Well its been building up inside of me
For oh I don’t know how long
I don’t know why
But I keep thinking
Something’s bound to go wrong
I know all Braves share this feeling. But is there yet hope?
But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says “Don’t worry baby”
Everything will turn out alright
Wouldn’t it be nice if our team went on a run over the next four to six weeks, so that they are then in the thick of the wild card race in the NL? As the end of July approaches, AA can then be a buyer rather than seller, acquiring a solid bat or two and a couple of strong arms for the bullpen. That would be fun, fun, fun.
Will this happen? God only knows, but I’m picking up good vibrations.
A big reason for the excitations is Spencer Schwellenbach. Behind his first career complete game, two-run home runs from RAJ and MHII, and rbi singles from Baldwin and Ozzie, the Braves took the rubber game in Milwaukee, 6-2. Schwelly struck out nine and walked no one, and gave up just five hits in his nine innings of work. He commands six pitches, but don’t think he is just a guy who relies on command and smarts. He is all of that, but he also dominates. He averaged 98-99 on his four seamer, and was throwing just as hard in the 8th and 9th as at the outset.
Remember how many of were concerned that it would take Acuña a good while to come back from his second ACL surgery? We were warned that, like 2022, we should not expect MVP caliber Ronald any time soon. Well, in 68 ABs, he has six home runs and an OPS of 1.083. Ronald is back, looking better than ever. He’s the very definition of a superstar.
I wasn’t able to stay in my room and watch today’s game, as I had several errands to run. But as I get around, I followed most of today’s game on the radio. I had almost forgotten the distinct pleasure of listening to radio broadcasts of MLB. That’s how I followed 90% of Braves games for the first decade of my fandom. I mention those years in part because I know what a bad team is like. This team has been very frustrating, but it is a lot more talented than any Braves team during the first 25 years of the Atlanta Braves.
Anyway, this is not as bad a team as they have most often played this year. They now have a +10 run differential on the season. The pitching is solid. They are fourth in the league in runs surrendered, behind only the Mets, Giants, and Padres. The starters have been very good, led by two Cy Young caliber guys in Sale and Schwellenbach. The bullpen has been uneven, lacking depth, and overall mediocre–but there are several bright spots in the pen.
You don’t need advanced analytics to know why the team is underperforming. The offense sucks. They are 12th in the NL in runs scored, ahead of only the Marlins, Pirates, and Rockies (yikes!). But did I mention that Ronald is back? Olson has been raking lately. Baldwin continues to show he is for real. As awful as Ozzie and Harris (almost sounds like a 50’s sitcom) have been, both are showing signs of turning it around. Profar is available soon. Maybe AA trades for Bichette. Lots of good things can still happen.
Don’t worry baby, everything is going to be alright. Today of all days, we should not question the late great Brian Wilson. He’s not Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, or Beckett, but certainly a genius in his own way. RIP, Brian.
Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday
As I said a minute ago, whether this team gets in the pennant race or not, playing a couple of games a week like this for the rest of the year will make them a hell of a lot more entertaining than anything Milo Hamilton used to tell us about on the radio,
May Brian Wilson rest in peace. He didn’t have nearly enough of it in life.
The best thing I ever heard about Keith Moon was that his very favorite song of all time was “Don’t Worry Baby.”
A couple of rousing wins has stirred me from my torpor. Back to sleep yet, waiting for an actual streak to brave the daylight. Acuna will make it so.
These guys need to sweep the Rockies, take 2 of 3 from the Marlins, and go 7-3 vs. the Mets and Phillies to round out June and they’ll be 41-42 on July 1 with a glimmer of hope still alive.
That’s darn close to our record in 1991 and that turned out well
And if I’m not mistaken, darn close to our record in 2021. As much as I want to continue to think that we’re dead and buried, the reality is that being .500 or a little below .500 is not a death sentence to your season. And I think we don’t want to accept it because then we’d have to admit that watching all these regular season games is a liiiiittle pointless. You can win 105 games or you can win 90 games, and it just matters how good you are for 3 weeks in October.
If Schwellenbach is gonna keep throwing 99, it’s going to be harder for me to restrain my enthusiasm.
It’s one thing to have six pitches you can command; that means you’re definitely in a rotation. it is another thing entirely for one of them to be absolutely premium heat.
Am I crazy or was Schwellenbach either never that high on the prospect list or only on it a short while? The guy that pitched today looked like he should have been one of our most anticipated pitching prospects in a long time.
Both – never that high, and only on it a short while. Neither he nor Spencer Strider took long in getting here. Both were viewed as terrific athletes but with short track records in both college and professional ball, so there just wasn’t much to go on. Fundamentally, they are crowning victories for our scouts.
My understanding of Schwellenbach is that he was regarded as a very risky pick… a guy with all the tools but very little experience and an uncertain post-TJ recovery given how little he had pitched before he needed one. But he always had a high ceiling… that’s why he was a second round pick.
No that is correct. We drafted him knowing he needed TJ surgery, so he missed his first year. Then he was old for A-ball in his second year, so he was never going to be top-100 based on that alone. He only pitched 2 games above A-ball (both shut-down starts at AA). The organization was obviously very high on him and not surprised by his success, but a guy with his trajectory is just not going to register on league-wide top prospect lists unless he’s an absolutely dominant first round pick.
It’s good Alex specified what he meant when he said “both.”
It looks like we might have another Drake. Isaiah Drake at Augusta is starting to make waves. I don’t know much about him—just that he is still a teenager, can walk and steal bases, and he can play center field. Fifth rounder out of North Atlanta.
I read somewhere that Schwellenbach said that this was his first ever 9 inning game, That is amazing.
Yes, I watched his post-game TV interview, in which he confirmed that he has never gone 9 innings as a professional. Nor did he do so in college. He thought he may have done so when he was 16.
He may be the one to finally throw another Braves no-hitter at some point. Low pitch counts, throwing strikes – on a day when all six pitches are working, watch out…
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