I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to think of something to say about this game, and this is what I came up with.
Another 1/162 unit of baseball is in the books. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if you want to focus on the 1 run scored or to ponder how a team is bad enough to allow Grant Holmes to strike out 15 in 6 1/3 innings and simultaneously good enough to score 10 runs (hint: bullpen.) The Rockies salvage a game from the 3 game series.
At the Mets on Tuesday, 7:15; Spencer Schwellenbach and David Peterson scheduled, but who knows?
https://x.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1934465607334089135
If it worked out I guess Riley was going to left?
I would guess that a) Riley’s a better defender, b) it would have meant trading Ozuna and slotting in Devers at DH, and c) that’s why they weren’t that motivated. They probably checked in but wanted Boston to send money, whereas the Sox got actual prospects back. I would have loved it if we could have made it happen because it would have been a huge bet on our club and an indication that the front office was willing to invest in the team, but I’m not surprising that we didn’t get across the finish line.
The trade is just so horrible from a Sox fan’s perspective. It’s the second time in four years that one of the richest teams in baseball backed itself into trading the face of the franchise for peanuts because they don’t want to spend money. What an utter embarrassment.
No chance the Braves would have swallowed the remaining $250M (which includes deferrals) so if it was a money dump, that trade was never happening.
Isn’t Ozuna a 10-5 guy? If I’m reading correctly, he sat most of 2021, but his actual suspension was only 20 games.
I think the Coppy penalties are coming back to bite…..
I’d have given Devers the choice of LF, SS, 2B, or DH and figured things out from there. Chances are we’d see Ozuna in LF again and then traded. Devers at 2B/SS would allow for Ozuna in LF and Drake/Murphy at DH. Then we’d have a good lineup again.
Can you imagine a lineup with Acuna 1st and Devers 2nd?
The Coppy penalties hit enormously hard, but I’d argue that a lot of the damage has been self-inflicted through mediocre selections at the top of the draft: https://bravesjournal.com/2025/01/14/ya-gotta-do-better-than-that-the-braves-checkered-draft-history-from-1994-2014/
I’m as much in favor of unorthodox decisions as the next guy, but rather than play Ozuna in left field, he’d probably be better as an extra infielder and we’d just let MHII and RAJ patrol the entire outfield themselves. At least they wouldn’t get confused by the notion that there was someone out there to help them. About the only defensive position Ozuna could play is an Extremely Pesky Pole, just hoping for balls within arm’s reach.
Since no one has responded to my assertion, I ran some numbers.
With Riley batting 2nd (52), the Braves score 3.67 runs per game.
With Riley batting not 2nd (18), the Braves score 5.5 runs per game.
In 52 games with Riley batting 2nd, the Braves scored fewer than 3 runs 15 times (28.8%). With Riley not batting 2nd in 18 games, the Braves scored fewer than 3 runs 3 times (16.7%).
There was a string of about 11 games where the Braves scored more than 3 runs with Riley hitting 2nd (when we were winning – 7/8 and 9/11). Elsewise, it was famine.
The Braves are 21-31 with Riley batting 2nd and 10-8 with Riley not batting 2nd. I think the Braves have 3 wins when scoring 3 runs or less (maybe a couple more). The Braves have scored 0 or 1 run 13 times with Riley batting 2nd and 2 times with Riley not batting second. All of that includes the game we scored 1 run in 10 and 3 in the 11th.
Note: without that one streak, the Braves are 12-29 with Riley batting 2nd. With the exception of the 11-10 loss to the Snakes, the Braves win when they score 5 or more and lose when they score 3 or less (1 win). The win rate for 4 is 50-60%.
https://x.com/TJStats/status/1934794775745712265
Why didn’t we grab this guy? Alex will take a flyer on pretty much anyone.
I wondered the same, honestly.
Not saying we should tank but if we do, the Red Sox could use Ozuna
Are the Sox sellers now though?
They are claiming that they’re not; their public message is, essentially, that they don’t think they downgraded the major league roster.
They’re so gutless they can’t even admit that down is down and up is up.
The Red Sox are not selling. They just wanted to get rid of a malcontent.
Atlanta was smart optically to kick the tires because it would have looked a whole lot worse to the fans if they didn’t, but Devers is a DH, and he’s not that much of an upgrade over Ozuna in the short-term. And Devers’ contract is going to be terrible in the long run, and there’s simply no reason to pay a DH $30M a year for 10 years.
People are saying the Red Sox lost this trade. That’s insane. That they got much of anything for him, let alone that package, is a miracle. Hicks has negative value in his deal, sure, but he’s still a heck of a buy low candidate to be a decent reliever. I think the Red Sox took a dumb mistake (extending a guy with no real position for 10 years) and turned it into a tenable situation. Good for them.
Alex, have they downgraded their roster significantly? They need spots for Anthony and Campbell, they have Bregman, and Casas will be back eventually. So do they not have enough pieces to replace him across 1B/3B/DH?
I’m a little jealous of how many position player prospects they have.
Campbell and Marcelo Meyer have scuffled so far this season, and Casas was having a terrible year before his season ended. They extended Cedanne Rafaela because they liked his defensive versatility, but he has demonstrated pretty conclusively that he simply can’t hit, and he’s a big part of the reason for the current defensive logjam which has made it so hard for them to fit Anthony into the lineup. Meanwhile, Bregman, if anything, was a little over his skis – he had a 160 OPS+ in the early going, and while he hit that well in 2019, over the five years from 2020-2024 his OPS+ was 122, so it’s reasonable to imagine that he’ll come back to earth a bit.
They subtracted their best hitter in the interests of finding room to play their rookies. They could get massively lucky, but it’s no way to run a candy store.
The Red Sox drafted first round position guys for several years and most of them hit. We draft a bunch of pitchers which are much more difficult to project. This has been known since before the analytic age.
I agree that unloading Devers was smart. I hated that contract. Shades of Prince Fielder. A guy with weight problems who is already a liability in the field. It might look good for 2-3 more years but the back end projects to be awful
The Red Sox currently have a playoff spot. They aren’t selling barring a collapse in the next month.
how’s the weather look, Atlanta-ways? We gonna get this one in?
FWIW, Weather.com says the thunderstorms will cease around 9 p.m.
Not sure if anyone noticed, but I posted that this series was in New York. It is in fact, in Atlanta.
Meh. I’m going back to bed. Hope to wake up to good news. Won’t hold my breath. My CPAP will see to that
Austin Riley turning into a slightly above average 3B is depressing.
Over his last 180 games:
779 PA, 208 K, 56 BB, 0.779 OPS, 116 wRC+, 30 HR, 92 RBI, 4.3 WAR
162-game average 2021-2023:
702 PA, 172 K, 57 BB, 0.878 OPS, 135 wRC+, 36 HR, 99 RBI, 6.2 WAR
Ump really screwed Olson on that “strikeout.”
Amazing that Riley couldn’t even get the guy in on a sac fly.
Tie game!!!
Big Bear with the serious clutchness… niiiice
Now let’s break their hearts…
EDIT: RAJ is pretty good, eh? (Of course, that was horrible baserunning by Soto.)
I haven’t said it too often this year, but… y’know, that was a great win.
5 runs = win. Dare I say it……….. Riley not second. Even White is better and it put Riley in position to win the game.
All well and good but the key was 11 Ks for the Mets and 5 Ks for the Braves.
Recapped: