’t disagree but AA will not have a fire sale while we are in the playoff picture and expecting reinforcements. He is more likely to trade for help. Lot of mediocre teams have made the World Series.
This team is looking extremely similar to 2021. I’m glad we didn’t have a massive selloff as you suggest now at that time.
It’ll take an epic collapse for this team to totally sell off. They’re more likely to stay horribly mediocre. That said, if they’re not a clear buyer at the deadline, I think you have to at least consider trading away some parts to re-tool for 2026.
The bullpen needs 2 or 3 arms and Iglesias to return to form to go from average to well above average. Kimbrel could be one of those arms but there is definitely no guarantee. I’m not expecting AJSS and Elder to both keep up their current pace, but a rotation of Sale, Schwellenbach, Strider, the good version of AJSS or Elder, and a 5th starter that is above average for #5 is a force to be reckoned with. The glaring hitting weaknesses are at CF, 2nd and short. I’m not hopeful that Albies will either turn it around or be removed from the lineup, but I do expect us to make a move at SS. I’m also expecting a much better 2nd half from Harris.
If we play close to our potential, I see no teason why the team above could not make a playoff run, especially if we get Lopez back after the ASB. If we make it to the playoffs, we could also get knocked out in the 1st round, but as someone I know has said, “the playoffs are a crapshoot”.
Acuna and Strider are coming, and it’s reasonable to think they will be impactful. Profar should be back as far as I know, and for whatever that will be worth. If Lopez comes back and is effective, I see it as found money.
Murphy has rebounded to a reasonable level, and Baldwin looks like he’ll fully replace d’Arnaud. AJSS might be turning a corner.
The most likely case is that Olson and Harris have better months ahead of them, and if Ozzie can stay on the field, I think he’ll end up with an OPS around .700. If all of these things happen, it might be enough to make Nick Allen look ok.
On the other hand, I’d expect the Verdugo, Eli, and Elder experiences to revert, and there’s not much upside anywhere in the bullpen, as constructed. The bench and the minors don’t look like any sources of help. Maybe we call up some hard throwing starter and see if he can get 3 outs for a couple of months, that’s about it.
One more unit of baseball coming tonight.
Holy crap, Harris just made the catch of the year.
https://x.com/Braves/status/1922081463828177329
The Harris catch was reminiscent of Andruw Jones
The error is unfortunate, but it shouldn’t have come to that in the first place; Iglesias is absolutely cooked and can no longer be trusted.
Agreed. Dude is washed. On top of about three offensive holes we need a closer too. At least he has thrown enough pitches he can’t pitch tomorrow
Verdugo always has pretty good at bats. He has struggled lately but still battles up there. Nice to pull that out for Allen and Iggy.
That Harris catch is something else. I’m willing to just be happy we got one and appreciate what there is to appreciate. There’ll be plenty of time all summer to grouse about the rest of it!
A great story, which would have been a perfect story if it had been more about Wash and less about Sam Blum.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6348904/2025/05/12/ron-washington-infield-drills-sam-blum/?source=athletic_pulsenewsletter&campaign=13479062&userId=2238400
Boy we need some relief pitching. What about Enoli Paredes? He’s pitching well at Gwinnett and his major league work hasn’t been that bad. Not the lights out closer we need but may be a guy.
Not sure we actually do other than an upgrade at closer — which may be taken care of in house if Iggy continues struggling. Our bullpen has been pretty good lately. They already are trying to figure out how to get Strider and Kimbrel on to the team without DFA’ing someone useful. Montero is a weak link, but not sure if ownership will OK him being DFA’ed since he is making a few million. (I have a feeling that is why Duvall was not DFA’ed last year.)
Yeah I forgot about Kimbrel. Montero has mostly been worse than Paredes, but he has pitched adequately enough for us that I don’t think you dump his salary for him.
On that note, Montero was a horrible signing for Houston. He’d had two good seasons by age 31, interspersed with really bad ones, so they paid him like Jeff Hoffman.
recapped.